Текст книги "When You're Back"

Автор книги: Abbi Glines

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 5 (всего у книги 15 страниц)

Mase

Spending time with my sister and niece was nice, and I had missed them, but I was more than ready to get back to Texas with Reese. Having sex hadn’t been easy in my sister’s house, and I wanted Reese all to myself; Harlow kept taking her away from me. I knew Reese needed girlfriends—she had never really had any, and I wanted that for her—but I missed having her close.

Once we got back to our own house, I breathed a sigh of relief. I grabbed the bag out of Reese’s hand and set it down before pulling her hard against me. I’d been tempted to do this on the plane, but I figured she’d be embarrassed that the attendant could hear us in the back, so I’d let her curl up on me and go to sleep.

But we were in the privacy of our home now, and I wanted her naked.

“Strip,” I said, and I jerked my shirt over my head.

Reese laughed as she stood there and watched me unbuckle my jeans.

“Not kidding, baby. I need in you now.”

She didn’t laugh this time. Instead, she pulled off the shirt she was wearing and slipped out of her skirt. Just what I needed.

“I’m not letting you out of that bedroom until tomorrow at the earliest,” I warned.

She bit her bottom lip and finished slipping out of her panties. That sight never got old. “Prove it,” she taunted me.

I picked her up and threw her over my shoulder. I slapped her bare ass, making her squeal. Once we were in the bedroom, I put her in the middle of the bed. “We fuck first, then I’ll play,” I promised her.

Reese flashed me a teasing grin and rolled over, sticking her bottom in the air as she got onto her hands and knees. I ran both hands over her plump bottom and down the backs of her thighs. “You wanted to fuck. So fuck me,” she said, glancing back at me.

She was being brave. Making the first move. My sweet girl was being naughty. I fucking loved it. I bent over her and kissed her shoulder. “How do you want to be fucked, baby? Easy?”

Reese shook her head. “No. I want you to fuck me the way you want to.”

That was a loaded answer. But the first thing I did was kiss my freckle. Reese giggled as I paid that spot extra attention before moving a hand up between the silkiness of her inner thighs.

“OK to fuck first? You sure?” I asked her as I ran my lips up where my hands had just been.

“Yes, Mase. Fuck first,” she said, with a soft moan.

Her wish was my command.

I came up behind her, grabbing her hips and easing in, slowly at first, until she had taken all of me. Then I took what she wanted me to, but it wasn’t until I heard her scream my name over and over as her body trembled that I let out my own shout of pleasure.

Arthur Stout was meeting me at the barn today. He had called yesterday, saying he wanted to talk to me about purchasing one of my older, well-broken quarters for his wife to use for the riding school she ran on their ranch. Normally, I only dealt with cattle when it came to the Stouts, but every once in a while, his wife needed a dependable horse for her classes. Arthur always came to me, and I had two for him to look at that I thought would fit Mrs. Stout’s needs.

I had kissed Reese good-bye and left her in bed before the sun came up. It bothered me to know she would be there most of the day unless she came down to see me. She didn’t need that seclusion. Aida had gone to visit Grandma Colt for a few days with my mother, and it had been a relief to know I wouldn’t have to deal with her drama while I figured out how to make life fuller for Reese.

Arthur’s F-450 pulled up, and I dusted the dirt off my hands and walked out to meet him. I’d bathed and brushed Buttercup and Rose for him to inspect. Both of them would be fourteen years old this year. They were the perfect age for new learners.

“Morning, Mase,” Arthur called out as he walked down the hill to meet me.

“Morning,” I replied, tilting my hat back so I could see him better.

“It’s ’bout afternoon for a rancher, though, isn’t it, boy?” He chuckled.

It was only nine in the morning, but he was right. We got up early enough for nine to be more like twelve for most folks. When he got to the hill, he looked out over my training ring and nodded. “Looks good. Things must be going well for you. Glad to see that.”

“Yes, sir. Business is growing.”

