“I’m so proud of you,” Scarlett whispered to him as he held her.
For some reason, he didn’t recoil from her as she consoled him. Instead, he wanted to drink in all of her compassion.
“Somehow, holding you makes it all seem a little easier to accept,” he whispered back.
They stood near the truck for a few silent moments before Beau heard someone clear their throat. He turned around to see that everyone else was still standing there.
“What are you all waiting for? Get out of here! We’ll see you next month at the NFR,” he said, shooing them with his hand.
“Drive home safe tomorrow!” his mother yelled back to him as they walked away.
“Use protection!” Josh called out, making Beau’s mother gasp, and a deep red blush enter Scarlett’s cheeks.
“You should know I always wear a seatbelt!” Beau hollered back.
* * *
The next day, after a very late breakfast that could have been called lunch, Beau and Scarlett packed up their things and started the drive from Las Vegas to Beau’s ranch. It seemed to drag on forever. The road cut straight through the Nevada desert with nothing but sagebrush out either of the windows. Sage brush and mountains—which Scarlett hadn’t expected. She thought Nevada was pretty much a flat, barren wasteland, but she was surprised at how mountainous it actually was. She’d travelled to a lot of places in her lifetime—some for filming, most for vacations—but northern Nevada wasn’t really a hot tourist destination.
“Where are we now?” Scarlett asked.
“This is Ely, Nevada,” Beau responded as he turned the car into a Shell gas station. “We need to fuel up. This is our last stop before we get home.”
It was weird to know that when Beau said “home”, he was talking about their home, not just his. She would live with him now. Her heart rate sped up as she thought about being around him all the time. They had slept in the same room in Vegas, but she’d always slept in her own bed. She wondered what the situation would be like when they got back to the ranch.
“Do you want anything?” Beau popped his head into the cab as the fuel was pumping.
“I’d actually love some Sour Patch Kids,” she said, suddenly craving something sour and sweet. Her mouth watered just thinking about them.
“Watermelons, or regular?”
He’s so thoughtful. “Regular. Please.”
A few minutes later, they were headed down the road again, and Scarlett was mesmerized by the huge sky and wide-open spaces. It wasn’t lost on her that of all the places she’d been, somehow her heart felt like it had always belonged here, in the mountains, underneath the biggest blue sky she’d ever seen.
“Are you really just going to eat the green and red ones?” Beau asked her.
Scarlett turned and smiled at him. “Umm, yeah.” She laughed. “Is that okay with you?”
“I’ve just never seen anyone leave half a package of Sour Patch Kids untouched because they weren’t the right colors.”
“Well, I guess you’ve never seen anyone eat them properly, then.” She searched through the bag until she found one of the last greens and the very last red. “First, you get the green, then you put the red one on top, then you bite them in half. Each bite is half red, half green. The perfect combo.”
Beau laughed and shook his head. “Whatever you say. I think they all taste the same.”
Scarlett gasped, feigning horror. “I hadn’t realized I’d married someone so uncultured,” she said, putting her hand over her heart. They both burst out laughing.
“Okay, okay. Quit making me laugh! I have to pee!” Scarlett said.
“What? We just stopped!” Beau laughed again. “There isn’t anywhere to stop until we get to the ranch. I really meant that when I said it.”
“Oh, no. What am I supposed to do, then?”
“Well, just go on the side of the road, I guess. Talk about uncultured,” Beau joked.
“You can’t be serious.”
“Oh, but I am. Don’t worry, though. This is the Loneliest Road in America.” Beau was crying, he was laughing so hard, and Scarlett was worried because she was sure there was no way he could actually see where he was driving.
“I can’t believe this.” Scarlett was slightly horrified, but also a little amused by the adventure. She had a feeling that life on the ranch with Beau was going to be anything but boring. “Fine, then. Pull over.”
* * *
Every time Beau thought about Scarlett—his poised, shy wife—squatting at the side of the road to pee, he burst out laughing again and again.
