Chapter 17 #2
“He’s volunteered his time to help with the plans for the sanctuary. I get the impression that he’s the real deal in this cowboy world. He’s made Austin more country too.”
“Huh,” I said, and tipped back the beer in the same way I used to, guzzling it down, preparing for the way this conversation was headed.
“He said he knows you.”
“You mentioned me?” Instant panic replaced the calm.
“I wasn’t thinking,” Slade said, instantly in defense mode.
I nodded as if I believed him as extreme anxiety had me launching myself out of the chair.
Thoughts shot through my mind in rapid-fire succession. After the way everything went down that afternoon with my parents, I wasn’t as freaked out about being outed as I was before. I had always had guy friends, and no one ever guessed the truth.
“You’re still safe. I wouldn’t compromise you or me, but I need to go to a meeting at Austin’s place.
We’d only be gone a day or two. Maybe spend two nights if you can get the time off,” Slade explained.
He followed me at a slower pace to the railing, staring out at the miles and miles of pastureland.
He squeezed my shoulder. He circled my waist with his other arm, drawing my back against his chest.
“You want me to go?” I asked. I tilted my chin over my shoulder to better see him.
“Yes, I’ll talk to Austin. You and Kitt can talk. Then Austin will write a check to invest in the sanctuary.”
“No way,” I said, surprised. The way rich people tossed around money was insane. “How do they know I’m on the up and up?”
“Me, that’s how they know. And Kitt thinks I need to run cattle on my property. Just cows free-ranging it,” Slade said. His lips landed on my T-shirt covered shoulder, kissing me.
“I think you need to too,” I confirmed.
“I’ve tried. It didn’t break even for me,” Slade said.
“We’ll work on that,” I said, turning in his arms. “I don’t know, know Kitt. But he’s helped me out before.”
“He told me he has your eggs, whatever that means.” The quizzical expression Slade gave left it open-ended as to whether I answered or not.
Since my emotional well-being was tied to Slade, and the way he stared at me told me he was still my very safe place, it was fine for him to know my many different secrets, including this one.
My mouth suddenly went dry. My tongue darted out, licking my lips to help me tell my truth.
“About two years before Wildflower died, I won a pretty decent payout at a rodeo in Oklahoma. I used the money to get Kitt Kelly to harvest and save her eggs, so I’d always have a version of her around. Does that make sense?”
“Yeah, absolutely,” Slade said, taking a half a step backward, understanding the seriousness in my tone.
“Why haven’t you… used them?” Slade asked, using his hands as if to find words he was unfamiliar with.
“That’s the part that’s harder to say,” I said, as I rested my ass against the railing. “I don’t know that I can properly care for a descendant of Wildflower. Hell, am I able to properly care for anything, really? Look what I did to her.”
The sting sliced across my heart anytime I thought about her, but with far less intensity than was normal.
I watched Slade’s hand absently rub across his heart.
He immediately shook his head, but I lifted a palm before he spoke, stopping him from saying more.
The leaps and bounds that my mental health had taken over the last month was stretched to its outer limits.
“I don’t want to talk about it right now. When’re you thinkin’ about goin’ to their place?”
“Monday,” he answered, sorrow in his tone. “If that works for you.”
“Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday are good for me. The bar’s closed for a semi-annual super deep clean. August and January are our slowest months. I could go if you agree to go as friends. Honestly, it’s better than being the mule carrying everything in and out of the bar to be cleaned.”
“Agreed. I’ll schedule it.” His brilliant smile was my reward.
=?=
Slade
As rapidly as Mace tanked while answering the question about the eggs was as fast as he recovered, easily agreeing when that would never have happened even a week ago. I snatched up my phone to text Austin before Mace changed his mind.
“We’re good to go. We’ll leave here Monday morning, if that’s good,” I texted.
It took Austin only seconds to respond.
“Yeah, great. See you, Monday.”
I’d only left Mace moments ago, and found him in the same place, arms crossed, leaning against the rail, chin to chest. When I got into reach, he shot out an arm, drawing me back into him, exactly where I wanted to be.
My hand cupped his jaw with the pad of my thumb swiping a caress over his cheek. “You’re a good guy, Mace. The way you take care of your family and business, it’s inspiring.” His instant grin was alluring, drawing me in for another press of the lips. I scanned his face, memorizing his new look.
“You keep sayin’ nice things to me. You’re gonna give me the big head,” he teased.
I continued to stare at him. My feelings were so strong. My cock grew harder as his hand went to my hip, bringing us together there too.
“You make me feel like I can do anything,” Mace said quietly. “If we move forward with the sanctuary, maybe I can use the eggs. It’d be great to see glimpses of Wildflower.”
My heart smiled at the simple pleasure those words gave Mace. His grin became my grin.
“What does Austin want to talk to you about?” he asked.
“He’s been on me for a while. I haven’t looked closely at what he wants, but he’s started a pretty successful production company. They have a lot of land to work with. I assume he wants to talk with me about a role. Depending on the deal he gives me, I’ll probably do it.”
“So you’ll be around here more often?” Mace asked, and the way his expression changed to excitement gave me hope.
“Want me to be?” I teased and willed him to say something positive about us. Of course, I understood that he was becoming a permanent fixture around here, but I still didn’t know if he saw himself here with me.
The pause was extensive. His expression changed over and over until I gave him a break.
“We’ll table that and come back to it.” I threaded our fingers together and drew him back inside the house with me.
“I enjoy being here. I’ve begun planning a swimming pool just beyond the deck.
Lots of seating and misting features. The ability to have you swimming naked with me helped the final decision. ”
“When would you build?” he asked, ignoring the skinny-dipping suggestion.
“January. Ready by next summer.”