I thought over his point. He did have a fair one. “Um, sure? I don’t want to put you out or anything though?”
“It’s fine. I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t want to carry it through. They’re lovely clothes, they need wearing anyway. It’d be nice to see them on someone again.”
My heart lurched. Did they belong to an ex-girlfriend? After all, why else would he have women’s clothes unless he liked dressing up in them?
Ignoring my wonderings, I remembered my manners. “Thank you. I really appreciate it.”
“No problem.”
I smiled before turning to leave, wondering why on earth he’d had a complete personality transplant in the past day or two. I turned back to him, unable to help myself. “I don’t know what’s changed, but I appreciate it. Thank you.”
“Sometimes you just realise things a little too late.”
I frowned, not understanding. I gave him a parting smile before heading back to my room for my swimming gear. As I stepped out into the heat again, I thought better of it, full well knowing the water would just make me burn faster.
“Miss Woods?”
It felt so strange hearing my name come from his lips. “Please, just call me Sophie.”
He smiled, his eyes flickering to the ground for a brief second. “Did you want to come and pick the clothes out yourself?”
My mouth fell open, not sure if I was understanding this right. “You…you mean come to yours?”
He scratched his head and laughed. “Well, yeah. I’m not going to transport the whole wardrobe here.”
I giggled and blushed. “Sorry. I just…yes, that would be lovely. Thank you.”
“We could take the horses if you like?”
“Into town?”
“I can do the town run later. I’ll need the truck for that. My place isn’t that far from here. It’s only an hour on horseback.”
A nervous tingle shot around my body at the thought of being on my own with him in the desert. I pushed the thought to the back of my mind. “Are you happy doing that with an injured guest?”
He grinned. “If I knew you better, I think I’d say you hold grudges. I feel happy chaperoning an injured guest on a one to one basis if that makes you feel better.”
Something in the way he said ‘one to one’ made my heart surge. Butterflies fluttered through every inch of me. This guy was irritating the hell out of me two days ago, and now I’m reacting to him like he’s my first crush. The mix of ups and downs had me in a spin.
“Sure. Sounds good.”
“I’m about done if you want to head out now?”
I grinned. “Fine with me, cowboy.”
He smirked before heading into the depths of the barn. He returned a couple of minutes later laden down with Cody’s tack. Walking to his stall, we said nothing. My curious side was winning through where it concerned Brady. I wanted to know what had changed his attitude to such an extent.
“You ok tacking him up?”
I nodded.
“Ok. Mount up outside when you’re ready.”
He winked and disappeared back down the wide aisle. I couldn’t help grinning to myself as I saddled Cody up. He turned to me at one point, snuffling my jean pockets. I smiled, knowing he was after an apple.
“Shhh,” I said, whispering to him. “Don’t tell Brady.”
His ears pricked forwards as if he understood my words. I crept to the apple crate and gave him a treat before I put his bridle on. I’d heard the other wranglers telling the guests apples and carrots weren’t allowed before riding, only after.
Brady was already mounted and waiting by the time I’d finished fussing over Cody’s boots. His mouth was foaming slightly from the apple juice. I looked up at Brady as we broke out into the baking heat.
He narrowed his eyes at me. “I’ll let it go this once.”
I smirked before swinging into the saddle. “We’ll see.”
Chapter Ten
Leading us out into the dry landscape, I relaxed as he told me a few stories of people trying to cross the border by coming across the desert. In the last fifteen years, over two thousand migrants have died beneath the Arizona sun in a bid to flee Mexico, and start a new life in the United States. He said the number of dead bodies being found in the scorching temperatures just keeps rising. By the time they’re found, all that’s left is bones which makes identification almost impossible.
After detailing me on the nauseating details of death by heatstroke, I began to sympathise with the desperation these people must have in order to even consider a lethal landscape full of scorpions, lizards, prickly plants, and cougars.
Despite the horrors I was learning, having a normal conversation with Brady was welcomed. His eyes gleamed in a way which entranced me. The way his whole face became animated when he spoke, told me how passionate he was about this place and living out here.
As we turned around the bottom of a small hill, he changed the conversation completely.
“So, Sophie. Tell me about yourself.”
I hesitated, not really sure what to say. “Well, I think you know more about my life than most of my friends back home.”
He looked at me, a serious look on his tanned features. “No. I know about your troubles with your ex. I don’t know about you. What you do for a living, your likes and dislikes, that kind of thing.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “There’s no great tale to tell I’m afraid. I’m a business executive for a large animal feed company.” I stopped and smiled. “Kinda ironic really. I thought I had the perfect life. Job, house, partner, car. Apparently not.”
He looked away, falling silent for a few seconds. “If you don’t want to talk about back home, that’s fine.”
“No, it’s ok. Honest.”
Twinkling with sincerity, he locked his eyes onto mine. “So what do you do outside of work?”
I laughed. “I used to have my horses. Since they went, work kind of swallowed my life.”
“How many did you have?”
“Four.”
