Chapter 16
16
Whit Bowman
“ A re you about ready?” Conrad asks, standing in the doorway to the en-suite.
I glance up, my breath catching as I take him in. He looks the same as he does almost every single day, but even after all these years, I’ll never get over how large he is, especially when he’s taking up almost the entire doorway, and how effortlessly rugged and handsome he is. Conrad is a stunning man with strong muscles carved from years and years working on this ranch, and it’s almost painful to look at.
“Yeah,” I reply quietly. “I’m just going to brush my teeth, and I’ll be ready. Is your nana all ready to go?”
“She’s finishing up her makeup.”
“Okay. I’ll be out in a minute.”
It’s Saturday morning, and the three of us are making a trip up to Cheyenne today. There’s an indoor farmers’ market of sorts going on up there that Nana apparently heard about at the supermarket the other day. There’s supposed to be a ton of fun booths, activities, and even live music.
Once I finish brushing my teeth, I give myself a once-over in the mirror, making sure I look okay. My nerves are shot this morning. Things have been going about as well as can be expected since she got here. Thankfully, work has been keeping most of my focus, so there hasn’t really been much time for me to have to fake our marriage, but I bet that’ll change today.
After we get back from Cheyenne, we’ve got dinner over at Will’s place tonight. I like Will, and my buddy, Colt, will be there. It should be fun, but I have to make it through our day trip first.
Conrad is waiting for us in the living room, sitting impatiently on the edge of the recliner. I chuckle to myself before I can stop it. His gaze darts to mine, brows pinched. “What’s funny?”
Sitting down on the couch, I ask, “You’re dying to leave already, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. I’ve been ready to go for almost a half an hour.” I breathe out a laugh, shaking my head. “Why is that funny?”
“I swear, you become more and more like your dad the older you get.”
Furrowing his brows, he replies, “I do not.”
“Oh, yes, you do,” I murmur. “He always used to grumble any time we had to go anywhere, and your mom would take her time getting ready. Even though he knew how long it took her every single time, he’d still hurry and get ready right away. You do the same thing.”
With his lips pursed and his jaw clenched, he side-eyes me before looking away. Sometimes I get the feeling he thinks being compared to his father is an insult, when in reality, it’s anything but. Henrik Strauss was one of the kindest and most hardworking men I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. He was a man of few words, but he cared fiercely about those in his life, and I feel lucky that I got to know him. Henrik was somebody I looked up to for many years. He was somebody who opened up his home to me when I was a homeless teenager. He may not have agreed or understood my relationship with Conrad at first, but that never stopped him from being there for me when I needed a family to lean on.
So, yes, while it’s comical to watch Conrad become more and more like his late father the older he gets, it’s also lovely to watch. His father instilled some strict expectations in his son from a very early age, but the man Conrad grew to be, because of the rules, the hard work, the tough love, is one I know Henrik and Catherine would be damn proud of today if they could see him.
Our marriage may not have worked out, but Conrad is still one of the best men, alongside his father, I’ve ever known. He would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it, and he’s always been that way. I remember as a bumbling teenager, working here for the first time, and being just absolutely enamored by Conrad. The way he carried himself. His confidence around the ranch. He always seemed to be working, no matter the day, and he never once complained about it. The hottest of summer days and the coldest, snowiest of winter days, he was out there, doing what needed to be done. He’d always stop whatever it was that he was doing to explain something to me—even if he seemed quite peeved at having to do so because I had a lot of questions.
Conrad was made for this ranch. His blood, sweat, and tears are poured into every inch of this land, and as much as I hate to admit it, I’ve loved watching him find his way around here since his parents died. It was sudden and gut-wrenching, and nobody would’ve blamed him if he chose to close up shop and walk away for good. But he didn’t.
“Alright, you two,” Nana calls out as she strolls into the living room. “I’m all ready. Shall we get going?”
Huffing out a sigh, Conrad stands, and I follow. After he locks up the house, we hit the road. Even though I offered the front seat to Nana, she insisted on sitting in the back. Stubborn old lady.
It takes about forty-five minutes to get to our destination, and the parking lot is already packed by the time we get there. Finding a spot is proving to be a little challenging.
“We should’ve gotten here earlier,” Conrad grumbles under his breath.
“It only opened an hour ago,” I reply as he finally pulls into a spot.
“Yeah, but it probably would’ve been a lot less busy had we come then.”
“Oh, knock it off,” Nana barks from the back, making me snort. “You’re not going to be in a piss-poor mood all day, Connie boy. Snap out of it. We are here to have fun .”
