Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Rhett
Brynlee nearly bounces in the passenger seat next to me as we drive to the fair.
When I picked her up, she all but ran outside in a pair of jean shorts that show off her amazingly toned legs, a tight, white tank top that accentuates her curves, and her hair up in a high ponytail with her curls from the night before grazing her shoulders.
Not that I’m paying that close of attention to her appearance or anything…
“Rhett?”
“Brynlee?” I ask with a smile and turn to look at her once I’ve found a parking spot.
She turns and rests on her hip to face me. “Is this a date?”
Darla kept saying double date, likely to push something. “Do you want it to be a date?”
“There you go again. It’s like we’re playing a game with a set of rules I haven’t learned yet.”
She sounds so frustrated that I can’t help it. My hopes are high. “I’d love for this to be a date, Brynlee,” I say, deciding to take a chance.
“Okay, good. I was hoping you’d say that.”
My stomach flutters, and I hurry to open her door. Holding my hand out, she tilts her head to study me, making me nervous. Has she just changed her mind? “What?”
“Do you do this for everyone or just me? The door thing.”
“Women, usually. I don’t feel the need to open the door for Carter and offer my hand to him when we go someplace. To be fair, he’s never done it for me, either, which is just rude.”
“And here I thought I was special,” she says, taking my hand and letting me help her to the ground.
My free arm reaches for her hip to help her avoid the puddle from last night’s random rainstorm. “You are special.”
“I hope that’s a good thing,” she says. With her sneakers, the top of her head barely reaches past my shoulders.
“It is.”
Her hand slips into mine, and we walk to the admissions booth. “I can pay for this,” she offers.
“It’s a date, so it’s on me.”
Even if this is just a short-lived fling, I want to make it as memorable as possible to look back on. To be able to say that for a short while, I was with the only woman who has ever left me short of breath just by being in her presence.
The woman stamps our hands with a bored expression, and Brynlee bounces like a little kid next to me. “How does this work? Do we buy tickets for the rides? Can we buy tickets to go on just a few, or do we need one of those wristband things I heard about on the radio?”
“I think we can do either. Do you like rides?”
A flirtatious look crosses her face, and she just shrugs. “I don’t know. These aren’t the types of rides I’ve ever been on. Though, I might not want to eat anything before going on anything that spins. Just in case. “
I laugh and intertwine our fingers together. She slipped that little coy comment in there. Before I can respond, I hear arguing behind us. “Sounds like Carter and Darla have arrived.”
“What?” she asks, and I turn her around to see the couple in a lively debate. “How in the world did you hear that?”
“Years of conditionin’.”
“Everyone knows the back roads are the fastest way to get anywhere around here,” Carter snaps.
Darla rolls her eyes. “Not when we had a freak storm at two in the mornin’, they aren’t.”
“Hi, guys,” Carter says. “Welcome to my personal hell.”
Brynlee looks up, unsure how to react, and I just laugh. “And this is normal banter for the couple who have been married for over a decade. Dated even longer than that,” I explain to her.
“You look adorable!” Darla says. “You’re shorter than I thought you were.”
“Darla!” I scold.
Brynlee giggles. “I can do a lot in heels, but something like this would be only if I had to.”
“Well, this is your first time here. What would you like to do?”
“Food!” she says, her bright blue eyes shining and wide. “Anything fried. Nothing healthy.”
“You could use some meat on those bones, that’s for sure.”
“Darla!” Carter and I both snap.
My date just laughs, and I realize how much I like this idea. My date.
“Trust me, the city girl diet is so last year. I want hips.”
“Stick with me. I got you,” Darla says and wraps her arm around her shoulders, forcing me to release Brynlee. “Come on, boys.”
For someone wanting this to be a double date, she sure is being a cockblock.
I frown at my empty hand as Carter and I fall in step behind the women who chatter like they’ve been best friends for years.
It gives me a chance to study Brynlee from behind, and she may not think she doesn’t have decent hips, but from where I’m standing, she looks really damn good.
Carter elbows me. “See? What’d I tell you?”
“Shut up. We both know it’s temporary.”
“Whatever, dude. She passed over Tim for you last night. She was attached to your side. And as your friend, I can promise you that you’re not all that interestin’, so it wasn’t because of your rousin’ conversational skills.”
