Branded
LAINEY
At first, I think he’s a mirage.
The cowboy waiting outside the office door is far too hot and broad and handsome to possibly exist.
He’s wearing dark blue jeans and a jacket in a lighter shade of denim. His belt buckle glints in the sun, and his hat casts a shadow across the chiseled slope of his jaw.
He’s leaning against the building. One boot is on the ground, and the other boot is pressed against the wall, his knee bent. His thumbs are hooked through his belt loops.
That door he’s standing beside—it’s the same one I walked through that first day I came to the ranch. The door that Colt walked out of after giving his dad hell for hiring me.
He looks up when he sees me approaching.
Yep, that cowboy is definitely real, and he’s definitely giving me a familiar squint that sends a shiver down my spine.
I park and turn off the ignition. Climbing out of my car, I hook my tote over my shoulder. “What are you doing out here?”
“Waitin’ on you.” He pushes off the wall and saunters over. Lifting my bag off my shoulder, he leans in to press a scruffy kiss to my cheek. “Hey, Fort Worth.”
My nipples are rock hard. They’d totally be headlights, poking through my shirt, if I weren’t wearing a padded bra. “Hey, Colt.”
“Glad we got that name thing ironed out.” He loops the bag over his shoulder. “Big day. You’re gonna do great.”
I look up at him, a happy bubble expanding inside my breastbone. “So you’re not gonna torpedo my ideas the second I start talking?”
His eyes twinkle. Literally twinkle, like he’s just as amused and suddenly aroused as I am. “I make no promises. But your prospects are looking good.”
“Shucks.” I cluck my tongue. “And here I thought I changed your mind about, well, change. And branding. And your very real need for a new website.”
Those eyes move to my mouth. “You are awful convincing.”
“Thanks.” I exhale. “I’m nervous.”
“What? Why? You gotta know everyone in there loves you.” He tilts his head toward the office. “Everyone already gave you their stamp of approval for Double U. You’re gonna kill it, Lainey.”
I feel like I’m going to vomit, but the smile that spreads across my face will not be held back. “I never in a million years thought you’d be the one to give me a pep talk.”
“Honey, around here, things either never change or they change real fast. You’d best get used to it.”
Both our heads swivel when the door opens. Beck emerges, a knowing grin on his face.
“You two.” He motions to us. “Whoever’s about to go down—I mean whatever is about to go down—”
“Not funny,” Colt grunts.
But I laugh, giddy over the fact that my cowboy is apparently so smitten with me that everybody knows about it. My stomach does a funny little flip when I wonder if Colt has talked to Beck about me. Out of all his brothers, Colt seems closest to his second-in-command.
“—can wait until after Lainey’s presentation,” Beck finishes. “Everyone’s champing at the bit to know what our creative genius here has put together for us.”
I roll my eyes, tucking my hair behind my ear. “I’m no genius—”
“But she is creative, and she’s about to be a big fuckin’ deal in these parts.” Colt puts a hand on my nape and squeezes. “Mark my words.”
Beck’s expression softens as he looks at us. “Y’all are actually pretty damn cute together.”
“Don’t act so surprised,” Colt shoots back. “I can be cute upon occasion.”
I grin. “It seems rare—”
“Like an eclipse.” Beck nods.
“The only shady-ass thing I know is looking right at me,” Colt says, laughing at his own joke. “C’mon, that was good.”
Now Beck is rolling his eyes. “Let’s get this done so we can celebrate.”
But now I’m wondering—are Colt and I together, though? Does he consider me his girlfriend? I haven’t wanted to bring it up because I’m enjoying the hell out of whatever it is we actually are. Still, I’d love for him to make it official, even if that’d make a mess of things for both of us.
Judging by the way he keeps his hand on my neck as we step inside, I’d say he wants to make it official too. But he hasn’t said anything—yet—so really, who knows what happens next?
Yet.
That word keeps pinging around my head. I’m always hearing people say that timing is everything.
On paper, our timing is pretty damn terrible.
He’s a single dad with major baggage who’s just trying to survive.
I’m finally ready to start a real career after working my ass off in school for what feels like an eternity.
Those two storylines may intersect, but they don’t mesh. Unless…
Well, unless Colt is ready to exit living in survival mode. And unless I’ve already started a real career without ever giving myself credit for it.
We head for the conference room at the end of a short hallway. I can already hear the Wallace family’s voices raised in raucous conversation.
“Wow, Billie, you really are happier,” Tate says.
