Did that really happen? Did I really just let Beau McLeod shove me up against my truck and kiss me so thoroughly I saw stars?
I smiled to myself. Yes. Yes, I did.
And I’d do it again the next chance I got.
I reached the entrance where Emmett was waiting and turned around, expecting Beau to already be gone. But he was watching me with a small smile and gave me a little wave. He waited until I waved back to get in his truck and leave. Andsomething about that was so cute to me that my heart skipped a beat at the gesture.
“Wanna tell me what that was about?” Emmett asked, smirking.
My cheeks flushed. “Nope.”
“Know what you’re doing?”
“Nope.” Beau was my rival, the biggest obstacle between me and saving Golden Bridle. So why the hell did he feel like the only safe place I had? I couldn’t focus on it right now; I had to push everything aside and concentrate on Mama.
We walked through the automatic doors and rode up the elevator. “What does Mama want?”
The new, lighthearted version of my brother vanished, and the old, haunted version returned. “She wants to tell Savannah and Tess.”
12
Beau
A Ceasefire in Wild Creek
You can thank Beau McLeod and Claire Hayes for the heatwave that has hit our lovely city today. The pair was spotted turning up the heat in a very steamy display of affection; one lucky F-250 got more action than most folks in this town do in a year.
Word is, the make out was intense enough to short-circuit a fence. And while we won’t say where it happened, let’s just say it wasn’t under the cover of night—and it definitely wasn’t subtle. Who knew they had it in them?
They always said the line between love and hate was razor-thin. And it looks like this pair toppled over into the land of love.
What does this mean for their decades-long feud? Who cares? I’m sensing a ceasefire in Wild Creek’s near future. So enjoy the hot Texas air and thank the sizzling new couple for your pool day.
Like always, if it’s worth whispering, it’s worth writing down.
- WCW
My eyes shotopen to quick stomping up the stairs. My sister kicked my bedroom door open, like she was on the SWAT team. Her voice was a shrill yell that felt like nails on a chalkboard, as she screamed, “Beaumont Alexander McLeod the third, what thefuckis this?”
I groaned, rolling over. “Go away, Anna.” Whatever it was, I’d deal with it later. Sundays were the only days I took off from the ranch.
I flinched when paper hit my face, and when I sat up, theWild Creek Whisperswas staring at me. I had a pretty good idea what this was about, considering Anna was smiling so wide, I thought her face was going to split in half. She tilted her chin at the paper. “Go on. Read it.”
She was practically vibrating, and it made me nervous. “Sit down before you go into labor.”
She rolled her eyes but obliged me. “Now read it, or I will go into laborall overyour bed.”
“I’m smart enough to know that’s not how that works.” I shook my head and looked at the article. It amazed me how theWhispersalways said a lot without saying anything at all. All veiled innuendos, quick barbs, and leading questions.
“This doesn’t mean anything.” The words didn’t feel that great as I said them, knowing they were a lie. But I wouldn’t say anything about it until Claire and I spoke first. And that was understandably on the back burner with everything going on with Charlotte.
“You’re so full of shit!Whathappened in that F-250? We don’t have any of those, so it had to be Claire’s.” She clapped her hands on my shoulders and shook me. “Tell me everything. You owe me this.”
I shrugged her hands off me. “I don’t owe you shit, now get out of my room.” I felt like I was fifteen again with my pesky little sister demanding things from me.
She smacked me in the face with a pillow just like she would have back then. “Like hell you don’t! If it weren’t for me, none of this would even be happening.”
“Maybe not at the speed they happened, but this was all me.” Well, technically, it was all Claire. But my girl was never one to shy away from going after what she wanted, and she made it pretty crystal fucking clear that she wanted me.