“How much longer do I have to endure this torture?” Scarlett huffed. She was trying to act bothered, but Beau could tell she found the whole situation comical as well. She kept fighting her lips from curling into a smile, and every time they twitched at the corners, Beau had the urge to kiss her. She was so cute.
“Well, since you married me, I think we’re pretty much stuck together now, right?”
“Ha! Ha!” Scarlett laughed sarcastically. “I mean, how long until we get to your ranch so I don’t have to be trapped in here with you?”
“Less than an hour. But don’t think I’m going to leave you alone when we get there,” he said, giving her his best smolder. It was definitely a look he hadn’t dished out for a long time. He wasn’t sure if it would add to his charm or send her running.
“Oh, boy. You’d better practice that look a few times if you ever want to get me into bed,” she said, rolling her eyes a little.
“You’re right,” Beau said, taking her teasing in stride, “but I know there’s at least one thing that doesn’t need practice.” He reached over the middle console and put his hand behind her neck, pulling her gently toward him. He studied her lips between glances at the road and let himself enjoy the warmth that filled his body as he thought about kissing her.
“Don’t tease,” Scarlett said, licking her lips.
“Why? You tease me all the time.”
“Not like this,” Scarlett said, resting her head on his cheek when he turned his full attention back to the road. She scooted as close as she could to him, draping her arm around his shoulders.
Beau’s heart was pounding. Suddenly, they wouldn’t be home soon enough. He knew if he kissed her now, he’d want more, and with the console separating them, he’d never feel close enough to her.
“Like what?” Beau tried to pretend like everything she was doing to him wasn’t driving him crazy.
Scarlett slipped her hand through the neck of his shirt and rubbed down his back. His skin immediately reacted with goose bumps to her touch. It felt so good.
“Like almost kissing me, then turning away,” she whispered into his ear. “Like touching me everywhere you know will make me want more of you, then stopping.”
Her breath was warm, and her voice was rich and sultry. The combination was killing Beau. He needed her. He wanted to feel her lips on his, and their bodies pressed together, and he wanted it all now. He knew this road like the back of his hand, and he knew that there was a pull-off just a few hundred feet ahead. Engaging the breaks, the truck slowed just in time for him to pull off the side of the road. Gravel flew up against the side of his truck, and a dust cloud puffed behind them. He sat still for a moment as the dust settled and tried to calm his pounding heart.
“What are we doing? I thought we were close to the ranch.” Scarlett said, breaking contact with him.
All he wanted her to do was put her hands back where they had been and keep whispering in his ear. Well, that’s not all he wanted, but he was kicking himself for ruining the moment. He hoped his plan would bring them even closer in just a few minutes.
“Not close enough,” he said, then he turned, opened his door, and hopped out of the truck.
* * *
Scarlett never knew the bed of a truck could be so comfortable. When they’d stopped, Scarlett wasn’t sure why, but now she was happy Beau had been so impatient. He’d pulled out thick denim
quilts from under the back seat of his truck and made a makeshift bed for them, then opened her door and held her hand as she climbed out of the truck, and again when she went up into the back of the truck.
“Won’t it be dark soon?” Scarlett had watched the sun set as they drove a while ago, and the light was fading quickly.
“Yes, that’s part of the reason why we stopped.”
“I’m confused. Don’t you want to get home before it’s completely dark?” Scarlett asked.
“Honestly, all I want right now is you,” Beau said as he climbed up into the back of the truck behind her. He turned her around and pulled her into him fiercely, then kissed her with equal passion.
Scarlett’s hands rushed to the back of Beau’s head, running her fingers through his unruly hair, then pulling him deeper into their kiss. Her heart was soaring. She had never felt this free in all her life. Here she was, standing in the back of a truck in the middle of nowhere. She didn’t have anywhere to be, no one asking her to be somebody else, and she was kissing the most rugged, wild, funny, handsome man she had ever met. A man like this didn’t exist in the world she’d left behind, and her legs went wobbly just thinking about the wonderfulness of it all.
