Roping the Cowboy Billionaire - Emmy Eugene Page 0,13
knew it sat there. He’d seen her duck her head, tuck her hair, and giggle whenever Hayes called so many times he’d lost count.
“Ten seconds,” Blaine muttered to himself. Whatever magic powder Hayes Powell had been dipped in couldn’t be sold at stores. If it could, Blaine would’ve bought some a long time ago.
Some people just had charisma. Cayden was like that. Trey sometimes too, especially if he was in a good mood. There was a reason they did a lot of the work around the ranch that required them to deal with other people. They were very, very good with people—and Hayes was just like that.
Tam paced away from Blaine, and though the shed wasn’t that big, he couldn’t hear what she was saying. He felt like a fool, sitting there listening to the woman he’d kissed twice in the past couple of weeks talking to her ex.
You’re thirty-eight, he told himself. Do something.
He was tired of sitting around, waiting for life to happen to him. Maybe it was time for him to do something.
Blaine shoved the last of his sandwich in his mouth and stood up. He wiped his hands, finished eating, and started toward Tam.
“…that’s all I’m saying,” she said, her voice low. He wasn’t sure if it was flirty or not, because he could hardly hear much past the beating of his blood through his veins. “Yeah, I think—”
“Hey there, sugar,” Blaine said in a loud voice, taking the phone from her with a single swipe of his hand. “Who you talkin’ to?” He put the phone to his ear as if he’d just come upon Tam.
He stared into her shocked, wide eyes as he said, “Who’s this?” He sounded happy, but he was decidedly not as confusion and frustration swirled within him.
“Blaine,” Tam said, and he couldn’t tell if she was happy about what he’d done or not.
“Who is this?” Hayes asked, his arrogance thick even from a thousand miles away.
“Oh, I asked you first,” Blaine said though he was too old to play games. “Tam looked a little upset, and I thought I’d take over.”
Hayes said nothing, and Blaine’s nerves rattled through his bones. “The screen says Hayes,” he said. “Are you seriously calling the woman you ditched over a year ago?”
“Who are you?” Hayes asked again, but Blaine wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of telling him. If he did, Hayes would know Tam was just hanging out with her best friend.
“I’m her boyfriend,” he said, making his voice hard. “I’d really appreciate it if you deleted her number from your phone and stopped calling.”
“I don’t—”
“Goodbye.” Blaine pulled the phone away from his ear so he couldn’t hear what else Hayes might say. He jabbed at the screen to get the call to end, and he started swiping. “You should block him, Tam.”
“Can I have my phone back, please?”
Blaine looked up, and their eyes met. She held out her hand, and Blaine handed over her device.
“You’re right,” she said. “I should block him.” She tapped and swiped, an adorable pucker appearing between her eyes. She stepped to his side and tilted the phone toward him. “Can you help me figure out how to do it?” She looked up at him, and he took a deep breath, getting a lot of horse and leather from her, but also just a hint of strawberry.
The scent came from her shampoo; he knew, because he’d been in her bathroom and seen the bottles.
A tender moment passed between them, and Blaine focused on the phone. He wanted to kiss her, but he also wanted this relationship to progress normally. He didn’t drive to a woman’s house and kiss her before they’d even gone out. He wouldn’t normally kiss a woman in a hospital bed either.
He wanted to take Tam to dinner and go horseback riding with her. He wanted to hold her hand as they strolled down the street on a summer evening, laughing and talking as they got to know one another. He wanted to start falling in love with her, as he knew what a profound and special experience that was.
Then—and only then—would he kiss her.
“Yeah,” he said, his voice grinding in his throat. “It’s just right there. Tap on his name.”
She did, and he guided her through the rest of the steps to block Hayes’s number.
“So now if he calls or texts, I just won’t get it?” She looked up at him again, such innocence in her eyes.