Bella ran into the room when she heard me open the door. She beamed like the ray of sunshine she was.
“Hi, Bella. How are you?”
She placed her hand in mine and led me to the kitchen table. Colt watched as we interacted.
“Glass of wine? I’m cooking tonight,” Colt said.
“Wow. You are? What’s on the menu?”
He grinned a little. “Well, we’ll keep it kid-friendly. Uh. Don’t get too excited. It’s an easy meal. Homemade pizza.”
“That sounds delicious. My favorite kind. Do you want any help?”
“You can pick your toppings if you want. Both you and Bella.”
Colt had a plethora of options in little bowls on the open island bench. Mushrooms, bell peppers, pepperoni, ham, pineapple, cheese, chicken pieces, chilies, and a few others.
“I’m going to have the chicken, BBQ sauce, and mushrooms,” Bella said proudly.
“Is that all you want on your pizza?” Colt asked.
“Yes. That’s all I want. I love BBQ sauce,” Bella replied. Her mind was made up.
“Okay then, little trooper. Simple pizza for you, coming up.”
Colt wrapped his well-toned arm around me and kissed my lips softly. The bristles of his lightly stubbled chin tickled my face.
“I’m going to have ham, pineapple, mushrooms, and bell peppers,” I confirmed with a smile.
“Okay, we got a loaded pizza. I’m going to have a pepperoni pizza. I’m a simple man.”
It was nice to see this sexy hunk of a man performing the most domestic duties. I found it to be a huge turn-on.
“Okay, you have to leave the kitchen. You have to get out of here.” Colt swiped the dish towel at Bella and me.
“Okay, okay. I’m leaving, Chef.” I conceded with my hands up.
He laughed, and so did Bella and I. It was these little blissful moments that led me to believe maybe we would be okay.
“Bella, can I ask you something?” I thought with the subject I was about to broach, it was best to just rip the Band-Aid off. “How do you feel about your father and me being friends?”
Her warm eyes looked at me for a while, and she smiled a little. “I like it. Daddy is happy when you’re here, and you like horses, so it’s fine by me. Grandma told me that you would be a good woman for Daddy.”
Shocked and delighted at the admission, I found the conversation proved to be less painful than I had thought. Bella skipped off to her room, and I realized that Colt had heard every word.
“She loves you like I do,” he said. “I’m glad you asked her, though. I’m not that good at that stuff sometimes.”
I matched Colt’s penetrating gaze. “You’re better at it than you think you are. Sorry that I snapped about Hector earlier. It just took so much to get him out of trouble that I don’t want him getting in it again.”
“No need to apologize. I get it. We can work things out. In fact, I want to run something by you. I think I want to start a riding stable here. I think I want to teach people to ride. I might get a couple of older horses.”
“Colt! That’s a magnificent idea. Where did you come up with it?”
Colt had finished with the pizzas and put them in the oven. Now we were just waiting. I sipped my wine and relaxed a little.
“Bella. She has a way with the horses that I’ve never seen before. I want to live a clean life, and I decided not to take up the offer at the repair shop. I know Hector’s there, but it’s not the same as me being there.”
“Okay. So you were willing to put my brother on the line and have him looked at?”
