Chapter 9 Booty Call #2
The sun catches on his eyelashes as he looks at me. Looks.
Heat blooms in the space between us. Heat and tension. The kind that has the front of my thighs prickling with awareness. My eyes are drawn to his mouth.
“Scared of what?” His voice is like gravel.
“Your feelings. Your grief. Your past.” I search his gaze. “Me.”
I mean it as a joke—or maybe I don’t—but either way, Ryder doesn’t laugh. My stomach dives straight through my center and into the core of the Earth as he leans in instead.
Holy God, is Ryder going to kiss me? Right here, right now, for anyone and everyone to see? This is happening so fast.
So. Damn. Fast.
Then again, hasn’t this moment been a lifetime in the making? I’ve only wanted Ryder to kiss me for, oh, over a decade now.
“How’d you know all that?” Now he’s the one looking at my mouth.
It takes a lot to make me nervous. Before my race at the rodeo, all it took to get me in the right mindset was a pep talk from Xander and a healthy swig of tequila.
Now, though, my legs are literally shaking.
“I pay attention,” I manage. “You were around a lot when I was growing up. You’re still around a lot.”
A muscle in his jaw tics. “That a problem?”
“I’m not complaining.”
One side of his mouth kicks up, and he looks so cockily handsome, so happy, that everything inside me turns upside down. “You like me, huh?”
“I do. Which is why I’ll let it slide—the fact that you’re not gonna play for me…yet.”
He puts his hand on his hip. He’s so close his knuckles brush my side as he leans on one leg. “Who said I was gonna play for you at all?”
“I did.” I slide my hand down to his forearm. “So why’d you really invite me over today, huh?”
I nearly pass out when he steps closer, our knees touching. “Thought you could use the excuse of helping us out with the kids to play hooky. Also, girl time.”
“Girl time?” My pulse leaps.
“Girl time. I may have thrown in a pair of custom Bellamy Brooks boots to sweeten the deal. I know you’ve been looking for more girlfriends, so…”
My eyes are stinging all over again. “What deal? I don’t follow.”
“Mollie, Sally, Wheeler, and Ava—I think her girls are gonna be there too—they’re waiting for you in the studio.”
“The studio?” I feel like an idiot asking all these questions.
“Construction just wrapped on Bellamy Brooks’s second headquarters here on the ranch.
Wait ’til you see it. The views are unbelievable.
” He holds out an arm, and that’s when I see his truck parked in the New House’s driveway.
“I’ll give you a lift. Yes, Billie, the surprise is that I got you a pair of their boots. ”
I gasp. “You didn’t!”
Living in Hartsville, of course I’ve heard about Bellamy Brooks. Mollie and Wheeler have gotten pretty damn famous for the gorgeous, fashion-forward boots they’ve made for several years now.
Like every Texas girl with a pulse, I’d love to own a pair. But they cost over a thousand bucks a pop. There’s no way I could ever afford that.
“I did, to thank you for pushing my buttons.” Ryder meets my eyes.
I can only stare at him. “Never thought I’d hear you say those words.”
“Me neither. Life is funny, ain’t it?”
It is funny. And terrifying.
But sometimes, like right now, life can be awful sweet too.
I’m shaking as I climb the steps to what might be the most beautiful studio in the world.
The building is made of pale limestone that matches the landscape perfectly. It has big steel windows and a dramatic sloping roofline that makes me think of an old-timey farmhouse. A brass sign beside the front door reads “Bellamy Brooks Headquarters No. 2.”
I hear music coming from inside. And voices. Lots of them.
“This is too much, Ry.”
“Least I can do, Billie.” He reaches for the knob and opens the door for me. “The girls are excited to see you.”
I feel like I’m in a dream as I step inside, Ryder right behind me.
If the studio’s exterior was a dream, the studio’s interior is pure girly heaven mixed with a hefty dose of Texas Hill Country charm.
A wall of windows at the back overlooks the shimmering Colorado River, while the limestone walls are lined with shelves bearing the most beautiful—and most colorful—array of cowboy boots I’ve ever seen.
