“Nathan! What a nice surprise. Aren’t you supposed to be busy with your community service?” She comes over to him and hugs him, just like his sister did. Up close, I can see the resemblance. She has chestnut hair flecked with strands of silver, and her eyes are the same shade of blue. But Nathan must look like his dad too, because his face has stronger, sharper lines than his mother’s.
“This is Candice,” he says, pushing me forward. “She runs the horse rescue, and we were on a work trip together today. So I’m getting community service hours for this entire day.”
“Candice? As in Wilson? We’ve heard so much about you from Beau over the years! But Nathan always said the two of you didn’t get along so I thought we’d never meet you! I’m Susan.” His mom pulls me in for a hug, not seeming to notice or care about how stiff I am as I hug her back.
I can’t remember the last time I hugged someone who wasn’t Beau or Jenny, but Nathan’s family is definitely touchy. It’s nice. It reminds me of my grandma.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I say. “Nathan has uh…” I trail off, unsure what to say. Because Nathan hasn’t told me much about them and I’m not even sure what Nathan and I are to each other at the moment. “Nathan speaks so fondly of you and the ranch.”There, that’s believable enough. “We’re really lucky to have him helping out at Star Mountain right now.”
Nathan quirks a brow at me, like he can see right through me. I shrug a little, hoping to communicate that I’m not even completely lying—having his help has kept the barn running.
“Candice has been teaching me how to train the rescued horses,” Nathan supplies.
“That’s nice, sweetie,” his mom says. She dusts flour off her hands and slides the cake pan into the oven. “But don’t you have to spend time working with Ballantine and Salvador as well? How do you have time for all of this?”
Nathan darts his eyes at me. Across the room at the kitchen table, Cassandra looks up from her phone and skewers her brother with a look that says she knows he’s hiding something.
“I’m taking a bit of a break from working on reining at the moment,” he says.
“Oh, Natey, I hope you aren’t letting what happened at the bar stop you from competing,” his mom says. “You love competing.”
Nathan sighs and looks like he wants to argue with her, but he just says, “It was time for a break anyway.”
Cassandra knows her brother well, because she steps in and says, “Let’s get you two settled in your room. I assume you don’t have any things with you, so I’ll get you both some extra clothes.”
We’re halfway down the hall before I realize that she said room, as in singular.
Does Nathan’s sister think that we’re together? As in together-together?
The idea is so laughable it makes me actually laugh, though I cover the sound with a cough. Cassandra shows us the bedroom and then Nathan and I are left alone.
“Um,” I say. “Are we both sleeping in here? Does she think we are a couple?”
“Cassandra is probably trying to figure out if there’s anything between us, and this is her way of doing it,” Nathan says. “She’s crafty like that.”
“Well now I know why you’re so good at handling me,” I huff out.
Nathan steps towards me, and gently pulls me against him. “You aren’t used to being handled, are you Viper?”
“No,” I say. “I’m used to being in charge.”
“You can take charge of me any time you want,” he says. He leans in and his lips hover above mine, the promise of sin and seduction hanging in the space between us.
Images of Nathan on his knees in front of me fill my head—it’s an image I became familiar with the other day and I’m finding I like it a lot.
“Tell me what you want me to do to you later, Viper,” he says.
“Where would the fun in that be?” I say, mostly because I’m too nervous to tell him what I want. Despite the past two days, I’m still inexperienced Candice Wilson who has only had one boyfriend and he’s still Nathan Booth, charming, charismatic playboy.
“You like making me work for it, don’t you?” He leans in and brushes his lips against mine, featherlight—a whisper of what’s to come. “That’s okay. I’ll work harder than anyone else ever has for you.”
My insides melt at those words, and I wrap my hands around the back of his neck hoping to encourage him closer.
“If you stay in this room with me,” he whispers, “you can have my hands and mouth all over you.” His lips skim down my neck and I shudder. “Also, with all my siblings in the house, this is the only spare bedroom.” He chuckles against my skin and I join in.
“Well in that case, count me in,” I say. “You’re sleeping on the floor, though.”
“Not a chance. I’m a spoiled rodeo champion, remember? I need a soft bed and three-hundred thread count sheets or I can’t sleep at all.”