“Scarlett,” Beau whispered between kisses, “lie down with me.”
Her belly fluttered at Beau’s request, and they both tried to sink to their knees, and then lie down on the blankets that Beau had so carefully arranged, without their lips breaking apart. Once they were lying side-by-side, Beau grabbed her leg and pulled her on top of him, then moved his hands up to the sides of her face and held her there as he kissed her. Each kiss grew more and more passionate, and her stomach flipped as he searched her mouth with his tongue.
Right then, Scarlett decided that she would never get enough of this, and as Beau’s hands travelled up and down her back, she let a sigh of contentment and desire escape her lips. This is how I’m meant to feel about a man, she thought. This is how I’m meant to feel about life. It was as if Beau had lit a fire inside her, and she didn’t ever want the flame to go out now that she’d felt that kind of heat.
After several minutes of kissing like they’d never kissed before, Beau turned back to his side and gently slid her off his body. Scarlett immediately missed the contact.
“Look up,” Beau whispered to her, pointing to the sky.
Scarlett turned and looked. Immediately, it felt as if just as many of the tiny lights that she could see above started to flicker inside her. She’d never seen a sky like that, and there’d only been a few times in her life when something she’d seen had been so beautiful that it shifted something deep inside her soul.
“How are there so many stars? Have there always been this many stars in the sky?” Scarlett asked, incredulous.
Beau laughed. “Well, yeah. You just haven’t been looking up. Or at least, not in the right places.”
“You’re right.”
“Right about what?”
“I haven’t been looking up,” Scarlett admitted. “But even if I had, the view wouldn’t have looked like this. It’s incredible. Why can we see so many tonight?”
“Well, it’s a clear night, hardly any clouds, but we’re also in high desert country, about sixty-five thousand feet above sea level. And, of course, out here there’s almost no pollution, or lights,” Beau explained.
Scarlett was still in awe. She couldn’t stop searching the sky, not knowing which piece of it to look at.
“The moon is on our side tonight too. It’s barely a sliver.” She pointed at the tiniest edge of the illuminated moon, and while her finger was still lifted, a star fell to right where her fingertip was pointing.
“I think the sky just kissed my finger.” She giggled.
Beau laughed. “I saw that too,” he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her fingers to his lips. He kissed each of her fingertips softly, and then leaned over and kissed her nose.
“Come on, babe. It’s getting cold. Let’s go home,” he said.
“Mmm, okay. But only if you promise we can look at the stars again soon.”
“I promise. We can look at the stars every night if you want to.”
The rest of the way to the ranch, Scarlett wondered how she’d gotten so lucky. How she’d ended up under the most beautiful twinkling night sky she’d ever beheld, married to the sexiest, most thoughtful man she’d ever met. It all felt too good to be true.
Nine
Scarlett woke up to the sound of rain hitting the roof. For a second, she had almost forgotten where she was, but when she saw the forest-green walls, she knew she definitely wasn’t in Vegas anymore. She sat up and looked out the windows of the guest bedroom. The rain was falling hard outside, and the sky was gray and moody.
She hopped out of bed and went over to a built-in bench seat underneath the biggest window in the room. She had no idea which direction the window faced, but she could see a large valley and a snow-capped mountain range in the distance. The valley was mostly sagebrush, with a few fields in the bottom. None of them were green, but then, nothing really was anymore. Autumn had already robbed the trees around the house of their leaves.
Watching the rain near the cold glass of the window gave Scarlett a chill, and she went over to her bed and pulled off the quilt she had been snuggled under all night. She wrapped it around herself. It was huge, and the edges of it dragged on the floor, but she didn’t care. She was warm.
