Page 7 of The Best Friend's Billionaire Brother
As she reached the door, she nearly tripped over herself getting out of the airport. The brisk wind took her breath away and gave her goosebumps. “Holy cow, it’s cold.” It got cold in Charleston, but the wind there was nothing like the winds in the Panhandle. This air felt like it had sharp claws and fangs.
“Oh, it’s even colder now,” Wyatt said as he joined her outside, setting his hat on his head.
“I should have watched the weather closer. It wasn’t nearly this cold in Charleston.” Not even close. She hadn’t remembered it ever being this cold. Had she thought about it, she’d have brought long underwear.
He set her luggage down and slipped out of his coat. “Here, that little blouse of yours is no match for West Texas winds.” He smiled and helped her put it on.
“Yeah.” Except she wasn’t thinking west wind lowercase, she was thinking West wind. With one tiny whiff, his scent washed over her, and she was a teenager again, endlessly scribbling Mrs. West on the edges of her school notebooks. Little hearts and plus signs.
The longer she was around him, the clearer it became that she wasn’t prepared to deal with him just yet. How was she going to make it through the holiday while spending the night in the same house as him?
Another sharp gust blew, and Wyatt grabbed her luggage. “Actually, you stay here and get back inside. I’ll go get the truck. Don’t want that pretty face of yours getting chapped from all this harsh wind.”
Before she could gather her wits or her words, Wyatt was out of earshot. He’d said pretty face. He’d only done that once before, on the night of her senior prom. He and Bear had been outside, playing football, and she’d walked across the street to meet up with Carrie Anne.
Just as her foot had hit the sidewalk, Wyatt had looked her way and said, “Whoa,” right before taking a hit to the stomach. She’d run over to him, and just as he looked up, he’d called her beautiful.
That single word had taken her crush to a whole new level. She’d gone from being slightly infatuated to full-blown out of her mind for him. To her reasoning, a guy didn’t call a girl beautiful for no reason. From that moment on, Wyatt had held her heart…until he proposed to Lori. A woman he hadn’t even married.
Why hadn’t he married Lori, anyway? Gabby never thought Lori was the right girl for him, but Wyatt was over the moon for her. She was a little on the stuck-up side and a lot self-absorbed. More than once, she’d broken up with him just so she could date another guy for a week or two, only to come around again. They were always breaking up and getting back together. She never understood it. Which was another reason why Gabby had been so shocked when he asked Lori to marry him. How could he marry a girl who seemed to only love him when it was convenient? Maybe it hadn’t made sense to him either and that’s why he didn’t marry her.
NO!her head screamed, drowning out anything her heart might have to say. No. Not this time. She wasn’t a little girl with a crush anymore. She was a grown woman in charge of her life, emotions, and actions. There was no way she was going to allow herself to get hung up on him again. It would lead nowhere except heartache, and she’d had enough of that to last her a lifetime. This time it would be different. She’d be different.
* * *
Thirty minutes into the drive,the awkward silence in Wyatt’s truck was enough to smother Gabby. He was an arm’s length away and looking better than she’d ever seen him. Those blue eyes of his made her insides blaze every time he threw a look in her direction. Even the way he held the steering wheel was making her batty. Something had to give, or she’d never make it to Caprock Canyon with her sanity.
“So, you still love the rodeo?” she asked. If she was going to be stuck with him, she may as well try to find ways to dislike him. He’d always been a little cocky when it came to the rodeo, and she had a whole weekend to get through.
Glancing at her, he laughed. “Well, aside from the broken bones, I’ve loved it. The travel, the crowds, the whole shebang has been fun. It’s been an experience.”
The response wasn’t what she expected, and the broken bones still surprised her. The love for it, well, he’d loved bull riding since she could remember. As soon as he turned eighteen, he’d turned pro. She could see the twinkle in his eyes anytime he talked about it. When he first started riding bulls, the whole family would go watch him. He’d finish his eight seconds, land on his feet like a superhero, and his face would light up with a smile so spectacular it made her almost swoon.
“How about you? Have you liked living in Charleston?” he asked.
Loaded question. Before she got fired, she would have been looking forward to returning to Charleston. She’d loved working for the paper, and she’d worked hard to climb the ladder, moving from intern to full-time employee right after she graduated from college. Anytime they needed someone for a story, no matter how demeaning it may have seemed, she’d eagerly volunteered.
Her coworkers had been great, but she’d never made an effort to be more than work friends. Sure, they’d go out on an occasional night and have some dinner and maybe some wine and talk about the paper or where they saw print newspaper going. Come to think of it, none of their conversations ever got beyond work. The magnifying glass she suddenly had wasn’t making her feel all that anxious to go back.
“Uh, yeah, it’s so pretty.” And it was. Gabby loved Battery Park. “All the trees, the ocean, the historical places. I spent my first year just visiting different places. It’s really nice, and the people are friendly.”
“Carrie Anne says you’re dating a guy named Tim.”
Carrie Anne told Wyatt that? Oh, that rotten girl. She was definitely up to something. More than likely, she was calling Gabby’s bluff, but Gabby would show Carrie Anne. Her relationship with Tim just got a whole lot more real. “Yep, been seeing him a couple of weeks.”
“Any potential there?”
It took effort not to laugh hysterically, but somehow, she managed to hold it back. Instead, she shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s too soon to really tell. I mean, it takes longer than a couple of weeks to get to know someone.” That was a reasonable response. One that could be easily sold. “How about you? Are you dating anyone?”
He shook his head as he returned his gaze to the road ahead. “No. Traveling makes it hard to really get to know someone. It also shows you if a relationship can handle rough times.”
Is that what happened with him and Lori? Why didn’t Lori just go with him? “Is it too much prying to ask what happened with you and Lori?”
His lips pressed together, and a second later, he said, “We just weren’t meant to be.” It was a tone she’d heard before. One that meant the conversation was over.
Instead of pressing him like she wanted to, Gabby turned her focus to the scenery flashing past. If he didn’t want to talk about it, there wasn’t much she could do, and she didn’t care anyway. It wasn’t like when they were younger when he’d sometimes come find her when he couldn’t find Carrie Anne, asking about girls and relationships. More than once, they’d talked about deep things like marriage and family. But now they were older and had grown apart.
Silly youthful notions, but those little talks were what started her crush. She liked that he wanted to find someone, settle down, and get married. He wanted a small house and a big yard so his family would spend time outside. He wanted Friday nights with no cell phones and local football games.
