Page 13 of Her Royal Cowboy Billionaire
Alex gazed at Erin and then at Michele. “I would say she was quite a little trooper. She did not whine or seem to be bored by the conversation.”
She kissed her daughter on the forehead. “She’s extremely well-behaved. As long as we include her periodically, she stays interested.” Michele closed the back door.
Alex opened her door.
“I have a six-year-old baby brother and he is not that way at all.” Alex rolled his eyes. “Or maybe it is just at family meals. He’s so impossible at a normal dinner, I’d be afraid to take him out.”
Michele climbed into the truck. “I’m sure he just wants to be part of the conversation. Do you have many siblings?”
He shut her door, went around the front of the truck, and climbed in. He glanced over at her while he started the vehicle. “I have three sisters. Catherine, who is two years younger than me at twenty-seven, Tivia, who is twenty-five and Gina, who is twenty-three. Then there is little Gregory, who is six and was totally unexpected. What about you?”
“I’m twenty-six and had one brother, younger than me, who died when we were children. I was twelve, and he was ten when he developed pneumonia. Then they found cancer in his lungs and…well, he didn’t survive the cancer. I have other brothers and a sister, too, but I miss Joey more than anything.”
“I’m very sorry for your loss.”
“Thanks. I think about him every day and each day I manage to remember the good times we had and not just losing him.”Have I been so afraid of losing someone that I don’t let them get too close to begin with?
* * *
Alex wantedto reach over and caress her cheek, but that would be too forward for a first date, and this was definitely just afirstdate. There would be more, many more, if he had anything to say about it. Something about Michele Williams attracted him, unlike any woman he’d met before. He’d known it since he first saw her at the horse show. She was different…real. She wasn’t after his money or his crown. She wasn’t even after him. He would do the chasing, and that pleased him.
They reached Michele’s home.
He pulled to a stop, turned off the truck, and then hurried around to help her out.
Once she was on the ground, he opened the back door for her.
She handed Alex her handbag. “Would you open the door for us, please?”
“Certainly, but wouldn’t it be easier if I carried her?”
“Yes, actually it would.” She unfastened Erin’s seatbelt and took back her keys and clutch.
Alex gently pulled the child into his arms. She looked so sweet, just like a little angel. Even Gregory looked like a cherub when he was sleeping.
Michele closed the truck’s door and then headed toward the house. The pea gravel crunched under their shoes. She opened the front door, entered, and then held it open for him.
He headed up the stairs to Erin’s room.
Michele followed and turned down the blankets on the bed.
Alex laid Erin on her bed and then backed away.
Michele set her purse on the end of the bed. Then she removed Erin’s shoes, kissed her forehead, and covered her up. She turned on the nightlight and followed Alex toward the door. She looked again, picked up her purse, and smiled at her little girl before closing the door.
She turned to him. “Would you like a nightcap?”
“I would love a cup of tea.”
“Tea, it is.” She stopped at her bedroom across the hall, where she kicked off her shoes and set the handbag on the floor just inside the door. “I hope you don’t mind, but my feet are killing me. I’m not used to high heels.”
He shook his head and put his hands behind his back. “I don’t mind at all.”
“Good.” She headed down to the kitchen where she put on the electric teakettle. Then she lifted down mugs and a teapot. “Have a seat.” Into the pot, she placed two teaspoons of loose tea.
He sat at a small wooden table with four wooden chairs.
“This table was the Jessup’s. I’ll probably replace it once the kitchen gets finished, which will be soon. The appliances are supposed to arrive on Tuesday, the plumber comes on Monday, and the granite counters are supposed to be installed on Wednesday.”
