Her Perfect Cowboy

He followed her back to the front of the store, nabbing their pie containers and plastic forks along the way. He should leave before he did something really stupid, but he found himself slipping into a chair across from her at the same table where they’d met with Verona and Blake earlier.

“So, Verona’s an interesting lady,” he said as he dug in to his pie.

“Lord, what did she do now?”

He chuckled. “Nothing much. She just seems really full of life, which is a good thing.”

“Don’t let her hear you say that. The next thing you know, she’ll have you at her beck and call and thinking you begged for the honor.”

“So, you really like her.”

India opened her own pie box. “She grows on you.” She took a bite of pie and made an appreciative sound that went right to the part of him that was thankfully hidden by the top of the table.

She closed her eyes for a moment as she swallowed the bite. Did she not have any idea how sexy she looked right now?

“Verona’s the aunt of one of my best friends, so she’s sort of like a second mom to all of us. She’d do anything for us, but she also gets these wild ideas in her head like she knows our paths to true happiness, too.”

“Well, she was right about one thing.”

India looked up to meet his gaze. “What’s that?”

He cut another piece of his pie and gestured with it on the end of the fork. “It would be a crime to visit the Primrose and not have a slice of pie.”

Just as they finished their dessert and India stood to toss their containers and forks in the trash, a tall brunette breezed through the front door. She stopped in her tracks when she spotted Liam then shifted her curious gaze to India.

When he also looked at India, he thought he detected more embarrassment, like she’d shown earlier after he’d carried her to the truck. He took that as his cue to head home for real this time.

“I’ll send the contract out in tomorrow’s mail,” he said as he stood and met India’s lovely eyes.

“Sounds good,” she said with a quick nod.

The devil inside him almost wanted to say something to make the color rise higher in her cheeks, but he bit down on that idea. He had to work with her in the coming days, and the last thing he needed was to say or do something that would make that working relationship uncomfortable for them both.

“Ma’am,” he said to the new arrival, who had curiosity coming off her like waves of heat on a highway in July.

All the woman managed was a nod and a strangled “Hey” before he made his way out the door. Instead of simply sliding into the driver’s seat of his truck, however, he took the time to retrieve his drying Stetson and plop it atop his head. Then he looked back across the street and noticed the brunette staring out of the boutique’s front window. And she wasn’t the only one.

He tapped the front brim of his hat and smiled at India. Though it was probably the height of stupidity, he was already looking forward to returning to Blue Falls.

* * *

“WHO WAS THAT MIGHTY fine speciman of hunkitude?” Elissa asked as she blatantly watched Liam cross the street, tap his hat and drive down Main Street.

“Liam Parrish, the head of the rodeo company we’re using.” India tried to keep her voice even and matter-of-fact, with no more feeling than if she were telling Elissa what color of paint she’d picked out for her bathroom.

“Mmm-hmm, just like I predicted—hot cowboys.” Elissa unfortunately shifted her attention to her friend just as a rush of heat washed through India. “And I see you appreciated the eye candy.”

“The only thing hot around here is me. I’ve been shoving around boxes that feel like they’re filled with rocks instead of clothing.” Granted, Liam did most of the heavy lifting. No, she couldn’t think about Liam, especially not with Elissa watching her every facial expression.

“I know you have Mr. Perfect all picked out in that little brain of yours, but don’t stand there and tell me you didn’t notice that man was hot enough to fry bacon on.”

India shrugged. “He’s okay.”

With a sound of exasperation, Elissa rounded the front counter and retrieved the phone book. She licked her thumb and started turning pages.

“What are you looking for?”

“Dr. Pinter’s number, because you obviously are in dire need of some glasses.”

India threw up her hands. “You’re as bad as Verona.”

Elissa closed the phone book and smiled wide. “She’s already set her sights on you, huh?”

India sat back at the table where she and Liam had eaten their pie. “Much to my dismay. As if putting me in charge of a rodeo wasn’t bad enough, now she seems to think Liam is perfect for me.”

“Maybe he is.”

India gave her friend a long-suffering look. “You’re just glad she’s aiming her matchmaking efforts toward someone besides you.”

