Wanna have dinner with me?
Who’s cooking?
You are.
It was one of those relationships. You see them all the time. The girl in love with the hot guy who didn’t realize she was alive. She’d do anything to be with him, and he took her for granted. The girl would never tell the guy she was interested in him because then he’d be uncomfortable and stop hanging out with her. That described her and Billy perfectly.
She parked near the barn, and went in to see Pooh before going in the house. She had things she needed to talk over with her horse before she saw Billy again.
2
Billy didn’t remember the last time he was this nervous. Or if he’d ever been this nervous, and it was because of Renie, the person he felt more comfortable around than anyone else.
Half of him hoped that when she got to his house things between them would go back to the way they were two days ago. When she was his buddy. The other half of him hoped he felt more, the way he had yesterday.
He took a shower, and then spent time picking out what he would wear, like he had a date. The thing was, even if he threw on a pair of jeans and a white T-shirt, somehow she’d be on to him, and tease him about it. She was uncanny that way. No one else called him out on his shit the way Renie did.
He should have a couple of beers before she got there. Or a shot of whiskey to calm his nerves. He wasn’t even this nervous before riding a bronc.
Renie came into the kitchen through the back door. She saw Billy out on the deck leaning on the railing, with his back to her. There were few sights as fine as that one. Billy, in a pair of jeans, the right amount of tight. His shirt was taut over his shoulders. There he was, short sleeves, no jacket, in ten-degree weather. How long had he been standing out there?
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then another. She wasn’t sure what to expect from him, so it would be up to her to set the tone of normalcy between them—make everything okay. It was what she did.
Billy was still on the deck, but he’d turned around and was watching her. He raised his beer to his mouth and took a long drink. Renie loved how he held the bottle a little away from his mouth, so his lips didn’t touch it.
She walked to the wine cooler, and then remembered Billy didn’t keep wine in the house the way her mom had. She turned back to the refrigerator to get a beer. A little fortification in the form of alcohol was definitely called for.
“There’s wine if you want some,” Billy offered, walking into the kitchen.
“There is? Since when?”
“Since I stopped and got it, in case someone wanted wine. Does it look any good? It’s what they recommended at the liquor store.”
She walked back over to the wine cooler. He’d stocked several whites, several reds, a couple bottles of sparkling, and even a rosé.
“You having a party, Billy?”
“Nah, I thought since I had this thing I should keep something in it.”
Renie went through the bottles, putting the whites on one side, the reds on the other, doing it so it looked as though she was seeing what he had instead of organizing it.
“You have a huge refrigerator over there. Are you feeling compelled to make proper use of that too?” Renie doubted he had much more than beer. Which reminded her, she had no idea what he thought they’d be having for dinner.
“You got everything figured out, don’t ya? Maybe you should quit makin’ so many assumptions.”
She opened the refrigerator. It still wasn’t close to half-full, but he had a lot more in it than beer.
“Stocking up for those girls you’re inviting over?”
“Why are you so fixated on me invitin’ girls over? I’m sure the first time you asked me, I told you I didn’t have any plans to.”
“I don’t want to show up here unannounced and find you in a compromising position.”
He rolled his eyes. “Right.”
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“Can’t believe a—” she started to say hot, but then thought better of it. “Saddle bronc champion wouldn’t have experience with compromising positions.”