“That’s not true.” I tugged on her hand, and she climbed over me, lying on the other side of Luke. Thank God for deep couches, or I’d be on the floor. “He’s always going to need you, sweetheart.”
She wrapped her arm around Luke, and I wrapped mine around them both, unable to help it.
I smiled, remembering our conversation from last night, or I guess, earlier. “For starters, he’s probably going to wake up asking you where babies come from,” I said between laughs.
She sniffled, eyeing me. “What? Why?”
“Long story, just know it’s probably coming.”
She rolled her eyes. “Thanks a lot. I wasn’t planning on having that conversation for at least another decade.”
“You’re cute when you’re annoyed.”
She looked away, fighting a smile. “What are your plans for today?” Her voice was a little breathy, and I got a sick satisfaction knowing I affected her so easily. It was only fair since I was just as reactive to her.
“Was going to go to the office and work on some stuff. Why?”
“We’re all getting together to go over Golden Circle stuff later this afternoon.” She licked her lips, looking anywhere but at me. “Do you want to come?”
“Am I allowed to come?”
Her brows furrowed. “Why wouldn’t you be?”
“Because I’m a Hollis?” Hollises were enemy number one to the Hayeses and McLeods.
“So am I,” she countered, a mischievous glint in her eyes. And in that moment, hearing her claim my last name, nothing about this marriage felt fake.
All my blood started rushing south at that look. I bit my lip. “That’s right, you are,” I said, running my hand down her side toher hip, my fingers flexing against her soft skin. “And I figured out how much you love being reminded of it.”
She blushed, and I wanted to kiss her more than I wanted air. “So will you come?”
“Yes. If you want me there, I’ll be there.” Didn’t she know by now I was putty in her hands? That I’d follow her anywhere?
“I do.”
“Then I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
That afternoon,we were all crammed into Beau’s living room and dining room. It looked like a war room of some kind, littered with blueprints and papers and beer bottles. Everyone moved around one another like they were all extensions of each other.
And then there was me.
Tess tried to include me. She really did, and I was thankful for it, but I just didn’t know where I fit in here.
I wasn’t a part of the rancher lifestyle like they all were. I hadn’t grown up around it and couldn’t remember the last time I was on a horse; probably the last time I stayed in this house when I was a pre-teen. And I knew even less about all the other smaller aspects they were planning to integrate into the ranch.
I grew up learning mind games and that the best deals were made over cigars and bourbon. I knew how to ballroom dance and how to set a table fancy enough for royalty. I was taught things like connections got you further than talent, and that discretion was a form of armor, but gossip was your weapon.
So I didn’t have any insightful input or worthwhile opinions. I’d helped as much as I knew how already with the legal side against my grandfather, but they backed off, so I felt kind of useless, like a spare cog in their well-oiled machine.
“Hey.” Beau’s voice cut through my thoughts. He was leaning against the wall, watching me instead of the conversation. When our eyes met, he jerked his head toward the porch. “C’mere for a second.”
I followed him outside, the heat a little more bearable now that the sun was setting. He was staring out at the pastures like a king overlooking his land. I wasn’t going to say it, since they were still trying to mend things, but he looked a lot like his father in that moment. They carried the same air of authority, the same commanding presence that took up a room.
“What’s up?”
“You look like you’d rather be anywhere else but here,” he said without looking at me.
I shifted on my feet, not really knowing what to say. “It’s not that,” I said. “I just don’t really know how I fit in all of this, I guess.”
