Chapter 13
As soon as dawn comes, we’re up and dressed.
“Let’s stay a little longer.” Logan’s request causes me to drop my shoe, and I look back at him.
His eyes are bleary from lack of sleep, but the tiredness can’t hide the emotion lurking in his gaze.
Our night is over. And it will be months before we touch each other so intimately again.
“What are you asking?” I say.
“I’m not sure.”
We study each other in silence for over thirty seconds.
Then, Logan reaches out and pulls me into his arms. “I like the way things are between us, Mace,” he says. “But that was one hell of a night.”
“Best ever,” I say honestly. “My one night with Mr. Darcy is something I’ll always cherish.”
“I’m glad. You know I’ll be your Darcy whenever you need me.”
Logan pulls on his clothes, and we drive into town. I’ve just caught sight of The Cowherd up ahead when Logan abruptly slows the truck to a stop and pulls over to the curb.
“Hey.” He catches my wrist as I turn for the door. “I have an idea. Let’s hang out today.”
I furrow my brow. “But I have to work just like you do.”
“When was the last time you took the day off?”
I open my mouth to remind him of taking my father to his latest rehab stint.
“Not for your daddy.”
“Well…” I think. “Mama needed my help with Free last month when she…”
“For you, Mace.” He narrows his eyes. “A day just for you.”
I look down at the dash. “I don’t know. It’s been a long time.”
“Exactly why we need to change that. Right now.” He turns off the truck and faces me. “You and me. All day. Starting…” He looks at the nonexistent watch on his bare wrist. “Now.”
I roll my eyes. “You’re not wearing a watch, Logan.”
“I know. And neither are you. We’re not keeping time today. We’re going to do whatever the heck we want. What do you say?”
I think for about a second. “Yes,” I say, smiling at him. “Sounds perfect.”
His eyes light up, and I know I’ve surprised him. “Cool. Let’s go.”
We exit the truck, and he comes around to the sidewalk to meet me. He sticks his hands in his pants pockets and extends his elbow. I take it.
“First stop?” I say. “My duplex so I can change.”
I shower and change into a pair of cut-offs and a purple tank top with the word Relax written on it, and then we walk to Logan’s.
While Logan showers, I call George and ask him to take my shift.
Once Logan’s ready to leave, we go beg his brothers to cover his chores for the day. They’re resistant, but all it takes is a reminder of how Logan worked the last three New Year’s days, one for each of his three brothers, and they all agree to pitch in.
And then, we’re free. Just Logan and me, hanging out for the day.
Nothing to do for anybody else? I don’t know what that feels like.
I glance at Logan, who’s studying my face.
“This is weird,” I admit. “I kind of have no clue what to do now.”
He wraps his arm around my shoulders and leads me into his tiny, but private, backyard.
His grassy yard is directly behind his cottage, and the view of the Wilds’ expansive ranch land spreads out before us.
“You’ve still got some!” I point to the colored flowers dotting Logan’s lawn.
At this time of year, the wildflowers are usually all gone, but where it’s shady, sometimes you can find a few.
Logan bends down and plucks a couple of pretty blue wildflowers from the ground. Without warning, he tucks them into my hair just behind my ear.
“How do I look?”
“Gorgeous. Like always.”
I smile, knowing he just made me blush. “You’re a charmer, Mr. Wild.”
We sit down next to each other on the wooden porch swing, and Logan’s arm automatically goes across the back of the swing. I lean back so my hair’s touching his forearm, and he plays with the ends of my hair as we rock back and forth.
We’re joking about how long it will take the guys to clean out the stalls this morning when Reid rides through the closest field.
“This is what you gave up work for?” he calls out from atop his horse.
“You wouldn’t understand, dumbass,” Logan calls back. “And those stalls aren’t going to clean themselves, you know.”
Reid turns to leave but, with an irritating grin, throws over his shoulder, “You two are like an old married couple.”
“Hey!” I shout at him. “We are not!”
Reid laughs. “It’s just a figure of speech. Did I touch a nerve?”
And he’s gone. He’s always known how to poke at Logan and me.
I roll my eyes. “Your brother.”
“You don’t have to tell me.”
“Do he and Maren have anything going on between them?” I ask him.
“Your little sister’s best friend?” He furrows his brow. “Not that I know of. Why?”
I tell him how pissed off she seemed during the Derby. “She did not want someone else getting a date with Reid. That was clear.”
“But Reid’s dating Daisy. Or screwing her. Maybe Maren doesn’t know that, though.”
“Or maybe she doesn’t find Daisy to be a threat because she knows that woman doesn’t want something serious.”
“So, you think if Reid started to date someone for real, Maren would be bothered?” Logan tugs gently at the ends of my hair. “She’s a cute girl. But she’s too young for Reid.”
“Well, I agree with you there. For now,” I add. “But in a few years? She could be just what he needs.”
Logan stands up. “How about we go for a ride together? Then, we’ll get breakfast.”
I stand with him, but I put my hand on his arm and angle him in the direction of the main house. “Can we flip those two things? I’m starved.”
“How about we compromise?” Logan says. “We’ll grab food from the house and bring it with us on our ride.”
I sit atop Queen, the “lady” of the stables as Logan’s dad likes to call her, while Logan mounts Dexter. Thanks to Mrs. Wild, we’ve got a picnic breakfast tucked into the bag on Logan’s lap.
It’s already ridiculously hot out, despite it not being close to midday, and I wipe the sweat off my forehead as Queen breaks into a canter.
I’ve got one of Logan’s spare cowboy hats on my head, thank God, so my face is shielded from the sun, but I’m still hotter than I would be sitting inside an air-conditioned bar right now.
And yet, there’s no place I’d rather be than riding next to my best friend as we head through his family’s massive acreage toward our favorite overlook.
“Whoa.” Logan barely has to pull on the reins, and Dexter slows to a stop.
I call out to Queen, and she slows to a walk and then stops when we reach Logan at the top of the hill.
“Look at that.” I point to the scattering of green and gold and purple below. “It’s like you can see all of Hill Country from here.”
“I love this spot,” Logan agrees.
I jump off Queen, and Logan and I tie up the horses over by a small spring-fed pool tucked in the shade beneath some oak trees. We set down our bag on the flat rock a few feet away.
We sit and eat our breakfast of bacon strips and fried egg English muffin sandwiches, and I use my phone to take pictures of the wildflower beds below.
“Wildflowers would look nice in a wedding bouquet,” I say randomly.
Logan jerks his head to me. “What did you just say?”
I shake off the heat filling my cheeks. It’s just the sun. “Nothing,” I say. “Don’t know where that came from.”
“It sounded like Macey Henwood was talking about a wedding fantasy,” he says in his slow drawl.
“I must still be caught up in last night,” I say.
He puts his large, callused hand on my cheek. “Fantasies are fun to play around with.”
He brushes my skin gently, and before I realize what’s happening, his lips are on mine. Hard and soft at the same time. Only Logan can pull off that erotic-as-hell combination. His tongue slips between my lips. And then, he tastes me. Every damn inch of my mouth until I’m moaning.
He abruptly breaks away, and it takes every ounce of willpower inside of me not to grab him back and kiss him myself.
“Sorry,” he murmurs.
His eyes are filled with an intensity that I literally watch him blink away until all I can see is his calm, rebellious expression.
“Shit. I think last night messed with our heads,” he says in a hoarse tone.
“I think it did.” I turn away from him and stare out at the rolling hills.