16
CARLY
I’m crazy.Crazy.
I shift once again beneath the cool sheets, second guessing every bit of confidence I lumped together to get here. I had a plan. To show up at Bridger Ranch, sneak into Austin’s room and seduce him.
The only thing that went right was that I parked by the stable as I usually did without incident. Then things fell apart a bit.
I ran into Lexie, who was late leaving for the day, and I had to lie and tell her I forgot my phone. She left after I pretended to go into the staff room to grab my not-left-behind cell. When she was gone, I sneaked up to the main house, hoping to slip in through the back door and to Austin’s room. The plan was to have him asleep, naked, and I’d climb in and we’d have sex.
However Miles caught me barely inside the house. I was tiptoeing across the kitchen, my work boots grasped between my fingers. I was so nervous just sneaking in that my heart rate was out of control. When Miles closed the fridge door and grinned at me, I felt like a deer caught in the middle of the road before being plowed down by a cement truck.
“Hey there,” Miles says, holding a beer. Of the three brothers, he’s the quietest. But the wildest, I think. He’s rough around the edges, just like I imagine most from New York.
I glance at the back door, wishing I could just disappear. And he could forget he ever saw me. Then I whip my head around, hoping Chance isn’t here. Or Austin, because I’ll have to do some serious lying as to why I’ve entered their house unannounced and uninvited.
I’m here to have sex with Austin. To use him for orgasms and hope his dick is as talented as his fingers.
“Hi,” I whisper, my voice catching in my throat. “Um…”
“You’re here for Austin.”
I nod, swallowing hard.
“He’s not here.”
I slump my shoulders, feeling defeated.
“Neither is Chance, so take a breath.”
I do exactly that, but I’m not all that relieved. “I suck at seduction.”
My hands fly to my mouth. No, I didn’t. I did not just tell Miles Bridger that I suck at seduction.
He laughs and rakes his gaze over me. From any other guy, it might seem creepy, but Miles seems to be assessing and thinking—not undressing me with his eyes.
Well, maybe a little.
“I can see why Austin’s all in with you.”
“Oh?” I ask, lost.
“You’ve already seduced the man and you don’t even know it.”
I huff. “Except he’s not here and we’re not—”
“Fucking?”
My cheeks heat.
“Yet. But I’m guessing that’s the plan, and why you’re headed for his room?”
I nod.
And hope a hole opens up in the floor to swallow me and put this embarrassing situation out of its misery.
“Down that hall.” He points. “Last door on the left.”