Page 10 of Wild and Unruly (Three Rivers Trevors Ranch #3)

stetson

Church was a struggle this morning, and I was incredibly tempted to forgo it altogether until I realized that there was a slight chance Bonnie might attend.

That slight chance plummeted to zero pretty quickly. As I scanned the attendees, there was no sign of her dark-brown hair, her flushed skin, or her gorgeous eyes.

Last night was one of the best nights of my life, and it was all because of her. Part of me is apprehensive to start something up, but a bigger part of me is eager to see where this could lead.

I have this gut feeling telling me that she is special, that she is the one who I could see forever with if I do it right.

I don’t share these thoughts or feelings with anyone else, knowing that my family would likely warn me off falling so hard for a girl who I not only just met but who was likely to be gone in a week or two.

I couldn’t stop my feelings if I tried.

After many attempts at staying awake during the sermon, my niece nudges me and informs me that church is over, and we all start to file out of the building. Don’t ask me what that sermon was about because I wouldn’t be able to tell you.

The sun is high in the sky as we exit the building, my family saying brief goodbyes until we head to the ranch. It was a Sunday tradition, one I love. We all head to church, or as many of us who want to attend, then we head to the ranch for a potluck lunch.

Most days, we stay at the Trevors’ family home all day, hanging out, talking, and having a beer. Some of us head down to the river with our fishing poles and relax. Some go grab some horses and go on a trail ride.

Others use the newly installed bed porch swings and take naps. You can often find Quinn, Graham’s wife, and their toddler on there for his afternoon naptime.

The sight always sends a pang of longing through me, especially when she wakes up to find Graham waiting for her, and they have their own family routine that they have down to a science. It is something I longed for, something that I prayed someday I would have.

I’m lost in the fog of thought when I see her.

She stands across the street, dressed in a simple T-shirt and jeans, her boots on her feet and her camera in hand, facing away from us and taking photos of the buildings along the road.

I don’t pause to tell anyone where I’m going.

My boot-clad feet carry me quickly over to her side, and I lean down, realizing she doesn’t notice I’m there, and say, “I’m surprised you’re awake this early, Ms. Helix.”

Still, she doesn’t turn around, and I frown, reaching out to grab her shoulder and turn her around .

She jumps at the contact and swings back, hitting me in the gut with her camera bag. “What the hell!”

I’m bent over slightly, and the wind is knocked out of me, so much so that I can hardly get the words out. “What the hell is in that bag?”

Bonnie looks startled and concerned as she looks at the bag, her breath coming out in pants. “Um, camera stuff.”

“Heavy stuff,” I say, taking a deep breath and standing straight again.

“Why are you sneaking up behind me, Stetson?” she huffs, putting her camera in the bag and securing it before reaching up to her ear and pulling out a wireless earbud.

Ah. So that’s what it is.

“What are you listening to so loudly that you didn’t hear me coming? Or say a whole ass sentence to you?” I grab the earbud from her, and she tries to snatch it back.

“Hey! Don’t—” I hold it to my ear and fight her off with the other hand. She slaps my arm, trying to get it back, but I’m already listening.

“The way she looks after she’s been freshly fucked was burned into my mind for the rest of my life. I couldn’t wait to get her back home and show her that she was well and truly mine.”

I blink and slowly pull the earbud away, handing it back to her. “Huh.”

Her face burns bright red, and I realize she has the other earbud in her ear still. So, we just listened to that together.

“Okay, nice to see you! See you never again, bye!” She turns quickly, but I’m not letting her get away that easily.

I rush behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist and spinning her back toward me. Now we were face-to-face, my nose nearly touching hers and her fingers digging into my arms to hold herself steady. “No need to rush off.”

“Oh, there’s a need, trust me.” She barely stutters the words out and pulls against my hold.

I readjust so I have her more firmly against me. “Bo, why are you running off?” Last night meant a lot to me. There’s no way it didn’t have a similar impact on her.

“I’m not. I’m just…well, I’m busy.” She waves her hand around, looking anywhere but at me. “Loads to do, you know.”

I reach up, grasping her chin lightly in mine. For now, I decide to let the teasing go about the book she was listening to. I have no issue with a woman who was into some sexy books, but I knew she was obviously embarrassed.

Plus, I have more pressing matters to be concerned about.

“Bo, last night was amazing.”

