Page 19 of Hung Up (Shadow Ridge #1)

MILWAUKEE

I guess it’s our little secret

It’s been five days since I woke up alone in my hotel room. Five days spent thinking of her. Her smell, her taste, the way her moans sounded, or how good it felt to have her mouth wrapped around my?—

“Stop it,” I whisper to myself, shaking my head. “Clear head today, Jesse. Clear head.”

“Talking to yourself now?” Kai asks as he appears next to me, causing me to startle slightly. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

I shake my head but turn to him nonetheless. “What day is that, Casey?”

“The day your focus was no longer on that buckle.”

“It’s still on the buckle,” I reply a little too quickly to be convincing. I clear my throat. “I still am competing and still want that golden buckle.”

Kai laughs. “Is that a code name for?—”

“What are you girls gossiping about over here?” We both turn at the sound of Rylie’s voice. She’s sporting a giant grin as she strides toward us, dressed as casually as I’ve ever seen her in leggings and a blue crew neck. “Don’t leave me hanging. I love getting the hot goss.”

“Oh, nothing much,” Kai drawls, his gaze turning to me with a wicked smile. “Just how I’m pretty sure that Jesse here has the hots for?—”

I slap my hand over his mouth, narrowing my eyes at him.

Dropping my hand, I turn to Rylie and give her a gentle, albeit forced, smile as I straighten my shoulders.

Glancing at the growing crowd around us, my eyes instantly snag on a head of blonde, curly hair.

Faith is stalking toward us, looking hotter than sin.

She’s got her curls tied up in a gorgeous messy bun atop her head, black leather pants so tight they’re making my mouth water, and a low-cut silk white tank top showcasing a lace bra underneath.

She’s trying to kill me. She’s really, really trying to kill me.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer.” She winks at me as she walks up next to Rylie, linking their arms together. “I hear there’s a vendor fair. Want to go?”

“I can’t,” Rylie tells her, and Faith’s face falls slightly. “I have to hop on a call for a meeting with my team. Sorry, honey.”

Before I can think better of it, I blurt out, “I can go with you.”

Kai barks out a laugh that he quickly tries to cover up with a cough as he slaps my shoulders and says between said coughs so only I can hear, “You’re full of shit.”

“Shut up,” I mumble back before turning my attention back to the girls. “What do you say, Sweetheart?”

She stares at me, those eyes kicking my heart into overdrive as I remember them staring up at me while she was on her knees before me.

It seems she’s remembering the same thing because her cheeks are slowly turning a light shade of red.

She glances at Rylie, who simply shrugs, before Faith rolls her eyes, turning her attention back to me.

“You really want to walk around a vendor fair with me while I go shopping?”

“I’d love nothing more.”

She lets go of Rylie’s arm and saunters over to me. “Try and remember that in an hour, Pretty Boy.”

Faith walks by me without a simple glance back, heading with the crowds toward the convention center where the vendor fair has been set up.

I take off after her, ignoring the laughter from Kai like I’m a man on a mission.

And, you know, I am. I need to figure out why she left without saying goodbye, and why she didn’t bother responding to any of my texts over the last few days.

I’ve been driving myself crazy with thoughts of her, what we did, and what could be.

I haven’t been able to focus on any of my clips so I could prepare for this weekend.

I wasn’t able to hop on a call with my sister or even talk to my cousin when we met up for lunch since he was in town on business.

All that keeps running through my head like some annoying mantra is: Faith.

Faith. Faith. How the hell did that happen? When did this come to be?

I used to be a man who slept around, never thinking of a woman once she left my bed.

Hell, more often than not, I was trying to get them out of my life.

I hated small talk, never wanted anyone to know about me and never gave two shits about learning about them.

It was purely transactional. Mutually beneficial.

And then all that changed when Faith walked out of that media room in Sacramento.

Can someone please explain that to me? Because it doesn’t make any sense. How can the sight of one woman stop me in my tracks, and suddenly nothing else makes sense? Nothing else seems to matter? That’s crazy. I must be losing my mind. Maybe I’m ill? I don’t know.

What I do know is that if she tells me it was a one-time thing, I really will lose my mind.

I’ve had a taste, and now I can’t help but want more.

“So, what are we looking for?” I ask once I catch up to her and enter the space where all the booths have been set up.

There’s countless clothing booths, ones only sporting hats, some with lots of boots, and the rest with a random assortment of all that and then some.

It was at one of these vendor fairs that I bought Stevie the bandana she wears for competitions, and where I got Kolbi his first cowboy hat.

Looking at Faith now, I’m practically drooling at the idea of getting her into some denim, a hat, and a pair of boots.

Does the hat rule go the same for women? ‘Cause I’d force my big head into her hat if it does.

“I’m not sure,” she tells me, slowing her pace to take in everything at every booth she walks past. “I’ll know it when I see it.”

“If you’re anything like my sister, you’ll be walking out of here with your arms covered in shopping bags.”

She chuckles, her eyes soaking up a jewelry stand. “Sounds to me like she and I would get along great.”

“Oh, without a doubt,” I say, stuffing my hands into the pockets of my jeans. “For starters, you both like to bust my balls. Giving me a hard time and making fun of me seems to be your part-time job.”

“You just make it so easy.” She glances over at me before her attention catches on a booth filled with boots. “What’s her name?”

I put my hand on the small of her back and lead her over to the cowboy boots. “Stevie. She’s three years younger than I am. She definitely gives ‘baby of the family, youngest sibling’ energy.”

