Perfect Secret by Molly McLain

Chapter 20

ALANA

“We weren’t supposed to do that.”

Holden jogs back into my bedroom with a smile, a wet washcloth, and a bare ass.

“Hell yes, we were.” He cleans me up and nuzzles my neck at the same time. “Though, I still think we should’ve done it on the bridge. I kinda like getting caught with you. Let’s everyone know you’re mine.”

“Let’s everyone know I’m a ho for you, too.”

“Again, I see no problem.”

Ugh.

Tate’s online gossip site had been updated bright and early this morning and I’m not sure I’ll ever live it down.

Sorry, Mason Creek bachelors. If you’ve been patiently waiting for the pretty market manager to open her heart to love once again, you’ve already missed the boat. Or should we say bull?

Last weekend, Alana Faulkner was spotted consummating her relationship with the mysterious ranch hand from Colorado. Except it turns out Holden McMurray isn’t actually a ranch hand at all—he’s a world champion bull rider.

Seems as though Ms. Faulkner’s contempt for guys in cowboy boots and chaps has come to an end…

And from what we can tell, this cowboy is definitely more than an eight second ride.

“It could have been worse, babe. She could have said I was a shitty lay.”

“Oh my god!” I shove him away and throw an arm over my eyes, even as I laugh. “This is not funny! My parents are going to hear about this!”

“You think I’ll still be invited to dinner tomorrow?”

“HOLDEN!”

He falls back on a pillow, laughing so hard the bed shakes. “You have enough going on in that pretty head of yours. Let me worry about this.”

I peek at him from beneath my arm. “But you’re not worried.”

“Exactly.”

I should have let him sit in the gum on the bridge.

“What time did you say you have to be at work?”

“In an hour. I’m closing tonight, since Susie came in for me this morning.”

Holden rolls to face me, trailing his fingers lightly over my stomach. “I’m going to talk to Cory while you do that.”

“I figured you might.”

“I’m going to tell him that we’re together. And that I don’t give a shit what he thinks about it.”

He’s going to be the end of me, this one. Death by perpetually guilty conscience. “And if he decides never to talk to you again?”

“He has to. We bought a travel trailer together.”

“And now I feel even worse.” I sit up and reach for my robe before sliding out of bed.

“Please don’t.” He meets me at my dresser and turns me to face him before I can grab clean clothes. With a finger, he lifts my chin and forces my eyes on his. “I’m not sure I want to put any more effort into a friendship with someone who’d act like he did last night. He insinuated that I was a friggin’ rapist and that’s not something I’m sure I can forget, even if he was just spewing shit out of desperation.”

The betrayal in his eyes and in his tone makes my heart ache. “I’m so sorry.”

“I’m not.” His big hands lift to cup my face and he smiles. “I’m not sorry about anything that led me to you.”

Before I can argue, his lips are on mine and everything I wanted to protest fades away.

I adore this man. I want him to be happy and to feel valued and loved and respected.

And if he feels those things when he’s with me, then maybe he’s right where he’s supposed to be, after all.

* * *

“Didyou hear about the drama earlier?” Kelly, the night shift deli clerk, asks later that evening as we begin our closing cleanup. The market is technically open for another hour, but Saturday nights are always quiet after the dinner rush.

“Do I want to know?” I bend for the dustpan and toss the dirt and smooshed grapes into the trash.

“Apparently, Sadie’s grandma came in and was talking to Nancy about the fancy dinner she had planned for her and Marty tonight.”

I grimace, because the idea of Granny Char and Marty dating is still weird as heck to me. Not that people of all ages don’t deserve to be happy and find love, but Marty is my boss and Char… well, she’s the horniest old woman in town.

“Hattie and Hazel came in, too, and when Hazel overheard Char bragging about her plans, she flipped her wig. Literally. Hazel launched at Char and yanked her hair right off of her head.”

I blink at her. “Are you telling me…?”

“That not one, but two old biddies in town want a piece of our boss? Yes. Yes, I am.”

I press a hand to my stomach. “There are some things a person just doesn’t need to know. You know?”

Kelly bursts out laughing. “Right? I’m never going to be able to look at him again without imagining—”

“Stop!” I hold up a hand and scrunch up my face. “Oh god. Too late.”

Kelly rolls with another round of laughter just as the buzzer sounds at the front of the store, indicating a new shopper.

“I’ll finish this up,” Kelly offers, still giggling as she takes the broom and dustpan from me.

“Thanks.” I head back to the only checkout lane that’s open at this time of night, hoping it’s neither Char or Hazel, because I just can’t right now.

