We walked around the property for a bit, and I listened to a very excited Reed talk about his plans for the place. He wanted to build a shop, and he had the perfect place to make a garden. I couldn’t help but feel just as excited as I listened to him talk about his future. I desperately wanted to ask him who he saw sharing this all with, but I just kept my mouth shut.
“I could totally see a giant tree house in that oak,” I said as I pointed to a beautiful oak tree.
He smiled and nodded his head. “Yeah, I could, too.”
“I always wanted a tree house. I begged my parents to build me one, but my mother said it was too dangerous.” I smiled as I thought back to how I had begged and pleaded with them. “My kids will have a tree house,” I whispered.
He took my hand and kissed the back of it, and the thousands of needles now pricking my hand caused me to suck in a breath of air.
Shit. Anytime he touches me, my body reacts.
“How would you like to go out with me tonight?” he asked with a sly grin.
I raised my eyebrow. “What do you have in mind?”
“Austin? Dinner with maybe a little bit of dancing at a club?” Reed said.
I bit down on my lower lip and nodded. “I think that sounds like fun!”
Before I knew it, we were heading back and getting ready to go out for the evening. I couldn’t help but feel like an excited teenager going out on her first date.
I wanted so desperately to believe that Reed would be different. Maybe he really was different. He had been nothing but a gentleman all week. It was almost like he had done a one-eighty from the Reed I’d known—or at least, the one I thought I’d known.
Or maybe he just feels sorry for me?
Whatever the reason, I was going to enjoy myself. I still had a little over two weeks of this, and I intended on making it the best two weeks of my life.
I sat on the bed, grinning like an idiot. She loved the cabin. I knew she would. Every thought and detail I’d put into that house, I’d thought about Courtney and if she would like it or not.
As soon as we had gotten back to Layton’s place, she hopped in the shower, and I pulled out a piece of paper and began working on my next project. When I was finished, I couldn’t help but smile as I looked it over. It was perfect, and I was sure she would love it.
I heard a knock on the door, and I put the paper with the design facing down on the side table. I stood up and headed over to the door. I opened the door, and I just about dropped to my knees.
“Wow,” was all I could get out.
Courtney was standing there in a black cocktail dress and silver high heels with her hair pulled up and a few curls hanging down.
“I’m going to guess I look pretty good since your mouth is practically hanging down to your knees, Moore. Could you eye-fuck me any more?” she asked with a wink.
“Yes, actually, I could. Court, you look beautiful. Is that your dress or Whitley’s?”
She looked down and then back up at me, giving me a funny look. “It’s mine! A girl can never be overpacked. I always tell Whitley to pack for anything and everything.”
I found myself daydreaming about peeling that dress off of her and slowly making love to her. I shook my wayward thoughts away as I turned and grabbed my keys, wallet, and watch.
“Ready?” I asked with a smile.
She nodded with the enthusiasm of a small child and held her arm out for me to take. “So ready!”
“Let’s go then.”
After we ate, we grabbed a cup of coffee at Mozart’s, and then we headed to the club for some dancing. I had to smile at how much Courtney loved to dance. She had more energy than the damn Energizer Bunny.
We walked up to the bar to get a drink when “Walking on Air” by Katy Perry started playing.
Courtney jumped up and down and then grabbed my hand. “I love this song!”
The next thing I knew, we were back out on the dance floor, dancing. She certainly could dance, and throughout the song, three different guys tried to cut in. With one go-to-hell look, they each quickly left.
By the time we left the club, Courtney finally seemed happy. This last week, she had buried herself in work and reading, and she’d hardly spoken two words to me. Now, she was going on and on, and I couldn’t get a word in. I hadn’t laughed so much in my life as I did on the ride home from Austin.
When we walked into the house, we were greeted by Midnight and Lulu. We both looked at each other and said, “Oh shit!”
“You didn’t crate them!” Courtney said in a panicked voice.
