She thinks about it a minute."Is she Hamburger's?"
"Probably."
"Patty," she says immediately."I'd name her Patty."
Fuck, I love her.
* * *
"What are you looking at over there?"I ask, watching Cassia with a grin on my lips.She's cuddled up in the corner of the couch with her phone.She keeps peeking over at me when she thinks I'm not looking and giggling.
"Farmers Only," she says without missing a beat.
I growl a warning, setting my laptop aside."You're itching for another lesson, aren't you?"
"I'm just kidding!"she cries."It's just my reader group, I promise!"
"Show me."
"What?No way."She clutches her phone to her chest, her eyes wide with horror."Women only, cowboy.You're not allowed to see what happens in my reader group.It's against the rules."
"You are itching for another lesson."
"I'm serious," she says."I don't let men in my reader group.They're gross to the women and that makes me mad.I don't like it when people make my readers uncomfortable."
"You think I'd make them uncomfortable?"
She eyes me up and down, looking at me incredulously."Um, hello?Have you met you?You're hot and bossy, and you say whatever you want to say.You probably wouldn't mean to make them uncomfortable, but we can't talk about sex things if you're in there."
Well, shit.Now I really want in that fucking group to see what sex things she's talking about with her female readers.If it's other men, I will be spanking her pretty little ass.And then fucking her until she forgets other men even exist.
"Tell you what," I drawl, closing the lid of my laptop and placing it carefully on the coffee table."You come over here and show me some of these sex things, and I'll think about letting you keep me out of this group of yours."
"Fine," she says, her eyes heating."But I need five minutes to finish this post."
"Two."
"Three."
"One."
"Two!Two minutes!"she cries, making a show of going back to her phone.
I chuckle, shaking my head.And then I watch her, fascinated by every shift of emotion across her face.She's so expressive.For the first time since Cleary moved out, this house feels alive again.It's not silent and cold, but warm and bright, full of laughter.That's all Cassia.She's a breath of fresh air…a goddamn revelation.
"Holy crap!"she squeaks, sitting upright.
"What?"
"Someone just posted pictures of my friend, Mina, and Palmer—the football guy—in the hot tub at the resort," she blurts, her eyes wide."I have to let her know.She's going to freak out."
"The football guy?You mean Palmer Mitchell?"
"Yeah, him," she says, tapping out a text."Poor Mina.She is not going to like this at all."
"I take it this is new for her?"
Her cellphone lights up in her hand before she can respond.She swipes to answer before it even makes a sound."Mina, where are you?"She listens to whatever her friend says, her expression tense."There are photos.Don't freak out.I'm at the ranch with this crazy cowboy and just saw them online."
