The Chef Chases his Cowboy Dream (Silverstone Ranch Book 3)

by April Murdock

  “Hey, Wes.” She sat on the porch steps and he lowered himself to sit beside her.

  “Hey,” he muttered.

  “What’s the matter?”

  Wesley lifted a shoulder.

  “Yeah. I get it.” She’d spent the better part of the week checking her phone and stopping herself from calling Christian. Why was she still so attracted to him? She’d even contemplated calling his number from her landline so he wouldn’t know it was her just to hear his voice. What was wrong with her?

  He glanced in her direction. “Still no luck on the guy front?”

  “Not really. I thought we were getting somewhere, but it turns out all he sees is who I was, not who I am now.” She sighed as she placed her head on his shoulder.

  “I’m sorry.”

  She nudged him in the ribs. “You tell her you love her yet?”

  Wesley stiffened. “What? Who?”

  Mia lifted her head and rolled her eyes. “For heaven’s sake, Wes. We all see it. And I mean everyone. It’s like the two of you are the only ones who don’t get it.”

  He didn’t move.

  “Wes! You and Lily.”

  “What?”

  “Oh. My. Gosh. Do I have to spell it out for you?” She tossed her head back and let out a long breath. “Wesley, you love Lily. Everyone sees it. Even I saw it the moment I saw you in the barn. I don’t know how long you’ve felt this way. I’d like to think you had sincere feelings for me at one point.” Though right now, she just wanted this whole mess to be resolved.

  “I did—”

  She gave him a soft smile. “Doesn’t matter. Lily has feelings for you too. She has since she was a kid. Lily just never thought you liked her back. You guys were buds. And we all know how hard it is to get out of the friend zone.” Christian crossed her thoughts. They weren’t exactly close friends, but they had become more than acquaintances.

  “Yeah,” he muttered. His eyes jumped to meet hers. “Wait, you could tell there was something there?”

  Mia gave an exaggerated groan.

  He lifted his hands. “Okay. Okay.”

  Mia placed a hand on his cheek. “You guys are perfect for each other, Wes. You should be together.”

  His expression darkened. “I don’t think she feels the same way anymore. She’s interested in Christian now. And my so-called brother doesn’t seem to care. He’s stepped between Lily and me this entire time.”

  Mia laughed. “Wes, your brother hasn’t been in your way. You have.” Well, that wasn’t completely true. She and Christian could have minded their own business and left it to fate. That might have made things turn out a bit differently. She cringed inwardly. That will teach her not to meddle in other people’s love affairs.

  Well, except her own.

  Chapter Eight

  Christian hopped out of his truck and shoved his phone in his pocket. He slapped his hat on his head. If he was lucky, he wouldn’t have to interact with Wes, Lily, or Mia. Though, if he were honest with himself, he’d admit he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her. It didn’t matter that this whole thing had blown up in their faces. What mattered was the fact that the picture of her face continued to pester him no matter what he did.

  Last night he’d dreamed they were together. It had been the happiest he’d been in ages. But when he woke up, it was like someone had doused him with cold water.

  Lily stood in the middle of all the rodeo-goers, stock still. She was staring at something. He followed her focus and his stomach dropped. Mia and Wesley. They sure looked cozy. He fought the instinct to feel jealous. He knew from experience how nice it was to have her full attention, but the way he’d treated her on Wednesday, he wouldn’t be surprised if she never wanted to speak to him again.

  Wesley and Mia got to their feet. Then Wesley cupped Mia’s face and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Christian’s stomach lurched. That should have been him.

  As bad as he was feeling, Lily must have felt one hundred times worse. He looked to Lily and walked toward her. She needed to know it wasn’t what it appeared to be. Mia had no interest in Wes, right? His focus shifted to his brother again. It sure looked like they were interested in each other. Christian shook his head to clear it. He was too close to the situation. Time to distance himself.

  Lily spun around and ran into him.

  “Lily, it’s not what it looks like.”

  Lily tore herself away from him. “Sure looks like something important.” She pushed past him, blinking furiously.

  “Lily, wait!”

  She ran toward the barn, not turning back. Christian scowled as his gaze landed on the reason for Lily’s tears. He stormed toward the building. “Wes!”

  “What do you want, Christian?” Wesley matched his brother’s glare.

  Christian’s focus shifted to Mia, then returned to Wesley. “You idiot.”

  Wesley’s head reared back. “What?”

  Christian jabbed a finger into his chest, poking him with each word. “You always jack everything up.” He looked up at Mia. “And you. This whole scheme was your idea and you let this happen.”

  Mia came down to stand beside Wesley. “What are you talking about, Christian?”

  Christian pointed to the barn a way off. “Lily just saw you guys.”

  Wesley looked toward the barn. “Okay.”

  A growl escaped Christian. He stepped forward and took hold of Wesley’s shirt. He dragged him forward and pushed him in the direction of the barn. “She saw you kiss Mia.”

  Wesley stumbled a few steps back and yanked Christian’s hand away from his clothes. He brushed his hands down his shirt. “And?”

  Mia gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. “Wesley, think about it. We dated. To her it might look like we still have feelings for each other.”

  Bingo. Was he really smarter than these two?

  The blood drained from Wesley’s face. His brother finally met Christian’s expression with one of concern. “Was she upset?”

  “Why do you think I’m over here telling you to go find her? Geesh, Wes. All this matchmaking stuff for nothing!”

