Once Misty was able to steady herself after Clay's kisses, which had left her breathless and speechless, she was able to process what he had just said. He wanted to take her to the doctor's to get her knee and wrist checked out that she had hurt when she got thrown during the roundup.

     Looking around, Misty saw that Clay was leading her outside of the barn, most likely heading to his truck to take her to the doctor's. Misty stopped dead in her tracks, making Clay stop too. Turning, Clay asked Misty, "What's wrong?"  

    "I'm not goin' to the doctor." Misty replied.  

     Clay walked closer to Misty, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Do I need to kiss you again to get you to do what I say?" Clay asked, smiling. He leaned in closer to Misty.  

     Misty giggled, teasingly putting her hands over Clay's mouth. She held them there as she said, "Honey, it's Sunday; the doctor's aren't open today. And when you said you were going to take me to get checked out once we got back, I didn't think you actually meant as soon as we got back. I thought you meant tomorrow or something." Misty took her hands off of Clay's mouth, but when he opened his mouth to say something, her hands went right back to covering up his mouth. "But I really appreciate you caring." 

     Clay said something garbled from behind Misty's hands, but Misty couldn't understand, so she moved her hands off of his mouth just enough to allow him to talk. "Am I allowed to talk now?" Clay asked.

    Smiling, Misty dropped her hands from Clay's mouth, resting them on his shoulders. "Yes, you may speak now."  

     "I forgot today was Sunday because every time I look into your eyes, I forget everything." Clay said sweetly. Taking a hand off of Misty's waist, Clay reached up to hold her cheek. "And of course I meant right when we got back to the ranch. You're hurtin' and the injuries are not getting better, so first thang tomorrow, I'm takin' you to the doctor's." Clay looked deeply into Misty's eyes. It was so easy to get lost in that sea of blue. He had never felt this way with any girl ever before, and he wanted to tell Misty that so badly, but he knew it was too soon and the last thing he wanted was to scare her off.  

     Still holding Misty, Clay asked, "When will you let me take you on a date?"  

     Misty placed her hands behind Clay's neck. "When do you want to take me out?"

     "You can't answer my question with a question." Clay teased, tapping Misty's nose. Putting both arms back around her waist, Clay added, "Besides, you already know what I am goin' to say. I want to take you out right now, but I think we are both tired, so what do you say we plan for a date tomorrow? I'll drive my truck up to your house and pick you up, then we will go get your wrist and knee checked out, and then take you out to grab lunch or something. How does that sound?" 

     "That sounds great to me." Misty smiled.  

     "I will pick you up at whaddya say? Eight work okay?" Clay asked.

     "Eight in the morning? Honey, after this week, I will still be sleepin'. How about nine?"  

     "Eight-thirty and it's a deal." Clay negotiated. 

     Misty sighed. "Fine. 8:30 it is." She smiled.

     "Great. I look forward to it." Clay said, with that smile on his face.  

     Misty stood on her tip toes, tilting her head close to Clay's, wanting to kiss him. Clay chuckled, grabbing Misty's face in both his hands. "Allow me." Clay said in his deep voice. He leaned in, initiating the kiss. Once again, Misty melted in his arms.

     Pulling away after the first kiss, Clay asked Misty, "Is there anything else I can help y'all with before I help unload stuff?" 

     Misty pulled back from Clay, slipping her hands into her back pockets. "No, I think I'm good. Thank you, though. And, if I don't get to see you anymore tonight, then I will see you tomorrow at 8:30."

     "I can't wait." Clay replied.  

     Smiling, Misty rested a hand on Clay's shoulder and stood on her tip toes to place a kiss on his cheek before walking away.

     The rest of the day was very busy and hectic as the McAdams' family got settled from the roundup. Misty was called inside to help her step-mom prepare supper for all of the hands who were sticking around. Bill's friends, who came from their own ranches, left after all of the supplies were unpacked; they wanted to get back home to their families. 

     "Misty, sweetheart, can you please head out to the barn and call the guys in?" Darlene, Misty's step-mom asked once they were finished with supper. The only thing left to do was put the salad out, but that was something always done last minute. 

