The Reeducation of Savannah McGuire - Page 18

Tyler moves up to rest on his elbow. “You’re so freakin’ beautiful and I’m one lucky bastard to have you in my arms. All the guys tonight, they wanted your number and all I could do was laugh at them because you were goin’ home with me. I’m gonna take you out tomorrow, just you and me.”

“As long as I’m with you, Tyler, no one else exists. You can take me to the carnival for all I care. I just want you by my side.”

As soon as the words leave my mouth I know I’ve just bought myself a whole lot of heartache.

Tyler

With one last look in the mirror, I run my hands down the front of my white button down and make sure it’s tucked into my Wranglers. My sleeves are rolled up and my

black Stetson is on. I’m ready for my first of what will hopefully be many dates with Savannah. I need to make the most of her days here on the ranch. I don’t want her to forget me when she’s off “decorating” Paris. The thought of asking her to stay a little longer has crossed my mind, but it’s not fair of me to ask. She needs to see that she belongs here, that this is her home. I can’t force her to see what I’m seeing if she’s not ready.

Last night, I almost took it too far. She was there, urging me, but taking her like that – our first time – is not how I pictured us finally connecting. I’m not trying to be some poor romantic, but dammit if the girl doesn’t deserve something better than a pick-up truck fuck.

I take one last look around my bedroom. I tidied up last night after I dropped her off, dusted and vacuumed – two chores that I never think about doing. I made my bed this morning, thinking that my mom would be proud of me if she were here right now. I’m hoping to take Savannah to see my mom. I know she’d like to see Savannah, but I’m sure the feeling that she lost her best friend will surface again. It took my mom a long time to get over the total break in communication that took place when they left for New York. We were all hurt.

The flowers that I bought earlier this morning are sitting by the door, waiting for me to take them to Savannah. I never brought Annamae flowers; maybe that was where I went wrong. Either way, I don’t want to mess up with Savannah. I close my eyes and lean my head against the door. I need my mind to stop thinking that she and I have a future after this summer. She’s leaving. I’m staying. Paris is no place for a guy like me. I’d be lost unless we’re out in the country with a few horses and a cow or two. But that’s not what Savannah wants. I heard her talking to some of the girls last night – she wants Paris for its culture, fashion and cobblestone streets. She’s excited to sit in the little cafés and sip fancy coffee with her pinky finger in the air. None of that appeals to me. If anything, I need to reeducate Savannah McGuire on why her place is here.

I know I need to show her everything that she can have here. There’s the pond, the horses and the long nights under the cover of stars. And there’s me. She can’t have this in Paris. Tonight after dinner, I’m going to take her out to the pond on horseback to remind her that she once loved it here and never wanted to leave. If that doesn’t work, I’ll need to convince myself that I can let her go when the time comes. After only a few weeks of her being here, I’m in deep and don’t know if I can survive her leaving me again.

The drive over is short and doesn’t really afford me the opportunity to settle my nerves. I need to shut off my mind and stop thinking about what will happen at the end of the summer. Even though the situation feels out of my control, I need to do everything I can to try and change her mind.

As soon as I slam the door to my truck, the front porch door is shutting as well. With each step I take, she’s taking one. When I reach the bottom step she stands before me, six stairs away, staring down at me. I swallow hard as I appraise the sheer beauty before me. Her long blonde hair is curled with half of it pulled up, accentuating her neck. Thin straps are all that cover her shoulders, making my mouth water with thoughts of how much freedom my lips will have. Savannah’s dress is white, stopping at her knees and perfect against her tan skin. But what does me in are the brown boots that she’s wearing. She’s the most gorgeous cowgirl I’ve ever seen, even if I can’t get her to wear a hat. With her standing before me like this, it solidifies my belief that she belongs here.

