A really cute dog in heat whose puppy dog eyes suck you into their naughtiness.
“Enough with your valid points. I’m too hungover to think right now, but I will say, I personally think you’re trying to get me to give Rhett a chance just so you can see his handsome brother again.” She gives me a smirk, knowing full well that’s exactly what I’m trying to do. “Tell me, what was Ryan like?”
“Ridiculously hot with a very wicked mouth on him. You can tell he’s smart with his quick one-liners and comebacks. He wasn’t afraid of my sass and was even able to dish it right back to me. He wasn’t scared of me… and I really liked that,” I sigh, clips of our conversation from last night playing on repeat in my brain. Most guys run can’t handle it when I dish them some spice, but Ryan seemed to thrive on it. His eyes brightened in excitement every time we verbally sparred.
“Whoa, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you talk about a guy this way before,” she says with a surprised smile on her face.
“Because I’ve never met a guy like this before. He’s beautiful, smart, talented and funny.” The more I talk about Ryan, the greater my desire is to see him again.
“You just called a guy beautiful… are you feeling okay?” she jokes, placing her hand on my forehead to see if I have a fever. It might sound silly to call a guy beautiful, but I can’t help it. Ryan is beautiful to me, in a manly, beautiful sort of way.
“Beautiful, gorgeous, hot… it all describes Ryan. Don’t you feel that way about Rhett?” I ask in concern, because if she doesn’t feel that way about him then my chances of seeing Ryan are slim to none.
“He’s the most breathtaking man I’ve ever seen,” she confirms with a sigh of her own. “You keep asking if Rhett has called me, but you haven’t mentioned if Ryan has called you yet.”
“He hasn’t because I never gave him my phone number.”
“He didn’t ask for your phone number? I’m surprised! From what I can remember, he seemed so into you.”
“Oh, he asked for it, but I refused to give it to him.” I can’t help but giggle out loud at the memory of his shocked expression when I told him I wouldn’t give it to him. I bet no girl has ever said that before.
“What? I’m so confused right now. If he asked for your phone number, why wouldn’t you have given it to him?”
“Because he didn’t properly ask for it. He whined about not getting it after I gave Rhett your phone number. That boy probably has women slipping their phone numbers into his jean pockets all the time without asking for it. I want him to properly ask me for mine.”
“Don’t you think you’re being a little too harsh? You just met the guy and he’s here for a limited time. If you really like him as much as you say you do, don’t you want to spend time with him? Making him work hard for your attention might have him running the other way.” Tessa looks at me skeptically, not agreeing with my decision of not giving him my phone number.
“Oh hey, pot calling the kettle black. Maybe you should be practicing what you preach, Miss Mandel.” I raise my eyebrows at her and laugh when she groans and covers her face with her hands.
“I do want to spend time with him, but I don’t think his intentions for me are what Rhett has for you.” I give her a knowing smile, hoping she catches my meaning. “But I’m okay with that. I think it’s time for some fun, so when Rhett calls you back, you will invite both gentlemen over to dinner at our house,” I demand, giving her a smug smile.
Ryan Kearney has my interest peaked like no other man before. I want to know everything about him. What he likes, what he dislikes, why he got into bull riding.
What those full lips feel like against mine.
The way he was looking at me last night, I know I could’ve had a taste of him. Molten lava rushed straight to my core every time he looked at me with his heated gaze. That man is not afraid to show when he wants someone and if I really wanted, all I had to do was say the word and he would’ve been mine for the evening. I can tell he’s used to women falling over themselves to get his attention. I know I was a challenge to him, but I don’t want to be just like any other woman to him.
I want him to want me so badly that he doesn’t even look at any other woman that crosses his path.
Hope he’s ready, because I’m about to give that sly fox a chase that he’ll never forget.
Now I just need to remember to keep my heart intact and not fall for the playboy cowboy.
“I most certainly will not invite them over dinner. That’s if he calls me,” she huffs, making me want to shake some sense into her. “And would you seriously have sex with someone you just met?”
