Girls at school used to tease him that he should wear a white hat even though he always favored black or a dark tan Stetson his mom had bought him when he’d graduated. Definitely wouldn’t qualify for white this weekend.
He needed to come clean.
“Hey, didn’t expect to see you here,” one of the cowboys Boone knew the best on the tour, Cody, came up behind him and slapped him on the shoulder. “You look like you’re studying for an exam. Pick a beer. You always go for a local brew.”
Gloomily Boone ordered. Cody laughed and ordered him a whiskey chaser.
“If anyone needs it, you do. What’s wrong?”
Normally Boone kept his own counsel. But he liked Cody. He also trusted him even though he had a bad boy rep that he used as a bit of a shield and why not? Touring frayed nerves as well as the body so having some privacy and headspace was essential. Besides, he and Cody had a lot in common. Siblings who were accomplished as hell, while they rode demons for pride and prize and to prove a point to themselves if not to someone else.
“I haven’t been honest with Piper,” Boone said.
“You? About what?” Cody’s astonishment would have been funny, but Boone felt anything but amused. Cody’s eyes went wide. “No way.”
By Cody’s expression, Boone could tell the way his mind was going.
“I’d never.” Boone was totally offended.
“Hey.” Cody put up his hands. “You’d be the last guy I’d think would…you know…but…” Cody left the word hanging there. “Lots of opportunities.”
“Fuck no,” Boone objected, tossing back some beer down his throat that suddenly felt Mojave dry.
Flynn O’Connell walked in and he nodded in recognition to Boone and Cody and called over the bartender before making his way toward them.
“Definitely not that. I just haven’t told her I grew up in Marietta. I haven’t introduced her to my family, and I haven’t told my family I’ve been traveling with her.”
He said the words fast and low and they sounded even more stupid out loud.
Cody was a total friend, not pointing out what an idiot he was.
“So how’s that going to work exactly?” Cody asked carefully. “That’s a pretty low fucking profile you need to keep. Your dad’s practically running the show with some of the other rodeo committee members. And don’t you usually stay with them at the ranch?”
“Already a sore point,” Boone groused.
“Hey.” Flynn joined them. “Where’s Piper?”
“Stashed away,” Cody said.
“Come again?”
Boone took another swig of beer to keep from talking about it, but Flynn’s eyes were steely and his face was not that of a man about to give up.
“I don’t want to introduce her to my family because then they’ll think we’re serious. They’ll make a big deal of it. She’ll think we’re serious.”
“You sure as hell seem serious. I hardly ever see you apart,” Cody pointed out.
“Let’s talk about something else.”
“Later,” Flynn said. “I want to hear how the golden one has a flaw.”
“Not that again.” Boone hated that nickname. He’d gotten it on the tour his first year because he was always helping everyone out, and one of the veteran bull rider’s wives had dubbed him that, and it had unfortunately stuck. Boone felt like people were starting to forget but no, Flynn had to bring it up again.
“This was supposed to be just, you know, fun with Piper.”
No reaction. Shane Marvell sauntered in, nodded and went to the bar. Boone took another deep and moody swallow of his beer. “I just feel I need to accomplish more before I…you know…settle down.”
“Is Piper pushing for more?” Flynn asked.
“No.”
“So what’s the sweat?” Flynn shrugged and took a long drag of his beer. “Maybe she’s just having fun too?”
“A rodeo cowboy doesn’t scream stability to women. We shout temporary, wild ride,” Cody said and clinked his beer with Flynn’s. “And that’s how I like it.”
“Have fun and walk away with a smile,” Flynn agreed. “That’s how I roll.”
“Or maybe she’ll be the one to walk away with a smile,” Cody said. “She’s got two college degrees and magic hands. Not like she doesn’t have other options.”
True.
Piper should walk. He wanted her to walk. Needed her to walk because he didn’t seem to have the balls to cut her loose.
