Western Pleasure (The Texas Two-Step Series, a Novella) (5 page)

"Six o'clock okay?" At least that way, he'd have twenty-four-plus hours to come up with the courage once and for all to tell her how he felt. Twenty-four hours to find just the right words to make her his own.

Surely that would be enough time?

She nodded. "Perfect. See you then."

Jim stepped back as Ellen started her engine and drove away. Emptiness rattled in his stomach. Loneliness rang in his heart. And that blasted little voice growled in his ear.
Don't blow this.

He turned the change over in his pocket, hoping it would bring him luck.

Chapter 6

Ellen loved the aroma of her breaded steak cooking. From where she stood at the stove, she could turn her head just to the left and see Jim in the family room.

She couldn't help but enjoy this little scenario. As traditional as it was, she relished taking care of Jim by cooking a meal while he took care of her, tending to her laptop. She could get used to this small pleasure—for the rest of her life, if she were truthful.

Living her life with Jim in it came too naturally. The notion left her baffled. No sense in getting too used to this domestic harmony, however. After all, Jim's adventuresome streak would soon have him flying off to some other country and dating sophisticated women from all over the world.

As for her, she'd soon begin her own little adventure, dating other men.

As in, not Jim.

Her heart sank. The truth was they were merely playing house, enjoying each other's company, even if for a short while. Nothing more, nothing less. Although she sure wished it could be more.

The TV played softly in the background, but the sound of Jim happily humming as he worked drowned out the TV.

Ellen stirred the gravy, then turned around to pull her home-made biscuits from the oven. As she brought them to the marble-topped island countertop beside the embedded stovetop, she realized Jim had stopped humming.

He scrambled out of the recliner he'd been ensconced in. "Done."

"All set up already?"

"It took next to no time to connect it to the wireless network your cable company installed. Setting up your email was a piece of cake. I created a file for you with the user IDs and passwords you'll need."

"You think of everything." She couldn't help but admire him. He certainly knew his way around financial matters and the latest computer technology, but his cowboy boots and well-worn jeans reminded her that the man also knew his way around a ranch.

He could run rings around any financial report, or set up a computer in next to no time. She'd seen him in action, working a horse and wrangling a spooked calf—only to leave to wrap up a multi-million-dollar business deal. Thinking of him on that horse brought her attention to his mighty-fine physique.

She had to stop doing this. She had to stop thinking of him as anything other than merely a friend.

Yesterday, it had taken all of her strength to keep from grabbing Jim and accosting him there in the parking lot. She'd wanted to kiss him so badly it made her insides burn.

As if she'd silently summoned him, Jim crossed the room to the breakfast bar between the kitchen and family room. She watched him stand there on the other side of that bar. If only he'd leap over it and grab her into his arms and kiss her.

Instead, he remained firmly on his side.

She stayed on hers.

Maybe she should do the leaping, and fly into his arms.

The very boldness of such a move sent a tiny shock of terror down her body. What would he think of her?

He'd think she was a libido-driven desperate woman frantic for some attention.

And he wouldn't be far off.

No. She had to keep her head on straight. It was best the breakfast bar remained between them because if that handsome man came any closer to her she feared she would—

Jim positioned the laptop on the bar, sealing the deal. Cementing her resolve to keep her place.

He positioned the monitor so she could see it. The monitor on which she'd soon be looking at a dating website.

"You'll be able to sit comfortably anywhere in the house and work on your computer."

"Fabulous." Time to stop torturing herself with thoughts of what could be between them and enjoy exactly what they did have. "It's perfect timing. Dinner is ready."

They took their seats at the kitchen table, and Ellen was relieved to discover it wasn't too hard to simply chat with Jim about their daily events.

Once they completed dinner, Jim helped Ellen with the dishes again. But this time, she'd been smart and had fed dirty dishes into the dishwasher as she'd used them, so fewer were left to do after dinner. Yet in that short time, having him standing so close evoked such an intimate feeling her knees nearly buckled.

When she closed the dishwasher door, Jim again stepped a little closer to her, and tremors shot through her heart. How could he not know what he was doing to her? How could men be so clueless about these things?

She quickly spun toward the island, and dished up a cupcake for each of them. "Let's take these to the family room and play with my computer while we eat them."

Jim didn't seem to be in a hurry.

"They're vanilla-chocolate swirl, Jim. I know you love them."

He mumbled something as he lifted the dessert plate holding his cupcake. She wasn't quite sure she heard what he said under his breath, but it sounded something like "That's not all I love."

But that couldn't be right, could it?

"What did you say?"

"I said you're right."

Nooo. That wasn't it. She stared at him, but he didn't look her way. Instead he marched into the family room and took a seat on a recliner.

His abrupt departure seemed strange behavior for him, but then, maybe he didn't really want to be here tonight. Maybe he had other things on his mind. Maybe he had another woman on his mind.

