Beauty and the Bull Rider (Hotel Rodeo #3)(25)

“Works for me,” he answered.

“Then I’ll see you later.”

The rest of Delaney’s day was a whirlwind of activity, beginning with the ranching co-op and ending with a trip to Duncan to pick up Romeo from the vet clinic. By the time she got home, unloaded her bull, and finished her chores, she had hardly any time to get ready for her date with Zac. Date? She paused. When had it become that? Regardless of what she chose to call it, she applied a touch more makeup than she had the last time and fluffed her hair with a bit of spray. It was more primping then she’d done in ages, but she refused to think too hard about her reasons.

Thankfully, clothes weren’t a hard decision. Jeans were all that filled her closet anymore. She pulled on a pair of butt-boosting Wranglers, and a button-up blouse, then slipped into her favorite boots, a comfortable pair of Ropers.

She was just getting ready to leave when her canine choir announced an arrival. A glance out the window revealed Zac’s black dually. She met him outside as he pulled into the drive. He hopped out of his truck and gave her a once-over with an appreciative smile.

“My, my, Miz McCall, you put the very sun in the shade.”

“I never knew you were a flatterer, Zac.”

“I’m not,” he said. “I just call it as I see it.”

She cocked her head in confusion. “What are you doing here?”

“You didn’t change your mind about dinner, did you?”

“No,” she replied. “I was just about to drive over.”

“Then I got here just in time,” he said.

“In time for what?” she asked.

“To pick you up,” he replied.

Secretly flattered, she shook her head in mock exasperation. “I can drive myself, Zac.”

“I know that, but last I knew, it was still proper protocol to pick a woman up when taking her out.”

“Taking me out?” She shook her head in confusion. “I thought it was just a dinner at home.”

His mouth compressed. “Does the idea of a date with me make you that uneasy?”

She blew out a breath. “Yes, it does, all right? I had a plan, Zac, and it didn’t include dating.”

“Had is the operative word,” he replied. “Sometimes things don’t happen exactly the way we expect them to, but that’s not always a bad thing. C’mon. Let’s go. I’m glad you wore jeans and boots. A dress sure would have put a damper on things.”

“Why’s that?” she asked.

“You’ll see,” he said cryptically and opened her door. Zac’s musky, masculine scent washed over her the instant he climbed into the cab and closed the door. Her gaze tracked over his strong profile, down his torso to his tanned and muscled forearms, and then to the strong, calloused hands that confidently gripped the wheel. She wondered how those hands would feel stroking her naked body. She tried to ignore her reactions to him, but being this close to Zac ignited a flicker of desire deep in her belly.

This is a mistake. Such a big mistake.

“How’s Romeo doing?” he asked as they pulled out of her private drive and turned onto the road leading to Tom’s place.

“He’s better,” she said, glad for a neutral subject. “He was bellowing up a storm when I picked him up. I think he was homesick. Kevin wanted to keep him one more day to be on the safe side, but I think he’s on the mend.”

Zac’s expression grew tense. “Tell me, Delaney, is there something going on between you and that vet? Something I should know about?”

“Like what?” she asked, surprised and a bit ruffled by the direct question.

“You tell me. I don’t like the way he looks at you.”

“And you want to know if I return his interest?” Delaney asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “I think I deserve to know.”

“All right, Zac. If you really must know, we were sort of seeing each other for a short time.”

“Sort of seeing one another?” He glanced at her, mouth compressed. “There’s no sort of, Delaney. Either you were or you weren’t.”

She fought a smile at this not-so-subtle show of jealousy. “He invited me to go with him to a conference on bovine reproduction last year,” she said. “It wasn’t technically dating.”

“Oh yeah?” His brows rose. “Where was this conference?”

“Padre Island.”

His brows drew tight, making a crease over the bridge of his nose. “Did you go with him?”

“Yes. We drove together.”

He shook his head with a muffled curse. “Let me get this straight. You went away together for a few days yet turned down my invitation to go to Laredo to look at livestock?”

“We didn’t go away together, Zac. I told you it was a conference. It was extremely . . . edifying,” she replied, suppressing a smirk. Since he was beginning to act like a jealous jackass, she’d purposely chosen a word to bait him.

He snorted. “I’ll bet.”

“You want to know if we slept together, Zac? Is that what this mini interrogation is all about?”

“Yes,” he answered, turning his head to face her squarely. “Did you?”

“No,” she replied. “Not that it’s any of your business. I respect Kevin as a vet and value his friendship, but I don’t have any romantic interest in him.”