Page 5 of Dear Blue Jean Cowboy
"Yes, it just might." I cut her off. "Do you want an introduction, or am I heading back to the ranch on my own?"
I can almost see the wheels turning in Dani's head as she tries to think of a way to get everything she wants, but I won't budge on this. She lets out a breath like she's come to terms with the fact that she's isn't going to get anything else from me today.
“Okay, please make the introduction.”
I turn without another word and nearly plow right into Diana. I reach out and catch her in my arms before she hits the ground. The familiar scent of her jasmine perfume fills my nose, and I'm taken back to when I was seventeen again. Holding her soft body in my arms, so close to me, is enough to make my dick twitch in excitement.
"Whoa," I say as I pull her upright. “Sorry about that.”
Her dark eyes stare up at me from underneath impossibly long lashes, and I have to remind myself to breathe.
“I was just coming over to say hello,” she says as she runs her hands down her shirt to straighten it.
“Hi.”
She swallows hard. “Hi.”
"Well, if my brother is done being rude," Dani pushes in between us. "I'm not sure if you remember me."
"Dani, of course." Diana smiles. "I can't believe how grown-up you look now."
“It’s been a long time,” Dani says.
Diana’s eyes meet mine when she says, “It’s been a very long time.”
"I was hoping to talk to you about the Centennial Springs Summer Festival," Dani says, pulling Diana's attention back to her. "You see, I've taken over as leader of the festival committee, and this is my first event. Is there any chance that you'd be willing to perform to help raise funds for the town?"
“I wish I could, but I’m not in town for long. I have to be back in Nashville at the studio on Tuesday.”
Just the mention of her leaving is like a razor blade to my heart. It's not like I didn't know that she would eventually go, but hearing her say the words is enough to make me want to get out of here.
“You know what,” I interrupt and start backing up towards the direction of my truck. “I’ve got to head back to the ranch for some supplies, so I’m going to leave you all to it. Diana, it was nice seeing you again. Welcome back.”
I don’t bother to wait for her response. I turn and walk away as quickly as I can. I’ve reached my limit of restraint. The urge to ask her to stay is caught in my throat, and I don’t think I could survive her leaving again.
4
DIANA
I remember Rhett telling me stories about how Dani had an uncanny way of convincing people to do what she wanted. But I didn't believe him until now.
It’s been two days since I saw Rhett, but he’s been at the forefront of my thoughts ever since. He looks so good. How is it possible that he looks better after ten years? His shoulders have filled out after years of working on his family’s ranch. And the way his blue jeans hug his thick thighs and firm ass had me working to give myself some release when last night when I couldn’t sleep.
But there was a look in his eyes that I couldn’t read when he excused himself from run in and left without another word to me. I could only stare after him in shock. I’d imagined the moment we’d see each other again in my head a thousand times, but it did not go down at all how I expected it.
“Okay, Diana, I’m going to have to go up on the stage, so we can get an idea of how it’s going to look opening night,” Dani says.
Despite her young age, Dani has impressed me with her ability to juggle all her responsibilities to organize this event. If she wanted to, I could see her turning this into a career.
I walk up the steps and pretend that I don't notice Rhett working in the back corner of the stage. There's a young man, not much older than Dani, hanging lights above me on the stage. I stand on the “X” marked with tape, so I know where my mark is for my performance.
I’m barely standing there for a few seconds before the man above me cries, “Look out!”
Before I can even react, I'm knocked off my feet by someone and rolling across the wood planks of the stage. There's a sudden crash to the left of us where I had just been standing. It takes a moment to catch up before I realize that it was Rhett that just saved me. I didn't think he was close enough that he could've gotten to me in time, but he did.
“Are you okay?” he asks, pushing the hair out of my face.
“I can’t,” I gasp. “Breathe.”