“Good, good,” he said, then took off his hat and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. “I’m here to see those horses like I called about, but I got another proposition for you, too. My wife’s business is growing, and she’s needing more help in the office part of things. Taking phone calls and making phone calls. Reading e-mails and answering them. Even just cleaning the tack and whatnot.” He paused and put his hat back on his head. “I heard your girlfriend was looking for a job. I liked the girl, and I think she’d work well with Piper.”

Where had he heard Reese was looking for a job? She hadn’t said anything about it. I wasn’t sure I wanted her on the Stouts’ property, either. Not with Hawkins around.

“I’m not real sure she’s looking for a job. She’s not mentioned it. Don’t know where you got that information, but she’s going to look into going back to school. I appreciate the offer, though.”

Arthur looked disappointed, but he nodded. “Understood. Just thought I’d check. Piper has interviewed a few women, and they’ve been . . . older and treated her like, er, well, let’s just say it didn’t work out. She needs someone more her age.”

I nodded that I understood, but I wasn’t entertaining this idea. “You ready to see the girls?” I said, and I headed toward the stalls without waiting for him to follow.

Reese wasn’t looking for a job. If she was, she’d have told me. Wouldn’t she?

Reese

I fluffed the pillows on the sofa one more time before I continued pacing the living room. All day, I’d cleaned and thought about how I was going to tell Mase that I wanted a job. I also wanted to get my GED and take online college courses, but in order to do all that, I needed a steady income.

Staying here all day was not going to be enough. Even with Mase’s two-hour lunch break, I needed something to do with the rest of my day. Telling Mase I wanted to have my own money and pay my own way wasn’t going to go well. I could just feel it. He would go all caveman and insist he could take care of me. I needed to go another route. I needed to emphasize that I wanted a purpose. I wanted to get out into the world and do something.

He was a reasonable man. He would see what I was saying and understand.

Before I could get more nervous, the door opened, and in walked Mase, looking dirty, sweaty, and very sexy. He was my own personal cowboy, and I loved that. Seeing the smile on his face was all I needed, wasn’t it? That smile made everything else seem less important. Did I want to upset him? Did I want to argue tonight? Or just curl up in his arms and talk about other things? Things that made him happy.

Yes . . . no . . . ugh! I had to talk to him. I had to face this. It was my life. Our life. I had to find my direction in it.

“I want to get a job,” I blurted out, for fear that I wouldn’t say it if I waited. “I want to get a job and a GED and take college courses online.”

There. I had said it.

Mase stopped and studied me. He didn’t say anything for a moment, and I worried that I’d sounded ungrateful or unhappy. I wasn’t unhappy. I loved him. I loved being with him. I just needed more than being here all the time.

“You want a job?” he asked. “Who have you mentioned that to?”

I shook my head. “Just you,” I replied. I didn’t think I’d said it to anyone else, but maybe I had told Blaire, or was it Harlow? I couldn’t remember.

“Why do you want a job?”

“I want to make money. I don’t want you paying for my school and”—I held my hands out—“everything. I want to contribute. Staying here all day is . . . it’s not doing anything, really. I need to work. I need to get my GED.”

Mase let out a sigh and put his hands on his hips as he studied his boots a moment. He was upset. I had upset him. This was what I didn’t want to do. I had opened my mouth to apologize when he looked back up at me. “OK. I understand. How do you feel about answering phone calls and e-mails and cleaning horse stalls?”

What? Was he trying to give me a job? That wasn’t what I meant. He didn’t need me. He was making up a job for me. I had to feel more independent than this. I needed that security. “No, Mase. You can’t make up a job for me. You don’t need help. I have to get a job out in the world and bring money home.”

A small grin tugged on his lips. “It wouldn’t be for me.”

“Huh?”

He reached down and pulled off his muddy boots and set them near the door, then walked toward me. “Arthur Stout’s wife, Piper, gives horse-riding lessons at their stables. She needs an assistant. Arthur offered you the job today.”

He reached for my hand and held it in his like he was examining a priceless treasure in his palm. “You’d have to answer phones and take notes. Write them down. You’d have to read e-mails and reply to them. I didn’t tell Arthur about your dyslexia. That’s something for you to tell Piper if you want this job. I believe you can do it. I believe you can be the best damn assistant in the world. But I need to know if you believe it.”