“Funny,” she begins, stopping just shy of the first display table to look up at me fully. “I was going to say the same about you.”

“Youngest boy,” I point out with a small smile and shrug. “Kind of the same thing, right?”

“Close enough.”

Faith picks up a pair of taller white boots with blue detailing and a lighter brown sole.

She flips it over and looks at the bottom, running her hand up and down the sides as she hums softly.

She gently places it down on the table where she found it before venturing further into the racks to look at the rest of them.

“Do you have any other siblings?” she ponders as she stops to glance at a short black pair. “I remember you saying you were helping your brother with the ranch, so I assume he’s older?”

“Correct,” I tell her as she moves on. “Nash. He’s the oldest and a stubborn asshole but he’s the responsible one out of the group, hence why he took over running the ranch.”

She chuckles, picking up a pair of red boots to inspect. “Seems like you could learn a thing or two from him.”

“It’s been twenty-six years, Sweetheart. I think my learning days are over.”

She looks me up and down, the corner of her lips tilting slightly upward. “If you say so, Pretty Boy.”

Faith puts the boots down and exits the booth, but not before stopping to look at the white pair again.

She takes her phone out and snaps a picture before sliding it back into the back pocket of her skin-tight leather pants—I swear I’m not looking…

I swear I’m trying not to look. I pull out my phone, searching for a specific text thread as she continues her perusal of the booth with women’s clothing across the way.

Me

What size shoe does Faith wear?

Rylie

She’ll kill you for spending money on her.

Rylie

She’s a size nine.

Rylie

Keep my name out of this one, yeah?

Me

Thanks. I owe you one.

Rylie

I prefer sports cars.

I chuckle as I pocket my phone and run to catch up with Faith, who is now eyeing up the hats. She picks up a tan one and places it on her head—loosely because of the bun—and even with the leather pants throwing off the look, that hat looks like it was made to sit atop those blonde curls.

“That’s the one,” I tell her as I slide up next to her. “You should wear that tonight.”

“Yeah, right,” she scoffs, taking it off and putting it back. “I don’t think hats are my thing.”

I lean against the wall and give her my sexiest grin. “Mine could be.”

She steps past me, not even bothering to give the rest of the hats the time of day. “Is it just you three then?”

“Nope.” I stay a pace behind her, leaving room for everyone else to get by. “I also have an older sister, Addison. But we all call her Addie. She’s four years older than me but acts like my mother sometimes.”

“What does she do?”

“She helps my brother run the ranch.” She turns to look at me, surprised. “She used to race horses, but once our father died and Nash had to take over, she quit so she could help him.”

She surprises me by putting a gentle hand on my arm. “I’m sorry for your loss. I lost my mom, too, so I know how it feels.” She lets her hand fall away. “That’s very noble of her, though. To give up a career like that so she can help.”

“I feel bad sometimes that I didn’t step up when he needed me,” I admit with a whisper. “I feel bad that it fell on Addie.”

“Hey.” Faith steps in front of me, making sure I can’t keep walking.

“Don’t do that to yourself. It’s a shame that it fell on the older siblings, but I’m guessing you were too young to make that kind of decision.

And even if you weren’t, it’s not fair for any parent to make their child feel like they need to throw their life and dreams away to help them continue with their dream.

That’s why you’re doing what you’re doing: they wanted you to do what you wanted. Not what they wanted.”

“Nash sometimes makes me feel bad about not spending more time at home,” I tell her. “And Addie and my mother hate that I ride. They refuse to come watch me, won’t even turn on the television to watch my rides. Stevie is the only one who really supports me.”

Faith gives me a small smile and reaches for my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze that makes my breath hitch. “She’s not the only one.”

Just as quickly as she had grabbed my hand, she drops it, spins on her heel, and begins to scan the booths again.

I trail behind her, watching the way her eyes catch on certain clothing items, how she seems to love the necklaces but doesn’t care so much for the rings, that all four times we pass the boots, she hesitates and stares at the white pair, and I notice she also keeps eyeing up that tan cowboy hat.

“About last weekend,” she begins once we’re out of the convention center and into a more quiet, secluded space. “First off, I just want you to know I don’t regret it.”

Oh, thank god. “Neither do I.”

“Okay, good, good.” Faith sets her thumbnail between her teeth for a moment before she sighs. “I just…. I need to make sure you’re okay with this.”

“‘This’ as in…?”

“Us sleeping together,” she tells me before following up with, “exclusively.”

I give her a smile that I’m praying doesn’t appear too hopeful and relieved. “Of course I am.”

“No one can know.” My eyebrows rise. “I don’t want anyone knowing about our…arrangement. Some things are just better left private.”

I guess it’s our little secret.

“I’m great at keeping secrets.” The look on her face lets me know she doesn’t believe me. “Okay, fine. I hate keeping secrets. But for you? For this? I can keep my lips sealed.”

“And one more thing.” She takes a deep breath before squaring her shoulders. “I know it goes without saying, but I just want to make sure you know this arrangement of ours is over once the season is over. For obvious reasons.”

It takes everything within me to keep the disappointment off my expression as I force a nod. “For obvious reasons.”

Faith gives me a smile and a gentle tap on the shoulder before she walks away, leaving me to my thoughts.

But before I can let myself get too caught up in my head—or the excitement over the fact that Faith Thompson just agreed to sleep with me exclusively and the disappointment over knowing there’s a time limit now looming over me—I decide to go back into the convention center.

It’s time I make sure my girl looks the part.