Chapter Seven
Tyler grabbed a beer from the fridge and his phone charger from the counter.
Tanner gave him a puzzled look. “Are you turning in?”
“Yep.”
“Where’s Nessa?”
“I took her back down to Ace’s place. Well, to the ranch; he and Ari came down the mountain to meet me so that I didn’t have to drive all the way up there.”
“I thought she was going to stay here.”
“She is, but she wants to hang out with them for a few days first.”
“What’s up?”
“Why?”
Tanner laughed. “I’m curious as to why you’re taking your charger and a beer to bed with you, and why you’ve been backing away from me the whole time we’ve been talking.”
Ty made a face. “I’m going to call Shay. I said I’d call her when I got home – at eleven.”
Tanner checked his watch. It’s only ten after.”
“I know, but I wanted to be on time.”
“Then why are you wasting time standing around here talking to me?”
Ty let out a short laugh. “Asshole!”
“Just messing with you. If I’m still up by the time you get done, I want to hear how it went.”
“Okay.”
“And if not, I want to hear about it in the morning.”
“Okay!” Ty called as he ran up the stairs.
He locked his bedroom door behind him. Then took his phone out and sent Shayna a quick text.
Ty: Sorry I’m running a bit late. I’ll call you in a few.
He plugged his phone in to charge and set it on the nightstand while he went to the bathroom. When he came out, he popped the cap off his beer and took a big swig as he checked his messages.
Shay: Ok. Don’t rush. I’ll be here.
That made him smile. The last girl he’d dated used to get all anxious whenever he was late for anything. He spent so much time reassuring her that he was okay and apologizing because she’d been worried that it had sucked all the fun out of everything.
Shayna seemed pretty laid back so far. But he knew that could change. Girls seemed to play all sweet and nice until they thought they had you hooked, and then they changed. He really hoped that Shayna wouldn’t change.
He kicked his boots off and climbed onto the bed. When he picked his phone up again, his heart was pounding. How about that? He was nervous!
He pulled up her number and his thumb hovered, ready to hit the call button. He almost chickened out and sent another text instead to ask if she was ready. He laughed at himself and dialed her number.
“Hi, Ty.”
The sound of her voice made him smile. She sounded like he’d imagined, only better.
“Hey, Shay.”
Her laughter seemed to ripple over his skin. It traveled down his spine and dipped its fingers inside his pants.
“We sound like a pair of little kids. Hi, Ty. Hey, Shay !”
He laughed with her. “I guess we do. I kind of like it, but if you prefer, I could go with Hello, Ms. Shayna Rose. This is Tyler MacFarland calling. It’s a pleasure to finally talk to you.”
“You could, but that doesn’t seem like it’s the real you.”
“Okay then, how about Howdy, purdy lady ?”
She giggled, and if her laughter had dipped its fingers in his pants, her giggle wrapped them around his dick, making him close his eyes.
“Ooh, I think I like that one best.”
“Alrighty then, from now on, it’s Howdy, purdy lady .”
“And what’s better than Hi, Ty ? That kind of sounds like a drink or something, doesn’t it? Should I go with Hello, cowboy ?”
“Nah. I think I like Hi, Ty better. I mean, if you’re just after a cowboy, that could be anyone. I like the idea that you’re happy to hear from me – not just any old cowboy.”
“Oh! I am. I mean … obviously we don’t really know each other yet, and yes, the only reason that we’re talking is because April wanted to find me a cowboy. But that was just … an idea, you know? A type. I didn’t want to talk to any of the cowboys she found for me. I wanted to talk to you because of who you are – or who it sounded like you were. Err … if that makes sense?”
He chuckled. “Makes total sense to me. And just so we’re clear, I’m not looking to talk to just any old pretty lady, either. Tanner saved me a whole bunch of profiles of pretty ladies, but I wasn’t interested in talking to them.”
She laughed.
“What? What’s so funny about that?”
“I hope you saved them just in case. You might want to reconsider them if you don’t like the way I look.”
“Nope. I’m not interested in them. I am interested in you. I gotta tell you that I’m wishing we’d exchanged photos already. I think it was a good idea to get to know each other for who we are instead of what we look like but now …” He wasn’t sure how to finish that sentence.