“I’ve already met him once, so it’s not classified as a one-night stand anymore.” I give her a wink so she knows I’m joking before I get a huge lecture on STDs and the danger of just sleeping with random guys. I’ve only been with one guy so far and the sex wasn’t mind blowing, but it did leave me curious for more. Too bad I found out he was only dating me to get in with my family.
“Seriously, life’s too short to never say never, but no, I’m not interested in being another notch on his belt buckle.” She nods her head in agreement and we fall into compatible silence for the remainder of the drive home.
“Have you checked your phone?” I repeat when we pull into the parking lot of our apartment. She gives me an annoyed look and starts rummaging through her purse to find it. I hold my breath in anticipation, praying that there’s a voice message from Rhett. She pulls it out and tries to turn it on, but nothing happens.
“It’s dead. I’ll charge it when we get upstairs.” I try to hide my disappointment behind a smile as we get out of the car and head to our apartment. Once inside, I watch her plug her phone into the charger in the kitchen and go into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her. I start a load of laundry and contemplate taking a nap, but my mind is in overdrive with thoughts of Ryan. I need a distraction, so I grab my laptop and start working on my new business logo. An hour into my work, a buzzing noise coming from the kitchen catches my attention. I get up to investigate and discover that Tessa has two missed voicemails and texts. All from a really long, foreign number. This has to be Rhett since Tessa doesn’t know anyone else outside of the country. I softly squeal and do a little dance, excited to see that he’s calling her. I take her phone to her room and am about to knock on her door when I realize she hasn’t been out since we got home. I softly open her door to discover that she’s sleeping. I glance at my watch to see that it’s early afternoon. I’ll give her a couple more hours of sleep before waking her up to call him back. I close her door and put her phone back in the kitchen.
The vibration of her phone interrupts me again… and again two hours later. He’s called her a total of four times. Wow, this guy is persistent! Part of me feels bad that he’s called her this much and she still hasn’t returned his calls. What if he decides this is the last time he’s going to call her until she calls him back? What if Tessa decides not to call him back? What if Ryan is the one calling for me? I throw down my laptop on the couch and run into the kitchen, answering the phone on the last ring.
It’s time to take matters into my own hands.
Chapter Seven
RYAN
“Just want to warn you, Shannon, that I’ve lost our brother,” I tell my sister during our weekly call while waiting in the line for coffee. I order four cups of black coffee, three of them being for me and pay the cashier. American coffee is weak compared to what we drink back home and with the restless night I had, I need all the caffeine I can get. All I kept dreaming about was Adeline dressed up in different characters. First dream I remember she was Glinda the good witch from The Wizard of Oz, threatening to put a love spell on me. Except I told her I was ready and willing. Second dream was more of a hot for teacher kind of dream with Adeline teaching me the rules on love. Third dream was just her doing very naughty things to me, coaxing me into telling her I love her.
I woke up screaming from that dream.
Then I went and took a very cold shower and relieved myself with my hand.
Then I made the mistake of telling Rhett about my dreams, who decided to psycho-analyze them and told me that Adeline is my soul mate and my dreams were a way of my psyche trying to tell me without me freaking out.
Instead, Rhett’s freaking me out.
“What do you mean, you’ve lost him?” Shannon asks, worry starting to lace her voice. “When was the last time you saw him?”
“Oh, he’s physically still with me, but mentally, he’s a goner. Gone is the miserable bastard we’ve been dealing with the past two years and in his place, is a sappy, pathetic excuse for a man who insists he’s found his forever mate.” The things that were coming out of his mouth this morning were mind blowing. Telling me that there’s something special about Tessa and that he’s determined to make her his.
“Wait, Rhett’s found a girl? When did this happen? How long have they been together?” Shannon starts with her rapid fire of questions and I can’t wait to hear how shocked she’s going to be.
“This happened less than twenty-four hours ago. They haven’t even been on one date. It was like she hypnotized him with her beauty because as soon as he laid eyes on her, he was a changed man. He was charming, engaging in conversation and was smiling and laughing with all of us.”