Elissa leaned her forearms against the glass top of the jewelry display case. “Guilty as charged. From this vantage point, I can enjoy watching her make you squirm.”

“I’m going to remember that when she eventually has you in her sights.”

“Honey, I don’t slow down enough for her to catch me.”

“You live with her. How is that possible?”

“I’m good.”

India snorted.

“Be careful not to snort in front of the gorgeous Mr. Parrish. You might run him off.”

“Good. The last thing I need is a dusty cowboy tracking up my store.” And her life.

“He didn’t look dusty to me.”

“Then you go out with him.”

“Oh, no. I don’t horn in on my friends’ guys.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, he’s not my guy. We’ve had this conversation a million times. I’m not interested in getting involved with anyone right now. I’m too busy. And even if I were looking, I wouldn’t be looking toward someone like Liam.” No matter how good-looking he was. No matter how he’d shown her more than once that chivalry wasn’t dead.

“I know, you want James Bond without the danger.”

“Well, thanks for making that sound deadly dull.”

“You and Skyler need to live a little.”

“Elissa, I love you like a sister, but lay off, okay? You know how much this store means to me, and how much work it takes to make a small business successful.”

Elissa threw up her hands. “Fine, I’ll hush.”

“Thank you.”

“But you can’t blame me for saying ‘I told you so’ when you find working side by side with the sexy Mr. Parrish proves distracting.”

India pointed at her friend. “I swear, I’m going to find a pocket-protector-wearing accountant and convince him that you’re madly in love with him.”

Elissa, blast her, just wiggled her eyebrows. “If he’s cute underneath all the geek, I just might enjoy convincing him to shed the pocket protector.”

India shook her head. “I’m so going to laugh myself into stomach cramps when you fall hard for some guy.”

“You, too, missy. You, too.”

And damned if Liam Parrish’s sexy smile didn’t take up residence in India’s mind and refuse to vacate the premises.

Chapter Three

“So what do you think?” India asked Keri Teague after she finished pitching her idea for a cupcake contest as one of the activities to accompany the rodeo. “We’re trying to get a wide variety of offerings so that people who might otherwise skip the rodeo will come out.”

“It’s a good idea,” Keri said. “We’ll need to do blind judging. I’m not about to take the heat for telling some little grandma that her cupcake recipe didn’t win the blue ribbon.”

India laughed. “Good point. So, what, maybe three judges?”

“That should be enough. And then we can sell the cupcakes after the judging is over. I can put some entry forms in the bakery.”

“That would be great. Thanks.” India glanced out the front window of Yesterwear for what felt like the millionth time.

“Something wrong?” Keri asked.

India jerked her attention back to Keri, owner of the popular Mehlerhaus Bakery and new wife to Sheriff Simon Teague. “Sorry. Just have so many things going on that I feel like there’s a constant to-do list running in my brain.” No way was she admitting that one of those items was watching for Liam Parrish to roll into town. As small as Blue Falls was, that snippet would get back to Elissa and Verona before the sun set.

There really was no reason for him to come by the shop before heading to the fairgrounds to oversee the preparations for the rodeo, but that didn’t keep her from jumping every time the front door opened or looking out the window whenever she heard a truck. She mentally shook her head. This was Texas. Everyone and their dog had a truck.

“I know what you mean. Speaking of, I better get back to the bakery. I’ve got a five-tier wedding cake covered with fondant songbirds to make this afternoon.”

“I’ll take unboxing a new shipment of hats any day.”

Keri laughed, waved and was out the door. But the idea of that cake left India hungry. Deciding to take advantage of the lull in what had been a busy Thursday, she flipped the sign on the front door to say she’d return in fifteen minutes, locked up and headed down the sidewalk toward the Primrose Café.

Despite telling Elissa the previous week that she wasn’t interested in Liam, she nevertheless found herself scanning the café’s parking lot for his black pickup truck. She breathed a sigh of relief when she didn’t see it. At least that’s what she told herself. If she were being honest, their limited time together had generated a couple of very nice dreams.

