PART FOUR
Chapter Thirty
Hailey
A Week Later, Late September
Cash and I climbed into his truck and started the drive into town as soon as he’d showered and changed after working all day. He’d made reservations at a steakhouse in town, surprising me this morning with the plans of going out tonight. I put on the nicest dress I’d brought along with me—forever hopeful that I’d meet someone nice and need something to wear on a date—with a cardigan and a pair of low heels. Cash had on a dark pair of jeans, shiny boots, and a nice button-up shirt. He wasn’t wearing his hat tonight, which kept throwing me for a loop. I wasn’t used to seeing him out and about without it. I liked it, as I could see his entire face without his forehead hiding from me. And I always forgot what his light brown hair looked like, I saw it so little.
“This is our first official date, you know,” I said, grinning at him.
He shot me an amused look before putting his eyes back on the road. “I wasn’t sure what you thought about the rodeo ‘till now. I bought you a funnel cake. I figured that made it a date.”
I laughed. “And I bought us both a pretzel. That was more research. This is a date.”
He chuckled at that, the sound staying low in his throat like he didn’t want the world to know he found things funny. “I see.”
We kept up the easy banter all the way to the restaurant, just enjoying each other’s company. We’d slept together every night since that first time, and it was nice to be out together. It made our relationship seem more real, even if it was brand new.
We parked around back of the steakhouse and walked inside, Cash holding the door open for me. The hostess sat us at a table for two and left us with our menus. The waiter arrived before we really got a chance to look it over, so we ordered a few drinks—beer for Cash and white wine for me—to buy us a bit more time to decide on dinner.
“This is nice,” I said, scanning the restaurant. It was busy, every table taken that I could see, mostly with couples, the guys in jeans and nice shirts and the women in dresses. We fit right in.
He was watching me with those green eyes, the look in them unreadable. He spent about as much time inside his own head as I did in mine. Maybe that was why we got along so well. We didn’t always have to be talking since we spent so much time observing the world around us.
“I’ve really enjoyed my time here,” I said, keeping my eyes on him, taking note of every freckle and change of expression on his open, attractive face. “I don’t usually stay so long in one place for research, but I knew before I left the city that I’d need more than just a few weeks out here. It’s so different than any place I’ve been, besides maybe Japan.” I smiled when he did. “And I like it out here. It’s beautiful and quiet. You can really think. And I learned how to ride a horse!”
“That you did,” he said, and though he was still smiling, he looked sad too, mostly around the eyes. “But you’re planning to leave in a few weeks. October is right around the corner. Have you thought about what you’re going to do? Have you done all the research you needed?”
The short answer was yes. The long answer was that I’d done way more than what I needed to do while I was here and had no business staying for even one more day. But it wasn’t that simple. I wanted to stay, and not just because I found the West beautiful.
I let the waiter set our drinks down and take our orders before I answered Cash’s series of loaded questions.
“I’m not really sure what I want to do,” I said, sighing out my frustrations. “This research trip is different from any of the others I’ve taken. It’s become about more than just what I was out here to do. I like what we have, and I want to see where things will go, but it’s just too new to make any grand decisions right this second, you know?”
He nodded, keeping his eyes on me and not even considering his beer. I hadn’t touched my wine either. I didn’t want to look away from him for a moment. Every second felt so precious, as though we’d be wrenched away from each other at any time. I knew I was the one who was in control, ultimately. It was my plane ticket east that would pull us apart. And it was my choice when I would leave. It was way too much pressure.
“I understand that,” he said, finally. “And I know your life ain’t out here in Wyoming, same as mine ain’t out east where you’re from. I’m happy to see where we are when it’s time for you to leave in October.”
I took a sip of my wine, relishing the taste after so long without it. I didn’t know why I never picked any up at the store. Cash didn’t drink much, so I just never thought about it. He clearly wasn’t opposed to it.
“I think I could stay a few weeks past October. Just to see the cold months, you know? It would be good for my research.”
He smiled, his face lighting up and eyes shining. It was hard to look at him without jumping over the table and putting my hands and lips on him. His attractiveness had a gravitational pull.
“That sounds just fine to me.”
I smiled because he was, but I knew how much trouble I was in. I had no idea how I was going to get on a plane at the end of this adventure and go home, not now that I knew how amazing it was to be with this man.