A job that didn’t involve cleaning toilets. An assistant job. In an office. Wow. That was more than I thought I could do. “I’d tell her,” I assured him. “Yes, I want it. That would be a great job to have on my résumé.”

He nodded. “I agree. And I think you can do it. I hate to think of you gone all day, but I also want you to be happy. I want you to have everything you want in life.”

I wanted him. He was the most important thing. But I did want other things, too. This was the first step toward being my own person. Reaching up, I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him close. “Thank you. Thank you so much for this.”

Mase kissed my head. “Don’t thank me for wanting to make you happy. I intend to keep you here. Whatever I need to do to make sure that happens, I’ll do.”

Smiling, I laid my head on his chest.

“I’m filthy,” he said, running a hand down my hair.

“I don’t care. I like you this way. You’re my sexy cowboy.”

Mase chuckled. “Sexy cowboy, huh?” I nodded, and he held me tightly against him. “Why don’t I fix us some sandwiches, and then you can take a shower with me to make sure this cowboy gets all clean.”

I pulled back and smiled up at him. “What kind of girlfriend would I be if I stayed here all day and didn’t fix you any dinner?”

“I didn’t smell anything,” he said, looking toward the kitchen.

“Because the fish is battered, and the hushpuppies are all rolled up and ready to go. I was just waiting for you to fry them so they’d be nice and hot. Fix yourself some sweet tea. It won’t take me but ten minutes to fry everything up. The coleslaw is already chilled in the fridge.”

His eyes lit up. “Seriously? Fried fish? Hot damn. I’ll wash up and set the table.”

Grinning, I ran a finger down his dirty shirt. “Why don’t you take a shower so you can be clean for dinner?”

“A shower with you sounds like more fun,” he said, with a pouty look that made me want to follow after him.

“You’ll enjoy eating if you’re clean. We can always get dirty again later.”

“Keep talking like that, and we won’t be eating until later.”

Giggling, I ran to the kitchen to grab the fish out of the fridge before he could grab me.

“Fine. But we’re getting dirty later. You promised.”

I flashed him a grin, then went about getting the oil hot.

Mase had left me early this morning, like always, but he came back around eight thirty to wake me up. Piper had been thrilled to hear that I wanted to come in and speak with her about the job. She was expecting me around eleven. Luckily, Piper didn’t live by ranch hours. She liked her sleep.

He kissed me and reassured me that I could do this. He also said he would come get me at around ten forty to give me a ride there. I didn’t have a car here, but I wasn’t sure of my way around anyway. This was another thing I hadn’t considered. How was I going to get to my job every day? I couldn’t just walk.

Mase

I hadn’t been able to just drop Reese off. I needed to be with her when she met Piper. I also wanted to hold her fucking hand through the whole interview, but I couldn’t. If Reese needed to show Piper she could do this, then having me around, coddling her, wasn’t going to help.

Piper had given Reese a genuine smile when we approached and had been very friendly. She must have seen my reluctance to leave, because she’d turned to me and told me that Reese was in good hands and she would give me a call later. That had been her hint for me to leave.

Reluctantly, I went back to the ranch. My mother’s truck was in the driveway, which meant Aida was back. But Major’s was parked right next to it. I hadn’t seen him in at least two months. I headed up to the house, in need of some sweet tea and something to get my mind and my worries off Reese.

Opening the screen door, I stepped off the porch and into the small entrance that led directly to the kitchen. Major was sitting at the table with a plate full of biscuits and gravy. Aida was across from him, scowling about something. I glanced over at my mother, who was still working at the stove on what smelled like bacon.

“Little late in the day for breakfast, isn’t it?” I asked, taking off my hat before my momma could fuss at me and hanging it on the rack by the door.

All three sets of eyes turned to me.

“Her favorite boy is home. She’s gotta feed me,” Major replied with a stupid grin. Sometimes I think he honestly believed that.

“Oh, stop it. But yes, Major’s here, and he looked starved. I knew what would put some meat back on his bones,” Momma said.

