22. Boone

Twenty Two

Boone

Rhodes and I decided to take the horses out for a quick ride before calling it a day. Things between us were better now. I didn’t bring up the conversation, choosing to let it stay in the past. He had every right to call me out for being a jackass, and honestly, I’m glad he did. If Rhodes hadn’t said what he did, last night with Aspen wouldn’t have happened. I couldn’t get her moans out of my head. When she looked me in the eyes and took my cock in her mouth like that, I was smitten.

Rhodes and I were riding through the same field I took Aspen. I felt like I should come clean and tell him before he finds out from someone else, not that I think Aspen would run around town and share what happened. I cleared my throat, but before I could speak, Rhodes pointed to something in the distance.

“What’s that lying on the ground?” Rhodes asked. Looking to where he directed his attention, we rode closer.

Smiling as I hopped down and walked over. I squatted and picked up Aspen’s thong, letting it dangle from my pointer finger.

Rhodes started laughing. “You dirty bastard,” he swore. Tucking her panties in my back pocket, I remounted my horse.

“I was just about to tell you, but it looks like karma beat me to it,” I replied.

Rhodes shook his head, grinning. “You decided to make your move.” I didn’t want to hold back and make it seem like I was tiptoeing around the subject for his sake. It was better to be upfront with how I felt and at least share it with someone I trusted.

“I did and I wish I’d done it sooner. I like her, man.” I wanted to explore this connection. Her personality was everything I didn’t know I needed and the attraction was just icing on the cake.

“I’m happy for you. It’s about time.” Rhodes was genuinely happy, his smile and tone were dead giveaways. A part of me still felt guilty for sharing my happiness when I knew what he’d been through.

“We haven’t talked about last night or what it means going forward,” I said. “I hope she feels the same. I don’t want to be overly confident and make assumptions.” Thinking back on how she acted last night, I highly doubted these feelings were one-sided.

“Ask her, be honest with yourself and her,” Rhodes said.

“There’s something different about this. I care too much about saying the wrong thing or coming off too strong and scaring her away.” With any other woman, I would’ve just laid everything out, and if they accepted, fine, but if not, I’d move on to the next. Aspen was worth more than that.

Aspen

Closing time was coming up, which I was eternally grateful for after today. I had a writing bug, meaning my mind was only focused on being an author, not running a business. Ideas were flying around my mind. I was writing plot points and other side events in the notes app on my phone.

When Boone dropped me off last night, I didn’t go to bed. I couldn’t shut my mind off enough to sleep, so I wrote. I sat up in my bed and typed my heart out until well past midnight. I made sure I wrote down every detail I could remember from the date because I needed it to be a part of my book. Ironically, the first thing I did this morning was read that section back through.

Smiling and dancing around the farm stand, my mind was solely focused on Boone from last night, standing above me looking like a Greek god. His chiseled abs, sculpted biceps. It was a body you got from manual labor, making it that much hotter. I didn’t know what came over me either; I didn’t shy away at any point. Usually, I could be timid during sex, Boone just ignited another side of me. I sucked his fucking thumb and told him I wanted it hot and hard.

Reflecting on the first time we hooked up in the swimming hole, I reacted completely differently last night. I was confident and happy in my skin, enough to bring him to his knees, literally. Giggling at the thought, I worked through my closing tasks because priority one was to get home and write.

“You started without me?” Boone asked as he walked in, holding his hands behind his back. Turning around, I stopped cleaning and put my full attention on him. He was sweaty and dirty. That man needed a shower and I would volunteer as tribute to wash every inch of his body.

My stomach was filled with butterflies because this was the first time I had seen him since our night together. Spinning around fast made me a little dizzy, or maybe it was his smile and that damn mustache.

I walked toward him and said, “I can’t wait on you forever. I have writing to do.” As I stood before him, I clutched the dirty towel in my hands. I noticed his hands were behind his back, was he holding something? I leaned to the side in hopes I could get a quick peek.

“Curious, are we?” Boone asked, turning in a way that kept me from seeing his hands as he walked backward to the counter. “You don’t get this until I get mine.”