After the dream the night before, she hadn’t been able to go back to sleep. Instead, she’d gotten up and started digging through the wooden chest at the end of her bed. Beneath the handmade quilts, she’d rifled through the few keepsakes she’d kept from a childhood she largely wanted to forget. Below the high school yearbooks and the box containing the sash she’d worn after being crowned the Belle of Blue Falls, she found the old manila folder she’d been looking for, the one filled with magazine clippings of handsome guys and articles about successful businessmen in fields she admired. She forced herself to look through every piece of paper, reminding herself of how she’d always dreamed of a man as opposite to her deadbeat father as she could get.

Not that Liam Parrish was a deadbeat. He obviously wasn’t since he owned his own company. Still, she got the impression that at heart he was a wandering rodeo cowboy. She couldn’t imagine him eating at a café in Paris with a view of the Eiffel Tower or hiking through the Scottish Highlands or building schools in rural villages for girls who would otherwise not get an education. No, Liam was more than likely a “what you see is what you get” sort of guy, and she wanted a man with many layers, one who got more interesting and sexier with each layer that was exposed.

India ordered a chef salad to go, and she somehow found the willpower to resist caving in to the desire for a slice of fudge pie. Would she ever be able to eat her favorite dessert again without thinking of Liam? She half wished she hadn’t come up with the rodeo idea in the first place, but hopefully it was going to generate a lot of money to help little Mia and her dad. India figured she could handle a bit of unexpected and unwanted attraction to Liam. After all, it was nothing compared to what Mia was going through.

Plus, after the rodeo was over, chances were she’d never see Liam again. She could get back to life as normal and let time and distance erode the memory of him.

After Gretchen handed over the salad, India headed back to the store in case the afternoon was as busy as the morning. She’d taken several steps across the Primrose’s parking lot when she spotted a familiar black pickup. She nearly tripped over her own feet as she watched Liam slide out of the driver’s seat. Damn, why did he have to do such nice things for a pair of jeans? He almost made her forget that she preferred stylish suits to jeans and scuffed cowboy boots, which were a dime a dozen in the heart of Texas. Didn’t she?

After a deep, fortifying breath, India resumed her trek back to work. She didn’t alter her path even though it would take her right past Liam. It wasn’t as if she could avoid him in the days ahead, so she might as well just get used to seeing him now. Maybe the infatuation would actually fade if she talked to him more.

“Hey, Liam,” she said as she drew close. See, that wasn’t so hard.

But then his eyes met hers, and they widened the slightest bit. It was enough to make her wonder why. Had she simply surprised him, or was there something more there?

Now she was just being crazy. If she thought she had nothing in common with him, chances were he felt the same. She’d seen the deer-in-headlights look he’d worn when he’d stepped foot into Yesterwear the first time, as if he’d fallen through a hole into a different world. She’d seen it before on the faces of the men whose wives or girlfriends dragged them into the shop.

“India,” Liam finally said after a moment’s hesitation. He glanced at the box in her hand. “That’s a big slice of pie.”

“Actually, it’s salad. I’m being good today.”

“What a shame.”

Heat flooded India’s extremities, and she tried to tell herself that it was because of the midday heat. It couldn’t be because Liam had meant anything other than it was a shame she wasn’t going to enjoy a slice of pie. Her brain had trouble coming up with an appropriate response, but she was saved when Liam’s attention shifted to the back of his truck.

A little girl with a dark brown ponytail stepped up beside him. It took a moment for the pieces to click into place. The girl’s eyes were what clinched it.

“This must be your daughter,” India said.

Liam placed one of his hands atop the girl’s head with such affection that India actually hurt inside. She’d never had that kind of fatherly love, and no matter how old she got she never seemed to find a way to stop missing what might have been.

“Yes, this is Ginny, embarking on her first day of summer vacation by hanging with the old man. Ginny, this is India Pike. She’s the one in charge of the rodeo here.”

Ginny’s forehead scrunched into furrows. “Really?”

“Ginny,” Liam said in a warning tone.

A second or two passed before India laughed.

“I’m sorry,” Liam said, looking at India with apology written all over his face.

“No, it’s okay. She’s got it pegged. After all, it is pretty absurd when you look at me.”