Reba plays over the speakers. The air smells like jasmine and orange blossom, a mix that’s elegant but fun at the same time.
Mollie welcomes me with a hug. “Hey there, cowgirl!”
Ava presses a glass of champagne into my hand. “I’m so glad you were able to stay a little longer.”
“This still seems excessive.” I cast a panicked glance in Ryder’s direction.
“You’re excessive, so it works.”
I nod. “Fair point. Y’all really don’t have to—”
“But we want to. Welcome, Billie,” Mollie continues. “We’re thrilled to have an excuse to show off the new studio. Is your arm okay?” She glances at my sling.
“Arm is better. And this studio—it’s fabulous.” Sipping my champagne, I glance around. “Y’all are really living the dream.”
Wheeler chuckles. “You missed the nightmare that was the first five years of running Bellamy Brooks.”
“Dark days.” Mollie crosses her arms. “But we survived.”
“And now you’re thriving.” Ryder looks at me. “Gives you somethin’ to think about, doesn’t it?”
I take another sip of champagne in an effort to get a grip on my feelings because they’re spinning out right now. The champagne is deliciously cold and just the right amount of sweet, the bubbles dancing over my tongue.
Another sip because I still feel wobbly. “Definitely.”
“Welp.” Ryder digs into his front pocket, the one with the telltale crease in the shape of a rectangle, and pulls out his pocketknife. “I best get gone. Got cowboy things to do.”
I bite my lip. “I’ll be bugging you later.”
“If you can find me.”
“I know my way around these parts.”
He grins. “You do.”
Then he turns and strides out the door.
Mollie grabs my arm and squeezes, her smile lighting up her whole face. “Who are you, and what have you done to Ryder? We need to know because we need you to do more of it. He never, ever has been so—”
“Happy,” Sally says.
“Horny,” Wheeler adds.
“I have…no idea what is happening.” I watch through the window as Ryder lopes down the steps and climbs into his truck. “One minute, he actually agrees to ride in the ambulance with me, and the next, I’m, well, here.”
Also. I’m kinda dying over the fact that I’m spending time with a girl gang after twenty-four years of hanging out almost exclusively with boys.
Mollie steers me toward the wall of cowboy boots. “When he called me to ask for a pair of boots for you, I about had a heart attack. He only said you ‘did him a solid.’ Care to elaborate?”
I put a hand on my face. “Honestly, your guess is as good as mine. The only thing I can think of is that I opened up to him about hating my job, and then he opened up to me about, well, a little of everything.”
Ava exchanges a meaningful glance with Wheeler. “This is gonna be juicy.”
“Aw, yeah.” Wheeler rubs her hands together.
Ava wags her eyebrows. “I know I keep making riding puns when we’re together—”
“You do,” I say with a grin.
“C’mon, Billie. It’s right there. Ryder, ride her…”
Mollie laughs. “So let’s get you a pair of boots for that ride, okay? Maybe they’ll be the only thing you’re wearing when it happens.”
I chuckle in an effort to distract everyone from the furious rush of heat working its way up my chest and into my neck and face. “Y’all are jumping many, many steps ahead.”
Wheeler nods. “It’s called manifesting.”
“I’m just going to come right out and ask.” Mollie’s eyes glimmer. “Do you like Ryder that way? Like, do you actually want to ride him? I think I know the answer, but…”
My face is on fire now, but I’m still able to laugh. I don’t know this woman well, but I do know she’s got a thing or two to teach me about that manifesting stuff.
So I just come right out with the truth. “Yes, Mollie, I really do like Ryder like that. I have for about as long as I can remember.”
Ava’s hand lands on her thigh. “I knew it!”
“So tell me, Billie—what’s your favorite color?” Wheeler asks.
Twenty minutes later, I’m wearing a pair of midcalf metallic blue cowboy boots embroidered with hearts and horseshoes.
“Y’all should be so proud.” I’m actually getting a little choked up as I look at my reflection in the mirror. The boots match my sling, which makes me smile. “These boots, the studio—it’s all so, so beautiful. And I imagine it took a lot of elbow grease to make it happen.”
Wheeler loops her arm through mine. “Like I said, it took us years to get here, honey.”
