Texas Rose Forever (Texas Rose Ranch #1) by Katie Graykowski Page A

because they liked them? He grinned to himself.
    “Why are you so interested in my underwear?” She stomped up the stairs.
    “Just making conversation. My ex-wife wasn’t into frilly underwear.” His ex-wife hadn’t been into much except spending his money on everything except lacy underwear.
    “You were married?” She looked back over her shoulder.
    “Five wonderful . . . peaceful years.” He hadn’t meant to sound so cynical.
    “Don’t believe in marriage?” She turned back around and continued up the steps. She wasn’t even breathing hard.
    “I didn’t say that.” He’d never really thought about it before. “I do believe in marriage. I just don’t believe in marriage to Naomi.”
    He dreaded the next question . . . the one where she asked what happened. Should he lie and tell her that they’d grown apart or should he tell her the truth and risk looking like an idiot because he hadn’t known his wife was cheating?
    She nodded. “Makes sense. I’ve learned a thing or two from my exes. Although, I was lucky enough not to have married any of them.”
    He waited for the “what happened” question but it never came.
    “You neglected to mention the four hundred flights of stairs when you brought up stargazing.” She still wasn’t out of breath, but she’d slowed down. “My thighs are burning.”
    “Must be all of that yoga that keeps you so in shape.” He couldn’t help it. Sparring with her was so much fun.
    “Put up or shut up, Cowboy. Yoga at the cottage at noon tomorrow. Show up or I’ll know you’re afraid.”
    “You’re on.” He’d do it just to watch her do yoga. Hell, he’d show up just to watch her stand there and read from Dictionary.com.
    “Good God, how many more steps are there?” She looked up and grimaced.
    “Only four more flights to go.”
    “You don’t have to sound so cheerful.” She stomped up the steps.
    “I’m a complex man with lots of layers. I find humor in the strangest things.” He was struggling to keep up with her. His thighs were on fire too.
    “I thought your mom said you weren’t much of a talker. Now I can’t get you to shut up.” She stomped up another flight of stairs.
    “You bring out my inner teenaged girl. Want me to text you? Later, we can braid each other’s hair and post the pictures on Instagram.” He grinned.
    “Lucky me.” She climbed the last flight of stairs and threw her arms up like Rocky taking a victory lap. “I haven’t climbed that many stairs since my ex decided to be a personal trainer and thought I needed to get into shape. Thank God he’d only wanted to be one long enough to get the certification.”
    It was on the tip of his tongue to ask what had happened with the personal trainer, but she hadn’t asked what went wrong with Naomi, so she deserved the same courtesy.
    He climbed the last stairs and used the flashlight to point her in the direction of the observation deck.
    She followed the beam of light to the rail and looked up. “Okay, this is worth it.”
    He spread the blanket out and sat.
    She turned around and leaned against the rail. “So, you bring all of your women up here?”
    She made it sound like he’d had dozens.
    “No.” He thought about it as he patted the real estate next to him. “You’re the only one.”
    “Uh huh.” She sat beside him.
    “No, really.” He looked up at the stars. He pointed up. “That’s the Big Dipper and there’s Ursa Major. See, there’s the head. It’s supposed to look like a big bear, but I think it looks more like a turtle.”
    “I guess you learned all about the stars on all those cattle drives. Spending the night under the stars and all of that.” CanDee lay down on her back and stared up at the sky.
    “No, there’s an app on my iPad. You hold it up to the sky and it maps the stars.”
    Her hair spilled all around him and the scents of peaches and coconut drifted up. Her full bottom lip was ripe for sucking. With the moonlight dancing off of