MIA was starting to get nervous. She knew it wasn’t supposed to be a date, but from the text she’d just received from Kat, she was starting to realize just how much of a setup this was. Kat had messaged claiming she had an urgent surgery to attend to, and Mia called bullshit. She was probably sitting at home with her feet up, sipping a wine and laughing at her genius plan to set her best friend up with her cute cousin. She re-read Kat’s last message for the tenth time, cursing her all over again.
Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. Oh wait, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do. Have fun gorgeous xx
She looked at herself again in her full-length mirror, crippling self-doubts starting to crack her otherwise confident façade. She had a pile of rejected clothes on the bed, from cute dresses to sparkly miniskirts, but in the end she’d decided to wear her go-to outfit, what she felt herself in and what she was most confident in. She had on her skinny ankle-length jeans, heels and a cute top. It had the back cut out, which made it sexy, but she still felt like her. She sighed and put on some lip gloss. She was used to having her long, straight hair in a braid when she was working the horses or in a ponytail to keep it out of the way, but she’d decided to use her rollers and make it curl a little, so she had bouncy hair to give her an extra injection of confidence.
Mia heard a knock at the door and a new wave of nerves hit, her stomach flipping at the prospect of the blind date she was about to embark on. Why had she said yes? Why was she even doing this, why…?
“Mia?”
She was reaching for her bag but she froze, ears pricked. Was that Sam?
“Mia, you here?”
She tucked her bag under her arm and walked out of her room, pulling the door behind her so no one could see into the tornado of clothes in her wake.
“Sam?” she called back, surprised. “Just a sec.”
He was standing at the door to her living room. He’d obviously knocked then walked straight around to her open doors, the same way he’d come in the other day.
“Is something wrong? What happened with Tex?” she asked, hurrying across the hardwood floors, her heels click-clacking.
“I…” he started to speak then looked her up and down. She stopped, feeling the heat rising at the way he was looking at her. “Damn, you look gorgeous.”
She brushed off his compliment, shaking her head. “I’m just wearing jeans, nothing special. What’s happened?”
He gave her a look, a look that travelled up and down her body, the warmth in his gaze making her wildly uncomfortable yet excited at the same time. Hell, everything about him was … she swallowed, her mouth dry as cotton candy. Sam was positively smoldering just standing there in his low-slung jeans and boots, dusty and sweaty and sexy as hell. This was the guy she wished she was about to spend the next few hours alone with.
“Ah, nothing’s wrong. That’s not why I’m here,” he said, leaning in the doorway, hand reaching to his hair. She watched as he brushed his fingers through it, her own fingers itching to reach out and knead through his thick hair.
She waited, wondering what he was about to say. Had he just come over to see her or …
A knock sounded out, around the other side of the house.
“You expecting someone?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yes. I’m, well, I’m going out for the evening. That’s why you’re seeing me all dressed up instead of in riding clothes for once.”
Sam opened his mouth to say something at the same time as a loud, deep voice called out.
“Anyone home?”
Mia looked on in horror as Sam’s face turned from open and friendly to coldly hostile.
“Mia?” a handsome man asked, appearing from the side of the house, the same way Sam had just walked.
“You must be Trent,” she said, smiling and extending her hand. She walked past Sam and smiled when Trent kissed her cheek. He held out a bunch of flowers, long-stemmed white roses wrapped in a crisp white paper and with a huge ribbon around them.
“For you.”
“Thank you,” she said, blushing as he let out a whistle.
“Kat never told me how beautiful you were.”
“Don’t be silly,” she said, shaking her head. “But thank you for the roses.”
She turned to take them to the kitchen counter and saw Sam watching her, his eyes narrowed, jaw clenched so hard she could visibly see the strain.
Mia paused and smiled at him. “What were you going to say before?” she asked. “Was everything okay with Tex?”
“Fine,” he growled out, his face like stone now. She could feel the cool, cold undertones of his mood as she stood in front of him. “I’ll see you another day.”
Mia watched him stalk past Trent, not even saying hello even as her date held out his hand to introduce himself. She felt numb and stared after him as he left.
“Someone you work with?” Trent asked.
