Chapter 22
CHARLIE
Working the rodeo was one of my favorite things to do. I loved every minute of it. We always provided the majority of the animals being shown and we knew almost everyone else who worked here. Over the years, they’d become friends and some of them were even our neighbors.
It was a close-knit community that we were an integral part of and I loved catching up with all of those people, but I also loved talking to the public who came out to support us all. So far tonight, we were having the biggest turn out we’d ever had at the Anderson Ranch booth.
The atmosphere in the arena was as vibrant and high energy as ever, but we seemed to be drawing a lot more attention than usual.
I grinned at locals and visitors alike when they came past to say hi, speaking up so they’d be able to hear me over the sounds of country music, the hum of excited chatter, and the stampede of boots on the ground.
The scent of funnel cakes, greasy treats, and smoky meats hung in the air, emanating from food vendors scattered all around the arena. I was as much in my element here as I was on the ranch, and I was looking forward to showing Olivia around the rodeo just like I’d taken her around our home.
Especially since I knew the energy would become even more electric once the action kicked off. I just hoped she was here when that happened.
In the meantime, I kept myself busy telling people about our products and fielding questions about the ranch itself. In the past, I’d rarely been asked anything about it, but now, almost everyone who stopped by had some kind of question about the land, our family, or the livestock.
If I’d had any doubts about it before, I would’ve known now for an absolute fact that Olivia’s marketing was working. People were more locked in than ever, and it was all because of her.
I hadn’t had any doubts, though. Contrary to popular belief—at least among my brothers—I wasn’t a complete caveman. While I didn’t necessarily like wasting my time by scrolling for hours, I did use social media. I knew how it worked and I’d been following along online all week.
Every single post they’d done, I’d seen within minutes of it being uploaded. I’d read her article and her blog as soon as it’d gone live and I’d looked through all the pictures. I’d watched all the videos and I’d read all the comments.
I’d also been dialed into the strides they’d made outside of social media, keeping an eye on traditional marketing platforms as well. We’d been in the paper twice this week, there had been a segment about us on a radio show, and apparently, we now even had a billboard in Austin.
Considering that it’d only been a few days since she’d left the ranch, I was beyond impressed by how fast she’d worked. I was also relieved that she’d kept every last one of her promises to me. Miraculously, she’d managed to pull all of this off without making it about my family at all.
Well, it was about us, but it was about who were as ranchers—not about who we were dating or what my parents’ relationship was like. We’d maintained our privacy as people while being launched into the stratosphere as a fourth-generation ranching family.
Frankly, she’d done it better than I ever thought possible.
“Thank you for my hat,” I heard from behind me. I spun around to see Olivia looking like the most beautiful cowgirl I’d ever seen.
My eyes nearly bulged out of my head, and there were definitely bulges in other places all of a sudden too. She had her chocolate brown hat on her head, a blonde braid hanging over one of her shoulders and little wisps of hair around her face that had my fingers itching to brush them back.
Her denim shorts were artfully frayed at the edges, and even if I knew the tiny rips and tears had probably been put there by a machine, I still loved the look of them on her. It didn’t hurt that at least half of her shapely thighs were exposed.
Long lashes batted as she peered up at me from under the brim of the hat.
The color of her eyes was accentuated not only by the hat but also with a thin line of charcoal on each lid.
I groaned as I drank her in, tracing even the delicate line of her nose with my gaze before I finally looked into her eyes once more.
“You’re going to need to take that off,” I said quietly, my voice coming out as a half growl, half command that I’d never even heard before.
She smiled up at me. “No way.”
“Yes way.” I bent over a little, bringing my mouth closer to her ear and getting the unmistakable whiff of jasmine. “You’re way too hot in it. I’m going to need you to do me a solid here.”
She laughed and tipped her head back to look into my eyes. She slowly shook her head. “I like it too much to take it off just yet. Seriously, it’s amazing. Thank you. I feel like a real cowgirl in it.”
“You look like a real cowgirl in it.” I sighed and dragged in a deep breath that I hoped would calm my racing heart—and my raging libido with it. “I owe you a thanks, too.”
“You do? What for?”
“All your hard work,” I said, keeping it simple. “You exceeded my expectations. Let’s just leave it at that.”
She chuckled and inclined her chin in acknowledgment, then took a pointed look around. “This is my first time. Care to give me a few tips and tricks for getting the most out of the experience?”
“I’ll do you one better,” I offered without a second thought. This was the chance I’d been waiting for all week. No way I wasn’t taking it. “I’ll show you around myself, but first, there are a few people who are going to be super happy to see you.”
I stepped aside and motioned at my family. They were all working the booth except for my dad, who was over at the livestock pens showing off the animals. Olivia grinned and headed for my mom first.
Hanging back, I watched as she strode right up to her, tapped her on the shoulder, and waited for her to turn and see her. When she did, I saw my mom’s whole face light up. A wide grin appeared and she pulled Olivia into a warm embrace.
