I can hear the humor in Adeline’s voice and suddenly, I wish I didn’t leave so many voicemails. I probably seem pathetic and desperate with being so overly persistent in trying to get ahold of her. I’m not a pathetic person - I’m just determined to see her again. Time is of the essence with someone like Tessa, who has a chip as large as the state of Texas on her shoulder against men. Especially ones who are cowboys.
“I appreciate you picking up the phone and updating me. Did she have a rough night?” I ask in curiosity. Her taking a nap right now leads me to believe she didn’t get a good night’s sleep.
“Rough is an understatement, but she was feeling like a human after we had a late breakfast. Did you guys have a far drive to your hotel?”
“We’re in Belton, which I think is a tad over an hour from you,” I confirm, not knowing if she even knows where Belton is.
“Ah, yes, not too bad of a drive at all. Tell ya what, if you boys don’t have plans for dinner, why don’t you come to our apartment? I’ll cook y’all some Tex Mex and you can spend some more time with Tessa,” she offers and I can’t help but pump my fist in the air with victory.
“Do you think Tessa would mind if we came over for dinner?” I look over at Ryan, whose shakes his head in disbelief.
“Do you honestly care if she minds?” Adeline laughs, already getting a good read on me. “Here’s your lesson of the day from me on Tessa - sometimes when she’s in uncertainty mode, you have to give her a big ol’ shove into uncomfortable territories for her to even take the risk. She didn’t tell you to go straight to hell last night, which means you’ve peaked her interest. But you have a big strike against you for being a cowboy. Knowing her the way I do, she wasn’t going to call you back tonight. She was going to stew on it for a couple more days and probably talk herself out of it. You need face-to-face time with her and the sooner, the better. Just show up with dessert - and I mean food, not you boys as the dessert - and we’ll have a great evening!”
“I owe you big time, Adeline,” I get up from the sofa to put my shoes on. “What kind of dessert do you ladies like to eat?”
“Tessa loves brownies and I love butter pecan ice cream. And yes, you do owe me big time. I’ll figure out payment at a later date. For now, don’t dick over my friend.” And with that, she hangs up on me.
“Adeline just invited us over to dinner - here’s your second chance to try not to be a prick for once and this time, get her phone number. See what being a stalker sometimes can get you?” I playfully push Ryan’s shoulder so that he stumbles into the wall as we head out the door for our evening date.
Chapter Eight
TESSA
I roll over onto my side, my brain slowly telling my body that it’s time to wake up. I manage to open my eyelids and am surprised to see dusk settling in out my window. I glance at the clock and groan at the fact that it’s early evening and I’ve slept five hours. Thank goodness I took this weekend off from working at the bar. I can’t imagine going in feeling as tired as I do. I slowly rise up from my bed and go to my bathroom to take another shower, the cold water awakening my senses.
Thirty minutes later, I come out of my room to find Adeline cooking in the kitchen. She’s making her world famous fajitas with bean dip and my stomach starts rumbling at the savory smell. I walk into the kitchen to pour myself a glass of water when I stop in my tracks to look her up and down.
“Good evening, Sleeping Beauty. How are you feeling?” she asks, but I don’t answer her as I notice her blonde hair is curled, she has full makeup on, and she’s wearing her daisy dukes that she usually only wears when she’s trying to gain some man’s attention.
“Where are you going tonight?” I question as I open the fridge to get some water. I rack my brain to try to recall if she told me she was going out. Since I’ve been working weekends in Austin, Adeline sometimes will go out with her other friends to her favorite local country bar.
“Nowhere,” she answers with a sly smile that immediately has me narrowing my eyes at her. Adeline doesn’t dress like that for a night home watching Netflix.
“Really? Because you’re all dolled up and are wearing shorts that barely cover your butt cheeks. I hate to hurt your feelings, but you’re wasting your efforts if this was all for me. Now seriously, where are you going tonight?”
