CHAPTER SEVEN
Turned out that Annie wouldn’t let him take her to dinner, but she was happy to have burgers with him while sitting in the truck at a fast food drive-in. They had milkshakes and fries with their burgers, and she fed tiny bits of burger to Moose, who was content to eat as long as Dustin kept touching him.
“Attachment issues,” was all Annie would say.
He felt bad for the little guy, and when Moose put his chin on Dustin’s knee, constantly nudging forward, he figured it was the right call. He could use a buddy at the ranch, after all. And maybe when it was time to pack up, he’d see if Moose was a sailing dog, too. He suspected Moose would be okay with anything as long as he got to stay at his side.
Even though the dinner was just in his truck, it was nice. Annie didn’t want much, it seemed. She was happy and full of life and didn’t care about anything except the dogs and his company. She wasn’t out to impress the town with the fact that she’d gotten a date with him. She wasn’t looking to “land” him. She just wanted to rescue a dog. She liked simplicity, and he liked that, too. Most of the women he flirted with—he hesitated to use “dating” since he never stuck around—wanted something from him. They wanted a trophy boyfriend, or a dirty hookup, or to prove something. He ended up disappointing all of ’em.
But Annie was different, and he didn’t want to disappoint her. He wanted to make her smile. He wanted to hear her laugh.
If he was a teenage boy, he’d say he had a crush. Did grown men get crushes? Because every time she flashed a smile or he caught a glimpse of a new freckle, his heart pounded. He liked her bright red hair and her pale lashes and her small stature. He liked the way she looked in her plain sweater and didn’t mind the dog hair covering her or sitting in his truck instead of going to a real restaurant.
“I enjoyed today,” he told her, fishing a fry out of his bag. Moose gazed up at him with such sad, woeful eyes that he offered it to the dog, instead. To think that he’d been annoyed at Cass for constantly giving the ranch dogs treats, and here he was, stuffing his meal down a dog’s throat himself. Pot, kettle and all that.
She beamed at him. “Me too. I think he likes you, by the way.”
Dustin just chuckled, offering another fry to the dog, who took it with delicate care. “He just likes fast food.”
“Who doesn’t? It’s been forever since I’ve had junk. Painted Barrel’s low on drive-thrus. And this boy’s eating for what’s probably the first time in days.” Her smile was radiant, and it took his breath away. “I’m having a wonderful afternoon and I can’t thank you enough for taking the time out of your day to humor me.”
“You can thank me by going out on another date with me,” he told her, and when she looked surprised, he wondered if he’d pushed it too far, if she was going to get skittish on him. He had to try, though. He hadn’t been this fascinated with a woman in what felt like forever.
“Was this a date?” Her tone was light and teasing, but she glanced down at her lap before looking over at him, and he realized she was shy.
“Parts of it count.”
“Which parts?”
“The parts where I want to lean over and kiss you.”
“Oh,” Annie said softly. Her lips parted and she grew silent, then said, “Are there a lot of those parts?”
“Happens about once every two minutes,” he admitted with a smile. “Hope you don’t think less of me for being a little single-minded.”
“Not at all. I appreciate honesty.” There was a hint of color rising under those freckles. “Do you think we should kiss?”
Dustin kept his expression carefully neutral, because reaching across the cab of the truck and pulling her against him would probably be frowned on. Probably. “I’d reckon that’s your call.”
She thought for a moment, her gaze flicking to his mouth as if considering her options. “If we kiss, I don’t want you to think I want a boyfriend.”
He laughed. “If it helps, I don’t think I’m boyfriend material.”
“But you still want to kiss me.” It was a statement, not a question.
“You look pretty kissable to me. And I like kissing. And I like you, so I figure I’ll like kissing you.”
“Can’t argue with that logic.” Annie licked her lips. “All right. Fine. Let’s do it.”
Such enthusiasm. He bit back a laugh. “As long as we’re sure it doesn’t mean anything to either of us,” he said gravely.
“Oh, just shut up and kiss me so I can quit wondering about it.”
Was she wondering about it? He liked that he wasn’t the only one. “Lean in, then.”
Obediently, Annie leaned forward, and as she did, he noticed she was breathing rapidly, her hands fluttering slightly in her lap. Nerves? That seemed ridiculous, given that she was so damn appealing. He loved the freckles on her eyelids, the pale lashes, the curve of her cheek, the way she responded with sarcasm. He loved her big heart and the fact that she stoutly told him she did not want a boyfriend.
Annie Grissom had him fascinated, all right.
So he touched her chin and met her halfway.
Her mouth parted under his, soft and sweet. She tasted like strawberry milkshake and Dustin had to bite back a groan when she pulled his hat off and tossed it aside, as if she made out with cowboys every day. They shared a light, teasing caress, more of a flirtation of lips than anything else, and he was content to keep it light. Gentle. Playful.
But then she made this lovely, deep noise of pleasure in her throat, and he was lost.
Screw playful.
