Chapter 12 #3
A pressure lands on my chest, and I curl up with a soft comforter the same shade as the beams overhead.
I inhale through a straw. I can’t be into Durban Hennessy.
I spent years in a relationship with a guy who thought he was better than me.
I can’t want that again. But Durban hasn’t acted like that since he hauled me out of Bootleg.
I also spent years with a guy who didn’t really want me, and the motivation might be different, but Durban doesn’t want me. Not really. Sex is different from a relationship, and his type is a brainy woman. I’d never make him happy.
He returns with a warm, damp towel and gently wipes me off.
Gah, I’m in too deep. “Thank you.”
“Anytime. Don’t move. I’ll be back to make the bed.”
I can just enjoy this, right? He takes the pressure off, and in doing so, he’s showing me how high I should be setting the bar.
He prowls across the bedroom in the shadows and lifts that boyfriend bar even higher. He slips the sheet over me, then each of his three blankets. He crawls in next to me.
He hasn’t officially invited me for a sleepover. “If you want me to go—”
“No. Let them wonder where you’re at.”
“It’ll be my parents wondering.” I sit up. “Shit. I should send them a message. They alerted the sister brigade last time.”
Sliding out of bed, I try to grab the top blanket to wrap around myself.
He holds firm. “If I get to watch you walk naked through my house, I’ll make you breakfast in bed.”
I release the blanket. “What if there’s crumbs?”
“I’ll lick them off you.”
“You drive a hard bargain, Hennessy.” Grinning, I find my phone in the kitchen, send the message that I’m staying with a friend, and then I climb in the bed.
I roll to my side so I can see his profile. He’s got an arm slung behind his head. The top of the comforter rests across his abdomen. This all feels so normal, my chest aches.
What would it be like to go to bed with him every night?
I can’t go there. I just got over rejection and heartbreak.
“I have to get up for chores in the morning,” he says, turning his head toward me. “So don’t leave before I can make us some eggs.”
“I prefer muffins, actually.”
He flashes a smile. “I can make muffins.”
I laugh. “I’m just kidding. I would offer to cook, but I make a mess.”
“You keep warning me,” he says wryly.
“It irritates you.”
He shifts his position to face me. “When I thought it was because you were so self-centered that you don’t think twice. But I know better now.”
Pleased, I smile. “My college roommate used to get so upset with me because I joked that I needed two to three business days to wash my dishes. I had to get a single dorm room until I got an apartment.”
“You’re aware, and I think that’s half the battle. The cowboys in the bunkhouse were some nasty guys.”
“I have a feeling you’re super fastidious. This house is unreal.”
He’s quiet for a moment.
“Did I say something wrong?”
“There’s nothing else to do and no one to dirty it up.”
There’s an emptiness in his tone. He’s not just getting laid, he’s getting company. That’s his part of the arrangement. “I can get you a medium-sized dog.”
His chuckle is deep and pleasing. “So it’ll either be a chihuahua or a Great Dane?”
“The guy at the rescue swore up and down Coal was a medium-sized dog, even after I commented about how he looks like a yellow Lab. But he had those big eyes and I just knew Kacey would fall in love.”
He curls a piece of my hair through his fingers. “Maybe I should get a dog. You can pick it out.”
“You’d trust me after Coal?”
“He’s quite the guardian. And a giant teddy bear. You did good.”
Stunned, I don’t say anything. He’s been so supportive through the whole wedding business, but a dog has nothing to do with our agreement. “Are you serious? You want a pet?”
“He’s going to be a working dog, but yeah, I’d like the company. I have two weeks before I can get a kitten.”
“You should take two,” I say sagely. “Double the mousers and they can keep each other company when you’re not here.”
“Is this that peer-pressure thing I heard about growing up?”
I laugh lightly, but his words don’t settle quite right in my brain. “You didn’t get peer pressured?”
“We would’ve had to be around peers.”
“Oh.” I don’t know what to say to that. He’s alluded to what his upbringing was like with his mom, but no details, and I don’t want to be nosy.
“Mom left us alone a lot.” His voice is wooden, like he’s put distance between himself and the memories and he doesn’t want to close it up.
“We worked a lot, taking side hustles when we were too young to be officially employed. Then Iverson got a cheap pickup and lawn mower and we did lawn care. School was . . . a blink. We did what we had to and left it behind.”
“Your mom wasn’t around?”
“It was better that way. She liked to party. Liked to be the center of attention. Men’s attention.” It’s dark, but I can see a corner of his jaw clench. “She liked to spend money too, and she tried to take ours.”
“That’s awful.” No wonder the brothers do everything together.
They worked at Daddy’s ranch as a unit, and while Daddy will never give them that much credit, he never had more reliable or knowledgeable employees.
Mom said it plenty of times since the brothers quit.
Then the Hennessys bought into Foster House Gold together, and they all run their ranch as one.
“We learned the hard way that we can’t have her name on any account with us.”
“Oh my God. So you had to start hiding your money?”
He continued to play with the ends of my hair. “Yep. Got pretty creative. Helped that we were all taller than her. Lots of high places. She had a type though—ranchers, and that came in handy too. Lawn care as three teens only pays so much.”
“Is that where you learned your skills?”
“Caring for horses, cows, whatever. They’d pay us, and long after Mom dusted them, they’d still hire us. It’s how we got connections to keep working in the industry after we all turned eighteen.”
“You went right to work?”
“I did, yes.” He goes quiet, like he knows what I’m asking. The root of his admiration for his ex was clear. Someone he thought should be so far above him finding him worthwhile.
“Iverson took a few classes, but it was more money and he was still caring for us. Then I graduated and worked more so he could finish his degree, but as soon as Haven was done with high school, Iverson dropped out and we all took off.”
No wonder he waited for Natalie. She’s everything he wanted to be and she was attracted to him. It must’ve hurt him so much when she told him he couldn’t understand the pressure she was under.
I hate her on principle, but he’s probably still in love with her. A guy doesn’t wait years for a woman to just be over her. I’m a rebound. I’m not someone he’d run after or wait for. If she were to appear in town, he’d probably forget my name.
My throat burns and heat pricks the backs of my eyes. I’m mourning something that hasn’t happened.
He releases my hair and pushes the strands behind my ear. A tender action that chases away the sadness. I’m just going to enjoy my time with him. The room is quiet. Cozy. My eyelids grow heavy.
“Sleep tight, Belle,” he murmurs.
I will now.