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Julianne Payne was indeed out in her yard, spending the last bit of the morning hours tending to the azaleas shrubs she'd recently decided to purchase. They required more work than the usual flowers she invested her time in but the white and pink colors already starting to bloom seemed to be payoff enough for her efforts.

Dirt covered her forearms despite the gloves protecting her fingers, a smear of dark brown having found its way to her brow from a careless sweep to collect sweat. It hadn't mattered that her hair had been bunched into a messy ponytail, it hadn't mattered that she looked like she'd been wearing old clothing worthy of a trash bin --- at least, until she heard the familiar voice, the low timbre sending a shiver down her spine.

Blue eyes lifted up, the shears in her hands moving to rest in the grass in front of her.

"You're still alive, I see."

Gloves were shucked off, palms wiped down on the ripped, faded knees of her jeans before she moved to rise from the ground. A smirk played on her mouth as she drank in the sight of the man she'd figured would mosey on out of her world just as quickly as he'd moseyed on into it.

"If you're bleeding, I'd prefer you avoid getting it on the porch - it got repainted last week."

Eyebrows raised at his comment, the smirk unable to help but blossom into a full-fledged grin. "Aw shucks, cowboy. Still quite the charmer too, aren't you?"

It was tempting to call him out on precisely all of the changes he'd missed since he'd last came 'round her neighborhood. Several months had turned the dead, wintry environment into a world of green and flora... not that he'd been around to see any of it, of course.

Arms folded across her chest, amusement tinged in the corner of her eyes as the short girl did some of her own moseying up to the larger man.

"A guide? You planning on staying for more than just a night this time around, Mister Dallas?"

She made a show of glancing down at her watch. Jules knew she didn't have anything else on her schedule for the day - aside from catching up on the book she'd been neglecting for the past week - but he didn't have to know that.

"I suppose we could make an evening of it, god knows what sort of trouble you'll get into if you're left on your own." Memories of a particularly nasty bullet wound came to mind and the empty bottles that resulted from that particular tryst.

Eyes flickered towards the front door, then back to him.

"You'll have to wait for me to clean up real fast before we head out anywhere though, cowboy."

He was absolutely incorrigible!

One hand moved up to playfully push against his chest before the blonde haired woman turned on the heels of her sneakers and made her way towards the house. She didn't have to turn back to ensure he was following after - if she knew the wandering cowboy, he'd be hot on her trail, especially after the offer he'd just casually tossed out in her direction.

"I'd bet my loofah could do a better job at staying on track than your thorough fingers, buddy."

Once inside the house, fingers nonchalantly flicked towards the kitchen island and the barstools nearby. She wasn't willing to dare glance over at them, not with the memories they were evoking in the meantime. Her cheeks were already beginning to blossom red from the thought and, unfortunately, she wasn't going to be able to blame sunburn for the color.

"Make yourself at home - you know where the drinks are, after all. I'll be out in a jiffy."

With that, she disappeared into the adjacent hallway, the sound of the shower's running water making its way down the hall shortly afterwards.

She knew that it probably hadn't been the wisest decision, letting him alone in her house while she cleaned up but as far as Jules was concerned, Captain Angelite could surely handle things if the handsome scoundrel decided to become unsavory in lieu of his currently charming self. He'd come to her before and still owed her one for the bullet wound - and, honestly, another evening of adventure with Dallas wasn't the worst of ideas.

Her hair was first to be soaked, blonde color growing dark as water saturated the softness. She'd given it enough time to absorb the shampoo, hands grabbing the loofah in question and the bar of soap to go along with it. Before she had time to rub the two together, however, a low voice boomed over the spray of the shower.

With a startled squeak, the soap was dropped, making an echoing thump against the acrylic as her head jerked, making out a shadowy form of a very large, very confident looking man leaning against the door frame from the other side of her curtain. "DALLAS!!!"

Hmph!

A middle finger appeared from behind the plastic shower curtain followed by an indignant huff as she leaned over to snatch the bar of soap back up and rub it roughly against the spongy material. If he'd been quick enough, he might have caught a glimpse of an eyeroll and a smirk as her hand retreated back into the comforting, warm shower.

