Mine Would Be You: A Bad Boy Rancher Love Story (The Dawson Brothers Book 3)

by Ali Parker

  “Are we good here?” she asked.

  “Actually,” I said, leaning forward. “My brother is in town for business. He comes to Chicago every four to six months.”

  “That’s nice,” she said with a smile. “I’m an only child, so I don’t know how that is.”

  “Sometimes, I wish I was an only child,” I joked. “No, he’s a good guy, just caught up in the money and fame of his modeling career.”

  “Sounds fancy.” She laughed. “Maybe he should give his opinion on the ad.”

  “Yeah,” I scoffed. “Anyway, I have reservations at Lebel downtown for the evening to meet him, and I thought that maybe you would be interested in coming along. It would be just a couple of hours, a good meal, and you would be saving me from the ridiculous round of questioning I always get from him.”

  “I appreciate it,” she said. “And I would love to save you, but I have to get home. My son is doing homework, and I have to feed him and get him all tucked away for the weekend. My babysitter is young, too, and I know she’ll want to get going on a Friday night. I appreciate it, though.”

  “No problem,” I said. “Enjoy your weekend.”

  “You too,” she replied, walking out of the office and down to the pit to relay our instructions on the ad.

  I sat there slightly stunned, not even sure what to think. I hadn’t really thought through asking Amanda out, and it really wasn’t a date, but still, she had turned me down. I was pretty sure that was the first time a woman had ever turned me down. My ego felt slightly bruised, but at the same time, she had a son to get home to, and who was I to question that? She was definitely an interesting woman, someone I couldn’t seem to get off my mind. I was even a little disappointed that it was Friday, and I wouldn’t see her until Monday.

  I breathed deeply, leaning my head back in my chair and shaking my head. I needed to keep my mind on one thing, and one thing only, and that was my company. Maybe I was seeing Amanda in a new light, but that didn’t mean I had to go hitting on her every chance I had. The fact that she had turned me down, though, made me instantly want to work on her until she decided to go out with me. That night, though, was put aside for my brother, and everything else would have to wait.

  I got up from my chair and closed my briefcase, shaking my head and heading out the door. I waved goodbye to everyone and jumped in the elevator, taking it down to the lobby and deciding to walk the six blocks to the restaurant. I had a little bit of time, and the warm Chicago night was just what I needed to start unwinding. The traffic was heavy, with everyone ending their work days and heading home for the weekend. No one was out yet for the clubs, but there were a lot of middle-aged rich people pulling up and getting out on their way to dinner. I guessed I would be joining that crowd that night. When I got to the restaurant, Tyler was waiting outside for me.

  “Brother,” he said, smiling. “It’s so good to see you.”

  “You too,” I said genuinely, giving him a hug. “Shall we?”

  “Yeah,” he said, grabbing the door and holding it as I walked inside.

  The hostess took my name and then walk us to the reserved table by the windows. We sat down and ordered some drinks and appetizers before starting any kind of conversation. Tyler was the guy who could eat anything he wanted and then do twenty minutes in the gym and be fit and perfect again.

  “So how’s the modeling business?” I asked.

  “It’s good,” he said. “Lots of money, lots of women, you know, the usual.”

  Tyler had always been good with the women, and with his looks and charm, it was no wonder. Everyone could tell we were brothers, only his chin and his body were a little more chiseled than mine. Either way, he was every woman’s dream, and he took full advantage of that every time he had the chance. There was nothing like sitting across from a guy who could sneeze and make women swoon.

  “You have a girlfriend?” I asked.

  “No,” he chuckled. “I’m too busy to be tied down like that. With the contracts I have going on with Dior, I’m not in one city for more than a few days. I live out of my suitcase, but luckily, they always put me up in the suite.”

  “Sounds like the life.” I laughed.

  “I enjoy it,” he said with a smile. “How about you? Are there any women in your life? Or maybe one woman in your life?”

