Once he’d gotten her settled in, he excused himself and left the trailer. After a few minutes, she began to wonder where he went, so she pulled at the windows and stared out.
To her surprise, he was sitting on the steps, whittling something in the lantern light.
She watched him for a while, enjoying the way he deftly stripped the piece of wood of any bark and began to carve it. Watching him work, Mel began to wonder about other, sinfully wonderful things he could do with his hands. After a few seconds, she breathed out and fanned herself.
Mel had known him one day; this was no time to be getting involved or having such thoughts. Especially when she was working on uncovering an incredibly important story.
A story that could make her career.
She didn’t have time to be fooling around. She never had, but now, watching Dallas, she honestly wondered if it would be worth making time for.
Heck yes, it would.
She shook her head again, then went to change and get ready for bed. When she was done, he still hadn’t come in from his carving session, so she got settled under the covers.
Part of her still couldn’t believe how lucky she was to have found him. If not for him, she would have been stuck in her ravaged room for the night.
Or run over by a car.
Neither were very enticing propositions in her opinion.
As she began to drift off, she heard the trailer door open and close, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Dallas come in, so she pretended to be asleep.
He showered quickly, and when he got out, her eyes widened. Dallas was wearing a soft-looking pair of loose pajama pants and pulling a tee over his head.
Mel flushed as she got a glimpse of his jaw-dropping upper body. Ripped pecs and gorgeous, defined abs. She turned away, trying to keep herself from drooling as he lay down on the couch on the other side of the trailer.
Then all was silent. Except for the violent beating of Mel’s extremely hyperactive heart. It was almost too much to have a man of his perfection so close and yet so far.
She sighed as sleep began to take her.
It was probably for the best.
7
The next morning came quicker than Mel anticipated, and she’d slept so much better in Dallas’s trailer than any hotel that she made sure to thank him at least a dozen times.
Unsurprisingly, his response was to shrug and blush slightly while turning away, as if he didn’t know how to react.
But that just made her like him even more. He wasn’t full of bravado or fake niceness, and he didn’t take compliments or gratitude well at all. Such a unique man that way.
Such a sexy man… she thought as she looked over at Dallas in the driver’s seat of his big truck. There were two ATVs hitched up to a trailer that he’d acquired from somewhere this morning, though she wasn’t sure if they were rentals, a friend’s, or his own. All Dallas had said was, “I know someone.”
They were going out to the place that had been in the video yesterday. But even since getting a copy of the short, blurry film from Vern, she’d watched it over and over and still couldn’t really tell what had even been there in the frame.
A little while later, they pulled up to a rough trailhead that looked like it hadn’t been used by more than just horses in a long, long time. Off in the distance, she could see the hills and the mountains even farther beyond, standing like red and brown sentinels over the vast Texas prairie, and excitement bubbled inside her as she hopped out of the truck.
She was wearing tennis shoes and jeans today, with a T-shirt that was comfortable but form-fitting. Though, seeing Dallas with his work shirt and well-worn boots, she wondered if she wasn’t still a little underdressed for an adventure of this type.
Granted, in her line of work, “adventure” usually meant someone getting a little too excited on Black Friday or people harassing her in the background while she worked, not driving ATVs out into the wide, empty expanse before them.
Dallas unloaded the two ATVs and rolled them forward so they were at the head of the trail. But before he did anything else, he went to the back seat of his truck and pulled something out, a big, unmarked brown box, and handed it to her.
“What’s this?” she asked, admittedly even more excited about this surprise gift than the prospect of four-wheeling.
Dallas gestured at the box.
“I guess I’ll see, huh?” she said, pulling it open.
Inside, there was a pair of sturdy-looking boots that were both fashionable and practical, lined with thick soles and with the laces already threaded. Though she didn’t recognize the brand, they had to be expensive just based on the weight of the box in her hands and the sheer craftsmanship.
But that wasn’t all. There was a dark-orange work shirt tucked beneath them, made of a light material, with long sleeves like the kind cowboys wore, and the color instantly made her think of Dallas’s eyes whenever he showed interest in something.
“For me? No, I couldn’t…”
Dallas gave her a stern but playful glance.
“I mean, this must’ve cost a bunch. If anything, I owe you already,” she said.
But Dallas was already taking the boots out and undoing the laces, then putting them on the ground before her feet so she could step out of her sneakers right into them.
Even half kneeling, Dallas was huge. And so close. Dangerously close. She wanted to reach out and run her hands through the thick, dark hair at his nape. Wanted to run a finger along the hard planes of his face, see if he really was that beautiful or if it