     "Sure." Misty obliged, heading outside. The majority of the hands were all sitting in the barn, just relaxing, waiting for their call to supper. Scanning the group, Misty looked for Clay, but didn't see him. "Alright, y'all, supper is ready. Come on in and get it while it's hot." 

     Various cheers aroused from the circle of guys. Jace made eye contact with Misty, but kept walking past, a sad look on his face. Waylon, the only cowboy who doesn't live on the ranch, but still stuck around, however, saw Misty and walked towards her with a smile on her face. "Hey, where's the boyfriend?" 

     "I was just about to ask you that same thing." Misty smiled back at her friend. 

     "Last time I saw him, he was heading to the pasture to help your dad do a head count on the mustangs." Waylon replied, tucking his hands in his pockets.

     "Does he ever stop workin'?" Misty asked, more to herself than to Waylon.

     Giving Misty a knowing smile, Waylon responded, "He's your boyfriend, sweetheart." With a wink and a pat on the shoulder, Waylon slipped past Misty and head inside to get his supper.

    Misty walked to the pasture where the mustangs were. Blocking the sun with her hand, Misty glanced out to the pasture. Finally, Misty saw two mounted horsemen. The one on the left flashed a smile beneath his dusty, black Stetson. Misty smiled back at Clay, waving him and her dad in, telling them supper was ready.  

     Misty watched Clay say something to her dad. After a few more minutes of careful counting, Clay and Bill trotted their horses in for the day. Clay wasn't riding Rusty, instead he was riding a fresh horse, one of Bill's horses named Trooper. He was a handsome tri-paint, but one of the laziest horses on the McAdams's ranch. 

     Bill dismounted once he and his horse, Princess was through the gate. Clay, still mounted on Trooper, closed and latched the gate behind him. Turning to Misty's dad, he said, "Sir, I'll take Princess in and unsaddle her for you. You go on in and get your food while it's hot."

     Looking between Misty and Clay, Bill thanked Clay, then gave Clay Princess's reins. Clay dismounted from Trooper, being careful not to let go of Princess. "Hey, sweetheart." Clay turned to Misty, smiling once Bill was out of earshot.

    "Hi. I've missed you." Misty smiled at Clay. This was the first time for a few days that he didn't greet her with a kiss. It was different.

    "For the two hours we've been apart?" Clay asked. When he saw Misty's surprise at his response, he added, "I missed you too, Princess." Leaning forward, Clay placed a soft kiss on Misty's cheek. Clay began walking forward, towards the barn. 

     "Princess? Did you just call me a horse?" Misty chuckled. 

     "What? No..." Clay seemed confused, so Misty reckoned she owed him an explanation.

     "My dad's horse's name is Princess. And you just called me Princess." Misty looked at Clay to see if he looked any less confused. All she saw was how handsome he was and how bad he needed a shower. 

     "No, I was calling you a princess because that's what you are to me. What would you rather me call you?" Clay teasingly nudged Misty with his elbow. They were in the barn now, so Clay handed Misty Princess's reins. Smiling, he said, "Here, princess. You can untack Princess if you want." 

    "I'm fixin' to slug you if you call me that one more time." Misty said teasingly. She grabbed the reins from Clay. 

     "Oh yeah?" Clay had a mischievous grin on his face. With Trooper behind him, Clay stepped closer to Misty. "Would you rather me call you 'queen,' or 'baby,' or 'pretty girl,' or 'sweetheart,' or 'honey' or 'buttercup,' or 'sweetie pie,' or what?" Clay had walked a step closer to Misty with every word he said. It was now to the point that Misty was pushed up against the stall door behind her. Leaning closer to Misty, Clay asked, "Would you slug me, still, if I called you 'beautiful?'" Clay's lips were less than two inches from Misty's.  

     "I approve of you calling me beautiful." Misty said quietly. 

     "Mhm?" Clay asked, leaning even closer to Misty. 

     Misty nodded. Since she couldn't go backwards any more, her only escape was forward. Giving in to Clay's playful antics, Misty closed the gap between her and Clay, leaning into his kiss. It was a quicker kiss, followed by a couple more, longer ones. With a smile, Clay said, "Now I really can't wait to take you on a date tomorrow."

