“Nothin’ much. Had some calls to make. Took a little nap. Tried on some of your clothes.”
She smirked.
“Are you listening to me? You look a million miles away. Whatcha’ thinkin’ about, pretty girl?”
She wondered how long he planned to stay, and how things would be between them now. It would’ve been easier if he’d been gone when she got home tonight. It would’ve given her time to process this drastic change in their relationship. That was precisely why he hadn’t left. He didn’t want her to make any decisions without him there.
“You and me,” she answered.
“And?”
She didn’t know what to say. She had no idea how to do this. She’d dated, but no one serious enough to sleep with. Which meant she’d never been in a relationship.
She took another spoonful of soup, and he smiled. Those dimples, his soft blue eyes…Renie imagined he got away with an awful lot in life by playing his smile card, as he was now.
She took another spoonful, and smiled back.
“I don’t know whether I love you because you’re such a brat, or despite it.”
She stopped smiling.
“Come on, Renie. You know I love you. You love me too, don’t ya? Doesn’t matter that things have changed for us in the between-the-sheets department. That’s not what I’m talkin’ about.”
He was right. They did love each other—they’d been part of each other’s lives forever.
“You’re right.”
“So…come on, tell me what you’re thinkin’.”
“I can’t do that, Billy.”
“You always make me go first. Okay. I will. Again.”
She set her empty bowl down on the coffee table.
“You want more soup first? Or are you ready for Pad Thai?”
“I can wait. I want to hear what you have to say first.”
Billy stood and took her bowl to the kitchen. Now that he’d offered to go first, he had no idea what he would say. He knew how he felt, he just didn’t know how to put it into words.
When he came back out of the kitchen, her eyes were closed. He’d give anything to be able to read her thoughts. He’d spent most of his life wondering what Renie Fairchild was thinking. Now he knew why.
“I’ve never done this before, either.”
She opened her eyes and raised her eyebrows.
“The girlfriend thing, I mean.”
“Girlfriend?”
“Relationship? Is that better?”
“Not ever?”
“Come on. If I had, you would’ve known about it.” He would’ve talked to her about it, and now was glad he never had.
When he was on the road, plenty of women were interested in keeping him company. He almost never slept with a woman more than once though. There had been a few here and there, girls who followed the riders from rodeo to rodeo, but they never lasted longer than a week. He wouldn’t let them travel with him, and when they gave him shit about it, he walked away, and never looked back.