Catching Coy (Love in Little River Book 3) Page 5

  After dinner, they walked around the small town in the warm evening, laughing and enjoying the quietness. But by the time the SUV pulled up to the Ranch House, Coy was ready for some alone time to reflect on the date and the women.

  He and Zane watched the women walk down the stone path to the front porch and the door of the Ranch House before Zane pulled away to head down the road. If Coy had been driving himself, he might have just snuck around until he found Bellamy. Good thing he had Zane to keep his head on straight, though the reasons for not giving in to his attraction to Bellamy kept getting fuzzier and fuzzier. He had come to Little River to find love. He just might have found it in an unexpected place.

  “Any idea who you’re cutting tomorrow?” Zane asked, turning to glance at Coy, who had hopped into the passenger seat after hugging all the women goodbye in front of the Ranch House. Zane turned the corner around the mansion to head down the dirt road to Roxy’s house. Coy didn’t even know the woman, but that’s how he’d come to think of his lodgings thanks to his friendship with Bellamy.

  “Nope.” Coy grimaced. “Stella is so quiet. I wish I could have gotten a moment to figure her out.”

  “Which ones do you want to keep—no thinking.” Zane had used the same tactic back in college when they’d tried to decide things. Give me the pros—no thinking first. He’d forced Coy to say whatever was on his mind.

  “Lucy.” Then his cheeks lit on fire.

  Zane burst into laughter. “Things went good with you guys yesterday.”

  Coy nodded. “The physical attraction is definitely there. Now we just need to have a conversation.”

  Zane laughed again. “Okay, next?”

  “Charlotte.”

  “Obviously. I like her. Did you notice the way she sat in back with Stella and brought her into all the conversations?”

  Coy had. “She’s so kind. I like that. Gillian,” he added next.

  His best friend nodded in agreement. “And who else?” Zane pulled into the driveway.

  Willa.

  Maybe.

  Bristol?

  Maybe.

  Stella?

  He didn’t know. He didn’t know her. “That’s where things get tricky.” He pushed open his door the same time Zane did, and they headed for the house in silence. Coy paused when they reached the steps. “No thinking; who would you pick for me?”

  “Bellamy.” Then Zane turned and gave Coy a mischievous grin.

  “Very helpful, man.” But a trickle of warmth slid through Coy, flowing around his chest and into his heart, urging him to use the warm summer night to walk back to the Ranch House and get to know her better.

  “I’m not completely joking.” Zane’s expression turned contemplative and he stuck his hands in his pockets and leaned against the side of the house that stuck out around the porch. “There’s a look on your face when I mention her or when she’s just been around. I know you have obligations to all of this, but don’t dismiss her. You might regret it.”

  Coy sat down in the swing. “And what about my obligations here? My contract?”

  “Take it from someone who knows your contract inside and out—it doesn’t say anywhere that you’re obligated to marry one of those women.” Zane pointed back up the road. “It says you have to stay here for six weeks and date those women. All of which you could do while also investigating further your feelings for Bellamy.”

  “Yeah…” Coy sat back and ran his hands through his hair. He shook his head. He just wished he could have more time to investigate those feelings with Bellamy, but she kept backing away, worried, maybe like him, about what he was supposed to be doing here. So how did he convince her to take a leap with him?

  CHAPTER NINE

  Willa, 28

  Waitress

  Nashville, Tennessee

  “This place is just so magical. I’ve never been so inspired. I hope I get to stay for a very, very long time.”

  Agnes had gone over to Portia’s cabin to spend the evening, probably to make sure the host didn’t spend half the night at The Wildflower Saloon, which was rumored to be the reason she’d been so late bringing over the date cards that morning. Agnes had asked Bellamy to keep an eye on things, which Bellamy could have done from her apartment upstairs. But she chose to believe that Agnes literally wanted her to keep an eye on the women, so she camped out in her office, shamelessly listening in on the conversations about how the first team date had gone.

  Willa strummed on and off on her guitar, pausing to scribble on paper, a sound that was very familiar to Bellamy having been living so near to Tag the last couple of years. Sometimes, when he was on a song-writing binge, Roxy would come down to the Ranch House for company. Tag could get so lost in his own world, it left her lonely. He, however, couldn’t stay away for long, and he’d bring his songwriting and guitar playing down to the Ranch House, doing his work from the living room while she and Roxy chatted at the dining room table or something.

  “That sounds really good.” Charlotte’s voice interrupted Willa’s latest batch of scribbling, and Bellamy looked up from her phone to see that Charlotte had moved to a chair next to the sofa Willa had spread out on.

  “Thanks.” Willa strummed softer, but she turned toward Charlotte. “There’s just something so inspiring about being here. Maybe it’s Taggart Dubois…” She chuckled to herself and then went on. “Or maybe it’s love, right?”

  Charlotte slumped down in the chair, lifting her feet to rest on a big, square footstool nearby. “Must be love.” She gave a smile and a sigh.

