Blackhill Ranch (9 page)

Suddenly a memory came to
me. “Wait, she was the one in the car accident with your dad. That
was her?” I closed my eyes to keep my tears from slipping
through.

“A drunk driver hit them
about thirty minutes from our hometown. My dad tried to swerve out
of the way, but it just happened so fast. They hit a cement pole
and both died on impact.”

“Rhet, my gosh! That's so
horrible. I can't believe you had to go through that,” I said and
laid my head down on his shoulder. He rested his head on mine and
sighed.

“Cole was my rock. He
helped me out so much. If it wasn't for him, I think I would have
gone insane. A part of me wanted to go back and tell Ella I would
go to Boston with her and marry her someday, but then I knew that's
not what we both really wanted. I should have let my dad stay at my
apartment, too, but I was being selfish and wanted to make sure
Ella and I could talk about our future.”

I nuzzled in a little
closer and said, “There's always so many regrets and what if's when
you lose someone. I had a lot with my mom.”

“I know, you can drive
yourself crazy. Finally, I just accepted it and tried to move on.
Aubrey and I sold the farm we lived on. I used the money to finish
college, and she used it to get a house and started up her own
business with it. She lives in Colorado now, and is married with
two really cute little boys,” he said with such warmth I could tell
how much he loved his sister

and her family.

“I can't wait to meet
her,” I whispered and just laid still on Rhet's
shoulder.

“Me neither. She already
knows about you, and I can't wait for two to meet. She's going to
love you. Especially because she gets a thrill out of scaring the
shit out of people,” he laughed and lifted his head up. “So, there
was my first love story.”

I lifted my head to look
over at him. “You had a love some people rarely ever find. I'm just
so sad it ended the way it did. Two people at once sounds
unbearable.”

“Yes, it was. But like I
said, Cole has been there for me through it all.”

“Right, or you saw my
picture and just stayed friends so you could seduce me.” I winked
and he laughed out loud laugh at that.

“Maybe a little,” he
chuckled some more. “It just made me crazy that I missed seeing you
every time you would come to visit. Even at graduation, we were
going to have the same after party, but Aubrey was in labor with
her first baby. I left right after the ceremony.”

“That's right, I remember
Cole telling us how excited you were to be an uncle. I do have to
tell you though I really thought you were an imaginary friend. It
just seemed too odd that every time we almost met, you were gone.”
I smiled and thought about how much I had teased Cole about
that.

“Yeah yeah. Well hey, I'm
feeling like a prune. Are you ready to get out?”

“I am, let me get my robe
and we can walk back together.” We grabbed our towels and I
suddenly had the best idea to peek in on my dad and Tina, but Rhet
told me to stay out of it and threw my robe at me. I decided I
didn't really want to know what was going on then, especially
because all I could think about was shirtless Rhet standing in
front of me.

We walked back to our
cabins in the cool Montana spring air. I grabbed Rhet's hand first,
which made him smile down at me. We walked in silence until we
reached my cabin.

“Lexi, I can't even tell
you how good it is to finally have you around me.” Rhet sighed and
grabbed my face with his huge hands.

I smiled up at him and
closed my eyes, giving him permission to give me a goodnight kiss.
His lips gently brushed across mine. I opened my eyes and grabbed
his head before he even stood back up. I brought his lips back down
hard on mine and we both lost it. He grabbed me and I jumped up and
put my legs around his waist. Before I knew it, he was opening my
door all while never breaking free of my lips.

We stumbled in, laughing
and slammed the door shut, and he threw me down hard on my bed. I
let out a little, “Ouch!” as he pulled his shirt over his head. He
mumbled an “I'm Sorry,” before undoing my bath robe. He looked down
at my swimsuit and said something I couldn't understand. He then
stopped at looked at my face.

“I lose it around you. I
just can't get enough, and all I want to do is take those sweet
lips of yours and suck on them all day.”

I gasped and shook my head
yes. Who could say no to that? He leaned down and sucked in my
bottom lip. I let out a little moan and started to take my swimsuit
straps off. Damn I should have worn a bikini, better
access.

Rhet trailed kisses down
my neck and gently grabbed one of my breasts with his hands and
started to massage it.

This was amazing. As I
went to finish pulling my strap off, Rhet lifted his head back up
and put his hands over mine. He looked at me with a confused
expression. You could tell he was fighting himself. “Lexi, I want
you. Obviously, but I just don’t' think we should go that far yet.
I couldn't do that to Cole and I don’t' want us to go too fast.” He
looked down and shut his eyes.

“Topless isn't fast right?
I mean, that's barely second base.” I gave him a dirty look even
though his eyes were still closed. He sat up fully on the bed and
finally looked over at me.

“If you take your swimsuit
off, I will not be going back to my cabin tonight,” he said quietly
and started to shake his head. “Lexi, I'm warning you do not take
it off!” he shouted and looked away from me.

I laughed and started
pulling my suit back up. “I'll be good” I leaned over and gave him
a small sweet kiss before kicking my legs around to get off my
bed.

“I'll see you tomorrow.
Cole will be getting back after lunch. I am going to be busy all
day, but maybe I'll see you at lunch. I had a nice night with you,
Lexi.” He stood up and wrapped his arms around my waist. He leaned
down and gave me the sweetest kiss I had ever
experienced.

“You sure you don't want
to see just one boob?” I teased as he turned to head towards the
door.

“Careful, Lexi.” He turned
back around and shook his finger at me.

“Goodnight,
Cowboy.”

“Sleep tight,” he said as
he picked up his shirt and towel, and headed to the
door.

I let out a loud sigh when
the door clicked shut, and bounced back down on my bed. He must
really respect my brother, because I don't know many guys who would
refuse to see a boob. I could feel myself falling, and it had only
been two days. I could only imagine what three months would do to
me. Now, I needed to try to fall asleep knowing Rhet was just next
door.