  “No,” I said, stretching. “I am single and too busy to mingle.”

  As soon as he asked that question, Amanda popped into my head with her beautiful skin and striking smile. The girl had somehow lodged herself in my mind, and I couldn’t seem to shake it. How could I not be attracted to her, though? She was fiery and funny, with the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. I didn’t want to talk about Amanda with Tyler, though. He wasn’t the kind of guy who would understand why I wasn’t jumping headfirst into her life. He also would tell me to run in the other direction since she was a single mom, not that he knew anything about being a parent. He was the king of the party, women all over the place, and he didn’t see any reason to settle on just one. It wasn’t like I didn’t see his point. I had been that way most of my life too.

  Amanda was different, though. I could tell she wasn’t the kind of woman to jump into bed with a man and especially not with me. She was too professional to even see me in that way, much less think about dating me. Out of all the women I knew, she was the only one who I could actually see myself being happy to date. I knew it would never work because we lived in two completely different worlds, but that didn’t keep her from running full-speed through my head.

  “You need to find you a woman.” He laughed. “Like I said on the phone, someone needs to give up some grandchildren before Mom starts coming after me.”

  “Yeah, nobody wants a tribe of little Tylers running around terrorizing the city.” I laughed. “It would be like Chucky, only the kids would have blond hair and blue eyes and walk the runways before giving you hell.”

  “You’re more than right, sir.” He laughed. “I think Mom know that, and it’s why she hasn’t brought any of it up to me.”

  “Our mother always was a smart woman,” I said.

  “What about Truitt Marketing? How’s the company doing? I sent those clients over to you two months ago. Did anything come of that?”

  “Yeah, actually,” I said. “Thank you for that, brother. Dior signed with us. The last ad they had was ours, and a couple of the smaller designers went with us for their fashion week advertisements. I’m pretty sure they’ll all be back, though Dior has their own in-house marketing for most of the stuff that they do. Other than that, things are definitely interesting.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Oh, man, the board—well one of the board members—is trying to blame the economic decline in business on me,” I said. “I have to be hands-on with this newest client or they’re going to vote me out as CEO.”

  “Shit, dude,” he said. “That’s some bullshit. How can they even do that? You own the company.”

  “I own the majority of stock in the company,” I said. “Which makes me owner, not necessarily the CEO. That can be taken away like any other job.”

  “You can do this, dude,” he said. “You have an uncanny ability to make a team better just by being there and being supportive. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Anything you have a passion for, you make it happen if you want it badly enough.”

  “That was the old days,” I said. “I’ve been out of hand to hand for a while. It’s definitely been an adjustment, and the team members are having a hard time letting me in, though the last couple of days have been pretty damn good.”

  “Well, if I know you like I think I know you, you’ll knock this right out of the park,” he said. “I’ve never seen you let anyone get one over on you, especially not the board members who you appointed yourself and have some serious loyalty to you.”

  “I hope you’re right,” I said, smiling.

  The subject changed to Tyler’s career and life like it always did. In my mind,
though, I couldn’t stop thinking about Amanda. I had already been thinking about her all day, and that talk about settling down had pushed me right back to her. Tyler was right. I could do this, but what I didn’t know was whether I could keep myself away from Amanda. She had gotten under my skin, and I didn’t know what to do to get her out.

  Chapter 16

  Amanda

  The smell of shrimp and spaghetti sauce clouded the apartment as I stood over the stove, cooking dinner. Mikey was finishing up his homework, and we were waiting for Dalton to get there. My mind was distracted, though, thinking about the fact that Elon had asked me to dinner with his brother. I had never wanted to say yes to an invitation like that so much in my life, but I had to get home, and it was more important to be with Mikey than to be at some fancy restaurant with a man who I couldn’t decide whether I liked or hated.