“Well, duh,” Billie replies around a mouthful of something. “I’m gearing up for a whole new career. You know, the one where I’m sharing with our community the glories of life lived alongside animals. Just doing good and shit.”
Billie got the green light from her parents to start the animal therapy program she’s been talking about. I’m thrilled for her. I also told her I’d be happy to work on a website and branding for her. I barely finished my pitch when she tackled me with a hug and hired me on the spot.
Mack’s booming laugh fills the whole building. “And being totally badass while you’re doing all that good. Proud of you, B.”
“I’m proud of me too,” Billie says.
Someone claps their hands, and I realize a beat later it must be Nash because he says, “Let’s not forget that lover boy is in the picture and that Colt doesn’t hate y’all anymore.”
“You’re welcome,” Colt replies easily. He presses his hand against the conference room door, even though it’s already open, gesturing for me to go inside before him. “After you, Miss Brown.”
Another shiver. I like it when he’s polite. Almost as much as I like it when he’s obscenely rude.
My heart stutters when I see the whole family seated around the conference room’s massive oak table. Paige is at the head, with Dale seated on her right. They’re surrounded by their children, their hats resting brim side up on the table.
The room is loud, filled with voices and smiles and the scent of the outdoors, and I’m struck by a single thought.
This.
I want this.
The Wallaces are just so connected with each other. They have to be if they want to keep their animals alive and their ranch running. Makes me realize how disconnected my own family is. The silences, how preoccupied we all are with our own shit—it keeps us apart.
I’m trembling as I greet everyone with a smile. Yes, I’m nervous. But I also think I’m coming to some kind of realization that shakes me to my very core.
“I’m so glad this day is finally here.” Dale rises from his seat and ambles over to shake my hand. He glances at Colt, who’s passing out copies of the presentation to his siblings and mom. “Amazing work, by the way, bringing my son over to our cause.”
“No easy feat.” I lock eyes with Colt across the room. “But I like a challenge.”
Billie comes over to wrap me in a hug. “Colt’s got it bad for you, sister,” she murmurs in my ear. “I think that’s part of the reason why he came around with Ryder and me—he’s happy. Or happier. Thanks for that.”
Giving her a squeeze, I say, “I’m happy too. Thanks again for having me here on the ranch. It’s truly been a pleasure. Well, except for the beginning—”
“Gonna make the payoff that much sweeter, though, right?” Billie pulls back and puts her hands on my shoulders. “You know we’re always looking to even out the guy-girl ratio here on the ranch.”
“Always,” Paige adds.
I laugh, heat flooding my face. “Y’all are too kind. You certainly have something special here at Double U.”
“I see what you did there,” Beck says, standing so he can wrap me in a hug too.
Why so many hugs?
As if reading my mind, Beck whispers, “I hope you stick around to see what happens next. You know, after you wrap up this project, so you can start on mine for the Hen. You’re welcome to stay on the ranch long as you like.”
“Quit bein’ a sketch ball and go sit.” Colt crosses the room to stand by my side. “You heard me, Benjamin Becker.”
Beck’s eyebrows pop up. “The full name. He must be serious.”
“You’re an ass.” Colt glowers at him over my shoulder.
But Beck just smiles. “Good luck, Lainey. I’m rooting for y’all. I mean you. I’m rooting for you.”
I marvel at how different these two cowboys are. They look similar enough—the size, the squint—but their personalities are total opposites.
Then again, I’m relatively certain they’re made of the same stuff at their core. They value the same things. Family, hard work, honesty.
Or maybe I’m just dreaming all this up because the fact of the matter is I don’t know Beck all that well. I’d like to, though.
My God, you want to stay, don’t you?
Shoving that terrifying thought aside, I clear my throat. “Since everybody’s here, are we ready to begin?”
Paige holds out her arms. “The floor is yours.”
“Screen should be up and working.” Nash brandishes a remote control, nodding at the enormous television that hangs on the wall behind me. “The cord to connect is right there.”
The quiet that settles over the room as everyone sits and I get my computer set up is unnerving.
How did the time fly like this? I feel like I just got to the ranch, and all of a sudden, I’m about to make my presentation.
I’m about to wrap up another job. But this one is gonna stick with me in a way none before it have.
I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing.
I do know I’m really, really proud of the concepts I’m about to present.
So I screw my courage to the sticking place, roll back my shoulders, and begin.
“First and foremost, I want to thank y’all for welcoming me to Hartsville with open arms. Well, with a notable exception or two.”
Colt holds up a hand. “Guilty.”