Page 30 of The Runaway and the Rugged (Dusty Meadows #1)
“I think you have more faith in me than I do myself,” she admitted, the words coming from a place rooted deep inside her vulnerable center.
I wished I had it in me to tell her she had the potential to do anything she wanted.
Whether it was here or somewhere else, but the selfish part of me remained reluctant to say anything.
I wanted her to stay.
Even if just for a little while. Even if it meant nothin’ for me, I longed to have some of her sunshine on this ranch, her lightness, her clumsiness, her strength.
And just when I was about to speak, the sound of two voices cut through the stable, Beau laughin’ loud like he always was, and behind him Griffin.
Fuck.
It only took them seconds to find both Emelia and me on the floor sittin’ a little too close beside each other. Beau reacted almost immediately, beaming from ear to ear at the woman beside me.
“So the rumor is true!” Beau’s curious eyes bounced between the two of us, a knowing smirk hanging dangerously onto his face as he shot me a subtle nod.
Instead of acknowledging whatever was unfolding between Emelia and me, he shifted his attention to somethin’ else.
“We got ourselves a new cowgirl on Hideaway Haven.”
I rolled my eyes, finding Griff watching Emelia before swiveling his eyes back to me. His eyebrows dipped in question, probably wondering why the hell I was sittin’ on the ground when I normally hated even bein’ near it.
“Definitely not a cowgirl.” Emelia chuckled, smiling at Beau like he was an old friend.
“Looks to me like you are now.” He nodded toward the full wheelbarrow. “If I would have known you were out here, I’d have come on over and shown you a few tricks up my sleeve.”
“Tricks,” Griff scoffed, uncrossing his arms, revealing all the tattoos that our mother nearly disowned him for. “The only tricks you got are the ones you pull out of your damn ass when you’re desperate.”
“Desperate?” Beau chuckled, a wide, mischievous grin aimed at Griff. “I’d rather be called pathetic. Seems like women these days are into that anyway.”
Both Griff and I grimaced.
What the fuck?
“I’m right, aren’t I, sunshine?” He directed his question to Emelia and my immediate reaction was to disown the nickname he had for her, but when she responded with a shrug, I all but forgot about that and locked eyes on her profile.
“Well, I mean, I’m sure some women like that.”
Red in the face, she glanced over at me, clearly unaware that I was boiling with anger at the thought of Beau havin’ a thing for her. It didn’t sit well with me, but I did my best to suppress my feelings without exposing myself.
“And are you some women?” Beau winked, his gaze shooting to mine briefly as if trying to test me on the spot.
Motherfucker.
Pushing myself onto my feet, I disrupted wherever the conversation was headed and glared at the two of them. I wasn’t sure why they were in here anyway. To spy? To be fuckin’ nosy? Whatever the reason, I was tempted to kick them out.
“Here, let me help you up.” Beau held his hand out for Emelia, but with a harsh yet gentle push, I nudged him aside and offered mine instead.
“That was rude of you.” Emelia laughed, her eyes sparkling with amusement when all I could muster was a grunt.
“Don’t worry, sunshine. All the Calhoun siblings love me, they just got a funny way of showin’ it. Ain’t that right, big guy?” Beau looked at Griff and seconds later was shoved again, this time falling into the side of the stall.
“Uh, ow,” Beau groaned, but kept that pretty boy smile high on his face.
I suddenly realized Griff and Emelia had yet to be introduced, and he wasn’t exactly leavin’ the best first impression either. But that was Griff. A man of few words who’d rather spend time with the horses than he would actual people.
“Griff, this is Emelia.” I had forgone any extra details, not wanting to embarrass her. Besides, we got him caught up on what happened and that she was going to be staying, not that he cared anyway, he kept to himself most of the time. “Emelia, this is my brother Griffin.”
Her hesitant eyes went to him. He was a big bastard. Tall, tatted, quiet, but nothin’ to be fearful of.
“Hi,” she said, just shy of a whisper. “It’s nice to meet you.”
He grunted a nod, a “Hello” as fast as a shot, and before we knew it, he was soon gone and out the stable door.
“That’s just how the big guy is, don’t take it personal.” Beau settled in on the other side of Emelia, rubbing his hand along his hip that smacked into the stall.
There was a pause, just the sound of the horses movin’ around, until he decided to break the silence.
“So, sunshine, you workin’ any more today?”
Fists now clenched at my sides, I answered for her.
“Nope, she’s off the rest of the day,” I all but growled. “You, on the other hand, aren’t.”
“Hey now.” He stood and tiptoed back, holding his hands up in surrender. “Just a simple question, didn’t mean to ruffle any feathers.”
“No feathers ruffled here. Just don’t think she appreciates bein’ treated like one of your conquests.”
Her eyes flew to mine, while his narrowed.
“ She is right here and is capable of answering her own questions.” She sounded more hurt than annoyed.
“And for your information, he treats me like you would a friend, which is something you clearly need to work on being for him. And conquest? Really? What is this? The goddamn Wild West or something.”
Rising, she spun on the heel of her boot and stormed out the stable, leaving a painful pit in my stomach that I knew was all because I was an asshole.
“And, by the way,” she popped her head around the corner of the stable entrance, fire and all things lethal in her eyes, “I won’t be working tomorrow. I need a break from assholes who think they can answer for me.”
With that, she was gone, rendering both Beau and me speechless. I couldn’t help but feel even more pissed off at myself for being so damn stupid. And I had no one else to blame but myself.
“Well then, that was… unexpected,” Beau muttered, fueling my rage even further, but instead of falling into it, I decided to walk away.
Givin’ Emelia her space and hopin’ she made her way back to the cabin.