Mia nodded, pulling herself away from Sam’s retreating figure, wishing she wasn’t so stuck on thinking about him. She was drawn to Sam in a way she couldn’t understand, something about him pulling her in and making her want to know more about him, making her want to kiss him again and see his face soften, to see his eyes crinkle as he smiled down at her. But the Sam she’d just watched storm away from her house didn’t show any resemblance whatsoever to that man.
“Ah, he’s a horse trainer. We’ve been working together,” she managed. Trent raised a brow, looking surprised. “He’s an employee of yours? I’d suggest finding a new horse trainer, maybe one with better manners.”
Mia smiled. Weakly. “He’s great with the horses,” she said, realizing how silly that sounded. “But yeah, he could work on his social skills.”
She had no idea what she’d done wrong, or why he’d turned so dark on her, but something told her that whatever had been going on between her and the sexy horseman was well and truly over before it had even started. And even though she was all dressed up and about to have a fun time out with a handsome man, she felt deflated. She’d have traded her heels for boots to follow after Sam in a heartbeat.
“Ready to go?” Trent asked.
Mia nodded. “Give me a sec to close the doors up. I’ll meet you around the front.”
She methodically closed the doors and windows, before hurrying out to meet her date. Trent was cute in a preppy kind of way, his hair perfectly combed, clean shaven, pants pressed and loafers impeccable. She should have been impressed, but instead all she could think about was a man with eyes the color of drizzled dark chocolate, cheeks covered in stubble, wearing worn jeans that he filled out in all the right places.
“Let’s go,” she said, smiling at Trent and pretending that she was thrilled to be going out instead of longing to stay at the ranch.
* * *
“So are we going to talk about it?”
Sam glared at Nate. “Talk about what?”
“Whatever it is that has you all bent out of sorts?” Nate chuckled and Sam scowled.
“Nothing to talk about,” he said, straightening his shoulders, not realizing how hunched over his beer he’d been. “How was New York?”
Nate laughed. “Well, I’ve been telling you about my trip the past few minutes. You’ve been too busy staring into that beer of yours like you’re gonna kill it instead of listening.”
“Sorry,” Sam muttered, lifting the glass and draining it. “Want to switch to whiskey?”
“Do you even have to ask?”
He watched as Nate pushed his beer aside and nodded to the bartender. “Two Wild Turkeys. Straight up, double shots.”
Sam turned to him, heels hitched on the barstool. “It’s good to see you. It’s been too long.”
“Yeah, it has,” Nate agreed. “But seriously, what’s up? You look like you’re ready to commit murder.”
“Ah, it’s nothing. Forget it,” Sam said, brushing it off and sure as hell not wanting to talk about it to Nate or anyone else. “How’s my lovely sister?”
“Worried about her brother,” Nate said, nudging Sam’s whiskey toward him and holding it up. “Cheers.”
Sam clinked his glass to Nate’s and took a welcome, small sip. It burned a warm trail down his throat, a fire he’d long ago learned to enjoy. He took another sip before relaxing back against the bar. Thank god for strong liquor.
“So? Come on. What’s up? You look like shit.”
“Me?” Sam laughed. “You’re like a dog with a goddamn bone, you know that? And you’re the one with dark circles under your eyes, looking like shit.”
It was only a half truth; Nate did look tired, but he’d never looked like shit in his life. Sam, on the other hand, knew he probably did look like shit.
“How’s the work at the Ford ranch going? You tamed that asshole stallion yet?”
Sam grunted. “Yeah, it’s fine.”
“Ah, I see,” Nate grinned. “The problem is with the Ford ranch. Spill.”
“Stop grinning like you’ve won the fucking lottery.” Sam shook his head.
“I’m guessing it’s not old man Ford causing you to look all pissed either. It’s…”
Sam raised a brow at the same time as he raised his glass, taking a bigger gulp this time.
“Holy shit, it’s one of the girls, isn’t it? What’s her name, Mia is it? Is she the show jumper?”
Sam glared at him, his fingers tightening around the glass as he stared at Nate. “Don’t you fucking tell me you—”
Nate held up both hands, protesting his innocence. “Nothing ever happened between us, don’t worry. But she’s beautiful and talented, I know that. In fact—”
“Thank god,” Sam muttered, draining the rest of his drink. “Another,” he said, waving at the bartender.