“Seriously, I’m going nowhere. Have you checked your phone yet?” She gives me another mischievous smile and I’m starting to get a little annoyed at the game she’s playing.
“Ugh, stop asking me that! Why do you want me to check my phone so badly?” I walk to where my phone is charging and unplug it. When it lights up, I see I have four voicemails, all from the same phone number that is more digits than any normal North American cell phone number. The only person with an international number that would call me is Rhett, which makes my heart scream for joy that he did actually call. I click on the missed call log to find out what times he called and notice that he actually called a fifth time. Since it isn’t listed as a missed call, someone - a.k.a Adeline - had to of answered it.
“Why did you answer my phone the last time Rhett called?” I demand, cutting right to the chase as I know Adeline has been watching me the whole time I was looking at my phone.
“Someone needed to put that poor man out of his misery. He kept calling to see if you were okay. How sweet is that?” She perches her hip against the counter and crosses her arms over her chest, waiting for my answer.
“It’s very sweet, but don’t you think four times is a little too much?” According to the phone log, he had called every two hours starting at 9 am. Even Adeline and I don’t call each other that many times a day.
“He also sent you four texts as well. Maybe if you had responded back to him, he wouldn’t have called and texted so many times.” My mouth drops open in shock at her sticking up for him, plus she has been with me all day and knows exactly why I haven’t responded to him.
“Let me refresh your memory as it seems the chili pepper from your cooking has given you amnesia. My phone was dead when we woke up and remained that way until we got home, where I then proceeded to go to sleep, conveniently leaving my phone out of my bedroom so that I could stay asleep. I’m sorry that my unconscious state was not efficient enough for you by not calling him back right away.” She laughs at my sarcasm and turns around, giving me her back while she continues cooking.
“I guess your excuses are legitimate. So why don’t you call him back right now?” She stirs whatever she’s cooking, puts the lid back on it and turns around to face me.
“Honestly, I’m not ready to talk to him.” It’s then that I notice she seems to be cooking enough food to feed six people. “Why is there so much food?”
“I figured you weren’t ready to talk to him so I took matters into my own hands.” She walks around me to put a basket of homemade tortillas on the table.
“What does that mean?” Warning bells start blaring in my head as I know I’m not going to like her answer.
“If we wait for you to take charge of your love life, we’ll be old maids. Well, scratch that, you’ll be an old maid as I’m not going down the man-hater rabbit hole that you’re currently in. I knew very well that you were going to talk yourself out of calling him, so I did the next best thing - I invited him and his brother over for dinner. You’re welcome!” she sings out while walking back into the kitchen and pulling out four plates from the cupboard.
“You did what?” I screech, refusing to believe that she again involved herself in my business and invited him over without my permission. While I know Adeline has my best interests at heart, I just don’t know if I’m ready to see him again. A part of me is excited to see his ridiculously handsome face, but mentally, I don’t want to get close to someone who doesn’t even live in the same city, let alone the same country, as I do.
“You best be getting ready, because they’ll be here any min…” the doorbell rings, cutting off Adeline’s last words. “Well, look at that, they
’re here! I’ll be kind and give you a two minute head start back to your room so you can blow dry that hair of yours, put some makeup on and wear something cuter than just yoga pants and a tank top. Although the tank top does show off your boobs nicely.” She wiggles her eyebrows up and down while looking at my breasts. “Oh, and Tessa, don’t even think of feigning ill. I’ll just have him play nursemaid to you, which judging from his reaction toward you last night, he won’t even hesitate in saying yes to starring in that role,” she smiles wickedly at me, her eyes daring for me to disobey her.
“I hate you!” I hiss before running to my room to get ready. I quickly make my bed, pick up clothes from my floor and throw them in the dirty hamper in my closet. I rummage through my clothes, not satisfied with anything that I own right at this moment. I settle on a loose, black peasant top with white capri jeans. I hustle into my bathroom and am about to put on makeup when I realize that if Rhett wants to really get to know the real me, he needs to see me without any makeup on. Maybe that will change his mind about me and he’ll stop calling.
