Sunday was spent prepping and getting ready for Wes to come over for dinner. I almost called him a dozen times to cancel and a family of butterflies had taken up shelter in my stomach and weren’t going easy on me. In a last-ditch attempt to calm me down, I picked up my phone to call Stacy. She picked up on the second ring and I went right into my rant.

“I’m freaking out, Stacy, why am I freaking out?”

I could hear her give a bit of a chuckle on the other end of the call. “I don’t know. Wes seems pretty into you. You should probably calm down a little bit.”

“What if I burn something for dinner?”

“When is the last time you burned anything?”

“Well shit, I don’t know.”

“Take a few deep breaths and get yourself together.”

“Okay, you’re right.” I take two deep breaths.

“How long until he is going to be there?”

“He said not until 5.”

“Um, Holl?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s 4:50.”

I pull the phone away from my ear and look at the time. “Shit, shit, shit. I’m not even dressed yet!” I can hear Stacy laughing through the phone, though I can’t figure out what is so funny to her. “STACY!” I yell at her.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I love you, go get ready, Wes is going to love your dinner. I hope you shaved your legs.”

“What? Why would I need….”

I try to finish my sentence, but instead, she says goodbye and hangs up the phone. I toss the phone down on the bed, frustrated. She was supposed to calm me down and did the exact opposite.

I’m no spring chicken and I’ve been on my fair share of dates before, but something seems to be something different about Wes. He’s unlike a lot of guys I’ve liked in the past, but I think it may be a sign that I am growing up and maturing. I always had a “bad boys” kick growing up. I’m sure I gave my parents all the gray hairs in the world. If you were tall, had a few tattoos, and a pack of cigarettes in your back pocket I’d lay down in bed for you no questions asked.

I mean, I wasn’t the type of girl to sleep around or anything, but man I loved those bad boys. Wes doesn’t seem like a bad boy though. He’s a rancher, a lifelong Valley View resident and he loves his mama. That’s got to make him a great guy, right? And be bought me a flower the other night when he dropped by unannounced.

Definitely not a bad guy, but boy do I was to do some bad girl stuff to him. I don’t have time to daydream now though because he’s going to be here any second and I didn’t pay enough attention to time. I already picked out my outfit, casual, but cute. A pair of light wash denim jeans that are cuffed at my ankles and a coral colored tank top with lace hem. I toss on a navy blue striped sweater over it to complete the look. It is perfect for the late August weather that is mostly warm but gets a bit chilly at night.

I barely get my hair out of my ponytail and dry shampooed before I hear Wes ring the doorbell down below and I buzz him up. I open the front door and he is standing there is a dark wash denim jeans with a gray cotton T-shirt, perfectly pressed and wrinkle-free. He isn’t wearing a cowboy or baseball hat and his hair is tousled around to perfection.

“Oh wow, is that product in your hair?” I tease him a bit.

He chuckles as I step aside to let him in. “For your information, I can shower and be presentable if the situation calls for it.”

“And dinner calls for it?” I say hopefully.

“Dinner with you does. Which by the way, it smells amazing, you can smell it the second you open the door downstairs.”

“You said you liked lasagna.”

“I do.” Wes sets down the six-pack of beer that he brought and kisses me on the cheek. I take one of the beers and hand him another and we walk over to the loveseat that I have in my living room.

Wes looks around once we take a seat, “So this is what life above the bakery looks like, huh?”

“Yeah, it isn’t that glamorous, but I’m lucky it is here. I spent all my money on the shop, I was content just sleeping on the floor in the backroom before I knew there was an apartment.

So how was your day? Did anything fun happen on the ranch?”

He smirks at me, “Do you know anything about ranches?”

“That’s a negative, Batman.”

“Well, I was up at four this morning and fixed a bunch of fences that some cows went crazy on. Then I rode around and checked on all the herds. I helped do some head counting and then I left a little early so I could shower and use this odd hair product so I could look presentable for this lady friend of mine.”

“Oh, lucky her.”

“I like to think so.” Wes leans over and tilts my chin up, pressing his lips against mine. I lean over to him and wrap my arms around his neck, pulling my body more onto his. The fire in our kiss increases and before you know it he is lifting me up on his lap and I am straddling him. I can feel him harden against my core and I moan into his mouth as we kiss. That only increases the desire in his kisses as he starts to take off my sweater.

Just as he is kissing down my neck and onto my shoulder the oven timer goes off signaling that dinner is done. He sits up and tucks a piece of hair behind my ear. “I guess I got a little carried away there. You should probably go get that.”

Flustered, I reply, “I probably should.” I stand up and readjust my outfit, pulling dinner out of the over and setting it on the table. Wes watches me intently as I set the table for dinner.

“What are you looking at?”

“Nothing.”

I put the dish towel back on the country and turned around to look at him standing in the kitchen. “Liar, you’re looking at me all strange and shit.”

“No, I swear I’m not. Just watching you get everything ready. Do you need me to get anything?”

“Nope, I’ve got this covered. I guess you could bring our beers over.”

“Sounds like a deal.”

Wes goes back into the living room and grabs both our beers and sets them on the table. I pull the salad out of the fridge and set the bowl on the table and finally get ready to plate up the lasagna. As I try to scoop some onto Wes’s plate the cheese stretches out and is so gooey.

He lets out a low whistle, “Damn, that looks great.”

“I used extra cheese.”

“Extra cheese should just be normal cheese.” He laughs.

“I agree! Okay, dig in. Tell me if you like it.”

Wes sits down and I sit impatiently waiting for him to take his first bite. He shovels a pretty large piece into his mouth and makes a primal groaning sound. I laugh at him as he tries to finish chewing the oversized piece that he shoved in his mouth. When he finally swallows he has a huge grin on his face. “Holly, swear to god, this is the best lasagna I’ve ever had. I love my Mama, so swear you’ll never tell her, but this ain’t got nothing on hers.”

“Your secret is safe with me. I’d never dare tell a mama that her son doesn’t like her cooking the best.” I make a cross over my heart to promise.

We carry on our general conversation as we eat dinner. The more I get to know him the more I like him. Part of me is kind of freaking out that I see him as so much of a family man. It is way too early to be thinking about a family with him, isn’t it? We finish up dinner and he puts the plates in the sink, much to my protest. I lean up against the kitchen counter as he turns to me and puts his hands on my waist.

“So…..” I look up at him and smile.

“So…..” He leans in and nibbles on my ear lobe. “Why don’t you show me to your bedroom, Holly?” And with his deep sexy voice, I’m completely goners.