Dustin’s hand went to the back of her neck and he cupped it even as he slicked his tongue against the seam of her mouth. She moaned, opening up to allow him in. With a plunge of his tongue, he claimed her mouth with a hard, possessive stroke, loving how she responded. Her tongue played against his, her hands sliding to his shirt to hold him in place—as if he’d leave—and the kiss grew deeper, more urgent. He was lost in the moment, lost to everything but the feel of her mouth against his.
It was a fantastic kiss. He wanted to keep going forever, to pull her into his lap and strip that sweater off of her and discover if she was freckled everywhere. As his tongue slicked against hers again, Annie gave another sultry little moan.
One of the dogs howled in response.
They broke apart, and Annie giggled, looking over at the back seat. “Naughty Spidey!”
Dustin just laughed. Thwarted by a dog. It figured. But . . . it was probably a good time to stop, because if he touched her for much longer, he was going to forget all about stopping.
By the time they got back to Painted Barrel, the rain had disappeared and Annie was exhausted. She could only imagine how tired Dustin was, but he didn’t show it. He pulled up to her hotel, hopped out of the truck to get her door, and they leashed both dogs to give them a walk. Moose clearly had some training, as he didn’t pull on the leash, utterly content to be at Dustin’s side. The dog was half in love with him.
She didn’t blame him.
“Will Moose and I get to see you again?” he asked after a few minutes of quiet.
“I like how you threw the dog in there.”
“Well, sure. I need to make sure you say yes.”
Even though she didn’t want to laugh, she did. He was such a flirt. Why was it so much fun? She should be irritated at his constant teasing but all she did was blush and giggle and enjoy it. “I’m not sure it’s such a good idea. I’m not in town for much longer.”
Dustin shrugged, as if the idea didn’t bother him at all. “We’ll make the best of the time you are here, then, if you want to get together. If not, just tell me to buzz off. You won’t hurt my feelings none. Moose, however . . .” He gave a gusty sigh and shook his head, indicating the leashed dog with the sad eyes. “He’s sensitive.”
She snorted.
“Come on, look at those sad eyes.”
“Yours or his?” she teased.
“Both.” He pulled his hat off and held it to his chest. “Miss Grissom, we’d love to have the honor of taking you out for burgers again. Or just watching Netflix.”
Annie could feel the smile tugging at her mouth. Even though it was a bad idea, she couldn’t refuse. What was a little flirty fun for one week, after all? It wasn’t as if it’d change her life. A brief fling with no strings attached would be utterly harmless. “You can call me tomorrow and see if our schedules match.”
He just grinned as if he’d won the lottery.
They stayed outside talking for a while longer, standing close together while the dogs sniffed the nearby greenery and then each other. When fat droplets started to sprinkle down once more, she shielded her face with her hand and glanced over at him. “I think I should go inside now.”
Dustin held his hat over her head, leaned in, and gave her a quick, gentle kiss on the mouth. “That’s so you won’t change your mind on me.”
And what did she do? She giggled like an idiot, babbled something about seeing him tomorrow, and then wandered onto the tiny hotel porch just as the rain began to pour down once more. She watched as he and Moose raced back to his truck, the dog already devoted and following at his heels. If nothing else, she was so, so happy that they’d rescued him and given him a new start. He deserved that. Everyone did.
“Come on, Spidey,” she murmured to her round little butterball of a dog as they went inside. She was so busy yawning that she didn’t see Katherine until the other woman put her magazine down and got off of the ugly floral couch in the foyer of the old-fashioned hotel.
“Well, well,” Katherine called out. “Look who the cat dragged in.” She wiggled her eyebrows at Annie to take the sting out of her words. “You have a fun day? I saw you sucking face with that cowboy.”
Annie picked Spidey up before he could eat a chunk of mud on the floor, a sure sign that he was hungry. He tended to hoover up anything in reach if he missed a meal. “We were just checking on a rescue dog in Casper. He wasn’t for me, though.”
“So you kissed the cowboy until the pain in your heart went away?” Katherine teased. “You sly dog. Here you told me you never hook up on set.”
“I don’t,” Annie protested. “Really, I don’t. This was . . . just a little harmless fun. That’s all. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Girl, I know it doesn’t. If it was me sucking face with a cowboy, we both know it would mean nothing.” She had on-set hookups all the time, and they both knew it. “But this is you we’re talking about. You’re like a sister to me. I don’t want you getting your heart broken by some guy in a pair of tight Wranglers.”
“We both know we’re not going to be in town long enough for that,” Annie told her, holding a wriggling, muddy Spidey against her chest. “It’s just a little fun with a cute guy, that’s all.”
“You know Steve and I went to dinner tonight and heard plenty about your cute guy,” Katherine said, a knowing look on her face. “This town’s small enough that everyone knows everyone. They also apparently know everything about each other, because your boyfriend? Dustin? He’s the town player. He flirts with all the girls and his dance card’s always full. If it seems like it’s too good to be true, it probably is.” She reached out and squeezed Annie’s shoulder. “I know you don’t want to hear it, but I also don’t want you ending up as just another notch on some guy’s bedpost.”
