“It goes fast when you’re busy,” I lie through my teeth.
She stands with her back to me at the bench, toying with the corner of a stack of rodeo flyers. “These are all over town.”
My hand covers hers. Lanie jolts, staring up at me, her lips parted on a whisper of a breath.
I stare down at her, letting my fingers curl around her hand until hers softens beneath mine. “I set up a rodeo every year, in the pro bull riding off-peak season. It gives some of the veterans a chance to stretch their muscles in front of a specific audience, and I let a few wild card entries in to scout fresh local talent. Maybe try to push some of the boys out here into training. West used to ride, says he got too old. He’s damn good at it, though.”
My other hand snakes out to tuck around her waist, pulling her back into me. Her squeak at the contact leaves me hard, promising myself I’ll earn more of those sounds from her soon.
“What about you?” she asks as I dip my head to graze my lips across the corner of her mouth and trail kisses along her throat. A breath leaves her in a rush as she tilts her head against my shoulder, giving me access as my hands tighten on her waist. “Do—do you ride?” she asks, her voice straining, and husky.
“Not anymore.” My heart slams once in my chest at the admission. I turn her in my arms, holding her gaze so she can read my intent in my eyes, giving her a full second before I cover her mouth with mine.
None of the hesitation from before rises between us as I tracemy tongue across her bottom lip. She opens for me, sliding her hands across my shoulders to knot behind my neck.
Christ, she tastes like Christmas morning.
A rumble builds in my chest, and I lose sense of everything else after that.My hands graze over her hips to cup her ass and lift her onto the bench. Warmth exudes from her as I step between her legs, pressing against the heat of her. She doesn’t protest, molding her body to mine, like right here is where she needs to be, too.
I might be pushing her limits as well as my own, allowing her into my cloistered world, but somehow, Laniefits.I come up for air when the front door bangs open.
“Rand?” West yells, his stomps shattering my newfound peace.
“Well, fuck,” I mutter against her mouth, earning myself the sweetest giggle. I like that sound, so I kiss her until her giggles become something softer. Sexier.Screw West. At least until he hollers again. With a sigh I break the kiss, sliding Lanie a little closer, rubbing her body against mine. “Kitchen,” I call back, and then I blow a breath out as I rest my chin on the top of her head, my hands still wrapped around her body.
She feels beyond perfect, pressed flush against me, and there’s no way in hell I’m moving anytime soon.
West storms away down the hall with all the grace of a foreman who’s unused to company. “We’ve got an issue. More of the old setup is missing like I?—”
His footsteps halt. I stare at a point on the stainless steel backsplash that Levi keeps pristine and squeeze Lanie’s waist, pressing her tighter to my chest. Her fingers flex around my neck and withdraw. Her sudden absence slices at my heart and I take a step back, breaking contact with her, cursing West’s timing in my head as I turn to face him.
It takes me a moment to form words, the taste of her still heady in my mouth.
“Lanie, this is West. Coyote Fall’s foreman and mypreviousgood friend.” I send West a tight attempt at a throwaway smile. “Lanie is my sister’s roommate.”
West nods a greeting, but his expression never shifts, animosity exuding from his pores.
I frown, my mind playing catch-up. “You said what’s missing? Order whatever you need. What? It’s all I’ve got this close to the event date.”
“You can’t just order replacements when shit goes missing, Rand. Either someone’s been on the property, took what they wanted without anyone seeing it, or you’ve got a thief on staff.”
“Or shit got lost last year and never made it back here. Maybe it’s stashed somewhere, and we’ve forgotten what the hell we did with it. Those last few days at the tail end of the rodeo are crazy,” I counter, meeting his hard gaze, even though I know he’s right.
“The whole damn thing is crazy.” West fixes his hard gaze pointedly on Lanie. “When you have time, I need a hand.”
I raise both eyebrows at his clear show of hostility. “Get Billy or Tripp to help you. Hell, we have a platoon of ranch hands out there to do jobs you’re supposed to set them.”As foreman.I don’t say that last part; it feels petty on the back of my tongue.
West and I are no stranger to bitch fights. But with Lanie present…it’s different. I don’t want to be that man in front of her.
“Jesse and Levi are off with the white heifer. She’s calving, late, which you’d know if you were out on your own goddamn land more often than locked away in your princess tower. The other boys are hunting down your bits and bobs because we’re both incompetent this year. Billy and Tripp are off doing jobs for your neighbor, and we’re in here arguing while he’s busy poaching your staff from under you.”
“He’s what?” I would have thought Billy had better taste than to go running to Jed, but maybe if enough cash was waved in his face…
Fuck.I scrub a hand over my jaw, conscious of Lanie waiting quietly next to me.
“I’ll fix it for you. Stay in here and don’t get your hands dirty.”
My mouth opens, ready with a rebuke, but West pivots on his heel and strides out of the house before I can argue my point.
