Most Obnoxious Cowboy Page 7

  “Well, I was just thinking perhaps that could be like a yoga room, an outside yoga room. And if you had goats, well, that would just make it even more special. That would really bring in the crowds. I hear millennials love goat yoga. They’d spend a shit ton of money and…”

  “And we need a shit ton of money.” He grinned. “That’s a great idea. Thank you, Arya.”

  I blushed at his compliment. “I just want to help.”

  “So you’re really into yoga, huh?”

  “I mean, I enjoy it. It helps me relax and it makes me more flexible.”

  “Flexible?” He raised an eyebrow and took a step towards me. “Exactly how much more flexible?”

  “I don’t know an exact percentage.” I took a step back. He was starting to come a little bit closer.

  “So, maybe I’ll suggest it to the family when we get back.”

  “Okay. Sounds good.”

  “And maybe…” he paused.

  “Yeah?”

  “You could teach the class.”

  “What? What do you mean?”

  “We’re going to need a yoga instructor to teach the class, right? And if you know yoga that well, you could do it.”

  “Oh, but I’ve never taught before.”

  “Would you like to teach though, Arya?” he said.

  “You’re just saying that because you feel bad I don’t have a job,” I said.

  “Trust me, that’s not why I’m saying it. This is for the business. You want to help Horseshoe Ranch, right?”

  “Of course, I want to help Horseshoe Ranch. I want to help all of you. I…” I took a deep breath. “I’d have to get certified if I were going to teach the class. I wouldn’t feel right until I got certified.”

  “How much does the certification cost?” he asked quietly.

  “I don’t know. I’d have to check it out.”

  “Maybe we can do that when we get back. Maybe we can fund it.”

  “No, you can’t fund my education—”

  “Arya,” he grabbed my hands and pulled me towards him, “you need to stop objecting to everything I suggest.”

  “I’m not objecting. I…”

  “You’re what?”

  He was standing so close now. Too close. I swallowed hard, not even remembering what I’d just been talking about. “What are you doing, Chet?”

  “What do you think?” he said.

  And then he pressed his lips against mine and I melted into him. He kissed me hard, and I felt my entire body trembling as he wrapped his arms around my waist. I could feel the length of his hard body against mine, and it felt absolutely amazing. I never wanted him to let me go. His tongue slipped into my mouth, and I sucked on it gently. He pulled back gruffly and stared down at me.

  “What are you trying to do to me, woman?”

  “What do you mean?” I said breathlessly, staring up at him.

  “You know you’re making me hard as hell, right?”

  “What?” I giggled, giving him my most innocent gaze.

  “I think you know it’s exactly what you’re doing, Arya.” He gave my ass a gentle squeeze. “I want you so badly.”

  “Chet… we can,” I suggested, not believing how bold I was being.

  “We can, but we’re not going to do it just yet,” he replied.

  “I know you want me as badly as I want you, but you know what?”

  “No, what?” I said softly.

  “When the moment comes, I’m not going to act until you beg me to. You got that?”

  “Yes,” I said, a shiver running down my spine.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chet

  * * *

  We made our way back to the ranch in the early evening. All I could think about as I drove was the feel of Arya’s soft lips on mine. The way she’d pressed herself against me as we’d kissed had been arousing, and I felt emotions that I hadn’t felt in years, though I didn’t want to dwell on those.

  The fact was that she was as beautiful as she was funny; however, she came with just too much baggage. I wasn’t the right man for her. I didn’t know what it was to be a husband, let alone a father. Arya and Eloise deserved a man who was ready for the responsibility. I just wasn’t ready for kids. I didn’t have the money. I didn’t have the time, and I didn’t have the patience, even though Eloise was a doll.

  I pulled up outside of the ranch and jumped out before Arya could open her door. I hurried over and opened the passenger door for her and my heart jumped for joy when she smiled at me in surprise.

