He pulls me closer to him, “Okay, babe,” he presses his lips to mine for a quick kiss. “And for the record… you do love me.”
“Whatever,” I roll my eyes, smiling.
“And we are moving in together.”
“Fine,” I sigh out. “But you’d better find something better to do with all that crap upstairs,” I warn him.
“I will, baby.”
“Good. Now we’ve got to get going or we’re going to be late.”
“Kiss me first,” he pulls me closer.
“No,” I grin. “You’re gonna get me worked up and then we will be late.”
“Kiss me, Ree,” he whispers against my mouth.
“Chief…” I warn.
“I love you,” he grins.
“Oh, all right,” I give in.
I kiss him and he smiles through the kiss, until he turns things up a notch.
One thing leads to another, meaning we end up having to clean the kitchen after flour ended up all over the place.
Also, we’re late getting to Mom’s booth…
But it was so worth it…
***
“And the winner of Belton’s Twentieth Annual Chili Cook-Off is…” Mayor Nick Stonaphalus drags out.
Gah! The suspense is killing me!
Nancy Harrison’s chili was really good. Not as good as Mom’s, but it was pretty good.
Kat, Kassie, Abbey, Mom and I are all huddled together behind her table, clutching each other’s hands.
Dad, Chase, Hank, and Wyatt are all sitting in front of the table drinking beer.
It’s hard telling which way the judges will go.
One of those judges is the Chief of Police, and if he doesn’t vote for my mother, he is so not getting any tonight.
Okay, that’s a lie.
He totally will, because a talent like that just can’t be wasted.
But, I will tell him he isn’t and give in after he puts up a fight for it.
I’m sure he voted for my mom.
He had to.
He loves her cooking.
“By unanimous vote…” the Mayor drags out again.
“Oh come on!” Jimmy Phillips yells out, making me smile.
“Sandra Gable for the fifth year in a row!”
All of us girls let out squeals of delight and jump up and down.
“Boo yeah!” Carmen Sutton yells out from in front of our booth.
“Oh my god!” Mom squeals. “I can’t believe it!”
Of course she can.
She would have lost her mind if she didn’t win.
She runs up to the stage in front of the bluegrass band to claim her ribbon, that will go in a new frame in the entry hallway at her house. Along with the other four.
Grayson comes over then, stepping in beside me and wrapping his arm around my waist.
I stand up on my toes to whisper in his ear, “You were being mentally threatened with a sex ban if you didn’t vote correctly.”
He laughs, “Thank God I didn’t fuck that up.”
“Mmmm hmmm,” I tell him.
“But I bet I could’ve gotten you to cave anyway,” he whispers in my ear.
“Never say die,” I tell him.
“Nice sunglasses,” he grins at me.
“They really are, aren’t they?” I smile through the aviators of his that I permanently confiscated.
He laughs, kisses my neck and says, “Nut.”
“Your nut,” I tell him. “I need to get the name of my landlord from Mom, to see if it’s okay if you move in.”
“He won’t mind,” he says, leaning forward to pick up a beer from the cooler in front of us, popping off the cap and taking a drink.
“He?” I jerk my head back in surprise. “You know who it is?”
“Yep.”
“Who?”
“Me,” he takes another drink of his beer.
“You? What do you mean, ‘you’?”
“I mean…” he looks at me, “I’m your landlord.”
“Wh… how… I don’t understand,” I stutter out.
“Your mom approached me before we’d ever met and wanted to know if her daughter could rent the house. I assumed she was wanting to set me up with her daughter, since everyone in town tried to do that when I got here, but I’ve always liked Mike and Sandra, so I wouldn’t say no. It was just my luck,” he looks at me with a wicked grin, “that it was you.”
“Mother!” I turn to find her and see her walking this way.
“Hey guys!” Malia comes up with Tess and Brielle just as Mom gets back to the group. “Congrats Sandy!” she tells my mom.
“Thanks, dear,” Mom hugs her.
“Mother…” I say with a mocking edge, “You knew Grayson owned my house?”
“What!?!?” Malia spits her beer out, then proceeds to break out in laughter, followed by Tess. Brielle smiles shyly, blushing as her eyes meet Grayson.
“I just thought…” Mom begins.
“Oh, I know what you thought,” I huff.
“Oh, calm your tits,” Kassie butts in. “It all worked out. So what if Mom wanted to speed things along for you. You met your dream man, Mom got to play match-maker and you’re back home. Poor Chief Cole is stuck with this family now.”
“Whatever,” I place my hands on my hips. “He can go if he really feels trapped.”
“Babe,” he deadpans.
“Whatever,” I roll my eyes.
“C’mon girls get some food,” Mom quickly changes the subject. “We brought plenty. Chief,” she looks up at him, “where are the rest of the guys? I haven’t seen them yet. They must be hungry.”
“Oh, we are,” Colt says walking up to the table followed by Jer, Chance, Blaine, Koby and Declan.
“Good!” Mom says and begins serving out bowls of chili and pointing them to the desserts and sides and refreshments on the other table, where Abbey is serving.
Where are Kota and Ryder…?
I look around the square before spotting them by the courthouse door… in the middle of what appears to be quite the argument.
Ryder grabs Kota’s arm and pulls her closer to him with enough force to cause her to fall into his body. He fists his hand in her hair before smashing his mouth down onto hers.
I let out a gasp, become aware of my surroundings and quickly busy myself with helping Mom pass out bowls of chili.
I laugh silently to myself, thinking: Kota is in for a hell of a ride.
I look around me, happy with the way my life has turned out.
Happy that life has taken me on the path it has, leading me to Chief Grayson Cole.
I turn around, stand on my toes and whisper in his ear, “I love you, too.”
His arm quickly forms a steel band around me, keeping me in place so that he can lower his mouth to mine in a demanding and devouring kiss.
After approximately three seconds, the guys start whistling and Kassie says, “Oh get a fucking room.”
“Kassandra! Mouth!” Mom scolds.
I laugh, full to bursting with happiness and love for the people surrounding me.
THE END
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
My Coyote Ugly Life Page 25
