Page 14 of Hometown Cowboy
She shrugged off her coat, sank down into the strewn hay in the open room beside the lunchroom and dipped her cracker into the huge jar of vegemite. Huge piles of neatly stacked hay sat around them, a few open bales having spread over the concrete floor where they had dropped.
She scooped up a huge amount of vegemite and popped it into her mouth. After the initial flavour-shock, she grinned. Ryan cringed and dropped his own jacket to the floor, sitting beside her. He grabbed a few of the Jatz crackers out of the box and dipped them into the small jar of homemade jam he’d found.
“Well, that’s it then. No kissing for you,” he mumbled around a mouthful of food.
Darby choked and spluttered. She grabbed the mug of water they’d brought with them from the lunchroom.
She swallowed carefully and tried to calm the coughing. Ryan’s laughter, along with his hand hitting her back, had her frowning at him.
“I hadn’t realised that was on the itinerary.”
“You don’t think I wear fancy duds like this for the cows, do you?” he asked, gesturing at his clothes.
Darby raised an eyebrow and got a proper look at his clothes for the first time since arriving at Gabe’s.
Neat, previously clean beige slacks were topped with a mint-green, short-sleeved dress shirt.
Her stomach somersaulted. Hehaddressed up. She wasn’t sure what to say, so took another small sip of water to gather her thoughts.
Had he been coming to see her, after all? Her gut tightened, tiny bubbles of anticipation swirling through her.
“I don’t think I’ve seen you out of jeans for years, except at the wedding. What brought this on?”
Ryan’s huge smile erupted a massive flock of butterflies in her stomach. “I couldn’t come calling on Darby Jameson in jeans now, could I?” His face lost its amusement and his eyes softened. “I was coming to talk to you. You know, about last night.”
Darby swallowed with difficulty, then shrugged, looking away. The thundering rain sheeted down over the doorway that led to where their cars were parked. The storm hadn’t let up one bit.
“What’s to talk about? We had some fun. So what?”
Ryan’s soft chuckle sent goosebumps racing over her arms. “So what, she says. Nothing about last night was normal. You left pretty early, I wanted to see if everything was okay.”
Darby fiddled with the crackers and poked a broken one deep into the vegemite jar. She pulled it up and twisted her mouth at the sight of black goop encompassing the whole thing.
“Of course it is. More than okay. It’s bloody fantastic.” She looked up when he didn’t respond.
“I’m not sure if that’s supposed to be sarcastic, or if you’re telling me the truth. I’m having a hard time reading this, Darb.”
Darby sighed and poked the dismembered cracker back into the vegemite. She’d leave it there for the moment; she’d lost her appetite.
“A bit of both, probably.” She smiled half-heartedly at Ryan. “Seriously, it’s all good. I had a great night. I needed to get going early for work and you were sleeping. I didn’t know whether to wake you or not. So, I didn’t.”
She fiddled with a stem of hay. Ryan took both her hands in his. “You can look at me, you know. I’m not gonna bite you. Unless you ask me to, of course.” At her startled look, he chuckled. “When I woke and you were gone, I wasn’t sure if it was because you wanted to pretend it didn’t happen, or because you were embarrassed.”
“I wasn’t embarrassed. Not really. More that I didn’t know if I was supposed to leave before you woke up. I’m not used to one-night stands. I don’t know the protocol. You know, get out before he wakes so he doesn’t have to deal with an awkward situation, or with regrets.”
Ryan was silent a moment. “I don’t regret it. Do you? And it wouldn’t have been awkward. Well, not on my side anyway. I would’ve been quite happy to wake up with you.”
Relief and not a small amount of excitement fizzled through her blood. She hadn’t expected to hear him say that.
“I don’t regret it either. In fact, it was rather wonderful.”
His grin stretched his full mouth. He had the most kissable lips she’d ever seen. He noticed her stare.
“You want to kiss me?”
She watched his mouth make the words. “Yes.”
He leaned in closer. “Then what are you waiting for?”