With that sour thought, Ellen grabbed her own small plate and joined Jim in the family room. She swung up the wooden arm on the recliner and positioned the laptop on top of the small table. "I can't wait to try this out."

"I think you're really going to like it. It's very intuitive."

"Where should I start?"

"We could go over how to use your email. Click on that little postage stamp icon."

She did as he instructed and the email program opened. A message awaited her. She clicked on it and saw it was a welcome message. She clicked on the paper and pen icon and a screen opened up so she could write a trial email. "This is a lot easier than I thought it might be."

When Jim leaned forward to take a bite of cupcake, she quickly dashed off a thank you email to him before he could see what she was doing and clicked to send it. "How do I close this?"

"On the top left, there's a small red button with an X in it."

She clicked on it and the program closed.

Jim took another bite of cupcake. A low-throated moan rumbled in his chest.

"I take it you like it."

He nodded, his mouth so full of cupcake he couldn't speak. She leaned over and wiped a dollop of icing from his lips before she realized what she was doing.

Jim froze.

She pulled back, rubbed the frosting between her fingertips, before reaching for a napkin.

An extreme silence settled between them. Unsure what to do next, she turned back to the computer and clicked on a little compass icon. An Internet browser opened up. She typed in her own name to see if anything came up. She ought to be embarrassed, but she was kind of curious what the Internet had to say about her. Several blog posts came up mentioning her cupcakes. And even the article the
Morning News
had once run on her bakery. "Nice."

Just then, Jim's cell phone rang and he stepped into the formal dining room to take the call.

While he was otherwise occupied, Ellen typed in the name of the online dating site Lily had mentioned, just to take a peek. She poked around on the website in the public areas to see what it was about.

Apparently, if she wanted to set up a successful profile, she needed a photograph. She had a copy of one she liked on her flash drive, which sat on the end table. In the photo she was wearing a cute print summer dress and was holding up a platter of her prize-winning pecan praline cupcakes. She slid the flash drive into the slot, and it didn't take long for all the photos to transfer over to her spiffy new laptop.

Following the easy directions, with the click of a few buttons, she created her online profile and uploaded the favorite photo of herself.

"Is that the dating site?"

Ellen jumped. She'd been so engrossed she hadn't heard Jim come back and take his place beside her. Talk about awkward.

She nodded.

"You're going to use that picture of you?"

Waves of mortification threatened to pull her under. "I think it's a good photo of me, don't you?"

"You don't want to give these men the wrong idea."

What was he talking about? "I want them to think I'm attractive."

"But maybe there's one of you showing less—"

She waited for him to finish, but he said nothing.

"Less what?"

His eyes widened. "Leg."

"I like my legs."

"So do I," he said.

She took a second to revel in the idea that he'd noticed her legs.

"But you don't want these men to be interested only because you have great legs. Then they'll only be interested in one thing."

Ellen couldn't decipher his gruff tone. Was he being protective like a brother or jealous like a lover? "Oh. I hadn't thought of that." She pulled up the photo folder. "How about this one?"

"Too much skin."

Huh? She was wearing slacks and a long sleeved shirt in that one.

He pointed to a different photo of her. It was from a trip to see friends in Colorado, and she'd been wearing several layers of clothing culminating in a huge polar bear of a coat.

"I think that might be going too far in the other direction. I look like I weigh over 200 pounds."

"I think you should use it. Those men won't get the wrong idea with this one."

Ellen laughed. "No, I'm going to use the first one. It's my favorite, and if they're leg men, then so be it."

Jim had a mulish expression on his face, but he didn't say anything more about it as she moved on to choose her online screen name. What should it be? Cupcakelady sounded as heavy as that coated-photo of her made her look. Maybe simply Cupcakes?

She tried it and it was accepted.

Jim started choking so hard she feared he might need the Heimlich maneuver. "Are you okay?"

"Fine. Just fine."

"You don't like Cupcakes as my nickname?"

"Did I say that?"

"No, but your coughing fit sure did."

"I just thought you'd go for something a little more serious-sounding, like Marriage-Minded-Mama."

Ellen laughed. "Now that might scare all of the men off."

"I don't know about that. Thoughtful men would be sure to be intrigued."

"If you say so," she said, but she didn't believe it for one minute. Most men she knew—including Jim—weren't in any hurry to jump into marriage, especially with a woman they'd never met. Her own son was a perfect example. While he said he eventually wanted to marry, right now he appeared to be having too much fun playing the field to get involved with any one woman.

Later on her profile could be tailored toward a man who wanted a woman with whom he might become serious with one day. But for now, she wanted to attract someone she'd enjoy being with. Someone fun.

Cupcakes was fun, and she'd make that clear in her profile, along with the fact she was an excellent cook and an even better baker. Most men would like that.

She began typing in the personal information box. "I think I'll lead with
Like my cupcakes?
—what do you think?"

"Maybe consider starting with
Looking for a good time?"