on the rodeo circuit, either. Her days as a fourteen-year-old fan were long behind her. Now she was the woman who’d fed a man cake while he’d devoured her with his eyes. That man was the person she wanted to get to know.
She only had today to do it. One day for him to decide if he’d ever come back to Rust Creek Falls—or rather, one day for her to decide if she ought to convince him.
One day that could decide the rest of their lives.
Kristen missed the feel of having Ryan’s arms around her, but even the most die-hard dancers had to take a break when the band stopped playing.
As the next band set up its equipment, Kristen got to know more about Ryan than the clean smell of his dress shirt and the way their bodies fit together in a slow dance. Sitting together on a corner of the stage, they discussed everything from favorite sports teams to favorite seasons. She loved the Green Bay Packers and Christmas. He preferred the New York Yankees and summer. He was the middle child of three; she was the baby of five—even if she was only separated from number four by a few minutes. His siblings didn’t live in the same state as he did; her entire family lived in the same town.
“In other words,” Kristen said, “we have everything in common.”
“A perfectly logical conclusion.” Ryan kept his expression perfectly serious, too, although she knew he was teasing her.
“It is.” She polished off her punch and set her cup down, prepared to check off her conclusions one by one on her fingers. “We both enjoy watching professional sports. We each have one sister. We each have at least one older brother. We talk to our families all the time.”
That made four. She wiggled her pinky finger, the last one she hadn’t checked off. “And we both love to dance. Like I said, we’ve got everything in common.”
His slow smile was just about the sexiest thing about him, and considering everything about him was sexy, that was saying something. “I have no objection to any of that. But for the sake of accuracy, and to give myself an excuse to keep watching a beautiful woman as she makes an animated argument, I have to point out that our preferred seasons are opposites.”
“That is a fact.” Kristen was never one to back down from a challenge. She lowered her voice. “Having one thing we don’t agree on keeps it...interesting.”
His gaze dropped to her mouth. He was interested, all right.
“Differences can be good. For example, you’re a boy. I’m a girl.” She pointed at his chest, then at hers, his gaze dropping farther, down to where she pressed her finger to her heart. “You’re summer, I’m Christmas.”
Just as their eyes had met over the head of that white horse, his gaze suddenly left her finger and focused right on her. He looked serious for real this time, no joke to it. “I believe if anyone could make Christmas better, it would be you.”
Kristen leaned in a little closer. “If every Fourth of July could be spent with you, I’d start to look forward to summer as soon as the first snow fell.”
He was going to kiss her. Right here, sitting on the edge of the stage in the middle of the town’s celebration, he was going to kiss her, and she felt her heart beating under her own fingertip in anticipation.
But he didn’t. In silence, he looked at her for one second longer, then lifted his cup to her in a salute, and downed his punch.
“Hi, Kristen.”
She looked up to see one of the guys from her high school drama club days standing over her with his guitar.
“My band’s on for the next hour. Make sure you clap even if we suck, okay?”
“You’ll be great.” Kristen stood along with Ryan, and yielded the stage with a wave of her hand. “It’s all yours. Break a leg.”
The dance floor began filling up again. She spotted Kayla dancing with someone else Kristen hadn’t seen in a while, one of their brothers’ friends who’d been a few years ahead of them in high school.
High school. Again. She was twenty-five. She didn’t want her life to revolve around high school. Hadn’t she evolved since then?
Yes, of course she had. She was just overthinking everything.
There was something in the air today. The town seemed different somehow. Maybe because a police officer she didn’t recognize had walked past her, heading toward the fountain and the sounds of a fight, although public brawls were rare in Rust Creek Falls. Maybe because a high-stakes poker game had kicked off at the Ace in the Hole bar, and lots of rowdier folk were drifting that way. Members of the wedding party were sneaking off, too, headed for the park exit, where the groom’s truck was now parked in preparation for the getaway.
A getaway. It sounded appealing on one level, but she’d already been there, done that. She’d gotten a college degree, even lived in New York City one summer, and then returned to Rust Creek Falls by choice. She wasn’t stuck here; she was happy here. People visited and ended up staying permanently, which was proof enough that the town was great. If the Cowboy settled down here, maybe she’d feel more settled herself.
“Where do you want to go?” Ryan asked.
Kristen almost laughed at the timing. “Is that a trick question? Do you mean where do I want to go in life or just in the next five minutes?”
“They say the journey of a lifetime starts with a single step.” A smile teased the corners of his mouth. “I’ve always thought that put a lot of pressure on choosing where to step.”
“Let’s be daring and step this way, then.” She stood shoulder to shoulder with him and deliberately raised her knee high, then took a giant step in the direction of the fence where she’d sat with her sister, waiting for true love to arrive.
Those moments with her sister seemed prophetic now. Her emotions seemed wild and free today, swinging from a kind of drunken silliness to intensely important. Through it all, she’d had Ryan’s arm around her on the dance floor, Ryan sitting across from her at the table, Ryan walking beside her now, matching her stride for stride after that first silly step.
“I think the bride and groom are going to make a break for it,” Kristen said. “We can wave goodbye from the fence.” The fireworks wouldn’t begin until after ten since the sun set so late in July, but Kristen had noticed the newest Traub couple saying goodbye to their bridesmaids and groomsmen.
“I guess they’re not too worried about seeing fireworks tonight,” she said. “Maybe they’ll watch them from the balcony of Maverick Manor. That’s where they’re staying. They’ll fly out tomorrow on their honeymoon.”
“I’m sure they’ll see fireworks tonight.” Ryan kept his serious poker face in place as they reached the fence.
She did a little Groucho Marx imitation, wagging her eyebrows and pretending she held a cigar. “Fireworks? Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”
Ryan gave her a boost to sit on the top rail. His laughter was as warm and masculine as the brief touch of his hands on her waist. He stayed on the ground, leaning against the fence, and crossed his ankles as he settled in for the wait.
Kristen enjoyed the novel position of being able to look down on him. All that rich, dark hair, just waiting for her to mess up—and if she sat at just the right angle, she could see a bit of his chest below the unbuttoned V at his throat. He had no farmer’s tan, just more yummy bronzed skin...
He looked up at her, catching her staring.
She was so busted, but she didn’t bite her lip or blush or look away. She’d learned a long time ago to brazen out embarrassing situations.
“You were sitting right here when I first saw you,” he said.