  “You didn’t have to do that,” she said as she stepped out

  “I did.” I bowed. “I’m a gentleman.”

  “So you said, but now I’m not so sure.” Her cheeks were pink but her voice was playful. “Thank you for a really nice day today, Chet. I had a good time.”

  “I’m glad,” I responded. “I had a great time as well.” There was a pause, and she giggled nervously. I wondered if I made her nervous. I took a step closer to her. “Do I make you nervous?”

  “No,” she said quickly. She took a step back and bumped into the door.

  “You okay?” I asked as she rubbed her elbow.

  “Yeah.” She nodded. “But we should go inside. We don’t know who’s watching.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We don’t know if your mom’s looking, or your dad, your brothers, or Olivia, or Eloise.” She dropped her gaze to the ground, looking a little guilty.

  “What? You don’t want them to see us standing outside here?”

  “I just don’t want them to know that we kissed,” she said.

  I threw my head back and laughed. “Shouldn’t that be my line?”

  She narrowed her eyes at me. “Why?”

  “I’m just saying Amelia is my mom and she’s the one that’s trying to get me married. If she knew that we kissed, she’d think that something else was going to happen. And, well, I don’t want to have to deal with that.”

  “Well, you don’t have to worry about that.” Arya’s voice was suddenly sharp. “Nothing else is going to happen, anyway.”

  I wasn’t sure what had happened. “Are you mad at me, Arya?”

  “No, I’m not,” she said. “Let’s just go inside.”

  “You sound like you’re mad.”

  “Why would I be mad, Chet?” she snapped.

  “I’m not upset that we kissed,” I said softly. “I just don’t want my mother to know that we kissed.”

  “Why not?” she said.

  “You’re the one that didn’t want them to know!” I was confused now.

  “Yeah, because I was trying to protect you. But why don’t you want them to know?”

  “For the same reason. Why were you trying to protect me?”

  “I just feel like…like maybe I’m not good enough for you,” she said.

  “That’s not what I’m saying. I think you’re amazing and Eloise is amazing. She’s a sweet, adorable girl and she deserves to have a father figure. I’m just not in that position right now.”

  “Okay, fine,” she said in a voice that said it was not fine. “Well, good for you. I’m going inside now.”

  “Don’t be mad!” I made to grab her arm, then decided to let her go. We’d had a nice day and I’d ruined it with this conversation. I waited for her to go in, and then I walked inside and almost ran into Beau.

  “Hey, what’s up bro?” he said.

  “Not much,” I told him. “I’m just about to head into the shower. I had a long day doing work at the cabin.”

  “Oh, yeah? What did you do?”

  “Patched a couple places in the roof. What about you?”

  “Well, I was on the phone talking to one of the lenders about one of the loans to build some more log cabins. It looks like we might be able to get two million.”

  “Oh, that’s great,” I said. “Super exciting, so we can go ahead for sure then?”

  “Yeah. I’m going to call a family meeting tomorrow maybe.”
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  “Sounds good.”

  At that moment, Wyatt walked into the room. “Hey, what’re you guys up to?”

  “Do I have to tell everyone today what I’m doing?” I snapped.

  Both Beau and Wyatt looked at me in surprise. “Anyway…” Wyatt said. “I just got off the phone with a family in New York.” He sounded excited.

  “Okay,” I shrugged. “And why do I care?”

  “Only because he’s a chairman at Goldman Sachs, and he wants me to train their horse.”

  “Oh, that’s awesome.”

  “You excited for me?” he said.

  “Sure.”

  “They’re going to pay me $50,000.”

  “That’s amazing,” I grumbled. “Good job, Wyatt.”

  “Thanks,” he said. “You okay, Chet? You don’t seem as chipper as usual.”

  “I’m fine. It’s fine. It’s just been a long day.”

  “Oh, okay,” he said. “I thought maybe you’d seen the newspaper.”

