TURNED THE PAGE and put the edge of her dinner plate on the bottom of the book to hold it open. She hardly looked at her grilled salmon or the baby red potatoes, even though they were quite good. She’d been captured by a quiet cowboy on a mountain in Wyoming. Her eyes skimmed the pages hungrily, looking for the moment when he realized he was in love.
She was the heroine. Just like always.
Someone came into her peripheral vision, and she fought the urge to shoo them away with her hand. It was the waitress. Bella, her name tag read. A nice older woman, and Shelby smiled at her.
“Would you like a refill on your iced tea?”
“Please.”
Bella nodded, but Shelby could see her strain to read the title of the book. She flipped it closed, showing the woman the cover.
“Ah, that’s a good one,” she said. “I wish I could read it again for the first time.”
“I know just what you mean.”
“You let me know when you want me.”
“Thank you.” Shelby watched until Bella stopped at another table, then she opened her book once more. She found where she’d left off, and with each line, more of the restaurant disappeared. She could picture the mountain, the sky, the lightning. Mostly she could picture the hero. His gray eyes. His dark, thick hair. His angular nose and chin. His butt made for jeans.
She sighed as she turned another page. A child’s giggle, high-pitched, broke into her space, but Shelby pushed it away. She didn’t want to listen to children. Not tonight. Focusing more fully, she went back to the book and reread the last line. Once more, the giggle slipped in.
If it was going to be like that, she was going to finish her dinner quickly and get back to her room. It had been ages since she’d stayed up late to finish a book. Too much to do at Austin Eats. But tonight, she was going to indulge herself. A hot bath, a cold drink and her cowboy all night long.
The giggle came again, closer this time. She shoved the bookmark in place and closed the novel. She’d finished over half her meal, which was somewhat surprising. Now to finish the other half and leave.
The laughter commenced at her first bite, and Shelby couldn’t stand it any longer. She was going to find the child’s mother and give her a stern look. Which wasn’t fair. Kids had to eat, too. Hadn’t she been concerned about just that a few hours ago? Well, the look wouldn’t be that stern.
She scanned the tables to her right, but there were no children at any of them. There were three other booths like hers, and she could see two of them. No kids.
The giggle came again. No, wait. It wasn’t one giggle. It was two.
She turned slowly until she could see the booth directly behind hers.
Scout and Jem stared over the banquette, grins as wide as the Missouri.
“What on earth?”
“We came to get you,” Scout said.
Jem gave her an angry scowl. “You’re not supposed to say that.”
“I know.”
“You do not!”
“Kids,” Shelby said, “It’s okay.” She couldn’t see beyond them, but she knew Gray had to be on the opposite side of the booth. She wasn’t at all sure how to feel about this. Did he come here out of guilt? Out of pity?
“I’m getting pisgetti,” Scout announced, “and Jem’s getting a hamburger.”
“They both sound delicious.” Her neck wasn’t going to last much longer in this position. She could turn and pretend to ignore them, but that felt silly. Asking them to join her didn’t mean anything. It was only one meal, after all. “Why don’t you come here to this table? And you can bring your uncle with you.”
The twins scrambled out of the booth and scooted into hers before Gray stood up. He came to her side wearing a sheepish smile. “I know we’re intruding.”
“It’s all right.”
“Is it?”
She nodded. It was all right. At least, she hoped it would be. The urge to check her T-shirt, to make sure she was completely covered, was more than she could withstand, and her hand went to her waist. Gray caught the action, but he didn’t comment. Instead, he scooted in next to Jem.
“How’s the salmon?”
“Good.”
“It’s a pretty nice place.”
“Yes.”
“The kids haven’t been here in a long time, so I thought…”
“It’s all right.”
He sighed as he shook his head. “I’m sorry. It was a stupid thing to do. I just hated that—” He stopped midsentence.
She had to give it to him, though. Usually when people found themselves in this position, their eyes got all panicky and their cheeks burned with embarrassment. Gray seemed only mildly uncomfortable.
“I hated the way you left,” he said finally.
“I didn’t mean to upset you. It wasn’t personal. I knew you could handle everything and…” She was the one who stopped this time. She couldn’t lie. She didn’t think he could handle the children all that well, and she wasn’t anxious to get on with her vacation. “I left because I was embarrassed,” she admitted, utterly shocked at her own honesty.
Gray leaned forward, his hand halfway across the table. “I do understand. You don’t know me. But I hope you can believe I wasn’t upset. I mean, I was upset because it’s clear you were hurt, but I didn’t mind.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m saying this badly.”
“No, you’re not. It’s a difficult thing to talk about.”
“Uncle Gray, can I have a Coke?”
He nodded without looking at Jem.
“Can I have one, too?” Scout asked.
He nodded once more, but his attention never really shifted from Shelby. “Is it uncomfortable for you to tell me what happened?”
“No.” She cleared her throat, then shifted on the banquette. “I was nine. It was Halloween, and I was trick-or-treating with my brothers and sister. I was Pocahontas, complete with fringed dress. At Mrs. Winston’s house, I stood too close to the jack-o’-lantern, and the fringe caught fire. It happened very quickly. By the time my father raced up and got me on the ground, my back had third-degree burns. I was in the hospital for months. What you saw were skin grafts. All together, I had five operations.”
Gray didn’t say anything for a long moment. His gaze didn’t waver at all. “I’m sorry.”
“Me, too.”
“I can’t imagine it. Literally. I can’t conceive of going through something like that and coming out whole on the other end.”
Whole? Was she? “You do what you have to do.”
The waitress came back, and for the next few minutes, everyone concentrated on dinner. Shelby used the opportunity to audit herself. She wasn’t upset. She wasn’t even uncomfortable. In a strange way, telling him the story had made her more relaxed. He was so physically perfect she never would have guessed she’d react this way. Usually, when she was around that kind of beauty, she pretended she didn’t have a body at all. But with Gray she was incredibly aware of her body and his.
He got to her. He made her fluttery inside, anxious, but not in a bad way. If she was going to be completely honest, she’d have to admit that he turned her on like a radio. None of it made any sense. She’d run from him because he’d seen her scars, so why, just a few hours later, did she feel this intense sexual heat? She wasn’t going to sleep with him. She knew,