Dylan rode the high of May’s chocolate cake and kissing Hazel for several days. He had to, because life on the ranch resumed, and Hazel had a full-time job to contend with. They’d exchanged numbers, and Dylan had lost some serious sleep as he exercised his thumbs and tried to keep his laughter from waking Austin, who shared the loft with him.

He’d gone out on the ATV on Sunday so he wouldn’t have to discuss Hazel and his relationship with everyone he ran into that day. Didn’t see anyone? Didn’t have to explain anything.

So we’re still on for tomorrow night? he texted her on Thursday night while the cabin sat in darkness. She’d seemed to fit right in at the party, though it had taken her several minutes to warm up to everyone.

If you’re still okay to double, her response came.

Dylan’s heart leapt over a beat, then reminded himself that she’d come to a birthday party with about twenty strangers. He could handle two of them—her friends, Jason and McKayla—and a restaurant.

Hey, any time I can eat food I don’t have to make myself, I’m in.

Haha. I’ve seen you cook. You never eat something you’ve made.

Dylan didn’t want to tell her that he rarely ate out either. So Shane made sandwiches and eggs and a few other things. All the brothers knew how to put a frozen pizza in the oven, and if Dylan could eat cold cereal for every meal, he’d die happy.

Dress code? he asked as Austin rolled over and groaned. Dylan turned too, to block the blue light from his phone.

What you normally wear.

Cowboy boots and hats?

You really must not make it to town very much. Every man here wears a cowboy hat and boots.

Just checking. He wanted to ask her where they were going, but he’d asked every day this week, and she’s never answered him. Sometimes their texts were rapid-fire, and at first, he’d thought she’d just missed the question. But as time went on, and he kept asking and she never responded, Dylan realized she didn’t want to tell him.

So he’d moved on to questions to make sure he didn’t show up in the wrong clothes. The last thing he needed was everyone staring at him, the cowboy who didn’t get off the ranch much. He sometimes felt that way at church, but he went there because he could go in a group and leave in a group and didn’t have to talk to anyone he didn’t know.

See you tomorrow! Hazel’s message had an air of finality about it, and Dylan let his phone fall to his chest. He hoped she’d still be interested in him when he showed up at her house tomorrow night. Why he thought she wouldn’t be, he wasn’t sure. But he drifted to sleep with a sliver of doubt in his mind that made his night restless.

He navigated himself to Hazel’s house, a live nest of bees in his chest. His breath seemed to buzz in and out of his lungs as he parked and took in the small white house with her truck parked in the carport.

With his window down, he heard a couple of dogs start barking, and he got out since she’d know he was here anyway. May had arrived a couple of days ago, and it felt like full-blown summer already. Maybe that was just his nerves making him sweat. No matter what, he slicked his palms down his thighs as he climbed the few steps to the front door and knocked.

The dogs went wild now, and Dylan heard Hazel shushing them before opening the door. She wore a blue and white polka dot blouse that looked like silk, paired with a dark black pair of slacks that went all the way to the ground. Her bare toes peeked through and by the time Dylan returned his gaze to her face, Hazel had cocked her hip into the door and was grinning.

“You wanna come in for a minute?” she asked, both dogs standing guard behind her.

“Yeah, sure.” He stepped up to walk into the house, expecting Hazel to fall back. But she didn’t. She put one hand on his chest and stretched up onto her toes.

“I haven’t seen you in so long.” Her voice was flirtatious and light, but her grip said something different. “You smell fantastic.”

“I smell fantastic?” Dylan put his arms around her and smiled. “So do you. What is that?”

“I have this iced peach lotion.”

“Of course you do.” He knew it would be something with a strange name, and he breathed her in. “And you look phenomenal.” His voice dropped to a whisper of its own accord. “What shoes are you wearing?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“Like where we’re goin’.”

“And how long you’re going to stand there, making me wait.”

Dylan wanted to kiss her immediately, but he forced himself to wait. The anticipation electrified between them, and by the time his mouth finally brushed hers it felt like an explosion. He drew in a breath and went back for a second touch, this time kissing her fully.

He really liked how she held onto the collar of his shirt and kept him in place. Liked the way she tasted like mint and strawberries. Liked that she definitely still seemed interested in him.

A horn honked, and Dylan sprang away from her as if her father had just pulled up and caught them kissing on the doorstep. He twisted to look behind him and found another couple getting out of a bright blue SUV parked on the curb.

“Let me guess,” he said. “Jason and McKayla.” The man waiting on the sidewalk for the woman had sandy brown hair without a cowboy hat covering it. The woman had auburn hair like Felicity’s, and she wore a cute little sundress that said city chic more than country flair.

They both had green eyes on opposite ends of the spectrum, with hers bordering on brown and Jason’s almost like emeralds. They clasped hands and climbed the steps, wearing wide smiles like Hazel hadn’t introduced them to a boyfriend in a while.

Dylan remembered that she hadn’t, and the quick shake he felt in her hand as it touched his told him of her nerves.

