Chapter 6
She hadn’t been trying to be polite when she said charm ran in the family. Bo was a consummate host, especially as he led her up the curving double staircase that reached the second floor with his hand on the small of her back.
She was still wearing her coat, but she wished she’d removed it when he offered. She wanted to feel the heat of his hand soak through her shirt and into her skin.
Wait. Win stopped herself. Slow down.
But she couldn’t. He was leading her into the bedroom suite she planned to share with him on occasion while she was here.
“Oh, goodness. It’s stunning too.”
“So are you.”
Win turned away from the stone fireplace that ran up from the center of the house and lined one whole wall of the bedroom to meet his flashing aqua gaze.
There was no question they both had something else on their minds.
Bo stood in front of the huge log bed that had to be custom-made.
“How big is that bed?”
“It’s an Alaskan king. I like space.”
“You are full of surprises, aren’t you?”
“The bed surprises you?”
“All of it. How did you ever keep this place a secret? How did I not know you were living in a palatial log home, set in one the most magnificent locations I’ve ever seen?”
“Would you have come visit?”
She decided bold honesty would serve as well as ever. “Had I known about the bed, I probably would have.”
When he smiled, his aqua eyes shone, and lines creased the corners. He’d been out in the sun and the weather, and he looked better than he had when he was sporting his surfer-boy good looks.
“You like my bed, Win?”
“Most definitely.”
“I can’t pretend I haven’t imagined you in it.”
Her expression was well schooled enough to hide her shock. “Is that right?”
“More than once.”
“Twice?”
“You want me to count?”
“No, just curious.”
Instead of closing the distance between them, he turned to the double doors leading into an en suite bathroom. He paused on the threshold. “Wait until you see the shower.”
She was on his heels faster than you could say hot water.
Decadent bathrooms were a weakness of Win’s. It was no secret she was accustomed to luxury, but a nice bathroom … it just elevated everyday life to spa-like conditions.
“Oh, yes,” she whispered. “This is perfect.”
A massive stand-alone soaking tub—large enough for two—stood in front of a wide picture window, and at the end of the room was a floor-to-ceiling glass enclosure big enough for ten, although it had clearly been built for two.
Benches lined two walls, and there was an entire array of showerheads, handheld sprayers, and … her favorite: “A steam shower. Divine.”
She instantly pictured the two of them reclining naked on benches while steam filled the glass enclosure … and other things.
“There’s also a separate dressing room with a makeup mirror and hairstylist chair through there, so you can do hair and makeup up here.” He opened the door and flipped on the light switch, illuminating an elegant wood-paneled dressing room.
Shocked, she looked at him. “This house came like this?”
He shook his head. “I had the whole master suite redone after I moved in. I used the junior suite for a while, which is where my stuff is, so feel free to make yourself at home.”
“You added a makeup mirror and hairstylist chair to your dressing room? In Montana. On a ranch.”
“Never know when you might need it.”
She knew she wasn’t the only one of the two of them to spend hours in a makeup chair, but … she was starting to wonder something.
“Did you envision yourself sitting in that chair when you added it?” Her question was pointed, and instead of his eyes darting away, he came toward her.
“No.”
Win’s heart picked up its rhythm, and butterflies flapped their wings in her stomach.
Even with her customary boldness, Win wasn’t willing to ask the next question on her mind. “Well,” she said as she turned, trailing a hand across the stunning vein of gold in the stone countertop, “this is fabulous. Whoever designed it should be applauded.”
“I did.”
She glanced at him in the mirror and couldn’t miss the searing heat coming from his aqua gaze.
“Well done.”
“Aren’t you going to ask me?”
Years of playing roles helped her keep her eyes locked on his. “Ask you what?”
“Who I envisioned sitting there?”
Win didn’t need to ask. It was all over his face. “You designed this bathroom and dressing room for me,” she said.
He closed the distance, and the heat of his chest radiated against her back through her coat. She wasn’t a tiny woman, but he still dwarfed her.
“Why would you do that?”
“Why not? Maybe you’ll like it here.”
She laughed lightly. “For filming, absolutely.”
“You know what I mean, Win.”
She spun to face him. “This is just a fling, Bo.”
“It isn’t anything yet. A little soon for labels, don’t you think?”
She swallowed hard and was unable to remember the last time a man had made her feel like this. “I just need to be up front with you. I’m not looking for anything permanent. I have no intention of ever getting married again.”
“I wasn’t proposing.”
And yet she needed to put parameters on this, and quickly, so it didn’t spiral out of control. Something about him made her feel like all her rules could dissolve if she wasn’t careful.
“You should know … whatever happens between us is time-limited.”
“Life is time-limited, Win.”
She blinked as the truth of his statement hit her. “You know what I mean.”
Like he had earlier, he touched a lock of her hair. “How about we just see what happens? You ever try that? Not controlling every detail … just letting it be what it is?”
Win paused to consider his words as her gaze stalled out on his lips.
Have I?
Never.
She let her silence answer for her.
“I didn’t think so. Maybe, since you’re breaking some rules … try breaking that one. Sometimes, life can surprise you with things beyond your wildest dreams … if you’re willing to let go of the reins and go with the flow.”
Go with the flow?
It was safe to say that Win had never done that. Her whole life had been a carefully controlled attempt at perfection. And look how that worked out.
Her ex-husband had been married three times since their divorce and somehow managed to end up with two kids.
Not Win though. She’d been single for nearly eight years, and after her parents’ accident, but for her assistant, she was alone in the world.
I have no one in my life who cares about me that I don’t pay. The truth was rather brutal when it hit her.
“I don’t know how to go with the flow.” She lifted her gaze to his handsome face. “How does one do that?”
Bo’s smile had devastated millions of women from the big screen, but in person, it was even more heart-stopping.
“You just let go. Let life show you what it has in store for you.” He turned and pointed out the window over the soaking tub. “You see that river out there?”
Win felt like she could breathe normally again when the intensity of their stare broke.
“Of course.”
“Going with the flow means not paddling upstream. Just … let it take you where it wants to go. Stop trying to control the river.”
Win took a deep breath, as the truth of his words shifted something deep in her soul. Stop trying to control the river.
Never in her life had she understood how people could just … let go. But now, with the beauty before her and Silas Bohannon’s wisdom echoing in her mind, the ridiculousness of what she’d been trying to do hit her.
“You can’t control the river,” she whispered. “No matter how hard you paddle.”
“Never. It’ll just wear you out.”
Win wanted to sit down. Because that explained everything about why she was so tired. Tired of nothing going her way. Tired of life never working out the way she’d planned.
“Holy shit,” she whispered. “You’re a fucking genius.”
His hands landed on her shoulders as she stared at the river.
“Welcome to Montana, where life may be simple, but it makes sense.”