It did something to me to see them together like that. I wasn’t quite sure what it was yet, but it was deep and it was strong, and I really fucking liked it. After Mom released her, she went around saying hi to my brothers too.
All of them pulled her into an embrace of their own, and I liked it decidedly less than I’d liked seeing her with Mom. When Wyatt held her for a few seconds longer than was appropriate, I even started forward, not opposed to physically removing him from her person.
Thankfully, she saw me stalking toward him and grinned as she let him go. “Charlie is going to take me around the rodeo, but I’ll see you later.”
Wyatt winked at her. “Come find me if you want to have some actual fun while you’re going around.”
I grunted. “I’m fun.”
He scoffed, but laughter shone from his eyes. “You’re a little bit like a bull right now, but sure. I suppose those can be fun. Especially for people who like to get mauled.”
“I wouldn’t mind mauling you,” I grumbled.
Olivia took my arm, and as soon as she was touching me, it was like she was rubbing a soothing balm on that protective sting inside me.
Without another glance at my brother, I led her away from our booth and the tension in my muscles released.
I looked down at her, trying to ignore how unbelievably good she looked in that hat in favor of being able to walk.
“What do you want to do first?”
“What can we do other than watch people try to get mauled?” she asked innocently, batting her lashes. Amusement sparkled in her gaze.
I sighed. “I’m never going to live that down, am I?”
“Nope.”
“Okay, well, we can go grab some food before we go see the animals. Dad would like to see you too and he mentioned there are a lot of people who want to talk to us about the ranch. Then we can go watch people get mauled, and after that, maybe we can catch one of the concerts.”
“That sounds like the most violent but best date I’ve had in forever.”
I didn’t bother pointing out that we weren’t technically on a date. “Food first?”
“Food first.” She pointed at a truck selling sandwiches with brisket and slaw and started tugging me that way. “That’s what I need. I’ve been craving it for days.”
“A girl after my own heart,” I said lightly, but it was true.
Looking that good in a cowboy hat and wanting brisket over everything else on offer? Yes, please.
We grabbed our sandwiches. Both of us ate while we walked, getting covered in sauces and juices. Liv just laughed and cleaned me up with a napkin. I did the same for her, marveling at how easy it was just to hang out even after we’d slept together.
When we came up on the livestock pens, Dad saw her almost immediately and tossed his arms out to his sides, zigging and zagging through the crowd to get to us. “Olivia, honey! The woman of the hour. I’ve been wondering when you were going to get here.”
Cattle mooed and feet were being stomped all around us, but Liv didn’t even seem to notice any of it. She just smiled at my dad and accepted his hug when he reached for her. “I wouldn’t have missed this for the world. What an experience!”
“You’re liking it so far?” he asked as he pulled away. “Charlie is showing you a good time, isn’t he?”
“I haven’t been here for a very long time, but he fed me, so I can’t complain.” She smiled again. “Any of these yours?”
“Young lady, almost all of them are ours.” He motioned to the pen behind him and I followed, saying hi to all the people he introduced her to and keeping her close to my side when I noticed the looks she was getting.
She really does look way too good in that hat.
Liv and I spoke to everyone who wanted a minute with us about the ranch, saw tons of animals, and grabbed some beers just as the PA crackled to announce the action would be starting soon.
We found some seats in the crowd, cheering, booing, and gasping with everyone else as we watched the roping, barrel racing, and finally, the bull riding.
She glanced at me. “You’ve never tried that, have you?”
“Oh, I’ve tried it,” I said, laughing as I shook my head. “Decided I like my bones too much to try it again, but I wasn’t half bad.”
She chuckled. “I don’t think there’s anything you’d be bad at, Cowboy.”
Her words settled deep inside me, causing that protective instinct to race to the surface much faster. We headed over to watch one of the concerts. More than a few guys looked her way, but after they saw me looking back at them instead of her, they scampered away.
Smart boys.
As I had become used to from her, Olivia took pictures throughout the night. At one point, she looked at me and smiled. “Can I have your phone?”
“What for?”
“I want to take a picture.”
“What, is your battery dead or something?” I asked as I handed it over.
She shook her head and tapped the camera icon on my screen, bringing her face in real close to mine and snapping a picture of us together.
I glanced at her. “Where’s that going to be posted?”
“Nowhere,” she said as she pressed the device back into my palm, those brilliant greens locked firmly on mine. “That one is just for you, Cowboy Charlie. Something to remember me by.”
I barely needed a reminder of her, but I didn’t say so.
Truth be told, I’d been regretting not having taken many pictures of her while she’d been on the ranch and I already knew I’d be spending a lot of my time over the next week staring at that one, so I simply nodded and slid the phone back into my pocket.
Then I scooted closer and prepared to watch one of my favorite local performers with one of my favorite people by my side—and that was when I realized that she really had become that.
As much as she still frustrated and annoyed the crap out of me at times, somewhere along the line, Olivia Walker had also become one of my favorite people in the world.
And that? That spelled nothing but trouble for the both of us.