“Years, lots of crying,” Mollie says, “and a nearly constant negative balance in our bank accounts. But we stuck with it.”
“How’d you know it was the right call? In terms of, you know, making a career out of it?”
“Great question. I think about that all the time. Like, were we brave to stick to our guns? Or were we stupid to try to keep a business alive that had been on life support for so long?” Mollie turns her head to look out the window and sighs.
“I don’t know what the right answer is. What I do know is that I’m really fucking happy in my life right now, and I don’t think that would be the case if I had abandoned Bellamy Brooks.
The struggle made the success that much sweeter, you know? ”
I swallow hard. “Sounds like you always knew what you wanted to do, though.”
“Yes and no.” She tilts her head back and forth. “I was always a creative person, but I only got into fashion when I was in high school. Do you know what you want to do?”
I pick up my champagne flute. “I have no clue what I want to do with my life, other than not be an accountant on my family’s ranch.”
“Good thing there’s plenty of other things to do on a ranch.”
“Like what?”
Wheeler runs a hand over the swell of her belly and grins. “Hookup with hot cowboys, for starters.”
“Really, y’all, my brother would kill me and Ryder if that happened.”
“You really think Colt would get bent out of shape like that over two of his favorite people having some fun together?” Ava sips thoughtfully on a glass of champagne. “Your brother seems more civilized than that.”
“Colt’s got enough on his plate. I don’t want to add to the pile, you know? And my brothers…they like to think of themselves as my protectors even though I can protect myself just fine, thank you very much.”
“Tell Colt that, then,” Mollie says, “and then go have your fun. Lord knows Ryder could use some of that.”
I tug my bottom lip through my teeth. I like talking to these women.
They seem to have good heads on their shoulders.
They’re also happy in their careers and relationships.
Why not pick their brains a little? Maybe they’ll have some good advice for me, because I feel like I’m spinning my wheels here.
“I’m not sure I even have a shot with Ryder.” I keep my voice low as if the cowboy in question—or one of our brothers—is hiding behind a door. “He’s a love ’em and leave ’em type, I know that much. I don’t think he’s interested in dating anyone.”
“He might date you.” Mollie takes a thoughtful sip of champagne. “You’ll never know until you try.”
Wheeler cuts me a look. “Honey, he organized this whole little ladies-who-lunch situation just for you.”
“I don’t get why, though,” I reply, though I’m starting to think that I actually do know why he might’ve gone out of his way to put a smile on my face.
Holy shit, does Ryder like me?
Ava reads my mind and says, “Because he likes you. Likes you.”
The idea makes my pulse skid. I look away, putting a hand on my face again. My skin is on fire now. Could they be right?
Does Ryder Rivers actually want me too, as more than just a hookup?
My thoughts whirl. How would it work? Would we tell Colt? How do I keep convincing Ryder to let me in the way he has today?
The sex would be hot.
So hot it’d burn and likely leave a scar. Am I ready for that?
Fuck yeah, I’m ready. But what if sex is all that’s on offer? Ryder and I could very well want different things. And then what? I die of a broken heart watching him do what he’s always done and pick up a different girl every time he’s at the Rattler?
“You like him too, huh?” Sally is looking at me.
I really do. Even if we ultimately do want different things.
I also really don’t want to lie to these girls. Maybe because I feel like they’d never lie to me.
It also feels good to have people to talk to about this stuff other than, well, the horse I used to race on.
“I’ve always liked Ryder,” I say on an exhale, tucking my hair behind my ear. “He’s just always seemed way, way out of my league. Or maybe just not interested, you know? I’m his friend’s little sister. What’s lamer than that?”
“Correction: What’s hotter than that? Forbidden love?” Sally makes a folding motion with her hand. “Gimme.”
“Even if my brother wouldn’t murder us, Ryder’s not exactly a Steady Eddie.”
“He might be for you. There’s only one way to find out.” Wheeler rests her chin on my shoulder and meets my eyes in the mirror. “I think you wear these boots and the pair of jeans that makes your ass look the hottest, and you do what you do best.”
“What’s that?”
“Ride, honey.”