“You wanna go with us?” Jace asked Billy. “The lifts don’t open for another hour. I bet there’d be plenty of folks back at the house who’d take care of Willow.”
Billy looked at Irene, who shrugged her shoulders. The look on her face was hopeful though.
“I’m not very good,” said Billy. “Renie’s been trying to teach me, and I’ve taken a few lessons, but…”
“It’ll be fine, Billy. You’re better than you think,” Irene told him.
“As long as this isn’t a competition,” Billy glared at Jace.
“I’m a former racer, Billy. You don’t stand a chance in hell of competing with me. I’ll win before you get your skis on. But I’ll tell you what, I’m no match for you on a bronc.” Might give him a run for his money on a bull though, although Jace wasn’t going to bring that up yet.
Billy was appeased. He took his cell out of his pocket and called his mom. Willow tried her best to get the phone away from him.
“She wants to chew on it,” he said while he waited for his mom to pick up.
“You get her over here as quick as you can, Billy, both her grandmas would love to spend the day with sweet Willow,” they overheard Dottie’s response.
“I’ll run her over. Do you want to wait for me here, or should I meet you up at the mountain?” Billy asked Renie.
“I’ll go with you,” Jace offered.
A look passed between Blythe and Renie.
“Why?” Blythe asked.
“I’ll let my mama and daddy know what I’m doing today. I’m feelin’ kind of bad for leavin’ without talking to them.”
“Oh,” Blythe frowned. “We don’t have to go if you don’t want to. I mean, we can go back to the house.”
“What? I thought we were skiing today?” Renie pouted.
“We are,” he answered. “Billy and I will be back as quick as we can. Blythe, can you call and reserve skis for us, since we won’t be using theirs anymore?”
“Of course.”
“Come, walk me out to the truck.”
Blythe followed him, wondering what the hell was going on. This was turning into the most confusing morning.
“Listen, I want to give you some time alone with Irene. And I need to get to know Billy better. The thing between her and me is over. Now we need to learn how to be friends. Okay?”
“What about Tucker?”
“What’s he got to do with this?”
“What if he wants to come back with you?”
Jace told her he’d already addressed the Tucker issue. He wasn’t invited, and Jace had no intention of changing his mind about it.
“Public ski area,” she murmured.
“He wants to show up on his own, that’s his prerogative. But you and me…we’re on a date.”
The big smile he gave her went straight through her body, down to her toes. He was charm personified. His brother was, too. It dawned on her that those who played with fire often got burned. Was she getting too close to the flame with the Rice twins? As much as she wanted to have the upper hand, it was clear she didn’t.
“Why did you wanna come with me?” Billy asked Jace once they were on the road.
“Those two have some stuff to work out. I figured they’d do it better without us around.”
“Any other reason?”
“Yeah.”
Billy waited for a few minutes, but Jace didn’t continue. “You gonna tell me what it is?”
“Not sure how to say this without causing problems.”
“Say it, for Christ’s sake.”
“Irene warned Blythe away from me.”
Billy was quiet.
“Nothing to say?” Jace prodded.
“I’ll handle it.”
“I told her to back off, myself.” Jace turned his head and looked out the window. “She’s gotta get out of my business.”
“I hear ya.”
They spent the rest of the ride in silence.
“What about Tucker?” Renie asked Blythe once Billy and Jace were gone.
“I feel like it’s a game.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s a competition. It isn’t about me; it’s about which of them can win the girl.”
“I don’t know, Blythe. That doesn’t sound like Jace.”
“Maybe not Jace when he’s alone. You haven’t ever been around Tucker and him together, have you?”
Renie didn’t answer, but it was a rhetorical question anyway. Blythe already knew the answer.
“I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think.”
She’d see, wouldn’t she?
Tucker was sitting on the front porch, drinking coffee, when Jace and Billy drove up. He saw the question in Jace’s eyes when he walked up.
“You kidnap her?”
“She’s with Irene.”
Billy got Willow out of her car seat and walked right past Tucker, without speaking.
“Mornin’ to you, too,” he said in the direction of the front door after it closed. “What’s up his ass?”
“I told him somethin’ that pissed him off on the way over here. Probably shouldn’t have, but it’s too late now.”
“Jesus, Jace, we’ve been here less than twenty-four hours.”
“It was about Irene. She told Blythe to stay away from me.”
“Sound advice.”
“I told her to back the hell off.”
“And then you told the cowboy.”
“Yep.”
“Where are you taking her?”
“Blythe? We’re goin’ skiing.”
Tucker looked away from him. “You have a good time, then.”
“You okay?”
“Does it matter?”
“Come on, Tuck. I’m serious. Are you okay?”
Tucker didn’t answer.
Billy came back out and walked toward the truck, and Jace followed. “Tell the parents we’ll be back early this afternoon.”
Tucker nodded and raised his coffee cup to his brother.
4
Jace was impressed. Blythe was a damn good skier. Irene was too, but she hung back with Billy, who appeared less angry once they got back to the house.
“Break?” he shouted to Blythe as they skied up to the lift line.