  I put the drained pasta in a bowl and poured the spaghetti sauce over top, tossing it with a fork and spoon. Mikey had finished his work and started setting the table for me just as Dalton walked in the door. Mikey’s eyes lit up, and he ran over and hugged Dalton tightly.

  “Hey, big man,” he said. “What smells so good?”

  “Spaghetti with shrimp,” he said excitedly.

  “Oooh, fancy,” he replied, walking into the kitchen and kissing me on the cheek. “Hey, lover.”

  “Hello.” I smiled. “Take this bread to the table, and I’ll bring over the drinks.”

  I poured us glasses of wine and Mikey a glass of juice and walked over to the table to sit down. Dalton served Mikey his pasta and tucked his napkin into the neck of Mikey’s shirt. I smiled, watching him to do the same thing so Mikey wouldn’t feel awkward. He was such a good friend to me and to my son.

  “So, that ad is going to be so amazing,” Dalton said.

  “I know,” I said excitedly. “It really was a stellar job by the team. I can’t wait to see the finished project next week.”

  “I have to admit,” he said. “You and Elon make one hell of a team. If I wasn’t afraid the board would think they didn’t need you, I’d say keep him around.”

  “So you can ogle him?”

  “Yes,” he said, waving his hands. “But also because together you two have some really stellar ideas.”

  I smiled and ate my dinner, listening to Mikey chime in and tell us all about an art project they were doing. It was a marketing project, and he was so proud to tell everyone that his mom was in marketing. I thought it was adorable. When we were done with dinner, I got the table cleaned up, and Dalton scooted Mikey toward the shower, especially since he’d seemed to miss his mouth with the spaghetti a couple times. He was the messiest ten-year-old I knew, but he was more interested in talking than he was in eating most of the time, especially when Dalton was there for dinner.

  “Thank you for dinner,” Dalton said, walking back into the kitchen. “What’s next? Friday night movie time? I don’t have any plans.”

  “I was actually hoping you wouldn’t mind hanging out with Mikey so I could go spend some time with my mom before visiting hours are over,” I said, smiling.

  “Can we make ice cream sundaes and watch two movies?”

  “Yes, son,” I said, patting his head. “And there are gummy bears in the cabinet.”

  “Yes,” he said, pumping his fist. “Of course, I’ll hang with my mini best friend. Tell Momma I said hi and that I will be there on Sunday to give her hair a little love.”

  “You are the best,” I said, kissing him on the cheek.

  “I know, I know,” he said smiling.

  When Mikey got out of the shower, I told him I was heading over to visit Grandma, and he was more focused on the sundae supplies Dalton had pulled from the cabinet. I grabbed my light jacket and headed out to the hospital. As I drove along, I thought about my life with Mikey and how his childhood had been with me. It hadn’t always been easy, but he had always been happy, and that was important to me. When I was growing up, my parents weren’t rich by any means, but they’d made sure we got to do things that made memories. We would go to the county fair, to the beach, and during the winter, they would come outside with us and build giant snowmen in the yard. They were always part of everything we did, and when my dad died, my mom made sure to continue that with Mikey. She had been my greatest confidant, always letting me confide in her with anything and never failing to give me the best advice, the advice I desperately needed at that time.

  My heart ached as I drove along, picturing my mom in that hospital bed, her mind somewhere far away. I knew that the possibility of having what we had before was slim to none, and that made me incredibly sad. I didn’t even know how to handle the feelings that I had about it. I had already said goodbye to my father, and now I was facing the choice of doing the same with my mother. This was different, though. When my father died, it had been fast and out of our hands. With Mom, I had to make the choice for her. I had to be the one to sign the paper and watch them unplug her. It was the worst thing you could ever ask permission for someone to do. Elon had wished he was an only child while I wished I had a sibling so they could be the ones to make that choice. I didn’t know if I would ever be capable of something like that.

