So, she had been avoiding him. He was glad now that he hadn’t sought her out. It only would’ve made everything worse.
“Ain’t like we have a reason to be around each other. Don’t make more of it than it is.”
“Whenever you start talkin’ like an Oklahoma hick, I know somethin’s up. Good thing for you, there’s a surprise waitin’ on you when you get back to Black Forest.”
Bullet hated surprises, and Lyric knew it. As well as he knew there wasn’t anything he could do to get her to tell him what it was.
“It’s a good surprise.”
Yeah, whatever. He knew what it wasn’t. It wasn’t Tristan waiting on his front porch for him and Grey to pull up. Any surprise other than that wouldn’t be a good one.
Bullet pointed toward Grey, who was on the lawn, playing with Caden. “Soon as I pick him up, he’ll turn from the happy little boy he is at this moment, into a screaming, unhappy monster.”
“I’ll get him,” Lyric offered.
He’d let her. Bullet had already had one unpleasant tantrum from Grey this morning. His auntie could handle this one.
“Come on, Caden, let’s walk Grey over to his truck, so we can wave bye-bye when he leaves.”
Bullet watched as Caden took Grey’s hand and the two walked to the truck. Before Lyric could lift him up and put him in his buddy seat, Caden wrapped her arms around his neck and plastered a loud smooch on his lips. Grey smiled from ear to ear.
Oh, Lord, thought Bullet. His boy was in for it. Girls were already kissin’ on him, and he was happy as a pig in mud. If he kept this up, he’d be on the road to a hell of a lot of heartache. Grey could take that from his old man.
Bullet rubbed his hand over his chest. Yep, it hurt. Bad. He didn’t dare ask anyone when Tristan might be back in Colorado. Even when she was, she wouldn’t want to see him.
Tristan leaned back against the window seat, on the plane, and lowered the shade. Part of her wished she’d asked Ben to fly her home, the other part was glad she hadn’t.
Every time she closed her eyes, she could feel Bullet’s hands on her. And his lips. She could hear his voice and feel his breath as he leaned in close to her. She’d wanted him as much as she could feel he wanted her.
If they’d been anywhere else, she wouldn’t have stopped him. Thankfully, there were too many people at the Flying R last night, and the thought of them being inside the house while they were outside, had brought her to her senses.
Bullet Simmons was dangerous with a capital D. In fact, dangerous should be in all caps. He was the kind of man who fathered children with different women. And worse, he was a bull rider.
He was also playful and sweet. He was close to his sister, a good father, and a hard worker. Bill and Dottie adored him; that much was obvious. He wouldn’t have a job with the Flying R team, or a sponsorship, if he wasn’t a decent guy. He was good with kids. And horses. And her. Especially her. She groaned and covered her face with her hands.
“Tristan?”
There were only two people on earth she really didn’t want to see this morning. One was Bullet Simmons. The other was standing in the aisle, putting his carry-on in the compartment above her row of seats.
After crying for twenty minutes when they left the ranch, Grey slept the rest of the way home, all six hours. Playing with Caden the last couple of days must’ve worn him out, and Bullet was thankful for it. He only hoped that he’d be tired again by bedtime. If Grey couldn’t sleep later, Bullet wouldn’t be able to either.
When Dottie called his cell to say they were stopping for something to
eat, he told them he’d keep driving. He dared to stop only once, to give the horses a break, and Grey had slept through it. He wouldn’t risk it again.
He was tempted not to answer his phone when it rang again, but knew he had to, in case it was Bill or someone else from Flying R.
“You home yet?”
“You’re always givin’ me shit about not feeling the twin thing. How come you don’t know if I’m home or not?”
“Ha, ha. You’re funny. I guess you aren’t yet.”
“Nah. I’m close though. Why?”
“You’ll see.” Silence. Lyric had hung up. What the hell?
“Tell me you aren’t sitting here,” she demanded when he threw his jacket on the aisle seat.