“Who’s going to walk?” Shane Marvell shoulder-checked Boone. “Hey, stranger. You seem to be avoiding everyone.”
Boone ignored him.
“Girl Boone got himself knotted up over,” Cody said.
“Why cut her loose now? Wait until the end of the short round.” Shane clinked his bottle with Boone’s and the beer nearly fell from Boone’s hand. “Notice how I’m kindly boosting your confidence by getting you to the short round?” Shane took a long swallow. “Why cause trouble now? Season’s winding down, and it’s always a grind. Break it off before the break. You’ll have a month or so at the ranch to heal, forget, find another woman. My work here is done,” Shane said smugly.
Boone had a stupid urge to wipe the laughing smile from Shane’s face with his fist even though he knew, absolutely knew Shane was right. It was what he’d planned to do long before he hit Marietta so why the hell was he waiting?
He should tell her tonight. At the picnic. No, that would be awkward. Piper might cry. She’d want privacy. He should do something special for her. A private picnic with just the two of them. Take her someplace beautiful and then… His mind wouldn’t allow him to fill in the rest.
He tossed back the whiskey chaser, even though he’d planned to ignore it.
And then Dean Maynard walked into Grey’s. All four of them shut up. Tensed. After yesterday at Grey’s, Boone knew Dean was ready to pick a fight, and he knew all Boone’s triggers. Boone slammed down his glass and turned to face Maynard.
Bring it the fuck on.
Only for once Maynard didn’t get in his grill. No. He popped off at Cody. Something about him giving his prize money away to a hot waitress and her sick kid. Boone felt a swell of pride for Cody. He knew his studied indifference and bad boy swagger hid a lot of good, but he also knew no man wanted his business dissected in public, and Cody was more private than many.
One more reason to despise rich, dickhead Dean Maynard.
*
“Your hair’s a gorgeous color,” Amanda Wright-Justice, owner of The Wright Salon, said as she worked Piper’s hair with a large round brush and blow-dryer.
“I was thinking the same about your hair,” Piper said, admiring the long blonde hair that was pulled back in a high retro-style ponytail that tumbled down her back. Everything about Amanda was stylish. And everything about the salon, especially the generous splashes of pink, made Piper happy.
“So you’re in town for the rodeo. What do you think of Marietta?”
“I love it. Part of me thinks it’s like a movie set so historic and cute, but yet it’s so real. I put up some of my cards on a few community boards around town like I’ve done in a lot of towns, but here the people were so friendly and welcoming, curious about me as a person. It didn’t just seem like they were being polite. It’s like the town I’ve always imagined living in.”
Amanda smiled. “Careful, you’ll end up moving here. Everyone who comes to Marietta seems to fall in love with it. Even my husband, who arrived in town thinking he’d hate it.”
“Why?”
“His father grew up here. But he was a big-city guy.” Amanda laughed a little and her face shone with love.
Piper felt a pang of envy. She probably looked like that when she talked about Boone, and she would have thought he felt the same way until yesterday. Thursday, the day of doom, Piper thought, uncharacteristically pessimistic.
She shook off the doubt. The salon was cute. Amanda had given her a glass of sparkling pink water. She and Boone wer
e going to a picnic.
Snap out of it.
“Count me a fan,” Piper said, a little surprised she was having such a good time. She often talked to strangers—with all her moves and travels, she had to—but she didn’t often feel so relaxed about it.
Amanda looked thoughtful, and again, Piper marveled at how naturally pretty she was. Classically attractive with a slight retro vibe that made her seem like someone Piper would really want to get to know. Become friends with. A little wave of sadness hit her. She wasn’t building the life she wanted. She was in a holding pattern. Again. But Boone was everything she’d ever dreamed about. Well, except he seemed restless, looking at some far-off horizon for what, Piper didn’t know.
“You said you were putting cards up. I have a notice board. What are they cards for?”
