Page 37 of Wyoming Heart

“Why did you have to get rid of him?”

She told him, relaxing more as she related the sad tale. At least she’d covered her bases by not mentioning Cort. And why she should be thinking about him and Ida was a puzzle. She didn’t even like him!

JAKEFLEWHERback home. It was late when the limousine he’d hired dropped her off at her front door.

“I had a very good time,” she said, clutching her purse in front of her. “Thanks.”

“I enjoyed it as well.” He slid his hands into his pockets and smiled down at her. “Galveston, next weekend?”

She laughed. “Well...okay.”

His heart lifted. He grinned from ear to ear. “That’s a date, then. I’ll pick you up about nine in the morning next Saturday.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

“When do you have to go back to New York?”

She told him. “In four weeks, I think, unless they change it. It’s to sign a new four-book contract,” she said, “and do a few local signings. And a satellite media tour.”

“A what?” he asked.

“Satellite media tour,” she said. “They have a makeup artist come in and work on me, then I sit in the room with a sound guy and a cameraman, and the guy in the booth makes the connections to television stations around the country. The hosts ask me questions and I try to answer them. It takes a long time.”

“I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

She smiled. “I hadn’t either, until I did the first one. But now I don’t mind so much. And I can pump the people at the television station we broadcast from. I learn all sorts of things from stories they tell me about other people they’ve worked with.”

“Sounds fascinating.”

“It certainly is, to a small-town girl who’s never been anywhere.” She laughed. “I keep thinking that one day I’ll wake up and all this will have been just a dream.”

“It’s no dream. Honest.” He checked his Rolex and grimaced. “I hate to run, but I’ve got a conference call incoming.”

“At this hour?” she asked, surprised.

“I do business all over the world. In some areas it’s morning.”

“I didn’t realize.”

“Life is a learning process,” he teased.

She grinned up at him. “I’ll say!”

“When you get ready to go to New York, I’ll fly you up,” he said.

She beamed. “That would be really nice of you.”

“I have ulterior motives,” he teased. “I know where all the good restaurants are in Manhattan.”

She laughed. “Okay.”

He laughed softly, too, and bent to touch his mouth to hers in a gentle, respectful kiss. “Good night, sweet woman.”

She flushed. “Good night.”

He sighed. She wasn’t going to love him, but she liked him. It was a foundation, of sorts, that he could build on. “See you next Saturday,” he said.

She nodded. “Next Saturday.”