“Well, his plan didn’t exactly go how he expected. I mean, we’re talking, but it’s not like we’re going to do more than that.”
Ouch, that stung.
“What if we made it out that this encounter went horribly wrong.”
His brow furrowed. “How?”
I drew up one of my knees and draped my arm around it as I turned to face him. “Like, maybe we ended up hating each other.”
“Okay, you have me. Keep going.” The corner of his mouth lifted as he leaned closer.
“We go back, and when we see him, get into a big fight or something, so he sees.” I shrug. “That’s all I’ve got. What are your thoughts?”
“Actually, that sounds like a good plan to me.” His full smile had heat blossoming between my thighs.
“Alright then, let’s do it. Cheers to payback.” I laughed and raised my glass. He tapped mine with his, and I took a sip of the sweet liquid. His face scrunched when the wine hit his lips.
“Sorry. You were right. Jessie is using the wine to butter me up. I told her the other day that I loved the sweet wines. This one is absolutely delicious.” I took another sip and let the flavors sit on my tongue before swallowing. Mmmm. I was going to have to make a note on this brand, so I could get it again in the future.
We spent another half hour just sitting under the tree talking before we packed up and headed back to the barn. Scott figured we were out longer than he would have had us out when he didn’t know who I was.
When we finally got back to the barn, Liam was nowhere to be seen, so we untacked and took care of the horses. Once I had Storm put back in his stall, I made my way back over to Scott in the second barn.
“We might be doing the dramatic scene another time,” I said as I leaned over the top of the stall door to peer in at Scott. I watched Scott’s muscles flex under his Henley as he mucked out Jameson’s stall.
Who knew a guy could make shoveling manure look sexy?
“I’m pretty sure he was looking out for us. He’ll be around in a few mins.” Scott set the rake outside the stall and indicated over my shoulder with his chin. I glanced over and saw Liam through an open stall door across the aisle, walking in the direction of the other barn.
“I guess that’s my cue then.” I winked and headed out of the barn. I hurried to the entrance.
“I can’t believe you did that, Scott. Stay far away from me and don’t ever talk to me again!”
Glancing out the corner of my eye, I saw Liam’s jaw drop. He was so in on making that picnic a date. Chuckling to myself, I kept my head down low as I made my way covertly to meet Scott around the back side of Jameson’s stall. Scott opened the door from the inside, and I snuck in.
“Did you see his face?” I laughed as I leaned against the stall wall and watched Scott finish brushing down the gelding. He was barely keeping it together if his shaking shoulders were anything to go by.
“That was priceless. My gut told me he was up to something when he winked at me. He doesn’t do that. We may be friends, but this is something he usually would pull on Ty, not me.”
“I guess that’s my fault, then. Blake handles my training, and it seems like Liam has decided it’s up to him to handle my love life, even though I don’t have time for relationships. Sorry.” I shrugged when Scott turned to look at me.
The thudding of boots echoed through the barn. I ducked down behind the stall door to hide thinking it was Liam coming to have a chat with Scott.
“Dude, that was exhausting. Please tell me you had a better day than I did. I got the parts for the sink, and I had to fucking dance around the general store to stay undetected. I swear I have a GPS…” he trailed off as I slowly stood up from behind the half door. “I guess it looks like you did have a better day than I did,” the extremely handsome cowboy said, glancing at Scott before returning to me and flashing a panty-melting smile.
Holy hot cowboys.
I had to press my knees together as my legs trembled to stay standing. Damn. This guy was just as hot as Scott, but in a rougher sort of way. I couldn’t pull my gaze from his gorgeous chocolate brown eyes. The cowboy’s brown hair was mussed like he had been running his hands through it all day, and the stubble shadowing his face had me wanting to rub my hands over it.
My reaction to him kept me immobile. It was so raw and all-encompassing like nothing I’d ever felt before.
“Well, hello there, beautiful.” His deep husky voice traveled straight to my core.
“Hi.” I was practically speechless, and my stomach was twisted in knots.
“Grace, this is Ty. Ty, this is Grace Henderson, Blake’s sister.” Scott made the introductions. A hint of amusement leaked into his words.
Why did his name sound familiar? Right, Ty was on the team with Scott and Travis. No doubt Scott was going to tell them about today. Why wouldn’t he? It was a funny story.
“How was your trip to town?” I mustered. Not sure why I asked that when he was just talking about it, but I was going to go roll with it.
“I’m glad to say it was uneventful.” His dreamy smile made my insides flip.