Chapter Five #2
Ethan stood on the landing, clean jeans, a dark button down with the sleeves rolled to the elbows, his black hat in his hand and distressed cowboy boots on his feet. No suit. He looked devastating and completely unaware of it.
His eyes moved over her once, the same way they had across the room at Dewey’s and came back up to her face.
“Ready?” he said.
“Let me grab my purse.” She turned back inside, picked it up off the counter, and pulled the door closed behind her.
He waited while she locked it, then fell into step beside her down the stairs. At the bottom he put his hand lightly at the small of her back to guide her toward the truck, and she felt it like a brand through the thin fabric of her blouse.
He opened the passenger door and she climbed in.
He closed it gently, walked around to the driver’s side while she looked straight ahead, and told herself to breathe normally.
It was just dinner.
The diner was busy for a Sunday evening, warm light spilling out onto the sidewalk through the front windows. Ethan held the door and she walked in ahead of him.
The smell hit her immediately. Coffee and something baking and the particular comfort of a place that had been feeding people for a long time. She couldn’t help but laugh when patrons called out to Ethan or waved at him.
A woman appeared from behind the counter, somewhere in her sixties, with silver hair pinned up and the kind of face that had laughed a lot. She stopped when she saw them and her eyes moved from Ethan to Naomi and back again with a speed that suggested very little got past her.
“Ethan Harrison.” Her voice was warm. “Haven’t seen you in here on a Sunday in a while.”
“Evening, Connie.” He touched the brim of his hat. “This is Naomi Austin. She’s one of my trainers.”
Connie looked at Naomi with a smile that said she’d already drawn her own conclusions about the nature of this visit. “Welcome to Clifton, honey. I heard we had a new face at the ranch.” She grabbed two menus. “Come on, I’ve got a booth in the back.”
She led them through the diner, nodding and greeting people as she went, and Naomi was aware of more than a few curious glances following them to the booth.
Small town, she reminded herself. Everyone noticed everything.
She slid in across from Ethan and picked up her menu.
“So, this is Connie,” she said.
“This is Connie.”
“She already knows who I am.”
“She knew before you pulled into town probably.” He opened his menu. “Don’t let it bother you. She means well and not much gets past her.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing, Ethan,” Connie said from right behind him, a smile in her voice.
Ethan shook his head. “Nothing bad about you, Connie.”
Connie chuckled. “Would you like your usual?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He looked across at Naomi. “Burger, or something else?”
“I want a burger exactly like the last one I had.”
Connie tilted her head. “That’s the one you picked up for her, right Ethan?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I’ll get Owen started on those. Back in a minute with your drinks.” She disappeared toward the kitchen.
Naomi stared after her. “How did she know what I wanted?”
“That woman remembers every order that’s ever been placed in here.” Ethan set down his menu. “All you have to say next time is you want your usual.”
“That’s not possible.”
“She writes down the name and what they ordered their first time. Owen keeps the same records in the kitchen. Between the two of them they’ve never gotten it wrong.”
“Who’s Owen?”
“Her husband. They’ve run this place together for as long as anyone can remember.” He glanced toward the kitchen. “Good people.”
Naomi smiled. “I like them already.”
When their orders arrived the conversation came easily, moving from Vader to the property to the town, flowing as it did between people who had more in common than they’d expected. Naomi found herself relaxed and she hadn’t been on a date in longer than she could remember.
She was also finding it increasingly difficult not to think about the kiss in the cabin doorway, and what she was hoping might happen at the end of the evening, and several other things that were definitely not dinner conversation.
She snickered before she could stop herself.
He raised an eyebrow.
She shook her head.
“That’s twice now,” he said, the corner of his mouth lifting. “You must be entertaining yourself over there.”
“Just having a conversation with myself.” She shrugged.
He grinned. “Should I be worried?”
“Probably not.” She picked up her burger. “Probably.”
When Connie set the check on the table Naomi reached for her bag out of habit, then stopped herself. He’d asked her to dinner. She settled back in her seat and let him take it.
