13. Dallas
DALLAS
“When I found out that my best friend and my little sister were sneaking around behind my back, I’ll tell y’all what—I threw a little bitch fit,” Duke says into the microphone.
The small crowd chuckles. He looks divine tonight in the new Cinch jeans and the mocha Western shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
The top buttons are undone so a sliver of his chest shows.
His Stetson is tipped back on his head, and the typical smirk he has on his lips is mixing in a funny way with the rosé in my stomach.
Dangerous fucking combination.
He’s lightly strumming on the guitar strapped to him. I hate how sexy it is that he can play it.
“I’m not gonna lie; I felt betrayed for a hot minute there.
Here I was, thinking we were best friends and that he was protecting her for me.
All I could do for weeks was wonder how many lies I’d been told.
Then two crazy things happened.” He looks down at his boots before he flashes Dolly and Sam a grin.
“First, I realized it wasn’t all about me.
Second, I saw the way he looked at her.” He pauses, shaking his head.
I hang on each word, leaning forward, waiting for him to go on. My heart pounds, my throat drying up.
“When I saw that look and actually pulled my head out of my ass long enough to pay attention to it, I realized there was no force on this earth that could keep these two apart. And my baby sister deserves that. She deserves a man who sees her in a crowd and everyone else melts away. She deserves the love and devotion of a man who will love her through the bad days and the good.” He chokes up, clearing his throat before continuing with the soft music.
I sip my wine, amazed at how incredibly attractive it is to see a strong man show emotional vulnerability in front of a group of people.
Dolly has had congenital heart defects since she was born, and all of her brothers are very protective of her because of her medical condition. She sees a cardiologist regularly and is always at risk for overexerting herself and needing medical care.
“I’ve always worried about my sister. I’ve been her protector since the day she was born.
Handing that responsibility over to another man …
well, I don’t think I could do it if it were a lesser one.
Sam Seymour, you’re a damn good friend, and I know you’ll make a damn good husband.
Welcome to the family, brother.” He lifts his glass of champagne in a toast.
The band starts to play, and the crowd cheers around me as a tear slips down my cheek. I quickly wipe it away, peering around to see that Dolly is teary-eyed as well when Duke pulls her in for a kiss on the cheek. I blow out a slow exhale, worried about the serious crack in my wall of defenses.
Just stay away from him. Nothing will happen if you keep your distance.
Duke goes to sit down right by Pops. He immediately grabs the napkin on the table to wipe something off of his face. I nearly fall out of my chair at the scene, but I manage to regain composure when Rosie stands to give her speech.
I try to pay attention.
“Well, at the same time that Duke was oblivious to the painfully obvious chemistry and attraction between Dolly and Sam, I was silently cheering them on. Because, hello, it was like the worst-kept secret of all time.”
My eyes roam back over to Duke. He’s coming back to the table, where Pops is seated with a glass of water.
He sits back down and lifts the glass to Pops’s mouth to help him take a sip.
A girl I don’t recognize with long auburn hair walks over to Duke, pulling him into a tight hug.
She’s telling him something about how great his speech was, and of course, she’s gorgeous.
I grab my glass of wine, chugging half of it. The burn down my throat feels good, a distraction I needed.
I’ll stay only long enough to be polite. I’ll complain about a headache and go to bed early.
As soon as Rosie’s speech ends, the first dance starts. I go over to the bar area that’s set up under the back porch. The reception really came together well for how quickly they had to plan it. I know it’s basically all Rosie and Dolly did for the past few weeks.
I grab an open bottle of rosé and refill my glass. A warmth behind me makes the hair on the back of my neck prickle. I set the bottle down, inhaling the leather and mint.
“You gonna keep hiding from me, darlin’?”
I slowly release an exhale before shaking my head.
“Then dance with me.” His lips are right next to my ear. The warmth of his breath sends a trickle of awareness down my spine.
Danger. Danger.
“Come on. It’s a party,” he whispers.
