Page 49 of The Maverick’s Legacy

“You two aren’t very subtle.” She tried to bite back a smile though. Carly had been so preoccupied lately between getting the school ready, settling into her new place, and Jesse that she hadn’t spent as much time with her family as she wanted to. They were the main reason she moved to Tenacity after all, and she was grateful that they were with her now, helping her with her practices.

“We’re old married hags at this point,” Remi said. “We need to live vicariously through you.”

“You are neither old nor, in your case—” she looked pointedly at Remi “—married.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Amy said. “Spill the beans. What’s going on between you and Jesse? According to town gossip, you and Connor Adair were having an intimate breakfast at the Silver Spur and Jesse showed up with a puffed-out chest before practically having sex with you on the table.”

“I never would have guessed that he was the strong alpha type who claims his woman,” Remi murmured thoughtfully. “I like it.”

“You and those romance novels of yours,” Amy muttered.

Carly shook her head. “That’s not what happened at all. It was a business meeting with Connor. He’s going to do some work on this place so I can get my riding school up and running. Jesse and his son were having breakfast there, and before Jesse left, he kissed me goodbye.”

“So you’ve finally reached the stage where you’re kissing each other in public?” Remi said.

“I don’t know what stage you want to call it, but yes, things seem to be progressing in the right direction.”

“How was the sex?” Remi asked. “You are having sex, right?”

“Remi! You can’t just ask people that,” Amy said before she turned to Carly. “But feel free to answer anyway.”

Carly blushed. “We only slept together once, but…it’s the best I’ve ever had.”

“Nice,” Remi replied.

“But then afterward, he hid in the bathroom for ten minutes.”

Remi winced. “Oh no. What did you do?”

“I…pretended to be asleep when he finally came out.”

“Oi,” Amy muttered. “You two need to work on your communication skills.”

“Well…” Carly smiled a little. “He sent me flowers in the morning, and we talked when we ran into each other at the café. He said he hasn’t felt this way in a long time.”

“Aww,” Remi said, dramatically putting her hand over her heart. “Then you told him you want to marry him and have his babies so you can raise the next batch of rodeo stars, right?”

“I think maybe we should date a few more days before having that conversation,” she said dryly.

“But what did you say in response?” Amy asked, getting the conversation back on track.

“I didn’t,” Carly replied. “His son came up to us, and they left.”

Remi tilted her head. “What would you have said if you hadn’t been interrupted?”

Nieve nudged Carly as they walked, and she patted his nose. “I don’t know. Probably that I’m crazy about him too.”

“We’re talking love here, then,” Remi said.

Carly almost stopped walking, but she knew she needed to cool Nieve down. “I…”

“It’s okay, you know,” Amy told her. “You’re allowed to be loved.”

“I know,” Carly said weakly.

“And he’s a good guy. Stable. Someone who cares about you for you and not what fame you bring to the relationship.”

“I know,” Carly repeated, more firmly this time. The last thing she needed was to rehash her relationship with Fletch. She had to strain her mind just to picture his face anymore. When she tried to imagine the features she’d once known as well as her own, they wavered into Jesse’s face, causing her heart to skip a beat.