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He studied the depths of his coffee as the chocolate melted off the cookie and swirled around. “I don’t know,” he said. “I have this…fizzy feeling about you, and I just don’t know how casual I can be.”

Misty met his eyes, her eyebrows raised. “Fizzy feeling?”

Link’s face heated, and he suddenly wanted to leave. Maybe Momma will text, he thought. Please Lord, let Momma text.

His phone remained stubbornly silent, almost like God was telling Link he’d gotten himself into this mess, and he could get himself out.

“It’s okay,” he finally said, looking up. “I get it.” He ate his cookie while Misty watched, and when he offered her another one, she shook her head no again.

She studied him for several long moments, and Link didn’t know what to say or do. “All right, cowboy. Give me your phone.”

Link wasn’t sure why, and his first inclination was to deny her. Then he realized she was giving him her number, and he yanked his phone out of his back pocket and put it in her waiting palm.

“I can’t tomorrow night,” she said as she tapped on his device. “But now you’ve got my number and we can….” She looked up, those brilliant green eyes sparkling. “Talk.”

“Sure.” Link swallowed. “We’ll talk.”

His phone chimed while Misty still held it, and she said, “Oh, your momma just texted. Dinner is ready.” She grinned wider and wider. “Cute. Do you eat with your family every night?” She handed his phone back to him, and Link took it with burning blood in his veins.

“I’m picking it up tonight,” he said. “And yeah, I’ll eat with them tonight, because I’m not turning down a free meal, I’ll tell you that. But otherwise, no. I don’t live with them, and I don’t eat with them every night.”

“I didn’t mean?—”

“It’s okay,” Link said, sighing after. “I just heard myself say that, and I didn’t mean to be so short.” He offered her a smile, feeling so out of his element. Maybe he needed more practice dating other women before he took on someone like Misty.

He snapped a to-go lid over his coffee and stood. “I do have to go, though. If Momma doesn’t feed the littles on time, they’ll stage a coup.”

Misty giggled. “How many kids in your family?” She stood and started cleaning up her trash too.

“Five,” Link said. “I’m the oldest, and my youngest sibling is ten.”

“Wow, that’s a big span.” Misty hid all her questions inside that statement.

Link nodded. “Yeah, it’s a whole story.” He met her eyes. “I’ll have to tell you about it when we go out.”

“Oh, so you’re back to asking me out?”

Link moved closer to her, glad when she didn’t move away. “I’ll be as casual as you want.” He swept his lips along her cheek, that wild streak inside him now controlling his every move. “I’ll text you later.”

“Sure,” she murmured, everything about her very still now. Link wasn’t sure what she felt, but every cell in his body burned with desire.

He pulled back, gathered up his cookies and coffee, and nodded his cowboy hat at her. “Great to see you again.”

She blinked, and she did seem somewhat surprised. Shocked? Dumbfounded? Link honestly didn’t know.

“You too,” she said, and Link left her standing at the table when his phone rang and his momma’s name sat there.

“I’m on the way,” he said almost breathlessly. He looked over his shoulder at Misty, who still stood next to the metal table. “Momma, I’m dying. I got the cookies and went to Latte Love, the coffee trailer-truck-thing. Right?”

“Link,” Momma said. “Take a breath. Why are you dying?”

Link started jogging, and that did nothing to help his breathlessness. He just needed to make it back to his truck before he could talk. He did, and he set the coffee in the console and tossed the cookies onto the passenger seat.

“Link,” Momma said. “Talk, son.”

He vaulted into the truck and pulled the door closed, his pulse beating, hammering, throbbing through his whole body. “Momma, I met this woman at the summer dance months ago, and she was at the coffee truck. I saw her, and I just went right over there and sat down next to her.”

Momma said nothing, which wasn’t that unusual for her when it came to Link and women. Daddy had been handling those things with Link for years.