He smiled when she filled in the gaps for him. “I know, right? What if we don’t like each other?” She laughed. “I feel like I’m in a better position than you are on that one.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because everyone’s already told me that you’re hot – and you were a SEAL, so …”
“Yeah, but everyone’s already told me that you’re hot – and you’re a hard worker and a sweetheart, so ...”
“We won’t know till we see each other though, will we?”
“Nope. Do you want to exchange photos? Do you think it’s time? I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”
She laughed harder at that, and it made him smile.
“What’s so funny about that?” he asked, trying to sound serious.
“You know!”
“Aww, stop it. You’ll embarrass me. I was talking about photos – what did you mean?”
“Now you’re the one who’s trying to embarrass me – you know damn well what I mean.”
“Yeah, I do. I’m only messing with you.”
“I know. I’m kind of scared, though, Ty.”
He closed his eyes. He loved the way she said his name, but hated hearing that she was scared. “You don’t have to be scared of anything with me, Shay – ever.”
Her voice was kind of breathy when she spoke again and this time, it felt more like she was reaching for his heart than his dick.
“Thank you. Is it weird to say that I feel like I already know that?”
“No. Well, maybe, but not to me. To me, it means that you’ve already figured out who I am. But go on … before I say too much, what are you scared of?”
“That when you see my photo you might not like me, and I might not ever hear from you again, and well … that’d suck, you know?”
“I do know. I feel the same way. I want to say that it doesn’t matter how you look, but I guess we have to keep it honest. Tanner pointed it out to me, and he was right – that site is a dating site. So, if you’re not someone I would want to date – or if I’m not someone you’d want to date, then what’s the point? At the same time, I like who you are … tell you what, if we exchange photos and there’s nothing there, we have to be honest – both of us. And for me at least, it doesn’t mean we have to stop talking to each other. You’re the kind of person I’d like to have as a friend if nothing else. Not saying that you have to keep talking to me if you think I’m fugly, though.”
“Okay …”
He chuckled. “Okay, but what? You can say it, whatever it is.”
“Can we wait a bit longer? I really like talking to you and I like … I like …”
“Want me to say it?” he asked.
“Okay. You go first and then I’ll tell you what I meant.”
“Obviously, I can’t read your mind, but I’d rather wait a while as well. I’ll want to keep talking to you either way, but … I’m kind of hopeful here about what might happen; that we’re going to be more than friends. I’m not ready to give up that hope yet. If you think I’m butt ugly and don’t want to talk to me anymore …”
She laughed. “I really don’t think that will happen – me thinking that way about you, I mean. But yeah, you’re right about the rest. Right now, there’s hope … I don’t want to let go of the fantasy.”
He chuckled. “Are you saying I’m your fantasy guy?”
“Stop it! You know what I mean.”
“Sure I do. If it makes you feel any better, I could call you my dream girl.”
“Then I’d think you were bullshitting me.”
“Nope. I won’t do that, Shay. Promise.”
“Thanks. I won’t either. So, how was your evening?”
He chuckled. “From the abrupt change of subject, I take it that I’m not allowed to call you my dream girl?”
“No, because it feels fake.”
“Shit! You’re right. I won’t then – not for now, anyway. If I ever call you that, it’ll be because I’ve taken my time to figure out if it’s true first. How does that sound?”
“Honestly? It sounds awesome – but there’s a long way to go between here and there.”
“Right, so back to how was my evening. It was fine.” He chuckled. “Art galleries aren’t exactly my idea of fun, but it’s worth it to make sure that Nessa’s okay. And if you’re wondering about her – she’s more like an annoying little sister. There’s no history between us or anything.”
“Oh, that didn’t occur to me. It sounded like she’s just your friend.”
“She is. I told you she had a bit of a scare a while back – she and her mom were both taken by some assholes who wanted to kill them.”
“Oh my god! Did the police get them – the bad guys?”
“Kind of. Ace rescued Nessa, and then Ari, her mom, kind of rescued herself. Ace and Cash put an end to it and … Yeah, the bad guys are out of the picture now. There’s no reason to think that anything else might happen to them, but we all like to keep an eye on Nessa whenever she’s here. And before I forget, she told me I have to say hello to you from her.”
