Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
COLE
I’m back in my hotel room, staring at the auction catalog like it holds all the secrets of the universe.
It doesn’t, but a man can dream. Every time I try to focus on the lineup, my mind returns to the brunette in the red hoodie and spray-on jeans who took my breath away at Molly’s Diner and then vanished like a hallucination. Fuck. I can’t get her out of my head.
I try to reread the listing for the horse I’m here to check out, but all I see is cherry-red cotton stretched over curves for days and a mouth I want to taste till she screams my name. I flip the catalog closed and scrub a hand down my face. My palm comes away sweaty.
Pathetic. One look at the stunning brunette in the diner, and I’ve been a goddamn mess ever since.
I pace the length of my hotel room. This place is overkill.
Everything’s cream and gold, from the carpet to the sheets draped across a bed big enough to host a football team.
There’s a glass chandelier above me and a basket of fancy-ass snacks on the marble-topped bar that I nearly wiped out first thing.
Even the view out the floor-to-ceiling windows is next level. Montana mountains. Miles of blue sky.
My body’s wound tight. I can’t stop thinking about her, the curve of her hips, how she’d taste if I had her sprawled naked across that king-sized bed. I groan and rake a hand through my hair. I’d trade all this luxury for five more minutes with her.
I’m supposed to be thinking about bloodlines and minimum bids, but all I can do is replay those few moments of eye contact in the diner. The way she looked at me like she wanted to straddle my lap and ride me into next week. My cock turns to stone in my jeans just thinking about her.
Before today, I thought I was immune to this love at first sight bullshit. Turns out, I’m full of shit.
Because one look at that girl and I’m ruined. My body’s on fire, my brain’s short-circuited, and I’m about five seconds from driving around this damn town until I find her. I laugh, because it’s either that or go crazy. How the hell did this happen?
I thought this crap only happened to idiots, or, you know, my little sister. When Maggie’s high school crush moved back home, she fell so fast she didn’t even have time to hit the brakes. I teased her for months. Called it a hormone malfunction. Guess the joke’s on me. Now I get it.
I want my mystery girl more than I want my next breath. I want to claim her, mark her, make her mine.
Fuck. I’ve got it bad.
When my phone buzzes, I’m relieved to have the distraction. I glance at the screen and see a text from Hudson.
Huddie Poo
You’d better bring your A-game tomorrow. All eyes on Thunderbolt. Call if you have questions.
Me
I know how to do my job
I can picture him rolling his eyes as he reads my text.
Huddie Poo
Make sure you do it.
I send him a middle finger emoji and toss my phone on the bed before grabbing The Rolling R Ranch catalog. I glance at Thunderbolt’s page. The horse looks good on paper, but we’ll have to see if he holds up under scrutiny.
I read the highlighted page again. Thunderbolt. Blue-chip genetics, record-breaking speed, and the kind of price tag that makes accountants nervous. According to the catalog, he’s a “once in a generation” stud, but the part that interests me is the scribbled note in Hudson’s handwriting.
“Find out why the owner is desperate to sell. Red flag?”
My phone buzzes again, this time with a FaceTime request from Maggie. The only sibling who’d understand how much I’m floundering. I accept, and her face fills my cracked phone screen, all perfect cheekbones and raised eyebrows.
“Why do you look like you just ate a week-old Hot Pocket?” My sister Mags never opens a call like a normal person. Predictable, I guess.
I groan and wipe a hand down my face. “Do you ever answer the phone with a normal greeting?”
She rolls her eyes, practically drilling a hole through the screen. “Not when you look like shit, big bro.”
I flip her off, because maturity clearly runs in the family. “You’re a real ray of sunshine, Mags.”
“Don’t change the subject. Spill. Why are your panties in a twist?”
I drag a hand through my hair and debate lying. Doesn’t matter. She’ll see right through me. “Saw a girl at the diner and she knocked me on my ass.”
“Literally or figuratively?” Of course, my fucking sister would ask that.
“Figuratively,” I admit, remembering the attitude coming from the gorgeous brunette from across the crowded diner. I bet my mystery woman could’ve literally knocked me on my ass if she chose to. “Hudson called and interrupted me before I could make my move.”
She gasps, all dramatic. “I need all the details.”
“There aren’t any details.” I sit back on the bed. “While I took Dickhead’s call, she left.” Fuck. I sound like a moron. “So I have no idea who she is.”
Maggie’s eyes go huge. “You mean you didn’t even get her name? You just let this goddess walk out the door? Are you concussed?”
I groan and fall back on the bed. “Thanks for the support, Mags.”
