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“Maize and I are meeting up for a girls’ night. Nothing special.” I smile, hoping she believes me. I hate lying to my mom. We’re close, and she trusts me, but I can’t tell her this secret. At least not yet.
“Oh, alright. Tell her I said hi. You two have fun.” She gives me a kiss on the cheek and a hug, and my soul dies a little at how easily the lie spilled from my lips.
By the time Diesel picks me up, I’m in a sour mood, and I hate that I can’t be more excited to see him tonight. My eyes water, and I wipe away the tears before they can fall.
“Looks like someone needs cheering up,” he says, guiding me through the front door. “Wanna start with a tour?”
“Sure.” He takes my hand and shows me around, telling me how he plans to fix it up. Some of the things include: knocking out walls to open up the living room, adding a kitchen island for more storage space, replacing a window with patio doors, and then building on a huge deck.
“Wow…that all sounds amazing. I bet it’s going to be gorgeous once you’re done.” I look around and see empty spaces with tarps and paint cans. He’s done some stuff already but has quite a bit to finish.
“I hope so. Riley was supposed to help me, but now that he’s on permanent Dad duty, I may have Grayson and Wyatt help too. Maybe Ethan.”
I snort at the mention of my cousin. “Ethan barely wants to get his hands dirty as it is, so good luck.” His parents are both doctors so he was never forced to do chores until my other uncles got a hold of him and basically threw him in the dirt. So now he’s going to school for agricultural science and has one year left, but since he’s home for the summer, he helps at the bar or anywhere he’s needed on the ranch. Once he graduates, he’ll work on the ranch full-time and plans to help find ways to expand.
“Maybe I’ll bribe him with a few beers to help.” He grins. “Maybe I can bribe you?”
“That wouldn’t look suspicious at all,” I mock.
“We’ll say you owed me.”
My jaw drops. “Owe you for what?”
“For kicking your ex’s ass,” he states proudly.
“Mm-hmm, right. Not sure what I can do anyway, besides paint maybe.”
“Perfect. Sounds like a date.”
“You really are relentless, aren’t you?”
“All part of my charm.”
When I smile, he lifts my chin and softly presses his lips to mine. “There’s that gorgeous smile I love so much. My plan worked after all.”
Nick is officially off my mind, and all I can think about is Diesel.
“Guess it did.” I fist my hands in his shirt and bring his mouth back to mine, and soon we’re making out like a couple of teenagers who have a curfew.
Diesel leads me to the couch and sets me on his lap without even breaking the kiss. His fingers thread in my hair, cupping the back of my head and pulling it back slightly so his tongue can slide in deeper. Hot electricity sparks between us, and it takes all the energy I have to pull away.
“If you don’t stop doing that, we’re going to violate our ‘going slow’ rule,” I tell him.
He squints one eye and tilts the corner of his lips. “Pretty sure that was just your rule.”
I playfully smack him and get off his lap, then sit down next to him. “I had to lie to my mother tonight, and it sucked.”
He reaches over and grabs my hand. “We don’t have to, you know? I can take care of whatever backlash Riley gives me. Or hell, your father. They’ll probably both want their turn to knock me on my ass individually, but it’d be one hundred percent worth it.”
Groaning, I throw my head back on the couch. “Don’t say that. I’d just like to explore this without everyone’s comments. I recently got out of a relationship, and I’m sure my mom and cousins will have something to say about it.”
“What are you afraid of?”
“I’m worried they’ll put doubt in my head about dating someone so soon, being with you, or that we’re moving too fast.”
“Okay…” He nods, then brings our hands up to his lips and sweetly kisses my knuckles. “Then we’ll keep it our secret for now. I’m sure it’s not the worst thing you’ve lied to your mother about.” He flashes a devilish grin, knowing damn well he’s right.
“Well, no. But that’s besides the point. I don’t like violating the trust between us.”
“I’m sure once it’s out there, she’ll understand why you did.”
I inhale slowly and sigh. “I hope so.”
“Until then, we’ll secretly make out in the back of my truck.”
I laugh at how smooth he tries to be, but I don’t exactly hate the idea either.
