I walked through the kitchen to open the side door and found I was too late. Wyatt was already out of the truck, my mother talking to him, Sadie leaned into him getting all the pets she could.
No reason to hurry now, except the look in his eyes when he saw me in the window. He was handsome as hell, dressed in a pair of Wranglers, and a tight black T. It was my weakness. Simple dress, easy look on his face. I’d never met a men who could pull it off like Wyatt could.
And he really was no-nonsense. Simple. Except for the whole billionaire heir thing. I’d almost forgotten about that.
Almost.
“You aren’t going to come into the house for a cup of coffee before you go?” My mom asked, a little hopeful. She genuinely liked Wyatt. Hell, even my father liked him, despite the fact that he’d dated his daughter.
“No, thank you, ma’am. But I’ll come next week just to see you, we can talk about where you stand on that offer.”
“Are you sure? I could tell you some more stories about Rose.” She winked at him.
“What were you telling him, mom?” I asked, it didn’t matter what she was saying, just the thought of the two of them made the scarlet rise in my cheeks.
“Oh nothing much. Just about that one time you flashed the entire summer camp,” she grinned wide.
I flushed red.
“I didn’t know,” I explained, but it was too late. They were both laughing. “The damn top of my suit came off. It wasn’t intentional.”
“She was real popular after that,” my mom joked.
I rolled my eyes.
“Well, I’ll come by later this week and you can fill me in on some more stories as well as talk about the closing,” Wyatt said.
“Sounds good to me.” She beamed and I kissed her cheek before looking at my date.
Did she really have to tell him about the time my top came off in the lake? It wasn’t even my most embarrassing moment.
“After you,” He opened the passenger door for me and I slid into the cab, my sun dress slipping up my thighs as I settled on the vinyl seat. I rushed to pull it down, but not without the blush of heat flooding my cheeks. If he saw he didn’t say anything, closing the door behind me before walking around and getting into the cab.
“Where are we going?” I asked casually, watching the side-view mirror as he backed out onto the dirt road.
“Inside a memory.” He said so softly I almost didn’t hear him. Then he added, “a nice little place not far from here.”
Montana’s landscape was beautiful and diverse, the rocky mountains off in the distance, curves and hills intermixed with good solid farm land. Green surrounded us everywhere, the high altitude of the climate ensured that we were comfortably cool this time of year.
It hadn’t been three miles before he turned off the road onto an access drive.
“This isn’t the way to any restaurant I know.” I knew where we were going, I remembered it too well. The years had caused the brush and thickets to grow up, but it was still the place we used to sneak off to. The one where we kissed for the first time. Where we made love.
“No, I am planning something special for us, Rose.” He winked at me, but kept his eyes on the road.
“Something special?” Wyatt hit a pothole and sent me flying practically into his lap. I imagined what it would be like riding down the road in his lap, our bodies so close. If I thought I was scarlet before I was positively beet red now.
I should’ve worn a seatbelt.
“Like I said, a memory.” His voice was husky as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and held me close. “It’s a little rough here, Rosey.”
I didn’t need the excuse.
“I didn’t get a chance to thank you for the flowers, they’re beautiful.” All the fire went out of my tone, my voice barely in a whisper.
He pulled onto the edge of the field, parking the car right under a big oak.
“So, what do you have planned, a bonfire and some dogs?” I asked, remembering what passed for our first date.
“No, I thought we’d go a little bit more elegant this time.”
Right there in the middle of that field was a set of two tables, one styled like a buffet table with food on heated trays, and the other set elegantly for two. It looked like something out of a dream.
“You didn’t have to-“
“I know. I wanted to. Blackridge has some of the best catering in the city, and I thought we could share it, privately, instead of going into town.” He explained.
“I forgot, it must be a different experience for you now that you’re running your father’s business.” I knew he had money when we were young, but back then it was his father’s money and his father’s business. Now he was the one buying farmer’s homes out from under them and charging them rent to live and work there.