Hometown Holiday by Caro Carson

Author:Caro Carson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

The last thing Kristen needed was more sugar. She was already bouncing off the diner’s walls with excitement, because Ryan was here.

He’s really here.

Just when she’d given up hope, he’d arrived, and gosh, what a reunion. He’d said everything she could have wanted to hear. He’d missed her. He’d come specifically to see her.

Then there was that kiss on the sidewalk. The memory of kissing Ryan and the reality of kissing Ryan were two entirely different things. Every second had been worth a month of missing him. Everything was okay now. Absolutely everything.

She took her gaze off Ryan just long enough to scoop the whipped cream off the top of her pie and eat it all in one bite, sugar be damned, and then she went back to devouring Ryan with her eyes.

Dear God, he looked good. He was dark-haired and dark-eyed, just like she remembered, and his tan hadn’t faded despite the November weather. He still had that air about him that set him apart from the other cowboys in town. Something more sophisticated, maybe. A great haircut, a killer overcoat that even looked good hanging on the wall hook next to hers. The sweater he wore with his jeans almost looked like cashmere. If they ever put a rodeo man on the cover of GQ, her Ryan would be the perfect model. He had the strong jaw and an expression that didn’t look like he laughed easily—but, oh, when he did, the camera must love him.

A camera. She jumped up to retrieve her phone from her coat’s pocket and plopped back into the booth across from Ryan.

“I’m not making the same mistakes this time. Say cheese.”

He didn’t. Or rather, she didn’t give him a chance to say cheese, but she got a wonderful shot of that one raised eyebrow and the quirk of his lips when he was going to smile, but hadn’t started actually smiling yet.

She hit the symbols on her phone to make Ryan’s image her wallpaper, setting it as her lock screen and home screen, both. “Much better. Sometimes, I was afraid I’d imagined you. Fortunately, the whole town seemed to have seen us sitting on that stage, eating barbecue, so I knew I wasn’t crazy.” Laughing, she looked up to find him watching her with a too-serious expression.

He laid his hand on the table, palm up, and she gave him her phone. He dialed a number, and within seconds, she heard a traditional, classic ring coming from the coat rack across the room. He disconnected the call and set her phone on the table. She felt relieved, knowing they had each other’s numbers now.

“Much better,” he said, gently echoing her words. “There was no one around me who knew you existed. I think it did make me a little crazy.”

She put her hand in his and squeezed hard.

“I should have come sooner.” The regret in his voice was painful to hear.

“You were working.” She racked her brain for the California rodeos, information she hadn’t thought of since freshman year of high school.

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