“I’m a masseuse. I specialize in massage for athletes and injuries, but I’m completely certified. I did specialized training for athletes because I used to be a professional dancer, but…” Piper took the plunge, firmly stating her dream vocally. Next up, she’d act on it. This uncertainty was slowly killing her—hitching her dreams to Boone’s wagon was a mistake.
“I’m looking for a town to settle in and build a career as a masseuse. I have a portable massage chair and a portable table and also a professional-grade Pilates reformer. I’ve been traveling with my boyfriend who’s a bull and bareback rider with the Montana pro rodeo circuit. He wrestles steers too. Crazy huh?” But Piper couldn’t keep the note of pride out of her voice.
Amanda turned off the blow-dryer and ran her fingers through Piper’s thick long hair. It shone under the light.
“Crazy but sexy, I bet.”
Piper bit her lip and could see herself blush. So silly. She was an adult now. Building a career. She’d been with Boone a full four months. No more blushing like a young, shy girl, still nervous around boys. Boone was a man and with him as her guide, she’d blown her sexual inexperience to smithereens.
“Crazy sexy.”
“No bragging now.” Amanda laughed. “I keep it PG in here. Let me freshen up your strawberry sparkling water. And I have a new shine product I’d like to try on your hair.”
Piper relaxed under Amanda’s skilled fingers as she massaged her scalp, and fluffed her long hair.
“Bit intimidating giving a masseuse a massage.”
Piper laughed. “Not at all. I’m loving it. You have a lovely salon. So welcoming. Great vibe. I feel like I belong, like I could just bring in a coffee and chat.”
“That was the goal.”
Amanda put a dime-size quantity of clear liquid on her fingers and rubbed them together. Then she took small pieces of Piper’s hair and quickly stroked her fingers through.
“What do you think?”
“I love it.”
“Next time you’re in, I can give you a trim.”
“Ends that bad, huh?” Piper winced.
“Not at all. Before you go, let me show you something.”
Piper followed her across the small, but stylish salon, admiring all the tasteful touches. It seemed so clever to take an old house and convert it to a business, especially a salon. You were home even when you weren’t home. Piper even loved the street it was on. Church Avenue. “Take Me to Church.” She loved that song by Hozier. And “My Church” by Maren Morris.
Amanda walked down a short hall, opened a door with a bit of a flourish and stepped into an empty room. Piper followed her in. She looked around and then back at Amanda.
“Just saying. It’s here.”
Piper eyed the four walls. The light streaming through one window. She looked back at Amanda, an unspoken question in her eyes.
“I’ve been looking to make this a full-service salon and day spa, but I haven’t found the right person. If you’re looking for a town to belong and a business to grow, I have the space to rent.”
“Oh.” Piper looked around the room differently. She walked the perimeter and closed her eyes to feel the space. “Wow.”
“Big decision if you’re traveling with your cowboy. Montana’s a big state, but still not impossible for him to come visit between rodeos. And a big break’s coming up. Where does he call home in between?”
Piper startled from her contemplation of the room. “I don’t actually know,” she said, almost appalled by her ignorance. “I think he’s pretty much on his own like I am. We planned to stay together for the summer and then…” Piper shrugged feeling a little stricken.
She was by nature a planner. She’d loved Boone’s spontaneity. His easy affection and sense of fun and adventure and the care he took with her. It would be hard to say goodbye. But that had been the plan. And like Amanda said, Montana was a big state, but it was the state where Boone worked, and he said he’d grown up on a ranch in Montana.
Maybe if she settled somewhere like Marietta it didn’t have to be the end for them.
“It’s funny,” she mused. “From the beginning this town just felt right, like what I was looking for and well…” How to explain the signs she’d seen in a few of her interactions? She didn’t want Amanda to think she was a new-age, touchy-feely nut. Even the salon felt right. Amanda and the receptionist, Emily seemed like they could become colleagues, if not friends.
“Think about it,” Amanda said and gave Piper her cell number. “I don’t have anyone else in mind. I was waiting, feeling like the right person would find me, and I think today they did.”
