Page 14 of Stirring Up Trouble (Saddle Up #1)

Twelve

Blaze

The rest of the afternoon was interesting. People seemed to want to stop me and chat.

As the person in charge, I tended to have to field a lot of questions.

But it seemed like that number had quadrupled since I kissed my boy out in the open.

The gossip mills were turning nonstop. I had women and men curious as to what was going on.

A few even openly tried to flirt, which I shut down instantly.

I wasn't going to get accused of cheating or even entertaining other people.

The only person I cared about was Robin. He held all my interest. And it would stay that way until he told me otherwise. We were exclusive while he was here. After… well, we’d have to discuss that. I couldn’t imagine letting him leave me with no plans for us to meet back up.

I’d broken my rules for him. Let down my guard. I’d be damned if we didn’t give it a shot.

When it came time to shut things down, we all rode back quietly. Elton, who had been running around all day, fell asleep on Bobby Allen, who seemed content simply to hold his partner.

Robin sat up front with me. The only difference from the other days was him holding my hand. Our fingers were laced together sitting on the center console.

It was a connection I didn't realize I would enjoy so much. The small touch sent tingles through me. And it wasn't that I wanted to fuck him. Even though that still held true. It was just him .

The closeness was everything I didn't know I wanted. Everything I didn’t realize I’d been missing out on.

At the ranch, Bobby Allen lifted Elton, who was still knocked out cold, from the back of the truck. “I'm going to take him on up to bed. I think it's best he sleeps in. I'll come back down and grab some plates in case he's hungry later. But otherwise, this is me telling y'all good night.”

Robin smiled. “Sounds like a good idea. I can see he needs the rest. And I think you deserve it too.”

I agreed. “Y'all do whatever you need to. I appreciate all your help. I know this isn't what you're used to.”

Bobby Allen shook his head. “No need to thank us again, Blaze. We're happy to help. Besides, I think that us being here was one of those meant to be situations.”

His eyes cut over to Robin, who blushed before nodding his head.

We watched them go inside from where we stood at the bottom of the porch stairs. It was quiet out, the night having moved in and the animals already headed to bed.

I took a deep breath, then reached my hand out for my boy to take. He looked at it, not moving right away.

“Why does it look like this is a big deal to you?” he asked as he wove his fingers with mine again.

I started us up the stairs to move inside as I admitted, “It is a big deal. Ms. Connie is like a mother to me. She's taken care of this family for years, and she's going to lose it over the two of us. She won't be upset about anything other than the fact that we didn't tell her right away.”

Sure enough, when we got into the kitchen, Ms. Connie saw us holding hands and dropped the bowl of cornbread muffins she'd been holding. She covered her mouth as tears filled her eyes.

In the next second, she was moving across the room and wrapping us in a hug. I laughed at her excitement only to be smacked on the arm when she pulled away.

“Don't you go making fun of me, boy. I'm so happy for you. And you,” she said, turning to Robin, her hands moving to his cheeks. “You are so precious. Just a blessing. I'm glad you made it here to our ranch.”

Robin smiled, pulling her into his own hug. I couldn't help but feel a sense of peace over the entire moment. Ms. Connie was pretty much the only family I had left. Her being supportive of this was exactly what I needed.

There would be obstacles in our way, distance being the main one, but I knew we could face it. I knew we had it in us.

With Ms. Connie's support, it was looking like a reality because if there was one thing she could make happen, it was getting her way. She wanted me to be happy. Had wanted that for a long time. Which meant she’d help me troubleshoot anything stopping me and Robin from being together.

To see me being openly affectionate with someone was all she needed to keep her motivated into finding a solution.

When the pair pulled apart, I wrapped my arm around Robin's waist and moved us over to the island. “It's just going to be us tonight, Ms. Connie. No need to do a fancy table setting. We can eat right here.”

She frowned, looking around as if to spot Bobby Allen and Elton. "What about the other boys?"

“They called it an early night,” Robin told her. “Elton was exhausted from all the work today.”

She hummed as she went about grabbing the empty plates she had put on the table. She then loaded them down with food and set them before us. "Well, if they're exhausted, I can make a plate to take up to them."

I shook my head. “No need. Bobby Allen said he'd be down after he got Elton settled."

“And here I am," the man said as he turned the corner into the kitchen.

Ms. Connie pulled him into a hug. "It's good to see you."

Bobby Allen smiled and then gave us a look. "Is she okay?"

She pulled back, laughing. "I'm fine, just extra happy."

I swallowed the bite of food I'd taken and told him, “The woman's excited that I found someone. She's been on my case about settling down for years. Now that Robin here has caught my eye, she is beside herself.”

Bobby Allen smiled. "Well then, by all means, I will accept all the hugs and happiness. Just making sure I didn't do something.”

"You didn't do anything," she said to him as she lifted the two plates she'd made.

