Page 39 of Love You
A wife? Okay, that lightened Win’s mood. Lucky led them up a treelined path with a flagstone walkway to a small house, which turned out to be a boot shop and studio. Win had never seen so many cowboy boots. Exotic skins, distressed leather, round toe, pointy toe, fancy stitchwork, rhinestones, you name it.
Win put his hand under Darcy’s chin. “Close your mouth, you’re drooling.”
Lucky chuckled. “My wife, Tawny, designs them.” He pointed to a pair with a San Francisco Giants logo. “Those are for Bruce Bochy. That pair over there, Harrison Ford.”
“You’re not supposed to tell anyone that.” An attractive brunette came out of one of the back rooms. “Cordovan-client privilege.”
“She’s too ethical.” Lucky draped an arm over her shoulder and Win could see pride bursting from every pore in the cowboy’s body and wondered what it would be like to be that consumed by a woman. That in love.
He sure hadn’t felt it with Britney or even Deb, who’d been the closest thing he’d ever had to a serious girlfriend. But it was nothing like what he was witnessing now. The air around Lucky and his wife crackled with electricity. No one could miss it.
Lucky made the introductions and they chatted for a while before everyone went off in different directions, looking at the boots. Even Win, who wasn’t much of a shopper, found himself trying on a pair. Tawny had said the ones in her shop were either samples, seconds, or custom orders that the client had never paid for. They were expensive but well worth the price, given the workmanship.
He spied Darcy in the corner, modeling a red pair for Tawny, the two looking slightly conspiratorial. Win planned to ask her about it later. Right now, he just enjoyed watching her. Funny, how they had worked together for almost a year and it wasn’t until recently that he’d noticed how appealing she was. Smart, pretty, bullheaded. Okay, he could do without that last part but at the same time it sort of cracked him up. She was a third of his size but that didn’t stop her from telling him what to do.
And knowing that she toed the line with everyone else made him feel special. With him, she felt comfortable enough in her own skin to push back.
And thirty minutes later she was pushing back all right. To say she was livid was an understatement. Once again, he’d blown up “the plan” to eat at the Bun Boy, the burger drive-through he liked so much. They were supposed to have lunch at the Indian place in Glory Junction. But they were here now and all the time they’d spent on Lucky’s cattle ranch had made him hungry for beef.
The Bun Boy didn’t have indoor seating and only a pickup window where a pimply-faced kid called your name when the food was up. Way more casual than Darcy wanted for their VIP clients. But Remy, Sue, and Russell seemed more than happy to sit outside at a picnic table, under a leafy oak tree and munch on curly fries while tourists on their way to the Feather River walked their dogs in the tall grass.
They had brand-new cowboy boots in the van, pictures of themselves pretending to ride bulls on their camera phones, and food in their bellies. Free food that Garner Adventure had picked up the tab for. What more could anyone want?
But Darcy continued to shoot him death glares throughout lunch. He had an overwhelming urge to kiss the scowl off her face in front of their VIPs, God, and everyone just to see what she would do. The woman needed to relax. He had this.
He went back to the window, waited in line, and ordered her dessert. Maybe a soft serve ice cream cone would sweeten her disposition. He brought it back to her and he could swear she wanted to shove it in his face.
“It’s all good, Darce,” he whispered. “They’re having fun.”
“I went to a lot of trouble to make reservations and plan everything out to the minute. And you . . . eating at a drive-through has nothing to do with team building. It just looks lame.”
“It’s authentic and rustic and something different than they’re probably used to.” There was nothing wrong with being spontaneous if it got the job done. She on the other hand needed to get laid or do something to make her loosen up. Ordinarily, he would’ve helped her with that but he was still on the abstinence train. Though it—and he—was getting harder every day.
“It’s my promotion on the line,” she continued but he suspected that it was more than a raise and a title. She wanted to be acknowledged for her hard work. He got that. He really did.
“You did a fantastic job organizing this, Darcy. The bull riding was the highlight of the weekend so far and it was your doing, not mine. But there’s noIin team.” He’d played enough sports to know that firsthand.
“You’re starting to get on my nerves,” she said.
She was starting to get on his nerves—the ones in his dick. With her hands on a pair of shapely hips, her breasts heaving in frustration, and her plump bottom lip protruding in agitation, he wanted to put them both out of their misery.
She looked up at the sky, impatiently, let out a breath, and stomped off to the van. The whole ride back to Glory Junction, she made amiable conversation with Remy, Sue, and Russell but wouldn’t spare him so much as a glance. All over a stupid lunch.
To make it up to her, they spent their last dinner with the FlashTag group at the Indian place. Darcy had sweet-talked the owner into making space for them, even though the place was booked and they’d flaked on their lunch reservation.
They’d already been to GA to hand out the goody bags, which Deb had filled with an assortment of gear they sold from their online store. TJ, being the control freak that he was, showed up—on a Sunday no less—and tried to close the deal. But their VIPs made it clear that Madison De Wolk had the final say. They’d done all they could do. At least for now.
Remy, Sue, and Russell had been a fun bunch and Win hoped they could continue to work together. He also wanted the bonus TJ had promised for his house and for Darcy to get her promotion. Most important, though, getting the FlashTag account would go a long way to putting GA in the black after Royce’s lawsuit. Keeping his parents’ legacy profitable was important to him, though he’d always taken it for granted before.
But his priorities were changing. And unfortunately, so was his taste in women, he thought as he glanced at Darcy, who was in a lively conversation with Sue. Since when was he turned on by anal-retentive women who thought he was good enough for sex but not worth much of anything else? Never, that’s when.
Chapter Ten
Darcy was exhausted. She didn’t think she’d talked her entire life as much as she had this weekend. All she wanted was a hot bath and a soft mattress. As soon as Win paid their restaurant bill, they’d drop off the FlashTag crew at the Four Seasons and she could go home.
Home away from Win, who was starting to make her feel pent up with an uncomfortable sort of energy she couldn’t identify.
“Ready to go?” He returned to the table from the men’s room with his hands jammed in the pockets of his jeans. The same ones he’d worn while riding that bull, which had nearly given her a heart attack.
