Page 14 of Catching Coy
“Lucy.” Then his cheeks lit on fire.
Zane burst into laughter. “Things went good with you guys yesterday.”
Coy nodded. “The physical attraction is definitely there. Now we just need to have a conversation.”
Zane laughed again. “Okay, next?”
“Charlotte.”
“Obviously. I like her. Did you notice the way she sat in back with Stella and brought her into all the conversations?”
Coy had. “She’s so kind. I like that. Gillian,” he added next.
His best friend nodded in agreement. “And who else?” Zane pulled into the driveway.
Willa.
Maybe.
Bristol?
Maybe.
Stella?
He didn’t know. He didn’t know her. “That’s where things get tricky.” He pushed open his door the same time Zane did, and they headed for the house in silence. Coy paused when they reached the steps. “No thinking; who would you pick for me?”
“Bellamy.” Then Zane turned and gave Coy a mischievous grin.
“Very helpful, man.” But a trickle of warmth slid through Coy, flowing around his chest and into his heart, urging him to use the warm summer night to walk back to the Ranch House and get to know her better.
“I’m not completely joking.” Zane’s expression turned contemplative and he stuck his hands in his pockets and leaned against the side of the house that stuck out around the porch. “There’s a look on your face when I mention her or when she’s just been around. I know you have obligations to all of this, but don’t dismiss her. You might regret it.”
Coy sat down in the swing. “And what about my obligations here? My contract?”
“Take it from someone who knows your contract inside and out—it doesn’t say anywhere that you’re obligated to marry one of those women.” Zane pointed back up the road. “It says you have to stay here for six weeks anddatethose women. All of which you could do while also investigating further your feelings for Bellamy.”
“Yeah…” Coy sat back and ran his hands through his hair. He shook his head. He just wished he could have more time to investigate those feelings with Bellamy, but she kept backing away, worried, maybe like him, about what he was supposed to be doing here. So how did he convince her to take a leap with him?
Chapter Nine
Willa, 28
Waitress
Nashville, Tennessee
“This place is just so magical. I’ve never been so inspired. I hope I get to stay for a very, very long time.”
* * *
Agnes had goneover to Portia’s cabin to spend the evening, probably to make sure the host didn’t spend half the night at The Wildflower Saloon, which was rumored to be the reason she’d been so late bringing over the date cards that morning. Agnes had asked Bellamy to keep an eye on things, which Bellamy could have done from her apartment upstairs. But she chose to believe that Agnes literally wanted her to keep an eye on the women, so she camped out in her office, shamelessly listening in on the conversations about how the first team date had gone.
Willa strummed on and off on her guitar, pausing to scribble on paper, a sound that was very familiar to Bellamy having been living so near to Tag the last couple of years. Sometimes, when he was on a song-writing binge, Roxy would come down to the Ranch House for company. Tag could get so lost in his own world, it left her lonely. He, however, couldn’t stay away for long, and he’d bring his songwriting and guitar playing down to the Ranch House, doing his work from the living room while she and Roxy chatted at the dining room table or something.
“That sounds really good.” Charlotte’s voice interrupted Willa’s latest batch of scribbling, and Bellamy looked up from her phone to see that Charlotte had moved to a chair next to the sofa Willa had spread out on.
“Thanks.” Willa strummed softer, but she turned toward Charlotte. “There’s just something so inspiring about being here. Maybe it’s Taggart Dubois…” She chuckled to herself and then went on. “Or maybe it’s love, right?”
