and headed his way. “Dylan, those are two cute babies you’ve got there.”
“I’m not a baby,” Callie informed Vera, her little mouth turning in a serious frown. “I’m four.”
Vera took the seat next to Callie. “Well, that makes you almost grown, doesn’t it? And what are you going to eat today, Sugar Plum?”
“I’m having chicken strips and fries. Cash needs green beans.”
Dylan pulled off his hat and swiped a hand through hair that needed to be cut. His gaze shifted from the little girl sitting across from him to the woman on the other side of the restaurant.
He should invite her to sit with them. Even if she didn’t want to take him up on his offer.
“What are you looking at, Dylan Cooper?” Vera leaned in a little. Nothing got past Vera.
“I was thinking I should invite Harmony Cross to sit with us. We have an extra chair—” the one Vera was occupying “—and she looks pretty lonely.”
Vera glanced back at Harmony, then shot him a knowing look. “Is that the way the wind is blowing?”
“There ain’t no wind in Oklahoma that strong, Vera. I’m just being neighborly. Could you watch these two for a minute?”
Vera laughed but nodded her agreement, and Dylan scooted his chair back and headed Harmony’s direction. She looked up from the menu and glared at him as he sat down across from her.
“Eating alone isn’t good for a person’s digestion,” he said, using an old line that had gotten him more than one date over the years. Harmony Cross just laughed.
“It’s a truce, Dylan, not a courtship.”
“I know that, I was just being...”
“Charming?”
For the first time in a long while, the smile on his face came easily. “Yeah, that’s me, Mr. Charming.”
“I don’t remember that being your nickname.”
“No, probably not. But you might as well join me and the kids for supper.”
“Because you think you’re full of good ideas. Like I didn’t hear that waitress tell you she’d help you find a wife.”
“Keep your voice down,” he whispered. “And it is a good idea.”
“It might be.”
He stood up, offering her his hand and she took it. Her hand was small and soft in his. He hadn’t expected to really feel anything. He definitely hadn’t expected the strange surge of protectiveness or the odd urge to hold her close.
He guessed if she knew what he was thinking, she would have sat back down and refused to ever speak to him again. Instead he worked on remaining charming and nothing more. He didn’t need attachments and he guessed she didn’t, either.
But taking her to his table would give everyone in town the notion that he and Harmony Cross were becoming attached.
Attached.
He could tell them all, if they asked, why a man would be attached to Harmony. Or want to be attached. It would have to do with the soft hand in his, the warmth of her smile and the sweet, floral scent that wrapped him up and drew him even closer.
A green bean smacked him in the face, and that dose of reality helped him get back to the man he knew he was. He pulled out a chair for Harmony and removed himself enough to take a deep breath.
Chapter Three
After a meal spent sitting next to Dylan as he cajoled the two children into eating vegetables, and even forced her to finish her fries, Harmony walked out the door of the Mad Cow. She knew that their departure would set off a firestorm of talk. She convinced herself she didn’t care. It had been a good hour of being entertained and not thinking. It was exactly what she’d needed, in ways Dylan Cooper wouldn’t have known.
The sun had set and the evening air was cooler with a breeze kicking up from the north. It didn’t matter what people were saying. For tonight, Harmony had enjoyed herself.
Dylan held on to the two children, Callie and Cash. She watched him wrangle them, holding their hands and keeping calm as he led them across the parking lot.
“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” he asked as he opened the truck door and hefted Cash with one arm.
“Compared to what, a tetanus shot?” she teased.
She unlocked her door and waited as he put the children in their car seats. As much as she wanted to sit down, she didn’t. Instead she backed against her car and watched him lean inside the truck. His husky voice carried as he talked to the kids about bedtime and baths. He sounded for all the world like a man who had been a dad for a long time. As much as he smiled and joked, though, she’d noticed the weariness evident in his face, in eyes that looked as if they’d seen too much of life.
He finished with the kids, then mirrored her, backing against his truck as if they had all night.
He pushed his hat back and she could see his too-handsome face. Traitorous memories returned, of the one kiss they’d shared. Even though it had ended with him teasing her, it had still been a kiss a girl couldn’t forget.
“So, what do you think?”
She opened her car door and sat down. If he was going to take forever, she needed a seat. “About?”
Of course she knew he meant his idea. And she had yet to tell him she’d already put his plan into action, letting Wyatt and Rachel Johnson think that Dylan’s help was the only help she’d need.
He moved away from the truck and squatted next to her as she sat in her car, hitching up his jeans as he bent long legs. “Tonight worked out well. You didn’t have to eat alone, dodging people asking how you’re doing. I escaped more discussions on prospective wives. I saw Wyatt and Rachel Johnson’s truck heading up to your place a while ago. I guess that isn’t their first visit?”
“No, it isn’t.”
“I heard my mom say she’s coming by tomorrow to check on you.”
“I love your mom.”
“But you don’t need a daily check-in.”
She smiled at that. “No, I don’t.”
He stood and leaned on the side of her car, bending down to look in at her. The distraction of his Old West looks, mountain-man cologne and cinnamon gum kept her from hearing what he said. She had to focus.
“You did agree to sit with me tonight.”
She smiled up at him. “I might have already told Wyatt Johnson that we’re helping each other out.”
“Perfect. So that’s it, we’re an item now.”
His easy statement shocked her.
“No!” The word rushed out. “I’m not interested in being half of a couple.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to buy you a ring. But I will be here if you need me. I’ll help you out with that horse. I’ll mow your lawn. Whatever it is people are lining up to do for you, I’m your huckleberry. And if you want to fix me a roast for dinner, that’s even better.”
“You think I cook now?”
“Probably not.”
That hurt. “Well, I do.”
He winked. “Don’t get all upset, Princess, I’m teasing. I have to go, but you think about what I’ve said. I’ll be over tomorrow.”
He leaned into the car and kissed her cheek, surprising her. “Dylan, don’t.”
“Just a good-night kiss from a friend. Call if you