“Okay, fine. Walk me to the door. I’m good with it.”

He piled out on his side as she exited on hers. As he came around the front bumper to meet her, he said, “For the sake of proper practice sessions, a lady waits for a gentleman to open the car door for her and help her get out of the vehicle.”

Light from the cab still illuminated the area where she stood. Erin grinned as he cupped her elbow in one big hand. Then the dome light blinked out. “I’ll remember that, but please bear in mind that I’m a work in progress and didn’t receive the same instruction as most girls when I was growing up.”

No response. She peered up at him through the darkness and realized he couldn’t see her lips clearly. Using ASL to communicate with him wouldn’t work, either. For Wyatt, all conversation had to occur when he had a good visual of the person talking to him.

When they reached her porch, he stood off to one side so she could unlock the door. As it swung open under the press of her hand, she turned to smile up at him. Moonlight illuminated them, but it wasn’t a strong enough light for him to read her lips. For a long moment, he just gazed down at her. Her experience with dating was minimal. She’d hooked up with two guys in brief but exclusive relationships, so she had stopped playing the dating game for long periods of time. But she did know how the goodnight kiss was supposed to go. Every girl who’d ever been walked to her door by a boy never forgot that part.

Only Wyatt just studied her. And then he asked, “Would you like me to go in with you to make sure there hasn’t been a break-in?”

She reached around the door frame to flip on her living room lights so he could see her face. “That’s thoughtful of you, but I think I’ll be fine.”

He touched the brim of his hat in that timeless way of all cowboys. “Goodnight, then. I hope you have a great rest of your evening.”

She turned to watch him descend the steps in one long-legged leap. He was surefooted, even in the dark. She also noticed for the first time all evening that he wasn’t wearing a jacket to ward off the chill of the night air. A sad feeling moved through her chest. It truly had been a fabulous evening, but he’d said nothing about them doing it again.