Major looked just like he did the last time I saw him. He was by no means starved.

“Sure he does,” I drawled, rolling my eyes. “Can your second-favorite boy get some of that, too?” I asked.

I walked over and kissed Momma on the cheek, and she squeezed me around the shoulders the best she could. “You’re my number one always, and you know it. Sit down, and let me feed you, too. I also want to know all about Reese’s new job.”

“Reese got a job?” Aida asked, her eyes wide with something I didn’t recognize.

“You already put her to work? Damn, man, what’s your deal? Woman like that belongs in a bed all day. Happy and taken care of,” Major said, and I knew he meant it.

“Major Colt, that is enough. No talk like that at my table,” Momma said sternly.

He winked and puckered his lips like he was directing a kiss at Momma, before taking another bite. As always, my mother laughed at his antics. If that had been me, she’d have backhanded me.

“Reese wanted a job. I didn’t make her get one. And Piper Stout offered her one that I think she’ll enjoy.”

Major frowned and took a drink of his tea. “She gonna be working at the Stouts’?”

I nodded.

“You’re stupid as sh—uh, I mean . . .” He stopped from cursing as his eyes lifted to my mother, who was glaring at him in warning.

“I think she and Piper will get along fine.”

Major cocked an eyebrow. “Wasn’t Piper I was referring to. You do remember Hawkins, right?”

That was my biggest concern, but I trusted Reese. There was no question there. I just didn’t want Hawkins ever making her feel uncomfortable.

“If at any time he steps over the line, I will handle it. But I can’t keep her locked up away from the world. She needs a life.”

Major shrugged, then went back to eating. “Whatever. But dude, your woman is smoking.”

Aida let out a short laugh, like she thought that comment was amusing. Both Major and I turned to her.

“What? You don’t agree?” Major asked her. He was always up for a fight with Aida. While I was the cousin she grew up adoring, he was the cousin she grew up fighting with.

“She’s fat. Have you seen her butt? No offense, Mase. It’s just you could do better,” Aida said, looking at me with what she thought was an apologetic smile. It wasn’t.

“Aida! Reese is not fat. I can’t believe you’d say something so harsh.” Momma turned her disapproving gaze Aida’s way.

Aida shrugged. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but she is . . . she’s a little too curvy.”

Major let out a loud laugh. “I am so glad I came back here. I was missing this, and no one told me.” He continued to cackle with laughter.

“Reese’s backside happens to be the very thing that caught my interest. It’s perfect, and it’s mine. I never want to hear you say anything negative about her body or her again. Do you understand me?”

Aida’s eyes went wide, and I realized I’d never talked to her so coldly or harshly before. But she’d said the wrong thing. Being cruel wasn’t acceptable. Being cruel to Reese would completely turn me against her.

Major finally stopped laughing. “Reese has the body of a porn star, Aida. You have the body of a model. Women want your body. Men want Reese’s. It’s a simple fact. But seeing you get jealous and ugly about it is priceless.”

Aida stiffened at his comment. “I’m not jealous!”

“Don’t talk about my woman’s body being like a porn star’s, or we’ll have to take this outside my momma’s kitchen, and I’ll shut you up myself,” I warned Major.

“I’m not jealous of her!” Aida said forcefully.

“I was just making a comparison. It was the best I had,” Major said with a shrug.

“Don’t,” I warned him again before he said something I couldn’t forgive.

“Mase is my cousin! Why would I be jealous of who he dates?” Aida spat out angrily.

Major turned his attention back to Aida. “Because you’ve always been jealous of anyone who has taken his attention off you, be it me, Harlow, or, hell, a damn horse. Because ever since you turned sixteen and the hormones kicked in and you realized there’s not one drop of blood shared between you two, you’ve been obsessed with him. He can’t see it, because he doesn’t see you that way. But I can see it. You do anything you can to get his attention. Problem is, you’re missing the big picture. He sees you as his cousin and nothing more.”

What? Where had Major come up with this? Aida didn’t think of me like that.

