My clothing problem was miraculously solved by a man. Go figure.

Rose had offered all week to take me into town to pick out some new clothes, but I’d put it off and borrowed Lily’s since the only spare time we’d had was last night, and I didn’t want Rose to miss the rodeo because she was helping me pick out clothes.

I was just about to tug a shirt over my head when a white folded note nestled in the tornado of tissue paper caught my attention. I’d been in such a hurry, I’d missed it. I grabbed it and opened it up.

I picked these up for you last week, but since I was scared you’d bite my head off if I did anything but stay silent and avoid eye contact, they’ve hung out with me in the attic. You know, that place right above you? Where I sleep? Sometimes naked?

My throat went dry when I visualized that. My legs went weak when I thought of me joining him in that naked state.

That was a joke. Kind of . . . Anyways, you needed some clothes, I wanted to help, problem solved. And while I’ve got your undivided attention . . . You remember that date I asked you about last week that you were about to say yes to before someone I shall not name really messed that up? Yeah, well, since you got me to sleep with you last night, I think the least you owe me is a date. Tonight? 8ish? You. Me. Food. Sound okay?

P.S. You can still kick serious ass in these boots.

I read the note once more. It made me laugh. As much as I wanted to read it again, I smelled breakfast. That meant I was running late.

I changed into a pair of jeans which, as suspected, hugged my butt but not as badly as Lily’s had, slipped into the olive green button-down shirt, and slid into the boots. Everything fit. The boots fit my feet so well, my old ones were in danger of becoming my second favorites.

After ripping a brush through my hair, I rushed down the hall. My lips felt chapped, no big surprise there, so I made a layover in the bathroom to slick on some lip balm.

Voices buzzed in the kitchen already, which meant I wasn’t only late, I was really late. As soon as I skidded into the kitchen, my eyes locked onto his and his onto mine. Jesse was already seated at the table with the rest of the hands, eating breakfast. After finishing the bite of food in his mouth, a grin spread across his face as he took me in decked out in my new clothes.

“Wowza! Don’t you look fabulous,” Rose said when she pulled her head out of the fridge.

“She sure does,” Jesse added, his grin stretching wider. The rest of the hands, along with Neil, turned and took a quick look. A few nods, a couple smiles, then they got back to their breakfast.

“Thank you,” I replied to Rose before glancing back at Jesse. I don’t think he’d blinked yet. “And thank you.” I hoped he’d pick up on the subtle inflection because I couldn’t just walk across the kitchen, kiss him full on the lips, and thank him for the clothes the way I wanted to. I wasn’t sure how his family would take it. I was still trying to figure us out for myself, so whatever Jesse and I had, we’d have to keep it quiet until we figured out just what it was.

“Sorry I’m late,” I said as I rushed over to the coffee pot. That was my area of expertise. I ground, made, and poured the coffee. After that first day, I hadn’t spilled any. Occasionally, I’d be brave enough to whip up the pancake mix or scramble the eggs, but manning the coffee was the safest bet.

“That’s all right, hun,” she said, waving it off. “Clem said you had a tough time sleeping last night. You could have slept in, you know?”

Clementine waved at me from where she flipped pancakes on the griddle while standing on a step stool. Her purple scarf was proudly on display.

“What kept you up? Mind, body, or both?” Rose asked as I grabbed the coffee pot.

I couldn’t look her in the eyes when I answered, “Both.” I promptly spun around and whisked toward the table.

I felt one set of eyes on me. So intently, I remembered the way he’d kissed me last night. It made me remember the words he’d said to me.

Reliving last night when I had hot coffee in my hands wasn’t a good idea. I stopped beside Neil and lifted the pot. “Refill?” It was a rhetorical question. Not once in the past week had Neil turned down a coffee refill.

“Please,” he said with a nod. “Did you end up going to the rodeo last night, Rowen? We didn’t see you there, but it was packed as usual.”

“Yeah, I went.” I focused on pouring coffee into his cup. I did a quick scan of the table and was relieved to see a certain seat empty. I wasn’t quite ready to see Garth Black yet.

“What did you think?” he asked, turning in his seat toward me. “This was your first rodeo, right? I bet it left quite an impression.”

“It certainly left an impression,” I replied as I set his cup back down in front of him.

“Well, good. I’m glad you could make it,” he said as I moved on to the next cup that needed topped off. “Did you do anything especially fun afterward?”

From across the table, someone started choking.

The guy sitting next to Jesse hammered his back a few times while Jesse took a few sips of water. “Geez, Jesse. Try chewing your food before you swallow it. Basic stuff here, buddy.”

Jesse lifted his eyebrows in acknowledgement, took another sip of water, and glanced my way.

I shot him a thumbs up and made a face. He shot me back a smirk.

“I just went back up to my bedroom and stayed there all night.” I continued to make the coffee rounds. Jesse picked his fork back up and dove into his breakfast, but his eyes shifted my way every few seconds. So much for playing it subtle.

“Sounds like an uneventful night,” Neil said.

“Perfectly uneventful,” I replied.

Jesse shook his head and grinned into his plate.

The pot was empty a few cups later. After a detour to refill, I headed back to the table. En route, Jesse lifted his full cup of coffee and took a drink. He didn’t stop until the cup was empty. He swung it from the handle with his finger and winked at me.

If he kept that up, the entire ranch would know something was going on between us.

“Refill?” I stopped beside him and held out my hand. I was likely imagining it, but his eyes twinkled a bit more this morning.

“I thought you’d never ask,” he replied as he handed me his cup. His hand grazed mine purposefully, and in that briefest of grazes, my heart picked up speed.

“Did you have trouble sleeping last night, too?” I asked innocently as I poured his coffee. No one was paying us any attention, but just in case . . .

“Maybe a little.” He twisted in his seat and gave me a not-so-innocent smile. “Once I did fall asleep, I slept great. Best sleep of my life even.”

I was one more flirty innuendo away from a blush. It took a lot to make me blush, and I really didn’t want to do it right here for all of these guys to witness.

“Did you have a tough time getting to sleep last night, too, son?” Neil spoke up. I almost jumped out of my skin. I didn’t think anyone could hear us above the din of conversations roaming around the room.

“Yeah, I did, Dad,” Jesse replied in a collected voice. Like he hadn’t just gone from talking in code with me about last night to discussing sleep with his dad a second later.

“You know, I did, too,” Neil said. “I kept hearing a bunch of creaking around and odd noises last night.”

It would have been my turn to choke if I had anything in my mouth.

“This house is older than you are, Dad. It creaks and makes odd noises all the time,” Jesse said with a shrug while he soaked up some hamburger gravy with a biscuit.

“Thanks for the age reminder, Jesse. Always something I love to be reminded of. But these were odd-er sounds.” That’s probably because your son climbed down a chimney, hurled himself into my room, and made out with me in ways that are probably illegal in this county. “Anyways, I’m sure it was nothing, but it looks like a few of us are going to be getting by on nothing more than caffeine and grit today.”