“Aww, say hello back to her, and don’t forget to tell her that I said thank you for setting you up with a profile.”
He smiled. “I already told her – when I told her how glad I am that she did it and thanked her myself. She thought that was pretty funny, since I kept telling her I wasn’t interested in online dating. Now, I’m going to have to put up with her saying I told you so , but it’s worth it.”
~ ~ ~
Shayna held the phone a little tighter and couldn’t wipe the silly smile off her face. He sounded awesome! Not just the sound of his voice – which was deep and sexy and sent chills through her – but the way he talked, what he talked about, she felt like she was talking to a friend. She was curious, though.
“Mind if I ask you something?”
“Fire away – you can ask anything. I think that’s what we’re here for, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. I just … how come you’re online? I mean … why …?” She realized that asking him why he’d resorted to online dating, even if it was his friend’s idea, would lead to him asking her the same question.
He chuckled and the sound seemed to reverberate in her chest.
“You want to know, if I’m not fugly, or chubby, or a dweeb, or whatever, why can’t I find myself a girlfriend in real life?
She had to laugh. “I wouldn’t have put it that way but … yeah, basically.”
He blew out a sigh. “I … Okay, so I’m not proud of this, but we promised each other we’d be honest, right? There’s no point otherwise.”
“Okay.” Her heart was beating rapidly, and she was starting to wish that she hadn’t asked.
“Where I live – Paradise Valley. I forgot to answer your question about that, we’re about thirty minutes from town. But yeah … everyone knows everyone and there aren’t a whole lot of people around. The dating pool is more like a dirty puddle, if you know what I mean.”
She laughed. “I know exactly what you mean; I say that the dating pool in Summer Lake needs a good shot of chlorine.”
She loved his laugh!
“Okay, so you get it then. There aren’t a lot of options for meeting someone new.” He cleared his throat, and she wondered what was coming. “Well, there are options – there’s a resort called Chico and there’s a lot of tourists who come through and …”
She laughed. “Don’t sound so worried. It’s the same here in town. The tourists come through, there’s a fresh batch of them every weekend and … It’s not hard to meet someone new, but it is hard to meet someone who’s looking for … more than a fun weekend.”
“Yeah.”
They were both quiet for a long moment.
“Are you saying …? Fuck!”
“What?” she asked. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t want to sound like a hypocrite.”
She laughed. “You won’t.”
“How do you know?”
“I might be wrong, but I’m guessing that you’ve made the most of your opportunities with the tourists, and you want to ask if I’ve done the same.”
“Yeah.”
“I think you can answer that one for yourself.”
“I can?”
“Think about it, Ty.”
She could hear the smile in his voice when he spoke again. “You haven’t. For one thing, that’s not who you are, and for another, you wouldn’t have the time even if you wanted to.”
“Exactly.”
“Shit. I’m an asshole, aren’t I? I’m relieved that you’re not the kind of girl to hang out with a different guy every weekend, but I want you to be okay with knowing that’s who I used to be.”
She chuckled. “I don’t see it as a problem.”
“No?”
“No. I really don’t. Unless …” Her smile faded.
“Unless what?”
“Unless you’re still doing that. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with it, but I …” She didn’t know what to say. She could hardly tell him that she was looking for something serious, or something exclusive. She didn’t even know if she was. This whole thing had come out of nowhere and …
“I’m not. I haven’t been to Chico like that in ages. I still go sometimes but not looking … you know … to hook up.”
“Fair enough, then.”
“Is it? You’re not just saying that and then you’ll get off the phone with me and call your girlfriends and tell them that I’m a waste of space manwhore and you’re over it?”
He said it with a laugh, but she could tell that he thought there was a possibility that she might do just that.
“Ty, it doesn’t matter to me who you’ve been – in the past or with other girls, all I’m interested in is who you are with me. If you want to keep hooking up with people, I’m not going to judge you for it, I’d still want to be your friend, but that’s not what I’m looking for in a relationship. Shit!” She blew out a sigh. “And now I sound like I’m laying down the law, and I don’t mean it that way. And who’s talking about a relationship anyway? And even if we were, there’s this tiny detail of us living a thousand miles apart and …”
“Shay?”