He whistled. “Quite a handful for someone on their own.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I had a routine. Once I was in it, it was easy. They were on full livery so all I had to do was turn up and ride. One of them was on loan to a girl on the yard. One was semi-retired as well so I only really had two to exercise.”
“Why’d you give them up?”
I smiled. “Ha. That would be the marvellous Ben.”
His face creased into a frown. “He made you give them up?”
“Yes and no. He isn’t an animal person and hated the amount of time they took up. Once we moved in together, I figured I’d have to compromise on something to make us work. Turned out that compromise was my life’s passion.”
He scanned his dark eyes across my face, and a muscle in his cheek twitched. “And what did he give up? To make you work?”
I stumbled over his question. I stared straight ahead as I sifted through my memories. After a minutes deafening silence, I glanced over at him, my brow furrowing together. “I actually can’t think of anything.”
He quirked his lips into a small smile before he moved on, talking about film choices and drunken experiences. I was surprised how easy he was to get along with when he was relaxed. We seemed to have quite a few things in common which made topic of conversation easy.
“There’s home.”
I followed his pointed finger to see an exact replica of the main house back at the ranch. “Did you like John’s house that much?”
He chuckled. “This is still John’s land. He built that when he first bought the ranch, then decided to change the location to where it is now. He left that up with the intention of selling it, but when I came along, he gave it to me as part of the job.”
“Wow. Pretty neat. How long have you worked for him?”
“Ten years.”
I smiled, saying nothing as we approached the front of the house. To the right of the gorgeous building sto
od a collection of trees providing shade over the post rail beneath. A large trough of water also nestled in the small area, out of the intense heat.
We tied the horses up before Brady led the way inside the house. As we stepped through the dark wooden door, I gasped. White marble floors, exposed wooden oak beams, the open plan design—it was just incredible.
“Wow. What a house!”
He smiled and motioned for me to follow him down the hallway. “I’m glad you like it.”
I walked forwards, passing several dark wooden doors either side of me before taking the left turn at the bottom which revealed yet more doors.
“How many rooms does one person need?”
He chuckled as he led me towards the last door on the right. “His initial plan was to have people staying in the house with him. Half of these rooms I don’t even use. I couldn’t even if I wanted to.”
I laughed, wondering what lay beyond the door he was opening.
The answer was simply a beautiful room.
A huge wooden double bed sat in the middle of the room, matching wardrobes and dressing tables placed around the outer edges. Two windows, one straight in front and one to the left, were framed with sashayed deep purple curtains. The grey marble floor twinkled as the streaming sunlight highlighted its depths. Pictures of horses lined the walls, trophies stole one entire wall, and rosettes covered the perimeter of the room.
“Oh, my. What an incredible room.”
He smiled, a hint of sadness rolling over his face. “Thanks.”
He walked over to one of the double wardrobes and opened the doors to reveal a staggering collection of stunning shirts and blouses. A shelf above held several Stetson’s. Everything looked brand new and never worn.
I gasped. “What an amazing set of clothes. Are you sure it’s ok to borrow something? They look…expensive.”
He nodded. “It’s fine, honestly. They haven’t been worn for a long time. It would be lovely to see them being put to use.”
A haunted look shadowed his features, an empty wistful glaze taking over his eyes. I wanted to know who they belonged to, but that look—it clenched something so deep inside my chest, tears started brewing.
He smiled and crossed his arms over chest. “I know you want to ask.”
Heat flushed my cheeks. I looked around the room and spotted a picture of a pretty girl with honey brown hair. She was beaming from ear to ear as she stood holding a trophy with a buckskin horse which looked just like Cody.
“My sister.”
A shot of dread ran through me. I couldn’t help but cringe at the strained voice that uttered those two words. Suddenly very aware of treading on painful ground, I started to panic, wondering just exactly what wounds I was picking at.
I stumbled around for some words, anything to lessen the awkwardness surrounding me. “She’s very pretty.”
He nodded, walking over to the picture I was looking at. “Yes, she was.”
I swallowed a lump in my throat. “Was?”
He turned back to me, his eyes glistening over with water. “She died six years ago.”
“I’m so sorry. I…I…perhaps I should go?”
He shook his head and took a step towards me. “It’s fine, honestly. I just…I guess I still blame myself for it.”
“For what?”
“Her death. It was my fault she died.”
Chapter Eleven
I stood motionless, not sure what to say or do. He looked away, gazing over all her pictures. A smile started to spread across his saddened features. Then, he gave a big sigh before turning back to me.
“Anyway, as you’ve probably guessed, these are all her clothes. Please, make use of them.”
I shook my head, gobsmacked. “I can’t. It would just feel so wrong.”
“It’s fine, Sophie. I wouldn’t have suggested the idea if I wasn’t ok with it.”
“I know but…I can see how much it still hurts…I just…I don’t want to make it worse by wearing her clothes.”
He smiled at me, the water in his eyes welling up higher. “Please. I’ll be offended if you don’t.”
