Page 36 of Wicked Cowboy
He took the phone from me. “Hi, Nicole. Nice to hear your voice.”
Nicole wasted no time and asked, “Are you marrying my sister because you’re in love, or are you just using her?”
Damn. I grabbed for my phone, but he avoided my attempt and told my sister, “Your sister is the best woman I've ever met. I don’t deserve her love.”
Nicole made a "hmmph"sound which made my entire body freeze.
She said, “None of us do.”
At least she wasn’t disloyal. I took my phone back. “We have to go.”
“Okay, I’ll call you later.”
“Bye,” I said and hung up, turning my phone off. We didn’t need another sibling or cousin calling. This was my life to lead and no other opinions were welcome. I hugged my waist. “Sorry, my sister is a big believer in positive talk and creating her own future. She runs a blog.”
He sat on the edge of the bed. “Sounds like a nice gig.”
Why was he here? I… wasn’t sure but decided not to ask. So I sat beside him and folded my hands together, “She means well.” I turned my knees toward him. “What’s going on?”
Goosebumps grew all over me as he said, “My dad wasn’t sure if you had a dress for tomorrow, so he ordered you one.”
Huh? I’d had a magical dress and heels in my size this morning. I raised my eyebrow and asked, “Did Hudson get this dress?”
Carter’s nodded. “Yeah. I didn’t think about clothes.”
My shoulders dropped. “I thought it was you, the staff, or magic. I’ll thank him at lunch.”
He patted my knee. “I came to talk.”
The tension in my neck was back. I rubbed it. “Sure.” But then I looked at my feet. “This feels serious.”
He massaged my back until I glanced up at him and then he said, “I came to make peace. Sorry about earlier.”
Apologizing to me? My eyes widened as I asked, “Why?”
He held his head down and his cheeks almost seemed red. “When you mentioned money, my mother’s memory came to life.”
“I understand.” I hugged him. Today was emotional. We were both friends with Chelsea’s parents.
I tapped my hands together. “Look, I didn’t even read the numbers until Frank mentioned it today.”
His eyebrow quirked up. “I immediately assumed when you mentioned numbers that you wanted more and I didn’t process that you hadn’t even read it.”
“It is probably hard to believe.” My skin jolted and I pivoted away as I fixed my hair. The last thing I could admit was that I was falling for him. “I did, but I somehow missed that part, or I guess I turned a blind eye.”
He placed his hand on my knee and I melted.
I wasn’t myself with him, but I turned toward him when he asked, “Why? You were hesitant to move down here because you cared about giving up the financial security of your job.”
True, but I figured whatever the number was, it was enough. I skipped over the whole thing and ignored how my skin was on pins and needles.
“I… honestly, I have a hard time seeing myself as some lady with her own hair salon and personal stylists. I’ve not lived outside of work since my own mother died.”
He lowered his voice, but his hand didn’t move. “It’s one of the traits I like about you.”
I scooted closer and said, “I cared for my dying mother every day for a long nine months and never cared about makeup. And none of my patients listened if I tried to be pretty instead of practical.”
“That’s because you’d steal their breath away.”