She snorts loud enough to rattle my eardrums. “Oh, I’m supporting you, big guy. Supporting you right into therapy if you don’t track your girl down. What did she look like?”
I shut my eyes and picture her. My cock twitches at the memory, stupid bastard that it is. “Gorgeous. Stunning. Long brunette hair. Killer mouth and miles of curves.”
Maggie whistles low. “Damn. You are so gone. I haven’t heard you sound this stupid since Jessica Hargrove in eighth grade.”
I groan and sit back on the gold brocade sofa. “That was hormones. This is… something else altogether,” I finish. My voice comes out gritty, because it’s true. “It’s like I got slammed in the face with a two-by-four labeled DESTINY.”
I can’t believe I’m telling my little sister all this. Fuck. Seeing my soulmate really fried all my goddamn brain circuits. “You don’t even believe in soulmates. You gave me hell when I fell for Todd.”
And the universe is getting revenge on me for it.
“I was wrong.” God, muttering those words to my little sister actually hurts.
“I’ve never felt anything like this. It’s like my heart recognized her before my brain could even catch up.
” I scrub my jaw, my mind racing. “I’ve never felt this kind of rush.
One look and I wanted to throw her over my shoulder and drag her back to my bed. ”
“I don’t need to hear all those details.” Mags fake gags. “Take my advice. Don’t open with the caveman thing.” I already figured that shit out for myself. “But I support this level of crazy. You need to find her.”
“No shit, Sherlock,” I mutter without much heat.
Mags grins from the other side of the screen. “You got it bad, Cole. Seriously. I can’t wait to tell everyone.”
Groaning, I scrub my jaw, barely hanging onto my dignity. “Don’t say anything, okay? If those assholes get wind of this, I’ll never live it down.”
“Too late.” Maggie props her chin on her palm, eyes lighting up with mischief, and I know she’s enjoying this.
Not too long ago, I was fucking with Todd while he tried to woo her.
My evil little sister smirks at me. “I just texted Silas. He’s putting together a family group chat so everyone can discuss your little love life. ”
“Un-fucking-believable,” I grumble and dig into the overpriced trail mix before shoving a handful in my mouth. This is just like my family. Over-the-top and relentless.
She’s laughing so hard she snorts, like it’s the best joke she’s heard in a long time. “You know we love you.”
I roll my eyes, but she’s not wrong. My family might be a big pain in my ass, but they’re also the best. “You’re a menace.”
“I learned from the best. Love you, loser,” Maggie says.
“Yeah, yeah.” I fake a scowl and reach for the remote. “I gotta go. I have an early morning tomorrow.”
“Keep me updated so I can keep the rest of the family up to date,” she sing-songs, then hangs up before I can argue.
I toss my phone on the bed and just stand there for a second, blood humming in my veins. I should be prepping for the auction. Instead, all I can think about is stripping my mystery brunette out of her jeans and bending her over the sink in this fancy-ass bathroom.
Fuck me. The mental image alone nearly does me in.
I rip off my shirt and head for the shower, already half-hard and beyond hope. If I’m lucky, ten minutes under freezing water will cool me off.
Fat fucking chance.
I don’t even make it halfway through lathering up before I’ve got one fist around my cock and the other braced against the wall. It’s useless to even try pretending. I want her. I want her so bad I’d give my last dollar to feel her luscious curves pressed against me.
My head drops. I squeeze my eyes shut, and she’s right there in my brain, straddling my lap in this exact shower, her mouth devouring mine.
I pump my fist, hard and fast, hoping I can get this obsession out of my system, but the harder I jerk off, the worse it gets.
I imagine her moaning my name, nails raking down my back, begging for more.
It’s fucking insane.
But so am I, apparently.
I come like a freight train.
And my first coherent thought is, I need to find her.
I towel off, still half-hard and pissed at the universe for dangling that sexy brunette in front of me just to rip her away. The cold water did jack shit. I’m still burning up. I want her so bad I’m one step away from losing all self-control.
My phone lights up on the counter. Another text. I swipe it open, expecting more crap from Maggie, but no. It’s Hudson.
Huddie Poo
Keep your goddamn head in the game. Don’t let your dick fuck this up.
Me
My dick is none of your business.
Huddie Poo
Thank God for small favors
Me
There’s nothing small about my dick.
He sends back a GIF of a toddler rolling his eyes. Classic. I turn my phone off before the next relative can pounce and draw me into another round of our family’s particular brand of chaos. There are more important matters at hand right now. Like tracking down my gorgeous brunette.