Curves and the All-American Male (BBW Western Romance - Coldwater Springs 7) by Jenn Roseton Page B

world around him, as if everything would always work out for him.
    Everything had worked out for Ron too, she reminded herself, a tiny stab of pain needling her heart. As soon as he’d met her thinner, prettier friend Stacey, she’d never heard from him again. And she’d only found out about him and Stacey when she’d run into them at a coffee shop in Arizona. Her local coffee shop.
    She’d not only lost her boyfriend or the man she’d thought was her boyfriend, she’d also lost someone she’d thought was a good friend.
    “I’ve recently moved from Arizona,” she replied politely, edging away from him.
    “Oh?” He appeared interested. “What made you leave?”
    “The weather.” She settled for a partial truth. “I couldn’t take the summers anymore.” He didn’t need to know she was from Cheyenne, Wyoming, and after graduating college moved to Arizona to take up her first teaching position, tempted by the promise of warmer weather - which turned out to be hotter than she imagined. Then Ron happened. Add to that the fact that she missed Wyoming more than she expected, and she knew it was time to come home. The position at the Coldwater Springs school was the closest job she could find to Cheyenne, where her parents still lived.
    “Yeah, the summers can be brutal there.” He sank down on the squashy leather sofa, making himself comfortable.
    “You’ve lived there?” she asked politely.
    “Not really. Just stayed there for a few weeks now and then. When I was working the rodeo circuit.” His grin invited her to smile too.
    “Sarah said you were a rodeo friend of Chase’s.” She resisted the urge to smile back at him. She was not going to flirt with him. She didn’t think she was much good at that kind of thing.
    “Yeah.” He relaxed back against the comfy cushions, as if he’d settled in for a while and had no intention of moving. “I won the All-American championship twice. Those were good days. But a few months ago I bought a ranch near here and a herd of cattle.”
    Lori realized she was still standing, and lowered herself in the opposite chair.
    “So you haven’t been in Coldwater long, either?” she asked, trying to keep the conversation going. Otherwise, there might be an uncomfortable silence and she had no idea what to talk to him about. Since Ron cheated on her , she’d rarely been in the company of men. She wasn’t a nightclub person, so typically the only men she met were thefathersof her students, and usuallymarried and unavailable.
    “No, only a few months. But the longer I’m here the more I like it.” He smiled, his white even teeth flashing, inviting her to wonder if maybe he was referring to meeting her.
    Don’t be ridiculous.
    “So … Chase said you’re a teacher like Sarah.”
    “I teach second grade.”
    “I can’t remember having a teacher like you when I was in second grade.” His eyes flickered over her, taking her in, and did not appear to find her wanting.
    A tell-tale tingle of heat touched her cheeks, and she shifted in her chair, not knowing what to make of him - or his comment. She didn’t exactly beat guys off with a stick.
    The sooner Chase and Sarah came home the better. She sneaked a peek at her slim silver watch. 7.20pm. Only two hours and forty minutes to go.
    There was a pause for a couple of minutes. Lori tried not to look at Ty, tried to ignore the way he tried to engage her in eye contact. Finally, she couldn’t take the build up of tension anymore.
    “I don’t understand why you’re here tonight,” she blurted out. “I thought I was the only person babysitting.”
    “Chase asked me last week.” He shrugged. “I didn’t have anything better to do, so I agreed. And Jessica is a real cutie.”
    “Sarah asked me last week, too. On Tuesday.” Lori narrowed her gaze. “When did Chase ask you?”
    Ty leaned back against the cushions. “Ah … Thursday .”
    Lori frowned. Was this a setup? Were Sarah and Chase trying to match