“They just met last night?” she asks, the tone in her voice starting to sound doubtful.
“Yes, this all happened last night at dinner and to top it all off, he has already called her two times this morning! She hasn’t called him back yet, rightfully so as he’s starting to look like a bit of a creeper if you ask me.”
“Three times? You’re talking about our brother, Rhett?” I chuckle at her, picturing the expression on her face. Shannon and I are only a year apart and are closer to one another than Rhett and I are. Due to our age difference, he was in a different school than us and once he started his career, was always gone. If it wasn’t for the rodeo, I honestly don’t know how close Rhett and I would really be with each other.
“If she doesn’t call him back, I’m afraid he might go into a depression. That or I’ll have to bail him out of jail for being a stalker.” Depression is more of Rhett’s style than jail time and I refuse to sit by and watch him make a fool over himself, especially if Tessa isn’t interested.
“I can’t believe Rhett has found his soulmate all the way in America.”
Wait, what?
“Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Shannon! Don’t tell me you believe this hogwash too?” I practically yell at her, not believing my ears that she drinks the Kool-Aid on love.
“Of course I believe it, Ryan. Look at our parents! They met and fell in love at first sight and look how long they’ve been married. Why are you so against love? Do you really want to grow old alone?”
“How can you grow old alone when this world has billions of people on it? It’s called variety and adding experience to your life,” I reason, believing my own bullshit that’s coming out of my mouth.
“That’s pathetic, Ryan. I don’t wish that upon you. You deserve love and to be loved. I wish you would see that.”
“But that’s the thing, Shannon, millions of women do love me,“ I joke even though I have zero clue as to who any of those millions of women are.
“I have to go help Mom, but have Rhett call me later. I really want to hear more about his lady.”
“He doesn’t have a lady if she won’t call him back. I’ll be sure to tell him your message and keep you posted. Give hugs to everyone for us.” I hang up with my sister, start the car and drive back to our hotel.
I need Tessa to call Rhett back. Not only for his mental wellbeing, but because I want to see Adeline again. I kind of liked that she played hard to get last night and didn’t so easily succumb to my charm. Wondering what that blonde minx tastes like has consumed my thoughts and I’m afraid it will only continue until it happens or I meet someone else to distract me.
I’m really hoping that it happens, but it won’t unless Tessa calls back or picks up her phone. I worry that if Rhett continues calling her without waiting for her to return his call, he’ll push her away.
As soon as I get back into the hotel room, Rhett is back on the phone, leaving another message for Tessa. I argue with him about his current disturbing tendencies and tell him to leave her alone.
“C’mon, let’s go work out so we’re ready for Belton this weekend,” he suggests and I agree as working out will help get my mind off of Adeline for a short while. Once we are done competing in Belton, we travel to North Texas for some rodeos before coming back south to compete in Bear Creek. Just thinking about the upcoming schedule makes me groan and I’m so happy that season is almost over. We are doing very well in the standings and if season ended today, we’d qualify for Nationals. We just need to remain healthy and make the top five in our respective categories in the next rodeos to get to Las Vegas.
We workout in the hotel gym for over an hour before swimming laps in the pool. After our swim, we go back to our room to shower and get dressed. We answer some emails and Rhett finalizes more of our travel plans. By the time we’re done, it’s getting close to dinner and Tessa still hasn’t called. My stomach won’t stop growling for food and I tell Rhett that we need to grab dinner and go grocery shopping to have some food in our room since we’ll be in town for the next couple of days.
“All right let me just try Tessa one more time and then we can go,” he says while reaching for his phone. I grab it before he has a chance and hold it hostage.
“No! Stop the stalker madness! You are not calling her again today! What in the hell is wrong with you? You aren’t even in a relationship with her. You don’t even know if this girl feels the same way you do. Tessa might be a complete psychopath,” I ramble on, needing to make my point so he stops making a fool of himself. I don’t think I’ve ever called a girl four times in one day. Not even my own mother.
