Page 162 of Colt

Have I ever been happier?

“You wanna go first, Fort Worth?” Colt asks. “I don’t mean to put you on the spot⁠—”

“Aw, Lainey shines in the spotlight.” Tate smiles at me from across the table. “That presentation was epic.”

I blush. “Thanks. And sure, I’ll go first. My rose is easy—hanging out with y’all tonight.”

Nash holds up his whiskey. “I’ll cheers to that. You’re a welcome addition, Lainey.”

“I definitely like smiley Colt over mean Colt,” Mack adds, tapping his beer against my glass. “I don’t know what you did to him, but please keep doing it.”

“Oh, they’re doing it all right,” Billie says.

Colt cuts her a look. “Do I even want to know?”

“Just mighta overheard something in the pole barn a couple weeks back. Y’all fight dirty.”

I feel faint. “Oh my God. Did you⁠—”

“We heard just a little bit.” Ryder holds his thumb and forefinger an inch apart. “Don’t worry. As soon as we realized what was happening, we made ourselves scarce.”

“Oh my God.” I cover my face with my hands.

“But honestly, good for y’all,” Billie says with a sigh. “You wouldn’t think barn sex is any good, but it can be surprisingly great.”

This time it’s Beck who groans. “Look, I love you guys, and I love that we can talk about this stuff, but can we get back to roses and thorns, pretty please?”

“Okay, okay. Back to my thorn, then.” I debate how honest I should be about this. Because truth of the matter is life is gravy right now. The website is coming along beautifully. I’m having a blast piecing it together, adding fun little winks like “Saddle Up and Subscribe” to the newsletter sign-up page. It’s going to be a stunner.

I’ll probably wrap it up over the weekend. And then…

Well, then it’s time to make some decisions.

The table looks at me expectantly, waiting. Deana Carter plays in the background—“Did I Shave My Legs for This?”

Makes me think of my interview at Prestige Partners. How far I’ve come since then. At the time, I was gutted I didn’t get the offer at the end of my interview.

Now I’m so glad things worked out the way they did.

I take a sip of my margarita, hoping for a dose of liquid courage. And then I come out with the truth.

“I don’t want to leave,” I blurt. “Y’all have been so welcoming. I love your family, and I love how dedicated you guys are to each other and to the legacy you’re carrying on. In all honesty, I thought I’d be bored coming out here. But the past couple months—it’s been one of the most joyful times of my life.” I look at Colt, and he looks back, his expression soft and happy and certain. Certain about what?

Billie gasps. “You’re thinking about staying, aren’t you?”

“Mom must be praying extra hard, because that…” Nash blows out a breath. “Lainey, that’d be a dream come true for everybody.”

“No pressure,” Beck says with a laugh.

“But seriously,” Billie says. “You have to do what’s best for you, Lainey. If that means going back to Fort Worth or Austin or wherever, so be it. But I speak for us all when I say we’d love to have you around on a more permanent basis. You bring this awesome energy and intelligence to the ranch that we’ve been missing. You’ve been a breath of fresh air, Lainey. I hope you know that.”

Tate sets down his beer and looks me in the eye. “I’m available to babysit if y’all need to get out of town. You know, for work purposes. And less professional purposes too.”

“Dear Lord,” Colt says, looking away. But his lips are doing that twitching thing again.

“Same,” Mack says. “I’ll gladly be your village if it means keeping Colt in a good mood.”

Ryder shakes his head. “Getting laid works miracles.”