Page 17 of Wicked Cowboy
“He was beaten and almost sent to the glue factory. I rescued him and he’s filling out nicely. Though he still has a wild spirit in him.”
Broken but healing. Sounded like my favorite kind of animal. I playfully poked him. “I’d like to meet him.”
“Absolutely.” We pulled into the same parking lot I’d spoken to Frank yesterday. The electric storm of energy from being with Carter was the tip of the iceberg in how different today was though he continued to speak about his horse. “He was my main project until you and Chelsea came into my life. Henry is improving every day.”
“You're proud. It’s cute.” He opened my door, but I jumped out first. I wasn’t the type who needed a man to hold it for me and I snapped my finger as something came to my mind. “I do need something that won’t fit on your plane. I’d like my car too, as I’ll have to return the rental.”
He offered his arm and I hedged for a second. Marriage would be strange, but I was ready to be his.
I gave him my hand and he squeezed it. “We’ll get it or get you a new one. Whatever you want.”
A new car? I wasn’t really into my old one to care, but it got me where I wanted to go without trouble. I’d stew on this later. As we strolled inside the building together, I asked, “Did you leave the SEALs to take over for your father, or was it a coincidence you were able to be there for him?”
“I left because he needed me.”
More proof he cared about family. I kept the thought to myself and asked, “And how has It been taking over from your dad?”
We read the board and headed to room three for the license while he said, “It’s not as bad as I imagined. I learned how to handle myself.”
The line had a few people in front of us, so we took our place.
“That’s noble. What was your call sign? That’s a military thing, no?”
His face grew pale and he straightened. “You don’t want to know.”
I raised my eyebrow and placed my hand on my hip. “I absolutely do.”
“Hard.”
The image of him, on top of me, in bed roared to life in my mind. My chest tightened as I imagined what he looked like under those clothes. His muscles were ripped, and that was only the beginning. I needed to stop this fantasy, and I fanned myself as I asked, “What?”
“My last name is Rockson.” We stepped forward as we were next. He took out his wallet and pointed to my pocketbook as he said, “They loved to get on the comm to say Hard Rocks when calling me.”
I reached in and took out my license, and a laugh burst out of me. Once I calmed down, I was still all smiles. “That’s funny.”
The couple in front of us paid and my heart sped up faster as he asked, “What about you? Will you miss long hours in an ER?”
Maybe courts and IDs were normal for him, but this seemed strange for me. We took our place at the window and pushed our driver's licenses through. The worker typed.
“My calf muscles won’t and I’m sure I’ll lose a few pounds now that I don’t snack to stay awake.”
He winked at me as the clerk printed out a piece of paper. “You’re gorgeous as you are.”
“That’s sweet.” The words flew out of my mouth as goosebumps grew on my arms. Being his would be sweet, but I ignored that when the clerk came over and pointed at two spaces on the paper. I took the pen and asked, “We sign here?”
The worker said, “Yes, ma’am.”
He took the paper back and handed us a post-dated license for 72 hours starting now. The time seemed faster. I smiled. “That was easy.”
The clerk handed us back our licenses as he said, “After the ceremony of your choice, our officiant finalizes the paperwork once it’s returned.”
Carter stuck his in his wallet and then patted my lower back. “Okay.”
As we left and headed outside, the sun was growing higher in the sky. I glanced at Carter. His thin lips made it seem like he planned something.
We made it to the truck as I asked, “Where were we going?”
He held my door for me. “Shopping.”