“I’ll be careful,” she promised Katherine. And she would.
It was just a harmless flirtation. That was all. He was fun to talk to and fun to make out with.
It didn’t have to be more than that.
The next day, with Katherine’s warning ringing in her mind, she vowed to herself that she wouldn’t call or text him. The shoot that day was long and difficult, and Sloane was in an exceptionally bad mood. To make things worse, the fields were muddy and so any shot with Spidey in it had to be paused so he could be scrubbed free of dirt so each frame would match the last one. The horses were cranky. The dog was cranky. The actors were extremely cranky, and by the time they wrapped for the day, she just wanted to forget all about The Goodest Boy and everyone involved in it.
When she got a text from Dustin, it seemed like a sign.
Moose says hello, he sent, along with a video filmed from horseback of the dog trotting alongside. Moose looked so happy that she had to respond.
Her quick rejoinder turned into a dinner invitation, and when she told him she was too tired to go out somewhere, he offered to come by with sandwiches. And Moose, too.
How could a girl refuse that?
So one night turned into the next, and the next. The days were spent arguing with Sloane on the set as he came up with more and more ridiculous new ideas to try and film the climax of the movie. Luckily, the actors seemed about as done as she was and all the ideas were shot down, though not without furious arguing on all sides. Annie had never worked on such a disaster of a movie and told Dustin so. Strangely enough, though, she wasn’t looking forward to it ending, because that meant she’d be leaving.
And she was having far too much fun with Dustin.
Their dates weren’t really “dates.” She never went to the ranch. She’d offered a few times to meet him there, but he’d said it was too crowded, or they wouldn’t have privacy. She understood that. Most of the time they headed up to her room to relax and watch TV or to cuddle with the dogs. They’d grab the leashes and take the pair out for a walk up and down the main street of Painted Barrel and drop in at the local convenience store to pick up snacks. One night he brought food over to her place and tried his best to make her macaroni in the room’s coffeepot.
It was all low-key, silly, and fun.
She loved it.
She loved his sense of humor, and how he never seemed to take life seriously. No matter how bad of a day he had on the ranch, he would always show up to meet her with a smile and a joke, and it was as if nothing could bring him down. Annie admired that. She worried too much, she knew, but when she was around him, she worried a little less about the things she couldn’t control.
Heck, she just loved being around Dustin. She didn’t feel like she had to impress him, to be some LA glamour girl. She could just be Annie, a stay-at-home, dog-crazy sort of girl that liked long walks in the countryside and quiet evenings under the stars. She looked forward to her phone pinging with text messages from him throughout the day. He sent her all kinds of pictures from horseback, sometimes of a sea of cattle, sometimes of wide-open landscapes. Because she was quickly becoming besotted, she changed her wallpaper on her phone to a selfie he’d sent her when he was bottle-feeding one of the calves. Darn thing melted her heart every time she looked at it. She’d offered to come over and help with the calves, but he’d declined and showed up at her hotel, instead.
Really, Dustin was amazing. And she wasn’t looking for a relationship, but the time she spent with him just made her so happy. So content.
The only thing she didn’t like? She wasn’t exactly feeling the love from the locals. Not that she needed approval from anyone to see him, but things were a little . . . weird when they went out together. A few times they’d run errands around town, using it as an excuse to walk the dogs and stretch their legs. If they ran into an elderly woman, the stranger would give Annie a small shake of her head, as if disappointed in her. If they ran into a younger woman, she shot daggers at Annie with her eyes.
All the men smirked at Dustin.
And Katherine? Katherine just gave her pitying looks, as if Annie was so hypnotized by a handsome man paying attention to her that she didn’t know how to think logically.
So it was . . . weird. It was as if they all knew something she didn’t, and she thought of what Katherine had told her, that Dustin was notorious around town for being a player and dating a lot of women. Well, he was gorgeous, so she could understand why the local women weren’t warm to her, but the whole “player” thing didn’t match the Dustin she knew. He was playful, yes. Flirty? Absolutely. Out to use her? It didn’t feel like it—he never did more than kiss her and tease her sweetly. He held her hand. He let her snuggle up against him on the small sofa in her hotel room. He never slept over. He never asked to.
They kept things light and fun.
They kissed. A lot.
Oh, how they kissed.
She’d done a fair amount of dating in the past, but no one had ever kissed her quite like Dustin did. He touched her like he had no goal except to please her. As if he had all the time in the world to do nothing but leisurely make love to her mouth with lips and tongue and need and lord have mercy, it was amazing. Toe-curling amazing. They could sit on the sofa for what felt like hours, touching and nibbling and tasting until her lips were swollen and she was dizzy with arousal, and she still never got enough.
Katherine kept telling her to be careful.
Of course, this all was temporary. None of it would matter in a handful of days, because she’d be heading back to Los Angeles, the movie wrapped. Dustin would more than likely be out of her life. It wouldn’t matter that he was a player.
For now, she was just going to enjoy being with him.