Page 141 of Colt

11 is good. What can I bring? Other than my vibrator?

COLTON WALLACE

Nothing. Not even clothes.

Colton pulls up to my apartment at exactly 10:55.

Dropping my sketch pad into my lap, I feel a head rush of anticipation as I watch him hop out of the Chevy.

It’s obvious he just got out of the shower. His hair is still wet, and his simple white T-shirt clings to spots on his chest and stomach where he didn’t dry off.

He smiles, and my heartbeat scatters. He took time in the middle of his workday to clean up for me.

To put together a picnic lunch for me.

“Whatcha doin’ there, Fort Worth?”

I straighten in the makeshift chair I constructed from some bales of hay I found in the barn underneath my apartment. “Working. The light is so pretty this time of day.”

“That’s right.” He tucks his hands inside his jeans. “Yellow’s our new color.”

I screw an eye shut against the sun as I look up at him. The day is bright and clear, the sun’s warmth seeping through my jeans and shirt. “You’re coming around to it, aren’t you?”

His lips twitch. “Maybe. Yes. C’mon.” He pulls a hand out of his pocket and holds it out to me. “I brought some goodies for you.”

I grab the tote bag beside me on the ground. “Great minds. I brought some for you too. Well, just one. But it’s a good, er, goody.”

His eyes flicker. “You really did bring it.”

“You’ll just have to wait and see.” I let him pull me to my feet.

His hands move to my hips, and he pulls me against him. The man smells delicious, like his woodsy body wash and clean laundry.

He gives my hips a squeeze as his eyes rake over my face. “You’re so fuckin’ pretty, you know that?”

“You tell me enough.”

“I’ll keep telling you, ’cause it’s true.” His eyes move to my mouth.

The air vibrates with his very obvious desire to kiss me. I’m dying to kiss him too. But something inside me still hesitates. Or maybe it hesitates for a different reason now. In my heart of hearts, I know I’m falling for this cowboy. And if I let him kiss me…

I mean, what happens when I fall totally and completely in love with him? Then what?

I swallow, hard, and hook my first finger through his belt loop. “Can I show you just how much I like your freshly showered look?”

“Lainey.”

“What?” I say innocently.

“I’m tryin’ to be a gentleman here. Feed you first.”

“Feed me what exactly?”

His nostrils flare. “Fuck it. Fine. In the truck. You—you’re fuckin’ shameless, you know that?”

“How so?”

He’s tugging me toward the truck now. “You know I’m always gonna give you what you want, so you just—you come right out and ask for it.”