Page 11 of Seeking Her Studs

“I’ve just come to get my Gram’s camper.” She straightens herself out. “You won’t have to worry about me much longer.”

“Oh?” Briggs cocks his head in genuine confusion. I see Blaire trying to actively not look below his neck at his shirtless chest. “And just how do you think you’re going to get that out of here?”

“Nice to see you, too, Briggs. Man, you three really know how to make a lady feel welcome.” She shakes her head as she makes her way to the gigantic silver bullet that reminds us of her every time we see it.

We all lean back and watch because there is no way in hell we’re missing this show. What does she think she’s going to do? Pop the hood open and get it working in no time? Briggs has worked days just to clear the weeds off of it.

She fumbles with the door, but it’s locked.

“Keys on top of the front tire.” Briggs says flatly.

She takes a deep breath and heads to the front tire and returns to the door without so much as a glance back at us. She opens it up and immediately I see her shoulders go rigid.

“How’s it lookin’?” I say, not hiding the entertainment from my voice.

“Good,” she says unconvincingly. “Just in need of some modern touches and it will be good as new.”

“Mhm,” Colt mutters under his breath as he leans further back against the hood of his truck, getting comfortable.

She disappears into the trailer and I spot her in the front where the driver’s seat is. That damn thing can’t smell great at this point.

She pushes the key into the ignition. She’s out of her mind if she thinks there is a chance the engine will start. It’s been sitting for five years untouched and was barely touched in the last years of her Gram’s life. A dead battery is just the start of her problems. But I don’t expect her pretty chauffered butt to know a thing about something like that.

Speaking of chauffeurs, where is hers? It just dawns on me that the usual team that swarms around her isn’t here. I don’t think I’ve seen her go this long without at least fielding a call from her she-devil agent.

Blaire appears again at the door, this time with all that confidence and bravado looking a bit lackluster.

“Okay, well I’ll get a mechanic to look at it,” she looks back hesitantly. “I guess I can just stay here for a little until he gets here.”

“That’s not just a day’s fix,” Colt points out.

“Yeah,” she nods, looking more and more uncomfortable. “Of course not. Well, I’ll be completely out of your hair here until it can drive. You won’t even notice me.”

She is so out of her depth. She has no idea what she’s even suggesting right now.

“Are you talking about spending the night there? There’s no running water in that.” Briggs points out the bare minimum of issues with her idea.

“Right,” she says, biting her bottom lip anxiously, and I can see her mind racing. Normally, it would be an easy decision. She would head back to Hollywood and hire a team of professionals to take on this project. It’s not like she doesn’t have the money. But I know it’s more complicated than that because I know her Gram and what she wanted for Blaire. We’ve been waiting for Hollywood’s princess to show up on our doorstep. I just didn’t think it would take five years for her to fulfill her Gram’s wishes.

She just stands there looking like she’s completely lost.

Finally, Colt takes a deep sigh and stares right at her. “Just cut the bullshit, Hollywood. We know your Grandma wanted you to fix this up yourself. But showing up in Solace Springs without the fan club of employees that follows you around doesn’t seem like a smart choice. Do you even know how to call a mechanic? Hell, do you even know how to drive?”

He’s a man of few words, but when he uses them, they always cut right to the bone.

“I don’t owe you an explanation.” She marches towards the trunk and hops up onto the wheel to grab her suitcase. She tugs at it but can’t lift it, so she tugs harder and loses balance. Colt is right behind her and steadies her by the waist. An unexpected flash of envy roils through me at his hands on her.

“Now, what are you trying to do?” He asks dryly, like she’s a fly in his honey.

“I’m getting my things so I can call a taxi.” She huffs as she steps down from the tire and tries a different tactic by going around to the back of the truck.

Colt sighs and lifts her ridiculously large luggage up out of the truck bed in one easy motion and starts walking toward the ranch.

“Hey!” She shouts at him and paces after him. “What are you doing?”

“Bringing your luggage to the guest room.” He says, as if this is the most obvious thing in the world.

Briggs and I look at each other in the same way I imagine the staff of the Titanic did when they accepted it was going down.

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