AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Not to the point where I’m willing to neglect her safety, but at least enough to give her a semblance of control.
“But first, why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you? You’re more antsy than a kid on Christmas morning.”
Immediately, she stills. Her wide eyes blink behind her glasses, the frames sliding down her nose again so she has to push them back up in that adorable way I’m starting to find addicting.
What the actual hell?
A forty-two-year-old man shouldn’t be turned on by a woman adjusting her glasses. It’s an innocent gesture. Commonplace. But nothing about Addie seems commonplace to me.
And that’s a problem.
“Oh... It’s... I... Are you married?” She bites her lip before squeezing her eyes shut and letting loose a groan of embarrassment at the outburst. One eye peeks open to gauge my reaction.
Fuck, why does she have to be so sweet?
“No, I’m not married. No wife. No girlfriend.” My past hasn’t been conducive to relationships. Scratching under the brim of my cowboy hat, I suppose my present isn’t conducive to them either.
Her shoulders relax under her jacket. “That’s good. Well, not good, you know, if you’re looking for love or... whatever... I was worried someone might be waiting for you back at the dance, and I’ve taken up too much of your time and...” She slams a hand over her mouth as if that will stop her sudden rambling.
“I don’t know why I said all that,” Addie mumbles, messing with the jacket zipper under her chin.
“It’s alright.” I chuckle and carefully lower her to the ground with my hands wrapped tight around her hips. “I’m just glad we sorted out the potential marriage problem. Unless you...?”
She sure as hell better not be some other man’s wife.
Why? Not like she’ll ever be yours.
“Me?” The cutest giggle rings through the air, and I swear my dick swells another few inches, which is saying something since the imprint of my zipper is already embedded on the damn thing.
“No, I’m not married.”
Would you like to be?
That’s it. I’ve got to get Addie to her hotel before I humiliate myself in front of the poor woman by offering myself as a potential husband.
You’re too fucking old for a sweet little thing like her.
Your future is one stranger’s decision away from crumbling to ash.
Those are the mantras I repeat as I walk Addie to her car and trail behind her sedan with my truck before waving good-bye once she’s safely inside the hotel lobby. They almost drown out the regretful mourning of not asking for her number.
Almost.
IN THE MORNING, I WAKE up surly and fatigued. Amazing what a night of tossing and turning with frustration will get you.
“You okay?” Samuel, my best friend and owner of the ranch next to ours, shovels another mound of trampled hay and horseshit out of the stall next to me. He came over this morning to complain about the rich city guys who bought the land abutting his and who now want to purchase his ranch, too.
I grunt, reveling in the soreness seeping into my muscles from pushing too hard for too long. Maybe I’ll wear myself out so badly that sleep won’t be a stranger tonight.
After listening to his grievances with wealthy businessmen picking Montana as their newest playground, and commiserating with his plight considering my own experience with bored CEOs, I roped him into helping me muck stalls.
“Do I need to accidentally miss the wheelbarrow and toss this shit over your head for a response? Grunting like a caveman doesn’t cut it.”
I pause my shoveling and glare through the metal bars separating us. “Do it, and that manure will be fertilizing your grave in the back forty.”
Samuel laughs and continues his work—wisely keeping anything resembling shit on his side of the stable. “He speaks! I was wondering when you’d break. Are you ready to tell me what crawled up your ass and died? Was the dance that bad? I warned you not to go.”
“It was fine.” I’m prepared for him to keep badgering me for a real answer, but the crunch of gravel reaches my ears. “Someone’s coming up the drive. I’ll be right back.”