“Still,” Liam said as he gently tugged Ginny to his side and playfully mussed her hair. “We don’t need to always say what we think.”

“Sorry,” Ginny said. Her crooked smile made her even cuter than she was on first glance.

“It’s okay.” India leaned forward and used her hand to pretend to block her words from Liam. “Any chance you want the job of running this rodeo?”

Ginny giggled, causing India to smile.

India glanced at Liam, and he had a smile on his face, as well. Lord, what was she doing? She should be maintaining a professional distance from him, not ingratiating herself with his young daughter.

“You have the number for the workers who are going to make the upgrades at the fairgrounds?”

Liam nodded. “We’re meeting them after we grab some lunch.”

“Good. If there’s anything else you need, you have the number of the shop. I’ll be there until later this afternoon.”

“Swing by when you close up. I’ll be able to show you how things are going.”

Just when she thought she might get away with seeing him only once today... India’s nerves sparked, but she refused to let her purely physical reactions get the better of her. She just had to ride them out until they faded and common sense took over.

“See you then.” She shifted her gaze to Liam’s daughter. “Nice to meet you, Ginny.”

“You, too.”

Anxious to get away, back to the familiarity of work, she gave Liam a nod and headed down the street without looking back.

Despite telling herself that she needed to shove aside attraction to Liam in favor of detached professionalism, India found herself fighting a losing battle throughout the afternoon. And she wasn’t even where she could see him. It didn’t help that the number of customers coming into the shop decreased significantly thanks to the increasing heat outside. She kept busy rearranging displays in the front window, pricing her new shipment of stock and creating an entry form for the cupcake contest.

But nothing she did kept her from looking at the clock what felt like every three seconds. As closing time drew near, she wondered if she should just stay at the store, continuing on until it got dark and the work at the fairgrounds was wrapped up for the day.

India stopped folding decorated flare jeans that screamed the 1970s and shoved her hands onto her hips. This wasn’t her, not facing things head-on. If she’d made a habit of this kind of behavior, she never would have pulled herself out of poverty, gotten an education and come back to the town she loved but where there were at least some people who wouldn’t have been surprised if she never amounted to anything.

She shook her head and finished folding the jeans. She always made a point to do her job well. That meant she would make sure the rodeo and accompanying activities were as successful as possible. To make that a reality, she couldn’t avoid the man tasked with ensuring they had a successful rodeo.

When closing time came, India looked down at what she was wearing—a blue-and-white gingham top, white capri pants and denim ballet flats—and deemed the outfit safe for a trip to the fairgrounds. No heels to break off.

The butterflies in her stomach returned when she arrived at the fairgrounds. She gathered her courage and got out of her car. The thunking of hammers on wood drew her to the side of the arena. There she found local handyman Len Goodall and his teenage son, Adrian. Len looked up from where he was replacing a board on the fence surrounding the arena.

“Hey, India. You looking for Liam?”

“Yeah.”

He gestured with his hammer toward the far end of the arena.

“Thanks.” She picked her way over the crunchy, brown grass. When the rodeo came around, they’d have to keep the dirt settled in the arena with water or nobody would be able to see any of the events. They’d be too busy choking on the dust kicked up by the animals.

She rounded the end of the arena just in time to see Liam pause in his work on a gate to wipe the sweat on his shirtsleeve. Gone was the button-up he’d had on earlier. In its place was a white T-shirt that sported a picture on the back of a huge fish being pulled from the water by a fishing hook. She shuddered at the memory of the one time she’d gone fishing with her dad. She’d hated touching the worms they used as bait, couldn’t make herself put them on the hooks, and was seriously creeped out by the slimy feeling of the fish.

“Hey,” he said when he finally spotted her.

Just relax. “Hey. Looks like a hot job.”

Liam glanced at the gate that led into the arena. “Yeah, but I’m just about done. Actually, if you’ll help me, I’ve only got one more board to attach.”

She gave him an “Are you crazy?” look. “I’m not exactly dressed for manual labor.”

He smiled as he took in what she wore. “Oh, I don’t know. Looks way more sensible than what you wore here the last time.”

She shook her head. “What do you need?”

