Jake (Downton Cowboys #2) - Miley Maine Page 0,32

up on my feet. “Katie beat you to the honors.”

“Is that supposed to make me jealous?” She chuckles.

“Actually?” I scrunch my nose. “I don’t think you can match her kitchen skills.” I shrug, pulling out the packages. “Sorry.”

“Get over here!” She bangs her palm on the hardwood floor. “I’m hungry.”

So am I… but not for food.

Grinning, I grab two plates from the open kitchen and go back to sit next to her.

As we eat, everything is quiet around us. The serene stillness is occasionally interrupted by the subtle crackling of blazing wood. It’s easy and we’re relaxed, and for the life of me, I can’t think of someone else with whom I can be so comfortable in such silence.

When we’re done, we collect everything and set it over the table behind us, leisurely returning to our positions facing the fireplace.

“I think you’re right.” She licks her lips and I’m distracted. “As a matter of fact, Katie deserves a raise.”

“Yeah?” I chuckle, trying hard not to fixate on her luscious lips. I reach back to the table and pull out the wine bottle and two glasses. As I pour us some, her eyes follow my fingers for a moment before they go back to the flames.

A couple of sips in, with my eyes still struggling to keep away from her glistening lips that are now stained a delicious shade of deep red, she draws in a long breath.

“Ember is such a pretty name,” she whispers without moving her gaze away from the sweltering sparks.

“Ember,” I pensively repeat. “I don’t think I’ve ever met an Ember.”

“Perhaps you’ll get to meet my daughter when she’s born.”

I’m taken aback by the subject and chuckle softly to conceal my surprise. “Oh, yeah? Future Mr. Belle doesn’t get a say in the name?”

“He can name the other three,” she says it matter-of-factly before taking another sip.

“What?” I slightly pull back, staring at her with wide eyes.

“What?” She turns to me, the corner of her mouth tugged up in a half-smirk. “I plan on having four kids.”

Setting down my glass on the floor, I throw my weight halfway to the side and bang my hand on my heart, pretending to faint.

Four children.

Four sets of ocean deep blue eyes and wild black hair.

I’m instantly jealous of future Mr. Belle.

In fact, I want to be him.

The sweet sound of her laughter fills the air around me, and before I realize it, I’m resting down on my elbow away from her, quietly admiring her beauty and lightness of being.

“You alright there, cowboy?”

“Perfect,” I whisper with a smile, my eyelids momentarily fluttering at the thought of her marrying another man.

“What about you?”

“What about me?” I straighten back up, readjusting my position next to her before I pick up my glass again, taking a big sip.

“I want a lot of kids because I’m an only child,” she explains. “And I wanna know what it’s like to have a big family. Did you have one?”

“Actually,” I scoff, scratching the back of my head, “I’m one of four brothers.”

“Really?” She draws it out.

“Yup.” I nod.

“And what, no woman’s ever measured up to the standards?”

Clever Belle, going straight for the kill.

“Yeah, no.” I hesitantly shake my head, looking downward as my eyes fix on a random spot on my jeans. “There’s been a couple.”

“Past tense?”

“Yeah, well. They belong there.” I tilt my head and take another sip of wine, finishing off my glass in an attempt to wipe off the memory of my ex…

Wife.

I don’t want to bring her up.

I don’t want to say her name out loud. I don’t want the tainted memory of her and that miserable episode of my life to ruin the beginnings of a new one with Belle.

Raking up the matter of my failed marriage promises me nothing but pain. Excruciating anguish that has the capacity to tear through me for days, leaving nothing behind but a dreadful wreckage.

“What are your brothers like?”

Bless you, Belle, for catching my signals and changing the subject. I feel my face relax. I pick up the bottle, pouring us a refill.

“They’re all amazing,” I remember fondly. “Danny is the oldest of us. And he’s the one who gave me the ranch.”

“That’s so generous of him.” Her smile widens.

“Very.” I nod in agreement. “Not just a ranch for me, but our two brothers, too.”

“Oh my God.”

“Yeah, he—” I pause. “We didn’t exactly have an easy time growin’ up. And when he made it big, he made sure to lift us up with him.”

“That’s incredible.”

“Right?” I