She puffs out a breath. “Well, yeah, you were pretty drunk. No need to worry about any of…” She finally meets my gaze and swallows before spitting out, “That.”

I frown at her and say, “Honey, that moment in the bar will forever be a moment I will cherish for the rest of my life.” Her eyes widen slightly, and judging by the heat coming from her gaze, the memory of what we did was flashing through her mind.

“But I was talking about after that. In the truck.”

All we did was talk. There was minimal touching, though I had been tempted a few dozen times, I managed to keep my hands—mostly—to myself.

She clears her throat. “We really can forget about it.”

My arms loosen slightly. “You want to? Because I don’t.”

Her fingers grip my arms, her eyes holding mine as she thinks, and I wait as patiently as I can. I don’t want to forget it. As a matter of fact, I want to do it again .

When she stays silent long enough, I start to pull away, my heart falling to my stomach, but then her fingers grip me tighter, and she pulls me back.

“Wait.” Her eyes shift to the side, and I follow them, realizing my entire family is just waiting around in a circle for me because they drove me this morning. “I don’t want to forget about it.”

My lungs are able to take a full breath, and she steps back into my arms, holding me there. “Good,” I finally say, giving her a half grin and just looking at her.

Fuck, she was gorgeous. And smart and funny and way too fucking good for me.

But that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to try and make damn sure that I had a solid shot at something more with her.

Maybe it was a gut feeling, but something told me letting Bonnie slip from my fingers would be the worst thing I could ever do.

Sundays were never going to be the same after today. The thought kept repeating itself over and over in my head, and I knew it was a good thing too.

I watch from my seat at a picnic table, beer in hand, as Bonnie is enveloped into conversation with Dani, Thea, and Quinn, and my heart is fucking flying. She laughs at something Quinn says, and I smile at the sight.

She has an incredible laugh.

The boys sit around me, chatting about this and that. JC, Graham’s little toddler, is in his lap as he tries to feed him some lunch, and I could give a shit less what they’re talking about.

“He’s a fu—I mean, he’s a bad dude,” CT corrects himself in front of his nephew when Graham glares at him.

“Who are we talking about?” The tone of voice catches my attention, and Graham answers Logan’s question.

“Tommy Smith.”

I shake my head. I don’t know Tommy, nor do I care to. But I do know that he’s a piece of shit who dopes his horses enough that they could get hurt or injure their rider.

“Is he up to some bullshit again?” Logan asks, taking a bite of his food. The girls break out into laughter again, and he looks over his shoulder, grinning at his wife.

Sickening.

Except…I probably look the same way when Bonnie laughs.

“He’s been trying to contact Celina again, get her to come back to his program.”

“Why? Isn’t he flush with enough clients yet?”

“I hear he’s got a full barn,” CT says, an angry twist to his lips. Can’t blame him. When he and Dani were working out their issues, Tommy was a huge pain for them, and CT had to put him in his place. He did it thoroughly and, to this day, won’t talk about the details.

But I knew enough to know that Tommy wouldn’t be bothering anyone associated with Three Rivers. Or…he shouldn’t be.

“He has some balls,” Logan says. “After what happened with Dani, you would think he would use some of those measly brain cells to stay far, far away from your clients.”

“You would think.”

“Why is he even still around? Didn’t you get proof that he was doping horses?”

CT clenches a fist. “Apparently, he has friends in high places. ”

I feel eyes on me and track my gaze over to Bonnie, smiling at her. “Well, boys, as fun as this is, I’m going to go see a woman about a dance.” Or something else, far away from prying eyes.

I step away from the table and make my way to Bonnie. She smiles shyly at my approach and then turns to tell the girls something before meeting me halfway. I grab one of her hands, and she lets me. “Wanna go for a walk?”

She bites her lip, and her eyes go to the barn down the hill. “Wanna go for a ride?”

I smirk and nod. “Even better.”

Watching her hair fly behind her, I smile and whoop as we race the horses through the pastures. We’re up high enough that we can only see a smaller version of the ranch where it sits below us.

We slow down enough for our horses to catch their breaths, and I make my way to her side, letting loose the reins and smiling over at her. Her hair is all over the place, but she’s grinning broadly, out of breath herself from the fast-paced ride.

“Fun?” I ask, wanting to reach out and hold her hand. I settle for laying it on the back of her saddle, thankful the horses we’re on are ready to take a slow pace and let us be side by side.