They lay there for several long minutes without speaking, and Porter thought perhaps she’d fallen asleep.
So he was surprised when she lifted her head, her eyes finding his. “You’re going to have to tell me what the protocol is here.”
He frowned, confused. “Protocol?”
Her smile was sweet and a bit shy when she said, “I’ve never had a one-night stand. Do you spend the night? Say goodbye now? Stay for breakfast? I make a mean French toast if that sways you at all.”
He scowled. “Who said this was a one-night stand?”
Adele’s grin faded. “I…I mean…you never—”
“Addie, darlin’, I swear to God if you quote something from that goddamn Porter handbook again, I’m going to turn you over my knee and spank your ass.”
She flushed and bit her lower lip and for a second, he thought she might ignore his warning in favor of the spanking. If he weren’t so annoyed, he’d follow through with the threat. The problem was he needed to fix this with words, not more sex, considering it was starting to feel like Adele thought he was just some cowboy gigolo.
“You’ve never dated,” she said at last. “And that’s not gossip, Porter. It’s common knowledge.”
He couldn’t argue with that because she was right. He’d never had a girlfriend, never indulged in more than a night—and sometimes the occasional wild weekend—with the women in his past.
“Well, I’m dating you,” he said, unwilling to mince words.
She didn’t respond to that. Rather, she seemed to be chewing it over, trying to figure out if he was sincere. He hated that she questioned it for a second, but he couldn’t blame her for worrying because what proof did he have to offer.
Besides that, the last guy she dated was his polar opposite—the kind of man who dated one woman forever with marriage in mind. Adele had imagined a real future with Keith, and look how that had ended. He wasn’t sure if she was still nursing a broken heart or not, but if she was, it made sense she’d be resistant to falling into a relationship with someone who was basically a proven flight risk.
Not that he intended to ever walk away from her.
So he decided it was time to lay his cards on the table.
“What are you looking for, Addie? With all this dating you’ve been doing the last year, going out with all those guys—who were wrong for you, by the way—what is it you want?”
She lifted one shoulder and gave him the truth. “A relationship. I liked what I had with Keith. We were steady and happy and in love. I hate playing the field, being single.”
She paused for a moment, and he realized she was assessing her next words.
“Don’t hold back,” he said.
“I want marriage, Porter, and kids. A lot of kids.”
Now he understood her hesitance. She thought that confession would drive him from her bed like the hounds of hell were nipping at his heels. He grinned, his expression clearly catching her off guard when she frowned, confused.
“And you don’t think I’m relationship material? Husband material?”
She blew out a slow breath. “It’s kind of hard to answer that. Considering you’ve never seemed to want to be either of those things before.”
“Fair enough. So here’s what we’re gonna do. You’re gonna keep going out with me—just me—and you’re going to give me a chance to prove to you that I am relationship material.”
Adele considered that for just a second before her smile returned. “Okay. You’re on. Prove it to me.”
Chapter Five
Adele glanced around the street for the hundredth time, unable to shake the feeling that people were watching. No one was. Or if they were, they were being subtle about it. After all, here she was—Adele Sparks—walking down Main Street, holding hands with Porter Cormack.
It had been four days since Porter insisted he was sincere in his desire to be her boyfriend and that he wanted a relationship with her. Even now, after four nights of life-altering, ruined-for-other-men sex, she was struggling to believe this was real.
Because it felt too good to be true.
She’d woken up with Porter this morning, who’d told her he’d taken the day off so the two of them could go Christmas shopping together. He’d claimed he wanted her help picking out something for Macie, which she’d done. And she’d been grateful for his suggestions about what her new brother-in-law Coop would like.
They’d spent the entire morning, walking in and out of the local shops, making purchases for everyone on their lists. It had been relaxing and fun.
Then he’d suggested they stop by Sparks Barbeque for the lunch special. Adele had warned him that might be unwise because her family was somewhat infamous for their third degrees whenever she or Macie or one of her cousins showed up with a guy in tow. Porter had wrapped his arm around her waist and guided her to the restaurant, reassuring her he’d be fine.
She had winced when she’d spotted her dad and his cronies at the counter. It was the first time her dad had seen her with Porter and—true to her warning—they’d spent the first twenty minutes of their meal answering her dad’s seven million questions about what was going on between them.
Adele sort of expected that to be the point when Porter came to his senses and walked away from her with a “this isn’t worth it” comment. TJ Sparks was a lot for any person to deal with, and he was even worse when it came to getting his two adult daughters married off.
Porter had patiently answered every single one of Dad’s questions, perfectly at ease with informing her father they were dating, and she was his girlfriend…several times. Adele wasn’t certain which of them should have been more annoyed—Porter because Dad clearly didn’t believe the ranch manager capable of a long-term relationship or her because her father didn’t bother to hide his shock at her ability to turn the head of a confirmed, lifelong bachelor.
She’d been grateful when the meal had ended so they could get out of there before Macie—who’d been too busy to come add her own fuel to the fire—could make her way over to their table.
Porter lifted his hand and pointed to the hardware store. “I’ve got a list of things I need to pick up for the ranch. Why don’t you pop into Dolly’s boutique to pick out that sweater for your mom that TJ wanted you to buy for him and I’ll meet you back at the truck in twenty minutes?”
Adele nodded. Her dad was hopeless when it came to shopping for her mom. Every year, she and Macie picked up extra items and wrapped them for Dad to give to Mom. At lunch, her father had mentioned Mom pointing out some flowery blouse or sweater or something in Dolly’s shop window that he wanted to give to her for the holiday, and he needed Adele to pick it up for him. Adele hoped Dolly would be able to shed some light on exactly which item in the window he was talking about. Adele considered it insane that Dad could recall every drop of gossip about every single person whoever stepped a toe in Maris, but when it came to remembering Mom’s shirt size or favorite color, he was hopeless.
“That sounds fine,” she said. She started to release his hand, but Porter refused to relinquish it. Instead, he used his grip to tug her closer, giving her a kiss that was pushing the limits of public appropriateness.