parents for dinner and said their goodbyes.
“Very funny, cowboy.”
Relieved that Xavier had finally rushed off to continue work on his restaurant, Emily ambled down the front steps to her car. Dylan was right beside her, a surprisingly steady presence.
“But as long as we’re recapping...” Emily paused to search through her bag for her keys. She looked at Dylan, wondering what his take on the situation was. His attitude throughout the meal had been so maddeningly inscrutable that she had no clue. “What was Xavier’s deal? He really went overboard with that intense interrogation.”
Dylan leaned against the side of her car, one foot crossed over the other, arms folded in front of him. Dusk had given way to night, and the sky overhead was filled with a full moon and a sprinkling of stars.
He gave her a bemused look. “I think that was Xavier taking self-absorbed to new heights.”
“Not to mention immaturity.” Emily fished the keys out. “Can you believe his father bought him a restaurant?” She closed the clasp on her handbag. “Never mind plunked it down in Laramie, Texas, of all places?”
He moved closer, smelling like soap and man. “I’m sure they both figured there would be less competition here, and hence, it would be easier for a greenhorn like Xavier to succeed.”
Emily bit her lip. Unable to take her eyes off his broad shoulders and nicely muscled chest, she said, “I suppose you’re right about that. If the kid were in Dallas or Houston, it would be a much tougher road for him to travel.”
“Although small towns come with challenges, too.” Dylan looked over at her, seemingly in no hurry to move on. “It was nice of your parents to invite him over, though.”
That was the way her folks were—generous and welcoming, to the bone. “They’re just trying to bring Xavier into the ‘fold’ of Laramie business people. Obviously, my mother did not anticipate the way he was going to go after me with the third degree, hinting that I didn’t know what I was doing, running my business.” Emily sighed, still feeling a little embarrassed about that.
Dylan met her eyes. “And yet you were incredibly nice and patient with the kid, too,” he observed kindly.
It hadn’t been easy, given how obnoxious Xavier had been. But Emily had nevertheless tried to give the clueless teenager the benefit of the doubt. “I figure he probably doesn’t know any other way to interact with people, given how he was likely raised.”
Dylan lifted a brow and guessed. “With too much money and too little guidance?”
Emily nodded, aware she and Dylan were now close enough to feel each other’s body heat. She swallowed and stepped back slightly. “Think about it. Rather than help Xavier deal with whatever issues he has that are keeping him from wanting to go to college with his peers, his father bought him a franchise and sent him off to the boondocks alone to run it.” She frowned. “That doesn’t exactly foretell a lot of tender loving care.”
* * *
DYLAN KNEW WHAT it was like to be on the receiving end of a family with too much money and too little heart. A family that just wanted you out of the way... To his surprise, he suddenly felt a little sorry for the kid. “You’re right,” he said quietly. “I hadn’t thought about it that way.”
Empathy radiated in Emily’s blue eyes. “Unfortunately, Xavier won’t survive in this town for long if he continues the way he has been.”
“Also true,” Dylan said. Kindness and concern for one’s neighbor was the norm in Laramie County, not cutthroat aggression.
Emily shrugged. “So...I figured...since my parents had taken the initiative and tried to help him acclimate more successfully, I would be as compassionate as possible, too.”
That would have been fine had it not been for her personal history. Dylan lifted a brow. “Another of your makeover projects?”
Just that quickly the flash of temper appeared on her face. Emily propped her hands on her hips. “That would imply Xavier and I are romantically involved,” she retorted, resentment simmering in her low tone. “You know very well we’re not, and are never going to be.”
Dylan smiled—she had just given him the answer he was looking for. “So you admit you try and make over the guys you date?” he pressed.
Did her father also get in the act—behind the scenes, of course? Was that what had really prompted Shane’s offer to him earlier?
Dylan hated to think so. He wanted to think the proposal put to him was merit-based. On the other hand, he also knew Shane and Greta McCabe adored their only daughter and would do whatever they had to do to see she was well matched.
Even by giving her current “love interest” a hand up...?
Oblivious to the downward spiral to his thoughts, Emily continued, “Isn’t that what love is supposed to be about? Changing for the better because you’re involved with your ideal mate?”
Her lips looked so soft and inviting, he wondered what it would feel like to silence her with a kiss. But he told himself to stay focused. “I thought relationships were supposed to be about not having to change. Being adored for who and what you already were. What’s that saying?” He attempted to lighten the mood. “‘I love you just the way you are.’”
Emily scoffed. “It’s a song lyric, not a saying. And for the record—” she softened her tone wistfully “—I kind of like that you-complete-me thing.”
He should have figured she would be a Jerry Maguire fan. Knowing this had to be said if they were going to be friends, he pointed out sagely, “If the man and the woman ‘complete’ each other, then that would imply they can’t live without the other person.”
“So?”
Lazily, Dylan tracked the way the breeze was ruffling her hair. He reached over to tuck an errant strand behind her ear, then let his hand drop. “What kind of life would that be?” he asked unhappily. “If everything hinged on a person who might or might not live up to your expectations?”
* * *
IT WOULD NOT be the kind of life Dylan apparently wanted, Emily thought.
She sighed, her emotions abruptly as turbulent as his.
“Anyway,” Dylan continued, dropping his hand back to his side. He studied her expression. “I’m guessing your parents don’t know that Xavier hit on you.”
Thrilling from his brief, casual touch, Emily turned so her back was to the car. She lounged against the driver door, wishing Dylan wasn’t such a hard man to get to know. But he was extremely independent—and as emotionally elusive as the wild mustangs he was going to tame....
So she needed to forget about making him her next “diamond in the rough.”
After all, there was no point in pretending he would be willing to transform himself into what she wanted—any more than she would be willing to convert into what he wanted.
“I’ve been trying to forget that incident with Xavier.” Emily forced herself to get their conversation back
