Bouquets and Buckles: An Age Gap, Snowed In, Cowboy Romance (Crimson Ridge)

There’s a half-eaten wedge of brie, two slices of leftover pizza, and a bottle of white wine occupying my otherwise empty fridge.

At least that’s dinner sorted for this evening.

Brad knows me well enough that he’ll either eat before he comes over or turn up with takeout of some kind.

I’ve been a fluttering bundle of nerves since his phone call earlier, trying to figure out the best way to sidestep this entire conversation.

There were a few single guys at the New Year party, but Brad is friendly with all of them back in Crimson Ridge, so I can’t pretend to shrug it off as if it was some stranger he doesn’t know.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

I grab everything out of the fridge, which now glares back at me woefully bare, and toss the pizza in the microwave.

The clock tells me I’ve got five minutes until he’s going to arrive, so I go in search of my clay face mask in the bathroom.

Hell, my reflection isn’t exactly a sight that will give Brad any confidence that I’m not out here being heartbroken. My hair is gathered up in two messy buns, my oversized hoodie drowns me, and I’ve got comfy sweats tucked into my even more comfy socks.

But, fuck it, I’ve got my body weight in cheese and chocolate ice cream to consume. Who cares if I’m sporting trash panda chic? Certainly not the girl who has to figure out a way not to blurt out to her friend that she’d rather be worshiping his dad’s cock.

I scoop out a little of the face mask and smear two fingers across my cheek in charcoal gray. Just as I’m about to start layering that bitch on thick, my doorbell rings.

God. Here we fucking go.

With an exaggerated sigh through my nose, I patter my way to the front door, drooping the tub of facemask I’d been carrying on the kitchen counter as I go past.

“Hope you brought food, ‘cause I will cut a bitch if you try to steal my piz—”

My throat closes over mid-sentence.

Dark eyes find mine from beneath the brim of a hat I’ve been dreaming about for weeks on end. A broad chest fills my vision. The scent of leather and the faint hint of soap engulfs me.

“Hey.”

I blink like a barn owl. Lucas Rhodes is on my doorstep.

“I did bring you something to eat, hopefully that’s ok?”

Oh my god. My knees feel like they’re going to buckle.

“Luke? What are you doing here?”

“Can I come in?” His lips twitch a little as his eyes sweep over me, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake.

“Are you carrying a crock pot?”

“It’s called a casserole dish, actually. Do you have mud on your face?” He counters.

I want to die right here. I do have mud on my face, and I’ve got sweats on, and I’m wearing my baggiest, comfiest, least sexy outfit I could possibly have chosen.

Meanwhile, this man looks like the angels plucked him straight from cowboy heaven and delivered him to my door.

“Why are you here?” My knuckles turn white around the door handle.

Luke’s brows crease, and he hesitates a moment, sending my pulse into an erratic, thudding mess.

“I told Brad everything. Well, more accurately, he harassed me nonstop after you left, kept on at me until he wore me down, and I told him what was wrong with me.”

Oh god. My face pales.

Luke’s expression isn’t giving me any clues. Is Brad upset? Angry? When I spoke to him earlier, he seemed fine…

“He was a bit weirded out at first, but to be honest, Skylar, it’s been him convincing me for the past few weeks that I needed to come here and see you.”

“Weeks? Brad has known for weeks?” I whisper screech. Eyes nearly hanging out of my head.

“My kid is a lot of things, but I didn’t expect him to be so… uhh… enthusiastic about me coming over here.”

“Luke… I…”

My heart is doing backflips and somersaults, but I’m so uncertain what this actually means. We haven’t spoken since that final night we had together on New Year. No matter how many times I went to text him, I couldn’t bring myself to press send because I didn’t want to give hope a chance to bloom.

“Skylar, I had to come and see you. I’ve been battling with myself this past month because all I want is for you to be happy. You’ve got your life, your business, so much ahead of you, and it would eat away at me if I fucked any of that up by selfishly knocking on your door.

“But you gotta know, I was serious when I said in another life… and maybe, just maybe, this is our life after all. If there’s any chance you might want to let me be part of yours, I gotta have you know my heart is here. It’s with you, even if this isn’t something you want. I fell harder than I knew could be possible in just a few short days, and I miss you. So fucking much.”

I’m not sure I remember how to breathe. It’s like I can’t process what he’s saying because up until five minutes ago, all of this, everything he’s laid out that I’d so desperately longed for didn’t seem possible.

My silence causes his shoulders to drop a little.

“I sprung this on you… I’m sorry, it was Brad’s idea to do some big romantic gesture, but I can go.” His voice drops into a soft sigh. “At least let me put this inside for you.” Luke gestures at me with the lidded ceramic dish he’s still holding in his big hands.

“Just set it down there.” I point at the floor.

Luke’s jaw clenches, an inner war going on, but he does as I ask, even if I can see the reluctance written all over him.

If only he knew.

There is only one reason I haven’t been able to say anything in return…

The second his hands are free is when I make my move. I fling myself at him, leaping up to cling around his neck, and he catches me so fucking easily.

The heat of him, the security I feel in his arms, it all washes over me, leaving my blood singing.

“Is this how you invite all your guests inside?” Luke arches an eyebrow at me.

“Just the cowboy I’m in love with.” I exhale, bringing our lips together.

Luke walks us through the door, claiming me with a kiss that races straight down to my toes, leaving me a melted puddle in his arms.

