AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hey, Cowboy,” she says with a wink. “I was summoned, so here I am.”
“Good. How do you feel about riding a horse?”
That stops her in her tracks, which makes me smirk. “Today?”
“I guess not.” I tip her chin up and kiss her. “But one day soon, I’m getting you on one. Let’s take the side by side.”
She frowns but follows me out of the barn to the all-terrain vehicle that I pulled out earlier so it would be ready when she got here.
“I have a whole bunch of questions for you,” I warn her. “And when I ask, it’ll be like a lightning round. Just say the first thing that comes to your mind.”
“You’re being quite peculiar today,” she says slowly but then smiles wide. “Okay, I’m game. Ask away.”
I’m heading in the opposite direction of the lake, toward the foothills of the mountains.
“Lakefront or foothills?”
“Uh, I don’t?—”
“Don’t overthink it. Just say whatever comes to mind.”
“Foothills, I guess. What about you?”
“I don’t matter, sweetheart. Okay, two-story or ranch?”
“Ranch. Are we?—”
“No interrupting.” I take her hand in mine and kiss her knuckles. “Wraparound porch or patio?”
“Porch, of course.”
“Landscaped or natural?”
She purses her lips. “A little of both.”
“Fascinating. Four bedrooms or five?”
“Four, I think. Brady, why are we playing twenty questions about houses?”
I pull to a stop at one of my favorite places on the ranch. It’s too close to the foothills for decent grazing land, and the views of the mountains in the opposite direction are gorgeous. It’s only about a quarter of a mile from my cabin, but the views are way nicer.
I get out of the side by side and offer Abbi my hand and then lead her to a fallen tree and gesture for her to sit.
“This is a gorgeous spot,” she says, looking around. She shields her eyes from the sun and stares out at the mountains. “It just never fails to take a girl’s breath away.”
“I don’t want to live in the townhouse forever.” The words just come tumbling out of me, and I swear under my breath as she turns her gaze to me and looks almost wounded. “I didn’t mean for that to sound as jacked-up as it did. It’s a nice place, and I love being there with the two of you. If that’s where you want to be forever, I guess that’s okay because I want you to be happy, but I really think we need to have a conversation.”
I take a breath, and Abbi stands, walks a few steps away, and turns to me, wrapping her arms around her middle.
“I’m confused,” she says. Of course, she is. I sound like an idiot. “I need you to just tell me what you want or what you’re trying to say here.”
I rub my hands over my face in agitation. “Why am I so nervous?”
“I don’t know, but you’re makingmenervous. Are we breaking up, Cowboy?”
I’m off that log in a heartbeat, pulling her against me and kissing the hell out of her.
“No.No.Never. Jesus, that’s not what I’m saying at all. I want to talk about the living arrangements, that’s all, but I’m botching it up good. Okay, I’m just going to tell you what I want, in a perfect world, if I could snap my fingers and it just magically happened.”