     "Same to you, cowboy." Misty smiled. When Clay leaned in again, Misty put her hands around his neck, but pulled away. "Sweetheart, as much as I want to say here and keep kissing you, we gotta get these horse's tack off and get inside before our supper gets cold." Before Clay could protest, Misty slipped past Clay, Princess right beside her.

     "Yes, ma'am." Clay obliged, grabbing Trooper's halter and lead rope from his stall right next to where he was standing. 
     

     A few minutes later, Clay and Misty had both horses unsaddled and put back in their stalls. Walking back to the house, Clay grabbed Misty's hand, interlacing their fingers. When they got to the house, Clay dropped her hand to open the door for Misty. Once they got inside, Clay took off his cowboy hat and set it on top of the pile on the bench in the foyer. 

     Thankfully, everyone had just sat down at the table, so all of the food was still nice and hot and hadn't been dished out yet. There were still two seats unoccupied at the table. Surprisingly, there were right next to each other. Clay, pulling out the chair for Misty, motioned for her to sit down; he then took the seat right next to her. 

     When everyone was seated around the table, Bill announced, "Let's thank the Lord for this meal." Holding out his hands, Bill motioned for everyone to join hands.

      Misty smiled as Clay slid his hand into hers. Just a week ago, she held hands with him just like this, around this same table, in this same chair. It was that morning a week ago that Misty had spilled a whole plate of pancakes all over Clay; that was the same day that Misty said she would never talk to Clay again. Yeah, that seemed to be going really well for her.

     After Bill thanked God for the food, the great result of the round-up, the people around the table, etc, all the hands dropped hands and immediately dug into the delicious home cooked meal. 

     Reaching for the basket of cornbread in front of him, Clay grabbed a piece for himself, then offered the basket to Misty, who also grabbed a piece. After all the food had been dished out, Misty felt Clay's hand on her thigh, sliding down to her knee. "How's your knee feelin' today?" Clay asked, leaning towards Misty so only she could hear.  

     Putting her hand on top of Clay's and interlacing their fingers, Misty smiled. "Much better now." 

     Leaning in even closer to Misty, Clay whispered in her ear, "I wish I could kiss you right now."
     Misty just shook her head, taking a bite of her food. Clay held Misty's hand for the remainder of dinner. Yup, things had definitely changed between them this week.

     After supper was over, Clay helped Misty and Darlene clean up the kitchen until Clay was called back outside to finish things up for the night. "I'll see you in a bit." Clay had said before he left the kitchen to head back outside.  

     The rest of the night was hectic again as the final things of the round up were worked out. Several times, Misty and Clay saw each other in passing, but every time they began walking towards each other, someone would call them over to do something, so after supper, Misty and Clay weren't able to say a single thing to each other for the remainder of the night. 

     Exhausted after the long week, Misty decided to skip her shower for one more night, even though the last time the bathing station was set up on the round up was two days ago. After slipping into her pajamas, Misty collapsed on her bed. Beside her, on her bedside table, Misty heard her phone vibrate. Checking it, Misty saw a text from Clay.  

     "Hey, finally got my phone charged." Clay texted.

     "Good." Misty texted back, smiling. "I'm sorry we didn't really get to see each other much tonight after supper." 

     "It's alright. We were both really busy."  Clay texted back. 

     "Yeah. What time do you want me to meet you tomorrow?" Misty asked, hoping he would've forgotten they had decided on 8:30 in the morning. She desperately wanted to sleep in, but at the same time, she wanted to hang out with Clay more, too, so she was torn. 

     "8:30am." Clay texted back. 

     "So much for sleeping in." Misty thought to herself.

     "And I will pick you up. It's a date. That's what a gentleman does on a date."

     Misty smiled even though she knew Clay couldn't see her. She just couldn't help herself. "Sounds good to me." Misty replied. When Clay didn't text back after a few minutes, Misty set her phone down on her bedside table, and slipped under her covers. She promised herself she would wake up when she hears it vibrate, but her comfortable bed was calling her name.