Instantly, I knew what he meant. Like every other day, I went and grabbed the paper bag containing his muffin. Without hesitation, I held the bag behind my back, offering him a sweet smile, and said, “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”

“We both show when I say go,” Boone challenged.

We waited a beat, my anticipation growing. “Go!” he shouted. Boone’s hand came from behind him, holding a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers picked from the field behind the stand. My muffin suddenly felt very underwhelming.

I moved closer to him, grabbing the flowers and handing him the brown bag, “These are gorgeous.” I pulled them close to my face to smell them. This man didn’t realize what he was doing to me. Boone opened the bag and took a look inside, probably making sure the muffin was actually in there.

He leaned against the counter and crossed one boot over the other. “I thought you could put them on your desk, you know for inspiration.” My fucking heart exploded. I didn’t know what to say or do at the moment except stare down at the flowers in awe. The feelings I felt towards this man were growing at an exponential rate which felt a bit scary.

I was unable to take my eyes away from the flowers when I said, “You know how to treat a woman, Boone.” I meant that and I wanted him to know it too. He was doing everything right, any woman would be lucky to have him. Deep down, I wished I could have him all to myself. But, I knew this was coming to an end. We shared our last date, but neither one of us brought it up. Boone was free to do whatever and whoever he wanted, and that made me sad.

“Good?” he asked.

“Amazing,” I muttered. When I looked up, I swore I saw him smile to himself. I wanted to know what he was thinking and where his head was after last night. Right now, I’d do anything to stop this from ending. Curiosity got the best of me, so I asked, “How are you feeling after yesterday?”

Boone paused, placing the brown bag on the counter before saying, “I wanted to talk to you about that.”

My stomach dropped, that wasn’t what I expected him to say. “Me too, but you go first!” I wasn’t going to tell him how much I thought about it today or the fact I wanted to do it over and over again, especially if he was going to reject me. That’s why he brought the flowers, to butter me up and let me down!

“Last night was amazing,” Boone said, crossing his arms over his chest. My shock was very clearly written all over my face. “I haven’t stopped thinking about it. Everything, not just the sex.”

“Me neither,” I said, playing with one of the petals on the flowers. Hearing him say he felt the same way was reassuring.

Boone pushed from the counter and got in my space, standing toe to toe with me. I looked up from the petals and into his blue eyes.

I think I was falling for this man and falling hard. The thought of allowing myself to be with Boone was crazy. If you asked me years ago if I’d be falling in love with Boone Cassidy, I would’ve laughed.

With him standing here, telling me he hasn’t stopped thinking about our night together gives me the courage to share my feelings too. “I don’t know what to do about it. When we made this deal, I promised myself I wouldn’t let my guard down. I can’t tell if it’s lust or what, but I don’t want whatever this is to ruin our friendship.”

Boone took the flowers from my hands and placed them on the counter. “What if we changed our deal? What if we go on another date, or maybe two, and blame it on needing inspiration?” He had a good point, could I trick my mind into believing this was all under the disguise of my writing career? If I agreed, it would mean more moments alone with Boone outside of the porch swing. It could mean more sex, you know, for research. I wasn’t a scientific girl, but for the sake of my libido, I would definitely participate. There was nothing wrong with being friends who had sex. I was a grown woman and could keep my emotions out of it.

Putting my hands on my hips, I nodded, “On one condition.”

“I don’t think rules work well for us, Darling,” Boone said, giving me a cheeky grin.

“I get to see you shirtless whenever I want,” I said, winking at him.

Boone laughed out loud, his head tipping back exposing his neck. The same neck I kissed, licked, and sucked just last night. Suddenly, I had the urge to leave my mark. “That’s a rule I think I can follow,” he said, wrapping his arm around my shoulder to escort me out the barn-style doors.

“Wait!” I squealed. “My flowers.” I spun away from his grip and jogged over to the counter, grabbing the flowers, Boone’s muffin, and the rest of my belongings.

Boone sucked in through his teeth and said, “Whoops, I was too focused on the ‘take your shirt off’ part.”

Of course, he was. I felt like, when given the chance, Boone Cassidy would show off those rock-hard abs. I resumed my position under his arm and we both walked back to the cabin.

