Page 134 of The Brothers at Horseshoe Ranch

“Yeah, you were. Otherwise, why would you bring it up?”

“You’re too much, Beau Hamilton.”

“Well, you haven’t had enough of me to say that quite yet.” He licked his lips, staring into my eyes as he did so.

“I do think that you are rather full of yourself.”

“Maybe,” he said. “But in all seriousness, I do want to talk to you. I have a suggestion.”

“I’m not going to have a sexual escapade with you in the stables, in the barn, in your bedroom, in my bedroom, or at all,” I said. “In case that’s what you’re going to suggest.”

“You think I would ask you if you wanted to have sex with me like it was some sort of business deal? That’s not sexy or seductive. If you have to plan for sex, then you’re not doing it right.” He leaned forward again. “Trust me, Olivia, when we have sex—because we will have sex—it will be in the heat of the moment. It will be because we are so passionate and can’t keep our hands off each other. I don’t need to make an appointment with you for it. It will just happen. Believe you me. It will just happen.”

“Whatever,” I said, flustered and sure my face was bright red. I could see Amelia and Ranger to the side of the kitchen, looking at me.

“Everything okay?” Amelia said.

“Yeah. Let’s go, Beau.”

“Of course,” he agreed. “Are we going to the bedroom?”

“No!” I hissed. “What if your parents hear you?”

“What if they do?” He grinned. “Wouldn’t that make it even sexier?”

I stared at him, appalled. “Are you fricking joking?”

“I’m teasing you, Olivia,” he said softly. “Now let’s go play. We’ll chat later.”

“Fine.”

As we walked outside, my mind buzzed. What was his plan? What was his suggestion? And did he really mean it when he said we were going to have sex? I thought he was about to write me off completely. Of course, sex didn’t mean we were going to have a relationship, but my body didn’t care about that. My body was buzzing and tingling and feeling all sorts of things that I shouldn’t be feeling among a whole group of people.

I looked back at Beau, taking in his handsome face, sparkling blue eyes, and rugged stature. All I could think about was when our night of passion was going to happen and what he wanted to talk to me about. I was going to have a very hard time concentrating until we had the chat.

But sometimes anticipation makes it even sweeter.

Chapter Forty-Four

Beau

“Can we talk?”

I slid onto the couch next to Olivia as Lucy got up and left the living room. We were all watching an episode of Big Sky, and Austin had hit pause while everyone got refreshments. Austin and Chet had gone to get some more beers, and Lucy was getting cookies and popcorn. Wyatt and Sadie were arguing at the table over a game of chess in the corner, and Arya had gone to check on Eloise, who was already in bed. This was the first opportunity I’d had all night to get Olivia to myself, and I knew I didn’t have a long window of time.

“Sure.”

Olivia’s beautiful brown eyes looked at me curiously. She had a small smile on her face, which I appreciated. Olivia always looked happy to see me, even if she was pissed off at me. I liked the fact that she didn’t act like I was some sort of irritant, which I had found many women did. It annoyed the shit out of me when women acted like bitches to prove a point. I wasn’t the sort of man to play games.

“So I think I told you that we’re planning on building an eco-retreat on the property, right?” I asked her, and she nodded. “It’s to increase revenue, and testing shows us that nature retreats are highly sought after by many families. I want our retreat to be high-class but also fit the setting.”

“It sounds really cool,” she replied. “That’s exciting.”

“It is and it isn’t.” I shrugged. “As a family, we’re quite private, but we need to diversify the business. Our main income is from cattle, and then we have large crops of wheat, potatoes, flax, and garlic. We employ thousands of people within a two-hundred-mile radius. We send kids to college, we have a school on the ranch, we provide scholarships, and we do a lot for the community. I just want to make sure we have the funds for generations to come.”

“I get that.” There was a thoughtful expression on her face. I wondered if she knew that she had the most expressive face. I could always tell what she was thinking and feeling. Maybe I wouldn’t say anything. I didn’t want her to start guarding her emotions around me. It was refreshing to interact with someone that was open and honest.

“You know when you say that, I actually believe it,” I said. “So many people say things they don’t mean or they feign an understanding they don’t have. It drives me crazy. I’m not used to that. In my family, we’re all honest because we all know if we don’t have honesty, we don’t have anything.”

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