Glowering at her through the rearview mirror, Conrad turns the truck off, and we all climb out. My heart lurches into my throat when I round the back of the vehicle and he takes my hand in his. I turn my head, glancing up at him, but he’s staring straight ahead, paying me no mind, like holding my hand is the most natural thing in the world.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I hiss at him quietly enough that I know Nana can’t hear.
Finally, he meets my gaze. “You’re my husband, remember?” he grits out. “I’m allowed to hold my husband’s hand.”
My eyes narrow, and I grit my teeth, annoyance flaring inside of me. I try to remove my hand, but he just clamps down tighter, his massive baseball mitt of a hand swallowing mine.
The market is at a huge, covered stadium. If I’m not mistaken, this is where a lot of bigger concerts take place. Once we’re inside, Conrad and I basically spend the entire time following Nana around as she stops at all the booths. It reminds me of the stuff you’d see for sale at rodeo events. Lots of homemade jewelry, clothing, pens, knickknacks.
“Conrad, this hat would look lovely on you,” she gushes, picking up a chocolate brown fedora. “Try it on.”
“I don’t need a new hat.”
“Nonsense,” she scoffs, shoving it into his hands. “Try it on. I want to see how it looks.”
Jaw clenched, he sighs, placing the hat on his head, and I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. Irritation is etched into his features as he gives her an unamused expression. It’s at least a size too small for his giant head, and he looks ridiculous. I can’t help but snigger, which only earns me a scowl.
“You look so cute,” I tease. “Very Indiana Jones.”
“Connie, you have to get it,” Nana adds in. I choke on a laugh as he rips it off his head.
“I’m not getting the damn hat.”
Glancing at me, Nana rolls her eyes. “Well, he’s no fun.”
“What a party pooper,” I scoff jokingly.
Conrad’s lip tips up into a smirk that screams trouble as he sets the hat down on the table, then wraps an arm around my shoulder. It’s a step up from the hand holding. My entire body tenses up, having him this close to me. His scent, body heat, the sound of his breath…all of it is too much.
Leaning down, his lips right beside my ear, he drawls under his breath, “Relax, husband .”
A gasp catches in my throat as goosebumps pop up all over my flesh, my body reacting to the growly tone and the hot breath fanning the side of my face, full of possession. Turning my head, I peer up at him, which is a mistake. With the way his arm is wrapped around me and he’s still leaning in, our faces are entirely too close.
Close enough that I can see the faint smattering of freckles across his nose and the apples of his cheeks, see the gold flecks in his dark irises, and the wrinkles around his eyes that deepen when he smiles.
Close enough that I can smell the mint on his breath.
Close enough that my heart catapults in my chest. Beating so fast and so hard you’d think it was trying to break out and cling to him.
“Conrad…”
A whisper from my lips. A harsh breath. A plea.
But for what, I’m not sure.
All I know is that he’s so close to me, all my senses flooded with him , and there’s a part of me that knows I need to put some distance between us, but there’s another, larger part of me that doesn’t want to. A part of me that’s reveling in the nearness. In the possessiveness.
Looking back, I don’t think I’ll ever understand what caused me to do what I do next. Maybe it’s his proximity getting to my head, clouding my vision, maybe it’s me deciding to throw caution to the wind and say to hell with it, and fully immerse myself in this lie we’re living in, but I wrap my arm around Conrad’s lower back, holding him as close to me as he’s holding me to him. His eyes widen, grin growing in size, clearly as surprised by my actions as I am.
“Come on, boys,” Nana calls out, pulling us out of the moment we’ve blocked ourselves in. “I’m hungry. Let’s get a snack.”
Eyes dipping down to my mouth for a split second before they meet my gaze again, Conrad asks in a low rasp, “You hungry?”
My mouth is dry, throat tight. I couldn’t form words even if I wanted to, so instead, I nod. Like an idiot.
“Well, then let’s feed you, kitten,” he drawls, and I swear my heart stops working for a second.
Kitten.
It’s part of the act, Whit. Calm down.
He doesn’t mean it.
My lungs have forgotten how to work. I can’t breathe.
By the time we—somehow—make it to the food court, Conrad has Nana and I sit down while he goes and orders the food. My mind is completely blank, nothing but fog. I couldn’t even tell him what I wanted to eat. I couldn’t say anything.
Kitten.
Kitten.
It’s on repeat.
Followed by husband .
What have I gotten myself into?
How am I going to survive him if I’m folding this easily at a pet name he used to call me?
Realizing I’ve just spent the entire who knows how long since Conrad walked away staring in his direction, I turn my head, focusing on Nana because I think she just said something that I completely missed. “I’m sorry, what? I zoned out.”
She chuckles. “I said, you two are so cute.”
My brows dip. “Why?”
