Annabelle cooed at her favorite stallion. “You are a handsome man, aren’t you?”
“Why thank you,” Trace baited with a restrained snicker.
“She’s spoken for,” I spit out like an idiot.
Annie started laughing. “I think he was joking.”
Trace crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the stall door. “Lame joke. It’s early. Give me a break.”
I shuffled my heels, staring at my feet. “I don’t do mornings well.”
“I hadn’t noticed.” Trace smirked. “So, Annabelle, where do I sign to secure your services for my sister?”
“I’ll email her the contract this afternoon. I think your work here is done.” Annabelle slowly scanned her gaze over to me. “Do you have any questions?”
“Nope.” I shook my head, still feeling like a complete goober. Leave it to me to make a complete ass of myself in front of the first good-looking guy I had come across in ages.
“Fantastic. Thank you for letting me see your magnificent beasts. I know my sister and her fiancé will be quite pleased with them as well.”
“It was a pleasure meeting you, Trace. I’ll be seeing you soon. Sawyer, will you see this gentleman out? I need to get these guys fed.” Annabelle nudged me a little.
“S-Sure,” I stammered. “I’ll call you later.”
Turning her back to Trace, she wrapped me in a hug and whispered, “He’s totally into you. Go get ’em, tiger.” Then she released me and walked away.
I waved goodbye to my friend as Trace led the way to the parking lot.
“Thanks for meeting me here this morning.” He turned to me, putting his hand on my shoulder.
My skin tingled under his warm touch. “It’s all part of the job, apparently. Full-service photographer.”
He smiled down at me. “To be honest, I volunteered to come today to see you again.”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek as his words sank in. “Why?” It was the only thing that came to mind.
Smooth.
“You intrigue me,” he admitted, retrieving his keys from his pocket. “You’re different, and I like different.”
“What do you meandifferent?”
He ran a hand over his jaw, seemingly searching for the right words. “You’re just not like most girls around here. I read your bio on your site. You’re a Southern-bred debutante, but here you are in combat boots without a speck of makeup on wearing a fantastically underrated band’s shirt and still looking stunning.”
I looked him up and down and then pointed to myself. “I think you need to have your eyes checked or something.”
He took a step closer. “I have a doctor’s note that will attest to my twenty-twenty vision.”
“This doesn’t go with this.” I made circular motions as I gestured from him to me.
“Don’t let the monkey suit fool you. I would much rather be in jeans and boots. My coworkers just expect me to dress the part.”
“What do you do, exactly?”
“I am the chief financial officer for a computer software company.” He rattled it off quickly like it was no big deal.
“You know I am just a photographer, right?” I teased, pulling at the hem of my ratty old tank top.
“You mean a hard-working entrepreneur with her own viable business? Yes, I’m aware.”