Play Me

And there was the freak-out version of Kendall. She didn’t show up often, but when she did, it was in full force.

“They’ve been staying here, watching the place for me, until I hired someone to take care of running things. They’re going to be here one more night, and tomorrow morning they head back to Wyoming.”

She swallowed hard, her eyes cautious. “So I have to meet them?”

I tilted my head and replied, “Unless you want to hide out in the barn tonight. I could bring you out scraps of food and a blanket.”

Her forced smile told me she was really worried. Wringing her hands together, she said, “It’s just so soon. I mean, you don’t really meet the parents until after like six months of dating.”

“Six months? Jesus, is that how long you’ve made your boyfriends wait before meeting the folks?” I laughed. Kendall didn’t laugh. She looked up with me with a blank look that told me she wasn't exactly used to meeting the parents.

The last thing I wanted to do was cause her more stress. Placing my hands on her cheeks, I leaned down and softly kissed her lips. It was the first contact we’d had since that morning two weeks ago, and damn it all to hell if it didn’t feel incredible. “They don’t have to know anything about our relationship.”

“Then why would I be here?” Her voice was soft. Not weak—Kendall didn’t do weak. No, it was more unsure, uncertain. As if she was stepping into uncharted territory and had no clue how to chart the course.

Smiling, I said, “You were out of town for a few weeks and decided to come to the ranch so we could catch up on work.”

Kendall worried her lip.

“Stop using your brain so much, Kendall. Will you please just relax? It’s my folks. Meeting them does not commit you to anything. Let’s just do us and let this thing go where the universe wants it to go.”

She stood with a nod and a smiled before placing both hands on my chest. “You’re right. I need to relax. Being here this weekend will do just that.”

“Besides, my mother is going to know we’ve slept together the moment she sees you.”

With that, I turned and walked to the barn.

“What!” Kendall cried out, running up next to me. “Hunter, why would you say that?”

I laughed. “I’m kidding. But they know something is up considering the way I’ve been acting the last two weeks. It’s hard to keep things from my mother. It’s like she has some sort of weird magical mom power and knows when something’s off.”

“Yours, too, huh?”

Kendall laced her fingers in mine, and my heart rate dropped before speeding up again.

“This still doesn’t solve my boot situation. I’m not wearing the mucking boots again.”

“What size shoe do you wear?”

Her brows pulled in tight. “I am certainly not wearing a pair of boots your old girlfriend left here, Hunter. No, thank you.”

I looked down at her boots and then back up to her face. “I’m talking about my mother’s boots. You’re about the same size, and the woman has added about ten pairs to her collection here over the years.”

“Oh,” she said, a small smile playing on her face. “I’m a six and a half.”

“Perfect, I think she is around that size. Come on, she has a couple pairs in the tack room.”

“She won’t mind?” Kendall asked as I took her hand and led her to the barn.

“Are you kidding? She would probably give them all to you if she thought we had something going on.”

This time her cheeks flushed. Which was equally hot.

After we fit Kendall with a pair of boots, she sighed and looked around the tack room. “What chores are we going to do?”

“No chores. We’re going riding. I need to figure out a name for this horse,” I said as I approached the Akhal-Teke mare. I smiled as I stepped into her stall and ran my hand over her golden coat. Her head bobbed, and she made it known she was happy with the attention. My father had spent the last few weeks working with her and finally got her to take a rider for more than a minute. I should have known he’d get through to her.

“She is so beautiful. I thought you couldn’t stay up on her?”

I huffed. “My father had to go off and prove who was the better horse trainer. Let’s see if she’ll let me ride her the way she lets him. She’s beautiful to watch when she’s got a rider.”

“Maybe she has a crush on him. I’ve seen pictures of your father; he’s quite handsome.”

Turning to face her, I lifted a brow. “You got a crush on my father, Kendall?”

She gave a half-hearted shrug. “I’m simply stating a fact. I see where you get your good looks.”

When she winked at me, it took everything I had to not pull her into my arms and take her right there in the stall.

“Your mother is beautiful, as well. And your sister. She looks exactly like your mom.”

“Thank you. My mother is stunning. So is Charlotte. But you didn’t answer my question. You got a thing for dear old Dad?”

