“Welcome to my shrine,” he says, holding out his hand.

I step inside. “Gavin. This is…amazing.”

“I guess,” he mumbles, entering behind me.

I feel like I’m walking into a time capsule full of his past memories. Moving around the room, I take it all in. “I didn’t realize you won this much because you’ve acted like you weren’t a big deal. Gavin, I’m so impressed.” I wrap my arms around his waist and pull him close. “I didn’t realize I was dating a cowboy celebrity of sorts.”

He shakes his head. “I’m not.”

“But you are. Look at this. Wow. No wonder people try to reach out to you all the time for training and stuff.” I stand on my tiptoes and slide my mouth against his. We get lost in the kiss, in the moment, and the only thing that pulls us away is the sound of footsteps down the hallway. Not wanting to make it awkward, I create some space between us. A knock rings on the door, and it cracks open. She peeks her head inside.

“I made pudding parfaits if you’d like some dessert,” she tells us.

“Thanks, Mom. We’ll be right down,” he says sweetly. She slowly closes the door, and after a second, Gavin pops a brow at me and brings me back to him.

“Right now, you’re the only thing I want for dessert,” he hums in my ear.

“If we weren’t at your parents’ house, I’d consider it,” I admit. “But we better go downstairs before they get suspicious.”

“This is true.” He grabs my hand and leads me to the kitchen, where we fill ourselves full of pudding and cake. It’s so good that I’m contemplating adding it to the B&B menu when I get home. Gavin and I watch TV with his parents until we nearly fall asleep. Both of us keep yawning, and eventually, we say good night, then he leads me upstairs. We fall asleep in his bedroom surrounded by all his accomplishments. To say I’m proud is an understatement.

The next morning, we wake up to a breakfast that’s as big as the ones I serve at the B&B. We chat about the weather and Eldorado, and everything under the sun. When we’re done eating, Gavin leads me outside to the barn.

“Want to go for a ride?” he asks.

A smile fills my face, and I nod. “Absolutely. I would love that.”

“Then let's catch some horses.” He grabs two lead ropes from the tack room, and I follow him out to the pasture where at least five quarter horses are grazing.

“Choose whichever one you want. They’re all as tame as can be,” he explains.