And Then You Kiss

by Heather A Buchman

  “We have three of them,” Mark told him. “I lived. At least you’ve got some other testosterone in your house. Look at me. Even the dog is female.”

  Jace called Blythe and asked if he could see her that night. The stock show didn’t open until the next day. Once it did, he still wanted to see her, but he wouldn’t have as much time.

  Blythe was a nervous wreck waiting for him to get to the house. A couple times she thought about texting him and canceling, but they had plans to be at the show every day Billy and Jace were in town, so it would’ve been awkward to beg off their date.

  When he got there, she invited him in. An hour later, she wished she hadn’t. Jace fit in so well with her parents, and Ben and Liv, she wondered if he remembered she was there.

  Lost in thought, feeling ignored, she checked Facebook on her phone. When she looked up Jace was watching her. He smiled. And winked.

  “You ready to go darlin’?”

  “Sure. I mean, if you still want to. We could hang out here if you want.”

  Jace stood in front of her. “Of course I still want to spend the evening with you sweet girl. I was trying to make a good impression on your parents, but I neglected you in the meantime, didn’t I?”

  She shrugged.

  “C’mon, let’s get outa here.”

  “Where are we going?” she asked once they were in his truck.

  “I have options for you. Either Augustine Grille or the Castle Café. What’s your pleasure darlin’?”

  That was a tough decision. Both were in Castle Rock, about twenty minutes north of Monument. The Castle Café was more casual. Augustine Grille was definitely more romantic. She hated being the one to decide where to eat. Renie knew that about her and never made her pick. When she went out with Tucker, he hadn’t even asked.

  “Oh my,” Jace said, touching her chin. “You’re workin’ quite a pout over there. You want me to choose darlin’?”

  “Yes. You pick, either one is okay with me.”

  He didn’t say anything on the drive. When he pulled up across the street from the grille, she grinned. He was going for romance.

  “Figured I dropped the ball wooin’ you at Thanksgiving. Maybe you’ll let me give it another try. Whaddaya say?”

  She didn’t answer him with words, but gave him a sweet smile instead. That seemed to make him happy.

  Over dinner he told her all about training with Billy. As she’d asked Renie, she asked him if it was weird.

  “Nah. I was over Renie by the time I met you Blythe.”

  She raised her eyebrows.

  “Okay, I’ll admit it. Maybe not over her, but resigned to her bein’ with Billy. No point beating a dead horse, if ya know what I mean.” That was the last they talked of Renie.

  Blythe had hoped Jace would bring up Tucker himself, so she didn’t have to ask, but he didn’t.

  He was affectionate and attentive throughout dinner, like he had been the day they spent skiing. It was hard to remember that had been Thanksgiving morning. So many things had happened that day, it seemed like two or three days crammed into one.

  “Have you been to the Next Door Bar?” she asked him as they were leaving the grille.

  “No, where is it? Next door?”

  She laughed. “Not next door to here. It’s actually next door to Castle Café.”

  “Let’s do it. Can we walk from here?”

  “Definitely,” she answered.

  This would give her a good opportunity to ask about Tucker.

  “What happened Jace?”

  “With Tuck?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I figured you’d ask at some point.” He rubbed his face with hands again, as he’d done the last time she asked him about it.

  “It isn’t my story to tell Blythe. Tuck…God, I’m so uncomfortable. He should tell you. Not me.”

  Jace was so agitated; Blythe put her hand on his arm and stopped him. “It’s okay,” she said. “You don’t have to tell me.”

  “I’m sorry Blythe. I can’t talk about it.”

  “Like I said, it’s okay. Let’s change the subject.”

  They walked to the bar in silence, but once they got there, the music and the crowd distracted them. They danced and talked more about the rodeo. There were a lot of cowboys in the bar, and soon Jace was involved in a conversation with them about the stock show.

  When he mentioned he was traveling with Billy Patterson, they started asking about him.

  “Billy’s a bit of a rock star,” said the girl sitting next to Blythe at the bar.

