Charisma #4
I pushed him playfully and waved my hand around the entertainment complex. “Then you need to show off some, Bucky. Folks can hear rumors about how nice this place is. Even potentially drop by unannounced—”
“Folks ‘round here know better—”
He cut himself off as the situation from earlier filled the silence between us.
Folks from around here might know better, but everyone wasn’t from Black Gold Valley.
I was an outsider and there was no telling what the future would hold for expansions given how things were going with the government.
Instead of stating the obvious I just moved on because I didn’t want him to get angry again.
“But they also aren’t the people you’re going to want to fill this place with.
You’re altruistic and that’s a beautiful thing.
But you don’t want to drain your accounts with your passion project.
You want to attract the people from the city even if it’s just to give them an experience that allows them to play cowboy.
Charge them a grip of money to pretend for an afternoon.
I bet you could host company retreats or team-building exercises for people to come and visit the property. ”
I’d done my research and knew that a lot of places in town did just that.
His family would host people from out of town in the casitas according to Doc if they were coming in to make deals on large purchases from the herds.
The lure of being on the same land as the product they were hoping to secure was a great way to seal business deals.
It made people who sat behind desks feel that they had a hand in the manual aspect of what was going on.
Delusional marketing in a sense, but it worked.
I could tell that his mind was working out the feasibility of what I said.
Weighing the potential benefit against how much it would get on his fucking nerves to have people on his property.
That was one thing I learned about Nate.
He didn’t mind being social and being hands on but he damn sure didn’t like people crowding him.
The man who’d scared me earlier probably had him even more on high alert.
“We can set it up. Maybe have it coincide with the family’s gala that is happening in a few weeks. It’s short notice but I’m sure we can get someone in here to plan it. I don’t want to overload you, Charmy.”
His new nickname for me was something that gave me the warm fuzzies every time I heard it. “If I can’t handle it I’ll reach out to someone.”
“My sister Reece is really good with stuff like this. I don’t want to burden the family restaurant for food since it handles the gala.”
“Since this is a local business, how about using some of the other local businesses to cater and decorate? You’ll know whose foods is the best and you want it be different enough from what happens at the gala since some of the guest list could overlap.”
He was nodding again and I was thankful he was happy to help me plan this despite it being my idea.
“Yeah, we can do something less formal. Make it finger foods so folks can ask questions. Come over real casual like and then leave.”
“That seems much more your style.”
His lips softened into a soft smile as he studied my face. “You learned that much about me in the last few days, Charmy?”
His question felt heavy. Weighted and he moved closer to me and I stupidly didn’t stop him.
“I pay attention.”
“I see that. Can I kiss you right now, Charmy? I really want to but I’m grown enough to handle rejection—”
“Yes.”
I’d hoped it would fall flat. That his lips wouldn’t feel soft but needy against mine.
That his finesse only extended to his personality and the rest of him would be lacking.
But alas, he was truly blessed and highly favored.
When his mouth touched mine it was with the precision of a man who knew he knew how to kiss.
That was used to using touch to bring a woman to her knees.
Nate’s lips were full and firm caressing mine as he took control.
My mouth opened for him like he’d been given the magic words and our tongues met with a harmony like we’d done this before.
I didn’t care about being out in the open or who might see us.
Maybe it was having a case of hero worship or this crush clouding my judgement but I let it happen.
His hands running down my back and squeezing my ass pulled me back to reality.
My core was leaking and I wanted to jump on him right here in his backyard.
I put my hands to his chest as our tongues continued to be intertwined.
A slight push was enough for him to stop cold, a sign that Nate really did care about consent and making sure I was comfortable.
“Sorry, I’m doing too much.” He tried to catch his breath but he was heaving right along with me.
“No, that’s not true. I wanted you to kiss me. It’s just that…”
“What’s good?” He’d be angry about what I was going to say but I need to put distance between us before I messed so many things up.
“I have a situation…a boyfriend back home.”