Aida stood up and ran out of the kitchen without a word. What the hell?

“Someone needed to say it,” Major said, then leaned back and took a drink of his sweet tea.

“I’d better go check on her,” Momma said, turning off the stove. “You two can help yourself to the bacon.”

I watched as Momma went out the door to look for Aida.

“You didn’t know, did you?” Major asked.

Know what? That Aida had a thing for me? Fuck, no. “I don’t think you’re right,” I told him.

He chuckled. “Yeah, I’m right. Did your momma correct me or reprimand me? No. She went after Aida. She knows I’m right, too. We all saw it. Just not you.”

Shit. What was I supposed to do with this? I knew Aida had been different since I’d brought Reese home. When Aida wasn’t around, I didn’t think about her or worry over her like I did with Harlow. We weren’t that close.

“She always wanted to do things with just you. ‘Take me dancing, Mase.’ ‘Let’s go riding, Mase.’ ‘Some boy broke my heart, hold me, Mase.’ All that shit was ridiculous, but you did it anyway, never once realizing what she was after.”

I didn’t say anything, because . . . I was afraid he was right.

“Hell, it’s a good thing it was you she wanted. If it had been me, I’d have fucked her. I have no morals. Besides, she’s adopted, so I’m not really related to her, either. And her legs are pretty damn nice.”

Shaking my head, I stood up. I couldn’t sit here and listen to this. I needed to be alone. Figure out how to talk to her now. She’d just made this awkward, and she needed to go home. I couldn’t have her here around Reese anymore. Not with this crazy shit going on in her head.

Reese

“That man of yours is a fine specimen. Seeing him all caveman and protective over you is hot,” Piper said with a wink. She was dressed in skintight jeans, brown leather riding boots, and a flannel shirt that was tied at her waist, showing off her flat stomach. “This is the office you’d be working in,” she said, pointing toward a large barn door. “Let’s go on inside and talk.”

“OK,” I said, as she turned and headed for the door. I was nervous. Since the moment Mase had let go of my hand and left, my heart had been pounding in my chest and my throat felt tight. This was it. My chance at a job that could help me in life and really get me somewhere.

The door opened, and I took a moment to look around. The ceiling went all the way to the roof of exposed wooden beams. Large Edison bulbs hung from long cords from the ceiling, casting the room in flattering light. Bookshelves lined the back wall, and three tall file cabinets were against the left side of the room. A computer with a massive screen sat on a whitewashed wooden table. Two brown leather chairs were across from the desk, with a small round barrel functioning as an accent table between them.

Piper took a seat in one of the chairs and waved for me to take the other.

“So,” she said, crossing her legs and draping an arm across her thigh. “Mase informed Arthur that you don’t have any experience with horses or the type of work I would require. He did say that you were a hard worker and he believed you could do anything you put your mind to. What I want to know about is you. What you think you can do. What you want to do.”

This was it. I would have to tell her about my dyslexia now. No point in going any further if this was unacceptable for her. I unclenched the tight fist in my lap and took a deep breath. I had nothing to be ashamed of. I was not stupid. I had learned to read, and my writing skills had improved ever since Mase began teaching me.

“First, I want you to know that I do have dyslexia.” I didn’t pause and give her time to say anything. “Until I met Mase, I couldn’t read or write. He came into my life and helped me identify the root of my problem, and then he got me help. I read daily to him, and I also write daily in a journal, which Mase reads over to check my spelling. I’ve worked hard to get to where I am. However, when I’m in a tense situation and feel pressured, I can misspell something or possibly freeze up and not be able to write at all. I understand if this is something you don’t think will work with your needs. However, I do want this job, and I will do my very best to make you happy.”

Piper sat there a moment before speaking.

I focused on not fidgeting with my hands. I was nervous, but this was a part of my life. One I had to learn to work with.

“This job will require a lot of reading and writing. However, from what I’ve just heard, I think that having an employee who wants to do a good job and doesn’t take it for granted is the best kind to have. I will need you to answer phone calls, take notes, read and reply to e-mails, and then help me some with the tack and cleaning the stalls. If you are up for this challenge, I want to offer it to you. I like fighters, Reese Ellis, and you seem like a fighter to me.”

