Chapter 6
TRENT
After Charlotte disappeared, I finally cornered Alex. “Alright. Do you want to tell me what this is really about? ‘Cause last I checked, I didn’t fly halfway across the country to sit in a cigar cloud and watch you have a nervous breakdown.”
Alex sighed through his nose, raked a hand through his dark brown hair, and nodded. “Let’s go grab a drink. I’m going to need one for this.”
He spun and strode back to the dining room, walking all the way through it to the bar at the far end. Once we had whiskeys and stools, he glanced toward the back of the room and jerked his chin in that direction.
I followed his gaze. Gregory Van Allen was holding court by the fireplace. I didn’t really know the guy so much as I’d heard of him. He was polished and pedigreed, a dude who’d probably come out of the womb wearing cufflinks.
British aristocracy or some shit.
“What about him?” I asked.
Alex’s jaw tightened. “My dad is thinking about setting him up with Charlotte.”
I paused for a beat. “And?”
“And,” Alex said like I was missing something huge, “I don’t like it.”
I glanced between him and Gregory again. “He’s rich. She’s rich. Neither of them have ever had to clean mud off their boots in their life. It seems like a match made in country club heaven to me.”
Alex’s mouth twitched. “You don’t know him.”
“I won’t be dating him.” I finished what was left in my glass. “He seems like the kind of guy your dad would love. Probably calls him sir in that fancy accent and means it. Hell, if Sadie was still single and my folks knew that guy, you can bet they would have tried the same thing.”
Alex muttered something that sounded a lot like a growl under his breath, but I didn’t push him. The Westwoods were complicated. I’d known that since I was old enough to sneak whiskey with Jameson in his parents’ wine cellar.
I set my glass down and checked my watch. I still had ranch business to finish and my foreman had already texted me twice about next week’s shipment. When Alex had called and asked when I could get back here, I’d assumed it was something urgent.
Obviously, this wasn’t that. I straightened up a little. “If you don’t actually need me and this isn’t about the business, I’m going back to Dallas. I flew out so suddenly I didn’t even finish wrapping up—”
“I need you here,” Alex said suddenly. “I have a plan.”
I stared at him. “A plan for what?”
“Charlotte.”
“Okay, that’s nice. Good for you. It has nothing to do with me, though, unless she’s looking to get into the cattle business.”
The look Alex gave me in return said it very much had something to do with me, although I doubted she wanted to wrangle a herd. He didn’t even bother trying to hide it, just staring like the wheels in his head were spinning faster than they should be. The longer it went on, the more uneasy I got.
“Did you blow a gasket in there?” I asked finally. “What was in that cigar?”
He just kept looking at me like I was some puzzle piece he hadn’t realized fit until right this second.
Little Charlotte Westwood, always so sweet and shy with her braces and piano recitals, had somehow turned into a grown woman while I wasn’t looking. A beautiful woman, at that. One I’d unknowingly snubbed at CC’s Christmas party last winter, but I was glad I hadn’t kissed her.
A woman like that? Once might not have been enough and I wasn’t about to set foot on a road I couldn’t walk down. Just noticing that she’d grown up felt like a betrayal. Noticing how beautiful she’d become felt like treason.
Obviously, men were going to be interested in her. Alex just clearly hadn’t learned yet that he had to let go. Whether we liked it or not, even younger sisters grew up and lived their lives.
Hell, I hadn’t liked seeing mine pair off with my best fucking friend at first, but here we were. Alex would eventually learn how to deal, too.
But right now, he was in complete denial and he was looking at me like he expected me to do something about it. Oh, hell.
“Do you want me to make this guy disappear or something?” I asked.
Alex snorted, took a sip of his drink, and leveled me with that too serious stare again. “No, but how far are you willing to go for your friends?”
“About as far as I can throw them,” I said dryly.
He frowned. “Charlotte’s a good kid. I don’t trust Gregory. I need someone else for her. I need your help with that. Just until I can get my dad off her back.”
I stared at him for a long moment. “You can’t be serious.”
Alex didn’t blink, and I realized then that he absolutely was. Sadie used to tease me that I didn’t give off golden-retriever energy because I was more of a cattle dog. I didn’t like being cooped up. I liked hard work, long days, and problems you solved with your hands, not a board meeting.
I raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you want me to lure him out back, or are you worried about getting blood on your Armani jacket?”
Alex rolled his eyes back to his drink. “Just give me a minute to think.”
“Yeah. Okay. You do that. I’ll just be here with my whiskey and about a million things I still need to get done today.”
He scoffed. “You and me both, man, but Charlotte has to take priority.”
In the absence of knowing what else to do, I picked up my drink and leaned back in my chair. Arranged marriage was practically part of the Westwood genes, but that didn’t mean any of them liked it. Not at first, anyway.
I’d been through all this with Jameson when his turn had come. Obviously, Dougie was following in his big brother’s footsteps and issuing ultimatums to his kids.
It was interesting that he’d start with Charlotte, but maybe he wasn’t. Maybe he just thought they’d be a good match. Honestly, he wasn’t wrong. Either way, Daddy Westwood would get his wish unless Alex could come up with something really good. A solid, viable plan.
Whatever scheme he cooked up, it couldn’t be half baked or hare-brained, and it seemed he realized it too because it turned out he needed way more than a minute.
It was more like an hour, a few drinks, and half a cigar, and then, instead of a plan, we finally circled back to the business that had supposedly brought me to Chicago in the first place.
When we left the club, there was still no plan for Charlotte, but at least he looked a lot calmer, that grin coming easier again and his tie loosened for a change, his jacket slung over his arm.
Back at my temporary apartment, I stood at the window that overlooked the lake, one hand braced against the cold glass as I stared out at the jagged skyline. Chicago looked like it was trying too hard to impress with all the flashing lights, glittering towers, noise, and movement.
It made my skin itch. I would take wide-open plains and the sound of crickets over this circus any day, but this was the place I’d chosen to make my stand. I breathed through the swell of doubt inside and tried to grab onto the reason I’d decided to settle the business here in the first place.
Chicago made sense. Because of distribution. Demand. Alex. I just had to stick it out these first few weeks and I would be fine.
My phone buzzed on the coffee table behind me. Absently reaching for it, I fully expected to find a message from Sadie, Jameson, or Alex. Instead, it was from a number I didn’t recognize.
Unknown: Hey, Cowboy. You free Friday morning?
I frowned, my thumbs hovering over the screen. I had a suspicion, but I wasn’t going to let on.
Me: Who is this?
Unknown: Stella. From the coffee shop. Don’t act like you’ve forgotten me already. I lined up that blind date for you with my friend, Lottie. Café Vero at 10 for coffee.
I blinked. Of all the weird things that had happened today, this was somehow the weirdest. The random, stalker perhaps slaughterer was following through. Shit, that made her more reliable than most other people I’d met in the last decade.
Friday was two days away and I didn’t have plans. I probably shouldn’t say yes, but something about the randomness of it all appealed to me. Her persistence. Her loyalty. Her insistence that it was for a friend.
Either this girl was legit crazy, or she was one of those people who were increasingly rare these days.
Those genuinely good, absolutely loyal people who would move mountains for the ones they loved.
I liked to think of myself as one of those people, so I decided to give her the one chance she’d asked for back in that coffee shop.
Me: Sure. Why not.
Three dots blinked for a few moments before her reply came through.
Stella: You won’t regret it. You can’t miss her. She’s gorgeous. You’ll know her when you see her.
I huffed out a laugh, tossing my phone onto the counter and shaking my head at myself. “Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of.”