Promise Sneak Peek #2
Reed’s hands shoot out lightning-fast, catching me by the arms. “Whoa,” he says, capturing me in his grip as my eyes stare up at the ceiling with all my weight on my heels.
It all happened so damn quickly that if I had fallen completely backward, I know I’d be on my ass right now. With my luck, I would’ve broken something too.
My heart pounds inside my chest as I try to gather my thoughts about the entire clusterfuck of a situation. “Shit,” I mutter as I find my footing and right myself. “Thanks.”
“Anytime, darlin’,” Reed says, but he doesn’t release his hold on me. “You okay?”
“Embarrassed, but otherwise fine, thanks to you,” I say and clear my throat, wishing the world would swallow me up whole.
“It’s happened to me before, but with a real bull and a very different outcome,” Reed says, trying to put my mind at ease. “Happens to the best of us.”
“Sure,” I whisper, glancing down to where our bodies are connected.
I don’t hate it. His hands are warm and strong. The roughness of his skin tells me he does work outside and rarely uses gloves.
“Good thing you didn’t have on heels. I think you would’ve gone over by the time I grabbed you.”
“Yeah,” I mumble.
Reed’s hands drop away, and I immediately miss the contact. It’s been ages since a man has touched me, but that’s because the last one ruined penises for me for a very long time.
“Are you okay?” Cassie asks.
“I’m hungry,” I tell her, wanting to forget about my near collision with the massive stone creature.
“Let’s get you fed and off your feet,” Reed says, taking my elbow and leading me toward the restaurant entrance.
My friends aren’t the least bit fazed that I almost bit the dust. They’re too interested in the men at their sides to pay any attention to me. I can’t blame them. I am the clumsiest one out of the group, and what’s my safety compared to the hunky cowboys on their arms.
Luckily, the restaurant isn’t very crowded, and we don’t need to wait for a table. It’s relatively early for dinner in Vegas, but back home, it’s already late. The time difference is doing me in, and tomorrow, I can guarantee I’ll be awake before the sun peeks over the horizon.
The girls sit on one side and the guys on the other, with Reed sitting directly across from me. In between looking over the menu, I glance up at Reed and soak him in. I get my first full look when he takes off his hat and sets it in his lap.
He smiles at me, and I smile back. We’re being very cordial as we both stare at the menu like it holds all the secrets to the universe.
The man is handsome. His face is tanned, with short stubble covering his jawline.
I bet he could grow one hell of a beard if he didn’t shave for a few weeks.
And part of me wonders if it would be soft or if the hair would tickle the tips of my fingers.
The hair on his head is dark with a slight wave, but it’s cropped short in the back and longer on the top.
I drop my gaze back to the menu, not wanting him to catch me staring. There’s steak and steak. Not much of a selection besides different cuts, but that’s fine with me. I already know what I want.
“What are you getting?” he asks.
I bring my gaze back to him and meet his eyes. “Strip with mashed and sprouts.”
“Mashed and sprouts?” He tilts his head like I’m speaking a foreign language.
“Mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts,” I explain.
“Solid. I’m going for the Tomahawk and same sides.”
“You like brussels sprouts?” God, I sound like an idiot even to my own ears.
“Yeah, darlin’. A man needs more than meat to survive.
I like my veggies.” He has tiny lines near his eyes when he smiles.
Years of being in the sunshine have shown a little of his age, and I don’t hate it.
He looks grown compared to men my age back home, and it does things to my body it shouldn’t.
“But please tell me you aren’t a well-done girlie. ”
I chuckle. There’s something strange about him saying girlie. Cute, but weird. “I’m a medium-well girlie.”
He sighs, rubbing his hand up and down his bare arm. “Not awful.”
“Lemme guess,” I say, straightening in my seat. “You’re a rare kinda guy.”
“No, beautiful. I like my meat cooked, but not overdone. I’m a solid medium.”
I almost open my lips and tell him he’s way above a medium, but somehow, I keep my mouth shut. Something I don’t do very often. “I can do medium,” I tell him instead, which doesn’t sound much better.
His smirk tells me he takes those words just like they sounded, but not how I meant. “My kinda girl.”
“Did you just buy that cowboy hat in the gift shop?” I tease him, wanting to change the trajectory of the conversation.
His dark eyebrows furrow, and fuck me, he looks adorable. “The gift shop?”
“Yeah.”
He leans forward, placing his arms on the table. “What do you mean? You think I bought the hat here?”
I nod. “It’s a good getup to snag the ladies.”
“Did it snag you?” he asks, his head tilted as he studies my face.
“Almost.”
“For your information, city girl, I brought this one from home, but it’s the only one I brought with me.”
“Why only the one?”
“It’s black. It matches everything.”
I laugh because he’s not wrong. “How many do you own?”
He shrugs one shoulder. “Twenty.”
“Twenty hats? That’s so many.”
“Some are old,” he replies. “But you really think I bought this here and am lying about who I am?”
“Yeah, handsome. I do.”
The waitress comes before he has a chance to respond. I can feel his stare as I place my order. I need alcohol, and I want it strong, but also sweet.
“Martini,” he mutters before he turns his attention toward the waitress, who’s waiting for his drink order. “Beer. Cold. Tall.”
“Any specific beer?” she asks as her gaze moves around the male side of the table, noticing three very handsome men.
“Whatever you want. Surprise me.”
“Got it,” she says, moving on to the others at the table.
Reed reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone. I watch him intently as he taps the screen.
“Hello,” a woman’s voice says from his hand.
“Ma. Go outside and show me the cows,” he tells the woman. “I need to prove a point.”
“Stop,” I tell him, waving him off. “Leave the woman be.”
“What in the hell are you doing there in Vegas, Reed? Show you the cows? I’ve never heard something so absurd.”
I giggle but quickly cover my mouth in case she can hear me.
“Ma, please. Someone doesn’t believe I live in Texas on a ranch.”
“Of all the dumb shit you’ve ever…” Her voice drifts off, and he stares at me, clearly wanting to show me how very wrong I am about him. “There.”
Reed turns his phone around and shows me the screen. It’s nothing but green and sunset skies, along with little dots of brown and black and a whole lot of moos. “Thanks, Ma.”
“Who’s that woman, Reed?”
“I’ll call you tomorrow, Ma.”
“She’s purdy,” she says, and something about the way she says it is so endearing to me. “Lasso yourself a wife while you’re there.”
Good thing I don’t have my drink yet because I would’ve choked to death on her words.
“Ma. Stop. Not happening. Byeeeee,” he says before tapping the screen and placing his phone face-side down. “Happy?”
“You didn’t say you loved her before you hung up,” I tell him.
“Don’t need to repeat what she already knows. But you didn’t answer. Still think I’m lying?” His eyes bore into me as he waits for my reply.
Foot meet mouth. “I believe you, cowboy.”
“Good, darlin’. You think a city girl can outdrink a country boy?”
I swallow, remembering the last time I was shit-faced and how it took me days to recover.
But I’m not one to shy away from a challenge, especially when it comes to drinking.
You don’t grow up in the bar life without having a certain inhuman threshold for liquor consumption. “I can, buddy. I’d put money on it.”
“You’re on, sweetheart. Challenge accepted,” he says, and I immediately regret my answer when his eyes darken.
Shit.
Amelia’s story continues in Promise.