I could feel the tears sting my eyes, but I blinked them back. Relief washed through me, and I smiled. It was probably one of those big, cheesy grins, but I didn’t care. I had gotten the job. Me. I had done this.

“Thank you,” I said, wishing I had words to tell her how truly thankful I was.

Piper leaned over and patted my knee. “Don’t thank me yet. You may hate this job, but I’m hoping you won’t.”

I wouldn’t. I was going to love it. Because it was something I’d gotten on my own.

Sitting behind the desk, alone in the office, I checked the third thing off the list in front of me. Piper had gone over everything with me and then left me a list of things she needed me to do today. Once she had left, I’d let out a huge sigh of relief. Being in here alone made it so much easier to read and write. I had complete focus.

The next thing on the list was to read and reply to the e-mails. Piper got a lot of interest in her horseback-riding lessons. I’d already had four phone calls about it. When I opened the in-box, there were eight e-mail inquiries.

I began reading the first one but had barely made it through before the door opened after one short knock. I glanced up to see a familiar face but not one I had expected to see or wanted to see, for that matter. His messy, sun-streaked hair was pulled back again and covered by a backward baseball cap.

“You got the job,” he said, with a smug look on his face.

How did he know about the job? I nodded but didn’t say anything.

Captain chuckled and stepped into the office. “You like it?” he asked, looking as if he had every right to be standing in this room.

I nodded again.

His grin grew, and a dimple appeared on his face. “Is your silence a challenge, Reese? Because I like challenges.”

Dang this man. He was determined to drive me crazy. “Actually, it was a hint for you to leave.”

Captain gave me a smirk, stepped over to one of the leather chairs, and sank down into it. He stretched his long jeans-clad legs out in front of him, then crossed them at the ankle. “I was told to wait here for Piper. She’s with a client. I need her signature on some forms, and Arthur is in Austin today. Piper has to sign when he’s gone.”

Great. I didn’t know that seeing Captain . . . River . . . whatever I was supposed to call him was part of my job description.

I turned my attention back to the computer screen, but I could feel his eyes on me. I had a hard time concentrating. It felt like he was trying to memorize my every feature.

“Your man still running around with that cousin of his?”

I stiffened. Why was he so intent on making me think something that wasn’t true about them? I knew that Mase loved me. I also knew that he didn’t have a thing for Aida. Although she might very well have a thing for him. “No, but that’s not your business.”

“Don’t reckon it is. But I don’t want to be too far away when he screws up. He’s got something I want.”

All the words on the screen blurred, and my head pounded. What was he talking about? Mase had something he wanted? Me? Was he talking about me? No. He liked to say things to upset me. He didn’t flirt with me. He was an asshole. “You’ll be waiting a long time. Mase doesn’t mess up. He’s the best man I know,” I said, staring at the jumbled words on the screen. My focus was completely gone.

“No man’s perfect, sweetheart,” he drawled.

I didn’t like him calling me sweetheart. I also hated him insinuating that Mase could do something wrong. Something to hurt me. He wasn’t like that. Just because Captain River Whoever was a jerk, that didn’t mean all men were jerks.

“Mase is,” I replied tightly.

He didn’t respond right away, and I tried to take a deep breath and focus on the words. Pretend he wasn’t there. “He saved you? Is that why you trust him so much? You needed a savior, and he came along at the right time. Is that it?”

Yes, he saved me. He loved me. But that wasn’t this man’s business. Nothing in my life was this man’s business. “He changed my world.”

Captain let out a sigh that caught my attention, and I turned to look at him. He stood up, and I hoped that meant he was leaving. I had work to do. He was messing with that. “I can change your world, too, sweetheart. But I’ll wait my turn,” he said, then walked out the door without another word.

I stared at the closed door with mixed feelings of disbelief, confusion, and anger. Who did he think he was? And why was he interested in me? It wasn’t like he couldn’t walk into a room and crook his finger at any girl he wanted. He needed to find someone who was actually available.