A ghost of a kiss so light on my neck makes me wonder if I imagined it.
Where’s the girl with the auburn hair?
I finally spin around to face him, having to tilt my head back to look up at him. If I dance with him, I’m at risk of doing so much more. Last time, I let him finger me in his truck in a fucking parking lot.
Now we’re on his ranch. I’m kid-free.
I feel like Eve in the garden, being handed a juicy red apple when all I’ve ever tasted before was dirt.
Looking into his bright cerulean eyes seals the deal. I feel myself nodding. He doesn’t smirk triumphantly, like I assumed he would. Instead, he takes my wineglass from me and sips from the part where my lipstick stained the rim before setting it down on the bar.
He reaches down for my hand, tugging me behind him to the dance floor. Couples are all around us. I spot the girl who was smiling at Duke with a short, handsome guy, flushing with embarrassment at my assumption.
Jo is dancing with Grady. Holden has one of the twins and Rosie on his arm, swaying to the slow country song Monroe is singing.
Cash is watching the superstar country singer with hearts in his eyes.
Sterling and Eden are on the edge of the floor, his arms wrapped around her from the back, cupping her belly.
I realize that he’ll be staying with her in the bunkhouse, and I should probably give them some privacy since they’re newlyweds who haven’t seen each other in a while.
I could stay at Rosie and Holden’s. Yes, I’ll do that.
Duke grabs my left hand and places it on his shoulder. He tugs me closer by my waist, our bodies almost flush together.
“How are you liking your stay at Redford Ranch?”
I avoid looking up at him, worried about the short-term effects of his concern to my self-control.
“I’m really enjoying it, but I’ll be out of your hair soon. I’m looking for a new apartment.”
“Really? It was that bad?”
I nod. “The building’s structural integrity was compromised. I’m not even allowed back inside mine. They’re afraid the whole thing could collapse.”
“Damn. You know you can stay as long as you need, right?”
“Rosie and Holden have expressed it many times. I’m eternally grateful for your family’s generosity.”
“I bet the boys are loving it.”
“Oh, they are. They insist on going outside every morning to check on the cows. They want to be cowboys when they grow up.”
“They’re already cowboys. I’m having a lot of fun teaching them to rope.”
I swallow, nodding as I finally look up at him. He seems so genuine. After the emotional best-man speech he gave and the clear caretaking side of him when it comes to his terminally ill father, I’m wondering why exactly I’ve been resisting him this entire time.
He peers down at me, his eyes studying my facial features like he’s trying to memorize me.
“What about you? What do you like about Redford Ranch?” He adjusts his hold on me, our bodies a sliver closer than they were before.
“I like the plants.”
“The plants?”
“Yeah, like Rosie’s garden. She has blackberry bushes, herbs, tomatoes, jalapenos. Everything to make homemade salsa and fresh spices to cook with.”
He nods. “Oh, yeah, she’s great at that.”
I suddenly find myself very curious about Rosie’s and his relationship in high school. I wonder if he’s still hurt about it at all or if it’s water under the bridge now. It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask, but the song ends, and he steps away from me.
He tips his cowboy hat. “Thank you for the dance, ma’am.” He winks at me, turns, and leaves.
I blow out a breath, wishing I could squelch the disappointment in my gut.
“It’s fine, really, Dallas. You can sleep here,” Eden says, but her words don’t match the way she’s clinging to her husband, who she hasn’t seen in weeks.
“I already planned on giving you the place for the night. There’s like, a hundred rooms open at the main house, and the boys aren’t even here.”
Sterling nods, clearly glad I’m leaving. “You need help with your bag?”
I shake my head, slinging the new canvas tote I bought over my shoulder. “Nope. I lost pretty much everything in the fire, so, you know, it’s kind of light.”
He nods again, and I almost laugh at how obvious he’s being that he’s ready to be alone with his wife. And I’m not jealous at all. Not even a little bit.
“Good night!” I wave at them as I walk out the door and close it behind me.