  “Yeah, even outside the rodeo he is,” answered Blythe, laughing.

  “I’m Lyric,” she introduce herself. “I’m the host of RodeoChat.”

  “Blythe, I…uh…don’t know that much about rodeo. I mean I’ve been a few times, but that’s it.”

  “No matter. It’s nice to meet you Blythe. Pretty good lookin’ cowboy you’re out with tonight.”

  Blythe looked over at Jace. Good looking didn’t begin to describe him. He was beautiful. He’d let his blonde hair grow out a bit since the last time she’d seen him, although she heard him ask her dad if there was a place he could get a haircut the next day. If she remembered, she’d try to talk him out of it. She liked the way it curled a little bit against the collar of his shirt.

  He looked over at her, and when he saw she was talking to Lyric, smiled and winked, and then went back to his conversation with the guys.

  Lyric fanned herself when he did. “God, he’s hot. What color are his eyes? Green? He doesn’t have a brother does he?”

  Blythe laughed again. “He does. A twin, in fact.”

  “Oh my lanta,” said Lyric. “Is he here too?”

  No, he wasn’t, thought Blythe. She wished she knew where he was. He was in Europe, she knew that much. But she wished she could see him, talk to him, get him to tell her what the big secret was. Obviously it was something important, life-changing, traumatic given the reaction at the dinner table that day.

  “I’m a twin too, how ’bout that? I have a twin brother.” When Blythe didn’t answer, Lyric asked if she was okay.

  “Yeah. Sorry. No, his brother isn’t here. He’s in Europe.”

  Lyric tilted her head and looked at her, as though she expected Blythe to keep talking.

  “He’s a nice guy too,” was all she said.

  “Hmm, sounds like there’s a story there.”

  “There is,” Blythe answered. “But I don’t know it.”

  “Speaking of stories, I’d love to interview Billy Patterson on RodeoChat. Think you can hook me up?”

  Blythe wasn’t sure, but she thought there was a good chance of it. Lyric was so easy to talk to, before she knew it, she’d told her the whole story of Billy, Renie and Willow. It dawned on her suddenly that she shouldn’t have.

  “Don’t worry,” said Lyric, sensing her sudden discomfort. “If I get the chance, I’ll interview Billy about the rodeo, I’ll keep his personal life out of it, unless he brings it up himself.”

  “Thanks,” said Blythe. “You’re too easy to talk to, or these Jack and cokes are going down a little too fast. I ran off at the mouth more than I should have.”

  “It’s okay,” said Lyric. “I won’t tell anyone else, I promise.”

  Blythe hoped so. Lyric seemed trustworthy. Although her dad told stories of how he’d gotten in trouble with the media back when he was on tour with his band.

  “My dad used to get in trouble over-talking.” Blythe laughed. “He was in a band.”

  “What band?

  “Ever heard of Cochran?”

  “Of course I have.”

  “That’s it. Cochran is our last name.”

  “You’re not going to believe this,” said Lyric. “My dad was in Satin. He still is, but they don’t tour as much as they used to.”

  “This is wild,” said Blythe. “Yes, I know who Satin is. My dad would freak out right now. In fact, I have to text him. What’s your dad’s name?”
>
  Blythe texted her dad, and as she predicted, he was ready to hop in the car and drive up to meet Lyric. Blythe sternly told him not to. It would be just like him to do it anyway though.

  “It just dawned on me, your name, Lyric…it’s very symbolic, isn’t it?”

  She laughed. “Yeah, my parents were…like that. My brother’s name is Bullet.”

  “Seriously? Wow, sounds like there’s a story there,” she laughed, repeating what Lyric had said earlier. “No story here. I’m named after Blythe Danner, not symbolic at all.”

  “That’s cool.”

  “How did you get into rodeo if you were raised by a rocker?”

  “My grandma was a barrel racer back in the day. I spent a lot of time with her when I was growin’ up—with my dad on tour and all. Once I got a little older, my mom went with him. Anyway, my grandma took me to rodeos all the time.”