  “What newspaper?” Wyatt and Beau exchanged a look, and I caught Beau shaking his head slightly. “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing,” Wyatt said quickly. “Nothing at all.”

  “Okay, fine,” I growled. I didn’t want to know, anyway.

  I walked past them down the corridor towards my room. I could hear my mom and some of the women talking and laughing in the kitchen, but I kept on going. I wasn’t in the mood to make small talk with anyone right now.

  I shut the bedroom door behind me, leaned against it, and took a couple of deep breaths. All I could think about was Arya and the fact that she was upset with me. It hurt. I’d been as honest as I thought she was being, but obviously, she hadn’t liked what I had to say. I was a fucking idiot. I knew I shouldn’t have brought up Eloise, but I wanted to be straightforward with her. I didn’t want us to get into an entanglement that would make things complicated. I didn’t want Eloise to think that I was going to have a larger role in her life than I was.

  I tore off my clothes and headed to the shower, swearing under my breath. I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t have many options. I wanted to be with her. I wanted to do more than kiss her, but I also didn’t want to complicate things. We’d had a really nice day. Yes, the kiss had been magical and yes, I wanted more from her, but I knew she wanted more from life than I had to offer.

  Now was not the time to get involved in any sort of relationship, especially with a woman as special as Arya.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Arya

  * * *

  “Hey, how’s it going?” Olivia asked as I entered the kitchen.

  “I’m good, thanks. How was Eloise today?”

  “Oh, she was great. She’s in bed now. I read her a bedtime story.”

  “Thank you so much, Olivia. What did you read?”

  “Little Red Riding Hood. That was one of my favorites as a kid.”

  “Oh, that’s one of Eloise’s favorites as well. Thank you.” I smiled at her warmly.

  “No worries. I guess I’m just practicing for when I have kids.” She leaned toward me and lowered her voice. “So how did it go today?”

  “It was fine.”

  “I need all the details, Arya.” She grinned at me.

  “All what details?” I said, flustered. I was already feeling slightly discombobulated after my conversation with Chet. I needed to analyze why what he’d said had made me upset, even though I knew he was just being honest.

  “Well, did you guys have fun?” She raised her eyebrow at me.

  “I’m not sure what sort of fun you’re talking about,” I lied.

  “Did you guys do the deed?”

  I burst out laughing. “No, we did not have sex, Olivia. What do you take me for?”

  “Oh.” She looked disappointed. “You know, there’s nothing wrong with sex.”

  “Seeing as Chet and I aren’t even dating, it would’ve been kind of messed up. I barely know him and he barely knows me, and just two days ago, I literally hated him for costing me my job.”

  “True,” Olivia said, nodding. “He has been a bit of a jerk.”

  “Yeah. You can say that again.” I paused. “But…”

  “Yeah?” she looked back at me inquisitively.

  “We did kind of kiss.”

  “You kissed?” she screamed.

  “Olivia!” I glared at her.

  “Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry.” She placed her hand over her mouth, half laughing.

  “It was just a kiss,” I said quickly.

  “It’s never just a kiss with the Hamilton boys.” She shook her head. “Oh my gosh. I want all the details. There have to be a lot more details, right?”

  “No, there aren’t that many more details. Trust me.” I paused as I looked around the kitchen. “Where did all these apple pies come from? Did you guys bake today? Is there a bake sale going on or something?”

  “Oh my gosh.” Olivia’s eyes widen and she started giggling again. “You will not believe what Amelia did.”

  “She baked a bunch of pies?” I asked.

  Olivia shook her head.

  “Okay, so what did she do?”

  Just then, Amelia herself walked into the kitchen.

  “Good evening, Arya,” she said with a gentle smile. “How was your day?”

  “It was really good, thank you. The creek was amazing, and the log cabin was even more amazing. I think that the eco-resort is going to be gorgeous. People will flock here. I know the girls will do an awesome job with the interior decorations. Once you get the marketing going, people will pay loads of money to stay here.”

