Her Perfect Cowboy. Trish Milburn

set the pie on the front counter and leave when he heard a loud grunt from farther back in the store. Concerned that she might have managed to injure herself with no one around to help her, he strode past the changing area and racks of frilly clothes. More grunts, louder now, led him to the back of the building where he spotted India, now barefoot, shoving large boxes across the floor toward a storeroom.

      “Need some help?”

      India yelped so loudly that Liam couldn’t help but laugh. Wrong move, judging by how she straightened and shoved her fists against her hips.

      “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” he said.

      “I thought you were gone.” And didn’t she sound as if she wished he was.

      He lifted the take-out container. “Verona asked me to drop off a piece of pie for you.”

      Her stance softened a little. “What kind?”

      “Chocolate fudge.”

      “I swear it’s that woman’s aim to make me fat.” That still didn’t keep India from walking up to him and taking the container holding said pie.

      “I don’t think you have to worry about that.”

      He noticed she didn’t meet his eyes as she uttered a quick thanks. As she took a step toward the front of the shop, he placed his pie on a low, glass-topped table in front of two cushy white chairs and headed toward the pile of boxes.

      “What are you doing?”

      He looked back at her over his shoulder. “Being chivalrous?”

      Her eyebrows bunched together, eliciting a smile from him.

      “Where do you want these boxes?”

      “I can get them.”

      “I’m sure you can...with a lot of grunting.”

      When her mouth dropped, he laughed.

      “Come on, just tell me where you want them. Then we can both enjoy our pie sooner.” He hadn’t meant to stay and eat with her, but he suddenly found the thought appealing. She seemed like a stubborn, independent woman, and he got the distinct impression he’d knocked her a little off-kilter today. Whatever that said about him, he kind of liked it.

      With a sigh, she tossed her container of pie next to his. “Fine.” She strode past him and pointed at the biggest box. “Put that one on the table in the back.” She indicated a long table that took up the back of the storage room.

      It only took Liam a couple of minutes to heft the half-dozen boxes to the spots India indicated. When he placed the last one on a lower shelf filled with shoe boxes, he turned back toward her as he dusted off his hands. “See, no time at all.”

      “Yes, you’re very manly,” she said with a roll of her eyes.

      He resisted the urge to flex his biceps. Geez, he hadn’t acted that stupid since he was halfway through his teens. He realized that India wasn’t the only one off-kilter today.

      India headed out of the room, stopping at a small fridge to retrieve some bottles of water. Then she went outside the door to slip on a pair of white flip-flops with some sort of poufy flower-looking thing on top of them.

      “Those shoes look a little safer,” he said.

      “You’d be surprised. Unfortunately, I tend to be way klutzier than I’d like to be.”

      He followed her back to the front of the store, nabbing their pie containers and plastic forks along the way. He should leave before he did something really stupid, but he found himself slipping into a chair across from her at the same table where they’d met with Verona and Blake earlier.

      “So, Verona’s an interesting lady,” he said as he dug in to his pie.

      “Lord, what did she do now?”

      He chuckled. “Nothing much. She just seems really full of life, which is a good thing.”

      “Don’t let her hear you say that. The next thing you know, she’ll have you at her beck and call and thinking you begged for the honor.”

      “So, you really like her.”

      India opened her own pie box. “She grows on you.” She took a bite of pie and made an appreciative sound that went right to the part of him that was thankfully hidden by the top of the table.

      She closed her eyes for a moment as she swallowed the bite. Did she not have any idea how sexy she looked right now?

      “Verona’s the aunt of one of my best friends, so she’s sort of like a second mom to all of us. She’d do anything for us, but she also gets these wild ideas in her head like she knows our paths to true happiness, too.”

      “Well, she was right about one thing.”

      India looked up to meet his gaze. “What’s that?”

      He cut another piece of his pie and gestured with it on the end of the fork. “It would be a crime to visit the Primrose and not have a slice of pie.”

      Just as they finished their dessert and India stood to toss their containers and forks in the trash, a tall brunette breezed through the front door. She stopped in her tracks when she spotted Liam then shifted her curious gaze to India.

      When he also looked at India, he thought he detected more embarrassment, like she’d shown earlier after he’d carried her to the truck. He took that as his cue to head home for real this time.

      “I’ll send the contract out in tomorrow’s mail,” he said as he stood and met India’s lovely eyes.

      “Sounds good,” she said with a quick nod.

      The devil inside him almost wanted to say something to make the color rise higher in her cheeks, but he bit down on that idea. He had to work with her in the coming days, and the last thing he needed was to say or do something that would make that working relationship uncomfortable for them both.

      “Ma’am,” he said to the new arrival, who had curiosity coming off her like waves of heat on a highway in July.

      All the woman managed was a nod and a strangled “Hey” before he made his way out the door. Instead of simply sliding into the driver’s seat of his truck, however, he took the time to retrieve his drying Stetson and plop it atop his head. Then he looked back across the street and noticed the brunette staring out of the boutique’s front window. And she wasn’t the only one.

      He tapped the front brim of his hat and smiled at India. Though it was probably the height of stupidity, he was already looking forward to returning to Blue Falls.

      * * *

      “WHO WAS THAT MIGHTY fine speciman of hunkitude?” Elissa asked as she blatantly watched Liam cross the street, tap his hat and drive down Main Street.

      “Liam Parrish, the head of the rodeo company we’re using.” India tried to keep her voice even and matter-of-fact, with no more feeling than if she were telling Elissa what color of paint she’d picked out for her bathroom.

      “Mmm-hmm, just like I predicted—hot cowboys.” Elissa unfortunately shifted her attention to her friend just as a rush of heat washed through India. “And I see you appreciated the eye candy.”

      “The only thing hot around here is me. I’ve been shoving around boxes that feel like they’re filled with rocks instead of clothing.” Granted, Liam did most of the heavy lifting. No, she couldn’t think about Liam, especially not with Elissa watching her every facial expression.

      “I know you have Mr. Perfect all picked out in that little brain of yours, but don’t stand there and tell me you didn’t notice that man was hot enough to fry bacon on.”

      India shrugged. “He’s okay.”

      With a sound of exasperation, Elissa rounded the front counter and retrieved the phone book. She licked