“The way you two whisper to each other, and the way you can’t keep your eyes off him.” She smiles sweetly. “It’s like you’re falling in love all over again.”
Chest squeezing, I force myself to laugh softly. “Oh, I don’t know about that.”
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of, sweetie. A love like that should be shown, loud and proud.”
Thankfully, I’m saved from having to reply because Conrad walks up to our table, setting the food down before lowering himself onto the bench seat beside me. He grabs one of the paper trays, handing it to his nana. “Here you go. I got you a diet Pepsi too.” Then he hands me mine. “I know how much you love these. Hope that’s okay.”
I glance down at what he sets in front of me, my mouth watering at the sight. A giant pretzel with what I’m assuming is beer cheese. Yum. “More than okay,” I reply. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I got you a bottle of water too.”
Why is my heart beating so fast? Over food.
Lord, help me.
What the hell is going on today? Is Mercury in retrograde or something?
Clearing my throat, I do my best to push all of this out of my head as I dig in to my pretzel. Looking over at Conrad’s side, I ask, “What did you get?”
“A bacon cheeseburger.”
“That looks good,” I hum, mostly to myself.
“Want a bite?” he offers.
“Oh, no. That’s okay.” I shake my head.
“Here, I’ve got plenty.” He holds it out for me, clearly not letting me off the hook until I take a bite. Conceding, I move to grab it from him, but he shoves past my hand, bringing the burger up to my mouth…like he wants to fucking feed me.
My eyes lift, meeting his, finding humor staring back at me. Then I hear Nana giggle to herself across from us.
“You can’t be serious,” I deadpan, burger still right in front of my face.
His lips curl up into a devilish grin before he says quietly, “Open up, kitten .”
My chest constricts hearing that name, the blood running hot in my veins. I drop my mouth open, and he shoves the burger in, a rumbly chuckle sounding from him as I bite off a chunk. I don’t taste any of it, similar to how I don’t notice anything around me other than Conrad and that damn smirk he’s wearing. Cheeks hot, I know they’re bright red right now, and there’s a distinct heat pooling low in my spine.
“Whit?”
I snap my head to where the sound of my name came from, my heart now sputtering for an entirely different reason. “Reggie?” Swallowing the bite of burger, I cough as it goes down wrong, and I nearly jump out of my seat when I feel Conrad’s massive hand pat on my back. “Wh-what, uh… Hi. What are you doing here?”
“Oh, boy,” Nana mutters, standing up. “This diet Pepsi is rolling right through me. Pardon me. I’m going to run to the ladies’ room.”
Reggie looks at her, then slides his gaze over to Conrad before fixing his attention back on me. “A co-worker told me about this. Thought I’d check it out. What are you doing here?”
“Oh, same,” I reply, but my voice takes on an embarrassing squeak. “Uh, Conrad’s nana saw a flyer for it at the store and wanted to come. So, uh, here we are.” I laugh, wincing at how forced it sounds to my ears.
His gaze slices back over to Conrad again, his jaw tightening. Oh, fuck, this is awkward. This is bad.
“Hi, Conrad,” he grits out.
“Hello, Rufus.” Even the tone Conrad is taking with him makes me want to squirm. Wait…what? Did he say Rufus?
I look up, seeing Reggie narrow his eyes at him. “It’s Reggie,” he corrects with a bite to his voice.
Oh, shit.
Where has the oxygen in this building gone? There is none. The tension surrounding us is so thick I’m suffocating.
“Are you serious, Whit?” Reggie sneers, narrowed gaze back on me. “Is this the real reason you dumped me?”
Fuck!
“Uh…”
“To get back together with your fucking ex-husband?”
“Reggie, listen?—”
“I don’t think that’s any of your fucking business,” Conrad cuts in, voice dangerously low. “And I don’t appreciate the way you’re talking to my husband, so I suggest you fucking walk away before we have a problem.”
“Your husband?” Reggie seethes.
Oh boy.
Conrad stands up, hands planted on the table as he levels Reggie with a look. “You heard me,” he growls. “Now walk. Away.”
In the back of my mind, I know I should say something. I should stop this before it gets any worse, before we cause any more of a scene. But I can’t. It’s like I’m watching this from outside of my body, and I’m frozen. Thankfully, after Reggie gives me one more ice-cold death glare, he storms off, and with his absence, I seem to find my ability to breathe again.
Conrad drops back into his seat, and I can feel the weight of his stare on the side of my head, but I can’t bring myself to look at him. Fortunately—or unfortunately—Nana walks back over to us at that exact moment, and I’m saved from having to explain myself. I know I won’t be that lucky for long, though.
Shit.
Now Conrad knows.
And if the way he’s staring at me right now is any indication, he’s pissed.