The Patriot A Small Town Romance - Jennifer Millikin Page 0,67
any trouble. I hop off Ranger and slip his lead around a post. My muscles complain as I stretch, arching my back and rolling my head in a slow circle. The saddle will fuck up your bones, that’s for damn sure.
My eyes are on the herd, but my mind is on Dakota. Sweet, feisty, determined Dakota.
This morning I woke up in her hotel bed. She was gone, but her scent lingered on her pillow, on the sheets, on my clothes. Her red dress was missing from the back of the chair, and her pajamas were in a pile on the ground. Right away I knew she’d gone for breakfast. I sat up in her bed, rubbed my eyes, and thought about what would happen if I kissed her. Blame it on being surrounded by her scent.
I almost did it too, when she returned with breakfast and stared at me without a shirt on. Our agreement nearly sprouted wings and flew out the window. Then she told me I had a nightmare and the wings disintegrated and the agreement crashed back down to earth.
Dakota witnessed the very thing I’d only have revealed if my life depended on it. I’ve had the same dream over and over ever since it happened. That’s the kind of shit I keep locked up tight, but lately, it’s been getting worse. More vivid. It seems to me the further I get from it, the more it should be getting hazy around the edges. I wish that were the case.
And now Dakota knows. It’s like my heart and my mind are in a disagreement, and while I was sleeping my heart went behind my brain’s back and exposed my worst moment. Like some traitorous part of me wanted her to know.
“Where the fuck are you, Wes?” Warner steps into my vision and waves a hand in my face.
I smack it away. “Get your eyes checked, asshat. I’m right here.”
Warner wipes sweat from his upper lip with the side of his hand. “Ten bucks says your mind is wherever it was you stayed last night.”
Technically, he’s right. Just not in the way he thinks.
“Can’t fool you.” I clap a hand on his shoulder.
“How’s Dakota this morning?” He grins, proud of himself because he knows he’s accurately assumed where I was. “Good? Bet she wakes up pretty with all that just-been-fucked hair.”
The hand I still have on his shoulder tightens. He tries to shrink away but my fingers dig in, holding him in place. In a low voice, I say, “You only talk about Dakota in a way that is one hundred percent respectful from now on.” Trying to get a rise out of me is his second favorite hobby (the first being playing with his kids), and normally I don’t bite because I know what he’s doing, but when it comes to Dakota, I can’t seem to take the ribbing.
I release him, but he doesn’t move away. He grins in this goofy way, his playful nature keeping him from getting his feelings hurt. If I’d done that to Wyatt, he’d stalk away sensitive and injured.
As good-natured as Warner is, he’s also really damn insistent. Right now, he’s eyeing me meaningfully.
“What?” I demand, annoyed at his persistence.
“Why do you make it so damn hard?”
My eyes widen in annoyance and my chin makes tiny side-to-side motions. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“You’ve never been late for work, Wes. Not a day in your whole damn life, and aside from the time you were in the military, I’ve worked by your side every day. Just allow yourself to talk about Dakota. Admit how much you like her.”
Technically, this is exactly how all this is supposed to be going. My family, or at least Warner, took notice of my absence immediately. It’s the first step toward the Wes and Dakota Fast and Furious relationship. I didn’t think for a second I’d be hurting my brother’s feelings.
But I have. I hear the hurt in his voice. He’s doing that thing again, the one where he wants me to confide in him. I grab my water bottle, take a long drink, and glance at him. Here goes nothing. “You’re correct. I stayed with Dakota last night.”
His eyes light up, but to his credit, he controls his excitement and keeps his mouth shut. Shit. I feel bad. Warner loves, well…love. He’s a romantic at heart. And he wants to see me happy. Just like he used to be with Anna.