“Come on, chicken,” Rick taunts her.
“I wouldn’t mind going for a look,” I admit, my morbid side getting the better of me.
“Oh, I’m there,” Emily nods. “For sure.”
“We’ll do it one night after everyone goes to bed,” Taj grins. “I dare one of you to stay in there for a whole night.”
“I draw the line at entering that place.” I laugh shaking my head. “No way.”
Rick shrugs. “I’ll go in there, it’s not fucking real.”
“I’m in.” Nathan grins. “I’m not scared of a barn.”
Taj smirks. “Fuck yeah, let’s make it a dare. If we can spend the night in there, you girls owe us.”
“Wait, how did we get roped into this?” Kara asks.
“You telling me you don’t want to come?” Taj asks, raising his brows.
Kara smirks. “I never said that.”
“Wait a second, what exactly do we owe you?” I ask.
“That depends,” Nathan drawls.
“On what?”
“If we can spend the night, and survive it, all of you ladies have to do a nude run through the ranch in front of everyone.”
I scoff. “You’re such a pervert, Nathan. You just want to see us naked. That’s not a fair deal considering you’ll all be fine so we know you’re going to win.”
“I don’t know,” Taj says. “Rick is a chicken, guarantee he’ll bail before the night is over.”
“Fuck you man,” Rick mutters.
“Okay fine,” Kara adds. “If you all stay in there for a full night, without leaving, we’ll do a run.”
“Hey,” I protest. “I never agreed to that.”
“It’ll be fine, honey. Guarantee they won’t make it. No way in the world,” Kara whispers to me.
“It’s a deal,” Rick says, extending his hand. “We’ll let you know when we decide to go in there.”
Kara shakes it.
Oh great. We’re doing it now, are we?
This should be fun.
“You all enjoyin’ fire?” Rhett asks, joining the group and sitting down right beside me.
“It’s not bad,” I say. “Could be bigger, but who am I to complain?”
I grin, because the fire in front of me is huge, roaring into the trees above. No way in the world it could possibly be any bigger.
Rhett grins. “You like them big, then?”
“Oh stop it,” Kara says, standing. “I’m going to find one of these hunks to help me out, with what I don’t know, but everyone else is getting lucky around here so I need to be, too.”
I grin.
She stands and walks away. I look to Rhett. “So,” I say.
“So what?”
“Do you want to walk with me?”
“Are you hittin’ on me, darlin’?”
“Maybe.”
He stands, extending his hand to me. I take it and he pulls me to my feet. We’re about to walk off when Madden and Dante come out of the lakeside restaurant and call out to Rhett. I could curse them for ruining what I was hoping to be a hell of a walk, but I don’t say anything when Rhett turns to me. “Sorry, I’ve got to go.”
“Later, then?”
He leans down, brushing his lips over my ear. “Tonight, I’m going to give you something to remember.”
He straightens and disappears.
I shiver.
It would seem like tonight is going to be interesting after all.
I can’t wait.
WE DRINK UNTIL MY BODY is warm and my laughter trails across the lake. Only when the fire begins to die do I decide to go and find Rhett. I’m curious to see what he has in store for me and I’m more than ready to find out. I stand up, smiling down at Kara. “I’m going to find Rhett. If I don’t come home, you know where I am.”
She grins. “You’re a devil, truly. You better give me all the details.”
I give her a thumbs up and then walk up to the little café looking over the water where we had lunch the other day. The guys are all in there talking about something, and the smell of food wafts out as the chef prepares dinner. Rhett notices me and his eyes go a little soft, he puts up a hand indicating he’ll be there soon, and I take a seat, staring out over the beautiful lake as the sun begins to set. It’s gorgeous here, it really is.
I wait until Rhett is done and when he walks over, looking all fine in his jeans, his flannel and those cowboy boots. I could eat him up right now. I cringe as soon as that thought enters my mind. Lord, woman, you sound like a horny nerd who hasn’t seen a man in years. Wait, I basically am.
Shame.
“C’mon, let’s go for a ride and see the sunset.”
Oh.
Well that sounds dazzling.
“I have to warn you, I’m pretty drunk so I’m probably going to fall off.”
“I never said we were ridin’ a horse.”
I blink. “What are we riding then?”
He grins. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”
He takes my hand and pulls me out of the café and we walk over to the barn. He has me wait outside as he goes in, and then a few minutes later I hear the rumbling sound of an engine firing up and a few seconds after that he comes out riding some sort of ATV. It has four wheels and looks like it’s meant to slam through mud and go up steep hills. It has a big roll bar surrounding the two seats at the front.