Wait, what? “Me? I’m cow-sitting. You’re the one who’s dog-sitting,” I said as I held up my hands and quickly looked around the house. Oh fuck. If they chewed up anything, Layton will have our asses.
“You check upstairs. I’ll check down here,” Courtney said as she took off her shoes. She started running around with Lulu right behind her.
“Gotcha!” I said as I made my way upstairs.
Every door had been shut, except for the second master bedroom where I was staying. I let out the girliest shriek when I walked in and saw one of my cowboy boots had been chewed up. Midnight ran in and went right for the boot. He picked it up and practically threw it at me, wanting to play fetch.
I grabbed on to the door to hold myself up. My boots…oh God…he chewed up my boot.
“What? What was that noise? It sounded like you stepped on a cat’s tail or something!” Courtney said as she skidded to a stop and ran into me.
I pointed to my boot. “My…my…my boot. That bastard ate my boot…my favorite boots.” I put my hands on my knees and took in a few deep breaths.
Court let out a gasp. “Oh…oh, Midnight, you bad boy. You didn’t. That is unforgivable. You got his boots. Oh. My. God! My shoes!” With that, she took off running back downstairs, screaming, “I left the bedroom door open,” over and over again.
When I heard her bloodcurdling scream, I knew it must have been bad. Midnight ducked and ran out of the room. When Court didn’t stop screaming, I got worried. I ran downstairs and into Layton’s room. I stopped on a dime when I saw her with a gun.
“Where in the hell did you get a gun?” I asked, confused as hell.
“Whit told me where one was. I’m going to kill them both. Get out of my way.”
I looked around the room and didn’t see any signs of torn up shoes. “Court, wait. The dogs? You’re gonna kill the dogs? Why?” I tried to take the gun from her.
She shook her head, and I swore I could see steam coming from her ears.
“Reed, just tell me that this thing is loaded because I’m going to kill both those motherfuckers.”
When she extended her hand with the gun, I grabbed it. “Jesus, Courtney. You never, ever handle a gun if you don’t know what you are doing or if it’s loaded.” I checked the chamber, and it wasn’t loaded. Thank God.
She pushed me out of the way and started screaming, “Lulu! I know it was you! You were so jealous of it.”
“What? Courtney, stop and tell me why you are so pissed.”
She spun around and looked at me. “I’m pissed because those animals…those beasts…those stinky, nasty, shit-eating dogs…ate my Kindle!”
Oh hell. Those poor dogs.
“I’m. Going. To. Kill. Them.” She turned and started screaming each dog’s name as she headed out of the room.
I was pretty sure they were hiding—or at least, I was hoping they were hiding.
“There you are!” she shouted.
I put the gun down and ran out after her. Lulu was sitting in the den, wagging her tail, as Courtney walked over and picked up a bat that Layton had leaning against the wall, and then she headed over to Lulu. I ran up, grabbed the bat, and spun her around. She began pushing me away while arguing that she needed her payback. I started laughing, and that just made her all the more mad.
I pushed her up against the wall and tried to get her to settle down. “For Christ’s sake, Court, I will buy you a new Kindle. Ju
st calm down.”
Her eyes lit up for a brief second. “Are you admitting that you forgot to put them in their kennels?”
“What? No.”
She began trying to get out of my grip, so I pushed my body into her.
“Fine! I admit it. Now, will you please stop trying to kill my best friend’s beloved labs?”
“I want a Kindle Fire HD,” she said with a smirk.
I looked at her, confused. “I don’t even know what that is.”
“Just say you will buy me a new Kindle Fire HD, and I will stop trying to kill the mutts.”
I rolled my eyes and nodded my head. “Fine, Kindle Fire HD. Can we all play nice again?”
She smiled, but then something in her eyes changed, and she began breathing heavily as her eyes moved down to my lips. She licked her lips, and I tried like hell to back away from her, but I was frozen. I dropped the bat that I’d been holding in my hand, and I placed my hand on the side of her face.
“If I haven’t told you yet, you look beautiful tonight,” I said softly.