“Hey, guys,” she said. “This is Dylan Royal. Dylan, my friends, McKayla Long and Jason Bell.”

“Hullo.” Dylan extended his hand and shook Jason’s and McKayla’s, noting that Hazel hadn’t given him a label. Not friend. But not boyfriend either. “I don’t think Hazel is quite ready yet.” He glanced at her feet, half a smile pulling at his mouth.

“Three minutes,” she said, turning and moving further into the house. “Oh, and Dylan, you can meet the pups. The brown one’s Monty. The black one’s Milo.” She turned and headed down a hallway, leaving Dylan with her friends and her dogs.

He crouched and held his hand out to the dogs, who both sniffed him. It seemed like their faces broke into a grin when they accepted him, and he scrubbed his fingers behind their ears. “You’re good dogs, aren’t you?”

“They’re awesome,” Jason said. “I keep trying to get Hazel to give me Milo, but she won’t.”

The black and white English bulldog flopped down on the floor and rolled over so Dylan could rub his stomach. He laughed at the dog. “How long has she had them?”

“About what?” Jason looked at McKayla, but the false note in his voice wasn’t hard to hear. “Six years or so? Something like that.”

Dylan knew what had happened six years ago. So she’d replaced her fiancé with a college degree and two dogs. He straightened as clicking came down the hall. Hazel had put an electric blue pair of heels on her feet, making it so her tailored slacks didn’t drag anymore.

Dylan licked his lips. She was stunning. A picture of perfection.

What is she doing with me? The question entered his mind and hooked on, refusing to let go. Everyone who saw them together tonight would be wondering the same thing. He might as well try to figure it out.

He wore his newest pair of jeans, his regular old cowboy boots, a blue polo with darker stripes at the bottom, and his dark gray cowboy hat. Nothing special about him.

He felt like a giant fraud standing next to everyone else. Sweeping his hat off his head, he said, “Maybe I’ll leave this here.” He looked around for a place to put it. The living room spread to his left, with a couch and two armchairs. Near the back of the house, a simply dining set sat by a big window, and the countertop made a bar area before someone would enter the kitchen.

He set his hand on the back of the couch, where it sat for two seconds before Hazel grabbed it and smashed it right back onto his head. “As much as I like seeing your hair, you’re wearing this hat tonight.”

“Why?” he asked, wishing he’d had more time alone with Hazel to properly express his nerves.

She grinned up at him. “Because we’re goin’ dancing tonight, and I want to dance with my cowboy boyfriend.”

Dylan pulled in a breath and held it. She was so good at saying what she wanted, and he wished his tongue didn’t feel like it had been tied into a knot.

“Remember how I said I wanted a dance with you the first time we met?”

“I remember,” he managed to say.

McKayla’s and Jason’s eyes felt like lasers, and Dylan was grateful for his hat as he ducked his head to get away from their stares.

“Okay,” McKayla said. “I think I just heard her say boyfriend, which means it’s time to go.”

Hazel laughed, causing Dylan to lift his head. “Was that a keyword or something?” He looked at Jason. “Should we have a code word in case something goes wrong tonight?”

Jason grinned and shrugged. “We could go with Rocky Road.”

“Right, because you own the ice cream shop.” Dylan followed the group out of the house and shutting the dogs inside. “Where are we goin’ anyway?”

“The Barn,” McKayla said at the same time Hazel said, “It’s a surprise.” She gave a little yelp. “McKayla. It was a surprise.”

“I didn’t know that.” She gave Hazel a sympathetic look. “But why is it a surprise?”

“Yeah,” Dylan said. “Why is it a surprise?”

“It just is.” They piled into the SUV and Jason drove them out of Grape Seed Falls about five minutes, where a huge red barn had been transformed into a bar and grill, complete with live music on the weekend as the massive sign out front advertised.

Dylan put all the pieces together as soon as they walked in. There was a live band, yes, but the man standing at the mic said, “Karaoke signups are with your waiters or waitresses, so don’t be shy!”

“I’m not doing that,” he said immediately, unsurprised by the glee on Hazel’s face. “I’ll dance. I’m not singing.”

“Oh, come on.” She took one of his hands in both of hers and dragged him a little further inside. “You can whistle. I’ll sing.”

He scoffed, but he wasn’t sure how long he could say no to Hazel. She was so beautiful, and so playful, and Dylan liked the way she made him feel alive. Made him do things he wouldn’t normally do. But even he had his limits.

“Let’s eat first,” McKayla said. “The band will play for the first hour anyway.”

A hostess led them to a booth about as far from the stage as they could get, and Dylan took Hazel’s hand in his and leaned over as the other couple placed their drink orders. “Cowboy boyfriend? Is that what I am?”

She looked up at the waitress and ordered a diet cola, and he said, “Same,” without looking away from her.

“If you want the job.” She lifted her shoulder as if shrugging, but she nestled into Dylan’s chest—right where he wanted her and right where she belonged.

He resisted the urge to kiss her ear and instead whispered, “I want the job.”

“Great,” she said, the smile in her voice evident. “We’ll get you started with dancing—and karaoke.”