Blayze soon appeared at my side and walked next to me as he carried in the rolls. “You sure are pretty,” he said as he set the rolls on the table and faced me.
I couldn’t help but laugh. He was a little Shaw in the making. “Why, thank you, kind sir.”
Blayze jutted out his chest some. I could instantly picture a younger version of his father doing the same thing. Hell, any of the Shaw men. “I did have dibs on Kaylee, but Uncle Ty won her heart. You know, Uncle Tanner and Uncle Dirk both said they had dibs on you at the wedding.”
That caused me to raise a brow. I ignored the way my stomach jumped a little at this bit of news. “Did they now?”
He nodded. “Yep. I heard them call it on ya. I’d like to go ahead and call dibs too.”
I was positive my mouth was slacked open and my eyes were as wide as saucers.
Stella appeared out of nowhere, shaking her head. “Good Lord, boy. There’s no calling dibs on a girl at any point in time.”
“But, Uncle Tanner and…”
“Blayze…” Stella sternly warned. “A gentleman doesn’t call dibs on a young lady. The boys were kidding, isn’t that right, Timberlynn?”
My head jerked between the two. I wasn’t sure if I should laugh, be angry, or maybe get a little excited. Both Tanner and Dirk were beyond good looking. I had to admit, it was a confidence boost for sure.
“Um…”
Stella tilted her head as she watched me.
I swallowed hard and said, “That…that is right. It most certainly will not win the heart of any woman…er … girl, um…to, ah…to have dibs called on her.”
Blayze looked as if he was thinking that through. “Then I take my dibs back. So, does that mean I’ve got a better chance of winning your heart since they called dibs and I didn’t?”
I shot a glance at Stella who was attempting to keep from laughing by covering her mouth with her hand.
“Well…” I said, trying to hide my own smile now as I tapped my fingers on my lips. “I think I might be a bit old for you, Blayze.”
“I don’t mind waiting.”
Oh dear.
“You’re too late, buddy,” Tanner said as he walked up. I quickly looked over at him and felt my stomach drop. Those dimples...they made my knees feel weak. He stopped next to me, and I forced myself not to feel the heat from his body. “I do believe Miss Timberlynn is going to go horseback riding with me tomorrow morning so I can show her the ranch.” He leaned down and whispered loud enough for me and Stella to hear. “I’m hoping she’ll think it’s a date.”
Blayze furrowed his brows and asked, “When I got my horse and saddle from Santa, I was gonna ask her out, but you asked her out before me?”
Tanner looked over at me, waiting for me to answer.
Stella now had her hand over her mouth, her eyes darting back and forth between her son, grandson, and me. She found this humorous. What in the heck was I supposed to say? I looked at Stella once more for guidance. She simply jerked her chin toward Tanner. What was that supposed to mean?
“H-he did, Blayze, and I said…” Another look at Stella and she nodded ever so slightly. “Um, I said yes.”
With a dramatic roll of his eyes, Blayze tossed his hands in the air and let them fall to his sides. “This is why I should have tossed my hat in earlier. I knew it.”
“What in the world?” Stella said as I finally lost the battle and laughed. Tanner did as well, rustling Blayze’s hair.
“Sorry, buddy. Maybe next time,” Tanner said as he smiled at Blayze, then looked over at me and winked.
My stomach fluttered, and I pressed my hand against it. I swore my breath seemed to be caught in my chest.
“Oh, poor Brock and Lincoln,” Stella said as she placed her hands on Blayze’s shoulders and guided him back to the kitchen.
Tanner watched them leave and then faced me. “Sorry, it was either that or you’d be forced to go on a date with my six-year-old nephew.”
Blayze would have been the safer option, I thought to myself. “He is…something else,” I said as I followed Tanner back to the kitchen.
“You have no idea.”
“We’re not really going riding, are we?” I asked, peeking over at him.
He looked at me with a sexy smirk. And there went my stomach once again. “Of course we are. You already agreed to go with me. No take-backs at this house.”
I tried not to smile. “It was under false pretense.”
“If we don’t go, Blayze will know. Then he’ll think he can officially call dibs on you again.”
We had stopped right outside of the kitchen. I couldn’t help but let my gaze move over Tanner’s frame. My God, the man was utterly gorgeous. A body that screamed he had serious muscles under his jeans and button-down shirt. Blue eyes the color of the sky right after a fresh spring rain, and hair that clearly looked like he ran his fingers through it when he was thinking about something or maybe when he was frustrated. My fingers itched to do the same. I balled my hands into fists to fight the urge to touch him.
For some unknown reason, I found myself wanting to spend some time with Tanner, even though I had sworn off him only minutes ago. There was something about being with him that made me feel so different. What kind of different I wasn’t sure of yet, but I liked the way I felt around him. If I were being honest, I liked the way he made me feel when he gave me that brilliant smile of his.
My cheeks ached from smiling. “Well, we can’t have that now, can we?”
A brilliant smile erupted on Tanner’s face. “No, we can’t.” He motioned for me to walk into the kitchen ahead of him. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face if I tried.
So much for my vow to stay away from the man. And all because of a six-year-old.
Chapter Seven
TANNER
“You’re up early.”
I turned from brushing my horse to see Ty standing on the other side of Trigger’s stall. “Going for a ride.”
“A ride?”
“Yeah, I’m taking Timberlynn out and showing her some of the ranch.”
He stared at me for a moment and then nodded. “You taking Trigger?”
“Nah. I asked Timberlynn last night over dinner how experienced of a rider she is, and she said she grew up riding. I asked the guys to saddle up a few horses for me. I just wanted to get some time in with Trigger before I turned her out.”
Ty nodded and then gave me a pondering look. “You like her.”
“Of course, I like her. She’s my horse, dumbass.”
Ty sighed. “Not the horse, you idiot. You like Timberlynn.”
“What?” I practically shouted, which caused Trigger to jump. “What do you mean?”
The way the corner of his mouth rose into a slight smirk pissed me off. “I mean, you like her. Dude, like I said yesterday, we all saw the way you looked at her when she came in with Kaylee. And last night at dinner you couldn’t keep your eyes off her.”
“You’re insane,” I replied as I walked Trigger out of her stall and toward the corral. I opened the gate and let her in. I was planning on turning her out to pasture this afternoon. She was so damn happy to be back home.
“Am I?” Ty asked. He tried to look as if he was considering the question.
“Yes, you are. She’s an attractive woman, of course I’m going to take notice when she walks into a room.”
“And the eye-fucking from last night? Was that me going crazy?”
I shot Ty a dirty look. “Just because you’re in love doesn’t mean the rest of us are lining up to give up our freedom.”
“Then it won’t bug you to know Dirk’s in town and will most likely be seeing her too.”
That caused me to frown, and unfortunately, Ty caught it.
“Was that a frown on your face, little brother? I didn’t peg you as being afraid of a little competition.”
“I’m not worried about Dirk,” I stated.
He laughed. “So you do like her!”
I
glared at him. “What if I do?”
That caused him to take a step back, his eyes wide. “Wait, are you admitting you like her? ’Cause if you are, can you say that again so I can record it and send it to Brock?”
“Why would you need to send it to Brock?” I asked, confused by where the conversation was going.
“We have a bet going on when you finally get hit by Cupid’s arrow, and I just won it.”
I stared at him, open-mouthed. “You just won it? Because I said I liked Timberlynn? I’ve liked plenty of women before. I like Lindsey.”
Ty dropped his phone to the side and jerked his gaze up to meet mine. “Dude, no. You can’t compare the two. Christ, you have a lot to learn, little brother.”