“You’re not Larry Wade’s sister,” I said.
“Yeah, I am.”
Shit the bed.
“I went to high school with Larry,” I said.
She nodded. “He’s a senior at CU, plans to go to law school.”
“Yeah, I know. Good for him, huh?”
What did I just say? Did I really have nothing else to say to this girl except talk about her half brother? Besides, Larry and I weren’t close. We’d run in the same circle in high school, but he was a lot closer to Theo and Tom than to me. The three of them were like peas in a pod.
Somewhat strange peas in a pod.
Then there was Wendy.
She had her own quirks, but the two of us had a physical thing that we could never quite get over.
Looking at Daphne Wade, though, I could forget Wendy in a heartbeat.
I was ready to dump a girl I’d been with for years for the first pretty face—
No.
That wasn’t it at all. Beautiful women threw themselves at me on a daily basis, and so far I’d been able to resist. Even when Wendy and I were off-again, I dated gorgeous model types, but I never felt what I was feeling at this moment as I stared into Daphne Wade’s eyes.
Daphne didn’t respond to my remark about Larry going to law school.
Luckily, her roommate seemed eager to get to know Murph and me better. “So…where’s a good place to get pizza around here?”
“Angelo’s is the best,” Murph said.
Unfortunately, the roomie was eyeing me, not Murph. Though she and Murph would make a striking couple. Both good-looking gingers. They’d have a gaggle of pretty little ginger kids.
“You ladies have any plans for dinner?” Murph continued. He was eyeing Daphne.
Yeah, we had a problem.
“We sure don’t,” Patty said. “At least I don’t. I can’t speak for Daph.”
Daphne hadn’t said much since Murph had handed her the beer. Finally, she took a drink. “No plans.”
“You’re in luck, then,” Murph said. “The two best-looking guys in school want to take you for pizza.”
Daphne blushed. Actually, she hadn’t stopped blushing since I’d begun staring at her. I couldn’t tear my gaze away.
Yeah. She was that beautiful.
“That’s awesome,” Patty gushed. “Daph and I are in Hodgekins, Room 209.”
“Great,” Murph said. “What do you think, Steel? About six?”
“Sure, works for me,” I said, still staring at Daphne Wade.
“Great!” Patty raised her red cup and took a drink. “We’ll see you then. Daph and I have to bolt now. Need to mingle, you know?” She grabbed Daphne’s arm and led her away.
I regarded my friend, who was filling up the next red cup. “Daphne’s mine,” I said in a low voice.
“Aw, man! She’s fucking hot.”
“So is the other one.”
“You know I don’t go for redheads.”
“Dude, you are a redhead.”
“That’s why I don’t go for them. Too much red, you know?”
“Maybe she’s a true redhead.”
“Most of them aren’t.”
“She might let you find out tonight.”
“Fuck it, Steel. Why do you always get the gorgeous ones?”
In truth, the gorgeous ones usually went for me. Not that Murph didn’t get his share of gorgeous women, he just got the less gorgeous one when he and I were together.
Which was A-okay with me.
Because frankly, Wendy and I were more off than on lately, and I was beginning to question certain things about her. She was still in business with Larry, Theo, and Tom. So was I, for that matter, but I was a silent partner if there ever was one. They’d taken my silent investments and done some serious quadrupling and then quadrupling some more. The four of them were millionaires now, though they kept that hidden from their families. Mommy and Daddy were paying for Wendy’s college, even though their daughter could buy and sell them.
I knew they were millionaires because they’d paid me my profits. Nice seven-figure profits.
Not that I needed the dough, but I’d put up the cash, so I took my reward. Now? They no longer needed me, but I continued to invest. They had a basic buy-low-in-bulk-and-sell-high thing going, and they did it with serious volume. They’d started with popular toys and made a freaking mint last year when Theo got his hands on a warehouse full of Cabbage Patch dolls at bare minimum price.
“I have a feeling you’ll get all the gorgeous ones from now on, Murph,” I said.
I wasn’t sure why I said that. I only knew that Daphne Wade was someone special, someone I wanted to know better. Something about her eyes. They hid things. Things I wanted to bring to the surface.
She was someone I already felt connected to.
Someone who might be able to help me break the toxic cycle I had with Wendy once and for all.
She didn’t say much.
Her friend Patty was a nonstop talker, though.
“Just a farm girl from Iowa,” she said. “Denver is the biggest city I’ve been to so far.”
“What kind of farming?” Murph asked.
She laughed. “You won’t believe it. My daddy raises pigs.”
“Hey, Steel,” Murph said. “You and Patty have something in common.”
Yeah. I saw what he was doing. Since I lived on a beef ranch—the biggest and most successful in Colorado, which also included an orchard and a budding vineyard—he thought Patty and I were more suited for each other.
Not happening. Daphne was still mine.
“We do? Where do you come from, Brad?” Patty batted her brown-red eyelashes at me.
She was quite striking, but not my type. I had a feeling no one else would ever be my type again.
“Ever heard of Steel Acres?”
Patty shook her head, but Daphne’s eyes widened.
“It’s my father’s ranch on the western slope. We raise prime beef, and we grow apples and peaches.”
“Biggest ranch in Colorado,” Murph said.
Nice try, Murph. Still not happening.
“Really?” Patty smiled. “Our farm is just a small operation. We raise about a thousand pigs for slaughter each year. But we eat a lot of really great pork. My dad has a smokehouse, and we smoke our own hams and bacon.”
“Interesting,” I said. “Pig farming and beef ranching are two completely different animals. No pun intended.”
“Good one, Steel,” Murph said, giving me an evil eye.
Actually, my words were true. They were very different operations, so Patty and I had nothing in common other than our families both raised animals for meat.
“I was big into 4-H in high school. Three champion sows.”
“Good for you,” I said.
“I made Daddy promise they wouldn’t ever be slaughtered,” she continued. “They’re going to live long lives and have lots of babies.”
“And the babies will be slaughtered?”
I lifted my eyebrows. The words had come from Daphne. Was she an animal activist? I might not have a chance with her after all.
“The babies?” Patty said. “Well, a lot of them will be, yeah. People have to eat.”