“Ah, the harsh reality of Trusty, Colorado.”
As harsh as a kiss being just a kiss. “I guess. I really want to be here, Ross. I like Trusty, even if the people here don’t like me very much yet. Even if I can’t have the same business I did in LA, I can still help the animals. I’ve decided to offer free pet grooming on Saturday mornings. That way people can get to know me and see that I’m not in the business for the money. I mean, sure I’d like to make a living, but I can do that any number of ways. Aunt Cora’s pie business pulls in a decent amount of money, and I have a lot of money saved. I’m a bit of a penny pincher,” she admitted. She had faith that she’d figure out a way to gain back the few customers that she’d lost. She had to have faith. If she didn’t have faith in herself, how could anyone else?
“You’re going to pamper pets for free?”
“Sure. I can spare a few Saturday mornings. Besides, this will give me some time with dogs and cats, which I love. Being with your boys today reminded me of what I was missing.”
“You’re really something, Lis.”
“Not really. I want to be accepted by the community. I’ve always wanted to be here, and I’m not going to let the fact that I was raised somewhere else hold me back. Maybe I’m a dreamer—God knows I am—but that’s me.”
She looked directly into his eyes and forced her most serious tone. “Hi. I’m Elisabeth Nash and I’m a dreamer. I probably need a twelve-step program, because I believe in fate, and marriage, and all things warm and fuzzy.” She made it appear as a tease, but it wasn’t a tease at all; it was a testing of the waters. She’d never been more serious about her feelings, in her life.
Ross laughed and pulled her into another delicious kiss. A laugh wasn’t what she was hoping for, but the kiss quickly drove any lingering worry from her mind.
They talked, and kissed, and talked some more, and an hour later Ross walked her to her car with three fluffy boys in tow. She leaned against the driver’s side door as they talked about how beautiful the moon was, how different the night sounds were in Colorado than in California, and fifty other meaningless topics that made procrastination easy.
Ross ran his hands down her arms and stepped between her legs, bringing them hip to hip.
“I’m really glad you decided to come over,” he said with a seductive edge to his voice. He buried one hand beneath her hair and caressed the back of her neck with his thumb.
Wow. She liked that.
“Me too.”
“I said I don’t date girls from Trusty.”
“Yeah, I got that.” Thanks for reminding me, though. Well, at least the evening was wonderful, and she had the best kisses of her life with a man she really, really liked.
“That was before I met you.” He smiled. “Lis, will you go out with me Friday night? No pressure. You’d just be the first girl I’ve dated in Trusty for, oh, I don’t know, maybe ten years.”
She swallowed hard. That was a lot of pressure. “Ten years?”
“Yeah. I guess I should warn you. We’re already linked in the rumor mill. I got a call from my assistant, Kelsey, earlier this evening, and she said she heard we were dating from Margie, at the diner.”
“Really? But how?” That a rumor could spread so quickly seemed very Mayberry-esque.
“Leave it to Trusty to figure us out before we did. I’m sure Emily said something, or my brother Wes. He asked me about you, too.”
“Is that why you haven’t dated a woman here in so long?” Ten years!
“Yes. I learned years ago that the only way to have a private life is to do so outside of town. So, I’ll warn you. Make your decision carefully, because right now we’re a question mark in their minds. Once we go on a real date, we’re more of an exclamation point.”
She looked up at his handsome face, his compassionate eyes, and those lips she couldn’t wait to kiss again.
“I’m one of those girls who uses three exclamation points at the end of a sentence.”
Chapter Ten
BY THE TIME Friday afternoon rolled around, Elisabeth was a nervous wreck. In her mind, kissing Ross had inflated to something enormous. She’d kissed him. Would he think she was easy? Would he expect that she’d fall into his bed? Even if she wanted to—which surprised the hell out of her—she didn’t want him to expect it. She hadn’t seen him since Tuesday afternoon, but they’d exchanged texts, and he’d called last night to confirm their date. She’d held out for true love for so long. How could she know if this was it, or if this was something less? Even his voice made her mind travel down a dirty path—and she no longer even tried to dissuade those lustful thoughts. What on earth was happening to her? How could she hope he didn’t expect sex when she wanted to feel his body against her, to feel him inside her? Oh. My.