Now, where is my husband? Scarlett wondered. A smile broke out across her face and her stomach fluttered thinking of their little make-out session in the bed of his truck the night before. When they’d gotten home, it had been all she could do to give him a peck goodnight after he’d shown her to the guest room. If she’d kissed him like she’d wanted to, she was sure that she would have been waking up next to him this morning. Although she found Beau incredibly sexy, and she wanted to give him everything, she wasn’t quite ready to explore that part of their relationship yet. It seemed a little weird that she didn’t feel comfortable sleeping with her husband, but then again, they hadn’t even known each other for a week. Although, she’d felt so comfortable around him, she’d started to wonder if she’d ever had a real relationship before. No one had ever made her feel so alive, so…herself before. She had to see him.
When Scarlett opened the bedroom door, the delicious smells of breakfast cooking filled her nose, and she could hear sizzling in a pan. She walked down the hall, the quilt she’d taken from the bed dragging across the hardwood floor, and entered the family room, which was open to the kitchen. It was beautiful, with hickory cabinets, and picture windows of the same view she’d had from her bedroom. It wasn’t decorated at all how Scarlett would have decorated it, and she noticed a distinct lack of art—or anything, for that matter—hanging on the walls, but it was cozy, and on this rainy day, that’s all she cared about.
“Hey there, cowboy,” she said to Beau as she sat at the island separating the two of them. He had his back turned to her, facing the stove. A man who cooks. Well, this was a sight to behold indeed. It was almost as special as the sky he’d shown her last night.
Beau turned and smiled when he saw her. “Hey, you. I didn’t even hear you sneak out of your room. How’d you sleep?”
“Like a rock. I didn’t hear anything until I woke up to the rain this morning. You?”
Beau was at her side in a moment, and he lifted her chin, then kissed her lips softly.
“Oh, good. I’ve been up for a couple of hours. Went and helped with some of the morning chores on the ranch. I like to help out when I’m home,” Beau said.
“And you like to cook, I see.” Scarlett nodded in his direction and smiled. “I have to say, I would never have taken you for the domestic type.”
“Well, I’ve lived in this house alone for quite a few years now. Someone has to cook.” Beau shrugged his shoulders and flashed an even wider grin at her—the one that made her stomach do somersaults.
“I’m glad you cook because I don’
t really. Maybe you could teach me.”
“Of course. I plan on teaching you a lot of things over the next, I don’t know, seventy years—if we get that lucky.” Beau winked at Scarlett, and she couldn’t help but laugh. He seemed so wild that it was almost funny hearing him talk about spending the rest of his life with her. She knew he meant it—he wasn’t one to say things he didn’t mean just for the heck of it—but she still found it amusing.
* * *
“Thanks for breakfast,” She hadn’t eaten a big breakfast like that in a long time. She usually just grabbed something easy on her way out the door. A granola bar, or a bagel, or sometimes even just a bottle of cold-pressed juice. She’d almost forgotten how yummy a plate of eggs and bacon and hash browns could be.
“Of course. I think I’m going to love cooking for you,” Beau said as he cleared her plate from the island.
“Here, let me help you clean up.” Scarlett let the quilt she’d had wrapped around her fall to the floor as she walked over to the sink to help Beau load the dishwasher.
“Thanks, babe. So, how did it feel to wake up in a new place this morning?”
“I was surprised to see rain,” Scarlett said, looking out the windows. “The sky was so clear last night. But other than that, it felt surprisingly normal.”
“I was surprised too. I’m just happy it’s not snow. Although, it might turn into snow later today if it gets cold enough. It wouldn’t be unusual. We’ve had a white Thanksgiving several times.”
“Really? Wow. I don’t even remember the last time I saw snow. It’s been years, at least.”
“Well then, maybe you’ll get lucky today.” Beau winked, and Scarlett had a feeling he wasn’t just talking about the snow. Even with all his teasing, she was pretty sure that if she decided she wanted to make love to him, he wouldn’t let her just yet. She could tell he was a little more guarded than he let on, and it intrigued her.
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