She only realized that she was rambling on when he interrupted her. “Yeah?”
“ I’m talking about a relationship. At least, I’ve been thinking about one – with you. I have no fucking idea how it can work, but I want to see what we can make happen, if we get that far. That’s why I wanted to lay it out for you. You need to know who I am before you can decide if it’s even worth exploring.”
“I know it is – worth it.” The words were out before she even knew she was speaking.
“You reckon?”
“I do. If you do.”
“Yeah, I do. So, what do you think? I don’t want to keep you up too late – you have to be at the barn in the morning. But you said we should take it one step at a time. Do you want to take another step?”
“Yeah. But … what’s the step?”
“How about I figure out how to get down there to see you?”
“You’d do that?”
He chuckled. “I’d be there by the time you wake up in the morning if I could pull it off, but I might have to wait till the weekend.”
“Oh my god! You’re thinking about coming that soon?”
“I don’t see any point waiting – unless you want more time.”
She sucked in a deep breath. “The only thing I want time for is to roster myself off. It’d suck for you to come all this way only for me to have to work the whole time.”
“Okay, so how about you take a look at your schedule and let me know when will work for you? I don’t mind if you have to work some of the time – I imagine it’ll be hard to take off from all your jobs.” He chuckled. “If they don’t mind, I can come to the barn with you and help with the stalls. I can visit with Xander while you work your other jobs, and I can explore the place by myself. What I’m saying is that you don’t need to worry about fitting me in. Just say when you want me there and I’ll be happy with whatever time you can spare.”
“Wow!”
“What?”
She laughed. “You’re awesome.”
He chuckled. “Nah. That would be you.”
“And you still don’t think we need to exchange photos first?”
“We can if you want.”
“I’d hate for you to feel like you wasted your time – if you come all this way and then there’s nothing there between us.”
“You’re probably right that we should, but I’m really not worried, and part of me likes the idea of not seeing you till I meet you.” He laughed. “That could turn out awesome … or it could be a real bummer for one or both of us.”
“I know, it’s a big risk.”
“I’m a risktaker, how about you?”
She smiled. “I think I am – in this case.”
“We still have time to change our minds.”
She looked at the clock. “We do. But for now …”
“You need to get to sleep.”
“Yeah. I don’t want to go, though. Talking to you on the phone’s even better than emailing.”
“I think so, too. Can I call you again tomorrow? Say no if you don’t have the time.”
“Let’s do it, but I’ll call you, if that’s okay. I have a class at the gym, but I should be able to call you around the same time as tonight. I’ll text you first.”
“Whatever time it is, it’ll be good. And I’ll still email you during the day. You don’t have to answer but … I’d miss you if I didn’t send you anything now.”
“Aww. I’d miss you, too.”
They were both quiet for a long moment.
“Go on, I’d better let you go. I don’t want to keep you up too late.”
“I really should go to bed, but I don’t want to say goodbye.”
“Then don’t. Let’s just say see ya later.”
“Okay. See ya later, Ty.”
“See ya later, Shay.”
She hesitated; she didn’t want to end the call.
She relaxed when she heard him laugh. “Jesus! You’ve got me like a little kid, not wanting to go.”
“I’m the same.”
“But you’re the one who’ll pay it for it tomorrow when you’re dragging ass at your seventeen jobs.”
She laughed. “I’ve only got the barn and the store tomorrow.”
He sighed. “Exactly, Shay. For most people, that would be a heavy day – for you it’s taking it easy. Get some sleep. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Okay. See ya later.”
“G’nite, sweetheart.”
The call ended and she sat there holding her phone tightly, staring at the name Ty on the screen until it faded to black. Wow! Talking to him was even better than emailing him and …
She smiled when the screen lit up with a message.
Ty: I think I’m in trouble.
Shay: Oh no! What’s wrong?
Ty: You know that girl in Cali?
Shay: Yeah?
Ty: I’m getting in deeper by the day.
Shay: I think you’re both in it together.
Ty: I hope so. You’re supposed to be going to bed.
Shay: I was! Until this cowboy texted me again.
Ty: Sorry.
Shay: I’m not.
Ty: G’nite, sweetheart.
Shay: See ya later.