She’d kept busy all week, baking and delivering pies, taking care of the animals, and trying to secure new baking orders along with pimping out her pet-pampering services. She hung up flyers at every store, farm stand, and the dog park, as well as the post office and anywhere else she found a community bulletin board. Then she went at it by hand, introducing herself to people at the park and giving out flyers to anyone willing to take one.
She’d done her best, and she’d know in less than twenty-four hours if it had helped. On the way home, she stopped at Wynchels’ Farm. This time she brought doggy cookies to try to ease into more of a friendship with Wren via her pups, and to soften the marketing of the flyers she brought with her announcing Saturday’s free grooming services.
Wren had a pair of reading glasses perched on her nose. She lifted her eyes when Elisabeth walked in. “Howdy.”
“Hi, Wren. I brought you a few things.” She put a paper bag of puppy cookies on the counter and handed her a few flyers.
Wren pressed her lips into a hard line while she read it. “I told you that grooming them was a waste of time.” She set the flyers aside.
“Oh, yes, I know. But I’m new in town, and I have loads of free time.” A little white lie never hurt anyone. “If you bring your dogs by, I can groom them, and it’ll cost you nothing.”
Wren picked up a clipboard and flipped a paper over, then scanned the one beneath. “That’s where you’re wrong. It’ll cost me time I don’t have. It’s just me and my husband. A few farmhands. We don’t have the staff to take over while I sit and watch you brush my dogs.”
Crap. She hadn’t thought of that.
“Why don’t I come pick them up?” Things kept coming out of her mouth without checking with her brain. She went with it.
Wren raised her brows. “Pick them up?”
“Sure. I’ll pick them up, groom them, and then bring them back. It won’t cost you a penny or a minute.”
Wren leaned one thick arm against the counter, pulled her glasses down to the tip of her nose, and looked over them at Elisabeth.
“Let me get this straight. You’re going to pick up my dogs, brush them, bring them back, and there’s no hidden charges? What about your gas to come out here?” Wren eyed the paper bag on the counter. “What’s in that?”
“Cookies, for the dogs. All-natural ingredients, no sugar, no harmful ingredients.”
“Pet cookies?” She opened the bag and took out a cookie in the shape of a dog bone, iced with peanut butter. “It can’t hurt my dogs?”
“No, ma’am.”
Wren set it back down on the counter as Barney ambled into the barn.
Elisabeth crouched and loved him up as she answered Wren’s earlier question. “No hidden fees for the grooming or pickup. Think of it as a favor you’re doing for me. When I lived in LA, I had contact with dogs and cats on a daily basis. I loved spending time with them, grooming them, bathing them, pampering them and—” She realized she was rambling and tightened her answer. “There are no hidden costs.”
“We get busy around eight. Can you come before that?”
Elisabeth smiled. “How’s seven thirty? I can take three at a time in my car. Is there a good time I can bring them back to pick up the others?”
“Noon.”
“Noon it is.” Yes! Baby steps. That’s what fitting in was all about, or at least that’s what she hoped.
“GIVE IT UP, Emily. I’m not giving you any information.” Ross had been on the phone with his sister for ten minutes. She’d been prying him for information about Elisabeth, but he’d never been one to kiss and tell, which annoyed Emily to no end. She adored her brothers, which was evident in everything she did—taking care of their houses when they were out of town, checking up on them, bringing chicken soup for them when they were sick. She was a caring, warm sister, and Ross adored her. But that didn’t change his feelings on sharing information on his personal life.
She sighed. “Fine, whatever. Where are you taking her tonight?”
“Em,” he said sternly, and reached down to pet Storm. He’d picked him up earlier in the evening and Trout had said that he was sleeping a little better but wasn’t back to his normal sleeping habits yet.