He left cash on the table and stood, and she slid out of the booth and followed him toward the door. Connie called goodnight from behind the counter and Ethan touched his hat and Naomi smiled and waved and felt the eyes of half the diner following them out.
The night air was warm and still, the kind of summer evening that made you want to stay outside a little longer. They walked to the truck, and he opened her door without being asked.
She climbed in and he closed it gently, walked around to the driver’s side. She looked out the window at the quiet street and thought that this was a very good town to have landed in.
The drive back to the ranch was short. He didn’t fill the silence with anything unnecessary, and she appreciated that about him, like she’d appreciated it from the beginning.
He pulled up beside the barn and cut the engine.
They sat for a moment.
“I had a really good time,” she said.
“So did I.” He looked at her in the dim of the cab.
She reached for the door handle, but he was already out and coming around the front of the truck before she got it open. He pulled it open and offered his hand to help her down.
She took it.
They walked to the bottom of the stairs and stopped. The ranch was quiet around them, just the sound of horses settling for the night and the distant creek moving in the dark.
She looked up at him.
“Would you like to come inside? It’s early yet. We could catch a movie.”
He looked at her for a moment. “Do you think that’s wise?”
“Hell, no.” She laughed.
“I don’t either.” He stepped closer. “I thought we agreed to take this slow.”
“It’s been slow enough, Ethan,” she whispered.
“I want you, Naomi...” His voice was low.
“But?”
“But we should know each other better before we take that step. It should mean something. Not for just the sake of sex.”
She held his gaze for a moment, then shrugged. “Okay.” She stepped back. “You don’t need to walk me up. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“You’re not angry?”
“Nope.” She turned toward the stairs. “Your loss, cowboy. Goodnight.”
She took the steps two at a time, unlocked her door, stepped inside, and pulled it shut behind her.
She leaned back against it in the dark and pressed her lips together.
She was a little angry but smiling.
****
Ethan was up at five, same as always, but he’d been awake since four staring at the ceiling thinking about the look on her face when she’d said, ‘your loss, cowboy’.
He made coffee, pulled on his boots, grabbed his hat, and headed to the barn. The morning was cool and quiet, the sky still dark at the edges with just a thin line of pink showing over the mountains.
He was halfway through his rounds when he heard her boots on the cement floor behind him.
He kept his eyes on what he was doing.
Her footsteps moved past him toward Jewel’s stall. He heard her voice, low and soft as she spoke with the mare, and Jewel’s answering nicker.
He latched the stall he’d been checking and turned around.
She was leaning over Jewel’s door, her back to him, and he had trouble keeping his eyes off her ass, Her hair pulled into a ponytail. Like last night hadn’t happened at all.
“Morning,” he said.
She looked over her shoulder. “Morning.” Her voice was easy. No edge in it.
He walked toward her and stopped beside her at the stall.
They stood there for a moment, Jewel pushing her nose between them looking for attention.
“About last night,” he started.
“Don’t.” She looked at him. “You don’t need to explain yourself, Ethan. I meant what I said. I’m not angry.”
He studied her face. She meant it.
“Alright.” He reached out and scratched Jewel’s nose. “Good.”
She looked back at the mare. “Although I stand by your loss.”
He laughed before he could stop it.
“I agree. It was my loss.”
“You’re a good man, Ethan. You don’t push at all. I like that about you.”
“I won’t ever push you to do something you don’t want to do.”
“I know.” She smiled. “I appreciate it.” She pushed off the stall door. “I’m going to get Vader out and work with him.”
“Johnny and Serena should be here soon. She’s scheduled for the outdoor corral and Johnny has the arena. You can use the corral in here. Rowdy set the barrels up for you.”
“Alright.” She headed for Vader’s stall, then glanced back at him over her shoulder. “I’ll see you later. Boss.” She grinned and walked out of the barn, disappearing into the morning light.
He stood there for a second.
“Damn, Harrison.” He shook his head. “Are you crazy?”
He turned and headed back to the house. He had feed to order, paperwork to get through, and he was going to plant himself at that desk and stay there all day and keep a reasonable distance from her before he did something impulsive.
Like toss her over his shoulder and carry her to bed.