The sun was getting low in the sky, and they'd be lucky to make it back to the house before it set. Gathering the reins to her horse, he tied a lead rope on, and then helped Brielle up on his horse before joining her and setting out toward her house with Brielle sitting in front of him - with her curvy ass pressed against him.
This was going to test him to the very limits. They were silent as they rode the miles back to her place, and Colt recited every church hymn he could remember. It was a good thing his mother had made him attend Sunday school for so many years. Maybe it was time to start going again.
Conversation. They needed to have a conversation.
"Where did you grow up?"
Brielle was quiet for so long that he thought she was just going to ignore him. When he'd given up, she finally spoke. "In Maine. It was a small seaside town, but I loved it as a kid."
"And did that change?" he asked when she paused a while.
"Everything changes," she said with such a sigh that he felt it run through him. What was her real story? When she was silent for a while longer, he decided to speak about himself.
"I grew up right here in Sterling. Loved it then, love it now. This community, while very small, has the greatest people you will ever want to know. I could go anywhere, but I choose to stay here."
"Have you ever left?"
In the moment, Colt didn't even think about the fact that he was supposed to be a ranch hand. "Yeah, I've done some traveling. I got my MBA at Harvard. Met some of my best friends there. To this day we're still as close as brothers."
"Harvard? You went to Harvard and you're a ranch hand?"
Crap! There was the thing about lying again. He was silent for a minute while he tried how to answer as honestly as he could.
"I had amazing parents, the best in the world. They died five years ago while on vacation in Oregon. Black ice. I was devastated. But I worked hard in school, got excellent grades, and played basketball." That was honest, at least.
"Wow. That's impressive, Colt. But why ranch if you have an MBA from Harvard? You could go anywhere with that, make so much money."
"I grew up here, and I love it here. I knew when I went to college that I would come back home." That was also true. She just didn't know he was extremely wealthy. She didn't need to know that right now. Maybe never. Well, that wasn't true. She would have to know when he bought her land.
///
"I went to Brown," she admitted shyly.
"You're pretty impressive yourself, Brielle." Colt didn't add that he was surprised to hear it.
"I don't tell too many people, because I didn't finish. I had one year left, English major. I once thought I would write for the New York Times, or USA Today, and then I thought maybe Time magazine. Then, that dwindled to a fashion magazine; then it all just sort of fell away." Her voice trailed off in embarrassment.
"Why? Why would you quit if that's your passion?"
"Probably similar reasons to yours, though not as noble. I had a bad experience at the end of my junior year of college and I wanted to go home. I hadn't planned on returning home, but after that, I tucked in my tail and ran, and home is where I landed. My relationship with my father and brothers was already shot by that point, but I still knew I could come back; I still knew it was a safe zone."
"Was it a guy?"
"No, nothing that typical," she said with a laugh that he was glad to hear. "I had a professor I didn't get along with, and a roommate who betrayed me. Really, I think back, and I know it was stupid to leave. I know I should have just moved out of that apartment, and transferred out of the professor's class, but I was spoiled and frustrated, and … " She trailed off as she thought about past decisions.
"I think all of us make choices in life that we wish we could take back. Those choices don't define us, though, Brielle. If we learn from them, we grow."
She was silent for a while after his words, either processing them or rejecting them. Colt wished he could see her face, read her expression.
"Well, I landed here. I don't know how wisely my choices have been to let that happen." She added a laugh as if it were a joke, but he could hear the pain in her voice. She really thought very little of herself. It didn't help that he had judged her quickly and harshly.
But what had he been supposed to think? First impressions mattered, and their first encounter hadn't gone well. Colt was now more confused than ever before because he was beginning to find out more about this woman, and it wasn't all bad - some was pretty damn good.
She was intelligent, but she seemed to hide behind a mask of vanity. One thing he knew for sure about Brielle Storm was that he had no idea what tomorrow would bring.