“Did you want to come over for dinner?” I asked, hoping he would say yes. However, my refrigerator was not prepared to offer him a cooked meal. The only thing I could do was probably pasta and some garlic bread, that is, if my loaf wasn’t moldy. I don’t ever market myself as the “wife” type because I can’t cook to save my life.

Boone and I stopped directly in the middle of both our cabins, he spun to face me and placed both hands on my shoulders. “Let me go get cleaned up. I doubt you want to spend any more time with me while I smell like this.” Oh, how wrong he was, that just added to the appeal. The light dirt smudged on his face, the messy mullet, I would climb him like a tree just the way he was. However, I nodded, shooing him away.

“Go get cleaned up, Cowboy.” Spinning around I raced up my stairs and inside the cabin. I had to make my bed and clean up before he came over. My place was trashed, and I couldn’t let Boone see it like that.

Doing a speed clean, I quickly put my bed back together because morning Aspen was not awake enough for that. My dirty clothes were put where they belonged, in the hamper, and I made sure to quickly light a candle in the bedroom. Ironically, it was one of the candles Boone had bought at the farmers market.

I walked to the bedroom window and pushed open the curtain, hoping to let in a little more light so it looked less like a cave and more inviting. I forgot why I kept this curtain closed all the time. I was quickly reminded when I saw right into Boone’s cabin.

To be fair, the curtain was closed when I moved in. I never had the urge to open it until now. Not only could I see into his house, but it faced directly into his bedroom. I stood, unable to look away because Boone was already in his bedroom with a gray towel around his waist. My brain forgot how to blink and breathe at the sight of his damp and dripping skin. His hair was still wet and messy like he’d just dried it with a towel.

There was something about a man fresh out of the shower that was as alluring as a man filthy from hard work. I wasn’t going to let him know this little secret. Boone turned away from the window, dropping the towel and I had a full view of his ass, what an amazing ass it was. I watched him step into his boxers and turn towards me, adjusting himself.

My skin got hot and prickly, I brought my hand to my throat. The motion brought me flashbacks from last night when he pinned me down with his hands wrapped around my neck. I was wet, not from sweat, from something entirely different. What did having sex with Boone do to me?

Before last night, I had gone months without sex and didn’t even think twice about it. Now, I felt like a fish out of water, gasping for air. I needed to take myself away from this damn window.

I walked into my kitchen, pulling a pot from my cabinet. Cooking would get my mind off of what I just saw.

After filling the pot with water, I placed it on the stove to start the boil. While the water was warming up, I took the flowers Boone brought me and laid them out on my table. I took stem by stem and cut the ends to make them short enough to fit in my vase. The pretty colors looked so good together and I was able to create a beautiful display to put on my little desk. In the far corner of my living room, I set up my writing space.

I bought the piece of furniture a while ago from a second-hand store. When it was in my apartment it just held my junk and things I didn’t know what to do with. Now, I was finally putting it to use.

There was a knock on the door, and before I could answer, Boone came inside. He ditched the jeans and now wore a pair of gym shorts and a white T-shirt. “I hope you don’t mind my outfit,” he said, shutting the door behind him. “I also forgot to give you something else.”

“Boone!” I said. “You’ve given me enough!” Candles, jewelry, flowers, even an orgasm.

Boone shook his head and approached me as I stood in the kitchen. “This is different,” he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out my black lace thong from last night.

“Oh my God!” I said, snatching it from his hands. “Please tell me you found it in the blankets.”

“Do you want me to lie?” Boone made his way to the counter and checked on the boiling water. He picked up the box of pasta and poured it into the pot. Balling up my underwear, I asked, “Where was it?”

Boone stirred the pasta with a spoon. “Rhodes and I were out riding and he found them in the field.”

I shrieked, “Rhodes found my lace thong in the field! I will never be able to look him in the eyes!” I hid my face in my hands.

“Well, technically he spotted it from far away and I was the one who picked it up, if that helps you feel better,” Boone said, trying to hold back a laugh. He was acting so nonchalant. I groaned and stormed down the hall to the bedroom. Deciding I should change, I took off my dress to put on a pair of biker shorts and a tank top. These underwear were going in the trash. It would be a constant reminder of the fact Rhodes Dunn saw my black lace thong.