“And you think he has?”
She snorted. “Oh hell, no. That’s what’s funny—turns out I was right.”
Good. That asshole doesn’t deserve a woman like you.
She went on, “I might’ve been blind enough to douchebags to marry a couple of them, but him? Even my high-school self smelled the vinegar on him.”
Matt wrinkled his nose but chuckled. He held the door open for her, and as she stepped outside, said, “Well, even douchebags have their place. I hear he’s selling used cars in Goldmount.”
Dara giggled. “Why, it sounds like fate, doesn’t it?”
Matt just laughed.
Beth was waiting by the truck, and she eyed them. “What’re you two conspirators snickering about this time?”
“Oh, nothing,” Dara said. “Just amused by how little some people change over the years.”
His sister laughed. “Considering who you were just talking to? Yeah, I’m with you.”
Still chuckling, the three of them piled into the truck. As Matt started the engine, Beth said, “I swear, almost everyone from high school is a normal, well-adjusted adult now. Which is a miracle in itself, considering this town.”
“Amen,” Dara and Matt both muttered.
“But there are definitely exceptions to that rule.” Beth groaned. “I swear, if that man shows up at the farm one more time claiming he’s looking for a horse, I’m going to smoosh his face in a pile of manure.”
“Geez, Beth,” Matt said. “Tell us how you really feel.”
“Okay, but you’d better take the long way home, ’cause it’s gonna take a while.”
“No, that’s—”
“No, no.” Dara grinned. “I want to hear this.”
“Oh, Jesus.” Matt rolled his eyes. Neither Dara nor his sister had ever been particularly gossipy, not even when Beth had a few beers in her, but if there was one man in the county who could bring out the cattiness in anyone, it was Paul Worley.
Twenty-five minutes of sordid stories and countless scoffs of “No, he didn’t!” and “Is he serious?” later, Matt pulled into the farm’s driveway.
“Well, ladies.” He put the truck in park in front of the office. “Thanks for the post-high school social updates, but—”
“Oh, shut up.” Beth smacked his arm. “Don’t act like you don’t know about that clown. I saw the way you glared at him when he was talking up Dara.”
Dara turned to him. “Oh really?”
Matt cleared his throat, wishing he could glare at his sister, but he couldn’t because Dara was between them. “Me and every guy in there.”
“Well, it’s nice to know the whole town feels so protective.” Dara smirked. “Though, knowing my reputation, I don’t know who they were protecting.”
“Ugh. People.” Beth patted her arm. “They’ll get over it.”
“We’ll see about that.”
They climbed out of the truck. Beth yawned. “Okay, guys. Five thirty comes early, so I’m out. I’ll see you in the morning, Matt. And Dara, hopefully I’ll see you soon?”
Dara smiled. “Yes, definitely.”
Beth hugged Matt and Dara in turn, and then headed up to the house. When they were alone, Dara turned to Matt. “So.” She raised an eyebrow. “Did you get any phone numbers tonight?”
“Phone numbers? No.”
“Really? Looked like you and that brunette were getting cozy.”
“What?” Matt waved his hand and shook his head. “We were just talking.”
“Don’t lie to me, Matt. I know what I saw.”
“What are you talking about?” He eyed her. “She was asking me about Brandy. She’s looking for a barrel racer.”
Dara blinked. “Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
“Matt. Honey.” She shook her head. “That woman was not looking for a horse. Not unless those dirty looks she was giving me were because she thought I was going to try to buy your horse before she could.”
“The dirty—” Matt exhaled, rolling his eyes. “Well, so much for convincing you that I have any more clue about women now than I did back then.”
Dara just smiled. “It’s okay. We’re a confusing species. But yes, she was absolutely flirting with you.”
“Great. Why can’t women just hold up signs when they’re flirting?”
“Because that would take the mystery out of it all.” She laughed. “I know, it’s annoying.”
“They should teach classes on this shit,” he muttered.
“Right? Anyone ever figures out how to teach it, they’ll make a fortune.”
“I’d invest in that startup.”
“Me too.”
They both laughed quietly. Then she looked at her phone and scowled. “Damn, it’s really getting late. I should probably go—I do have to work tomorrow.”
“On a Saturday?”
She nodded. “Still playing catch-up from moving. That’s the shitty part of being self-employed—there’s no one to pick up the slack while you’re busy getting divorced.”
“Hmm, yeah. Divorce aside, I’ve been there, done that.”
“Adulthood, am I right?”
“So right.”
She laughed halfheartedly. “Fuck adulthood. But, anyway, thanks for inviting me along tonight. I had a really nice time.”
“Glad to hear it. It was nice to have you there.” Heat rushed into his cheeks, and he cleared his throat. “I mean, it was back when we were kids and—”
“I know what you meant.” She smiled. “And it was good to be back in that world again. I may have to start shopping for a horse after the baby’s here.”
“Talk to Beth. She’ll hook you up.”
“Of course. That’s a ways off, though. For now, no rest for the weary.” She took her keys out of her pocket. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Tomorr—oh, right.” He’d promised earlier to come by and help her with some of the bigger and heavier boxes and pieces of furniture that needed two people to move. “Yes, absolutely.”