  I got to the hospital and stopped by the gift shop window, deciding not to get flowers that day. I went upstairs and smiled fakely, checking in with the nurse. The car ride over had taken a serious toll on me, I could feel it. When I got to my mother’s room, I stood in the doorway for a minute, finding her lying there like she had been when I had left her days before. I walked over to the bed and pulled a chair up, putting my forehead down on my mother’s hand.

  “Mom, I need your advice,” I said. “There’s this guy at work. He’s funny, sweet, ambitious, and really handsome. I know what you’re going to say. ‘Why haven’t I already invited him over?’ Well, it’s not that easy. He’s also my boss. He’s the owner of Truitt Marketing, the company I work for. He lives in a completely and totally different world than me. He has no idea what it’s like to struggle through life, to take care of other people. At first, I thought he was a total ass, but lately, I’ve seen a different side of him, and I have to be honest. I can’t get him off my mind. It’s starting to drive me crazy, and Dalton just won’t let it go.”

  I picked my head up and stared over at her, watching the ventilator go up and down, up and down. I waited for that sweet voice to laugh, to tell me I was overthinking it, to tell me to do what made me happy, but I heard nothing but the sound of her heart monitor. I stood up and took her hand, looking down at her face.

  “Mom,” I whispered. “Please. Just open your eyes. Just say something, anything. Tell me what I’m supposed to do. Get up out of that bed and tell me to shut up.”

  I stopped talking, tears pulling at the edges of my eyes. I sat down in the chair and leaned my head back, frustrated because I didn’t know what to do about my mother. I was at my wit’s end, standing in a room talking to a woman they told me wasn’t there anymore. It was hard to understand, to feel the warmth of her hands but not hear her voice or feel her move at all. She was my mom, the woman I had looked up to all my life. She had been so strong her entire life, always putting her own pain aside to be there for others. I didn’t want her to be in pain, and I didn’t want her to suffer. I squeezed her hand and leaned forward, a tear falling down my cheek.

  “I don’t want to let you go,” I said. “I don’t think I can let you go. If you’re in there, I need you to let us know. You are so strong, but I need you to be stronger, Momma. If you’re in pain, if you’re suffering, I don’t want you to hold back. They say you’re gone, that it’s just your body staying alive because I’m pumping your lungs and keeping your heart beating. They say if I unhook you, it will be over and really fast. But I can’t get myself to let you go. I can’t allow myself to believe you’re gone, that you’re no longer with us. I feel you around me all the time like you’re still here. I love you, Mikey loves you, and we need you.”

  I grabbed a tissu
e and sat back again, wiping the tears from my cheeks and taking in a long, deep breath. There was no way, at that point, I could sign those papers, and it wasn’t going to help anything if I kept torturing myself over it. I picked up her book and opened it up, starting where I’d left off.

  “The wind is our friend, anyway, he thought. Then he added, sometimes. And the great sea with our friends and our enemies. And bed, he thought. Bed is my friend. Just bed, he thought. Bed will be a great thing. It is easy when you are beaten, he thought. I never knew how easy it was. And what beat you, he thought.”

  As I read, I squeezed my mother’s hand every so often, hoping I would feel a response from her. I did it every time I was there, waiting for a response that never came. If I sat there long enough, things started playing with my mind, a twitch that never happened, a shutter that my mind made me feel. That night, though, I didn’t feel anything except her warm, soft skin against mine, her hand lying motionless in my palm as I continued to read. I stayed there until the visiting hours were over.

  “You can come back tomorrow if you like,” the nurse said kindly. “Her heart always beats a little slower after you’ve been here reading.”

  I smiled and nodded my head, putting the bookmark in and placing it on the table next to her bed. The nurses knew to leave it there. They had seen me coming and going for a long time, always reading the same book to her. For all I knew, when she died and went to heaven, she would go never wanting to read the damn book again. I gently placed her hand on the bed next to her and leaned over, kissing her forehead. I could smell the lavender in the hair products that Dalton used, and though it was nice, it didn’t smell like my mom.