Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 115683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Yeah, a girl could get used to this version of small-town life.
I find Colt laughing with Billie and Ryder on the dance floor. The second Colt sees me, he’s crossing the floor and looping an arm around my middle. He pulls me in close, burying his face in my neck.
“Thank you,” he says. We’re far enough from the band that I’m able to hear him.
I pull back. “Thank you?”
“For being you.” He lifts his head, and his eyes search mine as he starts to sway to the beat. “There’s no one I’d rather hammer my nails than you, Lainey Brown.”
It takes me a minute, but once I get the reference, I throw back my head and laugh. “You have a shockingly great memory,” I reply, feathering my lips over his.
He pulls me tighter against him, our bodies moving in tandem now. “You do know what I’m saying, right?”
My stomach dips. Heart stops beating.
“I’m saying I wanna ride with you every day. I wanna ride you every day.”
Joy grips my windpipe and squeezes. “I’m on board with that.”
“I wanna dance with you every Friday night, and I want to build random-ass things out of LEGO bricks with you because it’s a hell of a lot less tedious when you’re around. I wanna have sex in every barn in Hart County with you. Although it’d be cool if no one overheard us again.”
I groan. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get over that.”
“What I’m trying to say is—”
“I love you too.” God, I can’t stop blurting things out today. “My God, Colt, I’m so in love with you I can’t—I just can’t.”
Then I’m yanking him in for a kiss, and he’s kissing me back, and the dance floor erupts in hoots and hollers.
We kiss for an embarrassing amount of time. Tongue and everything, the two of us just really going at it like it’s our last night on earth.
When we finally come up for air, I see that we’re surrounded by his family.
Our people. His siblings and Mollie and Cash. Even Tallulah is holding up that bottle of tequila again, which I take as a sign that she’ll be pouring us all celebratory shots.
Everyone is smiling at us. Then the band starts playing an old Garth Brooks favorite, and suddenly we’re all dancing in a frenzy of arms and boots and laugher.
Colt’s got his hands all over me. I’m dancing, laughing so hard my sides hurt because I don’t know the steps and I suck at learning them.
This is the best night of my life.
And to think, it’s going to be the first of many. Because I’m staying.
I’m in love. With Colt, yes, but also with his family and this bar, that band. This town.
Hartsville’s not the dead end I thought it’d be.
It’s turned out to be a beautiful new beginning.
CHAPTER 33
New Boots
COLT
I’m brushing down Big Brother after a morning working cattle with Dad and Beck when my phone dings.
Using my teeth to yank off my gloves, I pull the phone out of my back pocket. A cold front blew in overnight, and my breath fogs in the late morning air.
It’s an email notification. Squinting at the screen, I let out a yell. “Hot damn!”
Dad pokes his head out of the stall next to mine. “Everything all right?”
“Look!” I hold out the phone. “We just got our first inquiry from the new site.”
Dad pulls his glasses off his head. “You mean from the new website?”
“Yes! Looks like it’s a buyer out of Wyoming of all places. I’ve heard of the ranch—they raise Red Angus. Saw one of the quarter horses up for sale and is asking for more information.” I turn the phone back toward myself. “Damn, that was fast.”
Lainey launched the site a week ago. Pretty much everyone in the family contributed to the building process in some capacity, so we’ve had very few glitches since. Needless to say, we all have high hopes for it. But to get an inquiry about a five-figure horse this quickly is a big fucking deal.
Dad plucks the glasses off his nose and chuckles, using the edge of his jacket to clean the lenses. “Was I right about the website, or was I right about the website?”
I pull up my favorites tab and hit Lainey’s number, bringing the phone to my ear. “You were right about the website,” I tell Dad.
“I like knowing you can admit when you’re wrong.”
“Quality of a good leader,” I reply, tapping my foot as I wait for Lainey to pick up.
She does on the fourth ring. “Hey! Sorry, I was on a call with a gal who makes custom cowboy hats. Hattie’s Hat Emporium. How freaking cute is that?”
“Sounds like a fun project. How’d she find you?”
“Apparently your mom saw her at a pop-up recently in Benton and mentioned my name. She wants the whole shebang—social media strategy, logo, website, swag. I’m so excited.”