Page 16 of Wicked Cowboy
The marriage was serious for him. Much more than finding out how we were… in bed. I massaged the back of my neck to calm down and propelled myself toward him. “What about Chelsea?”
He opened the door wider and I grabbed my pocketbook. “My dad is registering her for her new school this morning, but we can tell her whenever you want.”
Fair enough. I was more at ease with tasks to accomplish in my day anyhow, so I headed out with him. “Let’s go then.”
We headed to the front door and he held it for me.
Neither of us said a word, but he led me to a blue pick up truck and held my door for me.
For a rich man, his truck seemed… practical, but somehow that made my nerves relax. We couldn’t be alike. Once he joined me and started his truck with an old set of keys instead of a button, he asked, “Do you want to send for anything from your home?”
My eyes narrowed as I tried to guess why he drove such an old truck. Did he lose a bet? Was he more down-to-earth than his house suggested? I ignored the questions as secondary because I never cared about my outfits much and focused on his words. I scratched my scalp and asked, “Send?”
He patted my arm and a shock of awareness washed through me as he said, “If you hand over the key, I can have someone go and pack whatever you need and have it to you tonight.”
“How? That’s fast?”
“I have staff and a jet.”
Money fixed almost everything. At some point, I needed to tell my sisters, but I hoped that would be with a wedding invitation in hand. I forced my back to push into the chair and nodded, “I do miss having more clothes and I'd like the pictures of my family off the wall.”
He tapped the wheel. “Is that all?”
I pressed my lips, pictured my apartment with a refrigerator full of hospital cafeteria food and didn’t really see anything else as truly important. I snapped my fingers as a memory hit. “I have a few pieces of my mom’s jewelry.”
His gaze briefly met mine as we drove and he said, “You’ll have it all tonight.”
This hadn’t been how I expected today, but I turned closer to him and my lips went up. “Thanks.”
We drove to the courthouse I’d spent hours in yesterday.
I recognized the signs now as he said, “Trust me.”
I cooled down with his air conditioning now hitting my skin. “I do, Carter. I don’t know why. The only thing I know about you is that you were friends with good people, and you dance pretty well.”
He grimaced like I'd insulted him. “I don’t dance.”
I thought he remembered, and I tilted my head. “You danced with me at the wedding.”
He took the exit for the town. Once we were on Main Street, he said, “Oh, you were my exception.”
“That doesn’t count. It was tradition.”
“It counts. It was you.”
My heart thudded in my chest a little. Seriously? Me. A small sigh escaped my lips and my face heated. “That sounds nice. Tell me more about your likes.”
We passed clothing stores, bakeries, cafes, jewelers, banks, and pretty much everything a small town might have on the main street. “I served my country for ten years. It’s never been about what I like.”
“Modest, then.” The words came out fast and I swallowed. I traced the cloth seat beside me. “I’ve been to your house. You had a lifetime of getting whatever your heart desires.”
He headed away from the main street and was getting closer. “I was never in want, if that’s the question.”
“You seem…grounded, but part of me thinks you want to get married so you get to take care of those you love and have a little help.”
“Help would be nice, yeah.” He massaged his cheek like he was checking his stubble. “I enjoy working with my horses these days. I think I can make Henry a champion.”
Interesting. He was handsome, rich, and nice. There was probably a line of women who wanted to be his, but I didn’t ask and instead raised my eyebrow. “Henry?”
