Page 64 of Then You Happened
Alone.
“As a heart attack.” He takes a step back and purses his lips to see if I’ll call chicken, which I don’t. “See you in about an hour.” He turns to Fiona. “It was a pleasure meeting you, ma’am. I hope to see you around here more often. Tate’s laughter is a rare thing, but it’s been ringing out over the ranch all afternoon. That’s because of you.”
With a nod, Jack turns on his heel and heads down the stairs, giving both of us a perfect view of his ass and strong shoulders as he moves toward the bunkhouse.
“If you don’t screw that man, Tatum Knox, there is something definitely wrong with you,” she all but sings under her breath.
“And how exactly am I supposed to respond to that?”
“Say, yes. Say, what the hell, I deserve it. Say, I deserve him.” She murmurs something under her breath that I can’t quite make out and pulls my attention to her because daydreaming about Jack is how I got in this mess in the first place. “And I love how he calls you Knox.”
“I hate it.”
“Why?” she asks.
I shake my head as if it isn’t important. It is kind of silly that I want to hear him say my name so I know how it sounds on his lips.
“I mean . . . what do I . . .”
“What do you do now?” she asks. “You take your glass of wine and strut that cute little butt of yours inside. You primp and shave and lotion and spritz every crack and crevice of that body because, let’s face it, you want him to explore all of those places. You want to feel his goatee in all of those places.” She winks and mock shudders as if she’s the one experiencing it. “You wear something casual but not ranch-y. You let that hair down and do simple makeup. You know, because you want him to notice but you don’t want to look like you tried too hard or care too much.”
My laugh is laced with nerves. “But he works for me, Fi. Isn’t that a big enough problem in and of itself?”
“Yeah, but he’ll be gone in, like, what? Four months? Five months?”
“Something like that.”
“Perfect. A little something to get over Fletcher. A man to make you realize you deserve better and show you a hint of what else is out there. It’s actually ideal since there isn’t the option of long-term ties.”
“It’s one dinner. No one said anything about long-term anything or a relationship.”
“But you wondered about it. It’s all you’ve ever known, so it’s natural to be scared of entering into something that is the opposite.” She reaches out and pours the rest of the bottle into my glass. “Sex. An action. A verb. Don’t overthink it.”
“I told myself earlier today that I was going to own it. Own this. But it’s so much easier said than done.”
“True, but so is seducing a woman at the same time as asking her to cook you dinner.” She clucks her tongue. “But I just watched a man tell you that you’re cooking his dinner, and we both swooned. Either we’re that gullible or he’s that good.”
“He’s that good,” I say.
“Then he’ll probably be good at everything else too.”
And it’s those words, the ones I needed to hear that make me laugh louder and longer than I should.
They also tell me what I already know.
I’m having sex tonight.
Holy shit.
18
TATE
“You said the other day that someone died, and that’s why you needed a change of pace. Do you mind my asking who?” My sudden need to know more about him stepping in the way of what comes next.
His chewing falters momentarily, and he takes his time finishing his bite before leaning back in his chair. There’s something in his expression, almost as if he’s questioning whether or not he should tell me.
“It was my father.”
