To Court a Cowgirl by Jeannie Watt

racked my memory about what I did know about you and I can remember now that you didn’t date. A couple of my teammates called you Ice Princess.”
    Again she felt heat rise in her cheeks. “I wasn’t cold.”
    â€œNo, you were probably shy and the average horny teenage boy isn’t too good at discerning shyness from aloofness.” He reached out and covered her hand with his and Allie felt the urge to turn her hand over and press her palm to his, which was crazy. Totally crazy. She somehow maintained her senses, noting that his fingers were long and elegantly shaped as a way of distracting herself. And strong. She could sense the strength in his hands.
    â€œI’m making my apology now,” he said, startling her out of her finger analysis. “I’m sorry for thinking you were cold and distant.”
    â€œI probably was.” Her mouth quirked wryly. “Still might be.”
    The waitress approached the table with the pizza and they both leaned back as she placed it on the table in between them. Allie settled her hands safely in her lap, but she still felt the warmth of Jason’s touch. He was simply a warm guy—his expressions and his touch. She felt herself being drawn in and had no idea how she was going to handle it. One day at a time, one encounter at a time, she imagined.
    â€œIt’s huge,” Allie said, nodding at the pizza.
    â€œNo.”
    The single word made her laugh again. Jason placed a piece of pizza on her plate and two on his. “We’ll factor this by weight,” he said. “I figure you’re roughly half my size.”
    He was right. She probably was. And there was something about his size that made her feel safe. How long had it been since she’d felt safe? For the past decade and a half she’d been expecting the worst to happen at every turn and she expected to have to handle it alone. She’d hated to lean on her mother, since her mom had so much on her plate caring for the ranch and her three little sisters. She didn’t have a father, and when she’d married, her husband had turned out to be a guy she couldn’t depend on.
    They ate the pizza slowly, neither seeming to be in any hurry. Allie had a lonely ranch to go back to and Jason had his dad. After they finished the last piece by splitting it, Jason paid the bill and then they walked to his truck.
    â€œDid you enjoy ‘just a pizza’?”
    â€œI did.” She met his eyes briefly as they walked. “You’re more down-to-earth than I gave you credit for.”
    â€œI don’t think you gave me credit for anything. You formed an opinion of me a long time ago and that’s the opinion that you’re sticking with,” he said as they came to a stop on her side of the truck.
    True. Very true.
    â€œNow that you’ve helped me birth a calf and agreed to help me help a friend, I’ve revised my opinion.” Allie glanced down at her shoes and gathered her strength before looking back up into his eyes. “I apologize for my close-mindedness.” And she was starting to feel a little too warm, a little too aware of how close they were standing.
    â€œAccepted.” Jason clicked his keys and unlocked the door. “Do you want to go out for real some time?”
    Allie felt herself step back at the unexpected question. She hadn’t meant to—she’d moved instinctively. “I, uh...”
    â€œThat’s okay,” Jason said easily. “I got my answer.”
    And heaven help her, even though she liked him, that was the answer she was leaving him with.
    Because she was afraid of any other answer.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    A NGRY KID .
    Jason glanced over at the boy silently jerking nails out of boards with a cat’s-paw. He wouldn’t have been surprised to see steam rolling off the kid’s back. He’d shown up late that morning, driving a tricked-out ’81 Chevy, and had totally ignored Jason