He rolls his eyes. “Seriously, the Russian wasn’t fucking around when he said that he couldn’t get his money from a dead man,” Damion reminds me. “He is fine, that big badass probably just told him to stay away from you. You do realize that you owe that man absolutely nothing, right?”
Nodding, I shift my gaze to the setting sun. “Yeah, I know,” I agree. “It’s hard though. I don’t want him, I don’t even like him, but I do care for him still.”
“Because you’re a good person, babe. You’d also never sell pictures of his miniscule wiener for all the world to see, but he had no issue doing that with your gorgeous rack.”
“It wasn’t miniscule,” I mutter.
“It wasn’t a gigantic anaconda either.”
I can’t help it and I can’t stop myself, I burst out laughing. It’s a belly laugh that completely takes over my entire body, and I even let out a snort before I calm myself down. Shaking my head, I bite the inside of my cheek before I release the skin.
“No, it definitely wasn’t that,” I whisper.
“But that fine cowboy?” he asks.
Pressing my lips together, I roll them as I shake my head. “I’m not divulging that, no way.”
“You’re afraid that I’ll want to take a test drive, I understand,” he says with a shrug.
I laugh softly, shoving my phone in my back pocket again before I do something stupid like text Sebastian to see if he’s okay. I shouldn’t even be thinking about him anymore. I need to focus on my career and Ford, nothing else.
“Have you made a decision?” Damion asks me.
He knows everything now. I spilled the entire drama the night that he came over, all pissed off that I’d been avoiding him. We’ve morphed from boss and employee to friends.
Maybe it isn’t so much of a morph as it was me waking up and seeing what was always right in front of me. A true friendship that had been budding and building for years. If nothing else comes out of this, at least I have this friendship with Damion.
In a perfect world, I’ll have Ford too, but I’m not holding my breath. I walked away from him a second time and I don’t know if I could take him back if he did that to me.
How can I expect him to take me back?
How can his heart not be completely cold, hard and angry toward me?
I’ve treated him like shit, as if he was worthless and I turned my back on him. I don’t know how to make it right, but I plan on trying if he’ll let me, because I want him—I want us. I’ve been so damn stupid and selfish. I don’t deserve any part of him. Not a single ounce of the man that he is.
“Holy shit,” Damion breathes.
I don’t bother turning around, I know exactly what he sees behind me. He sees a tall, wide-shouldered, thick-waisted cowboy.
Closing my eyes, I inhale a deep breath before I reopen them. Before I can even turn around to face him, his voice washes over my body and sends a shiver of excitement down my spine.
“Hey, honey,” he rumbles.
FORD
“Holy shit,” the man lounging next to Stephanie exhales, again.
He’s holding a champagne glass, wearing sunglasses and looking directly at me. If I’m not mistaken, he’s also wearing pink lipstick. I don’t really pay much mind to him though, there is only one thing that I want to look at in this whole entire city and she’s got her back to me.
She spins around and I take her in. A sight for sore eyes, that’s exactly what she is. My lips twitch into a smile as I watch her, just looking at her and memorizing the moment. This could be the end, hell if I know. I can’t read her thoughts, not that I ever truly could.
“Cowboy,” she breathes.
“You wanna tell me why you took off again?” I ask, unable to be tactful at all whatsoever.
The man on the lounger chokes on his drink, but once again, I don’t even pay him a minute of my time. Licking my bottom lip, I watch her, waiting for her answer.
“We have quite a bit to talk about,” she murmurs.
“You think?”
She frowns, her brows snapping together before she inhales a deep breath. “After dinner with our friends and I want to introduce you to one of my best friends,” she says, her arm swinging out to the man at her side.
“I’m Damion,” he says, extending his arm toward me.
Tipping my chin down, I close the distance between us and give him a hearty handshake. He grins toward me, his teeth blinding white. “Howd’a do?”
“Oh my God, can you please say y’all for me. I mean, I’ve heard Stephanie say it when she’s good and mad, lost in a rant, but her accent is so watered down anymore. Please say it for me, please, please,” he begs.
I chuckle, giving up a smile. “Howdy y’all,” I say in my best twang.
He gasps, placing his hand over his heart and dramatically falling back against the lounger. “If you don’t take him to bed and keep him forever, I’m going to slide right in there, girlie,” he says to Stephanie.
Shifting my gaze to hers, I watch as her lips part and her eyes widen as she stares at me for a moment, then she shakes herself out of her daze and frowns. “Quiet, Damion,” she snaps.
“After dinner, we’ll talk?” she asks.
Nodding my head, I answer her question without saying anything. Beaumont, Hutton, and Fender appear moments later, obviously done with leaving us alone. “I’m going to fire up the grill,” Beaumont announces.
“I just love watching a man do man’s work,” Damion sighs.
I can’t help but chuckle at his words, and his obvious admiration for me and Beaumont. He could be a real confidence booster if nothing else happens on this little trip.
We spend the rest of the evening cooking outside, while the women are inside with the baby and Damion floats back and forth between us and no doubt gathering as much information and gossip as he can.
“Tell me,” I ask Damion when we’re alone.
“Anything you want, Cowboy,” Damion purrs.
Laughing softly, I shake my head as I bring the bottle of beer to my lips, beer that I know Beaumont bought just for me so I’m going to drink it. He hasn’t had a drop since he got out of rehab that I know of, and although he’d probably be fine with a little beer, there’s no way I’m going to even question it, or leave any to tempt him.
“She okay, really?”
“Define okay,” he says softly.
Licking my top lip, I nod my head once. “She with that dickhead? Saw pictures of them together.”
He snorts. “I’m not going to go into it, but I will tell you that she is not with him, and wasn’t then either. There’s only one straight man on her mind and it’s you.”
Nodding my head, I lift my eyes to meet his. “She has a funny way of showing it,” I mutter.
He shrugs a shoulder. “Give her a chance to explain herself.”
“It’s probably all bullshit,” I grunt.
He chuckles. “Isn’t it always?”
“Typically.”
We eat, not bringing up relationships or Stephanie’s running away the rest of the evening. Damion gets a full look into the past and what it was like to grow up in rural Texas. We’re all laughing and having a good time by the end of the evening.