  “Well, thank you,” Amelia said with a smile. “I’m so happy to hear that you think that it will do well.”

  “I think it will do amazing, and it will be so much fun. I should go and have a shower. I’m feeling a little bit dirty from the day.”

  “I’m sure you do.” Olivia gave me a knowing look.

  I ignored her and yawned. “You guys have a good evening.”

  “You too, Arya,” Amelia and Olivia chorused.

  I made my way down the corridor where I was surprised to see Chet standing outside my bedroom door. “What are you doing here?” I said, annoyed.

  “I need to talk to you,” he said gruffly.

  “Can it wait till tomorrow? I’m going to get ready for bed. I’m tired. I’m even going to skip dinner.”

  “No, it can’t wait.” He shook his head, drops of water falling from his hair onto my skin.

  “Um, I’d like to take a shower. It’s been a really long day, Chet.”

  “Can you not shower after we talk?”

  “No. You’ve had your shower. Why should I wait?”

  “Because I really need to talk to you now. Please? Can you just have a quick shower then?”

  “I can, but I don’t really want to.”

  “Please, Arya. I’ll give you fifteen minutes.”

  “You’ll give me fifteen minutes?” I folded my arms across my chest. “Um, I think I’ll take an hour.”

  “All right, please don’t be difficult. We need to talk. I didn’t really know what I was saying when we got out of the car, I was just joking around, and I think you may have taken my words personally—”

  I cut him off. “I didn’t take anything personally. I just want to go to bed. Okay? It was a nice day, and now I’m done. We had a little kiss, and that was that.”

  “It wasn’t just a little kiss, Arya. Please?”

  I paused, too many emotions swirling around for me to make sense of. “Fine,” I conceded.

  “I’ll meet you in thirty minutes.”

  “Where?”

  “What about outside on the back patio?”

  “What if someone sees us?”

  “Fine,” he said. “Come to my bedroom, then.”

  “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

  “I’m not going to ravish you, Arya.” He rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry.”

  “Really
?” I said. “I wouldn’t put it past you to try and get to fourth base.”

  “I mean, do you want to get to fourth base?” He shot me a cocky grin. I gave him a stony look in response. He held his hands up in surrender. “I just want to chat, okay? There are some things we need to talk about.”

  “Fine. I’ll be there in thirty minutes.” I quickly walked into my room and closed the door behind me. I leaned back against the door and took a couple of deep breaths before walking to the vanity and staring at my reflection in the mirror.

  Today had been some day, and that had been some kiss. I wasn’t sure what Chet wanted to talk about, but I knew whatever he had to say was going to be life-changing for me. There was no way that it wouldn’t be. This entire situation had already awakened sensations in me that I hadn’t even realized were dormant. Chet was sexy and funny, and the sort of man that I would want to spend forever with, even if he was an asshole. And even though he was one of the most obnoxious men I’d ever met, there was just something about him… His charm, his charisma, his entire being just connected with me.

  I was nervous about what he wanted to say. I would go and I would talk to him, but I didn’t know how I would respond. He was a cowboy who knew he was completely and utterly irresistible. If he tried to kiss me again, I wouldn’t be able to stop him because his kisses made me feel more alive than I’d ever felt.

  And sometimes I just needed that.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chet

  * * *

  Exactly thirty minutes after I’d left Arya standing in the hallway, there was a knock on my door. I opened it quickly, smiling at Arya, who was standing there in a long white nightgown and wet hair.

  “Hey. Come in,” I said quietly as I opened the door wider. I stepped forward and gave her a quick kiss that made me hard in seconds.

  “I’m not staying for long.”

  I withheld a smile. I didn’t want her to think that I thought the situation was funny, because it wasn’t. I knew that.

  “So what did you want to talk to me about, Chet?” She folded her arms and stared at me.

  I raised an eyebrow at her. “Is there a reason why you’re so upset?”