It’s pitch-black, but the light from the porch here and the ones still on at the main house are enough to illuminate my path. Every step I take closer to the big house makes my heart thunder louder in my chest, until it’s a gong in my ears.
I go to the back porch entrance, quietly sliding the door open. I make my way to the kitchen to get a glass of water. The digital clock on the oven says it’s one fifteen in the morning. I grab a cup from the cabinet and fill it with water from the fridge, listening for any sign of movement.
Rosie told me to sleep in Dolly’s old room, which has been set up as a guest room.
Maybe Duke is already in bed. That would be good, ideal really. I’ve had a little too much wine, and I’m missing my boys. The last thing I want is to end up in bed with a younger man out of loneliness.
I chug the entire glass of water and fill it up again. When I turn back around, I nearly jump out of my skin when I see a huge male body leaning back against the kitchen island, wearing only gray sweatpants. His arms are crossed, the pink skin of the brand on his muscular chest drawing my eye.
I gulp, refusing to check him out despite the strong desire to run my eyes over him.
“Need anything?” Duke asks.
I shake my head. “I, uh, wanted to give Sterling and Eden some privacy.”
He nods, licking his lips. The huge kitchen feels like it’s smaller than it’s ever been before. I should walk away and go to the guest room, but my feet won’t move. The hum of the refrigerator fills the silence.
“I loved your speech,” I finally say.
He pushes off the counter, dropping his arms and giving me an uninhibited view of his abs. He stalks toward me slowly and purposefully. My pulse skyrockets. He takes my bag off my shoulder and the glass of water from my hand before turning around and walking toward the hallway.
“Come on.”
I follow after him, my empty hands feeling awkward. I’m still wearing my yellow bridesmaid dress. We walk right past Dolly’s old room. The door is closed.
“Um …”
“Pops is in there now. The stairs got too hard on his knees.”
He leads me up to a door, opening it to reveal a large, very male room. It has a massive four-poster cedar bed and a cowhide rug on the floor.
“Don’t worry; I replaced the mattress when Holden moved out. No one else has slept on it besides me, and I changed the sheets for you.”
I bite my lower lip. “How did you know I was coming over?”
“Sterling texted me.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
I want to climb you like a tree right now.
I manage not to say it out loud, but it’s all I can think about.
He sets my bag on the bed and my water glass on the nightstand.
I notice his boots from the wedding in the corner of the room.
The faint scent of his cologne wafts through the space.
My body physically aches with the desire to make him stay in here with me.
After I got divorced and had to split custody, the nights I spend alone without my boys are the hardest. I lie awake, tossing and turning and worrying about them with Matt. Dutton has nightmares sometimes and crawls into bed with me. Dawson often wakes up and joins him, and they’re both so cuddly.
I sit on the edge of the bed, peering up at him.
“What’s that look for, Mamas?” He steps closer to me, tilting my chin up to look at him.
I wet my lips before boldly grabbing his hand and pulling him over until he sits on the bed.
“Stay,” I murmur, grabbing my bag and going into the bathroom.
I step into the shower and rinse off, soaping up the important parts and washing my face.
I try not to think about this being Duke’s shower.
I change into my new purple cotton pajama shorts quickly, paring it with a plain white tank top.
I brush my teeth and gargle mouthwash before using the cheap baby lotion I bought as moisturizer.
It’s all I could afford on my run to get the essentials after the fire and having to stock up on clothes and shoes for the boys.
Even the drugstore-brand skin care is outrageously expensive for me on my single-mom bartender budget.
I pull the few pins out of my hair and run my fingers through it before finally turning back toward the room, hoping he didn’t leave.
When I step back into it, I sigh in relief when I see that he’s lounging back on the pillows. He looks like he’s modeling the bedding with one arm tucked back behind his head.
I climb up into it and slip under the covers. When I lay my head down on the pillow, he looks over at me, his expression unreadable. My body is hyperaware of his, every nerve ending extra sensitive.
I close my eyes and sigh. “Good night.”