Savannah’s gaze falls to the flowers hanging by my side. I look down and smirk. I can’t believe I forgot about them. “Um…” I clear my throat, ridding myself of the imaginary frog playing around with my voice. I don’t know what this means, but standing here in front of her makes me nervous. “These are for you.” I hold out the bouquet of sunflowers. The florist in town said I should go for roses, but Savannah doesn’t look like the “roses” type. She’s more sunshine and happy.

“They’re beautiful.” Her steps are painstakingly slow as she walks down each stair to me. With her standing one step above, she’s almost my height and my instinct is to wrap my arms around her and carry her to my truck. It dawns on me right there that a night in town at a restaurant where people can see us just won’t work for me. I want to be alone with her, surrounded by what’s brought us together.

“Can you wait right here for a minute?” I thrust the flowers at her, causing her to startle slightly. “Shit, sorry,” I mumble as I climb the stairs two at a time. As soon as I get to the door, I turn to see Savannah admiring her flowers and I can’t help smiling.

Rushing into the house and right into the kitchen I find Aunt Sue taking an apple pie out of the oven. It’s hotter than blazes outside and she’s in here baking, God bless her.

“It smells delicious, Aunt Sue,” I say, inhaling the smell of apples and cinnamon. I’m surprised Uncle Bobby doesn’t weigh three hundred pounds with all the baking she does. I know I would if I ate here every day.

“It’s on the table,” she tells me without looking in my direction. My brows furrow in confusion as I look at the table and find exactly what I’m looking for.

“How’d you know I wanted the picnic basket?”

She stops and turns. “I saw her gettin’ dressed and you aren’t a boy who likes fancy restaurants. It’s all in there.” I walk over to the basket and lift the lid to find fried chicken, green beans and cornbread. Surprisingly, there’s a bottle of wine even though we’re still underage. The fact that she’s okay with it shows me that she’s okay with me pursuing her niece.

My head shakes slightly. “I’m going to take her over to the pond. I think she’ll like it better than going to some stuffy restaurant.” Picking up the basket, I head to the back door. “Thank you.” Aunt Sue nods and moves on to her next pie, leaving me with too many thoughts running through my mind.

I hustle to the barn and saddle Sundance. She has a fondness for Savannah and won’t mind if we ride tandem. I have to transfer the basket that Aunt Sue put together into some saddlebags. Not ideal, but there’s no way I can strap a picnic basket down to the saddle. I pull a blanket out of the tack room and make sure it’s secure before leaving the barn. I’m sure I’ve forgotten something, but I’ll improvise.

Leading the horse around the front, I find Savannah sitting on the steps, twirling her flowers around. Honestly, I’m surprised to find her still sitting there, but she’s waiting for me just like I asked.

“Hey, sweetheart.” She looks up and her mouth drops open. “So I had this big fancy dinner planned in town, but that’s not me.” I shrug, hoping that she’s okay with this. “Truth is, I don’t know what type of date guy I am, but horseback riding out into the sunset seems like a pretty good time to me.” I look over my shoulder before looking back at her. “I have supper here and thought we could ride out to the pond.”

I pull my hat off and run my hand over my hair. “I think I have everything for a –” Savannah is in front of me before I can finish my sentence and places her fingers over my lips.

“It sounds perfect,” she tells me with a smile. When she removes her fingers, I take advantage of the moment and kiss her.

“I’m really nervous,” I add for good measure so she doesn’t think I’m a fumbling idiot.

“Why? I’m just me and you’re you. This date sounds amazing.”

I shake my head. “It’s not that. To me, you’re this beautiful woman who has captured my heart with the force of a thousand thundering bulls. I’m trying so hard to impress you. I know the usual wine and dine ain’t gonna work with you. You need special but I don’t always know what special is… at least I didn’t until I met you. When I look at you, Savannah, all reasoning doesn’t exist. You’re not the typical girl, you’re so much more and I want to do everything I can to make you happy and see you smile.”

“Well, you’re doing a damn good job with that, Cowboy.”

Tags: Heidi McLaughlin Romance
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