My mouth stretches wide in a yawn as I go over the information I got from the only security firm within a one hundred mile radius of Landry Ranch. It’s not the information that has me yawning, though it is pretty dry and not at all impressive, but a lack of sleep that has me needing a mid-day nap.
Last night was like a strange fever dream, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it, or Ryker, for one minute. The man is sexy as hell and doesn’t flinch at my pushing back at all. He’s strong-willed and determined, and from the heat in his gaze at the end of the night, it seems he’s determined to make me his. While I still maintain that I belong to no one but myself, I wouldn’t exactly mind leasing myself out to him on a fairly permanent basis.
Looking into those stormy grey eyes of Ryker’s has me wanting all kinds of things I didn’t think were possible until last night. Every time he touched me, every time he purred his little nickname for me in his deep, raspy voice, I wanted him to carry me to the nearest bed and plant a baby in my belly so we’d be tied together for life. It’s the first time I’ve ever thought aboutthat sort of thing with a man, and it’s scary and exhilarating, not unlike that motorcycle ride we took last night.
The ride had been thrilling, and the combination of Ryker’s strong body next to mine and motor rumbling between my legs had me so worked up, the only thing stopping me from dragging Ryker inside and throwing my v-card at him was the presence of my brothers. Ugh, thinking of my brothers has me remembering the long conversation all four of them had with me the night before.
“He’s too old for you, Lettie,” Sawyer shouts, anger lacing his voice. “The man was at least twice your age.”
“Hardly,” I argue back. “And you’re one to talk, Sawyer. You’re eleven years older than Hannah, so I don’t see how this is very different.” That little zinger had my eldest brother sputtering in response, but luckily for him, he has three others as back-up.
“It’s not just that, Lettie,” Brooks argues. He looks tired and I’m sure it had everything to do with him having a newborn baby Gage keeping him up all hours. It’s clear my little adventure is the last thing he wants to be dealing with. “He took you to a seedy bar in a bad town. What kind of boyfriend does that?”
“And since when do you have a boyfriend anyway?” Mav asks, wiping a hand down his tired face. His wife, Violet is due any day now, so he’s not exactly sleeping well either. I wish we could have this conversation in the morning when my brothers were in a better mood.
Thinking of how to best lie to my brothers without outright lying, I shrug a shoulder like this whole thing is no big deal. “It’s new, so I didn’t tell anybody anything. Besides, it’s really none of your business anyway. Who I date ismychoice, not yours. You might not want to listen to my ideas about the ranch, but you willhear me on this. Ryker is important to me, so get right with it. Goodnight.”
I spin on my heels and stalk up the stairs to my room, but before I can escape into my bedroom, a hand on my arm stops me. With a sigh, I peek over my shoulder to see Wyatt standing there, a thoughtful expression on his face. “What? You didn’t get to throw in your two cents downstairs so you’re ambushing me outside my room?”
Wyatt shakes his head and leans against the wall. “Not an ambush, just wanted to talk.” His eyes narrow and he frowns. “You and I both know this whole boyfriend thing is bullshit, so why are you lying to your family?”
An undignified noise leaves my mouth as I try to think of a way to cover up my lie with more lies. “What do you mean? Ryker is totally my boyfriend.” I have no idea why I don’t just come clean, but I can’t help but think it’s because I want it to be true. The time I spent with Ryker was brief, but I have felt more in those moments with him than I have in the last six years at least.
“Come on, Lettie. Georgie spilled the beans about where you were, and on the ride home I texted her and she didn’t know anything about a boyfriend.” I open my mouth to argue, but he holds a hand up to stop me. “You and I both know that isn’t something you would keep from your best friend.”
I huff a breath because he’s right. Even after Georgie telling my brother about where I was tonight, she’s still the first person I wanted to talk to about Ryker so she could help me dissect ever single second that we had spent together.
“Fine. So the whole boyfriend thing was made up, but that’s only because you guys are always getting in my business and never giving me a chance to really know anyone before scaring them off.” I swallow thickly, trying to shove down the vulnerability I’m feeling.
Feeling exposed makes my skin itch, but nothing’s going to change if I’m not honest about what I’m feeling. “I really like this guy, Wyatt. I figured if he was already my boyfriend then maybe you guys would back off. Are you going to tell the others?”
Wyatt scratches his jaw for a moment before shaking his head. “No, I won’t.” He pushes off the wall and smiles sadly at me. “I’ll keep your secret, but you have to do me a favor in return.”
“What’s that?” I ask hesitantly. “I’m not mucking out the stalls. I did my time as a teen and I’m not going back.” Mucking horse stalls is the worst and I refuse to do it unless I absolutely have to.
“Not mucking stalls,” he says with a chuckle. “Just, if you really like this guy-”
“I do,” I say automatically. More than I thought if I’m blurting things out like that.
“Okay, then bring him to the family barbeque on Saturday. We can get to know him better and give him a chance to get to know us. You know, without all the yelling and glowering.”
A slow exhale leaves my mouth, but Wyatt’s right. If Ryker is going to be in my life, something I want more and more each time I think about him, then he’ll need to be good with my family. “Okay,” I agree. “But you need to get the others to be on their best behavior. Especially, Sawyer. He was a real dick tonight.”
Wyatt snorts. “When is he not?” He pulls me into a hug and kisses the top of my head. “Goodnight, Lettie.”
“Goodnight,” I tell him and wander into my room, thoughts of Ryker on my mind as I try and drift off to sleep.
A knocking at the office door pulls me from my thoughts of last night and back to the present. My eyes look over to see Georgie looking way more excited than I would expect for arandom Thursday. One hand rests on her growing baby bump and the other covers her mouth as she giggles.
“Um, there is someone here to see you, Scar,” she says as she bounces on her feet and moves in front of my desk. “When you told me about your guy this morning, you did not tell me he was so hot.”
My head pulls back as I stare at her. “Ryker’s here?”
Georgie nods just as the man we were just talking about saunters into the room, his eyes bright and his smile wide. “I told you I would see you soon,” he tells me, plopping a brown bag and a bouquet of wildflowers on my desk before holding out his hand for me.
When I take it, I feel the same zip of electricity through my body as I did last night anytime we were skin to skin. Ryker pulls me up to standing and into his arms, wrapping them around me in a hug. “You doubt me, Firecracker?”
My arms slide around his middle and I hold him close, reveling in the feel of his strong body against mine. My face pulls into a smile as I rest my head against his chest, and I take a moment to breathe him in. Finally, I look into his beautiful eyes, loving the blissful expression on his face.
