Chapter 16 #2
I continue to the kitchen and gulp down a glass of water, then slip on my strappy sandals. As I’m touching up my lipstick in the hall mirror, the soft rumble of Linden’s truck descending my driveway sends a rush of jitters through my belly. I snatch my clutch and slip outside.
Linden steps down and shuts his door, giving me a split second to take in his crisp white shirt, chocolate-brown vest and dark trousers, and black cowboy boots that gleam in the sunshine.
His tanned face looks freshly shaven but his thick dark hair has been left a little wild.
Like he’s been running his fingers through it.
Down, ovaries .
When he sees me in the doorway, his lips part and his eyes soften into a look I don’t know how to read. Surprise? But there’s vulnerability there, too. Could my alphahole neighbor be…nervous?
It’s gone in a flash, replaced by a sincere smile. “You look beautiful.”
“You look pretty good yourself.”
He climbs the steps, giving me a hit of his woodsy aftershave.
I think he’s going to offer me his hand, but instead, he slides a tiny envelope from his pocket. “I was going to wait, but I think you need this now.”
Hold up, he brought me some kind of gift? “What on earth is this for?”
There’s that soft smile again, and a one-shoulder shrug. “Open it and find out.”
I flip open the thick flap and slide a small silver object onto my palm. It’s a bracelet joined with a slender silver band etched with the word brAVE , an arrow shot through it.
“Linden, wow.” I force down a swallow because my breath has turned shaky. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You could say you love it.” He gives me a cocky grin.
“I absolutely love it.” I risk making eye contact, and the space between us crackles with a shock of sudden heat. “Will you help me put it on?”
His thick, calloused fingers fumble a little with the tiny clasp, and the brush of his skin on mine sends a tiny thrill down the backs of my thighs. While I drink in the way he tends to this task with such focus, I try not to hyperventilate.
The bracelet is featherlight and feminine, yet the message carries its own kind of weight. “Where’d you find it?”
“Farmer’s market. Greta and I stopped in last week.” He shoves his hands in his pockets. “I think she’s crushing on this farm kid.”
I have the urge to grab both sides of his face and kiss him so hard right now. Instead, I shut my front door and we descend the steps to the driveway. “Did you meet him?”
He arches an eyebrow. “What makes you assume it’s a him?”
My mind scatters. “Right. My bad.”
His eyes glint with mischief. “It’s a guy, but that look on your face was epic.”
I give his shoulder a little shove, but it’s like trying to push over a brick wall. “You know I wouldn’t judge or anything, right? Greta is one awesome kid.”
He beams. “Agreed.”
“Did Greta tell you about cheer tryouts?” I ask.
“She did.” He gives me a calculating glance. “And that you’re going to be helping. That’s kind of you.”
I swallow the buzz working up my throat. Just because helping Greta brings up feelings doesn’t mean I can’t handle them. “Happy to help.”
When I slide my hand into his to get into the cab, a zip of energy walks down my spine. Does his hand linger for a fraction of a second longer than it needs to?
While I wait for him to get in and start the engine, I spin the little bracelet around my wrist. Does he think I’m brave? Or does he want to inspire me to be brave, especially tonight? How does he know that I’m holding tight to so much hope about the outcome?
“Should we get a few of our facts straight before we get there?” I ask as he turns out of my driveway.
“What facts?”
“Like did we start dating before we got stuck doing community service together or after?”
He twitches his lips. “Before.”
I nod. “Did we have a meet cute?”
“What the hell is a meet cute?” he asks with a scowl.
“It’s a moment early on in a relationship when two people notice each other. It can be funny, or heroic, even embarrassing.”
“Right,” he says, though it sounds faraway. I’m losing him.
“We can just go with the truth. That we’re neighbors, and you asked me out.”
“Why can’t you ask me out?”
I try to give him a stern glare, but his cocky grin makes it impossible. “Fine. I threw myself at your feet and begged.”
“Was that before or after you got naked?”
Are my hair follicles on fire? “You wish.”
He laughs a full-belly laugh that lights up his eyes. “Okay. So you asked me out, and?—"
“You asked me out!” I cry, jabbing him in the shoulder again.
He pretend winces while rubbing his shoulder. “All right, shortcake, I asked you out. Where did I take you and what did we do? ”
“You took me to dinner and a movie.”
“That’s your idea of a perfect first date?”
“You have something better, let’s hear it.”
He taps his chin. “I took you on a hike complete with a gourmet picnic, then we went out on the boat to watch the sunset. Then we went dancing.”
“Not bad,” I say with a nod while my insides turn to mush. “Give me a quick bio of your family.”
“You already know Everett,” he says, shifting into a higher gear.
“Edie’s the youngest. Mom and Dad’s only biological kid and the only girl.
