Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
REECE
I was getting ready to feed the mare again when I heard the tires of Booker’s truck come to a skidding stop on the gravel.
I’d never heard him rush anywhere, and knowing he’d gone to his parents’ house this morning, I had a terrible feeling that it hadn’t gone well.
There was a part of me that felt like I shouldn’t get involved. Booker had touched on his childhood the other day when he was teaching me to ride. I knew he hadn’t told me the full story. I could understand needing to keep parts to yourself private until you’d processed them. Even then, sometimes your sad stories were such a big part of you that you weren’t ready to let them go.
I came out of the barn at the same time that he was slamming the door of his truck closed. It almost seemed like a black cloud hung over him as he dragged one hand through his hair and then put his hat back on his head.
A moment of doubt hit my mind, but I shook it off. Holding back now wasn’t what Booker needed. That was what everyone in his life had done, and I wanted to show him that there was a different way.
So before I could second guess myself, I strode out of the barn toward him. He caught sight of me as I approached, and I saw his lips twitch with happiness, even if it didn’t fully make it to the surface.
That was okay. These were baby steps we were taking.
I leaned up on my tiptoes and wrapped my arms around Booker. It was like he didn’t quite know what to do at first, but then his arms slowly came around me, and his face burrowed against my neck.
We stood like that for a moment, Booker soaking up the affection he needed.
I needed it too. Maybe it was a selfish gesture, but there was so much I felt when Booker held me in his arms. Feelings I didn’t think I’d feel for another person for a very long time.
“Thank you,” he said as he pulled back.
I smiled. There was no need for thanks. I’d spend all day curled up on his lap if he wanted me to.
“Did you get the information you needed?”
Booker held up the file between us. “Come on. Let’s go get something to eat, and we can look at this.”
I hesitated for a second, not sure if this was something I should get involved with. It seemed really personal, and I didn’t want to insert myself where I didn’t belong. This thing between me and Booker was so new. We weren’t even at the stage of putting a label on it, and we’d only just decided that we wanted to see where it goes.
Booker glanced over his shoulder and hit me with one of his smiles. “Come on. I’m not making lunch all by myself.”
I shook my head and followed as my stomach growled loudly, transforming Booker’s smile into a full-on grin.
“Hungry?”
I looked him up and down, appreciating the way the denim cupped his ass. “You could say that.”
He laughed, jogging up the porch steps. “Be careful what you ask for,” he warned.
“Just so we’re clear, I’m definitely asking for wild, hot sex.”
Booker stumbled a step and then spun around, walking backward further into the house. “I’d better get you fueled up and ready for a workout then.”
Oh damn, today was going to be so much more fun than I’d woken up thinking it would be.
Why did sandwiches always taste so much better when someone else made them?
I tore another bite out of the club sandwich Booker had made and groaned in delight.
“What did you put in this?” I asked around a mouthful.
Booker sniggered. “Have you not eaten today or something?”
I raised an eyebrow, trying to look annoyed by the implication. “You’ve got a bit of mayo here,” Booker joked, swiping at the corner of my mouth with his thumb.
Well, that didn’t quite work as planned.
“I can’t help it. This is fantastic. You have a bright future as a sandwich artist.” I waved the last of my sandwich at him to prove my point before ungracefully shoving it into my mouth.
“I’ll write it on my resume in case the whole ranch thing fails,” Booker answered wryly, picking up his own sandwich and taking a bite that looked almost delicate compared to mine.
Then he did the one thing that could possibly make me fall in love with him. He lifted his plate and offered me the other half of his sandwich.
“This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me,” I whispered, staring at my prize and licking my lips.
“That’s the saddest thing I ever heard.”
“Eh, it is what it is.” I shrugged, nodding over at the file that sat on the corner of the table. “So did you look inside?”
Booker looked at the file and then sneered as if the thing had insulted him. “Nope.”
“Are you…going to look at it?” I asked carefully.
“I suppose.” Booker leaned back in his chair and continued to glare at the file.
I’d honestly seen nothing like it. It looked like something you saw old-school PI movies using. Who had actual paper files anymore? Well, obviously, Booker’s dad, but for a guy who was apparently worth millions, he really needed to embrace the digital age.
“Do you want me to do it?” I asked.
When Booker picked it up and gave it to me, I was genuinely surprised. I hadn’t actually thought he’d want me to. I was banking on it prompting him to flip it open and look himself.
Now that it was in my hand, I didn’t really want to open it either.
“See,” he said smugly. “It’s not that easy, is it?”
Luckily for Booker, my stubbornness kicked in, and I laid the file between us, flipping it open, and reading the first page as if I was trying to prove a point. But once I looked, it was like I couldn’t look away.
Booker stood from the table, gathering our dishes and heading to the sink. I knew he needed space from the information we had, and I pulled the file in front of me as I sunk into the details.
“Can I use your laptop again?” I asked, not taking my eyes off the file as I flicked through the pages.
I heard him leave the room and then return before Booker set the laptop down next to me.
Glancing up at him, I found him watching me curiously. “It’s not that bad,” I said softly. “Do you want me to stop?”
He thought for a moment, his eyes moving to the two pages that were currently laid out in front of me.
“No.” Then Booker braced one hand on the back of my chair and the other on the table as he leaned over me and finally looked at the information his father had given him. “Does it say where he is?”
“It says where he was.” I flipped the pages back to the beginning, which contained a summary. “He moves around a lot. It looks like he spends a year at most in one place before he travels around for a couple of weeks and then settles into one location for an extended period. Probably because he got a job there. You said your grandfather left you all money. I’m assuming he gave Gage a share, too.”
Booker nodded. “As far as I know, it’s still sitting in trust for him. He’d already left by the time he passed, and he never came back to claim it.”
