“Hey, man, where are you? Did you forget about today’s meeting?”
Jason couldn’t help but smile as he remembered how he’d called to ask Derringer the same question since he’d gotten married. It seemed these days it was hard for his cousin to tear himself away from his wife at times.
“No, I didn’t forget and I’m less than thirty minutes away.”
“Okay. And I hear your lady is joining the family for dinner on Friday night.”
He considered that for a moment. Had anyone else made that comment he probably would have gotten irritated by it, but Derringer was Derringer and the two people who knew more than anyone that he didn’t have a “lady” were his cousins Derringer and Zane. Knowing that was the case he figured Derringer was fishing for information.
“I don’t have a lady and you very well know it, Derringer.”
“Do I? If that’s the case when did you become a tea sipper?”
He laughed as his gaze held steady to the road. “Ah, I see our precious Bailey has been talking.”
“Who else? Bella might have mentioned it to the ladies when they went visiting, but of course it’s Bailey who’s decided you have the hots for the Southern belle. And those were Bailey’s words not mine.”
“Thanks for clarifying that for me.” The hots weren’t all he had for Bella Bostwick. Blood was pumping fast and furious in his veins at the thought of the kiss they had shared.
“No problem. So level with me, Jason. What’s going on with you and the Southern Bella?”
Jason smiled. The Southern Bella fit her. But then so did the Sensuous Bella. The Sexy Bella. The Sumptuous Bella. “And what makes you think something is going on?”
“I know you.”
True. Derringer and Zane knew him better than any of the other Westmorelands because they’d always been close, thick as thieves while growing up. “I admit I’m attracted to her but what man wouldn’t be? Otherwise, it’s not that serious.”
“You sure?”
Jason’s hand tightened on his steering wheel—that was the crux of his problem. When it came to Bella the only thing he was sure about was that he wanted her in a way he’d never wanted any other woman. When they’d kissed she kissed him back in a way that had his body heating up just thinking how her tongue had mated with his. He had loved the way her silken curls had felt flowing through his fingers and how perfect their bodies fit together.
He was probably treading on dangerous ground but for reasons he didn’t quite understand, he couldn’t admit to being sure right now. So instead of outright lying he decided to plead the fifth by saying, “I’ll get back to you on that.”
Irritation spread all through his gut at the thought that he hadn’t given Derringer an answer mainly because he couldn’t. And for a man who’d always been decisive when it came to a woman’s place in his heart, he could just imagine what Derringer was thinking.
He was trying not to think the same thing himself. Hell, he’d only set out to be a good neighbor and then realized how much he enjoyed her company. And then there had been the attraction he hadn’t been able to overlook.
“I’ll see you when you get here, Jason. Have a safe drive in,” Derringer said without further comment about Bella.
“Will do.”
BELLA STOOD STARING out her bedroom window at the mountains. Her meeting with Marvin had been informative as well as a little overwhelming. But she had been able to follow everything the man had said. Heading the list was Hercules. The horse was restless, agitated and it seemed when Hercules wasn’t in a good mood everybody knew it.