Cowboy Baby Daddy

I heard Greyson stomp down the hallway, and I sighed as I leaned heavily into the corner. My mind was swirling with a bunch of different thoughts, but there was one that kept running on a loop at the forefront of my mind.

Beautiful, vibrant woman.

“Stella?” Christian asked. “You alright?”

“Did you mean what you said?” I asked.

“Huh?”

“About me. Did you mean it?”

“Of course I did. Every person who comes into contact with you should,” he said.

I felt my cheeks flush, and I chastised myself for feeling this way. In our entire relationship, the only compliment Greyson had ever paid me was how well I sucked his cock in bed. For him, that was a huge compliment. No woman could get him off in bed the way I could, and I took pride in that throughout the entirety of our relationship.

But standing there and listening to what Christian had to say about me felt better.

I didn’t realize men could give those types of compliments to women and mean them.

“Why don’t we go out to dinner tomorrow night?” Christian asked.

“What?”

“Dinner. Tomorrow. You and me. We could prep a bit for the meeting Monday, sit down with the information you're pulling from the warehouses, and we could get your mind off all this for a bit,” he said.

“That sounds nice,” I said, nodding. “Sure. What time?”

“Seven? I’ll pick you up?” he asked.

And before I could allow my mind to jump in with its rational thoughts, I nodded my head and smiled.

“Seven, it is.”

Chapter Fifteen

Christian

I had taken my baggy gray suit to the tailor’s to be taken in everywhere it needed to be to fit properly. I paired it with a dark blue shirt and pale blue tie, thinking that it would be a nice surprise for Stella. I wanted to take her somewhere nice, somewhere no one would ever think to take a woman like her. She had her sophisticated and romantic side, but there were plenty of restaurants like those in town. Low lighting, small talk, long tablecloths to hide the footsies people were playing underneath.

I wanted to take her somewhere she’d never been before, which was why I’d made reservations at Island Prime.

It sat right on the water and had the most beautiful view of the inlet as well as the city skyline, but it was well illuminated. The sunset was beautiful, and it would paint beautiful colors over her skin if we could catch it right at sunset, and that was exactly what I wanted to do.

I wanted her to remember the beauty this world had to offer after it had dealt her such a shitty hand over the last couple of weeks.

I arrived at Stella’s promptly at 7 and knocked on her door. I could hear her heels clicking across her hardwood floor, but never would I have expected the door to open to the woman I saw before my eyes. Her sleek black hair was pulled back into a beautiful updo, with rhinestone accents peppering her hair. Her light green eyes were accentuated by the deep crimson lipstick she had on her lips, and the dress that hugged her body showed me things about her I never realized were there.

She had the most amazing slope to her waist that bloomed into a rounded pair of hips. Her arms were toned and sleek, glistening in the evening sun that was just beginning to sink in the sky. I’d never noticed how beautiful Stella was until this very moment, and I realized that Greyson’s idiotic mistake was my wonderful gain.

I would finally get to know Stella outside of the confines of being fighting stepsiblings, and I found myself looking forward to it.

“Oh my gosh. You got the suit tailored,” she said, smiling.

“What do you think?” I asked.

“I think that blue really makes your eyes sparkle,” she said.

“And those red lips of yours really make your eyes pop,” I said.