“It’s strange that your father didn’t have his PI approach him about it. Isn’t he legally required to do that or something?” I asked.
Booker shrugged. “He wasn’t the executor of the will. My grandfather’s lawyer took care of that. I guess, legally, that gives him an out. It won’t win him any favors when Gage comes home and finds out, though.”
I hummed in agreement. Part of me didn’t want to get involved with the drama surrounding Booker’s family, but I could see how much he needed someone to talk to about it.
“Do you think your parents regret what they did?” I asked as I pulled up the usual social media accounts and logged in.
Booker watched in interest before finally grabbing a chair and pulling it up to see what I was doing.
“I doubt it. My mother would never admit that she was wrong. My father? Maybe. He seems to be going for the ‘I had no idea this was happening’ route. I’m not sure if that makes it worse or not.”
My hand moved to Booker’s knee, and he just smiled at me sadly.
It made my earlier idea seem even better than it had before. The only parts of Booker’s family that he wanted had fractured under the weight of their past and ran as far and as fast as they could. But now, they were starting to slowly return, and even if it took me years, I’d find a way to bring them all back together. I’d make sure that Booker got all his brothers back. They could build the family they always wanted between them. They didn’t need their parents in their lives to have something beautiful.
I checked down the list of places where Gage had spent a longer length of time and picked one at random before googling it. As I pulled some general images from the internet, I set about changing my social media accounts to show me in the same location.
“This feels an awful lot like trying to catfish your brother,” I murmured, and Booker looked at me strangely. “And you don’t know what that is.” I realized.
Booker shrugged, picked up the file, and flicked through to the end. “He was last in Oregon, but that was nearly a year ago. It seems like he dropped off the grid for a while.”
I posted a couple of the pictures, sending friend requests to some people Gage was linked to in the area. Mostly guys, because I knew they’d accept without even thinking about it. The aim was to make it seem like I was where Gage had been, so he’d accept a friend request, and then maybe I’d be able to spark up a conversation with him. It didn’t hurt that it made me seem like I was a lot further away from my ex than I really was.
By the time I was done, Booker looked completely defeated. “I wouldn’t come back if I was him,” he finally said. “Look at this life he’s had. He travels through all these places, doing these incredible jobs.”
“It must be lonely, though.” Booker looked confused, so I explained. “He never stays anywhere, so he never makes any connections with anyone strong enough to make him want to stay.”
It wasn’t the right thing to say.
Booker looked completely defeated.
“I failed him. I’m his big brother. He should have known he could come to me.”
“Booker, you were all kids. None of you are to blame for your parents’ actions.”
He shook his head, either not ready to hear it or just not believing that it was true.
“What can I do?” I asked, desperately wanting to make this better for him.
Booker wrapped an arm around my shoulders and drew me into his side. “Tell me about this.” He nodded at the computer, and after a brief explanation of what I was doing, he looked at me in surprise. “How did you get so good at this stuff?”
“Well, it used to be my job. Not catfishing people. I think that might be illegal. But social media promotion for businesses and organic content campaigns.” I could see I was already losing him. “I ran social media accounts for businesses so they could reach their customers in ways that didn’t involve paid advertising.”
Booker squinted in suspicion. “And why are you working in my barn?”
“Because you offered me a job doing that?”
“I mean, why aren’t you doing that job for me? There are a lot of businesses in town that could benefit from that too. Delaney would probably bite your hand off if she knew you could do that for her company.”
The more Booker spoke, the more excited he seemed to get.
I’d never hated my job. If anything, it was actually pretty fun. And I missed it at times. But I loved working in that barn. I loved spending time with the little mare I hadn’t thought of a name for yet.
“What’s wrong?” Booker asked when he saw the look on my face.
“I like it here,” I whispered. “I enjoy doing this.”
He squeezed me tighter and then huffed in annoyance before he scooped me out of my chair and deposited me in his lap instead. “That’s better,” he grumbled. “You don’t have to do your old job if you don’t want to. I’d love the help, but I’m sure you could point me in the right direction of someone else if you didn’t want to do it. I just don’t want you to waste your time feeding horses when you’re clearly qualified enough to do something better.”
I leaned my head against Booker’s shoulder, trying to figure out how to say what I wanted without upsetting him. But then I realized Booker was the last person I needed to worry about explaining this to. Because he’d already told me he felt exactly the same way. It was the whole reason he’d walked away from the life his parents had wanted for him.
“There’s just something about this place, Booker. It’s special. I honestly haven’t been as excited to get out of bed and go to work as I have been since I’ve been here. But if you promise I can keep doing what I’m already doing, I’d be happy to help you out with the other stuff. I think sharing this with the rest of the world and giving people a chance to find out how special this place is would be a really amazing thing to do.”
He kissed me then. “You’re amazing, you know that?” he whispered before he kissed me again.
“I’m not sure I did anything to deserve the compliment, but I’ll take it, anyway.”
Booker’s head threw back as he laughed and then we were on the move again as he cradled me in his arms and suddenly stood up.
“Where are we going?” I squeaked, clinging to him a little tighter.
“Someone mentioned something about wild, hot sex, and I think you deserve a reward.” His eyes glinted with amusement as he looked down at me, and I swallowed hard with the emotional whiplash.
Not that I wasn’t completely for this course of action.
In fact, there’d been little I’d thought of since the first time Booker had taken me to bed.
Booker took the stairs quickly, striding into his room as he kissed me again. He twisted in the air as he fell back on the bed, maneuvering me so that I was straddling him. My hands came to his shoulders as I plundered his mouth, my hips twitching in anticipation.
This was exactly what we needed.
A chance to get lost in each other and forget about the rest of the world for a while.