Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
REECE
I had no idea if what I was doing was right. All I’d really learned from this experience was that having a distractingly hot cowboy walking next to you while trying to concentrate on balancing on the back of a horse was a terrible idea.
And damn, if Booker wasn’t the most distracting man I’d ever laid eyes on.
I couldn’t remember the last time someone had gone out of their way to get me something I needed.
It didn’t matter that he’d needed help. I wouldn’t have a clue what size boots he needed, let alone if hats even came in different sizes.
He’d seen something I needed, and he’d just done it because it was a nice thing to do. It shouldn’t have made me want to cry as much as it did.
“I can see why you like this,” I said, even if it was just because I wanted something to say.
Booker hummed in agreement. “I always knew this was where I was supposed to be.”
I watched how Booker walked by Doc’s head, his hand resting lightly on his neck, more out of companionship than to guide him. But I could see the way his shoulders seemed less tense. The way that he walked had less of a grumpy storming from one point to another kind of attitude to it.
“What was your grandfather like?”
Booker glanced over his shoulder at the question, but he had a soft smile on his face as he did. “He was everything my parents weren’t. He came from money, but he didn’t particularly like it. He loved this place, working the ranch, being outside. Gramps wasn’t afraid of an honest day’s work. Even though we only lived on the other side of town, we spent nearly the entire summer here. I’d have stayed forever if my parents would have let me. He taught me how to ride, to fish. We went camping, hunting. He was a busy man, but he always had time for his grandsons.”
I could hear the hint of sadness in his voice for the grandfather he’d lost. Life was cruel that way. No matter how hard you loved someone, you always lost them in the end. And the more you loved them, the worse it hurt.
“I never really had anything like that. My dad passed when I was young, and I don’t really remember what it was like when he was around. My mom did her best. She worked hard to pay the bills, but she wasn’t really all that interested in me. At a certain point she decided she wanted to find someone else, have a second chance at love, and then it was like she forgot about me altogether.”
“She still around?” Booker asked.
“No. She passed about five years ago. I didn’t find out until about six months later. Her new family didn’t invite me to the funeral. It didn’t really matter, though. I think, in some ways, I lost her the day I lost my father.”
Booker fell back a step, so he was walking beside me. His hand rubbed against my calf as we did another lap in silence, both of us lost in thoughts of the past.
“My parents always had this vision of what life was supposed to be like. They wanted the money, the status, and their sons were a way to build even more of it. My father went into property development, and he was good at it. Hell, he owns half the town now. And my mother lives for that shit. She loves walking around, thinking that everything and everyone belongs to her. I hated it all. The parties, the boasting, the expectations. All I wanted was to be outside, riding a horse, and working the land. As you can imagine, that didn’t go down well in the museum they called a home.”
“They wanted you to work with your dad?” I asked.
“Yeah. What’s the point of having millions if you can’t turn it into billions, right? It probably sounds like such rich kid problems. The funny thing is, for all their pushing, all their lectures, none of us have ended up where they wanted us. Trace worked with Dad for a while, but then when everything came out about what our mother did to Delaney, he left and never looked back. They were so caught up in everyone thinking we were the perfect family that they destroyed the whole thing.”
“People are allowed to have problems, Booker. It doesn’t matter how much money they have.” I could see how much he hated complaining, how much he thought he didn’t deserve to say that he was in pain.
“It’s strange now, looking back at it. They wanted us to be so much like them, but they were never around. We barely ever saw them. Once a week, we’d have family dinner, and our mother would make us report our progress. If it wasn’t good enough, then she’d sit there and lay out every single flaw she saw in us. And there were a lot.”
“That’s…so cruel.” I couldn’t believe someone would treat a child like that.
Booker looked up at me with a wry smile. “Yeah, it wasn’t fun.”
“So your grandfather gave you this place so you could get away? That must have made your brothers angry.”
“Nah, he split everything between the four of us. My parents were the ones who were pissed because they were cut out of the will. The ranch was part of my inheritance, but the others got a bigger share of the rest of it. I didn’t care. This place was all I ever wanted, and I still had enough to live off for the rest of my life.”
“So you’re like super rich, then?” I asked, only realizing how it sounded after the words blurted out of my mouth.
Booker laughed but didn’t answer. He didn’t really have to. I could tell by the way he was trying to shrug it off that not only did he have more than enough, but he also kind of hated it.
“Is that why you want to use the ranch to help people?” I asked carefully.
“It helped me. I think it could do some real good for other people, too.”
“You’re a good person, Booker.”
He shrugged again, uncomfortable with the comment. There was something that was bothering me, though.
“You shouldn’t put everything on the line for this, though, Booker. You’ve got a business plan, right?”
He looked over his shoulder then with a grin, bringing Doc to a stop before he reached up for me. “You worried about me, Reece?”
“Apparently.”
I slid off Doc’s back, and Booker gently lowered me to the ground. I bit my lip as my mouth drew level with his. The need to kiss him was almost overwhelming, but after the awkward post-sex situation, I didn’t know if it was the right thing to do.
“I have investors,” Booker said, his voice gravelly as he continued to grip my hips, holding me against his body.
“Investors?” My brain was mush with the tension that lingered in the air, and all I could focus on was Booker’s lips.
“For the ranch plans.” Booker’s lips twitched with a smile. “I have a solid business plan and backers. I haven’t put everything on the line. I would if that was what it took. My father apparently imparted some wisdom somewhere along the line, though.”
Even as he spoke, his hands roamed my sides, and I sighed softly at the feel of his touch.
Booker’s head dipped down, his lips grazing against mine as he whispered. “Go out on a date with me.”
“A date?” I leaned back in surprise, even though it was the last thing I wanted to do.
“Yeah. Dinner or something?”
“You want to go out on a date with me?”
“I think we’ve established that already.”
“Well, I don’t know,” I said, stepping back and tapping a finger against my lips. “I have a very busy social calendar, you know.”
“The busiest,” Booker agreed, stepping forward and trapping me against the side of Doc.
“But I could maybe squeeze you in.” I shrugged and leaned up on my tiptoes, grazing my lips across his.
Booker’s arm wrapped around me as he kissed me back, his lips fiercely pressing against my own as he groaned. One hand cradled my cheek, the fingertips grazing my neck and making me shudder.
When he pulled back, neither of us moved away. I stared into his eyes, seeing an emotion growing there that he’d no doubt see mirrored in mine.
It scared me.
Not because I didn’t want to feel it.
But because I didn’t want to risk losing everything I’d found here if I messed this up, just like everything else.
“Booker,” I started.
But then his finger pressed against my lips to stop me.
“I know. Let’s just agree to try. To see where it goes and just have fun. We don’t have to put a label on anything until we’re ready to do that.”
I nodded, a wave of relief flowing through me that just made me feel guilty. I couldn’t start anything with Booker without telling him my story. Not the part about my lonely childhood, the part that I ran from.
I could see myself building a life in Willowbrook. The cute small town in the middle of nowhere had a charm that made me never want to leave. And so what if Booker stood beside me in that picture? The guy I’d only met a week ago with a heart of gold he didn’t want anyone to know he had.