Do you really want him to stop calling you, Tessa?
If I’m going to be honest with myself, no, I don’t want him to stop calling me. But I do think this would be a good test to see if he likes au natural Tessa. I put my makeup away and braid my hair so that it’s off my face. I stare at my reflection in the mirror, happy with the look that I’m going for. We’ll see if Rhett Kearney still likes what he sees after tonight. I square my shoulders, take a deep breath and exit my bedroom.
Both men stand up when I enter and my eyes immediately drink in the tall, fine specimen that is Rhett Kearney. He’s wearing a white v-neck shirt with baggy, light denim jeans and flip flops on his feet. He looks more like a professional surfer with his bronzed skin and dark blond hair than a professional bronc rider. I don’t realize I am gawking at him until he’s inches from me and my nose detects his scent. I almost moan out loud from how delicious he smells. The combination of his cologne with his natural body scent is something I want slathered all over my sheets so I can go to sleep with a smile on my face every night.
A quick roll around with him in my bed would take care of that need.
I gasp when he engulfs me in a tight hug, making my nipples stand to attention at the friction of being smashed into his hard chest. Before I can wrap my arms around him, he releases me and I immediately feel the loss of his body heat.
“How are you feeling today? You look beautiful.” His eyes roam me up and down, making me blush at the blatant desire blazing from his eyes.
“Better, thank you. I’m sorry I missed all of your calls,” I say awkwardly, not really knowing how to address the elephant in the room.
He winks at me and turns around to grab a vase of flowers. They are beautiful lavender freesias, which are my absolute favorite flower. I look over at Adeline, who shakes her head at me, knowing that I was questioning if she told him or not.
“These are for you. I saw them and their beauty and magnificent scent reminded me of you.” I stare at him in awe before taking the bouquet. I can’t help myself from putting my nose into one of the flowers and sigh out loud in happiness.
“Thank you so much. Looks like you both have a knack for picking out flowers since you both chose our favorite kind.” I see a bouquet of Adeline’s favorite flowers, sunflowers, sitting on the kitchen counter and can only assume those are from Ryan.
Coincidence or a sign?
“Hope everyone’s hungry because dinner is ready!” Adeline announces and we all congregate toward the dining room table to eat. Dinner started off in awkward, nervous silence, but once Adeline asked the guys a couple of questions, conversation started to flow easier. They told us all about their family’s stud farm and life back in Ireland. When I asked him what made him want to be a professional bronc rider, his response made me realize we had more things in common than I thought we had.
“I just wanted to have my own freedom to do what I wanted.”
Once they were done telling us more about them, they then inquired about how Adeline and I became best friends.
“Adeline was the only one in our school who took pity on the orphaned kid from Dallas. Everyone else snubbed their noses at me because I wasn’t from Bear Creek,” I recall, hating those early days of middle school when I first got there.
“Orphaned?” Rhett questioned, his eyebrows raised in concern. The room gets quiet and Adeline gives me a tentative smile to continue.
“My parents were killed in a car crash when I was twelve. I was sent to live here with my aunt because she was my only living relative.”
“Is your aunt still alive?” Ryan softly asks, looking at me with kindness and pity.
“Yes, she is. We don’t get along very well, so as soon as I had enough money, Adeline and I moved in together and probably in the next couple of months, we’re going to get a place in Austin.”
“Austin? But what about the rodeo? That’s a pretty long commute just to live in a bigger city.” Rhett’s eyes have turned into an intense green, making me wonder what he’s thinking about for them to turn that way.
“Like you, I seek freedom. Being an author gives me that freedom and I can write wherever I want. With the success of my last release and the money I’ve saved, I can turn in my resignation after this rodeo. I can focus full-time on writing and still work part-time at the bar where I currently work weekends at. Adeline’s dad has another car dealership in Austin, so it’s easy for her to transfer until she gets her own business off the ground and running.”