  Bellamy wasn’t so sure about Willa. She narrowed her eyes at the woman and then turned her attention back to her phone. It wasn’t the first time Willa had talked about walking in Taggart Dubois’ footsteps or feeling the magic of his roots here. She suspected more and more that Willa was here to use the connection to Little River and the platform of the show to launch herself up next to the great Taggart Dubois.

  Willa laughed at Charlotte’s declaration that it must be love and went on singing for a few more minutes before she quieted again. “Whatever happens tomorrow, I have no regrets. As long as I let Coy know how I feel, everything will have been worth it.”

  Bellamy huffed quietly. If she were helping Coy analyze what to do with these women, she’d share her suspicions about Willa’s motives. Her attention, however, was pulled by a notification from Instagram that the official Ranch House account had been tagged. Bellamy hired out the social media stuff to a local college student, but she still kept a close eye on the feeds.

  This tag was a picture that had to have been taken within the last day or so. Gillian, Charlotte, Bristol, Willa, and Stella were lined up in front of the porch at the Ranch House smiling, their arms around each other. Bellamy glanced at the account that had posted it, not recognizing the name of the man, Jackson Palmer, right off. She’d have to double check that he wasn’t one of the cameramen or crew that the show had brought along. Not that it mattered. Posting this would tip off people that Cam and Lyra had left first. The show had a three to four-week lag, Nico had explained, when he’d gone over the non-disclosure statements with the employees at the ranches and the Ranch House. It was shorter than a lot of similar shows, but with the smaller number of women and the shorter breaks they took each week after the dates, they could produce quickly. The first episode would air while Coy still had two weeks left in filming. It also allowed them to do a live Final Draft Ceremony.

  Bellamy looked over the status posted with the picture, scowling even more. “Missing my best friend 😉 Hope she’s having a blast at the Arrow C Ranch House. I’m so jealous.” What was with the winking emoji? Bellamy clicked onto the man’s profile, figuring out the wink right away. Multiple pictures of the man with Stella explained a lot, although none of them were technically damning. None of the statuses explained anything, but the cozy way the two looked in them said enough.

  Bellamy snapped a screenshot of the status but hesitated before sending it to Agnes or Nico. T
he way Stella had always tried to fade into the background said there was more to the story. Bellamy stood, rounding her desk and going to the door. Stella wasn’t in the living room with the other girls, so Bellamy headed for the stairs. A cameraman sat on one of the steps, ready to follow anyone upstairs, so Bellamy backtracked and took the back stairs next to the kitchen, coming to the open door of Stella’s room without alerting the wolves. She tapped on the open door, making Stella look up from where she read a book on one of the chairs in the room.

  She frowned at Bellamy. “What’s going on?”

  Bellamy held up her phone to show Stella the picture. “Can we talk?”

  Stella covered her mouth with one hand, then waved Bellamy in. Glancing around to the hallway, she shut the door quietly, hopefully keeping their private talk just that.

  “Oh my gosh,” she murmured, stalking across the room and slumping back into her chair by the window. This room had a queen bed on one side and a set of bunk beds on the other. Willa had claimed the queen, clothes Bellamy recognized as hers spilling out of the bag on top of it.

  “How did your boyfriend get this picture?” Bellamy crossed the room to sit on the edge of the other chair—low, fluffy things designed for pure relaxation.

  Stella didn’t lift her head from where she’d rested it in her hands, elbows on her knees. “Zane said he’d send it to our phones. None of us have them, of course, but for when we left. Mine also sends messages to my computer, which Jackson must be using. Are you going to tell Coy?”

  “Yes.” Bellamy couldn’t help the automatic answer. Coy had already mentioned how he felt like Stella was a mystery he wanted to solve. He didn’t deserve keeping her around only to find this out later. Bellamy twisted her fingers together. She hoped part of that quick answer didn’t come from the feeling of relief she got whenever she could count out one of the women as wrong for Coy. “And Agnes. But not before you tell me the whole story.”

  Stella took a deep breath and sat up, turning to face Bellamy. She was pretty, more average than the other girls, if Bellamy was being honest, but still beautiful in a girl-next-door kind of way that Bellamy could picture with Coy. Straight, dark blonde hair that dusted across the tops of her shoulders and a petite, curvy figure. She wore glasses right now, though it was the first time Bellamy had seen her wear them—except for the pictures she’d spied on Jackson’s account.

  “I wasn’t dating Jackson when I signed up for The Catch. I’ve known him forever, and had a crush on him, to be honest, but he’d never noticed me. We’d only gone out a few times when the producers offered me a spot, and I didn’t think it was going anywhere. But then it did, and Jackson thought I should come anyway. That it was once in a lifetime, just to hang out and experience all of this in person.” Bellamy couldn’t fault the girl that. She’d been doing the same thing. “Jackson planned how I would just make sure I didn’t try to win Coy’s attention—just be nice and friendly so I could stay a couple weeks. I … I didn’t want to, but he thought it was so cool.” She gave a sigh and fell back against the chair. “I just didn’t want to disappoint him.”

  “You wanna go home?” Bellamy reached over to take Stella’s hand and squeeze it.

  “Since that first day.” Stella’s voice came out thick. “Coy Jones isn’t arrogant or full of himself the way Jackson thought he would be. You’ve seen Coy play and how he kinda struts on the court.”

