Page 12 of Catching Coy
“Ahh. Tabloids say she’s pregnant.”
Bellamy had to laugh. “They’ve been saying that since about an hour after they got married.” She should let the meat rest longer. Her mama had taught her better, but Bellamy had to get out of here. She busied herself with slicing the tender roast.
“Well?” Coy slid off the island and came toward her, leaning against the counter next to her. It put him way too close to her for comfort.
She gave him a nod and then put her finger to her lips. She laid the newly cut slices of meat on the plate, and then sliced a few more pieces of roast for Zane, whenever he showed up.
“You going to eat with me?” Coy asked, picking up the plate of his food.
“No.” She had to laugh. “I don’t think I’m supposed to do that.” She turned away again, hoping to hide the way heat rose in her cheeks along with an image of kissing Coy on the pretty white sectional in the living room.
“Why not?”
Bellamy had to turn back to him, especially since his voice held a lot of challenge rather than curiosity. “How many times do I have to explain that I’m not one of your women?” she teased. “And even if I were, I wouldn’t be allowed unauthorized one-on-one time with you.”
Coy set his plate back down and took another step toward her. “Gunner and Mae snuck out all the time,” he said.
Bellamy smiled. Watching Gunner Bent fall for Mae Charles had been one of the sweeter parts of that season. Everyone, except the other women there, had loved the ways they snuck around, trying to see each other. It was sweetly forbidden, and it made them real.
“Your food is getting cold, Coy Jones.” She pointed to his plate. Her voice had gone soft. She swallowed back the nerves at Coy’s unrelenting gaze.
“Come eat with me?” He snaked an arm out toward her, taking her hand in his. She should pull away, think about Lucy—and Gillian and Charlotte and Willa and all the women less than a quarter mile away, talking about how they were all half in love with Coy Jones already.
But she didn’t care that less than an hour before Coy had probably been kissing Lucy because right now his brown eyes held hers in a way that had her breathing unevenly. “I can’t.”
“Zane’s in town. I think he might have met someone.” Coy wiggled his eyebrows and used their enjoined hands to tug her closer. “Are you going to make me eat alone?”
She slowly slid her hand away and stepped back. “I can’t, Coy Jones,” she insisted. She took another step back. Coy’s eyes followed every step. She opened up a cupboard and pointed out some plastic storage containers. “Put the food away when you’re done?” She hurried out of the kitchen after that, not waiting for his answer. The intense way he’d gazed at her, the thread she’d felt pulling them closer closer closer—she had to escape this feeling before she gave in and kissed Coy Jones in Roxy’s kitchen. Then in her living room. And probably on her couch.
“See you tomorrow!” she called in a cheerful voice, waving over her shoulder as she rushed out the front door and to the side-by-side before Coy caught up with her.
When she pulled up to the gravel drive outside the back door of the Ranch House, she caught a glimpse of the women sitting around the couches in the living room and even a couple at the table, snacking on the dinner leftovers. She wasn’t ready to go in and hear what they had to say about Coy, specifically what Lucy was saying about Coy, even if it would only take her a couple of seconds to dash in and up the back stairs to her apartment on the third floor.
She pulled out her phone and texted Roxy instead.I’m really afraid I want to make out with Coy Jones on your couch.
Chapter Eight
Coy Jones, 27
Charleston, South Carolina
Shooting Guard for the Denver Mountaineers
“Honestly, I didn’t expect to feel this way so soon. I’m already falling for some of the women here.”
* * *
The fact thatbreakfast arrived via one of the Ranch House employees didn’t surprise Coy. The night before, he’d been dangerously close to reeling Bellamy next to him and holding her there in that kitchen. Just staring at her had held more … everything than the entire time he’d spent with Lucy.
He cut off a piece of the strawberries and cream filled crepe and clenched his fists. It wasgood. Everything about Bellamy was good. So much more than good.
And she was pretty much off limits.
Why didn’t you sign up for The Catch, Bellamy?He cut off another bite.
“Gonna be any of that left for me?” Zane pulled on a maroon Sun Devils t-shirt as he appeared from the hallway.
Coy glanced inside the Styrofoam container. Several more crepes were stacked in there, but he didn’t want to share, even though he shouldn’t eat them all. It would make him sick, but irrationally, this was all he had of Bellamy right now. He wanted to keep it to himself.
