Page 37 of Bronco
“No, before that.”
“I’m in love with her.” Can’t help the dopey grin on my face. It doesn’t matter if he takes a swing at me. I’m in love with Lauren and will be for the rest of time.
“For real?” He repeats, eyeing me carefully. Yeah, he’s thinking about taking that swing.
“As real as it gets. She’s mine forever.”
“You weren’t with her because of your promise to me?” He clarifies.
I swear under my breath. “I’m not that good of an actor, you know that.” Then I pause and admit, “I’ve wanted her since she first sent me that care package.”
He lets out a slow whistle. “That’s a long damn time.”
“For what it’s worth, it’s not like I waited until you were gone to make my move. But make no mistake, I’m going to win her back.”
“I get it. I was pissed off in the moment,” he thinks for a second, then asks softly, “so, what are you doing to win her back?”
“Move the button over there,” I tell Flint. We’re in my kitchen, and he’s sitting on a stool at the island. I’m standing behind him, directing him as he clicks around on his laptop.
“Keep in mind that I’ve never done anything like this before,” he says and tries twice to get the button in the right place. One attempt has it on the opposite side of the page and ends with him cursing and hitting the undo key repeatedly.
“Just get it done,” I grumble even though he’s helping me.
He scowls at me then goes back to moving the box on the website. He claims he’s using a drag-and-drop editor, which apparently means it’s not nearly as sophisticated as what Lauren did. For our purpose, it will have to do. There’s a lot this cowboy can do, but I’ve never built a website. Well, up until right now.
I peer over Flint’s shoulder. “Make the button big.”
He clicks around a few times, getting it bigger on his third try. I think it’s fair to say that he’s better at fixing broken tractors than he is building websites. “You know, you could just call her instead of making me update this every five minutes.”
I shake my head, rather than tell him that she didn’t take any of my calls. I showed up at her apartment two days ago. We didn’t resolve anything, but she knows I’m going to fight for her and keep fighting for her for as long as it takes for her to see how crazy I am about her.
Early today, I found Vale to talk with him. Surprisingly, he forgave me. I wasn’t sure he would, but the moment he heard that I’m in love with Lauren, he let it go. He did make me promise that I wouldn’t marry her without him present.
“You guys have been at this for five hours,” Cord points out from where he’s leaning against the sink. He’s been here for the whole project though he hasn’t contributed too much in the tech department either. “Maybe it’s time to consider?—”
I glare at him. Don’t care what he’s about to say. It’s crushing me not to talk to her. I have to find a way to convince her that I care, show her how much she means to me. It finally hit me that I should catch her attention in a different way, something I would never think to do.
“It has to be done today, and it has to be perfect,” I insist. It’s been two days without Lauren by my side, and there’s only so much a cowboy can take. I’ve considered every option, including the one where I ride up to the community center on my horse, throw her onto it, and gallop back to the ranch with her. In that particular idea, I always end up tying her to the bed to show her she’s not getting away. Which leads to us doing all sorts of dirty shit.
“Keep your spurs on, Romeo, I’ll figure this out,” Flint says.
There’s a knock on the door. Cord leaves to go answer it while I fuss at Flint that the button needs to be a deeper shade of red. Lauren likes the color red, so it’s everywhere on the website.
“Boss,” Cord calls.
I turn to growl at him, fully prepared to cuss him out if he once again suggests that this isn’t a good idea. It’s not like he and Flint were coming up with anything brilliant to get her attention. Except standing there in my kitchen doorway is Lauren.
She looks beautiful today in her red dress with the white hearts on it. Her hair is swept up and away from her neck. I want to put my lips there and taste her skin. The few tendrils that are loose frame her face and when she reaches to push one away, I see her fingers shake.
I cast a glance toward Cord. He claps Flint on the back. “Come on, we have shirts to find.”
“What are you doing here?” I ask when they’ve left, and we’re alone.
She glances down then squares her shoulders and looks back up at me. “I saw the website. Can’t believe you’re auctioning me.”
I try to gauge her expression, whether she’s happy or not. I can’t tell, and I want so badly to touch her. I shove my hands in my pockets instead. None of the buttons on the website work because I’d never give her up. But the site did catch her attention. “I figured turnabout was fair play.”
She blows out a breath. “I messed up. I ran instead of talking about my fears with you, and when you did show up, I was stubborn. It took a long talk with Aunt Elaine to make me realize I didn’t treat you right. Or handle the situation the right way.”
