“Okay, remember when we met up in Denver a couple summers ago? You were working Nationals?”
“Yeah. Horrible experience,” I told her, then realized what I’d said. “Not meeting you… but the rodeo. That was a crazy… anyway, what about that summer?”
Her expression instantly went all sad, as my heart raced, and my palms felt clammy. Same feeling I had every time right before I rode one of those crazy bucking horses.
“What the hell, Mickey?” she asked. “Was the whole summer a horrible experience for you?”
I reached out for her and ran my hand down her arm. “Not you, CindyLou. You touched my heart. You were more than I ever imagined. The horrible experience was me trying to pretend I could last two seconds as a bronc rider.”
“Do you mean that, Mickey? That I touched your heart?”
I felt stupid using those words in front of Colt and Scotty but fuck me if they weren’t true.
“Yeah,” I told her, stepping in a bit closer. She smelled so good, I could eat her up.
“That’s sweet because, well… I… or rather we have…”
“Just say it,” I told her. “Whatever it is, I can take it.”
“You have a daughter, Mickey. Her name is Darci, and she’s eleven months old.”
For a moment or two, I stared at her like she’d just told me I had horns. Like I’d sprouted wings but couldn’t feel them. Daryl had said as much, but I didn’t believe him, and Scotty had speculated, but now, CindyLou stood in front of me, spouting the same words.
“So, it’s true, then,” I said, finally screwing up to the courage to speak. “Fuck me.”
Then I dropped my ass onto a barstool.
CindyLou 6
I didn’t stay long after I crashed the bomb on Mickey about him having a daughter. I figured he needed time to adjust to his new title… baby daddy.
Colt and I left shortly afterwards for his place. He wanted to make sure I understood the living arrangements he was offering me. The whole idea of living with Colt seemed like something out of a dream, rather than something I needed to consider. The reality of living in Colt’s house felt so foreign to me that I had a hard time believing he actually meant it… at least until I saw what he was offering… a spectacular ranch house, with a view of the surrounding hills that made my eyes water.
“And this would be your room,” he said as he walked inside the large bedroom with its own private bath. What I loved right off was the amazing view and the fact there were no fences in this neighborhood. Just lawns, trees… lots of trees… and hills. “You can move the furniture around how you like it or move this out and put in your own. As you can see, Darci’s room is right across the hall from yours.”
There was a nice big bed in the room, a nightstand, a matching dresser, and a walk-in closet. There was even a small desk and a chair if I needed it. The room or rather rooms were simply perfect. All Darci’s room needed was a crib, which I had enough money to buy. It even had a rocker-recliner in the corner that looked all comfy and cozy that I wanted to sit in it right now and rock my baby to sleep.
“So, what do you think?” he asked, leaning against the doorframe, looking so good I wanted to cry.
“I think it’s perfect,” I told him, grinning.
“Really? So, does this mean you’ll be moving in? You and Darci, I mean.” He walked towards me as I stood near the bed with the white down comforter. I had to admit, the bed looked really inviting, and considering I was half asleep last night when we had sex, I wondered what it would be like if we had sex now… during the day… when we were both wide awake.
“Yes, as soon as possible, if that’s okay with you.”
He kept walking towards me, slowly, as if he didn’t want to scare me away with any sudden moves.
“How does this afternoon sound?”
I liked how this man thought. I mean, we tore off the bandage with Mickey, who was still trying to lick his wound, and now we were talking about tearing another bandage off my Uncle Daryl. Only thing was, I didn’t want to hurt my aunt. She’d done a lot for me since I’d been in Sweet Whiskey, including allowing me to cry on her shoulder about my pathetic life. She also told me about applying at Dirty Coyote. That she and Tammy had been friends for like forever, and Tammy owed her a couple of favors.
Not that I couldn’t have gotten the job on my own, but it always helped when someone put in a good word for you.
“Darci needs a crib,” I told him, trying to keep focused on the reality of moving into his house. “I bought one for my aunt and uncle’s house, but I’ll need another one for here.”
“There’s a Walmart about a half hour from here.”
He’d finally reached me, and we were standing about two feet apart when he stopped walking, and instead, just stared at me with those beautiful deep-blue eyes of his. The memory of a sensation from the previous night shot through me and at once, I wanted to push him down on the bed and ravage his spectacular body. This time, I’d be wide awake.