Page 19 of A Baby for the Texas Cowboy
She jumped. Automatically, she reached for the bolt. Calm. She had to calm down. She had to somehow find the confident, slightly insouciant persona she’d developed bartending and traveling with the bull-riding tour and…
“Hey, Tinsley. What do you think of the space?” Catalina and August strolled through the front door into the tasting room.
She spun around.
Anders’ palm slammed three times on the door.
“Did Anders make an ass of himself?” August sounded far more amused than pissed.
“Did you tell Anders I’d be here?” she demanded.
“Guilty.” August grinned. “It was that or he was going to wrestle the information out of me, and I’ve seen what my baby brother can do on a two-ton bull. He’s bigger than me now. I’m the smart one and know how to pick my battles.”
She turned her attention toward Catalina and wished her heart weren’t racing so fast, making her feel dizzy and a bit disoriented. “I wasn’t prepared for Anders,” she said, figuring they both knew why he was here, which pissed her off more. She wanted privacy and to run her life the way she wanted. She wanted to control what she told people and when. “Was the lunch an attempt at a romantic bribe?”
Catalina laughed. “Clearly, it was a fail,” she said as Anders banged on the door again. “But I was thinking of you, not Anders. He can feed himself. I thought you might be hungry after driving from Dallas. Anders can do his own wooing,” she said. “Are you going to let him in?”
“He’s pushy.”
“All the Wolf men are.”
“Part of our charm.” August cupped his wife’s baby bump. “You’ll get used to it.”
Not likely.
“Anders told you?” Tinsley asked flatly.
What if she no longer had the job? Dismay filtered through her. She hadn’t really wanted it, but somehow between being blown off by Anders yesterday and researching the Texas wine industry last night and driving around the Hill Country this morning, she’d started making plans, feeling more optimistic.
But August and Catalina were her employers. They’d insisted on a two-year contract and had said they wanted longer, but she would need—oh, God, she never thought she’d have to even think of this term for herself—maternity leave.
“Yes.”
“Do I still have the job?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t you?” Both Catalina and August spoke at once.
“Okay,” she said, and a little of the tension eased out of her. “I…ah…won’t normally lock your family members out.” She looked at the closed door. After banging on it so hard, why was he now silent? Anders was not a give-up-easily guy, which did not bode well for the future. But she was strong. She’d made herself strong. She now knew how to fight for what she wanted and needed.
“I’ll head out to the ranch soon to see the vineyard and winery and pick some furniture,” she said. “After I…um…talk to Anders.”
Get rid of him.
“We came to see if you wanted to catch a ride with us.”
“Thanks,” she said. “But I’ll take my bike.”
She wanted to enjoy it while she could. Soon it would be wildly impractical. Disappointment swept through her. The bike had represented the new Tinsley when she’d bought it. She didn’t want to go back to being who she’d been, the quiet pleaser, tiptoeing around, tying herself in knots but never quite measuring up.
“See you soon,” Catalina said cheerfully as she and August strolled back out.
“Get a grip,” she chastised herself and rolled the door back open.
No Anders. It was like he’d poofed out of the barren yard. If only she’d be that lucky, although he had a lot of pride. Maybe she could piss him off so much he’d ride off into the sunset for easier pickings.
She’d seen the adoring women lining up to talk to him in the sponsor tent, at the autograph events, outside the locker room. Anders Wolf had never had to work to get a woman in his life.
And I don’t want him to start now.
