Dream Date With the Millionaire Read Online Free PDF Page B

reluctant grin. “I’ll stick to coffee.”
    “Suit yourself.”
    He picked up their drinks from the counter, followed her past a leather couch to their table against the wall.
    Sitting across from him, she took a sip of her white mocha and licked foam off her upper lip. “Just what I needed.”
    A strand of blond hair had fallen out of her braid and threatened to slip into her drink. Without thinking, he reached forward and tucked it behind her ear. Her hair was smooth, her cheek warm.
    She narrowed her eyes at him.
    Bryce sat back, feeling foolish. “Your hair…it was about to fall into your whipped cream.”
    “Oh.” She flushed. “The curse of long hair, I guess.”
    “Is that why you wear the bandana?” he asked.
    She touched the cloth, as if to remind herself she was still wearing it. The simple gesture reminded him of Caitlin, when she was little and wore a tiara every day.
    “I thought you might be some kind of cowgirl or something.”
    “Ha-ha. Actually…” she leaned her elbows on the table, cradling her drink in both hands “…I used to work in a stable.”
    Bryce studied her oval nails with their pretty pink polish. She didn’t work in a stable now. “Tell me about it.”
    “It’s not that exciting.” She smiled and took another sip from her mug. “My mother works on a farm in centralCalifornia. I mucked stables there and at a couple of ranches to earn money. I used bandanas to keep my hair out of the way. They also work well as sweat rags and, if you wet them, neck coolers when it’s hot outside.”
    His family had horses—Caitlin wanted to start riding competitively again. He knew what the work involved and was impressed. “That’s a hard way to earn money.”
    “Yes, but it was worth it. Not only did I get stronger cleaning stalls, but I got to exercise the horses when their owners couldn’t.” The words almost tumbled from her mouth with excitement. Her face became animated, but she seemed to catch herself and calm down. She raised her cup. “So now you know where my attachment to bandanas comes from.”
    “A worthy attachment, I’d say.” His respect for her grew. He recalled her picture. The shadows. Her red face. Something clicked for him. “The photograph in your profile. Was it taken while you worked at one of the stables?”
    She nodded. “I still help out at the farm when I visit my mom. One of my sisters took the picture with her cell phone as a joke.”
    Definitely a horse-lover. No one else would offer to help out with that job. But that didn’t explain her using the unflattering picture.
    “Why did you use that photo on your profile?” he asked.
    She hesitated. “I wanted to make sure men were more interested in who I was as a person rather than my appearance.”
    “That makes sense.” So maybe she was on the up-and-up. Caitlin had done the same with her profile picture. “Have you found any guys who passed the test?”
    “You’re here.”
    In spite of his suspicions, he liked her. “I am.”
    A café employee placed a plate and syrup in front of her. “One lemon-poppy waffle.”
    Bryce liked that she wasn’t one of those women who lived off salads, rice cakes, nuts and seeds in order to stay a size zero. He also liked her self-confidence. “I’m glad I’m here.”
    She spread butter on the waffle. “The bandana didn’t scare you off.”
    “It would take more than a bandana to scare me,” he admitted. “Do you wear it every day?”
    “No.” She poured syrup on her waffle. “But bandanas come in real handy on those days I’m rushing out the door.”
    “Were you rushing this morning?”
    She stared down her nose at him. “What do you think?”
    That no woman would go to such lengths to look less attractive than she really was. “You were either in a rush or prefer comfort over…”
    “Style,” she offered.
    He smiled. “You said it, not me.”
    The tension seemed to evaporate from around her mouth. “I do like to be comfortable, but I