Fortunately, it’s none other than my handsome cowboy.

“Hey, darlin’,” he says as he saunters my way, looking like a sight for sore eyes. I think I secretly knew what he did for a living the first night he walked into Pony Up, because that sexy swagger of his is one-hundred-percent bull rider.

“Hey yourself. You look like you were working.” I toe up for a quick kiss as he leans down for one.

“Sandy over at Magnolia Blue needed a hand with some things, so I offered to go since Wilder was busy taking cattle to Billings.”

“Ah. Is her foreman still giving her grief?”

“Nah, not really. They’ve come to an understanding. Doesn’t seem like such a bad guy once you get to know him.”

“Well, that’s good.” I’m also dying to know if he talked to Cory, but I won’t ask. As much as I want to make all of this easier on him, Holden is a big boy and this thing with Cory… it’s between them, not me.

Besides, I need to save my energy for the bull riding battle, because that’s something I’m not willing to give up on.

“Have you had dinner? I don’t have much upstairs, but I’m done in an hour and we can grab something…” I thumb over my shoulder as he tucks his hands into his pockets.

“Actually, that’s why I’m here. I’m going to cook for you tonight. And then we’re going to watch a movie.”

“Oh, we are?”

“Yep.” His grin is so boyish and distracting that I almost miss the ambulance flying by outside.

“That’s never a good sign.” We don’t get many emergency calls in Mason Creek, but when we do, they’re almost always followed by bad news.

“I’m sure it’s nothing. Someone probably fell down drunk at the bar or something.”

I shake my head. “They’re going in the wrong direction for that.”

Holden lifts my chin and presses a kiss to my forehead. “It could literally be anything, babe. Now, let’s talk about dinner. I’m actually a pretty shitty cook, so I was thinking grilled cheese, tomato soup, and ice cream for dessert.”

“Only if it’s the new coffee flavored stuff we just got in.”

“Deal.” He taps his finger on my nose and grabs a handbasket before heading toward the soup aisle. I, being the opportunist that I am, unabashedly ogle his ass in those semi-snug Wranglers.

Maybe I don’t want him going back to the rodeo after all.

* * *

“Twilight? Are you serious?”

“Yep.” Holden gives a single nod, a smirk the size of Texas spreading across his handsome face as he turns off the soup and takes down two bowls. “As your boyfriend, it’s my job to help you eradicate this fear of yours.”

“And how do you figure watching a movie that depicts vampires living among us is going to help?”

“Ah, have you seen Robert Pattinson before, darlin’?” He makes an exasperated face and I roll my eyes.

“I don’t believe for a second you’ve actually watched Twilight. And even if you did, you don’t strike me as the kind of guy who’d know who played who.”

He stares me down, trying his darnedest to look disappointed that I don’t believe him, before he bursts out laughing. “Okay, fine. I’ve never actually watched the whole thing through, but my sister is a big fan and I’ve gleaned some background over the years.”

“That’s more like it.” I wrinkle up my nose and grab the plates with our grilled cheese sandwiches, leading the way to the living room while he carries the soup.

He scarfs down two sandwiches by the time I can even get Netflix cued up on the TV.

And then there’s a knock at the door.

We exchange confused looks, because no one ever visits. And more to the point, no one should have the code.

“I’ll get it.” Holden gets to his feet, brushing crumbs from his pants as he goes.

The ambulance screaming through town earlier comes to mind just as Holden opens the door and Aiden fills the empty space.

Holden told me about their conversation earlier, so I know he isn’t here to cause problems, but the sullen look on his face says that whatever did bring him here isn’t good news.

“Why do you look like someone died?” I ask bluntly, and the flicker of emotion that passes over his face makes my stomach turn. Oh god. Someone did die.

He shuffles slowly into the living room and drops down onto the couch next to where I sit on the floor, his MCSO baseball cap in his hands.

“Aiden, just tell me. It’s not Mom or Dad, right? Because someone would have called—”

He shakes his head and when he speaks, his voice is hoarse. “Mom and Dad are fine. It’s…” He trails off, rubbing a hand over his dark hair. “It’s Marty, Al. He, uh, he didn’t make it.”

Just like that, my ears begin to ring and everything in my body feels like it’s being pulled out of me on a slingshot. My vision goes white and then the slingshot launches and a million memories of Marty fly through my mind.

Coming into the market with my mom as a kid. Marty sneaking penny candy to me when we would check out. My job interview in high school. My job interview when I quit Montana State and came back to Mason Creek. The way he always called me kiddo, no matter how old I got or how much responsibility he gave me at the store.

That I loved him like a grandfather and never told him.