Her eyes were darting back and forth between my eyes and my lips.
I bent down and brushed my lips against hers as I whispered, “May I kiss you, Courtney?”
“Yes,” she whispered back.
I teased her lips with mine for a few seconds before I deepened the kiss, and she opened her mouth to let my tongue explore hers for the first time. The moan she let out flowed through my body like nothing I’d ever experienced before. I put my other hand on her face and poured as much feeling into the kiss as I could. When I pulled back slightly, she still had her eyes closed. The feelings moving through my body confused me.
She opened her eyes and looked into mine. I stepped away from her and smiled as she smiled back at me.
“Good night, Court,” I said.
She smiled bigger. “Good night, Reed.”
I reached down and picked up the bat. “I’ll just hang on to this for now.”
She let out a giggle. “Probably a good idea.”
I turned around and made my way over to the stairs. With each step, my heart was beating harder in my chest. When I got to my room, I sat down on my bed and threw my body back.
Holy shit. That was the most incredible kiss I’ve ever experienced. I wasn’t sure how long I lay there, thinking about the kiss.
Oh yeah, everything has changed now. I was no longer going to sit and wait for her. I’m going to fight for her love even if I have to fight for it for the rest of my life.
When I got back to my room, I shut the door and leaned against it, trying to calm my beating heart. I put my fingertips up to my lips that still felt like they were on fire.
“Oh my…” I whispered as I dropped my head against the door.
I’d never in my life experienced such a kiss. It felt like my whole body was still tingling. I closed my eyes and replayed the whole scene in my head.
May I kiss you, Courtney?
Swoon the hell out of me, why don’t you, Reed Moore?
I slowly pushed myself away from the door and made my way into the bathroom. I stripped out of my dress and washed my face. I looked in the mirror, and I couldn’t wipe the damn grin off my face.
I slipped into my comfy Victoria’s Secret pajamas and crawled into bed. I heard something scratching at the door, and I realized that the dogs were still roaming the house. I got up and let them outside to go to the bathroom really quickly, and then I brought them back into the bedroom with me.
After I reached into my bag and took out my emergency Kindle, I looked at them both and pointed at them. “You both lie right there. Don’t even think about moving.”
I crawled into the giant king-sized bed and pulled the covers up. I tried to read, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the kiss.
May I kiss you, Courtney?
Oh, dear God. How I want you to do more than kiss me, Reed.
Shit! Shit! Shit! Courtney, stop this right now!
Again, I tried to read, but clearly, I was consumed by the kiss, and every time I read something, all I could think about was Reed asking if he could kiss me. After staring at the same passage for thirty minutes, I finally gave up. I reached over and turned off the light. It didn’t take long before I felt the bed move twice, and then I felt something flop down next to me…twice.
I smiled as I reached out and called Lulu to come closer to me. As I snuggled her, I whispered, “You tell anyone, and I will kill you.”
I drifted off to sleep and dreamed of a certain cabin, shower, and Reed making love to me on his kitchen island.
“Yes, Whitley. Lulu and Midnight are fine, and the cows and horses are all still living, too. It’s really amazing to see that Reed knows what he is doing. I’ve actually learned a few new things about plants, too.”
Whitley laughed and said, “So, the last two weeks have been pretty good?”
I smiled as I thought about how much fun I’d been having with Reed. “Yeah, they’ve been okay,” I said, trying to sound nonchalant about it all.
“Just okay?” Whitley asked with a giggle.
“Yep, just okay. Reed did buy me a new Kindle though.”
“Why?”
Oh shit. Open mouth, insert foot, Courtney. “Oh…well, um…he kind of broke my other one.”
“Oh damn, that sucks, but at least you got a new Kindle out of it! Hey, listen, I’ve got to run. I miss you so much, and I can’t wait to see you and tell you how incredible this honeymoon has been!”
I smiled and said, “Okay, honey. Have fun and kiss Layton for me.”
“Will do! Later, girl,” Whitley said as she started to giggle before hanging up.