  “And you turned it into a career.”

  “As I got older I started payin’ more attention and realized there wasn’t a place where you could real-time results for anything other than the big rodeos. And sometimes you can’t get those either. So I started RodeoChat on Twitter to have a place for folks to find out results, chat about rodeo, that kind of stuff.”

  “Smart.”

  “Smart or crazy, I’m not sure which,” Lyric laughed. “It isn’t the only thing I do.”

  “What else do you do?”

  “I still work in the music biz.”

  “Still?”

  “Yeah, I’ve been workin’ with my grandma long as I can remember. She owns a talent agency.”

  “Wow, that’s big.”

  Lyric laughed again. “Yeah, it’s big, but that isn’t all I do.”

  “It isn’t?”

  “Nah. I’m also a large animal vet.”

  “You’re kidding. How old are you?”

  When Lyric told her she was her age, Blythe wanted to crawl into a hole.

  “You’ve done so much with your life, and me? I haven’t done jack shit with mine.”

  “Well maybe you oughta’ find somethin’ that interests you.”

  “Easier said than done. Anyway, let’s change the subject back to the vet business. Renie, the one I was telling you about, who’s engaged to Billy, she’s becoming a large animal vet too.”

  “Cool! That’ll give me more to talk to her and Billy about. You’re awesome Blythe.”

  “I don’t know about that. I have awesome friends, that’s the extent of my awesomeness.”

  “I don’t believe that for a minute. You’ll figure it out. I got a feeling about you.”

  Jace watched Blythe talk to the girl at the bar. It appeared they were having a good time. He’d started to feel guilty about talking with the guys, but every time he looked over she was talking, or smiling. He wanted to ask her to dance again. He stood behind her and put his arm around her waist.

  “Havin’ a good time darlin’?”

  “I am. This is Lyric. Lyric this is Jace Rice.”

  “Nice to meet you Jace. I was trying to talk Blythe into getting me an interview with Billy Patterson. Maybe you can help me with that.”

  “Lyric, such a unique name, it sounds familiar—”

  “RodeoChat,” she answered before he could ask.

  “That’s right. Lyric. Wow! It’s nice to meet you. I’ve followed some of your interviews on Twitter. Good stuff. And yeah, I’m sure Billy would be willing.”

  “Great! I’m gonna get goin’. Big week ahead of me an’ all. It was great talkin’ to you Blythe. Will you be up at the National Western?”

  “All week,” Jace answered for her.

  Lyric handed her a card. “This has my cell number on it. Call me tomorrow, okay? I wanna talk to you more Blythe. I’ve got some ideas I wanna run by you.”

  “Me? Uh, okay. I’m not sure why you’d want to talk to me, but yeah, I’ll call you.”

  “You made a friend,” Jace said to her after Lyric left. He whisked her out on the dance floor, just in time for a slow song.

  “She was fun to talk to. I hope Billy isn’t mad at us for practically committing him to the interview.”

  “Nah, he won’t be. Don’t you worry.” Jace pulled her closer and breathed in her scent. She smelled like vanilla, and fresh air. He nuzzled closer. “I missed you Blythe.”

  He felt her shoulders tense. “You don’t believe me?”

  “I must’ve missed all those messages you left me.”

  “I haven’t talked to anybody since Thanksgiving.”

  “Nobody? What about Billy? And Renie?”

  “Ah, there we go. Now we get to what’s really bothering you. You have no reason to be jealous of Irene.”

  “Who says something is bothering me? And who says I’m jealous?”

  “You do. Come on now, let me court you girl.”

  They kept dancing. Jace longed to kiss her, but he’d wait. He wanted to be alone with her when he did. Not on a crowded, noisy dance floor.

  “Jace, I’m not sure—”

  “Shh, don’t say it.”

  “You don’t even know what I’m going to say.”

  “I think I do.”

  “He’s here with us whether you want him to be or not.”

  It didn’t matter which of them she was with, the other was always there too. She wondered if it would always be that way, or if eventually she’d see them as individuals separate from one another.

