Hidden Treasure(19)

Anyway, once his needs were met, Colt was fine with walking away, and then finding the next woman when his desires began to cloud his judgment again. If it looked as if a woman wasn’t interested, which happened just about never, he would move happily on to the next.

If he wasn’t sexually attracted to them, once in a blue moon they’d become a friend, but most of the time he just wouldn’t strike up a conversation. Whichever way it went, it didn’t affect him, didn’t leave him with longing, didn’t leave him in such a disagreeable mood.

After about ten minutes of riding out along the borders of Brielle’s property, he decided he’d better get the air cleared up. He was supposed to be showing her the land, and he certainly couldn’t point things out if he wasn’t speaking to the silly woman. He had to hand it to her, though — she knew when to be silent.

That was a quality he could appreciate in a woman. … Damn. If his mama had ever heard him say such a crude thing, of course, she’d have smacked him in the back of the head. He almost flinched just thinking about it.

Yeah, Colt knew he could be an ass, but weren’t all men at some point? Yeah, they were, he assured himself. Even if he knew he was full of bullshit, along with that whole boys will be boys mentality.

“It looked like you and Hawk were getting quite cozy back there at the store.” Dammit. Colt wanted to kick himself for his words and the tone in which he’d delivered them, but it was now out in the open and he couldn’t take the statement back, so he might as well hold his ground.

When Brielle whipped her head around, and her horse took a side step, most likely from the tension in the woman’s legs, Colt didn’t know what to think. Was she upset that she’d been caught drooling over his friend, or was she pissed at what he’d just said?

“What in the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Well, it didn’t take you long to forget that we’d been making out in the changing room right before Hawk walked into the place.” Again, he wished he could take the words back, but his brain seemed to be sending him messages just a few seconds too late.

“You know what, Colt?”

He waited but she didn’t say anything. “What?” he finally asked.

“You’re a complete jerk! I don’t know why I thought it would be good to have you show me the grounds. If you think I’m such a slut, then why in the hell did you kiss me at all?” she snapped. “Oh, I get it! It was because you think I’m a slut that you were enjoying the make-out session. Do you think I should just climb off this horse right now and climb on top of you? After all, that’s what whores do, right? They can go to town with one guy and then climb aboard the next one as soon as they’re finished.”

Her fury had the odd effect of calming him. Granted, he’d just made a fool of himself. But if she’d been attracted to Hawk, why would she be so outraged now? She wouldn’t. She’d blush, or turn her head, or giggle or something, wouldn’t she?

Hell, Colt didn’t know. It wasn’t as if he had a lot of experience with this sort of thing. Normally, if a girl liked one of his friends more than she liked him, he was fine to see her go off into the night with the guy.

This was the first time in his life that he wanted to fight for the girl, and that made zero sense to him. Brielle was just a city girl, a girl who wouldn’t be here very long, a girl who was forgettable. Wasn’t she?

Somehow, he knew that wasn’t the case. Though she was all wrong for him, he had a feeling he wouldn’t be able to wash this girl right out of his hair so easily. He had a feeling that if he didn’t move fast, he’d lose her before he ever had the chance to have her.

That thought filled him with dread, which meant that he should be running as fast as he could in the opposite direction. Instead, he found himself trying to make up with her.

“I’m sorry. That was rude. It’s just that I felt…” He didn’t know how to end that sentence, and found himself falling silent.

“You felt like an ass? Like a tyrant? Like a slimeball?”

“Yeah, a little bit like all of those things,” he said, and then his lips turned up and soon he was hitting her with his best smile. The widening of her eyes told him that she wasn’t unaffected by him.

“Good,” she said, then jerked her head away and concentrated on her riding.

“How about we call a truce? You forget that I’ve been an ass, and I’ll…” She hadn’t done anything wrong, so how could he complete that sentence?

“And I’ll…?” she asked.