“Give me my phone, Ryan,” he says calmly while I shake my head no at him. “You’re right, I don’t know who she is as a person or how she feels about me, but how else am I going to know if I don’t keep trying? Besides, aren’t you interested in seeing Adeline? You couldn’t even charm her enough last night to get her phone number. These American girls must see through your bullshit.” I hurl his phone at him, specifically aiming for his head in the hopes that it knocks some sense into him.
“Of course I want to see Adeline again, but you might be ruining our chances. It’s not normal to call a woman that many times in a day, especially since she hasn’t called you back yet.”
“The first two times I called, it went straight to voicemail, indicating that either her phone was turned off or dead. The last two times it rang and went to voicemail. I’m sorry, but I can’t help but be worried about her, especially in the condition she was in last night. I promise this will be the last call I make.”
“Don’t know if I believe you, so if she doesn’t pick up, you agree to give me your phone to hold for the rest of the night. Deal?” I really hope she doesn’t pick up this time because I want his phone so I can text her saying that I understand if she never wants to talk to my psycho brother again, but can she please give Adeline my phone number to call me?
“Deal,” Rhett confirms and continues to dial her phone number. Victory is starting to taste sweet as he gets almost to the fourth ring without her picking up and then suddenly it happens.
She picks up.
But the she turns out to be my little minx instead of Tessa.
“I appreciate you picking up the phone and updating me. Did she have a rough night?” Rhett asks Adeline in curiosity. I’m dying to hear what she’s saying, but unfortunately, Adeline’s voice is not loud enough for me to hear out of the phone. So instead I watch Rhett’s facial features. His eyes go wide and he looks at me with a gleam of excitement. He thanks Adeline and tells her to text him their address.
“Adeline just invited us over for dinner — here’s y
our second chance to try not to be a prick for once and this time, get her phone number.” I can’t believe that my brother’s stalker ways worked and we have a date tonight with our two beautiful Americans.
I can’t wait to see what my little minx dishes out at me. Regardless of what happens, there’s no way I’m leaving their place without her phone number.
And to finally taste what I’ve been dreaming of.
Chapter Eight
ADELINE
Two hours is all I had to get ready for the boys to come over for dinner.
As soon as I got off the phone with Rhett, I ran into my room, showered, and got myself all dolled up for this evening’s company. I try to look casual with a black, off-the-shoulder form fitting top and jean shorts that show of my shapely legs, but barely cover my butt cheeks. I put heavy mascara on and keep the rest of my make-up light and neutral. I curl my hair into loose waves down my back. I scan over myself in the mirror, satisfied that Ryan should be salivating at the sight of me.
Our apartment was already clean so I just had to concentrate on getting dinner prepared. I’m a decent cook, but we had a limited amount of food in our refrigerator. I decided that fajitas would be the safest bet since I wasn’t sure what these guys even liked to eat.
So engrossed was I in making sure dinner was ready for their arrival that I forgot to wake up Tessa. Fortunately, she woke up on her own, but was not very happy with me for answering her phone and especially for inviting them over without consulting her. I tuned out her arguments while I cooked because inviting them over is exactly what she needs.
It’s exactly what I need.
The doorbell rings in the middle of her rant and I can’t help but give her a wicked smile as she looks at me in despair and runs into her room to get ready. I count to ten, take a deep breath and walk slowly to the door. I pull it open and my breath catches at the sight of the two handsome men standing outside of it. They are both dressed casually, but their style choices accentuate their perfect rock hard bodies. Both give me a heart stopping smile in greeting and all I can do is swallow the lump of desire that forms when I meet Ryan’s eyes. Rhett comes in first, giving me a kiss on the cheek and thanking me for the invite. Ryan proceeds next, closing the door after him and stops to stand in front of me. His mouth curves into a salacious smile while his eyes rake admiringly over my body. My heart starts to hammer in my chest as he leans in slowly and grazes his lips against my cheek.
The Celtic Cowboy: Bear Creek Rodeo Page 5
