Best Friends Forever

“I just mean success looks good on you,” she said, giving me a look over the rim of the wine glass that I’d managed to slide in front of her while I told my story.

“That’s funny,” I said, leaning my forearms on the bar separating us. “I was just thinking of something else that might look good on me.”

I turned back to dishing out salads onto our plates, and now it was my turn to get a little red-faced. What the hell had I just said? And to my best friend’s little sister, no less?

Meredith immediately choked on a sip of wine, and her eyes watered with the effort of trying not to throw an all-out coughing fit. I handed her a napkin, and quickly changed the subject.

“How do you like your steak?”

Chapter 4

Meredith

My first thought when Colt came down the stairs was not at all professional.

Holy shit, how is it possible he’s sexier with clothes on than without? Wait, stop it! This is Colt Stone, your brother’s friend and the subject of an interview. There’s no time for thoughts like—

But as the interview went on, I managed to keep things businesslike. Then he had gone and made that offer of putting “something else” on top of him. If my mind hadn’t already fallen fully into the gutter at the sight of him after all these years, that just about did me in.

“Um, well done,” I answered to his question about steak. Luckily, that changed the temperature in the room as he cast a sideways glare in my direction.

“Well done? What have they done to you up north, honey? That’s no way to eat God’s own Texas cattle!” he answered, but his sarcastic expression was quickly changed with a wicked smile. “I might just how to reteach you how to be satisfied.”

“Sorry, I’m just not into raw meat with a side of its own blood,” I explained, doing my best to ignore his flirtatious comments.

Colt pressed his lips together in a thin line, but returned my steak to the countertop grill to cook just a tad longer.

“Did Bryant ever tell you about the time we snuck into the Big B grocery and helped ourselves to a few steaks and racks of rib for a barbeque?” he asked with a grin.

I shook my head and waited, open-mouthed in astonishment at the thought of my dear brother stealing so much as a stick of gum, then waited for him to tell the rest of the story.

“Oh man, my dad found out and we thought we were literally going to be put to death. He called up your parents, asked permission to beat your brother’s butt alongside mine, then made us walk back to the store, leading one of our steer the whole way. When we got there, we had to help the butcher process the entire thing, and then clean the butcher shop and the store. I never so much as thought about breaking a rule after that!” Colt laughed, and I took advantage of an opportunity to get a great shot of him for the article.

“I just can’t picture either one of you as the town’s ‘Beef Bandits’!”

“Oh, it was a nightmare. People were driving past us on the road, honking at us to move over. The steer was getting spooked the whole way. Finally, a bunch of kids from school passed us on the bus coming back from some sports trip or other, and we sure got an earful about it at school!”

“How did I never know about this?” I asked, still laughing at the image of Bryant and Colt walking a cow all the way into town.

“Well, lemme think, Bry and I were about fourteen, so I guess you had to be, what, about ten? You were just a little thing. I’m sure your parents didn’t want to go telling your brother’s shameful business to a kid. But look at you now… all grown up.” He paused for a moment and I felt the sink in for the both of us. He shook his head and added quickly, “and s

itting back in our kitchen just like you did when my mama’d give you a plate of cookies.”

Something shifted in Colt’s gaze, something that immediately put me on edge. I could tell he was switching between his teasing attraction and the little girl memory. I’d worked hard to shrug off the kid sister Texas girl image, and I stood on my own two feet every single day. At the same time, the frustration at being Little Merry Forbes again melted in the glow of feeling like I’d come home for a long overdue visit.

“You ready to go see this old place?” he finally asked after we’d eaten our lunch, and I’d taken a few more notes. I nodded eagerly, grabbing my camera and notebook.

He led the way out back to an immense deck, one that could have easily hosted its own events for a hundred people. Tables and chairs were arranged in intimate clusters all around, each giving the feel of an entirely separate space. They were all arranged around the most inviting fire pits I’d ever seen, assembled from carved stones that provided seating around the flames. I could just envision the winter get-togethers with friends and family.

“The pool and the hot tub are that way, with a couple of small apartments in the pool house,” Colt explained, putting off to one side of the house. “Then on the other side, there’s a separate apartment I built for Mama, just in case she ever decides to move out here when she gets further on in years.”

“That’s awfully sweet,” I added from behind my camera, in between shots.

“I dunno, she’s gone all city woman on me,” he said, laughing for a second before sounding more serious. “Kinda like you.”

He gave me a nudge with his shoulders. The simple touch sent sparks flying up and down my body.

“But back to our interview,” I said, trying to regain control over the conversation. “I remember the house a little bit, just from coming over here with my mom. What are some of the changes you made, and how did you decide what to upgrade?”