His eyes went wide as he took in all the food. "I might only need one of these. Elton's not big on food when he’s this tired, and honestly, I don't need to eat that much before bed. That heartburn can be tough."

Ms. Connie squinted at him as if trying to detect any lies. Whatever she saw was enough to have her putting down one plate and handing him the single one, along with enough silverware for them both and some bottles of water.

"You just call out if you need anything else," she said.

He thanked her and took off.

When it was just us three again, Ms. Connie took the plate that she'd made and wrapped it up to put in the fridge. She then went about cleaning up the kitchen before she leaned on the counter, elbows in place and hands holding her face.

"Tell me how it happened," she said. Her voice went musical. I laughed and shook my head, finishing off the last bite of cornbread muffin.

Robin, who apparently was just as smitten with the idea of sharing, leaned over, ignoring his food completely to start up. “From my point of view, the way it started was he nearly knocked me on my ass, pardon my language, Ms. Connie. Whenever I first saw him, I was done for.”

“Is that the truth?” I asked.

He smiled, nodding again. "Yep, I took one look at Blaze Anders when I was sitting at that dining room table and I said, ' I want to take a bite out of that.

' Now, obviously, I had never thought that about a man before in my life, so it was a bit trippy.

But the men of the Coleman Ranch are all queer, so it wasn't that it bothered me. I was just stunned.”

"Okay, good, good, go on. Blaze, how did you feel?”

I grunted as if pretending I didn't enjoy this discussion. “It was about the same for me, too. One minute, I was perfectly fine, and then the next, there was this sweet-looking man who had me tongue-tied. All I wanted was to know who he was, why he was here, and how I could keep him."

It was putting my feelings mildly. Robin made me want more. He made me remember what it was like to wish for things and then go after them. I wasn’t singularly focused on business anymore. I had plans outside of work to live for, to enjoy.

“That sounds a little bit like a felony, honey,” Connie teased, pulling me back to the conversation.

I rolled my eyes as Robin laughed at her. "It wasn't that type of decision," I said, "More like I wanted to understand where these feelings had come from and how I could make sense of them, because it made no sense to me that a perfect stranger would have me so captivated."

Connie clasped her hands together as she pushed to stand.

"Of course it makes sense. Haven't you ever heard of love at first sight?

" At my wide stare, she clicked her tongue.

"I'm not saying you love him. Don't be getting all paranoid.

I'm just saying that there can be times when people become attracted to one another right away and have to pursue those feelings.

It may not be love now, but it could be in the very near future. "

I reached for my glass, drinking down most of the water before I chanced a look at Robin. My boy was already staring at me, his face a mask. I couldn't tell what he was feeling. Couldn't tell if he thought the same as Connie or if he was panicking like I was.

Love was a very powerful word, one that was strong enough to change everything.

While I could admit that I did feel something pretty damn close to that, I didn't want to drop the L word on him.

Hell, we didn't even know what the living situation would be like or if he wanted to have something more permanent.

I was jumping all the guns here. I needed to dial it back.

"Dinner was delicious, Connie," I said instead of following the trail she'd left out for me.

"Thank you, sweetheart. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Now I'm off to bed, so you'll have to clean up your dishes yourself. Understood? Good.” She answered herself, then took off to her mother-in-law suite we'd built on at the back of the house. It was all hers with its own little kitchenette area. She still preferred to cook in the main area. She said it was nicer to have people come and go as she worked. I didn’t question the sentiment because I knew the woman enjoyed company, which is why I could tell how odd it was she just decided to up and leave in the middle of a discussion.

She probably thought I was going to talk this out with Robin.

She was wrong though. This was not the time to talk about anything.

I had promised my boy that I would fuck him once we were home. Therefore, we needed to wrap this shit up pronto.

Right as I was about to suggest we go to bed, his phone rang. I glanced over at it to see the name Griffin written across the screen.

"It's my business partner. He wouldn't be calling unless it was important. Especially not at this hour."

“Answer it,” I said, motioning to the device.

He picked it up and was met with squeals.

"What in the world?" Robin said.

"Oh my God, we saw you," one voice called out. "It was amazing. How did you even do that?"

Another said, "You've been keeping secrets from us, Robin."

And then another went on to tell him he looked interesting in a cowboy hat rather than his doctor's coat. The mention of his normal work uniform did two things at once. It made me curious as to what the doctor version of him was like. It also made me horny as hell to picture him in that white coat and nothing else. We could play doctor. Maybe he’d give me a thorough checkup.

It could be some sexy fun for us. But would he even be up for it?

I half listened to him talk as I took the dishes and went about cleaning them like Connie instructed us to. I didn't want to butt into his conversation, but I also didn't want to step away and have him think that I didn't want to be with him.

My mind floated as I pictured all the different ways Robin would fit into my life here on the ranch. I could see it all so clearly. As soon as the rodeo ended, I’d find a way to convince him to call this place home.

Operation: Keep My Boy was about to commence.