I gave a nervous laugh. “No pressure then.” I debated the awkward situation for a brief second. What exactly was I supposed to do? Considering the change in his attitude, and his kind gesture, it would be rude to refuse. “Ok, thank you. I really don’t know how to say thank you enough.”
He turned back to her wardrobe and rifled through the glittering selection inside. He pulled out an emerald and white checked shirt with sparkles of tiny crystals dotted all over.
“I think this would really suit you.”
I reached out, touching the soft fabric. “It’s beautiful.”
“Go try it on. There’s an en-suite there.” He pointed behind me and smiled.
I nodded and took his offering.
The en-suite was huge, all pearl white décor with tasteful, contemporary lighting above. I slipped my top off and took just a moment to soak in the detail on his sister’s shirt. It was exquisite, simply stunning. Guilt gnawed at me as I thumbed the silky material between my thumb and forefinger. How bad was it to wear a deceased person’s clothes? Even if freely offered?
I whimpered, stuck between my conscience and the difficult situation. How would I feel if these were my clothes? I focused on that point for just a brief moment. If I had a brother, which right now, I wish I had instead of my selfish sibling, and he offered my clothes to another woman to wear, would I mind? If I liked her, definitely not. After all, better someone wear them than they go to waste.
I took a deep breath and slid my arms inside the shirt. It glided over my skin like silk, sending a shiver down my spine. I buttoned it up, then looked at myself in the mirror. Even I had to admit it looked good. It hugged all the right places and I couldn’t wait to complete the look later tonight.
I walked back out to Brady, feeling a little shy.
He burst into a huge smile. “You look fabulous. It really suits you.”
I blushed and whispered my thanks.
He turned back to the wardrobe, and pulled out a jet black Stetson with a silver buckle wrapped around its edge. He beckoned me forwards with his finger. My heart jumped at the gesture, skipping into irregular beats as I closed the gap between us.
Stopping a few inches away from him, I licked my lips in an attempt to moisten my dry lips. What was this guy doing to me? How? I hated just the thought of him twenty-four hours ago.
He dropped the hat on my head, and burst into a beaming smile. “Perfect!”
I turned to the mirror on the opposite wall, and blushed. If I curled my hair just a little more, it would give the perfect cute but sexy cowgirl image. My cheeks flared with colour as I looked back at him. “Thank you so much.”
“Not a problem.” He rummaged about in the wardrobe again, and this time, pulled out a belt with a huge silver horse head on it. “Here. This will finish the look off nicely.”
I gasped as he placed it in my hands. It was just as beautiful as everything else. I ran my fingers over the smooth metal and allowed emotions to overtake me. After all the hell I’d been through, this was probably the nicest thing anyone had done for me since.
A wave of water welled up in my eyes and I bit my lip to stem the flow. “I’ll take real good care of all of it. This is just incredible. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I look forward to seeing you all dressed up later.”
Heat flushed through me once more and my heart fluttered. Something about all of this felt so…intimate. I wanted to chase the moment, savour it, keep it a reality for however long I could, but what could I say?
“I’m sorry.”
He frowned. “For what?”
“For your sister.”
“It’s not your fault.”
I smiled and nodded.
An awkward silence fell between us. I couldn’t help but chastise myself for doing nothing but killing the connection I’d felt. It had been there, right? It wasn�
��t just my imagination?
“We’d best head back,” he said, motioning towards the door. “Lots to do this afternoon.”
Disappointment seeped through me. If I hadn’t said that, would he be suggesting we leave?
I walked back to the front door in a daze, completely lost in my thoughts. If I hadn’t of been, I think I would have paid too much attention to the burning stare creeping up my spine.
A fleeting thought passed through me as I wondered if he was staring at my ass. I double checked myself. Did I want him to stare at my ass? Butterflies surged around in my gut, complementing the double beats of my heart. All the time I’d been with Ben, I’d never paid any attention to another man, and now, here I was wondering if one was staring at my behind.
As I reached the front door, I realised I did want him to check me out, but I didn’t know why. Was it because I liked him? Or was it because I needed reassurance that I was still attractive after Ben’s betrayal?
“I’ll get that,” he said, as I wrapped my hand around the door handle.
He appeared from behind me with a charming smile and a soft edge lining his eyes. Within inches of me, looking up at me from beneath his sooty lashes as he leaned towards the door, I answered my question. Sun-kissed skin, a working man’s body with the promise of an incredible physique beneath those cowboy clothes, and dark eyes to sweep you into promises of a good time—any woman who didn’t find him attractive couldn’t be straight. Even if I was a lesbian I think he’d turn me.
A deep craving to touch him had a grip of me. I just wanted to lay a finger on him, stroke his skin to see if it was as silky smooth as it looked. In nothing short of a trance, I lifted a hand. He flickered his gaze towards my hand, and then back to me. He didn’t move, nor speak. Was this my permission to go ahead?
My breath caught in my throat, my heart rate trebled. I’d never touched anyone but Ben. And we weren’t officially over. What was I doing? If I did this, I’d only be as bad as him.
That was enough to break my fascination.
Heartbreak Holiday Page 5
