Page 30 of Beauden & Yelena

“Ho, ho, ho, hoe!” he answers, all loud and chipper. There’s a lot of background noise.

“Whatever! Merry Christmas Eve. Is this a good time?”

“Girl yes! It’s always a party around here. We just finished playing the cotton ball Christmas game. I won! I’m walking outside though,” he responds. A few seconds later, he asks, “What’s up with you?”

“Your girl is struggling.”

“Struggling. How the fuck are you struggling on a ranch filled with fine ass Black cowboys. Please explain and make it make sense.”

“Beauden asked me to stay on the ranch with him.”

“Hold up, hold up, hold the hell up,” he says in an elevated tone. “Like move to the country? Hang your red bottoms up and put on a pair of boots permanently kind of stay?”

“Crazy, right?”

“Depends.”

Shocked.“Depends? Depends on what?”

“Sis, I don’t know. I’m just thinking out loud. You sound happy as hell when I talk to you. All stress-free and shit and that picture of you on the horse was everything,” he says referring to the ones I sent him yesterday during the team builder. “We will talk about Monalisa and her husband’s pictures later though. I don’t know what Mr. Cowboy is doing to you but whatever it is I approve. I approve of it all. You were never this happy during the Leo-era. That wasn’t fun.”

“I honestly never felt like this during the two and a half years I was with his selfish ass.”

“See. Happiness is too precious not to take advantage of it. Shit! We are approaching a new year and I’m going to be bold and always go for my happiness, whatever that looks like and you need to do the same. You only have one life.”

“But staying with a man I barely know is crazy, right? I have a job, a whole life.”

“Girl, you are a bomb ass accountant and can work anywhere. Hell, we both know half of SP & Jones’s clients are there because of you and they aren’t in Orlando. You can do your job just fine on the ranch. Just make sure you take me with you. I can be your remote assistant and rent the condo for a reduced price.”

“You act like I’ve made up my mind.”

“If you haven’t, you should. Take a damn chance. You will regret not taking it if you don’t.”

Is he right?

“I don’t know,” I admit. “This is a big ass chance.”

“Hey, bae!” I hear in the background.

“Is that Damon? Tell him that I said Merry Christmas.”

“I will and take a chance. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Okay. Have fun.”

After ending the call, I’m even more confused. Never in a million years did I think Eddie would tell me to take a chance. Frustrated, I sink lower in the tub and pray this hot water, lavender, and coconut melt relax my body enough to trick my mind into relaxation too.

* * *

“Where are we eating?”I ask Beauden.

We are riding in his big F-350. At ten on the dot, he was at the lodge ready to scoop me up. I was running a few minutes behind because I spent fifteen minutes too long in the tub, thinking. I emerged clean but my mind was still confused. I am confused because whenever I’m in his presence, the answer is loud and clear.Stay and let this heavenly man treat you right.

“The best place to eat in town. They have the best brunch. We will head to Jubilee after we eat.”

As he drives, one of his hands is on the steering wheel and the other rests on my thigh. Every few minutes, he glances over at me with that sexy half-smile on his handsome face and I melt a little with each glance. He looks so good in his dark denim jeans, a dark and light blue flannel Amiri shirt, and a pair of his boots.

After about fifteen minutes, we turn off of the main road and head down a two-lane, side road. It ends at a large iron gate. At the top of the gate, there’s a metal sign withThe R & E Ranchengraved on it.

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