Page 26 of Catching Coy
She leaned into the crook of his arm like she had at the Double A cabin during their date and turned her head toward him. “I’m not afraid to let the other women know how I feel about you.” She reached a hand up, guiding his face toward hers.
Coy resisted for a moment, wanting to finish his request before he got lost in the chemistry he shared with Lucy. “This is a Team Date, Luce,” he murmured, holding back a few inches from her lips. “I need to give everyone their time. We’ve had a date to ourselves—”
She moved in for the kiss, grinning up at him when she pulled away. “I’m sorry. The way you called me Luce, it’s like the way—um, the way you look at me and call me a sweet nickname. I couldn’t help myself.”
Coy gave a chuckle. “Please,Luce,help me out here.” He had to pause when she kissed him again, giggling a little as she did so. “We’ll have more one-on-one time,” he murmured.
“I’m here for your heart, Coy,” Lucy said, pausing her sweet attack for a moment, but keeping his face in her hands. “I don’t plan on playing things safe or missing an opportunity to make sure you know how I feel. I’m here for the right reasons, unlike some of the women here.”
His brain caught on the way she’d saidwomen. He’d figured out about Willa’s suspect reasons last night, but were there other women who had said things that made Lucy suspicious? He wasn’t surprised that she was willing to throw them under the bus. She’d just told him she was willing to do what it took for his heart.
But could he ask? He’d asked Bellamy, trusting she would want what was best for him. He couldn’t help thinking that Lucy just wanted him. Period.
He didn’t have to ask. She turned her gaze down and went on. “It’s just that Gillian said some things today that made me pretty sure she’s not here for the right reasons.”
Gillian. It … surprised him, but he realized that he would have never suspected it of Charlotte and certainly not Bellamy. He’d had to beg Bellamy to even consider it.
“She just wants people to know about her cause, you know? And it’s a great cause. I think it’s so important to help girls get involved in whatever activities they want—but give it a rest, right? We’re here to win Coy Jones, not recognition or whatever.”
Coy had to sort these thoughts out, but he couldn’t with Lucy. She’d be critical of Gillian no matter what Coy said. In the few seconds of silence, she slid her fingers up the back of his head, coaxing him down toward her again. It was always easy to get lost in Lucy’s kiss. The gentle way she ran her fingers back down his head and then along his neck to his shoulders. How she moved in closer, creating a space where they moved together for several intoxicating seconds.
“Okay, Lucy,” he whispered. “Now I do have to go be on a date with those other three women. Let me do that, please?”
She huffed, planted one more soft kiss on his lips, and nodded. “Okay, okay.”
But he had to be the one to stand and pull her up. When they approached the picnic table where Bellamy, Gillian, and Charlotte sat, he pulled his hand from hers and sat between Charlotte and Bellamy, making them laugh at him squeezing himself into a too small space.
* * *
Charlotte, 28
Fort Collins, Colorado
NICU Nurse
“Lucy is a threat to all of us. She’s not afraid to pull Coy aside or to make us all know that he’s her boyfriend. It’s … frustrating, yes. But, that’s what this all is, isn’t it? A competition to win Coy’s heart. If I want him to know how amazing I think he is, maybe I need to channel some of her fierceness.”
* * *
When they begantheir hike back down the Paintbrush trail, Coy slipped his hand into Bellamy’s and held them back from the other women. Since her own chest had tightened bit by bit as Bellamy watched Lucy walk hand in hand with Coy earlier, she knew she didn’t imagine the daggers that Lucy and Gillian sent them with their eyes. Charlotte just cast Bellamy a faint smile and hurried up the trail.
“Hey, when we get to the fire pit tonight, I want to make sure we have some time together, okay?” he asked softly.
“Yes, please.” She leaned into him as they walked, letting his warmth spread over her. It was chilly up higher in the mountains, and the hike wasn’t strenuous enough to keep her warm. She welcomed Coy’s help.
“I do need to talk to Gillian about something first, get things cleared up. But I’m going to keep it on a tight schedule and then you and me are spending some quality time together,” he said. Bellamy’s eyebrows shot up. “Unless you want to save me the trouble and let me know why Lucy thinks she’s not here for the right reasons?” His own eyebrow arch was skeptical, an indication that he already knew that Bellamy would decline.
“You know the answer to that, Coy Jones.”
He stopped on the trail, turning so he blocked her from the other women. “It’s not that I want you here to spy, Bells,” he insisted. He put his hands around her waist, pulling her closer and tipping his chin down to stare at her. “Itrustyou. And not just because you’ve seen every episode ofThe Catchthere is.” She gave a mock protest, and then melted when he leaned over and kissed her forehead. He trusted her.Just choose me, Coy Jones. Please just choose me.Like the phone call he’d made, such a simple sentence had banished the angry bees in her stomach that had plagued her this entire date. Watching him laugh with Gillian and Lucy on the drive up. The possessive way Lucy was around Coy. The guilt that came with his easy interactions with Charlotte.
“Although your expertise does help your analyzations,” he teased.
“It’s different on this side,” she said quietly. She saw so much more. The real brightness to Lucy’s eyes when she talked about time with Coy. Knowing that the anger underlying Gillian’s actions came from a place of frustration because she really liked Coy as well. Actually becoming friends with Charlotte. What would it feel like if Coy chose her? She would be happy for him; Charlotte was amazing. But she would hate it fiercely.
“I’m sorry, Bells.” He tightened his hold. “Should I have kept you out of this? Faked the rest of the way because I was falling hopelessly for you?”
Yes.But her stomach churned. Nico and Agnes would have been so upset, and Bellamy couldn’t afford that kind of relationship with them. They had trusted the Ranch House the same way Tag touted to all his A-List friends. The same way they all came to the Ranch House expecting—and always receiving—the utmost respect to their privacy. In one swoop, she could have ruined all of that.