“Um, sure,” she answered and skied toward the racks instead.
He picked up her skis after she released her boots from her bindings, and set them next to his. She handed him her poles, too.
“Having fun?” he asked.
“I am. You’re good. Hard to keep up with.”
“You shoulda said somethin’, darlin’.” Jace put his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. “I woulda slowed down for you.”
She shifted away from him and walked toward the lodge.
“How about some hot chocolate?” he offered.
“Add some butterscotch schnapps to it and I’ll be all in.”
He smiled and went to the bar while she found them a table.
When he got back, she’d taken off her helmet and gloves, and was about to loosen her boots.
“Where’d you learn to ski, pretty girl?”
She grinned and rolled her eyes. “With my dad.” She laughed. “You’re such a cowboy.”
“Now, why’d you say it that way, like it’s a bad thing?”
“It’s cute. That’s what it is.”
“Hey now, you don’t call a cowboy cute, darlin’. Unless he’s five years old.”
He shifted his chair closer to her and put his arm around the back of hers. He turned so he was facing her.
“You know what they say about cowboys, don’t ya?”
She laughed again. “No, I don’t know what they say, and I’m not sure I want to.”
“Better if I show you anyway.” He leaned forward and brushed his lips over hers, just barely. He stopped, but didn’t move away. Her eyes were closed and her cheeks were flushed.
“Jace—” she murmured.
“Shh now,
I know what you’re going to say.”
“You do?”
“Yep. You’re gonna say that we shouldn’t do this, and then you’re gonna say somethin’ about Tuck. So before you do, let me remind you, I was the one who spoke first.”
She nodded and smiled.
“Okay, then. Let’s enjoy our date, darlin’. We’ll see ol’ Tuck at dinner. Until then, let’s you and me put him out of our minds.”
She nodded again, but her eyes were focused on his mouth. She gave him no choice, he had to kiss her. He put his hand around the back of her neck and held her still. He leaned forward and slowly brushed his lips over hers again. This time he didn’t stop. When her lips opened to his, he seized the opportunity.
She was so soft and warm. He wanted her closer. He broke their kiss and pulled her toward him, off her chair and onto his lap. When her arms circled his shoulders, he kissed her again.
“I like kissin’ you,” he murmured against her lips.
She pulled back and took a deep breath, but stayed where she was, on his lap.
“There you are,” said Renie. Billy was behind her and caught Jace’s eye.
Blythe got up and sat back in her chair. “Hot chocolate break.”
Billy pulled a chair out for Renie. “Looks like a little more than hot chocolate to me.”
Blythe glared at him, and then looked at Renie, who was smiling. Thank God. She didn’t want any crap from her today. She had her hands full between Jace and Tucker.
“Want some hot chocolate, darlin’?” Billy asked Renie, walking toward the bar before she had a chance to answer.
Blythe laughed.
“What’s funny?” asked Jace.
“You two—with all your ‘darlins’ and ‘pretty girls.’ You’re both such cowboys.”
She looked over at Renie, who was still smiling.
“What’s with you?” she asked.
“Nothing.”
“Come on, Renie, speak. What’s going on in that head of yours?”
“I’m happy.”
“That’s it? You’re happy.”
Blythe looked at Jace, who was looking at Renie, but turned to look at her. He smiled, too.
“I feel like there’s something going on and no one is telling me what it is.” It was beginning to irritate her.
Renie reached over and squeezed Blythe’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, nothing is going on. I mean it. I’m happy.” Renie looked between Blythe and Jace, shook her head, and then looked toward the bar.
“I’m gonna go see if Billy needs any help.”
“What was that about?” Blythe asked Jace once Renie was gone.
“I have no idea. But I get the impression she likes seein’ the two of us together. Don’t you?”
“I don’t know what to think.”
Jace didn’t either. Irene’s reaction was…unusual. Especially given it was such an abrupt departure from her attitude earlier. It didn’t matter though. He liked Blythe. She was fun to be around, and he intended to be around her as much as possible.
“Where were we before they came in?” He pulled her back onto his lap. “I like you better closer.” He reached up and pulled her hat off. She put her hand on his, trying to stop him.
“I wanna run my fingers through your hair, darlin’. Let go now.” He eased her hat away from her hand and put it on the table.
“Hat hair,” she said and blushed, like she was embarrassed.
It was such a simple thing, but that vulnerability did something to him. He shifted her so she couldn’t feel his reaction to it. What was it about her that made him want to keep her feeling that way? Vulnerable. Shy. A little off kilter.
“So sweet,” he whispered and kissed her again. “You wanna keep skiing, sweetheart, or should we find somethin’ else to keep us busy?”
Renie and Billy came back to the table before Blythe had a chance to respond.
“I got a text from my mom,” Renie said. “She wants to know when we’re coming back to the house.”
“Everythin’ okay?” asked Billy.
Renie texted something back to her mom and waited for a response.
“Yeah, everything is fine, but they’re wondering.”