Forcing a chuckle, I roll my eyes. “She doesn’t know anyone. And thanks, asshole.”
“She was freakin’ Miss Utah, or whatever. You think that girl doesn’t know how to work a room and make friends? Look at her, man. She digs you, and you gotta get out of your own way because that woman will give you the most amazin’ lookin’ babies.”
Just the thought of Brynlee entertaining me long enough to let me into her bed sets me on fire. For some reason, the image of her with a ring on her finger and baby bump pops into my mind, and it’s one more thing to long for.
“What’s fry bread?” Brynlee asks, turning around. “Does it taste as good as it sounds?”
“Come on, inexperienced one,” I say and hold out my hand to take her back from Darla. “Let’s get you a fry bread taco. Just be warned, there are veggies on it. Not exactly healthy, but they’re not fried.”
Taking my hand, she bounces next to me as we stand in line. “Inexperienced one, huh?”
“It’s your first time at a fair, sweetheart.”
“Is that all you mean by that?” she asks, standing on her tiptoes to say it into my ear.
I groan as my jeans tighten, and she giggles. There’s nothing I can respond with that won’t get me into trouble, but now I can’t stop picturing her in my bed. She’s much more forward than I’m used to, but I like it.
Getting our food, we sit and eat, and she digs right in.
What Jake said last night about girls and eating in front of men plays in my head.
Brynlee doesn’t have any qualms about eating in front of me, but she held my hand and made a suggestive comment after confessing she hoped this was a date.
Is his logic wrong, or is Brynlee the exception to his supposed rule?
“This is amazing,” she says, drinking from the straw she suggested we share. A straw that’s already been in my mouth.
“I could watch you eat forever,” Darla says, sitting down in front of us. “Do you not eat food that tastes good? Just bland, healthy nothin’?”
It takes all my strength not to reach across the table and strangle her. She has no filter. “Darla…”
Brynlee just laughs. “For the longest time, I had the most boring diet. I hated it with a passion I can’t even describe to you. When I quit it, I gained ten pounds. None of it went to my boobs or hips like I hoped.”
I can’t stop myself. I know I shouldn’t look, but mentioning her boobs makes it impossible not to look at her chest. And I can confirm she needs zero adjustments.
Formulating the apology when I see her catch me looking, I’m stunned when she winks rather than scolds me. “I think you look perfectly fine.”
Her hand flies to her heart and she gasps at Darla. “Just what every girl longs to hear. Her date telling her, ‘Hunny, you look perfectly fine.’”
I look at Carter for help, but he laughs along with Brynlee. “That’s not how I meant it.”
“Yeah? How’d you mean that comment, Rhett?” Darla asks.
I glare at her, and I wish for just a moment she’d catch on fire. Nothing serious, but enough to shut her up for a second. “You’re supposed to be my friend, remember?”
“Oh!” Brynlee cries and bounces in her seat. “They have those old-time photo trailers! We should do that. All of us. Outlaw gunslingers with two brothel ladies, or whatever they’re called.”
Her excitement is nothing short of contagious, and I just want to make her happy. Even if I have to spend my entire paycheck tonight, I’m going to keep that smile on her face.
“Aren’t those kind of… expensive?” Carter asks.
“I’ll pay. Please? Pretty please? I’m not above begging.”
The mere thought of Brynlee on her knees forces me to think about baseball stats. The problem is, I don’t actually know any baseball stats, but I have to do something to stop myself from completely humiliating myself when I stand up. “You don’t have to pay,” I say.
“Hey, if she’s offerin’,” Carter says, and Darla smacks his arm. “Fine! We’ll do it.”
“He’s not normally this difficult, I promise,” Darla says. “He just really hates the fair. And his wife. He’s makin’ me work for it.”
Tossing our plates in the garbage, I choose to ignore what she said and walk over to the trailer with Brynlee’s hand in mine. Whatever issues are happening with Carter and Darla don’t need to come out on my first date with Brynlee.
The photographer looks over and gasps when he sees my date, and I know what he thinks. What everyone who sees us thinks. Normally, it would bother me, but right now, I don’t care. She’s with me tonight, and I’m choosing to focus on that.
