Lost Rider(77)

He didn’t tell me where we were headed tonight, but with a town this size, there aren’t that many options. Unless, that is, you wanted to drive outside of town to one of the more populated areas. It wasn’t like we were in the middle of nowhere, but we were more than an hour from Dallas and a good thirty plus to get to another major city.

Unless he plans on our first date being at the diner, nothing glamorous there, we were going to be driving for a while. I couldn’t think of anything else that he would pick for our first date. Well, there was always the Chicken Coop, a popular local bar aptly named since there are a whole lot of chicken wire pens around outside. Don’t get me wrong—I love it at the Chicken Coop, or as locals like to call it, the Coop, but it would make for a very rowdy night.

“Well, Earl, how do I look?”

He looks up from his spot in the middle of my bed and blinks at me.

“Yeah, that’s how I feel too, baby.”

I decided to go with something casual, that way regardless of where we ended up tonight, it should work for any situation. Be it a nice restaurant or a crowded bar.

The white lace sundress was one of the nicer ones I owned. Depending on the shoes I paired it with, it could go from fancy to casual in a blink of an eye. Tonight I went with my favorite pair of brown cowboy boots. My hair was hanging in loose curls, and aside from mascara and some lipstick, I didn’t have any makeup on. Some Alex and Ani bangles on my wrists were all that was left.

It was 100 percent me, but it was also a far cry from the kind of women I know he’s spent the last ten years seeing. Of course, those girls were more worried about catching the eye of a rider than they were about modesty. Self-doubt had been keeping me company since I got out of the shower and tried for almost an hour to find something to wear, but in the end I knew I would never be anything other than the woman in the mirror before me.

“You look beautiful, Leighton.”

I screamed, jolting in place before spinning to look at the man now standing in my open doorway. “Jesus, Maverick. You scared the crap out of me.”

His shoulders shake, but other than a few deep rumbles, he doesn’t make a sound. His eyes roam from the top of my head to the tips of my boots, not missing an inch as he takes his time. The zap of arousal from his commanding gaze is so powerful it feels almost tangible.

I shift my feet, feeling the thin silk between my legs grow wet with the excitement his appraisal gives me. “If you keep looking at me like that, cowboy, the only ride we’re going to have tonight is me on top of you.”

His eyes close and he drops his head back. I smile to myself, not even caring if I’m egging him on. He’s got his formfitting Wranglers on, this pair a deeper denim than the last. He’s switched the button-down for a plain black T-shirt, his muscles straining the sleeves. His black cowboy boots have a layer of brown dust covering them, but other than that, he looks like he took a lot of time and care in looking good. Not that he has to put much effort in that.

“I wouldn’t be upset about that though, in case you were wondering,” I add with a wink.

When he brings his gaze back to mine, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows hard, I smile, knowing my skin is flush with the need I feel.

“You’ve got no idea how much it kills me to say this again, but not until I have all of you, Leigh. Not a second before then.”

I want so badly to scream that he already has my heart. That he’s always had my heart. He narrows his eyes and looks at me as if he knows what’s going through my mind. He moves, taking the few steps needed to bring him right in front of me and looks down. Even with his hat on and the dim lighting in my room, I can see the fire blazing from his brilliant eyes.

“You’re almost there, I know it, darlin’, but until I no longer see any fear in your eyes, I’m not makin’ my move.”

“I’m not scared, not of you.”

One corner of his mouth tips up. “You are.”

My hair tickles my shoulders when I shake my head, denying what he’s saying.

“Leighton,” he says with a groan.

“I’m not scared of you, Maverick. Am I scared of the feelings I have when it comes to you? Yeah . . . but that’s something that will never go away. I don’t care if we’re eighty years old, rockin’ on that porch while our grandkids scream around us, I’ll always feel it,” I whisper, and reach up to cup his now-shaven cheek. “The feelings I have for you are so strong that I almost can’t breathe because of them. Honey, that would make anyone scared, and that will never change. I’ve felt it my whole life, only I don’t see it as fear. I see it as me always knowing that what we have together is the biggest kind of love two people will ever share.” His eyes close and I feel his jaw work under my palm.