Page 45 of Wingwoman
Panic climbed like an invasive weed up my throat, choking me. “No, we can’t!” I said, but it was way too breathy and aroused and based on theohcome onlook Josh was giving me, he saw right through me.
I pulled away, trying to move around Josh and turn to go back inside, but he held gently onto my arm. “Hope, wait, don’t step th—”
Sloosh.
My heel sank into something soft and mucky, slipping out from underneath me.
I fell, landing on my back, right on top of a giant pile of horse shit.
I literally couldn’t think of a more appropriate way to finish these last twenty-four hours.
Josh’s face came into view over top of me, quite obviously trying to hold in his laughter. “You okay?”
With a huff, I pushed up off the ground. “Yeah.”
“You sure? Head? Shoulder? They’re okay?” He offered me a hand which I smacked away.
“I’mfine. Only thing bruised right now is my ego.” And my ass.
No, scratch that. The soft pile of horse crap pillowed my fall quite nicely.
“Okay, then,” Josh said, snickering. Then he spun on the heel of his cowboy boot, sauntering back to the house.
“Where are you going? What about Chestnut?” I called after him.
Josh turned around to face me, but didn’t stop walking. Instead, he managed this graceful backwards stride that was annoyingly sexy. “My ranch hand will get Chestnut in ten minutes and bring him back to his stable. But after that little display of yours? I’ve got a song to write!”
Thirteen
HOPE
“He bought you Lucchese?!And a Chanel scarf?” Maggie gaped at me, gripping her margarita tightly in her hand. “You really are the Dalai Lama of dating!”
“Josh and I arenotdating,” I reiterated through clenched teeth. “I tried to return everything to him, but…”
Well, we all knew how that turned out, I thought with a grimace.
She gasped. “You can’t return a gift like that! It’s sacrilege down here in Texas!”
I swallowed my groan. “Not this again.”
“It’s true. It’s considered really rude.”
“Well in New York, it’s inappropriate to give someone such an expensive gift. Especially when said person isn’t planning to reciprocate. Withanything,” I added pointedly.
“Yeah, but—”
“But what?”
“It’s Josh Gabriel,” she said. “He’s one of the biggest pop stars of our decade. He’s got the money to spend!”
Did he though? He’d mentioned that he was pouring more and more of his own money into the horse rescue. I mean, yes, he had more money than the average person, but I wondered how much he actually had. How long could he go before he needed to cut back on his expenses? Hell, if I was his accountant, I’d be telling him to not buy stupid lavish gifts for women he didn’t know.
She waved her hand at me, brushing off anything I was about to say. “Well, it’s your call. I’m just telling you that down here, it’s a big deal to return a gift.”
I debated telling her about our kiss, then thought better of it.
I liked Maggie. She was becoming a fast friend. But we weren’t quite friendsyet. She was still my client. She was paying to hang out with me and until I wasn’t getting a paycheck for drinking with her, I needed to treat her like a client.