  “It wasn’t exactly—” Wesley attempted an excuse.

  “Wesley, go!” Mia all but yelled at him.

  Wesley nodded and jogged backward, calling out a thanks to them, before he turned and sprinted toward the barn.

  Christian spun around. “Don’t you think anything through?” He shook his head.

  Her large blue eyes grew round. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “People are always watching. Spending time with Wesley will give any number of these gossips a reason to spread more lies.” Christian folded his arms. “For all your talk on trying to get them together, you very nearly messed the whole thing up.”

  She lifted her chin. “You’re blaming me.”

  “Of course I’m blaming you. Setting them up this way was your idea.”

  Mia held up a hand. “Hold up. You told me you wanted to do it your way. There were multiple times you probably took it too far. Nuh-uh. This is on you too, buddy.”

  His hands clenched at his sides. “And what was that kiss about?”

  The anger on her face suddenly melted and she smiled. “What kiss?”

  “You know. The kiss.” Heat rushed up the back of his neck. Why had he even brought it up? It was just a kiss on her forehead.

  Mia stepped closer. Her eyes narrowed. “Wait a minute. Are you jealous, Christian?”

  “What? No. Of course not.”

  “Then why are you so upset? Wesley is going after Lily. He’ll set things right. Everything is on track.”

  His breathing came in short spurts as she continued to close the distance between them. The blue pools of her eyes had pulled him in. He could practically drown in them.

  “I—um—this whole thing could have—could have been avoided if we’d just done that in the first place.” He really should be apologizing for his reaction a few days ago. But it was like his smarts had left hi
m. He was powerless and his nerves were shot.

  “Done what?” She trailed a fingertip along his chest. “You’re not really upset about how long this charade took. Something else is bothering you, isn’t it?” She lifted her chin and grinned at him. “Time to stop being a hypocrite, Christian. Tell me the truth.” Her voice lowered to a whisper and she stood on her toes to get closer to his ear. “Just admit what’s really bothering you.” Chills swept down his arms as her warm breath grazed his ear.

  He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. His brows pulled together and he took a step back so he could grasp her wrist. Her touch had sent a ripple of fire through his body. “You want to know why I’m so mad?”

  She nodded.

  “I’m mad that you sucked me into this whole scheme of yours. I’m mad I kept going along with it against my better judgment. But most of all, I’m mad I can’t get you out of my head and all I am to you is a part of a scheme.” The words slipped from his lips before he could stop them. If he didn’t look like a fool before, he did now. But she wanted the truth so he forged ahead.

  The smile fell from her face. Hopefully he hadn’t made the wrong choice.

  Christian grasped her chin with his thumb and forefinger. “You were my little brother’s girlfriend. I’m not supposed to be drawn to you. But between your obvious love for your friends and your spontaneous nature—I was a goner before I knew it.” His eyes dropped to her mouth. What would those lips taste like? Would they be as soft as they looked? He lifted his thumb and trailed it along her lower lip, the velvet texture better than he’d anticipated. “For some reason I don’t understand, I find myself fantasizing about you—us.”

  “What do you want me to say, Christian?” She cast her eyes down but didn’t pull away from him. Her breathing had quickened. Was he affecting her the way she did him? Had he lost his opportunity that night he confronted her?

  “Agree to go out with me. A real date.”

  Her eyes cut to meet his. “You want to go on a date?”

  He let out a groan. “Come on, Mia. You’re not gonna make me ask twice, are you?”

  Mia bit down on her lip. “I seem to remember you referring to me as something the other night. What was it? Oh yeah. Juvenile. You sure that’s not a deal breaker anymore?”

  His heart dropped into his stomach. It was too late. Her face was a mask he couldn’t read. But the tone of her voice told him everything. He gave her a short nod and stepped back. He’d never been the type to force a girl to be interested in him. His throat was tight and there was nothing he could say at this point. He turned and made his way toward the parking lot. His only objective was to get out of there as fast as he could.

  “Christian,” Mia called after him.

  Slowly he turned, his face already flushing.

  She shook her head as she put her hands in her back pockets. A smile touched her face. “Being blind must be genetic.”

  His brows pushed together.

  “You and your brother.”

  Still he didn’t know what she was referring to.

  Mia laughed. “I like you, dummy. Besides helping out a pair of lovesick friends, the only reason I kept at this silly matchmaking business was because I wanted to spend a little more time with you—even if that meant checking in on the phone. An excuse is an excuse.”

  Everything that came out of her mouth seemed to be foreign to him. He attempted to make sense of it. Wait, did she say she liked him? He couldn’t find his voice to respond in any way.

  She now stood in front of him. “So, that means I’ll go on a date with you.” Mia twisted her toe in the ground and gave him a crooked smile. “Just… let’s not go mini golfing.”

  Christian laughed. He cupped her face between both his hands and pressed a firm kiss on her lips. She stiffened, then slowly her hands lifted, and her fingers wove their way through his hair. Rockets shot off inside him as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him. The cliché was true. Mia could be that person who made his pulse race and made him laugh. She could break his heart, but something inside him knew she never would.

  Holding her like this made him feel secure and whole—a feeling he’d never felt with any woman before. She was the one he was meant to be with. And he’d finally found her.

  After these two sweet happy endings full of promise for a future of love, are you ready for the next one?

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  This stand alone story is an enemies to lovers whirlwind romance set in small town Texas where Thatcher Ranch and Bolton Ranch meet.

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