“So what the hell did she do to get you all bent out of sorts?”
“Nothing,” he said. “Can we change the subject? We didn’t come here to talk about Mia Ford.”
“Oh, but we did,” Nate said, chuckling like he was enjoying every single moment of torturing Sam. “I love your sister, don’t get me wrong, and I would never be unfaithful to her, but I miss this. You know, talking shit, being your wingman.”
Now it was Sam’s turn to laugh. “You were never my wingman. I was always the wingman.” Nate had wooed and slept with just about every single attractive woman this side of Texas, which meant Sam had definitely been the Robin to Nate’s Batman.
“Come on, tell Uncle Nate what she did to you. You have trouble getting it up?”
“Jesus Christ, Nate!” Sam swore. “Can we please change the goddamn subject?”
“Well, we could, except that I’m fairly sure that’s Mia Ford sipping on champagne over there,” Nate said, sounding smug. “And I want to know what the hell she’s doing with that preppy-looking dickhead instead of keeping you company?”
Sam groaned, convinced Nate was goading him. There was no way she was here. “I call bullshit.”
“You can call whatever the hell you want, but see this?” Nate waved and smiled, leaning against the bar and flashing his killer smile. “That’s me waving to Mia. And I know her because she’s an old friend of the family’s”
Sam turned, almost instantly locking eyes with her. She was standing close to preppy guy, smiling, laughing at something he said, and it made his skin burn, as if a match had been thrown against his skin.
“Motherfucker,” he muttered.
“Who me? Or the guy she’s on a date with?”
Sam wasn’t about to keep staring. He turned around and took a sip of his drink, trying to calm down. He had no idea why he was so pissed, why he couldn’t smile and go over and say hello. Mia was his boss, they worked together, he should have been able to keep things professional between them. He was the one telling her their kiss had meant nothing.
“Tell me what happened? I haven’t seen you so bent out of shape over a girl since…”
“There’s nothing to tell,” Sam said quickly. “She’s a beautiful woman, and if I was looking to meet someone, then I’d be stupid not to ask her out.”
“You can’t be a monk all your life. So you had your heart broken? So what. It’s time to move on.”
Sam scowled at Nate. “Move on? Maybe if you ever get betrayed like that, find your woman in bed with another man and get laughed at in your own home, you’d understand.”
Nate went to say something, then gave him a weird kind of look, and Sam groaned. Clearly his friend was taking it easy on him, because usually he would have threatened to break his nose for saying something like that about Faith.
“Obviously that was hypothetical. Faith loves you and she’d never do that, but…”
“I get your point,” Nate said gruffly. Sam knew Nate would never get over losing Faith, to anything happening to their relationship, and he wished he’d used a less personal example. “But seriously, you know what they say about getting back on the horse. You’re leaving it way too long.”
“I’m not a fucking monk,” he snapped. “I just don’t want a relationship.”
“So don’t have a relationship. Be friends with benefits.”
When Sam glared at him Nate just shrugged.
“Fine, don’t be. But don’t let some preppy idiot sweep Mia off her feet if you like her. Hell, you never get like this over women.”
“I know,” Sam muttered. “She’s different. There’s something about her.”
“Which is why you feel like you can’t do casual with her.”
“Dammit, she’s the kind of girl you’d take home to meet your mom. But I don’t have a mom to take her home to, so that’s all shades of fucked up even thinking like that,” Sam said bitterly.
“She’s got under your skin,” Nate said, draining his glass. “When a woman truly gets under your skin? Only a fool walks away. Trust me.”
Sam stared at him, listened to his words and nodded. There was no point getting angry with Nate, he was only speaking the truth and they both knew it.
“Then call me a fool, but I’m walking away.”
“You’re not going over to see her?”
Sam shook his head. “No.”
“Well, if there’s nothing to watch, then I’m off,” Nate said, sliding his glass across the bar to the bartender. “I’ve got a wife and baby girls to get home to, and I’ve missed them like crazy.”
