Page 38 of Revelry
He snatched it before it hit the floor and smoothed his hand over the material. “No.”
“Tate,” I pleaded. “You can’t go to a Halloween party without a costume.”
He looked off to the side, his jaw working overtime at the grinding factory and he clicked his fingers three times. I frowned, he’d done that a few times now, was it some kind of tic or habit? Was he more anxious than I thought? He joked he was dressed as someone who socialized and that it was scary, but was he actually not joking at all?
“I’m not going to steer you wrong, Tate. Trust me.”
He sighed before he began unbuttoning his shirt.
I could say I was respectful and looked away.
But I would be a liar.
The hint of tan skin at the base of his throat. The smoothness of his collarbone. The wide expanse of chest that appeared. The dusting of dark hair that trailed beneath his jeans had me gripping the wardrobe doors tighter to stop my buckling knees.
Fuck he was hot.
Like five-alarm fire, Carolina Reaper pepper, stop me in my tracks, make my mouth pool with saliva,hot.
H.A.W.T.
He switched the shirts over, buttoned it up and I came to my senses when I watched him meticulously fold the denim shirt and put it on the edge of the bed. Oh shit the bed. Where he slept. Probably naked. And did other things. My cheeks heated and I spun back to the wardrobe and gave it my total focus.You swore off men, remember?
On the top shelf I spotted exactly what I was looking for and tossed him the black Stetson. Then snagged the brown leather chaps hanging there.
“Well howdy, cowboy,” I teased in a southern drawl, then winked at him.
He almost smiled. I could see he wanted to. Saw his muscles fight against it but that was enough for me. He strapped the chaps on, and I was just glad I’d already seen him in them so I was at least prepared for the vision.
But I was not prepared for the way he put his hat on and ran his finger along the brim before dipping his head slightly and sayingma’amin a southern drawl.
I choked. Actually choked. I slapped my chest a few times while he raised a curious eyebrow at me until I gave him a thumbs up.
Fuck.
He had no clue what he looked like, did he? I was going to be fighting the women off him all night. All there in their sexy nurse outfits. Rage flooded my veins and a possessiveness I’d never felt before consumed me.
He tutted, looking down at himself. “Ah, not full cowboy. I haven’t got any spurs.”
My tongue felt twenty times heavier when I said, “Trust me, sugar. No one’s gonna be looking at your feet.”
We eventually made it outside. I had planned to let him drive us in his truck, however I figured he might need a few drinks to ease into the night.
After he locked up, I gestured towards Princess. “Come on.”
“Seriously?” He folded his arms across his full chest, probably hoping to look allI’m putting my foot downbut instead he just looked allfuck me now.
“Don’t be that guy who’s masculinity is too fragile to get into a little pink car driven by a girl.”
He shook his head. “This isn’t a pride thing, it’s a size thing. I’m big.”
My eyes lazily tracked his body, landing on his crotch which was unfairly highlighted by the chaps.I’ll bet.“You’ll cope for one night.”
He rolled his eyes but went around to the passenger side. I was in and turning the key in the ignition before he had one leg inside. There was a lot of grunting and maneuvering but eventually he was tucked inside safely, his knees to his chest. He shot me a vicious look when I giggled.
The drive was fairly silent. Tate wasn’t a big talker, but I didn’t mind. Normally I was the chattiest of chatterboxes but actually the silence felt comfortable. I didn’t need to fill it, his company was very calming. I hummed along with the radio and before I knew it, we were parking outside The Lonely Bison.
The saloon doors with the bison skull etched on them were draped with spider webbing and someone had drawn bloody fangs on the bison. He was now a vampire bison. I pointed it out to Tate gleefully, but he just grunted.