The rest of us are adopted, though Ev and I are related by blood.
Cam’s my youngest brother. He’s a cowboy for Crescent Bar Ranch.
Then there’s Sepp. He’s the physician’s assistant who works with Ev’s fiancé, Vivian, at Finn River Pediatrics. ”
I try to catalogue all of this intel but it’s dense. Linden’s adopted? All of his brothers are adopted too? But what comes out is, “Everett’s engaged?”
“Yep.”
“When’s the wedding?”
“September twenty-seventh.”
“Are we going?”
His eyes narrow in confusion. “Do you want to?”
“If we were dating for real, that seems like a thing we’d do together. Unless they’re eloping?”
“They’re tying the knot at Ruby Gulch, our family’s ranch.” He turns toward the mountains, their outline like a jagged cutout against the pale blue sky.
“Oh! You already have someone,” I blurt as the idea hits me like a bucket of cold water.
He swallows hard, his eyes on the road.
“Forget it.” I wave my hand, like I can wave away my stupidity. Of course he already has a date. Why wouldn’t he ?
“I don’t.” He rubs his neck. “And it would actually save my bacon if you wanted to extend this fake dating thing and be my somebody. Otherwise my brothers will skewer me.”
The relief that hums inside me is like a boost of confidence, so I push my luck. “Hmm, I kind of relish the idea of watching this brotherly love in action.”
He flashes me a stern glance.
“Let’s see how good of a kisser you are first,” I say, unable to hide my grin. “If you pass the test tonight, I’ll consider being your somebody for this wedding.”
He rubs the back of his neck again, but his eyes flash with a competitive gleam, like he’s looking forward to the challenge.
My heartbeat taps down, down, to the base of my core, bringing heat and the beginning of an ache. A craving.
“Is Ruby Gulch where those pictures of the cows and the prairie were taken?” I ask.
“Yep. It’s where I grew up.”
This makes me want to ask when he was adopted. Did he have another life before he became a Rumsey? But we’re getting close to the country club and I have more pertinent questions.
“Tell me your childhood crush,” I say.
He balks. “Good lord. Why?”
Laughter bursts out of me so fast I cover my mouth to keep from spitting all over his dash. “I feel like it’s something I should know.”
“I honestly don’t think I had one.”
“Liar.” I cross my arms.
“Seriously. I didn’t have the patience to crush on someone I couldn’t have. If I was into a girl, I talked to her. If she was into me, then....” He shrugs.
“Then what?”
He rubs his knuckles under his chin. “Let’s just say a concept like dating wasn’t on my radar back then. ”
“You were a manslut?”
“I had a lot of wild oats to sow.”
“Okay, Casanova.” I roll my eyes, but it’s impossible not to pine just a little bit for him as a teenage sex machine. God, he must have broken so many hearts.
Annaleise’s warning flashes in my mind but I shake it off.
“Who was your childhood crush?” he asks, drawing me back to the truck.
“Colt Michaels. He was the reason why I became a lifeguard.” I give him a glance. “He was the, er, one in charge of the training.”
“In other words, your boss?”
I scrunch my eyes shut while heat crawls up my neck. “I shouldn’t have told you.”
“Did he ever find out you were obsessed with him?”
“No way!”
“Why not?”
“Because I never told anyone.”
Linden pauses at a four way stop, tapping the steering wheel with his thumb “Not even him?”
“Especially not him.”
He turns right. “Why not?”
“I was a gawky fifteen year old with braces and chunky thighs. He would have laughed at me.”
He narrows his eyes. “I’ll bet he would’ve given his left nut to know you even gave him a passing thought.”
“Whatever.” I slide the bracelet around my wrist. I like the way the delicate chain brushes my skin. It reminds me of Linden’s gentle touch. His steady, unrelenting focus.
“I feel like I should know how old you were when Greta was born,” I ask.
We cruise down a tree-lined street. “Twenty two.”
That makes him thirty-seven, or -eight. At least ten years my senior. Some people might think that’s too big of a gap, but it doesn’t feel that way to me. Experienced , Quinn said. Another rush of heat washes through my belly.
I want to ask if Greta was planned, but that feels too personal. And I think I know the answer because what twenty-two year old male signs up for fatherhood at such a young age?
“How long have you been divorced?” I can just see Darienne looking down her nose at me if she thinks it hasn’t been long enough.
He takes a left, toward the country club. “Four years.”
“What made you pursue a career as a firefighter?” Maybe in the context of us being a believable couple, he’ll bite at this question that’s been roaming around in my mind.
“Fatherhood.”
A practical answer, and I have no doubt there’s truth to it, yet... “Did you know a firefighter growing up?”
“No.”
Gone is the playful edge to his tone. We’ve hit that invisible force field again. The one I can feel but not see. The one he doesn’t want me to cross.