Page 25 of Wild and Unruly
Fuck, she was gorgeous. And smart and funny and way too fucking good for me.
But that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to try and make damn sure that I had a solid shot at something more with her.
Maybe it was a gut feeling, but something told me letting Bonnie slip from my fingers would be the worst thing I could ever do.
Sundays were never going to be the same after today.The thought kept repeating itself over and over in my head, and I knew it was a good thing too.
I watch from my seat at a picnic table, beer in hand, as Bonnie is enveloped into conversation with Dani, Thea, and Quinn, and my heart is fucking flying. She laughs at something Quinn says, and I smile at the sight.
She has an incredible laugh.
The boys sit around me, chatting about this and that. JC, Graham’s little toddler, is in his lap as he tries to feed him some lunch, and I could give a shit less what they’re talkingabout.
“He’s a fu—I mean, he’s a bad dude,” CT corrects himself in front of his nephew when Graham glares at him.
“Who are we talking about?” The tone of voice catches my attention, and Graham answers Logan’s question.
“Tommy Smith.”
I shake my head. I don’t know Tommy, nor do I care to. But I do know that he’s a piece of shit who dopes his horses enough that they could get hurt or injure their rider.
“Is he up to some bullshit again?” Logan asks, taking a bite of his food. The girls break out into laughter again, and he looks over his shoulder, grinning at his wife.
Sickening.
Except…I probably look the same way when Bonnie laughs.
“He’s been trying to contact Celina again, get her to come back to his program.”
“Why? Isn’t he flush with enough clients yet?”
“I hear he’s got a full barn,” CT says, an angry twist to his lips. Can’t blame him. When he and Dani were working out their issues, Tommy was a huge pain for them, and CT had to put him in his place. He did it thoroughly and, to this day, won’t talk about the details.
But I knew enough to know that Tommy wouldn’t be bothering anyone associated with Three Rivers. Or…he shouldn’t be.
“He has some balls,” Logan says. “After what happened with Dani, you would think he would use some of those measly brain cells to stay far, far away from your clients.”
“You would think.”
“Why is he even still around? Didn’t you get proof that he was doping horses?”
CT clenches a fist. “Apparently, he has friends in high places.”
I feel eyes on me and track my gaze over to Bonnie, smiling at her. “Well, boys, as fun as this is, I’m going to go see a woman about a dance.” Or something else, far away from prying eyes.
I step away from the table and make my way to Bonnie. She smiles shyly at my approach and then turns to tell the girls something before meeting me halfway. I grab one of her hands, and she lets me. “Wanna go for a walk?”
She bites her lip, and her eyes go to the barn down the hill. “Wanna go for a ride?”
I smirk and nod. “Even better.”
Watching her hair fly behind her, I smile and whoop as we race the horses through the pastures. We’re up high enough that we can only see a smaller version of the ranch where it sits below us.
We slow down enough for our horses to catch their breaths, and I make my way to her side, letting loose the reins and smiling over at her. Her hair is all over the place, but she’s grinning broadly, out of breath herself from the fast-paced ride.
“Fun?” I ask, wanting to reach out and hold her hand. I settle for laying it on the back of her saddle, thankful the horses we’re on are ready to take a slow pace and let us be side by side.
“So much fun.” Her eyes are lit up like it’s Christmas morning, and she glances over at me. “I’ve never had the opportunity to do something like that, not until I came here. It’s so freeing.”