“Thank you,” Piper said. “I’ll think about it for sure.”
“Great. I know it’s a big decision, but I am hoping to get a masseuse in here soon, and since you have portable equipment, maybe sometimes you can travel to clients with me. I have a mobile service—an RV in the back.”
Piper walked out of the salon feeling elated and terrified, and as she walked back to the rodeo grounds she wasn’t sure if she wanted to dance around in excitement or hide and cry. How had something so beautiful turned into something so complicated?
Chapter Eight
Boone put his truck in park but kept the engine idling. He looked over at Piper. She smiled.
“You’re not really going to blindfold me are you?”
He nodded solemnly.
She felt a little nervous and excited.
“Why?”
“I want to surprise you, and honestly, the thought of blindfolding you excites me.”
Piper’s breath hitched.
“Does it excite you?” he asked. “Or make you nervous?”
She moistened her upper lip with her tongue. The sun was just beginning to dip lower in the sky, fingers of pink starting to creep out from the horizon.
“Both,” she admitted. “But I trust you, Boone.”
He winced, but then his face cleared, got intense when he leaned in to her. “I want you to trust me, Piper,” he said. “I don’t want…I would never…” Boone seemed unable to find the words. “I’d like you to know I would never deliberately let you down. Or…”
“I know.”
He slowly drew a bandana from his pocket.
“And you can rely on me, Boone. I want you to be happy,” she said in a rush, and she meant it. Even if his happiness came at the expense of hers. Boone was such a good person. She admired him so much—how he always jumped in to help anyone on the tour, even his competitors. And how he always checked in on her—to see if she needed anything, if she were hungry or tired or…anything. After a lifetime of feeling practically invisible, Boone had made her feel vital, and as she stared into his eyes, as the day began to change from golden to gray and pink, she wondered if she’d told him enough how much he meant to her, how much she admired him.
“I am happy.” Although he looked a little sad when he said it. “This weekend’s been rough. I…I sucked here last year. Wanted to do really well and instead I choked badly. I didn’t make the short round on any event, even steer wrestling, and well, I just don’t want to go out that route again.”
“You won’t,” Piper said, her
smile sunny. “You’ve been doing well, and you have me as your good luck charm.”
He nodded. “I like to keep it low-key before events and I thought the picnic would just be too busy. Plus, I wanted to take you someplace special. So…” He held up the bandana and raised his eyebrows.
Piper leaned in to him and closed her eyes, savoring his scent, the intimacy that seemed to wrap around them so easily again. She closed her eyes. He kissed her tenderly and whispered her name so sweetly like he always did right before he’d enter her when they made love. Then he gently tied the bandana around her.
“Too tight?”
“No.”
“Can you see?”
Piper didn’t even bother to open her eyes. “No.”
“Okay. No peeking.”
“Or?”
He laughed. “You want to play, I’ll play. I’m going to carry you for a little while to get there so you will be at my mercy. You’ll find out what that means if you peek.”
Piper nibbled on her lip, but felt happiness wash through her.
It was funny. She’d been looking forward to the barbeque picnic at the park this evening. Amanda had mentioned it and even her client Kane had asked her if she wanted to join his family for it later this evening. Piper had enjoyed meeting so many people native to Marietta, but being alone with Boone had always been special for her.
She was getting her picnic. But Boone was taking her to a special spot. He wanted to be alone with her. That had to mean something, right?
Boone put the truck in gear and they bumped along a very rutted road. She could hear bushes or trees brush along the side of the truck and Boone was driving slowly. The road was rough and twisty, and definitely on an incline.
He stopped the truck.
“Now?”
“Nope. Keep it on, little miss impatient.”
She sat in the truck while Boone got something out of the back seat, and then came around to her side. She thought he’d pick her up and carry her the romantic way, but instead he swung her up and over his shoulder.
She yipped in surprise.
Boone laughed. “I need my other hand to carry the picnic basket and blanket.”
Cowboy Come Home Page 8
