Read Cowboy Take Me Away for Free Online

all over, shoots of desire firing through her body no matter how hard she tried to stamp them out.
    â€œSo are we doing dinner tonight?”
    Hope stepped back again to put some more distance between them, not needing his body so close, his smile beaming down on her, his eyes like flashes of chocolate—chocolate that she was drawn to like a honeybee to pollen. She bent to collect her things.
    â€œCan I let you know later?”
    Chase nodded, but from the way he glanced away she was wondering now if he even wanted her to say yes. Stupid . If Chase didn’t want her to say yes, he wouldn’t have asked her.
    â€œWe can catch up any time, Hope,” he said, nodding to his foreman as he passed. “You say when and I’ll be there.”
    â€œSure.”
    Chase handed her a card, the King logo emblazoned across it. She knew his personal details would be on the other side.
    â€œMy email’s on there for sending me the results when you have them,” he said, before dropping his voice an octave. “And there’s my number for confirming dinner.”
    It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him if it was a date, but she didn’t dare. Instead she stared at his card for a second before pushing it into her pocket.
    â€œGive me an hour or so and I’ll let you know,” she said, knowing full well that she was going to get straight in the truck and try to figure out how the hell she was going to find a sitter. And then second-guess herself the entire drive back about whether she should have even thought about saying yes to dinner in the first place. She’d ask a friend, only she didn’t want to tell anyone that she was going out with a man, let alone an old flame.
    The difference between her and Chase was that he thought they were old friends catching up, but she knew they were a lot more than just former college buddies.
    â€œYou need a hand with getting anything into the truck?” Chase asked.
    â€œThanks, but I’m good,” she replied, smiling back at him. In all the time that had passed, she’d never forgotten his grin; that infectious tilt of his lips and flash of his eyes that made everyone around him feel like the most special person in the world.
    â€œSee you soon,” he said, raising a hand and heading for the barn.
    â€œUh-huh,” she murmured, knowing that come hell or high water, she’d no doubt be seated across from him over dinner in only a few hours’ time.
    *   *   *
    Chase checked his messages to make sure he had the right address and pulled up outside Hope’s place. It was a modern-looking two-level house, lights illuminating the front door and garage in the almost darkness. He turned the engine off and pushed open his door, stepping out onto the concrete and crossing the grass to walk up the pavers to the front door. There were large trees surrounding the property and he guessed it backed onto the woods.
    He knocked at the front door and took another look around. It was a nice place, nothing too flashy, but it wasn’t what he’d expected. Although he hadn’t exactly picked her for being a mom, so a suburban place with a yard was probably a whole lot more appropriate than a condo.
    Chase knocked again, wondering if she either hadn’t heard him or had changed her mind and wasn’t going to come out at all.
    â€œJust a minute!”
    He smiled at Hope’s call and stepped back, seeing the blur of her silhouette through the small squares of glass on each side of the front door. It was ridiculous feeling nervous, but if he wasn’t careful his palms would be sweating and he’d have to wipe them on his jeans. This wasn’t a first date and he wasn’t a kid. This was just two friends reconnecting. His trouble was that he hadn’t been on a proper date since … forever. He met women, had fun with them, took them back to his town apartment or their place, and rarely