“You should, darlin’.” He brought the food to her lips and they parted. He barely bit back his groan when her eyes closed and she savored the melt-in-the-mouth entrée.
He convinced her to have dessert under the pretense of them sharing it. He enjoyed immensely having the excuse to feed her bite after bite, watching her reaction as the cheesecake hit her tongue.
Watching Eleanor Aston eat could quickly become an obsession.
“You promised me an explanation about why you wanted me to come to Texas with you,” she reminded him, dabbing her mouth with her napkin.
“That I did.” Somehow in the course of their dinner and the enjoyable company he’d forgotten all about the trip to Texas. That alone was testament to how wrapped up in watching Eleanor, in talking with her, he’d been. “My family is hosting the local rodeo this year. I need a date.”
Her gaze narrowed suspiciously. “You’re never short on dates, Ty. Why would you choose me?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because we’re not dating.”
“One could argue that technically we’re on a date at this very moment.”
She seemed to consider that a moment, then met his gaze again. “I’m not your usual fare.”
“Exactly.”
She frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He laughed at her expression, quite enjoying how her every thought was broadcast so plainly in her eyes. “Quit looking so perturbed, Ellie. I meant it as a compliment.”
If anything, her frown deepened. “Don’t call me that.”
“What? Ellie? It fits.” He spooned another bite of the cheesecake, but she wouldn’t even look at it, just shook her head, practically wincing.
“I don’t want any more and, no, that name doesn’t fit.”
He started to tempt her, knew he could, but realized there was more going on than she was telling him, something profound.
“I’ll make a deal with you,” he offered, watching every emotion flicker across her lovely face.
“What’s that?”
Had her voice broken? Her eyes were sparkling and not from looking at him but as if she was fighting back tears.
Ty reached across the table, took her hand in his and laced their fingers. “I’ll only call you Ellie when you steal my breath with your beauty.”
Not looking at him, she snorted. “That’s a deal I’ll gladly make, because I don’t want to be called that.” She took a deep breath, pulled her hand free of his and slipped on what he supposed was her game face. “Now, tell me more about this trip to Texas.”
Ty wanted to dig, wanted to know what made Eleanor tick, to know what had upset her, but now wasn’t the time for digging for details. At least, not into Eleanor’s life. His was another story altogether as he’d promised her the goods.
Eyeing Eleanor’s quiet expression, he couldn’t resist saying, “For the record, I wouldn’t count on not hearing me call you Ellie again. You’re a very beautiful woman. On the inside and the outside.”
She ignored his implication and his compliment. “So the trip’s for an entire weekend?”
“We’ll fly up on Thursday morning and can safely sneak out on Sunday afternoon under the need to get back to our patients. Should be a breeze, right?”
Four days with Ty Donaldson. Could she survive it? Because the man was a natural-born charmer and she really wasn’t equipped to deal with the likes of him. It would be so easy to believe in his quick lines.
To believe in the way he looked at her.
Because he looked at her as if he found her attractive. If she’d thought she’d imagined it the night of the ribbon-cutting, she’d been wrong. He was looking at her the same way right this minute. As if he found her interesting, desirable, beautiful—inside and out.
When he’d fed her, she’d almost died. No man had ever fed her, ever taken pleasure in doing such a simple act, but Ty had. When she’d opened her eyes after that first bite, she’d seen the pleasure in his eyes. He’d enjoyed feeding her every bit as much as she’d enjoyed him doing so.