Kissin' Tell (Rough Riders #13)(95)

His heart beat as loudly as her knocks on the door.


“Hey. Come in.”


She kicked off her shoes, making herself at home like she always did. After stirring three spoonfuls of sugar into her tea, she sat in the corner of the couch with her feet tucked under her.


Tell gulped half his tea, wishing it was whiskey, and perched on the coffee table across from her. “First off. I’m sorry for bailing on the Pine Haven Rodeo. It won’t happen again.”


“Because you’re only scheduled for three more rodeos in conjunction with Barb Wyre PR?”


“No. Because it was a shitty thing to do. You deserve better after all you’ve done for me. I can’t apologize enough, Georgia.”


“Keep going.”


“And if I’d known Chase was pullin’ the strings in Upton, I definitely would’ve been in Pine Haven.” He set her tea on the side table and took her hands in his. “I’m sorry you had to call Deck. Was he a prick to you?”


“Not bad, actually.”


“Good.” Tell rubbed her knuckles on his cheeks. “I missed you this week.”


“Same here.”


“Really? Didn’t seem like it.”


A tiny frown line appeared between her eyebrows. “Why would you say that?”


“I didn’t see you Monday. You didn’t come to Ziggy’s Tuesday night.”


“But I did ask you to come to my place.”


“True. But you stood me up Thursday night.”


“You know that wasn’t intentional,” she said softly.


“Do I? Because I went lookin’ for you. And I saw you cozied up in a booth with the movers and shakers in Sundance. Every one of them slick dudes was flirting with you. Made me crazy. I knew if I stuck around, I’d end up in a bar fight with one of them, so I took off.”


Her eyes cooled. “If you were there, then you know I wasn’t flirting back.”


“All my brain saw was those successful guys. And how freakin’ beautiful you are. And then I wondered what the hell you’re doin’ with me. I figured you had the same thought and were finding new people to hang out with as a way of ending it with me.” He had to look away. Christ, he’d already said too much.


Georgia’s fingers were firm on his chin as she turned his face toward hers. “It was a business meeting over cocktails. Not my idea. And trust me, it wasn’t fun. Even though I had to pretend it was.”


“So if I would’ve interrupted your meeting to remind you of our dinner date?”


“I probably would’ve kissed you. Just like this.” Her lips met his in a hard kiss. Then her grip on his chin tightened. “As long as we’re on the subject, what was up with you and those rodeo groupies? Were you hanging out with them to make me jealous? As a payback for the jealousy you felt Thursday night?”


Feeling his cheeks heat, he jerked his chin out of her grasp. Then he pushed to his feet, grabbed his tea and retreated to the kitchen. Tempting to pour a slug of Irish in it.


“Tell?”


Her soft voice was directly behind him, but he didn’t turn around.


“Talk to me. Please.”


He hated to talk about this stuff. He hated acknowledging that he had personal insecurities, so why point them out to others? But for some reason, laying himself bare to Georgia wasn’t as unnerving as shutting her out. She might not understand, but the fact she was here meant she cared on some level.


A fact Chase had shoved in his face. His cousin had been lying in wait for him by his pickup, grabbing another chance to chew his ass. Reminding him that one good woman was one in a million, but Tell didn’t have to go through a million women to find her.


Sometimes Tell hated that f*cking bastard.


Mostly because he knew Chase was right. Tell had found that one woman in Georgia. And he hadn’t mustered the guts to let her know how he felt. But maybe showing her that he could talk about his feelings and shit would be the first step.


Tell inhaled a slow breath. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to be so deep in someone’s shadow you disappear? That’s how it is with me when it comes to Chase. He’s the star. Here, there and everywhere else. I’m not sayin’ he doesn’t deserve it. He’s always had the talent, the women, the fame, the money, the charm, the good looks. I pale in comparison to him on every level.


“Chase let me tag along to rodeos when I was fifteen or sixteen. Didn’t matter if it was because he felt sorry for me because of my family situation, or that I was nowhere near him as far as ridin’ skills. I felt cool…until some * tossed off a stupid comment about I wouldn’t be allowed to hang around with Chase if I wasn’t his poor, wannabe, butt-ugly relative. I didn’t have the life experience to let it roll off me, so it ate at me.”


“I can imagine.”


“It wasn’t just my cousin’s ridin’ skills I envied. He always had all these women around him. So the night this older chick was all over me and I thought I was hot shit. I had the moves, right? Come to find out, she was one of Chase’s castoff bunnies. She wanted to f*ck a McKay, and since Chase was unavailable she made do with me. I never wanted to feel second-best again. But I have. So many times. So today I wanted him to see that I had my own posse. I wasn’t that scrawny kid stuck with his seconds.”