This time she smiled. “No, but I do have a crush on you.”

“Just a crush?” I asked, lifting my hand and tucking away a stray piece of hair that had come loose from her ponytail.

Kendall worked her lower lip a bit. “It’s more than a crush.”

“Good,” I whispered right before I leaned down and kissed her. When she moved to wrap her arms around my neck, I stepped back.

She let out a sound somewhere between a whimper and a growl.

“Who do you want to ride?”

That question made her brow lift and her cheeks turn red again. Damn, it was a major turn-on knowing she wanted me.

Keep it slow, Owens. Keep it slow.

She drew in a quick breath before letting it out slowly. “I’ll let you pick.”

“I’d go for Romeo.”

My father’s voice caused us to turn toward the door. My mother stood next to my father, a huge smile lighting up her face. She really was beautiful. Her dark hair was pulled up, and when she glanced up toward my father, I could see the love for him all over her face. I longed for that kind of love someday. The way my father told their story, my mother had given up her dreams to be with him. The way she told it, my father was her dream and she’d given up nothing and gained so much more when she left her job at ESPN.

Kendall looked at me and then back to my father.

“I meant Romeo the horse,” he clarified with a wink.

“You must be Kendall Wales,” Mom said as she slipped her arm out from Dad’s and made her way over toward Kendall.

“Y-yes,” Kendall replied, apparently a bit shaken from the unexpected encounter. “And you must be Mr. and Mrs. Owens. It’s a pleasure to meet you both.”

Kendall stepped out of the stall and extended her hand to first my mother and then my father. Of course my mother’s eyes darted over to me. I could read her expression and was pretty sure where her thoughts were going.

Beautiful woman. Check.

Smile back on my face. Check.

In the barn with my prized horse. Check.

I gave her a look that asked her to back off. With my last girlfriend, Rachel, my mother never really pushed hard at all. I often wondered if it was her mother’s intuition that told her Rachel wasn’t the one. She’d never pushed me for details on the progress of our relationship. Not that my mother was pushy in that way, but I had dated Rachel the longest out of any of my exes. Looking back on it now, I should have seen that as a warning sign.

“What brings you out to the ranch, Ms. Wales?” my mother asked.

“Please, call me Kendall. I, um… well…”

“She was back in Atlanta for a couple of weeks and wante

d to catch up on some work. I told her I was here for the weekend, so she decided to come down and stay for a few days.”

“For work,” Kendall added… and not in a convincing way at all.

That made my father chuckle and pull my mother back against him. It was obvious they weren’t buying that excuse.

“Aubrey and I are happy to finally meet you.”

“Finally?” Kendall asked, glancing up at me and then back to my father.

“Yes!” my mother stated with excitement in her voice.

“We’ve been wondering who the woman was who had our son turned upside down the last few weeks,” Dad added.

I focused in on my father. “Dad,” I said with a warning tone in my voice. I needed to stop him before he sent Kendall running to her car and heading back to Bowling Green, all thoughts of a relationship right out the door.

He smiled and gave me an innocent shrug. “What? Did you really think your mother and I didn’t notice what was going on?”

“Okay,” Kendall said, her voice shaking. “Here goes.”

My head jerked to Kendall. What in the world is she going to say to them? Folding my arms over my chest and leaning against the stall, I waited. The Akhal-Teke standing next to me seemed just as interested because she came up and nudged my arm. I reached up and stroked the side of her neck while we both waited for Kendall to continue.

“I like your son. There, I said it.” She tossed her hands up in the air, causing my nameless horse to bounce her head a bit and stomp.

“Easy girl,” I softly said.

Kendall turned to me and replied, “No, it’s okay, Hunter. I want to tell them the truth about us.” Facing my folks again, Kendall went on. “Some things happened between us and I got spooked, but now I’m ready to see where this goes. I’m ready to take the leap and trust where this leads us.”

My mother perked up, and I had to admit she did a damn good job trying to hold back the megawatt smile I knew had to be threatening to take over her face. “Things? Such as?” Mom asked in a calm voice. I knew she had to be doing cartwheels on the inside.

I shook my head. “Mom, please don’t go there.”

With an innocent shrug and a wink in Kendall’s direction, she added, “What? A mother can ask.”