“Alright, give me a second. I’ll meet you in there.”
Baseball, baseball, baseball?—
She turned over her shoulder, biting her lip in the way she knew I loved. God, she was a tease. I’d have to turn her little ass red for this someday. “Maybe if you weren’t dead set on being such agentleman…”
Christ… What was she doing to me?
“Inside, Josie. Please,” I groaned, adjusting myself.
Before I change my fucking mind.
I hadn’t been with anyone since her, and it’d been a damn long time before her, too. So long, I was ready to blow in my pants if she so much as touched me. That would’ve been my undoing; I didn’t know if I could live past the embarrassment.
It took every un-sexy thought I could muster to convince my dick to go down just so I could enter her house. The tiled entryway was messy and lived-in. There was a shoe tower that no one used, and a shit ton of hooks with more worn cowboy hats and slickers than I could count.
Their living room was huge, a big, open space for entertaining. In the middle of the room was a giant stone fireplace, and I wondered if they’d ever really needed it. Texas didn’t seem like a place that saw much snow, but I supposed it was nice to have just in case.
“Lincoln!” Doug exclaimed, jerking his head in greeting. “How the hell are you? Take a seat. I’m almost finished here. Josie, sugar, will you get the man some coffee?”
“Of course, Daddy.” Josie smiled as I slid into the seat at the breakfast nook across from Cleo. She was pale, clasping the cup like it was all she had.
I was going to ask her if she was okay before Josie sat down a steaming mug in front of me. “Here you go, cowboy. A cup of dark sugar water just for you.”
I shrugged. “Life’s too short to be denied what you really like.” I let my gaze travel slowly along Josie’s body. She lit up like a goddamn beacon under my attention, and damn if that didn’t make my chest hurt.
“See!” Doug called, pointing at the table with his spatula. “That’s how I feel too. You know these girls won’t even let me have bacon?” He shook his head. “Criminal.”
Cleo sighed and sat down her cup. “Daddy, we’ve talked about this…”
“I know, I know. It’s all about my heart, but I’ll tell you what… I don’t think a little bacon every now and then would kill me, and if it does, then I’ll go happy.”
Josie and Cleo glanced at one another with wide eyes before dropping their gazes to the table. I didn’t know Doug was sick, but it wasn’t my place to poke around.
Was that why he’d offered me a job in the first place—because he didn’t know if he’d be here next year?
“A breakfast with no bacon?” I shook my head. “Criminal. You girls run a tight ship.”
Doug laughed, and it was so rich and hearty that it nearly broke my heart, especially when Cleo and Josie looked distraught. It reminded me too much of when I lost Frank.
“The man gets it! I swear, I’m gonna keep you around. Bishop and I have been outnumbered for too long. These girls are no fun.”
He hummed around the kitchen, finishing setting up the food before calling on us to make our plates, but the mood had changed already. There was a heaviness in the air I couldn’t place, and I suddenly felt like an intruder in what was previously a heartwarming morning.
I sought Josie’s hand under the table when we all took our seats. It was clammy, but the moment I touched her, she interlaced our fingers and squeezed so hard it took an effort not to make a sound.
If this was what she needed, I’d gladly bear a little pain.
Doug prattled on about the next clinic starting like he hadn’t just dropped a bomb on the table—one I wasn’t meant to know about. He asked me questions about the first group I taught and how it went, and I was honest when I told him I loved it.
Frank had been the only one I’d ever told my fears to. I was worried I’d never step foot in an arena again, living out the rest of my days behind the bar instead. Which would have been fine. It’d given me a purpose and a reason to keep going, but I didn’t want that to be all I had.
“You given any more thought to my offer?” he asked, stabbing his fork into a pile of eggs.
Josie’s head whipped toward me. “Offer?”
Inwardly, I cringed. I hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to Josie about it. There’d been too much shit going on in the past twenty-four hours, and not a damn good time to bring it up.
“I asked Lincoln if he wouldn’t mind a permanent position on the ranch—depending on how the rest of the summer goes. Don’t want to bring someone on who doesn’t know their stuff.” Doug smiled, pointing his utensil in my direction. “But I like you, Lincoln, and I’m not an easy man to please.”
