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He tipped the brim of his hat back and winked at her. “You’re not going to run out on me, are you?”

“I … Don’t … I …”

He chuckled and reached across to touch her arm. “I’m only asking if we can sit here and talk for a while. My whole family got to hang out with you tonight – I missed out.”

She relaxed. “Okay.”

His gorgeous smile made her wonder for one crazy moment if she should ask him to come inside with her. But no. She was looking forward to seeing the others again tomorrow night and if she and Tanner … Well, it could get awkward. If he spent the night with her, he probably wouldn’t want her hanging around again.

“So, Everly from Napa, since it seems like you don’t want to tell me why you’re here, tell me something else.”

There were so many things that she didn’t want to share, she couldn’t even think of any safe and neutral details. “What do you want to know?”

Her tummy flipped over when he flashed his gorgeous smile at her and said, “Everything.”

Chapter Four

Tanner felt as though someone had stuck a spoon inside his head and given his thoughts a good stirring. He couldn’t think straight. There were a dozen questions he wanted to ask. He hadn’t lied when he said he wanted to know everything about Everly. At the same time, he had a whole bunch of questions for himself. Primarily, he wanted to know what the hell was going on with him. Why did he feel the desperate need to keep her sitting out here in the truck with him to talk?

He wouldn’t admit it to anyone except his brothers, but there had been a time – granted, it was when he was younger – that he used to time how long it took between leaving Chico with a girl and getting her into bed. He wasn’t proud of that – not anymore – but it still felt more normal to him than what he was doing right now.

He’d turned in his seat to face Everly, and she’d done the same. With any other woman, he would be leaning across the console toward her, and her lips would be eagerly waiting to meet his.

Everly wasn’t anything like the women he was used to. Yes, she’d turned in her seat, but she leaned back against the door and pulled one of her knees up in front of her.

She hadn’t spoken a word since he’d blurted out that he wanted to know everything there was to know about her.

After a long few moments, she smiled. “You’re going to need to be more specific.”

He chuckled. “Okay, let’s go with the easy stuff first. From what you said, it sounds like you work behind a bar?”

“I do. I… I’ve worked there for a few years now. It’s a fun place. I used to work in a small hotel. I loved it there, but they were bought out by a big chain, and it wasn’t the same after that. What about you? Is Chico your full-time job?”

“No. It’s just for fun.” He narrowed his eyes at her when she laughed. “What? Why are you laughing at me?”

“You know damn well why. I bet you get all the fun you can handle and more.”

He dropped his chin and looked up at her from under his eyelashes. “I’m not going to deny it.”

“Good. Why should you? I’m not judging you. And by the way? You don’t need to give me the puppy dog look and bat your long eyelashes at me.”

He had to laugh. “Damn! And I thought that would help. Are you going to call me on all my shit?”

“I sure am. But go on, if working behind the bar is just for fun, what’s your real job?”

He waggled his eyebrows and said, “I run the stud.”

She burst out laughing. “Excuse me? You do what?”

“I didn’t say I am a stud.”

“What do you mean then?”

“Horses. We breed them. The ranch is a cattle ranch, but I was always more about horses than cattle. We started a breedingprogram when I was in high school, and ever since I came home that’s been my full-time job.”

“Came home? From where?”

He gave her a rueful smile. “I’m not sure that I want to tell you. You’ll think that I’m just bragging again.”