Chapter 43 Derrick #2
“Did you bring me a birthday gift?” I ask, looking over at the handsome cowboy who is standing behind him.
He’s wearing a black cowboy hat with sandy brown hair curling underneath the brim.
He’s tanned as if he’s been working out in the sun all day, and piercing blue eyes peep out beneath his hat, narrowing on me as he gives me a quick look up and down.
Is he a gay cowboy? Birthday wishes do come true if he is.
He's dressed in a blue checked shirt that molds to thick arms, there’s a large brass belt buckle with a horse on it, he’s wearing a pair of tight denims that are trying to hold tree trunk legs, capped off with a pair of well-worn cowboy boots.
“Um, maybe?” Jackson answers cautiously. “This is one of my best friends, Charlie Nash, we served together overseas.”
He’s a military cowboy. Gay angel in the sky, you really did listen to my prayers.
“Thank you for your service,” I tell him.
“Happy Birthday to you, sir,” Charlie answers in a deep, throaty voice that sends shivers to my balls. And he called me sir. Sir! Never wanted to get on my knees as quickly as I did then.
“I’m trying to convince him to move to LA from Montana and come work for me,” Jackson explains.
“They are going to devour him in LA, he looks all sweet and wholesome.” I look him up and down again. I would be one of the first people to devour him, given the chance.
“I can assure you I am neither sweet nor wholesome.” Charlie smirks, that deep voice doing nasty things to my mind.
“Are you sure he isn’t my birthday present because he seems like everything I wished for when I blew out my candles tonight,” I say, biting my bottom lip.
Jackson looks between me and his cowboy friend.
“Charlie, this is Derrick, and if you hadn’t guessed, it’s his birthday.” Jackson leans forward and stage whispers to me. “Please don’t scare him off, I really want him to move here.”
“Your friend doesn’t look like he scares easily,” I comment, raising a brow.
“I don’t,” Charlie answers.
“I give up,” Jackson says, throwing his hands in the air.
“Jackson, you’re here. Oh my god, Charlie, I didn’t know you were coming,” Finn says, breaking up my flirtation with the mountain man. “You’re looking good, Charlie. Last time I saw you …” Finn doesn’t finish that sentence, and I watch Charlie and Jackson stiffen.
“Jackson said you had a baby, congrats, man,” the deep-voiced cowboy says.
“And he got engaged too,” I add.
“Wait, what? You got engaged?” Jackson repeats.
“Yeah. I finally proposed to Isla, just at home.”
“And he tried to hide it from us, but you couldn’t hide that rock.” I chuckle, nudging him.
“Not from you anyway,” Finn teases. “Charlie, what are you doing in LA?”
“I’m trying to convince him to come work with me,” Jackson answers for him.
“Not sure LA is for me,” he answers with a shrug.
“I told him he could bring Everly. She would love it here,” Jackson adds.
Who is Everly? Shit. I’m an idiot. Of course, this man is straight. “I’m going to leave you guys,” I say and head back to the girls.
“Hey, Derrick, isn’t it?” The deep voice surprises me in the dark. I took a moment to wallow in my singledom, another birthday solo, and this year I don’t have hot strippers to fuck. I might head into The Paradise Club after here to see if that can pep me up. No one should be sad on their birthday.
“Oh hi, Charlie, right?” I answer, surprised to see him.
“It’s a shame you can’t see the stars, they are gorgeous at this time of night,” he mumbles as he looks out over the valley.
“Guessing you see a lot more of them where you’re from.” He smiles at me, and it sends a shiver over my body. Stop it, he is not gay. Remove those thoughts from your mind.
“Millions of them.” He smiles.
“I miss that. At home in Australia, even in the city, you could still see the stars. It’s weird that you can’t here. Honestly, it seems like the first time I’ve looked up and searched for them since moving here.”
“How long have you been living in LA?” he asks.
“A couple of years. This is home now, it’s where my people are. I could never leave them.” Wow. That revelation hit me. I don’t think I’ve ever said that aloud before.
“I don’t know where I belong,” Charlie mumbles.