Sam frowned. He could have done with another drink, but at least this way he could still drive home.
“Want to come over for a BBQ on Sunday?” Nate asked. “All the family will be there, it’d be good to see you.”
“Yeah, sure thing,” Sam said, glancing back at Mia and seeing her in conversation with her date.
He grabbed his keys off the bar, leaving his drink half full still, and followed Nate out. It was better this way. If he’d had any more to drink, he’d have ended up making his way to Mia, and he had no idea what would have happened after that. He clenched his fists, wishing he could smack her smarmy date right in the face, knock his damn teeth out and get Mia the hell out of the bar.
“We okay?” Nate asked, his hand landing heavy on Sam’s shoulder. He was staring at him, hard, like he didn’t mind using force if he had to if it meant getting his brother-in-law out of the bar safely.
“Yeah, we’re good,” Sam said, forced to unclench his jaw when he had to speak.
“You sure about that?” Nate asked. “Because from where I’m standing, the veins in your neck are about to explode and your jaw is bulging.”
Sam grunted and pushed past Nate. “Just get me out of here.”
“Good, right answer. Because your sister would beat the crap out of me herself if I let you get into a bar fight.”
“Sam!”
He heard Nate groan, loudly, at the same time his name was called.
“Were you leaving without even coming over to say hello?”
Sam released his fingers from the tight grip of his palms. “Yeah. Didn’t want to, ah, interrupt you.”
“Nate,” Nate suddenly said, holding out his hand. “It’s been a long time. How are you, Mia?”
“Hey, Nate, it’s good to see you,” Mia said, clasping his hand and leaning in to kiss his cheek. Sam felt the now-familiar clench of his jaw and tightening across his mouth return. Seeing her touch her lips to Nate’s face was about to send him over the edge for no sensible reason.
They stood awkwardly for a moment before Mia spoke again. “Would you like to join us for a drink?”
“No,” Sam said, realizing how hastily he’d replied when Nate kicked him. Dammit.
“I’m heading home. I’ve got two baby girls to see and I’ve missed them like hell these past couple days.” Nate chuckled. “I’m looking forward to cuddling them on their night feed, so I’m off. Good to see you again.”
“Oh, how sweet,” Mia said, grinning. “Well, it was nice to see you again, too.”
Sam nodded, seeing how easily Nate was charming Mia. He definitely deserved a black goddamn eye for flirting with her like that.
“Sam, do you have a minute?” Mia asked, her voice lower now, fingers brushing his arm, her big blue eyes trained on his and making him soften.
“Yeah, sure.” Sam waved to Nate. “See you on Sunday. Drive safe.”
Nate held up his hand and walked off, giving him a long, hard look first. Sam knew that look was a warning; he clearly didn’t want to hear about any shit going down after he’d left.
“Everything okay?” Sam asked, knowing his voice sounded gruff as he stared back down at Mia.
“Everything was okay. Until you stormed off this afternoon like I’d done something to offend you. What’s wrong?”
He suppressed a groan. Talking about his feelings was not something he excelled at. In fact, he had zero interest in discussing anything to do with how he felt about Mia or almost anything else.
“Sam?”
“Look, I wasn’t expecting you to be all dolled up and heading out on a date when I came by, that’s all. You took me by surprise.”
“So we’re good now? There’s nothing—”
He refused to let her finish, cringing as he held up his hand. “We’re good. Of course we’re good,” he mumbled. “Now you head back to your date, and I’ll head off home.”
“Sam!”
The look on her face told him he wasn’t getting let off the hook so easily. “What Mia? What the hell do you want from me?” he fumed. “Walk your pretty little ass back to your date and get on with your evening.”
“Why are you being such an asshole?” she asked, glaring at him, her eyes like saucers and making him feel like shit all over again.
“Because you look fucking beautiful and I hate seeing you out with that preppy prick, okay? That’s why I’m being an asshole.”
Fuck! Now he’d come out and said it, and he wished to hell he could rewind and stop the words coming out his mouth.
“Wow,” she whispered, still staring at him.
“Yeah, wow. Can I go now?”
She slowly shook her head, catching her lower lip between her teeth. He was about to point to her date, even glanced across and saw the guy propped up against the bar, staring into his drink. He almost felt sorry for him.