All eyes turn toward Adeline, who blushes from the attention. “I’m taking classes on graphic design at the local community college. As Tessa’s assistant, I’ve learned that authors hire people to make their book covers, graphics and other items they need. I’ve already made graphics for Tessa and other authors that she’s introduced me to.” She casually shrugs her shoulders, acting as if starting her own company is no big deal. “I want the same kind of freedom that we’re all striving for.”
“Looks like we’re surrounded by some badass babes, brother,” Ryan declares, looking at Adeline in appreciation.
“Let’s make a toast,” Rhett announces and we all raise our beer glasses. “To you ladies - may the journey to your freedom be soon and full of success, happiness, and love.” Rhett stares at me while he clinks his glass to mine first before touching Ryan and Adeline’s. I look down while taking a long gulp of my beer, afraid I will start choking on it if I continue staring at him. Once we are done eating, the guys help us clean up the table and kitchen, their manners showing us that their momma has taught them well.
“Come for a walk with me, Tessa,” Rhett demands as soon as we finish cleaning. Before I have a chance to protest, he grabs my hand and walks us toward the door.
“Have a good time, kids!” Ryan waves at us with a cocky grin before Adeline shuts the door, her own devious smile playing on her lips. Those two seem to be made for each other with how similar they think. Rhett adjusts our hands by intertwining our fingers together and continues leading me through the streets of my apartment complex until we reach the community pool. He lets go of my hand in order for me to type in the pool code and opens the gate for me once I get it unlocked. I stop and watch him walk toward the stairs of the pool, roll up his pant legs, slips out of his sandals and steps down onto the first step of the pool.
“Ah, feels good. Come join me.” He sits down on the top stair and pats the concrete next to him. I take a shaky breath before I walk over to join him. I take off my shoes, put my feet into the water and sit down.
He’s right, the pool feels amazing and not because it’s that hot of an evening. The water cools down the electricity that has been buzzing between us. I can’t deny the chemistry I felt between us last night and it had nothing to do with the alcohol I consumed. I feel the same desire for him tonight as I did last night. He isn’t afraid to show me he feels the same way. Every time he looks at me, his eyes are storming with d
esire. I sneak a peek at his profile as he gazes up at the clear sky that provides us an amazing view of the stars. We sit in compatible silence, the singing of the crickets the only noise we hear. I try to think of a way to casually break our silence when he does it for me.
“I want a chance, Tessa. I want to properly date you, take you out, call you and you actually want to pick up the phone when you see it’s me.” I sheepishly smile at him and look at my hands so he doesn’t see the embarrassment in my eyes. “I want to be part of your good days and help you handle your bad days.”
Yes! My heart screams, ready to jump right into his arms and if it wasn’t for my brain warning me to take it slow, I might have physically tackled him into the pool, begging him to stay with me forever.
“I know I need to prove myself to you, but I can’t do that if you don’t give me a chance.” His fingers grip my chin, forcing me to look into his lust filled eyes. “You set the pace, Tessa. Just know that I’m not giving up without a chance. If you give me that chance and after a while, you still aren’t interested, then I’ll walk away and you never have to see me again.”
His words make me frown, the thought of this not working out actually makes my heart ache. I stare into his eyes, knowing that I’ve got to give this man a chance otherwise it might be one of the biggest regrets in my life.
“I’ll give you a chance, Rhett. Just please, don’t shatter my heart,” I whisper, my eyes begging him to take mercy on me because I know I’m going to fall hard for this man. His smile is devastating and before I can recover from it, he swoops down and passionately claims my lips. He keeps his lips pressed to mine softly before sliding his hands into my hair. He parts his lips and continues massaging mine with his. So lost am I in his kiss that I don’t notice when his kisses become harder, more demanding. It feels so good, so right that I crave more. I open my mouth and his tongue plunges right in, the taste of him so addicting that I sigh in contentment at finding my new favorite high.
The Irish Cowboy: Bear Creek Rodeo Page 5