  Blythe shouldn’t have brought Tucker up, but she couldn’t help it. There was something about him that stuck with her. If she’d predicted which of the Rice brothers she’d hear from again, she would’ve said Tucker, not Jace.

  “You can’t stop thinkin’ about him.”

  “No. I can’t. I’m sorry. I’m worried about him.”

  “He’s okay Blythe. It’s somethin’ he has to work through, and he’s gotta do it on his own.”

  “But—”

  “It happened a few years ago. It’s his damage darlin’. There isn’t anything you, or I, can do for him. Not until he decides he’s ready.” That wasn’t true. There was something Jace could do, but he hadn’t ever been able to bring himself to do it.

  “And you’re still not going to tell me what happened?”

  “No, I’m not. It’s up to him to tell you Blythe. I’m sorry.”

  They danced through the end of the song and before Blythe could ask, he motioned toward the door.

  “Why don’t you wait here? I’ll go get the truck.”

  “No, it’s okay Jace. It’s not that cold. I don’t mind walking. In fact, I’d like to.”

  “Okay, if that’s what you want to do.”

  He held her hand once they got outside, and then pulled her closer and put his arm around her.

  “Give me a chance Blythe,” he whispered. When she turned to answer him, he gripped her face and covered her mouth with his. “Please.”

  Once he started kissing her, she didn’t want him to stop. How could she have forgotten how he made her feel? The last time he kissed her, she couldn’t get Tucker out of her mind, this time there was no question it was Jace. He didn’t feel anything like Tucker tonight.

  He pushed her back against the brick side of the building, put his hands inside her jacket and eased them under her sweater. She wanted his hands on her skin. He cupped each side of her waist and moved higher, until his hands rested under the curve of her breasts. When his thumbs brushed her nipples, she felt his heat spread through the rest of her body. She pushed into him, kissing him harder.

  Jace rested his forehead against hers, but left his hands where they were. “I wanna be alone with you Blythe, so bad. But…”

  “I know. Sorry,” she breathed. “I live with my parents.”

  “I wouldn’t feel right—”

  She put her fingers over his lips. She didn’t want to hear him say anything about Renie. “It’s okay,” she whispered.

  She was quiet on the drive home. He held her hand in his, and ran his thumb ba
ck and forth, over her knuckles. She hummed along with the music on the radio; he doubted she knew she did it.

  She took a deep breath and rested her head against the window. He’d give anything to know what she was thinking about. Was she thinking about him, or had Tuck wormed his way back in?

  “Are you staying with Billy and Renie all week?”

  “Haven’t decided yet. Why do you ask sweet girl?” Maybe he was the reason she was so lost in thought.

  “I don’t know. Seems like a long drive back every night.”

  “Yeah? You think maybe I should get a hotel room closer to the show?”

  “I don’t know. It might be a good idea.” Then she laughed.

  “What’s funny?”

  “As long as Billy doesn’t want to share the room with you.”

  He laughed too. He wouldn’t be offering Billy bunk space. To be sure, he’d get a room with one bed in it.

  “You gonna keep me company if I do?”

  “We’ll see.”

  Chapter 6

  Dottie and Bill, Billy’s parents, kept Willow with them so Renie could go up to the stock show with Blythe. Ben and Liv were going too, but driving separately.

  “It’s been a long time since we went to the rodeo,” Renie said on the way there.

  “A very long time. Guess we won’t be checkin’ out the cowboys the way we used to.”

  Blythe wondered if Renie had ever checked out other cowboys. From what she’d said in the last couple of months, she’d been in love with Billy Patterson long before she and Blythe went to their first rodeo.

  “What about you? Are you and Jace…you know?”

  “Are we what?”

  “Seeing each other?”

  “Yes. No. I’m not sure, to tell you the truth.”

  “Billy wondered. He asked me this morning when Jace told him he’d decided to stay in Denver the rest of the week.”

  “Well it is a long ride home every night.”

  Blythe started to giggle and Renie joined her.