I set my phone down on the kitchen counter and smiled. I was so happy for her. She finally had her happily ever after, and no one deserved it more than she did.
I opened up the music app on my phone and looked for the perfect song to cook to. I was making tacos for dinner tonight.
“Oh, yes! This is the perfect song, Lulu!” I said as I looked down at my new best friend.
I had been sneaking the dogs into bed with me each night, and the nightmares had seemed to stop when they slept with me.
“Oops! I Did It Again” by Britney Spears started to play, and I began dancing and singing along. As I cooked the hamburger meat, I shook my ass to the music and sang as loud as I could. I turned around and saw Reed leaning against the doorjamb, smiling at me. I made my way over to him and grabbed his hands. We began dancing together, and we both started laughing when he busted out singing. Before I knew it, he was picking me up and spinning me around. When the song ended, he put me down and pushed a stray piece of my hair back. I willed him to kiss me, and when he began moving toward me, my heart started pounding in my chest.
Then, my cell phone rang.
Fuck me.
He smiled and shook his head as he walked away. “I’m going to go shower really quick.”
“K,” was all I could get out.
I looked at my phone to see that it was my brother, Tyler, calling.
“Hey, Ty. What’s up?” I said, trying to sound chipper.
“Hey, baby sister. How is Texas treating you?” he asked, practically shouting.
I put my finger up to my other ear, so I could hear him better. “Tyler, I can barely hear you. Where are you?”
He laughed and said, “Hold on. Let me go outside.”
“Okay, hurry though. I’m trying to cook dinner.” I put the taco shells in the oven, and then I walked over to the refrigerator and took out the salsa.
“Are you sitting down, Court? I’ve got some huge news for you.”
“I’m not sitting down, but I’m sure I can take whatever you’ve got for me while I’m standing.”
He started laughing. “Okay, here I go…I’m getting married.”
I stopped in my tracks. “No way! Tyler, that is wonderful news, sweetheart! I’m so happy for you.”
He laughed again, but this time, it was harder. “That’s
not the only news I have for you. I’m in San Antonio for a meeting, and I want my baby sister to come see me! I looked it up, and you’re only a few hours away.”
I started jumping up and down. “No way! Why didn’t you tell me you were coming to Texas?”
“I wanted to surprise you. Hey, guess who came with me?”
I reached up for a bowl to pour the salsa into as I smiled. I was hoping it was our parents. “Who?”
“Noah. He can’t wait to see you.”
My smile instantly faded as the salsa bottle slipped from my hand and hit the floor. I couldn’t move. No. Please, God, no.
“Courtney? Are you still there? Court, what was that noise? It sounds like something just broke. Court?”
“Um…yeah, I’m still here. Sorry, I thought you said Noah was with you.”
“Yeah, I did. Once he found out I was coming to Texas and I might be able to sneak in a visit with you, he asked if he could tag along. Ya know, Court, you broke his heart when you decided not to go to the prom with him. He really liked you, I think.”
I’m going to be sick.
“So, when do you think you can come see me, sis? We just flew in, and I’ll only be here for three days. We’re heading up to Austin, so Meg can go to some wedding dress shops there. She’s been in a pissy mood this whole trip.”
I tried to talk, but my voice cracked. I cleared my throat and asked, “Meg is with you?”
“Yeah. So, when do you think you can come down this way?”
“I, um…well, I don’t know ’cause I think I’m getting…I think I’m getting the flu. Maybe I shouldn’t go out. I’d hate to get y’all sick.”
Tyler let out a chuckle. “The flu, Court? Really? Do you just not like Meg?”
What? “What? No. Of course I do. I adore Meg. Listen, Tyler…I actually feel like I’m about to get sick. I’m sorry I can’t meet up with you, but can I call you back later?”
“Sure. You don’t sound so good, sis. Go take care of yourself, sweetie. Just call me later, and let me know how you’re feeling, okay?”
I nodded my head and fought like hell to hold in the tears. “Okay.” I quickly hit End and broke down crying.