Page 28 of The Devil in Blue Jeans
“Fun leads to relationships,” Charly reminded her friends. “I can’t do a relationship. Not even a casual one. I haven’t even dealt with my last one. Shouldn’t I at least talk to Marcel before I end up in someone else’s bed?”
Aubrey shrugged. “Nothing wrong with rebound.”
“When you’re emotionally put together,” Charly said. “Which I am definitely not.” The anger of Marcel’s betrayal burned within her. Her heart still bled. “I don’t want to make my life more complicated than it already is.”
“That’s fair,” Willow said.
Charly grabbed one of the muffins for the road and her to-go cup and said, “All right, I’m doing this. Wish me luck.”
Willow chuckled. “You can do it!”
“Good luck,” Aubrey said, and as Charly headed down the hallway, she heard Aubrey add, “She’s totally going to sleep with him.”
“My bets on that too,” Willow said with a laugh.
Charly sighed...again. She pushed those thoughts aside and smiled in pride at the house around her. They’d made their home truly theirs. After they moved in, they’d pooled together all their money and hired a construction company to strip the walls, floors, crown molding, and window and door trim down to the core before refinishing everything in red mahogany. The peeling wallpaper was gone, with most of the walls now painted white in various shades bringing character to each room. The old house looked as if it was back in its prime with the same character that Charly had fallen in love with.
A part of her thought that’s what she had done with the bar. But now she wondered if she’d gone too far and changed it too much.
Ignoring Willow and Aubrey still chatting in the kitchen, she hurried out the front door and got into her four-door sedan. She typed Jaxon’s address into Google Maps that he texted her last night, and was on the road a moment later, scarfing down her muffin. The road was quiet and peaceful and everything at one time in her life she would’ve hated. She’d always loved the city, the adventure, the excitement, people, the noise even, but now she couldn’t find love in any of that anymore. It all reminded her of a life she wanted to forget and the pain she refused to face.
Twenty minutes later, the feminine voice indicated through the car’s speakers that she had arrived. Yet again, the view stole the very air from her lungs.
The soft yellow light of the summer morning filtered through one of the old oak trees atop the hill. Charly drove up the driveway, taking in the shimmering vision of the horse ranch laid out before her. The fields were lush and verdant, the tall grasses rippling in the gentle breeze. The outbuildings, mostly faded red, and white barns, were clustered around the main house, and there were several smaller buildings scattered around them. At the far end of the field, she could make out a pasture filled with horses, each one more beautiful than the last.
As she pulled up to the log house, parking next to a truck, the front door opened, and Jaxon came out on the porch. She swallowed deeply, pushing the rising heat in her core far...far...down. Leaning against the porch’s railing, he wore a white T-shirt, worn blue jeans and scuffed-up cowboy boots. And goddamn did he fill out his jeans close to a perfection that no man should be able to do.
Worst of all, seeing that knowing smirk on his face that declared he knew she liked what she saw made her want to bleach her eyes out for how they betrayed her.
After she stepped out, shutting the car’s door behind her, his heated gaze raked over her from head to toe.
When his eyes met hers again, he grinned. “Looking like a cowboy.”
She refused to squirm under his potent stare, staying tall and firm. “Figured wearing this was better than high heels.”
His low chuckle brushed delicately across her. “Yeah, probably a wise decision.” He came down the rest of the steps, and surprising her, he leaned in and kissed her cheek.
She attempted to fight leaning into him, and she failed miserably. The moment his lips met her skin, the memory of him kissing his way down her neck and his low groans squeezed her thighs tight for the friction. The pleasure he had offered, making her lose her mind, all came back to her, prickling goose bumps across her skin.
No!
She clamped down on those thoughts, pulling away. She needed to get over one heartbreak before letting anything happen again.
His red flags, Charly. All the red flags!
“All right,” she said, purposely taking a full step back, “what’s exactly the plan here?”
He tracked her movement and grinned. “I suggest you let the girls know you’ll be here for four days, so they’ll have to cover you.”
“Four days?” she blessedly managed not to gasp. “We never agreed to that. I’m here for today, that’s it.”
He watched her closely then offered an easy shrug. “If you really want to see what life in Timber Falls is all about then you’re going to have to experience what cowboys do. You won’t get the full understanding from being here for a day.” He cocked his head, arching a brow. “Unless learning about the people of Timber Falls isn’t really that important to you.”
Oh, the jerk.“You know it’s important. I’ll decide if I need more than one day here.”
His mouth twitched, his eyes all but laughing at her as he waved out. “As you wish.” She stepped into stride with him as they headed toward the red barn and he continued, “We’ve got a busy four days coming up at the ranch, but they’re some of the most important.”
“Why?” she asked, glancing around the farm seeing a few farmhands working about, pushing wheel barrels and walking horses to the fields.