“Mia, I need to go,” he said, muttering the words as she leaned into him, her palm against his chest as she moved closer.
He knew what he should have done. He should have pushed her back, gently told her no and walked the hell out of the bar as he intended to do. But he didn’t.
“You really think I look beautiful tonight?” she asked, her voice breathy, eyes focused on his mouth as she spoke.
“Hell yeah I do,” he murmured back, wondering how a woman as wealthy and stunning as Mia could seem so genuinely surprised at a compliment like that.
She closed the distance then, quickly, like she wasn’t sure what to do and had just thought to hell with it. Her lips met his fast, and he crushed his mouth to hers as she stepped in against him, her breasts to his chest.
Sam kissed her back; he had no choice. He’d thought about kissing her again ever since the first time, and it felt even better than he remembered. She tasted like the champagne she’d been drinking, her breath sweet against his as he wrapped one arm around her, holding her tight, his hand to the small of her back.
Mia’s arm snaked around his neck, warm against his skin as she opened her mouth and touched his tongue with hers, her lips so soft, her body so snug to his. He wanted nothing more than to scoop her up and get the hell out of the bar and somewhere quieter, but he doubted that was an option right now.
“Wow,” she whispered against his lips as she finally pulled back. Sam claimed one last kiss, one final brush of his lips against hers before slowly releasing her.
Mia’s cheeks were flushed as she looked up at him, and he heard his own ragged breath as her gaze dropped to his mouth then made its way back to his eyes.
“I’d call more girls beautiful if that’s the response I got every time,” he teased, unable to help himself.
“I’d better go,” she said, looking embarrassed as she glanced back toward the bar. Sam almost felt guilty about what he’d done, but every time he’d glanced at the guy she was with, he’d been on his phone. He doubted he’d even have seen it. “You sure you don’t want to come over for a drink?”
He laughed. “Yeah, I think it’s best I don’t. You know, since you’re on a date with another guy and I just kissed the hell out of you.”
Mia smiled. “Actually, I’d say it was me kissing the hell out of you, but I’ll let that one slide.” She laughed. “And he’s been way more interested in work than me all night.”
She reached for his hand and he caught her palm, holding it for a second and looking into her eyes.
“You really do look beautiful tonight, Mia. Really, stunningly beautiful. And if the guy you’re with is more interested in his phone than you? I’d say he’s a damn fool.”
Her smile lit up her entire face.
“You know, you don’t look so bad yourself.”
She gave him one last, hard-to-read look before disappearing, and he was left wondering what kind of rocks-for-brains idiot he was for letting her walk away.
The sensible kind, he reasoned with himself. He couldn’t get involved with Mia. She was beautiful, intelligent and an accomplished rider. She should have been everything he’d ever wanted. Only she wasn’t. Because he couldn’t do relationships, not anymore. He’d seen his mother walk out on his dad, and them, and then his own girlfriend, fiancée, the woman he’d promised to marry, had gone and ripped his heart out. He couldn’t trust again, and that meant he wasn’t looking for anything serious, and he knew that Mia wouldn’t be the kind of girl to do a no-strings-attached affair.
He squared his shoulders and walked out of the bar. The cooler night air was like a soft punch to the face as he headed for his vehicle.
There was no wedding, brood of children or white picket fence in his future, and not even Mia Ford could tempt him to change his mind about that. He was a horseman, that’s what his life was, and he was going to live his career and enjoy his ranch. Alone.
He could be the world’s coolest uncle, he could have casual flings with beautiful women, and he could enjoy every goddamn minute of his life.
Blue wagged his tail, jumping out of the driver’s seat when he opened the door and moving aside for him. Sam dropped his hand to his dog’s head and smiled down at him.
“You’re the closest thing I’ll ever have to a wife, ain’t that right, gorgeous?” he muttered to the dog, wishing he could push away the image of Mia standing in front of him, lips plump and pink from being kissed, her eyes so vivid they were like staring at a perfect blue sky.
Blue jumped up and licked his face and Sam laughed. At least he had his dog. It wasn’t much of a consolation, but it was something.