“Men, you stay here. Ladies, follow Gloria to the changing area,” he says. Once the girls disappear, he nods his head as he hands me a gunslinger belt. “Way to go, man!”
A smirk spreads across my face, and Carter slaps my arm. “Told you so!”
I say nothing and just finish putting on the items they give me and taking the shotgun he holds out. Brynlee and Darla step out in their dresses and take seats on the bar top. Carter and I shift, letting them move us into the correct positions.
Two photos are taken, one serious and one smiling, and then we take couple photos. Holy crap, I have a picture with Brynlee. Sure, we’re dressed up like Westerners, but still!
The image of Brynlee in a cleavage enhancing corset has been documented and will forever be in my possession. Not just in my brain. It takes everything in me not to kiss her right here for insisting we do this.
“Do we have to pay for both of them?” Carter asks, his voice low as we hand the costumes back. “I wasn’t really budgetin’ for the fair to begin with.”
“Are you good, Carter?” I ask, suddenly worried. The last thing he ever talks about is money unless it’s work related.
He frowns and sighs. “Darla’s hours at the salon got cut.
Again. She has this crazy idea to open up her own salon, the kids are at the expensive stages with sports and braces, the fridge crapped out on us last week, and her car’s close to a hundred and fifty thousand miles.
There’s just… I don’t have a lot of breathin’ room these days. ”
“I’ll cover it,” I say. “If you need anythin’, you know you can ask, right?”
“I don’t wanna do that.”
“You need to take care of your family, and that’s a lot at once. I’ve got money saved up you can borrow,” I say, making sure the girls can’t hear us. “It was the money I planned for the down payment when I wanted to buy the Carmichael place. Just let me know.”
Even though I threw the offer out, I know he’s too proud to take it. He confirms that with a shake of his head. “I can’t, Rhett. I… You know that’s not me.”
“You’ve stuck by me through everythin’. Hell, you have a strained relationship with your twin brother because you stood by me. You’re more my brother than my actual brothers. Just don’t tell Mom I said that.”
“Here you go,” the lady says and holds out two bags. “Three copies of all pictures in both color and black and white.”
Carter swallows, and I jump in, pulling out my wallet. “How much do I owe for all three?”
“They’re paid for, sweetheart.”
The girls walk out laughing, and Brynlee takes the bag from my hand to hold the pictures up. “These are amazing!”
“You can totally tell you’ve modeled before. It’s obvious,” Darla says. “And your tits look amazin’.”
“Thanks!” she gushes and turns them around to show us. “What do you guys think? About the pictures, not my tits. That would be awkward with your wife right here, Carter, but Rhett, you’re free to give your opinion later.”
Carter and I exchange a look, both agreeing with Darla’s statement without saying a word. Surprisingly, I don’t look half bad in them, either. “These are pretty cool.”
“Uh, the lady says they were paid for,” Carter says. “D-did you already pay, Dar?”
“Oh, I did,” Brynlee says with a smile. “I forced you by twisting your arm into doing this with me. Please don’t be angry.”
“Let us pay you back,” Darla insists.
Her eyes widen, and she points towards the main area. “There’s a Ferris wheel!”
I know immediately what she’s doing. She’s letting them off the hook and changing the subject, and I appreciate her for it. “Come on, inexperienced one.”
She wrinkles her nose and sticks out her tongue, but she lets me take her hand and walks with me to the ticket booth. “You know you won’t be able to say that after we leave here, right? I’ll be a county fair veteran.”
“You didn’t have to pay for them,” I say once we’re out of Carter’s earshot, and I signal for tickets.
Glancing back at my best friend, she lowers her voice. “I overheard him. I’m serious when I say that I’m just incredibly thankful you brought me here. Buying these pictures I strong-armed him into taking was the least I could do.”
Brynlee heard Carter and wanted to save him from added stress. Except, if Brynlee heard him, that means Darla probably did, too. “Whatever you want the rest of this evenin’, you get it.”
“Ferris wheel! Ferris wheel!”
Laughing, I shake my head and let her pull me towards the ride with a long line. This has to be one of the best dates I’ve ever been on, and I know without a doubt, I’m falling head over heels for her.
Lord, help me.