Chapter 8

That next morning I woke
up early and decided I needed to go for a run. I hadn't run up in
the Montana hills in a very long time, and it was probably just
what I needed.

I spent the rest of the
morning working on activities for the ranch. I had a great idea to
try to find a yoga or pilates instructor that would come and teach
a few classes out here a couple of times a week. I knew everyone
doesn't like to run, so maybe one of those would be a big
hit.

My dad sought me out later
that morning and gave me a small lecture on what was appropriate
conduct at the ranch, and to remember what it was like when Cole
got involved with my best friend. I told him not to worry, because
it was nothing serious. He didn't like that answer, but told me I
was an adult and I needed to make my own decisions. The whole thing
was mortifying.

When lunch time came
around, I helped Tina in the kitchen, and we worked on our menu for
the next week. We pretty much had it finished, and she was excited
to go into town this weekend to get all the supplies. I hadn't seen
Rhet yet, so I thought about going down to the stalls after lunch
and bringing him a sandwich.

When I made it down to the
stalls, Ricky told me I had just missed him and he was headed into
town to get some feed for the horses. I was a little surprised he
didn't come and find me to see if I wanted to go with him. Crap, I
was starting to get clingy. I need to take a step back and just
remember I am here for the summer. Chloe would be here in just a
few days, and then I would focus all my attention on
her.

Cole made it back around
two that afternoon, and the rest of the day went fairly quickly. I
helped get the stalls ready, and Rhet was nowhere to be found. For
the next two days I would see him here and there, but he was
definitely acting weird around me. No more holding hands or cute
looks. I was baffled and wasn't sure what to make of it. I knew he
was busy with Cole and the other ranch hands with all the new
groups coming in and getting ready to leave tomorrow on a three day
trail ride, but I hated this awkward limbo. I didn't want to
embarrass myself and confront him. He was probably not doing it
intentionally, and then I would look like a needy woman.

However, I was excited to
pick up Chloe in the morning from the airport. She was on the early
flight which meant I needed to be at the airport around 8:00 a.m.
It was so nice having an airport only twenty minutes away from the
ranch. I was also excited to see Chloe because she would definitely
help me decipher my Rhet situation.

**

“GIIRRLFRIENDD!” Chloe
screamed as she ran through the sliding glass doors into the
parking lot. I giggled when I saw her. What in the world was she
wearing?

“Oh my gosh I have missed
you, and what the hell do you have on?” I laughed and gave her a
little twirl.

“I'm a cowgirl, duh,” she
said in her best southern drawl. Chloe was dressed to a capital T.
She had on a brown cowboy hat, a suede dress that even had pieces
dangling off around her arms, and the cutest purple and brown boots
I have ever seen. I couldn't help but laugh with her and we
instantly looped our arms around each other.

“Well, you look
sensational of course but you better work on your accent. It's not
so much Texan here and you'll get made fun of.”

“I know I just thought it
would be fun to dress up for the occasion. I have missed your
little face so much, I just want to smooch you.”

“I'm getting that a lot
lately,” I mumbled and rolled my eyes.

“What was that?” Chloe
asked and looked at me with questioning eyes.

“Nothing, tell me about
your past week. Any cute guys I need to know about?” I asked and
pointed out where my car was parked.

“Nah, not much, but I did
see Brian here and there. He seems like a little boy who lost his
puppy. It's was sad, so I introduced him to my cousin Bre who is
visiting from London for the summer. Hope that's okay?” She
nervously looked over at me.

I wasn't sure what I
thought. Chloe was my best friend hooking up my ex-boyfriend. She
and Brian were also great friends though, so she was just helping
him out. In a way I was relieved because then I could finally move
on and not feel guilty about anything.

“Actually, Chloe, that’s
brilliant.” I smiled and meant it one hundred percent.

“That's such a relief. I
almost called you last night to make sure, but then I figured it
was better to talk about it face to face. Sometimes the phone can
make it sound different than it really is.”

“Really though it's
great.” I unlocked my car and helped her with her two huge
suitcases. This didn't surprise me one bit because I have traveled
with Chloe before. She brings her closet, which is nice because we
wear the same size.

“I have been dying here.
You better dish about this Rhet superhero hulk man all the way
back, and don't leave anything out,” she squealed and slipped into
the passenger seat. I didn't really want to talk about him now,
because there really wasn't much to say.

“Honestly, not much.” I
said quietly and pulled out of the airport parking lot. I nervously
looked over at her and she had an 'I'm not buying it' kind of look.
I sighed and finally gave in. I really was hoping she would give me
her perspective on this whole situation, so why not. I told her
about how he pursued me right away with the hand holding, kissing,
passionate moments. Then I told her how he wouldn't take it farther
with me after the pool because he respected my brother too much,
and I haven't really talked to him since.

“Maybe he's falling too
fast for you and it made him nervous?” she asked in a sweet
voice.

“I doubt it, but that
would be a nice scenario. He better get over it though and talk to
me again. Oh and one more thing I need to warn you about...” I
looked over at her and bit my lower lip.

“What? What is it? Don't
tell me he has magic Dan fingers?” she gasped and that made me
laugh uncontrollably.

First, let me explain what
Dan fingers are. Chloe met this guy Dan who is a lead singer in a
punk band that plays shows all over L.A. She fell in love with him
instantly and got his attention one night. He was of course in a
band, so he never would commit to her. He did however show her a
good time here and there, and she would tell me how he had these
magical fingers that anytime he touched her she would have an
orgasm instantly. It was very hard to believe, but I never
questioned her. Besides, her stories were quite amusing.