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Today she was going to get her groove back, damn it, and the clothes were only the first tiny step.
Charlie turned on some music and drove into town with the windows down. The breeze was too cold, but she didn’t mind. It was the first time her nipples had been hard in months. She had to take her thrills where she could get them.
When she pulled up to the address Nate had given her, she
saw that the apartment building was right next to the Crooked R Saloon. Her cousin greeted her from the sidewalk with a wave.
Thank God for Nate. Charlie had a brother in town, but he never offered any help unless it could benefit him, too. Nate, on the other hand...
Charlie jumped out of her car and threw her arms around his neck to squeeze him tight. “Thank you, thank you!”
“Hey, calm down. It’s no big deal. I’m sorry the place at the resort fell through.”
“Well, you know...” She let him go and crossed her arms to hide the nervous flutter of her hands. She didn’t want to lie to him, but she didn’t know how to explain. “Construction on the hotel is behind schedule. Naturally, the last big push goes into the rooms people are actually paying for. Hopefully my apartment will be ready in a few months.”
“I think Rayleen wants to rent this place out through the winter. Six months, Jenny said.”
“Sure, I understand. Of course. I have no problem with that. It was so great of you to arrange this for me.”
“Walker was actually the one who pulled it off.”
Charlie shook her head in shock. “Walker Pearce?”
“Yeah, you remember him?”
“Of course I remember him! He’s still around?”
“Living right here at the Stud Farm, actually.”
Well, that made sense. Walker had been a hell of a stud in high school. She’d had a serious crush on him, though she’d been careful not to let him know. Half the girls in the school had had a crush on him. Any time she’d tutored him in the library during lunch, girls had made a point of sauntering by like a rotating show of blondes and brunettes and redheads. All the prettiest girls in the school. The cheerleaders and the rodeo queens. And Walker had made a point of smiling at each and every one.
Charlie followed Nate into the apartment building and up the stairs to the second floor. The two-story entryway was clean and bright, sunlight shining through the old farmhouse windows that flanked the front door.
“Here’s your key. You’ll need to go by the saloon to pick up the lease agreement.”
“Cool.”
“Just a warning. If Rayleen Kisler is there, you might want to lay low. You know Rayleen?”
“I know of her.”
“Walker talked her into letting you rent the place, but she’d much rather have had someone...” He stopped at the door to apartment C and shook his head. “Bigger and hairier.”
Charlie grinned. “She hasn’t given up her hobby, then, I guess?”
“Nope. She still likes to ogle. But she made an exception for you. Although there’s another woman living in the apartment below yours. Merry Kade. So it was a damn miracle that Walker managed to get you in here.”
“I’ll have to find a way to thank him.”
“Won’t be hard. He lives right there.” Nate tilted his head toward the apartment on the other side of the small upstairs landing.
She shot a surprised look at the other door before unlocking her own. Walker lived right there? That would be interesting. Or just irritating, if the parade of beautiful women was still marching after all these years. Maybe she could sit on the landing with a book and wave to each one. Recapture some of the fun of her youth.
Charlie let herself into the apartment and took in the simple white walls and the gorgeous shine on the wood floors. It was nothing like her studio at the resort. There were no fancy appliances in the kitchen or stained timber details. There was no hand-hewn rock fireplace. It was modest and empty and it was private.
She breathed a sigh of relief. “I’ve got a few things in storage. I’ll pull them out as soon as I’ve signed the lease.”
“Let me know,” Nate said. “I’ll help you move what you need.”