I’m a koala, clung around him, and this moment is everything I’d been wishing for since I drove away from his ranch and Crimson Ridge a month ago.

“Don’t move.” Luke sets me down on the countertop of my tiny kitchenette, places his cowboy hat on my head—at which point I nearly straight up whimper—then disappears to shut my front door, returning with the dish he’d been carrying and another bag.

I’m an absolute slut for wearing this man’s hat.

“Brad wouldn’t let me come without bringing ice cream. That boy has got the world’s biggest sweet tooth.” He shrugs and puts the pints in the freezer while I unashamedly stare at his ass in those jeans.

As he stands there, a gruff noise comes out of him. Crouching down, he opens the fridge door, looking at the array of empty shelves.

“I should’ve been here sooner.” Luke turns around and gives me a long look. “You’re gonna let me take care of you.” Stepping closer. “You’re gonna let me love you the way you deserve.” Closer still. “And you’re gonna start learning to accept help, sweetheart.”

My cowboy comes over to stand between my knees, then tilts my chin up with a crooked finger.

I want all of that… but I can’t help feeling like I don’t deserve it.

“You’re serious, that Brad’s ok with all this?” Searching his eyes, I chew the inside of my cheek. I’m so lost to this man. So in love with him, but at the same time, feel like such a shitty friend for not being the one to tell him, and it’s even worse knowing that Luke has been talking to him about this for weeks.

Luke doesn’t answer my question, instead he sighs and digs out his phone. “By the way, that video… I don’t even want to admit how many times I’ve watched it over and over.” Hitting me with a look of pure sin, he taps something on the screen, and my body heats, thinking back to the hottest night of my life.

Except, I don’t have time to get lost in that memory because Luke holds the phone in front of his face, a video call dialing, as he watches me through dark eyes.

“Put her on, Dad. She’s being weird about it, isn’t she?

Oh god. Brad’s voice immediately connects at the other end of the line, and I want to dissolve into this kitchen counter.

When he turns the phone around, with a quirk tugging at the corner of his lips, the screen is filled with both Brad and Flinn’s faces, who are both grinning like fools.

I peek back at them from behind my hands.

“Already wearing the hat, I see.” He clicks his tongue, and I turn beetroot red. “If I’d known you were aiming to be my stepmother, I might have put in a good word for you with the old man years ago.” Brad cackles, his face lit up with mirth.

Groans come from both me and Luke.

“Do you loathe me? You absolutely do, don’t you?” I’m bracing myself for the worst.

“Skylar Addams, believe it or not, I want my best friend to be happy… besides, you don’t know the real story of how Flinn and I got together.” The two faces on screen exchange a knowing and entirely besotted with each other glance before Brad turns his attention back to me. “Anyway, I can’t blame you for choosing a Rhodes man; we are superior after all. Even if you got stuck with the second best option.”

“Hey.” Luke protests, his voice a deep rumble I’ve missed so damn much.

My best friend looks far too pleased with himself, like he masterminded this entire situation.

“Ok, so enjoy your date, don’t rush back tomorrow, and please for the love of all things holy do not tell me any details.” Brad scrunches his face up, and after blowing air kisses and suggestive winks my way, they hang up.

“Tomorrow? What’s tomorrow? I blink at Luke.

“The guys are gonna take care of the ranch, said I wasn’t allowed to come home unless you came with me.” He sets the phone down and cups my face in two hands, brushing the apple of my cheeks with his thumbs. Giving me a tiny smile when he touches the smear of clay facemask.

“What if I didn’t come with you?” I bite my lip, teasing him.

“I’m pretty sure the plan was more or less for me to keep showing up on your doorstep with food every night.”

“Trying to lure me like a stray cat?”

Luke brushes over my bottom lip with a thumb, pressing down slightly and sending sparks through my blood with that move he does oh, so well.

“Trying to take care of you… to show you how much I want to take care of you.”

I swallow back the thick wall of emotion threatening to rise.

“Just so you know, tomorrow is only because they want to see you. Brad’s got this whole plan to cook you dinner and hang out. This isn’t about dragging you back to Crimson Ridge, I know your life is here, and your business. I don’t have the answers to all that just yet, but I think we’re both smart enough to take it one step at a time and make it work.”

God. I love this man beyond all reason.

“I’ve got one question for you…” My fingers tentatively roam up the front of his shirt.

“Anything you want, sweetheart.” His words are a deep, velvety timbre.

“Would you like to see my bedroom, Mr. Rhodes?”

A wicked glint in his eyes is the only warning I get as he scoops beneath my ass and hauls me against his chest.

“If it involves you falling apart while screaming my name, then I want to thoroughly explore every inch of this place. Repeatedly.”

His lips seek my own as he walks us the short distance to my bedroom, and I direct him where to go between tugging on his hair and his clothes.

Tumbling us down onto the bed, the weight of him—pinning me down and covering my body—ignites my bloodstream. I’m panting for more, ready to beg if I need to.

“Luke…” I thread my fingers into his hair, whimpering his name. “Please. I missed you so much. I’m so fucking in love with you. Don’t make me wait.”

His dark eyes glitter at me in the soft glow of light spilling from the hallway.

“You’ve been my dream for so long, this time I’m not waking up… I love you, sweetheart.” He drops his mouth to cover mine, letting me drag him down to line our bodies up perfectly, then murmurs softly against my mouth.

“Turns out, wishes really do come true.”