Jace looked at Blythe again, who still hadn’t spoken. “I think we’re ready to call it a day,” he answered for both of them. “I’ll go turn our skis in. You wanna get out of those boots, darlin’?”
Jace was asking her a question—something about her boots. She was in a daze, brought on by getting lost in kissing him, just like she had with Tucker. In fact, she wasn’t sure which one she was kissing for a minute. They were so much alike, yet so different. God, what was she doing?
She nodded her head and stood. “Yeah, sure.” She sat back on the chair and took off her boots.
Billy stood. “I’ll help,” he said and picked up her boots. “Jace, you go get the skis, and I’ll meet you at the rental place.”
“Are you okay?” Renie asked.
“What? Yeah, I’m fine. I got a little light-headed for a minute. Alcohol, altitude, and an overly affectionate cowboy will do it every time,” she grinned.
“You two are cute together.”
“Cute? What? Who are you?” Blythe looked at her. “Aren’t you the person who told me to stay away from him yesterday?”
“I don’t know. It’s different now. He seems different.”
“Who does? Jace?”
“Yes, of course, Jace. I don’t know what it is, but I like it.”
Blythe raised her eyebrows.
“No, not like that. I mean, I like him with you.”
Blythe had a hard time believing it but didn’t say so. A minute later Jace walked back in, carrying her snow boots. When he handed them to her and she slipped her feet in them, they were warm. She looked at him questioningly.
“Boot warmers. I put them in while we were skiing, so they’d be warm when we got back.”
Blythe looked at Renie and they both giggled.
“Oh, God,” Jace groaned. “What now?”
“Cowboys,” they answered in unison before they started giggling again.
“Call your brother,” Jace’s mom said a few minutes after they walked in the front door. “It’s time he came back.”
“Where is he?” Blythe asked.
“Out wandering,” Jace answered. “He’s not big on holidays. He usually disappears for most of the day.”
“Why?”
It wasn’t something Jace wanted to talk about, especially to Blythe. “I’ll tell you later,” he answered. Even though he had no intention of doing so.
Tucker saw the text from Jace but wasn’t ready to be around people yet. He supposed he should go back anyway. If he stayed out here any longer, he might not ever go back, and then instead of escaping everyone’s attention, it would be spotlighted on him.
He took one last look at his drawing before he closed his sketchbook. He almost didn’t recognize the woman he’d spent the last half hour drawing. She didn’t look like the woman he’d started to draw—she’d morphed into someone else. Someone who looked more like Blythe than her.
God, he hated holidays, but this one, more than most. When he woke this morning, it wasn’t the first thing he thought of. He thought about Blythe instead, and how it’d felt to hold her the night before.
When he’d gone upstairs to find she wasn’t there, that she and Jace had left and no one knew where they were, his thoughts had turned inward. Back to her. Back to that night. He’d gone out on the porch to be alone, and then Jace came back, and told him they were going skiing.
Jace had asked if he was okay. Did he really need to ask? Of course he wasn’t okay. Jace felt it. This wasn’t something Tucker could bury deep enough for Jace not to feel it. There wasn’t a deep, deep enough for this.
Mama’s gonna send me lookin for you, Jace texted.
Heading back.
Blythe didn’t need to turn and look when Tucker walked in. She knew he had. She could feel him
. Jace reached over and covered her hand with his, as though he felt her reaction. Her cheeks burned when she looked up at him. What was it about these two men? It was as though there was a current connecting the three of them.
She’d felt it with Tucker last night. It wasn’t that they didn’t need to speak, it was more that they shouldn’t. What passed between them was more than words could communicate.
She felt the same way with Jace today. And now that Tucker was back, she felt it with both of them and wasn’t sure she liked it.
When he walked past and brushed against her, his heat instantaneously spread throughout her body. She looked up, but he didn’t look back, and Jace saw the whole thing—Blythe didn’t need to look at him to know it.
“Dinner,” Liv announced, and everyone made their way to the table. Blythe felt more as though she was floating than walking; she wasn’t sure her feet even touched the ground. Jace pulled a chair out for her and sat to her right. Tucker sat in the chair on her left, and when he did, the feeling that spread over her made her lose her breath.
Jace covered her hand with his, but she didn’t look at him. She looked at Tucker instead. He looked different today. His eyes were dark. Instead of green, they looked brown. His face was tight, like it had been the day before, when they first met. She’d seen his darkness then, and now it was back.
“Hi,” she said softly, moving her hand away from Jace.
He turned to look at her, but didn’t answer. Instead, he brushed her cheek with the back of his hand.
Blythe pushed the food around on her plate. She wasn’t hungry. She looked across the table at her dad, who was questioning her with his eyes.
With so many people and conversations flying around the long table, she didn’t feel the need to talk. Even if she had, she wouldn’t have known what to say. Jace and Tucker were quiet too, but she could feel them on either side of her.
She was so uncomfortable, she wanted to leave the table. Worse, she wanted to leave Crested Butte, go home, and escape the heat emanating from these two men.
Kiss Me Cowboy (Cowboys of Crested Butte Book 3) Page 4