CHAPTER 29 #2
He stepped closer into the booth, leaning in with that same cocky charm I remembered. “You look great,” he said as his eyes roamed over me. “I never thought you’d come back. Did Raleigh lose its appeal?”
I laughed and wiped my hands on my shorts. “Something like that.”
His gaze moved to my mouth for the smallest moment before he met my eyes again. “You staying long?”
I hesitated then flicked my eyes back to June, who had suddenly busied herself with counting the rest of our stock. “For a while. I’m helping out with the farm.”
He leaned closer to me, and his cologne, something woodsy and expensive that hadn’t been part of his high school arsenal, drifted between us as he braced one hand on the edge of the table. “I’d love to take you to dinner sometime.”
A flush crept up my neck as his smile hit me with the full force of that old high school charm. He had always been such a flirt.
My mind scrambled for a gentle rejection, but I only managed a single breathless word. “Dinner?”
“Yeah.” His smile softened as he nodded, his eyes not leaving mine. “There’s this new place in Belmont. Or, I mean, we could grab a drink.” He ran his hand over his hair even though it was already perfectly in place. “Whatever works for you.”
I was about to answer him when movement caught my eye, and the words died in my throat.
My pulse stuttered as Colt cut through the crowd with Ruby on his shoulders.
There was a paper crown tilted precariously on her head and a giant bag of cotton candy clutched in her small fist. Lou walked alongside them, her mouth curved in exasperation at whatever her granddaughter had said.
My mouth went dry as they moved closer. Colt wore a baseball hat pulled low.
He wore a sleeveless T-shirt with the sides cut low, revealing arms carved from years of ranch work and offering a glimpse of obliques that made my fingertips burn with the memory of tracing them.
His thighs strained against worn denim as he made his way to me, and there was something lethal about how he moved tonight.
He had a predatory ease that hit me low in my belly and spread to places that had no business aching in public.
His eyes found mine, and something in them shifted. His jaw locked, a muscle twitching beneath stubbled skin as his gaze flicked to Danny then back to me. A flicker of something dangerous and possessive crossed Colt’s face, turning those familiar eyes into storm clouds.
The cowboy was jealous.
“Blaire?” Danny’s voice caught my attention, and I blinked back up at him.
“What?”
“Do you want to let me know or—” Danny’s words trailed off as he followed my gaze.
Ruby’s squeal pierced the air as she scrambled down from Colt’s shoulders so fast he had to grab her ankle to keep her from falling headfirst. The second her feet hit the grass, she raced toward me.
“Blaire!” She collided with my legs and her arms wrapped around my waist. I staggered back, laughing, just as Colt stepped up to the booth.
“Watson,” Colt said flatly as he nodded his head to the man without sparing him a glance.
Danny straightened, suddenly less sure of himself. “Colt, how are you?”
Colt lifted the bill of his hat with one finger, tilting it back enough that I could see the full force of his stare burning into me. “Better now.”
Ruby tugged at my hand, oblivious to the tension, while Lou gave Colt a sharp warning look. Colt smirked at his mother before his gaze slid back to me. His eyes raked over me so slowly and with such raw hunger that my skin prickled and blood rushed to every place his gaze lingered.
“Wait. Are you two back together?” Danny asked, and his question shot up my spine.
I could feel both June and Lou watching us as I opened my mouth to deny it, but Colt answered before I could.
“She sleeps in my bed every night, Watson.” His eyes burned into mine as he said it. “You tell me what that means.”
My skin flushed hot, my pulse hammering so hard I could feel it in my fingertips. I forced out a laugh that caught in my throat. “He means the guest room.”
Colt’s mouth curved into a slow, dangerous smile, and his eyes darkened to a midnight blue as he cocked his head. “Do I?”
A muffled laugh escaped June behind me, and when I glanced at Lou, she was examining a jar of jam with intense interest, lips pressed together to hide her smile.
Colt moved in, crowding my space until the scent of his cologne wrapped around me. “June, do you mind if we steal Blaire for a while?”
June’s eyes flicked between us, bright with amusement. “By all means. Lou and I can manage here.”
I hesitantly looked back at the booth, but June rolled her eyes at me.
“Lou and I aren’t going to wreck your new business within a few hours. Go have fun.”
Colt’s gaze sliced back to Danny, all pretense of civility gone. “You don’t mind, do you? Me and my girls have plans.”
My girls.
My heart stuttered. The words were so simple, and I wanted to laugh them off, but I couldn’t. Part of me ached to lean into them, to be his girl again, while another part screamed to run before I got hurt.
Ruby’s fingers tightened around mine, her small hand insistent as she dragged me from the booth. I stumbled slightly before finding my footing at Colt’s side.
Danny’s smile didn’t reach his eyes as he backed away a step. “Message received, loud and clear,” he said with a forced chuckle. “Rain check on that dinner, Blaire.”
I offered him a smile as Colt pressed against me, the hard ridge of his belt buckle claiming territory against my side, and his body heat searing through my clothes.
His hand spread wide across the small of my back, his thumb digging into my spine with such possessive pressure as he nudged me forward.
My breath caught as he bent down, his mustache tickling my sensitive skin as his lips brushed the shell of my ear.
“Over my dead body,” he growled, the vibration of his voice shooting straight down my spine, loud enough that Danny couldn’t possibly miss it.
His eyes locked with Danny’s and he grinned.
“Have fun, Watson.”