He picked up a board and settled it against the frame of the wooden gate. “If you’ll just hold one end steady, this will only take a moment.”

India was careful not to brush against the gate with her white pants as she held the board with one hand and steadied the gate with the other.

True to his word, a few quick strikes of the hammer and Liam had the opposite end affixed. When he turned and grabbed the end she held, his warm hand grazed hers. It was only a momentary touch, but it was enough to cause India’s breath to catch. She feared he noticed it when he looked up and his eyes met hers.

He was close, much too close. As casually as she could, she released the board and took a couple of steps away. “Looks like you all have gotten a lot done today.”

“Yeah, we’ll be done with the arena repairs by Monday.” Liam finished attaching the new board before he came to stand next to her, propping one booted foot on the bottom slat of the gate. “We’ll paint after that, then get the barns ready to hold the animals.”

She glanced toward him as he pushed his hat back off his forehead. He was sweaty and dirty, and that should have turned her off. Instead, it was having the opposite effect.

“I thought you were here just to supervise,” she said.

“I’m not the type to stand around doing nothing,” he said. “I’d be bored out of my mind. Plus, this way we get things done quicker, and it costs you all less money.”

Why did he have to sound so reasonable, so nice? Why couldn’t he just be a dumb lug who had nothing appealing about him but a good-looking face? It’d be so much easier for her to stop thinking about him then.

She let her gaze roam over the entirety of the fairgrounds, picturing how they would set up the vendor booths. At the far end of the grassy area, she spotted a large, black horse with a short rider. It took her a moment to realize it wasn’t an adult.

“Is that Ginny?”

“Yeah. She’s letting Inky stretch her legs after being cooped up in the trailer for several hours.”

“That animal is huge. Don’t you worry she’ll get hurt?”

“Ginny’s been on horseback since before she could walk. That’s how it goes when your dad is a rodeo rider.”

India barely knew the child, so the surge of anxiety over seeing her astride such a powerful animal surprised her.

“Hey, maybe Ginny can teach you to ride,” Liam said.

India started shaking her head before Liam even finished speaking. “Oh, no. I’m not getting anywhere near that animal. Horses can sense that I’m scared to death of them.”

“You’ve really never been on a horse?”

India shifted her attention away from where Ginny seemed to be effortlessly maneuvering the horse. “Nope. And I don’t intend for that to change any time soon.”

She liked her life just like it was, with everything mapped out. She wasn’t as married to perfectionism as Skyler, but India still knew what fit her lifestyle and what didn’t. Running a rodeo and learning to ride a horse had never been on her radar screen.

But neither had a sweaty, dirty cowboy who tempted her to second-guess what she’d always known she wanted.

* * *

“REMIND ME AGAIN WHY I’m friends with you,” Skyler said as she dragged herself out of the car after India and Elissa. “This is a heinous hour for human beings to be up.”

India smiled at her friend, who’d never been an early riser. “Because we need to measure for the booth spaces, and I’d like to do it before it’s a thousand degrees outside.”

“Plus there are those little things called jobs we all have to go to later,” Elissa said. Unlike Skyler, Elissa was quite fond of early mornings.

Skyler stuck her tongue out at both of them, eliciting laughs from her best friends.

“You all certainly sound happy this morning.”

India halted in her tracks and jerked her gaze toward the sound of the male voice. Liam—and his deep, sexy voice—sat in a lawn chair beside the RV she’d seen the day before.

“Oh, hey. I didn’t think anyone would be out here yet,” India said. In fact, she’d been banking on it. But it looked as if Liam was using the RV as more than an on-site office. “Sorry if we bothered you.”

“Not at all. Just enjoying a cup of coffee before it gets too hot outside to drink it.” He lifted a cup. “Would you all like some?”

“No, we’re fine,” India said.

“Actually, I’d love some coffee,” Elissa said. She shot India a grin that said India was in trouble. “And Skyler might be a little nicer if we get some caffeine in her.”

India stared hard at Elissa, silently promising payback, before her friend shifted her gaze and walked toward Liam as he stood. She extended her hand. “I’m Elissa. I’m the fun friend in this motley trio.”