Kissin' Tell (Rough Riders #13)(12)

She shook her head.


Well didn’t that just present some interesting possibilities? “Fill me in on the last ten years in the life of Georgia Hotchkiss.”


“If I bare all, McKay, you’d better be willing to do the same.”


“Oh, I don’t have a problem baring anything, sweetness.”


She blushed.


Huh. How about that.


Once they’d been served their drinks, Georgia said, “When was the last time we saw each other?”


“After graduation. That night at the lake.” She’d shown up in skintight Daisy Duke short-shorts and an icy-blue tank top that matched her eyes. He’d stood by the bonfire, mesmerized by the golden glow reflecting on her beautiful face, taking her from the realm of a pretty woman to that of a goddess. She’d only stayed long enough to forever burn that image of her in his mind.


“My life. Let’s see… Deck and I got married the month after graduation. RJ died the next summer. Then my mom left my dad. I was divorced from Deck by my twenty-first birthday. I finished college in Laramie and got a job in Dallas. That’s it.”


Okay. Maybe he’d expected more. But…she had boiled it down to the basics.


She took a drink. “You know, I was so self-involved back then I have no idea if you went to college.”


Tell shook his head.


“Why not? You were definitely smart enough. You graduated at the top of our class.”


“There were only a hundred and thirty kids in our class,” he said dryly.


“You never considered it?”


Even though ten years had passed, Tell couldn’t confess there’d been no money for college. “I’m a generational Wyoming rancher. My life choices were decided for me when I was born.” He sipped his beer. “But I did take off the summer I turned nineteen. Spent three months on the southwest rodeo circuit. Considered going pro.” Part of him hadn’t wanted to come back. But he’d felt guilty about leaving all the ranch work to his brothers, and he’d missed Wyoming more than he thought possible.


“That was the summer RJ died.” She started picking at the cocktail napkin. An air of sadness softened her brusque demeanor.


It ripped at him, but Tell knew how that felt. Putting on a brave face or a funny face because that’s what was expected. He covered her hand. “I’m so damn sorry.”


Georgia didn’t pull away from his touch. “Did you know my father went off the deep end two months after RJ’s funeral?” Her gaze met his again. “Sorry. This is all old news to you. I’m sure the town gossips had a field day.”


“I never heard anything about it,” he lied.


“I don’t know which is worse. Being the object of gossip. Or no one caring enough to gossip about you.”


He had no idea what to say to that.


The band started tuning up.


Her melancholy mood disappeared and she offered him a dazzling smile that set off his warning bells. “Enough about me. So you’re ranching?”


“Yep.”


“You raising Black Angus? Or Herefords?”


Tell studied her. It’d been a while but he still recognized the switch—cranking the charm on high meant she wanted something from him. Time to let her know he wasn’t the gullible teen boy he’d been. “Do you really care?”


That caught her by surprise. “Yes. Why would I ask if I didn’t?”


“’Cause small talk ain’t ever been your style.”


She didn’t deny it.


He took it a step further. “Besides, I get the feeling you came here tonight lookin’ for me.”


“Cocky much? I didn’t ask you to join me, Tell. So feel free to leave.”


And that retort was so old-school Georgia-like he had to grin. “There’s the glare I remember. I prefer it to that fake flirting thing you do.”


“Fake flirting? You don’t think much of me, do you, McKay?”


“I haven’t seen you in a decade and I ain’t gonna pretend I know you. Likewise, you don’t know me. So you oughta understand that I’m a straight-shooter. If you wanna continue this conversation, you’d best be up front about what you want from me, without dousing me with your feminine wiles.”



Georgia laughed. “Now I remember why I always liked you.”


“Because I was easily manipulated?”


“I see you’re still tossing off those one-liners every chance you get in an attempt to charm and distract.”


Ouch. He deserved that. It surprised him that she remembered that about him. He smiled. “Now we’re getting someplace. So spill it, hot lips.”


“You are right. I did come to the bar tonight looking for you to ask if you’re going to the class reunion in two weeks.”


“I’d planned on going to the Saturday night stuff, but not the Friday family picnic.”


“Do you have a date?”


Why did his heart rate spike? “Not yet. Why?”