  Bellamy laughed, earning a watery smile. She nodded. “He is like that.”

  “He doesn’t deserve this.”

  “No, he doesn’t.” Bellamy scooted over to wrap her arms around Stella. The woman fell into her, breathing deeply. “But you weren’t trying to be mean. I know some people. We can get you out of here, then I can tell Agnes.”

  Stella sat back. “Really?” She held onto Bellamy’s hands, squeezing them.

  “They’ll lap the drama up.”

  Stella, 24

  Teacher

  Montpelier, Idaho

  “I never wanted to hurt Coy. He is such a great guy, and whoever he chooses is going to be so lucky. I’ve watched him give all his attention to whoever he’s with, making sure they have all of his heart for that moment. He deserves someone who feels that way about him; who wants to give him all of her heart—always.”

  One of the cameramen owed Bellamy a favor, so she convinced him to film a confessional—Agnes really would kill her if she didn’t get at least that—and to not tell anyone about it until Bellamy had spirited Stella away, down the back stairs and into Nash’s Jeep so he could drive Stella to the airport in Casper. Once Stella texted her from Nash’s phone that they were on the freeway headed south, Bellamy sent a text off to Agnes.

  And then she set off for Roxy’s house to tell Coy.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Coy opened the door to find Bellamy standing there. “I knew you couldn’t stay away.”

  “I need to talk to you.” She moved to go inside, but Coy stepped in the way, holding out a hand toward the porch swing.

  “I’ve been wanting to give this a try. And you showing up is convenient, because I wanted to talk to you too. I have to cut two girls tomorrow night and I have no idea who. I mean, I have some idea—”

  “One.” Bellamy perched on the porch swing, watching as Coy took a seat on the other end. “Stella just left.”

  Coy automatically scooted closer. “What?”

  She pulled out her phone, leaning toward him as she tapped a few icons and then flicked through her Instagram feed. His leg rested against hers, but she didn’t seem to notice as she searched for whatever she was looking for. Coy bent over her, slipping an arm over the back of the swing.

  “Here.” She turned suddenly, coming nose to nose with him since she hadn’t given him enough warning to pull his head back.

  Which, he wasn’t sure he would have even if she had given him warning.

  “Oh,” she breathed and didn’t move. Coy did, but only to lift his hand to trace his thumb along her jawline and then to dip his head closer to hers. He had called it. This porch swing had made for the perfect shot and luckily for Coy, there weren’t any cameras in sight.

  “Stella has a boyfriend,” she whispered.

  “Well, that’s unfortunate,” he whispered back. Mystery solved. And he found himself not even a tiny bit disappointed. If every single girl back at the Ranch House packed up and drove off tonight, he would find a way to get through. Likely by taking Bellamy into Roxy’s living room and locking out Agnes, Nico, Zane and every single cameraman on this ranch.

  “Stop,” she said softly, gripping his shoulders.

  Coy opened his eyes to find her still closing hers, head tipped, everything except her words saying she was ready for him to kiss her. “I would rather not.”

  “Coy…”

  The way she groaned his name, probably meant to express her irritation that he wasn’t listening to her, did not help. He pulled in a long breath. “Okay, Bells. If you say so.” But he didn’t move away.

  Neither did she.

  He was getting mixed signals.

  “How many women have you kissed so far?” she asked, opening her eyes, staring up at him and blinking slowly.

  “Uh…”

  She pressed her lips together. Coy ran his thumb softly along them. “Enough that you’ve already lost count?” she said.

  “No. You caught me off guard. I wasn’t expecting that question,” he said. “Three.”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “That’s it?”

  He chuckled and leaned his forehead against hers. “That’s it. Are you disappointed? We could make it four…”

  “No, I’m not disappointed in that, Coy Jones.” She settled her arms around his neck, holding him close. She smiled, near enough that it would take only a few centimeters of movement to reach her lips, and he struggled to respect her request. Magnets pulled him stronger than anything that buzzed between him and Lucy.

  Bellamy turned serious. “But … don’t kiss me until I’m th
e only one you want to kiss. You still have to do this dating thing, and I don’t know if you’ve just never actually gotten it that I’m not competing here. You could still fall for those other girls.”

  Zane’s words, the ones he’d used to convince Coy not to discount a moment like this, returned to back up her argument. You have to stay here for six weeks and date those women.

  Coy put an arm behind her back and pulled her closer, even if he wasn’t going to kiss her. This was one of those moments he was going to trust how he felt and let it lead him forward. “It’s time you started competing.”

  Portia Hampton

  “The biggest twist in Catch history. I promise, you didn’t see this coming.”

  Bellamy found herself back in her office the next morning, but not to catch up on any of her work. Instead the doors were shut tightly, the other women in the house confined to their rooms with crewmen standing at the stairs to make sure no one overheard their conversation. Nico Fox sat behind her desk, Agnes sat in the chair next to Bellamy. Coy and Zane stood behind Bellamy, and Portia sat in another chair along the wall.

  “You sure you want to do this?” Agnes asked, the lines around her eyes pinching.