Page 22 of Travis

“Good thing Grayson here doesn’t have a tight ass.” Kurt says, and then Lisa gives him a look, as if to say, ‘that’s what you think’. “Oh, I stand corrected.” he scoffs, chuckling.

Lisa pats me on the back. “We’ll check this guy out. Make sure he’s not up to something, or was up to something.”

“Thanks.”

“Believe me, if he is, Becky’ll be able to sniff him out, too.” Laura says. “That business is her baby, and if I know her well enough, I’d say she’d rather die than see anything happen to it.”

Grayson hugs his wife. “Kinda like you, huh, sugar.” He kisses her head.

“Well, I was born into this ranch, Grayson. Becky there, she built that business from the ground up, so she’s got a lot more at stake.”

“Plus, Becky doesn’t come from rich stock, right, Travis?” Kurt adds.

“No, neither of us does, as a matter of fact.”

Laura interjects. “Well, then, all the more reason for her to have good business sense, Travis.”

“Well, if she’s got such good business sense, why’s she hiring some yahoo with a resume longer than his goddamn…eyelashes.” I venture, going for PG, rather than saying what I really want to say.

“Hawk, my brother, his wife, Luellen, she’s a photographer see, so Becky’s not wrong saying that this dude’s got connections in that department.” Grayson states. “Some photographers are booked up a year in advance or more. They’re lucky they could get us on such short notice, since venue bookings are even worse. Man, didn’t you go through this when you got married?”

I frown. “We had a small wedding. Small budget, too. We were both flat broke and getting married wasn’t a huge priority, so we never experienced that at all, actually.”

“Well, you’re lucky.” Laura states. “I imagine that’s how come Becky hired Greg is all. She’s in a pinch. This wedding is huge with a huge budget to go with it. For all you know, she may ditch the guy the second they say, ‘I do’.”

Those words make my stomach clench. I know that Laura means the couple that hired Becky to get them married, but the similarity, making it sound like when Becky and this yahoo say ‘I do’, makes my skin crawl. “God, I hope so. I don’t like him one bit. The sooner he’s out of her life, the better.”

Farley says something next that makes me want to punch him right in the face. “Hey, Travis? Just whatcha gonna do when some other yahoo starts banging Becky, huh? Are you gonna have every one of them strip searched, man?” he laughs, looking at the other guys, who are torn, between responding in kind, and getting my fist between their teeth. Smartly, they don’t respond.

I look at Farley. My voice is cold, like stone, matching the look in my eyes. “Any man that comes between me and Becky is going to have to answer to me, and that’s a fact.” I pause for emphasis. “And you ever use the word ‘bang’ in the same sentence with my wife’s name again, you’ll see the business end of my knuckles upside of your face. That’s a fact, too.”

Chapter 7

Becky

We'refinishingsomeplandetails before the meeting with Liam and Hanna, when Greg looks at me and tips his chin upward. “If you don’t mind me asking, who is the guy at the ranch that pulled you aside? He your brother?” The look on his face says that he knows full well that Travis isn’t my brother, but I'm not sure if he’s just playing dumb or being respectful.

“He’s my ex-husband.” I make it clear. “I don’t like to talk about it, if it’s all the same to you.”

He lifts a hand. “No, not at all. I just wasn’t sure what was going on there. I’ve got half a dozen sisters, so I’ll have to ask you to pardon me, as I'm more in touch with my female side than most.”

“That’s fair.” I say, unclenching slightly. “Is that how you got involved with design?”

“I guess that’s fair to say, yeah. Although I'd never admit to it under oath.” he sighs. “So, your ex-husband sure has daggers in his eyes for me.”

“Don’t feel alone. He’s got daggers in his eyes for me, too.”

He raises his brows. “I really don’t think so. Not from what I saw.”

“It’s still fresh. It’s going to take some time.” I explain.

“You can tell him I’m gay if that helps.” He says, and I’m not sure if he’s joking or not. He doesn’t look at me when he says it though. So, I don’t know how to take it.

But suddenly I feel bold. “Are you?”

His eyes flash for a moment, but he snorts. “No. I get that a lot though. Can’t figure out why.”

‘Because you’re beautiful’, is what I want to say by way of explanation, but I bite my tongue. The last thing I need is for him to think that I have a crush on him.

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