"You'll be needing to watch your back, buddy, if you don't get your a** back into the kitchen."

The threat was missing fire, maybe in part because it was coming from a short, petite blonde stuck in her own bathroom with nothing more than a thin film of plastic for protection. Regardless, the silhouette of a hand made a gesture, ushering him back towards the hallway he'd come down.

"Go make me a drink, while you're at it. God knows I'm going to need it with you tonight, mister."

She stuck her tongue out at him at the unladylike comment, not that he'd notice it. Jules noticed, however, as Dallas was stepping closer to the curtain as opposed to away, like she'd told him to go.

"W-What are yo---Dallas!"

The curtain was tossed back and in came a rush of cold air and a very steamy look from her uninvited guest. The hand with the loofah was crossing her chest while the other reached to try to snatch back the curtain. One leg rose to protectively try to cover herself as well, to no avail.

His cocky grin was there and then it was gone, his sassy compliment ringing in her ears as her skin began to grow goosebumps from the sudden unwelcomed cold.

"No wonder you were shot, do you always stick your nose where it doesn't belong??"

The removable shower-head was yanked from its holder and she quickly washed out the shampoo and what soap she'd managed to get on her person. It didn't appear that she was going to get any peace in the bathroom to herself as long as Dallas was in her abode so it was time to cut the shower short.

Finished, one hand moved out towards the wooden towel rack and the fluffy dark blue towel was yanked into the safety of the bathtub. Jules didn't appear again until the fabric was wrapped tightly around her petite form, her wrinkled nose and pursed lips the first things to appear from behind the pulled back curtain.

"You come to me wanting a night out and you take me to a bar?" One foot stepped out, followed by the second. "We can drive around a bit but you're going to take me to a place with actual food before giving me an opportunity to drink your Southern butt under the table."

"You didn't come all the way back here to talk about Jack now, did you?"

She reappeared in the kitchen a few minutes later, a simple dress replacing the damp towel around her body. Barely covering her knees, arms remained exposed as dozens of colorful flowers painted their way across the soft material. Blonde hair was still being dried off in a towel, the length several inches longer since the last time he'd "come to town". Cutting off the black tips was on her to-do list but other things had continued taking precedence in the meantime. "Or are you just fishing for more compliments, Mr. Dallas?"

Bare feet padded towards him as she looked around for the requested drink. Suddenly noticing the novel, hands dropped from their toweling to quickly swipe the book into the nearest drawer, shutting it a little too loudly before fingers closed in around the closest glass. In no time at all, she'd poured her own shot and downed it, swallowing down the choke that wanted to arise from the sudden burning assault on her throat.

Blue eyes offered him a wink as the glass was returned to the sink before she made her way over to the side door, sandals laying in wait. Slipping into one at a time, fingers returned to towel drying her hair as she turned back around to finally respond to his offer.

"Feed me first and we'll see how much fun the table'll be in for, buddy. You bring a ride this time or am I going to have to do the honors?"

She wrinkled her nose at his pun - the cowboy would comment on bringing in a stallion - but didn't return the wit as she chose to quietly watch him, instead, as he toyed with the fabric of her dress. For a brief moment she thought that he was going to try again for another pre-party moment (one undoubtedly leading back towards the bedroom or, at the very least, the countertop) but Dallas the cowboy behaved himself, slowly drawing away and downing another glass.

Baby blues watched him leave, her gaze dropping down to admire the view before it disappeared from behind her front door. Like a trance she was finally snapped out of, the young woman quickly returned to drying her hair as she slipped back towards the bathroom to find her hair dryer.

Five or so minutes later and Julianne Payne was making her way down her own front steps, small purse slung over her shoulder as she approached the...

... well, damn. The man certainly did have a stallion and it was a purebred at that. What other secrets was Mr. Dallas hiding?

Julie had a feeling she was going to be finding out at least a few more before the night's end.

"Smoking kills, you know," she purred as she reached up to pluck the cigarette from between his lips. The bud was deposited on the sidewalk, soon crushed beneath the toe of her sandal as the young woman offered him a sly looking grin as the passenger door opened. She didn't need a chivalrous cowboy to open it for her - no, she had other things for Dallas to be doing.

And she wasn't about to waste any time getting the fun started.