CHAPTER 397

“So you saying appearances don’t matter at all?”

“Yes, appearances do matter, but it shouldn’t define you.”

“Does it define you?” he countered.

“No. What if I’d tracked you down in the banquet wearing my stable-cleaning clothes? If you’d pretended not to know me, that’s shallow. If you’d kissed my cheek and said, ‘Darlin’, next time leave the shitkickers at home,’ that’s caring less about appearances because you were happy to be with me.”

Jack seized the chance to turn the tables. “Would you be happy to be with me, Keely? If the reverse was true?”

“Meaning what?”

“Say I accept your dirty boots and western quirks. Say you accept I’m a suit-and-tie-wearing guy. Say I’m madly in love with you. You’re madly in love with me. Would you give up your way of life to be with me?”

“Way of life?” she repeated.

“Would you move away from your home in Wyoming to live with me in this condo in Colorado? Or are you so set in your ways that you wouldn’t consider it?”

“What does that have to do with bein