I skipped breakfast this morning. I was excited about the shoot,” she admitted. It looked like they’d be having that picnic after all. It had taken over an hour to ride back there, and it would be an hour back to the house. By the time they got back, she would be gnawing her arm off. Or his. And he had brought lunch for a reason. If she went back to the ranch hungry and his Mama found out they hadn’t eaten the lunch she took the time to pack, she was going to be mad. “Yeah, that was stupid. You’re lucky I had Mama pack us lunch.” Dean wasn’t going to call it a picnic, because that made this sound too much like a date. Picnics by the lake on a beautiful sunny day like today were his idea of the perfect date. They hadn’t been Cindy’s idea of one though. She had liked to party and dragged him down to the Electric Cowboy. That is where he’d met her in the first place. He thought he’d probably never go back there again. He hadn’t even gone there for his brother’s wedding reception because of the bad memories associated with the place. Those days were over for him. Tina gasped, and Dean thought she might have stopped breathing when he walked Blaze off of the horse path into the clearing by the lake. He pulled to a stop and waited while she took it all in. Evidently this place affected her the same way it did him. The sun sparkling on the water was almost too bright to look at. The browns of the cattails on the other side of the pond in contrast to the blanket of bluebonnets behind them looked like they’d been painted by God’s paintbrush. Even though he’d lived on this ranch his entire life, been to this spot frequently, the sight did the same thing to him every time he came here. It was that beautiful. And peaceful. Until the other day, he hadn’t been out here in over a year though. He hadn’t been out here with a woman since he was a teenager. This was a good necking spot. He brought girls out here a lot then. The romantic spot was guaranteed to get him what he was looking for. He hadn’t thought about more than it being a pretty spot when he suggested riding back here. But now he realized maybe that’s why he suddenly decided to bring Tina out here today. He glanced down at the top of Tina Montgomery’s head. The bright sun on her dark hair made it appear like she was wearing a halo. He could just catch the faint hint of her shampoo. Something fruity. He inhaled, and Dean knew he was in deep trouble. “ It’s absolutely perfect,” she said on a breathless whisper. Dean kneed Blaze to lead him around toward the end of the lake. The bluebonnet field would be as good a place as any for a picnic. For lunch, he corrected in his mind. No picnics, and no kissing. Kissing her again would make promises his bankrupt soul couldn’t fulfill. Dean had nothing left to give a woman. Cindy had sucked him dry emotionally. Tina Montgomery was one of those soft, flowery women who would expect hearts and flowers. Dean’s hearts and flowers days were long behind him. “ I thought it would be a good place for pictures,” he said gruffly, as he rounded the row of cattails and walked Blaze into the field. It would probably be too damp closer to the lake, so he moved a little further into the field before he stopped. He swung out of the saddle, then reached up to lift Tina down. He stepped away from her quickly. As soon as her feet touched the ground. She looked up at him curiously. Dean turned his back on her to remove the saddle bags from behind the saddle. “ Thanks for bringing me out here. It will be perfect for the photos.” It was perfect for a helluva lot more than that and that seemed to be all he could think about. He felt her eyes on his back, but he didn’t look at her. “ No problem,” he said as he brushed past her to kneel down and unload the bags. He unpacked the blanket first, spread it over the ground then laid the sandwiches and fruit out. He yanked two bottles of water