“There’s no maybe or buts about it, Della,” I state, interrupting her. “I’ll pick you up because I want to. Also means, you can’t leave until we have to leave together to go wherever the hell we have go.”
“Oh,” she whispers, blushing brightly, which was cute as fuck. “I’ll pack a bag.”
Grinning, I dip my head down and take her mouth. Knowing we don’t have time, I ignore the thickening of my cock. As much as I want to sink back inside her sweet body, I’ve got things to do today, just as she does.
Reluctantly, I pull away and rest my forehead against hers as I whisper, “Tonight.”
“Tonight,” she repeats on a breath.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Shadow
This is not how I wanted my day to go. The morning was damn good. I got to wake up to Della in my arms after she slept in them all night. Not to mention having her sweet body as I did, what wouldn’t make for a great day?
Only when I dropped her off, Della’s brother wanted to talk, which turned into us both warning each other not to fuck up when it comes to the women we’re both seeing. I didn’t want to think about what he was doing with Amelia, but I wasn’t blind or a dumb fuck. I knew he had feelings for my cousin. Had for years. What pissed me off was when he brought up my cousin’s, ex, Russell. I never liked the man. He’s nothing more than a piece of shit not worth spitting on. The one reason I’ve ever put up with the asshole is because he’s Dylan’s dad.
Dylan is a great kid thanks to his mom. I do what I can to help Amelia with him, but she does it all by herself with minimal help. Doesn’t even ask my parents to help when they’d be more than willing to take Dylan whenever she needed them to. Kid loves his mom and would do anything for her.
What I didn’t want to be doing was going in search of Amelia to talk to her about what’s going on. Not when I need to get to the rodeo grounds. Rodeos are gonna be starting up soon, and we gotta make sure everything is ready to go. Some of the local cowboys wanted to get in the arena to start training more with the bull chute, broncs, and roping.
On the first rodeo day we have coming up, we’re starting the event with the kids’ events we do every year. We’ll have goat tying for the younger ones. Then we’ll move on to the older ones where they’ll compete in barrel racing, roping, and for those who have been training for bull riding. One of the best things about the whole thing is when the kids get involved.
Pulling into the parking lot next to Rodeo Roundup, I park my bike, more than ready to get to my cousin and get this done. I need to know what the hell is going on with this situation and get on with the rest of my day.
My phone vibrates in my pocket as I make my way to the front door of the bar, distracting me from my task. I reach into my jeans, I pull the damn thing out to find my sister’s name on the screen.
Fuck.
The last thing I want to do is talk to my sister, but I’m not going to ignore her call either. I never have.
“What is it, Taylor?” I demand, lifting the phone to my ear.
“That’s a great way to answer the phone, big brother,” Taylor snaps, gearing up to argue.
I swear it’s her favorite thing to do. Probably why it’s good she’s going into the field she’s been in school for. She’s in college, finishing her last year getting her law degree. She might think the world revolves around her, but she’s also smart as hell.
“I don’t have time for this shit, so tell me what you’re calling me about.”
“I just wanted to let you know that with graduation coming up in May, I’m going to be moving back home after I take the state bar, and opening my own practice,” she states snidely.
“Can you do that?” I didn’t know anything about the rules and regulations when it comes to being a lawyer.
“Of course, I can. I wouldn’t be doing it if I couldn’t. I just have to file my business entity. What I was going about is that I wanted to ask you if you would help me find a building in town that I can rent for my firm.”
“What are you naming your firm?” I got to say, from the sounds of it, with her losing the attitude, she’s thought this out and knows what she’s doing.
“King’s Law Firm,” she answers without hesitation, telling me more just how much she’s thought about what she was going to do.
“I’ll see what I can find for you,” I tell her. I figure she’d need a decent place with a reception area, office space for herself, and a conference room. Didn’t have to be a huge space, but big enough she could maybe even take on some help if she wanted.
“I appreciate it,” Taylor remarks and continues. “Also, just to let you know, I’m coming home in two weeks to visit Mom and Dad. If you find something, let me know, and I’ll take a look around while I’m in town. I won’t be renting anything until I finish here in May and take the state bar a week after graduation. It’ll probably be closer to the middle of June when I’m ready to be able to open up for business.”
“We’ll find you something before then and have it ready for you.”
“Thanks. I’ll let you go so you can see to whatever you were doing.” Having lost the snideness in her voice.
“Appreciate it,” I tell her, and before I think better of it, I keep going. “Want you to know that I’m proud of you. You might be a pain in my ass, but the fact you’re working your ass off and coming back here to start your own firm, I’m damn proud of you.” It’s not often I’ve said those words to Taylor, but saying it twice at one time means something. “I’ll make sure to see you while you’re home.”