I turn and look at the man giant, that seems rather vulnerable to say to a stranger. “Isn’t Montana your home?”
He shrugs. “It was once, but now …” He lets the words hang in the night air, never fully finishing his thought.
I’m intrigued. I shouldn’t be because he has a girlfriend. “Is that why you’re thinking about moving to LA with your girlfriend?”
The man mountain grates out a guttural laugh, which is like an earthquake through my body. “Girlfriend? Who said anything about one of them?”
“Jackson mentioned Everly, and I assumed …” Now I feel kind of stupid for saying anything.
“Everly is my sister.”
Oh.
Well, now I feel kind of silly. Still doesn’t mean he’s gay. “Oh, cool, is she going to move to LA too?”
“She might. We are kind of co-dependent at the moment since I came back from overseas,” Charlie explains.
“Guess she missed you.” I smile before quickly looking away because those sparkling blue eyes are so hypnotizing.
“You could say that. She also kind of saved me too.” He muses as he stares off into the distance, there is this calm intensity that he exudes, which makes me want to get close to him.
“These idiots out there did the same for me,” I confess.
“Can’t imagine anyone like you ever needing saving,” he says, placing his thick arms on the fence as he leans against it, my eyes running along the taunt fabric that curves against the tight plains of his muscles, and the way the denim clings to that peachy ass.
Didn’t think I had a thing for cowboys, but I do now.
“Anyone like me?” I question him as I lean against the fence.
“You’re so confident and sure of yourself.”
“I’m like a duck on top of the water, it may appear all calm and put together, but if you looked under the water you would see it is chaos. I would give my life for those people out there, because I wouldn’t have one if it wasn’t for them.” Gee, way to make the conversation morbid.
“Jackson doesn’t trust easily, and you have it,” he answers.
“He’s a tough nut to crack, but how could he ignore all this?
” I tease, placing my hands under my chin and cracking a joke to hide my anxiety that seems to have bubbled to the surface around this handsome man.
He’s flustering me, the way those blue eyes bore into my soul, as if he can read all my secrets.
“How could he?” the sexy cowboy says as he takes a step closer to me.
What is happening? Tension cackles around us, and my heart is beating uncontrollably in my chest. “I sure as hell can’t,” he mumbles as Charlie reaches out, grabs my face, and pulls my lips to his.
Wait! Is he kissing me? His mouth opens as soft lips meet my own, a gasp falls from my lips, opening them even wider as his tongue explores.
The hot cowboy is kissing me. How much have I had to drink?
Is the man straight? Bi? No. There’s no way this man is gay.
He’s so … rugged, I can feel the calluses on his hands as he grips my neck tightly.
The way this man takes charge and moves me to where he wants me, like I’m putty in his large hands, I’m prepared to drop to my knees and call him daddy.
Charlie slowly pulls my lips from his and gives me a cocky smirk, like he can read the impure thoughts rushing through my mind.
Then he tips his fucking cowboy hat at me, wishes me a happy birthday, and disappears.
What the hell just happened?
By the time I collect myself, meaning getting my dick under control, he’s gone. Leaving me utterly confused.
When I get home, the last person I thought I’d hear from messages me.
Chance: Happy Birthday, D. Hope you had a great day.
I have only seen Chance a handful of times since he got out of rehab. He was busy with a tour, and then the guys moved out of LA to write their new album. Christian gave them access to their Big Bear property to get away from LA and work. So, color me surprised that I hear from him.
Derrick: Thanks. I did. Hope you’re well.
Chance: I’m doing good. Are you at home? Thought you would be out partying?
Derrick: Just got back from being out for dinner with my friends.
Chance: Still seems early.
Derrick: I’m getting old.
Chance: 31 isn’t old.
Derrick: Says the 25-year-old.
Chance: Are you alone?
Derrick: Yeah.
Chance: Want some company?
Oh.
It’s been a long time since he’s flirted with me.
Derrick: Not sure that’s a good idea.
Especially as I can’t stop thinking about Charlie’s kiss.
Chance: You’re probably right. I’d better go. Happy Birthday, Derrick.
Derrick: Night, Chance.