“Thanks. I really appreciate it.”
“Don’t mention it.”
They exchanged smiles in the harsh glow of the barn’s stark outside lights, and then she started toward her car.
Matt glanced at the Mercedes and realized he’d never really given it a close look. “When did you start driving cars like this, anyway? What happened to ‘they’re gonna bury me in a Chevy’?”
Dara turned and laughed. “The gas prices in California, for one thing.”
“It’s a nice car.” He scrutinized its every sleek angle and curve. “You sure could’ve done worse.”
“That’s what I figured. If I had to give up my truck, I was at least going to get something that looked good. And…” She shrugged, lowering her gaze a bit. “I don’t know. I guess when Jon and I started actually making a grownup living, we decided we liked having a few grownup things, too. When I realized I could afford a car like this, I thought I’d take it for a test drive.” She trailed her finger over the edge of the side mirror. “What can I say? I was hooked.”
“Yeah, I know how that goes.”
“Do you?” She peered at him over the white roof. “So Mr. Ford-or-Nothing strayed from his roots too?”
Matt’s cheeks burned. “You could say that. And not just the truck either. I sold all but one of my cars before I left Chicago, but I had—”
“All your cars?” She arched an eyebrow. “Did you have a fleet or something?”
“I kind of got caught up in that whole ‘grownup’ thing too. And I like sports cars.” He chuckled. “It was a bit of a milestone for me, the day I couldn’t decide between two Ferraris and realized I could have both.”
Her eyes widened. “So did you buy both?”
“And a third one for good measure.”
“Wow.” She laughed. “Boys and their toys?”
Matt laughed softly. “Says the girl driving a Mercedes.”
“Fair point. It does kind of stick out like a sore thumb here, doesn’t it?”
Matt shrugged. “Just needs a little mud on the tires, that’s all.”
“I think that voids the warranty.”
“True. Well, if you want to see one that sticks out, you should see mine.”
“Yeah?”
He nodded. “I still have one of the Ferraris. And now that the weather’s getting nice, I can take it out a bit more.”
“Only take it out with the top down?”
“Of course. That’s actually the only way I can drive it anymore.”
She furrowed her brow. “What do you mean?”
“Because it…” He paused. “It’s weird how the brain works. The thing is, I commuted in different cars, but they all had leather interior. Eventually, it got to the point that any time I was driving anywhere, it was to work. Or a meeting. Or dinner with clients. And after a while, being in a car that smelled like leather made my blood pressure go nuts.”
“But what about your saddles?”
“Different kind of leather. Different kind of smell.”
“True. They don’t quite smell the same.”
“Yep. And it’s getting better. At least I can smell coffee without gagging again.”
Dara’s eyes widened. “You couldn’t… Coffee?”
“For about three months, I’d get heartburn just taking a whiff of it.” He shuddered at the memory. “Obviously I got over that.”
“Good. Life without coffee, though. That’s just not life worth living.”
“Right?” He paused. “Well, it’s my own damned fault for letting things get to that point. I was a fucking wreck last year.”
“Why didn’t you get out sooner?”
“I thought about it. Hell, we all did. We could’ve throttled back after the first few years, but when the money started coming in as fast as it did, we wanted to see how far we could take it. So we just kept at it, and everything kept growing, and the money kept on coming—”
“And then you woke up one day on the verge of a heart attack.”
Matt nodded. “You know it’s bad when you’re pacing in a hospital, hoping like hell your buddy pulls through, but also thinking ‘that could be me’. Especially after your doctor’s been dogging you for a year because it really could be you.”
“Jesus. And your business partner, the one who did have the heart attack…” She lifted her eyebrows. “Was he… Did he…”
“Survive?”
She nodded, cringing slightly.
“By the skin of his teeth. And as soon as he was back on his feet—”
“He went right back to work?”
“Yep. He didn’t pull quite so many hours at first, but that didn’t last long.”
“What about the others? Are they still in?”
“For the moment. Ron scaled back after David’s heart attack, and Donna just wants to hold out for a couple more years. Kevin…” Matt sighed. “He’s always been more of a workaholic than any of us, and after his second wife left, he put his whole face to the grindstone. I don’t know if he’ll ever stop until his body gives out.”
“Shit, that’s brutal.”
“It is. I couldn’t watch them keep killing themselves, and I didn’t want to give them more work, but I couldn’t keep killing myself either.”
“No, you have to take care of you.” She folded her arms beneath her breasts. “I work myself into the ground, and it’s still hard to imagine living like that.”
“Believe me, I know.”
Her lips quirked. “Well, it doesn’t sound like you’ll ever have to worry about money again.”
“No, probably not. But sometimes… I don’t know. I wonder if it was all worth it. I could have any toys I wanted, go anywhere in the world if I felt like it, but I didn’t have time. I didn’t have time for anything. I couldn’t enjoy life. I mean, those sports cars? Like I said, I got to a point I couldn’t even drive them because just the smell of the interior stressed me out.” He exhaled hard. “I know, I know. Poor me. I’ve got more money than I know what to do with. But I missed out on a chunk of my life getting that money. So yeah, sometimes I wonder if it was worth it.”
