Page 48 of Untamed Heart
‘Lil, you busy?’ I knocked on her office door, opening it to see her staring at the computer screen intently.
‘Yeah, but come in. Hell, I’m only busy because of you . . .’ She stopped, her smile dropping at my expression. ‘What? What’s wrong?’
I steeled myself, wondering if this was the moment it might all come crashing down.
‘Can I talk to you about Cole?’
Lil’s mouth opened a little as she frowned, leaning back on her chair.
‘Shoot.’
I tried to read her, but she was clearly keeping her feelings well below the surface. Fuck. Maybe I’d been right, maybe she did feel something for him, which, given what Cole and I had almost done a couple of days earlier, would make me a total bitch.
‘Umm, so . . . well, you know how we kind of got off to a rocky start,’ I began, twining my fingers together, not quite able to meet her eyes. ‘Well, it’s kind of changed a bit since then, but, when I saw you guys by the barn the other day I wondered if . . . I mean, I just don’t want to get in the way if there’s something already between you.’
In the silence that followed, I chanced a look up, hoping, begging, for her not to be upset.
‘Oh honey,’ she started, a warm, thoroughly amused tone to both her voice and her smile. ‘Is that what you thought was going on? Oh shit.’ She laughed and I held my breath, not quite daring to believe it. I watched as she got up and strode around the desk, approaching me and reaching out, resting her hands on my shoulders.
‘Lottie, I do love that man. But as a brother, as a friend I’d lie in the damn road for. Nothing else, y’hear? It’s never been like that for us. Whatever’s happening for you two makes me so happy I could burst. I mean that.’
Fighting tears of relief, I grabbed her into a bear hug, laughing at her surprise.
‘Oh thank fuck,’ I sighed, pulling back after she complained about not being able to breathe, but chuckling as she did so.
‘You really like him, huh?’ She grinned, watching as I tried to calm the hectic excitement bubbling up inside me.
‘Maybe,’ I offered, trying and failing to act coy as she snorted.
‘Okay, well, you take that maybe and go raid Bailey’s wardrobe. Mine sucks – but she’s had to wear some fancy stuff for parties on the circuit. I’ve got to get back to all these enquiries – never had so many emails in my damn life.’
We grinned at each other as I left, trying not to appear like a total lunatic as I ventured out to find Bailey. True to form, she was with the horses.
‘Can I borrow something to wear?’ I asked her, finally tracking her down in the tack room, rubbing down Dunkin’s bridle. Her cheeks were flushed, hair escaping into feathery curls at her temples after an hour of hard training. ‘I’m going out, so I need something a little dressier.’
She raised her eyebrows, a crooked smile on one side.
‘Sure thing, honey. Where you going?’
I tried to maintain an air of innocence.
‘Umm . . . The Kitchen, I think?’
She let out a low whistle.
‘So, adate-date, then? That place is fancy.’
I smiled, remembering the pictures from the website. She wasn’t wrong, but it had been Cole’s choice.
‘Well, sort of – but as friends.’
She focused on the cheek strap of the bridle, concentrating on one particularly stubborn piece of dirt.
‘Well, you help yourself to my closet. If I were you, I’d try the black dress right at the back. I’ve only worn it once when I won at Cheyenne last year and I could hardly breathe all night. It’ll fit you just right.’
‘But still with cowboy boots, right?’ I checked, smiling as she laughed.
‘I’m pretty sure Cole would combust if you wore it with high heels, sugar.’
