Page 29 of Wingwoman
Oh, he was lucky I wasn’t standing beside him. That little comment would have earned him an elbow to the ribs.
She wagged her pointer finger in his face, laughing and tossing glossy blonde hair over her shoulder. “I’d expect a song writer to be more clever than that. I’ve heard that one my whole dang life.”
Doesn’t take any of his shit.Check.I smiled at him triumphantly, but he completely ignored me.
I stepped forward, wanting to put a pin in any other sarcastic introductions Josh may have had in the works. “Daisy, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Hope.” I held out my hand to Daisy and inwardly cringed as she took my hand with a limp wrist.
While that may not bother me, Josh and Matt made it pretty clear they base a lot off of that stereotype.
A man crossed in front of the truck, older than me, perhaps in his late forties and took my hand next. “I’m Bud. We talked on the phone today.”
“Yes, it’s nice to meet you as well. And of course, this is Josh and his manager, Matt. We appreciate you coming by on such short notice.” I turned my head and gave Josh a flash of my death glare. “Don’t we?”
He smiled and nodded. “Sure do.”
“Daisy has an event later tonight,” Bud said.
“There’s a mechanical bull riding contest and the winner gets five thousand dollars to the charity of hisor herchoice.” Daisy beamed.
Well, at least the outfit made more sense now. Then again, it was Texas. For all I knew, she dressed in short denim cutoffs and ankle boots every day.
“What did you have in mind for today? Bud mentioned taking the horses out?” Daisy asked and looked around at a few of the horses grazing in the field beside us.
“You ever been riding? I thought we’d run the horses up to the summit. Or if you don’t know how, we could take one for a walk—”
Daisy snorted and rolled her eyes playfully. “Walk beside a horse? No, sir. Hand me that saddle and let’s get going.” She grinned and didn’t wait for Josh to follow her, heading past him to the stables.
Josh seemed surprised and his eyebrows lifted, his gaze landing on her perfect ass as she passed by him.
Ignoring the jealous flame in my stomach wasn’t easy, but I breathed through it. I had to get used to that if we were going to work together. I was here to help Josh find a woman. A woman who was not me. “Great,” I said. “We’ll wait here while you two get to know each other.”
“Oh no, you’re coming with us,” Josh said, stopping Daisy in her tracks.
“I am?”
“She is?” Daisy said, eyeing me with caution for the first time since she got out of the truck.
Suddenly, I saw the competitive nature take over her expression. The low hooded gaze she gave me. I was no longer her ally. I was now her competition.
“Uh, Josh, that’s not a good idea. You two should talk. Get to know one another—”
“I’m paying for your services. And that doesn’t include you sitting on the sidelines, does it?” He closed the space between us in a mere two steps and whispered down to me. “You are my eyes and ears as well. We’re doing this together. How can either of us be certain if she’s right for this if we’re not both there to determine that?”
I gulped, looking at the stables. The horses suddenly seemed like massive giants towering over us. I had torideone of those? With Daisy and Josh… two seasoned riders? “I’m not exactly dressed to go riding,” I said, gesturing at my black trouser pants and high heels.
“Lucky for you, we keep extra gear here for our volunteers. And it’s a damn good thing you got them new boots,” he added with a grin.
The intensity in his eyes spiraled me into a vortex where I had no choice but to nod and agree.
Oh, God. What was I doing? Agreeing to go riding when I’d nevereverbeen on a horse before.
Oh, boy.
Twenty thousand dollars, twenty thousand dollars… I thought over and over to myself as I changed in the outhouse stall beside the stables. The leggings were a little too tight over my curves.
Damn him. He’d forced my hands into wearing these damn boots. I tugged them up over the leggings and sighed, turning to look at myself in the mirror.
I released an uncomfortable laugh as I exited the outhouse and ran a hand over my butt, which suddenly felt very exposed despite the fact I was entirely covered.
