Barbara Daille - The Cowboy's Triple Surprise

“Nobody sent me here. But everyone’s all tied up, and I had time on my hands.”

“Really? You didn’t have Jed to talk to?”

“He said he’d be busy all night at the reception.”

She frowned. “That’s strange. He always makes an appearance, but he’s never stayed the entire time, except at his granddaughters’ weddings. Well, then, what about Pete?” Jane and her husband lived in the manager’s house on Garland Ranch. “And if he’s busy, you’ve got plenty of cowhands to hang out with.”

“Maybe I had the urge for dessert.”

“Then you’ll find more of a selection at SugarPie’s.”

“Could be. But maybe what I want’s right here.”

Once she would have fallen for that line and hoped he wanted her. She was so over that now. So over him.

She slid open the freezer case and pulled out an empty ice cream tub. It gave her the excuse to walk away, to go into the workroom and avoid his blue-eyed stare. Shaking her head in disgust at herself, she crossed to the big freezer.

She had been all too good at analyzing his expression these past couple of days. She had seen the surprise on his face after he noticed the size of her stomach, had witnessed his frustration as she stood to leave the banquet hall. And just a minute ago, she had clearly read the determination in his eyes.

As she pulled open the freezer door, cold air blasted her. With luck, it would shock some sense into her. Hands shaking, she reached up to the top shelf for another tub of butter-pecan ice cream.

Just as he had yesterday, Tyler stepped up beside her. Again, she nearly jumped out of her shoes.

“I’ll get it.” He grabbed the tub she intended to take off the shelf.

“Thanks, but I’m pregnant, not incapacitated.”

“I didn’t think you were.” He slammed the freezer door shut. “Let’s just say I’ll scratch your back, you scratch mine.”

The image that followed his words stole her breath.

He looked away, as if he’d only now realized what he had said. He cleared his throat and looked back at her. “I’ll take care of this, then you can take care of a few things for me.”

Unfortunately, his attempt to make his point clearer only filled her mind with bittersweet images and memories. Tyler flirting with her at Cole and Tina’s reception... Tyler’s hand brushing hers as they walked the streets of Cowboy Creek on a moonlit night... Tyler kissing her thoroughly as he ran his fingers through her hair...

She had to get her thoughts and this conversation back on track. “Take care of a few things?” she repeated.

“Questions.”

This close, he seemed to tower over her. It wasn’t a menacing stance, just a result of the difference in their heights. She had grown up as one of the tallest girls in school, and after meeting Tyler at the wedding, she had liked that he made her feel petite. She still liked it. His towering didn’t bother her.

It was his nearness that left her feeling shaky. This close and at this stage in her pregnancy, her rounded stomach nearly brushed his flat abs. This close, she could see every darker fleck in his dark blue eyes, making her wonder if any of her babies would have eyes the same shade.

She didn’t move. He didn’t, either. After a moment she realized she stood leaning back against the freezer door. The cool metal sent another shiver through her. The cold tub he held in one arm, so close to her, added to her chill.

And still, they stood as frozen as two ice cream sandwiches.

Finally, she tore her gaze away, breaking whatever spell had captured her, and pushed past him. It took effort for her not to run. “If you intend to help me, you can put that tub in the freezer case up front.”

As he followed, she heard his boots on the tile floor behind her. She should have heard him in the ballroom yesterday and here in the workroom a few minutes ago. But, no, both times she had been so wrapped up in thoughts of him, she hadn’t noticed his approach. Not good at all when she needed to stay in control any time she was near him.

She had lost control with him once, and look what had happened.

At the freezer case, he slid the tub into the empty space. To her relief, he then walked back around to the front of the counter.

Through the plate glass of the front window, she saw a family walking up to the shop. Her heart tripped a beat, whether from anxiety or elation, she wasn’t sure.

“You can’t stay here,” she hissed.

“Why not? It’s a store.”

“But we can’t talk here. Or now.” Behind him, the door opened. She waved to the Walcotts and their two kids. The family went to their favorite table near the front of the store, and she glanced up at Tyler again. “Please go,” she murmured.

“You’ll talk to me when you get off work.”

He hadn’t made it a question. “Yes,” she said between clenched teeth.

“What time do you finish up?”

She could tell him a lie. Give him a later time. Or, if the shop stayed as quiet as it was at the moment, she could tell him the truth, then rush through closing and leave before he returned.

Anything to avoid the conversation she didn’t want to have.

He must feel as uneasy as she did about their impending talk, or why wouldn’t he just have blurted out the crucial question and been done with it?

As wonderful as all her options for evading him sounded, she knew she couldn’t be that devious. She sighed and admitted, “I’ll be done in a couple of hours.” At least that would give her time to collect her thoughts and plan exactly what she would say.

“All right, then,” he agreed.

Relieved, she sagged against the counter.

“I’ll just stick around,” he added.

“But... I’m working.”

“We covered that. And I’ve got nowhere to go except back to the Hitching Post. No sense in my driving all the way out there just to turn around and come back. Give me a triple dip of that butter pecan.”

When she hesitated, he shot a glance toward the front table, where the Walcotts were still deciding on their own order.

He faced her again and leaned across the counter, bending down so close she could feel his breath against her cheek as he spoke quietly into her ear. “The Garlands corralled you at the Hitching Post yesterday. Then you ran off from the banquet room and never came back. And now, thanks to your customers, you’ve been saved by the bell. In case you weren’t counting, that’s three strikes for me. Do you seriously think I’m going to walk off and let you make yet another escape?”

Chapter Five

Three scoops of ice cream might have been more than he’d needed, but after witnessing Shay’s obvious desire to see him gone, Tyler had been doubly determined to find an excuse to stick around.

He’d given her his exact reasons for his plan to stay. The question he’d thrown at her about her potential for an escape hadn’t been idle talk, either. If he’d left the Big Dipper and come back again, he wouldn’t have been a bit surprised to find the door locked and Shay long gone.

From the booth he’d taken in one corner of the room, he could watch her as she worked behind the counter. He could also listen as she chatted with one customer after another while filling their orders. Now, she had gone to the back room for something, and it was all he could do not to get to his feet and follow her.

The shop had stayed busy for the better part of an hour. It was as if everyone in Cowboy Creek was scheming to keep him from having things out with her.

Of course, that was paranoia talking.

Even as he had the thought, danged if the bell over the door didn’t ring yet again. This time, he recognized the customer who entered. The man took one look at him, grinned, and headed in his direction.