She studied him for a moment. “Can I ask something personal?”
“Of course.”
Dara shifted her weight. “I know you were working yourself to death. But you said one of your business partners had time to get married and divorced twice, and let’s face it, you’re a good-looking man. Even if you didn’t have time for a relationship—”
“Why didn’t I ever sleep with anyone?”
“Basically, yeah.”
Matt avoided her eyes. “Well, like I said, I worked so many hours, ten years of my life basically disappeared into the company. And back in college, I was studying my ass off, but I was also…you know…”
“Shy. You always were.”
“I was going to say I was awkward as hell with women, but okay, let’s go with that.”
“Not really.” Dara shrugged. “You’re just an introvert.”
“We can argue about the semantics all day long, but the bottom line is that even if I could get a woman to talk to me, to put it crassly, I never quite, um…”
“Figured out how to close the deal?”
“Something like that. The thing is, I can get a date now. And I have time, thank God. But I’m…” He swallowed hard and met her gaze. “How many women our age are going to be interested in someone who’s completely inexperienced?” He pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled. “God, I sound fucking pathetic. Would you believe I’ve seriously considered just hiring someone?”
“Like a prostitute?”
Lowering his hand, he smirked. “That’s what you’d call someone you hire for sex, yes.” He sighed. “You must think I’m a complete idiot.”
“No, I don’t.” She came closer and took his hand. “I’m not judging, Matt. I promise.”
“Still. I’m thirty-six years old. I should have…” God, where to even start. “I don’t know. It’s just a tough spot to be in, you know?”
She held his gaze, and there was nothing but sympathy in her eyes. Then she broke eye contact and chewed her lip.
His throat tightened. Shit. Awkward. There was no one else in the world he could talk to so candidly about this, but it still must’ve been weird for her. He took a breath and was about to change the subject to something more comfortable, but she spoke first:
“What about me?”
He lifted his eyebrows. “What about you?”
“You said you wished there was a class in understanding women. And I guess that got me thinking… What if I can teach you, you know, the physical side of things?”
Matt’s stomach flipped. “Are you offering to sleep with me?”
She held his gaze, and some color bloomed in her cheeks as she nodded once.
“You’re serious.”
“Yes.” She took a breath. “Look, I’ve been there, done that, and—”
“Dara, I…” He shook his head. “I can’t use you like that.”
“I’m offering. You want a safe place to experience it with someone who won’t laugh at you or judge you?” She pointed at herself. “You’re looking at her.”
He could barely fit the words into his head. Sex with any woman was alien territory for him, but Dara?
She grinned. “And it’s not like there’s much risk involved.” She gestured at her stomach. “You already got me pregnant.”
He stared at her incredulously. Then they both burst out laughing.
“This is insane,” he whispered. “I… I don’t even… I’d still be using you
.”
“It isn’t like I wouldn’t be getting anything out of it. I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine. Because, look, I’m not even a little interested in dating right now. I’ve had two marriages go to shit, I’ve got a kid to think about, and I don’t want to think about starting a relationship with someone else.” With a wicked grin, she added, “And I can already tell I’m going to be one of those pregnant women who’s constantly horny.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah. Trust me. So if you want to call it using me to learn to have sex, I’ll call it using you so I don’t clean out all the sex-toy shops in Goldmount.”
Matt chuckled nervously. “That dusty shop in Aspen Mill isn’t good enough for you?”
“Already raided it.”
He laughed. “Wow.”
She laughed too, but turned serious. “I mean it, Matt. The thing is, the dating scene is brutal. It’s fucking cruel. Just figuring out if someone is interested in you is a pain in the ass, and hooking up with someone…” She paused. “To be blunt, it’s not like when we were teenagers, and everybody involved was clueless. Most people now have, you know, experience.”
He winced. “Aside from the late bloomers like me, right?”
“That’s where I come in, sweetie.” Her voice was soft. “You trust me, right?”
“Absolutely. But we’ve… I mean, we were always friends. We never…” He swallowed. “Shit, you saw me tonight. I can’t tell if a woman is flirting with me. I don’t even know what chemistry feels like, let alone if we have it.”
“Well, there’s one way to find out.” Gravel crunched between her feet, and his heart went crazy as she came closer.
He fought the urge to draw back against his truck. “What do you have in mind?”
“I think you know exactly what I have in mind.” Dara paused. “You’ve been kissed before, haven’t you? I could swear I saw you kissing Shana Williams back in college.”
His face burned, and he nodded. “A few times, yeah. That’s as far as it’s ever gone.”
She came even closer, and his heart sped up, especially as she murmured, “Do you want to do this?”
Now that you mention it…
“I’m not sure.”
Dara put her arms around his neck, and a shiver went through him. “Just so you know,” she said, “none of this is a point of no return.”
The Virgin Cowboy Billionaire's Secret Baby Page 7