So he did remember.
Nico glared back. “What the fuck did you care? You weregone, Stone.”
Stone’s gaze bounced over his face, but Nico wasn’t sure what he saw. He knew it wasn’t the same horny nineteen-year-old he’d been the last time they were face to face.
“Would it’ve changed anything?” Nico said when it was clear Stone didn’t have a retort.
He thought for sure Stone would blast him with an adamant “no” but he didn’t say a word.
“I didn’t think so.” Nico tucked his iPad under his arm.
“You could’ve told me,” Stone finally said, his eyes imploring as they raked over Nico’s face.
“If I recall correctly, you didn’t give me a chance to say much of anything. One minute you were here, the next you were gone.”
Stone’s chin lifted, his massive shoulders squaring.
Nico shook his head and took a step back. “I’ll send what I have to Deborah and get with her on the rest.”
It wasn’t surprising that Stone didn’t try to stop him from leaving.
After all, it was no less than what he’d done the last time Nico walked away.
Six
Stone stared at Nico as he walkedaway.
Images flashed in his mind’s eye, some flickering brighter than others. All of them comprised of naked, sweaty bodies moving together.
One night.
That was all it had been. One single night that had forever altered Stone’s existence. Wild. Rough. And so fucking hot it was a wonder they hadn’t burned the fucking barn down with the heat they generated. It had been by far the most intense encounter of Stone’s life. One he’d spent months trying to forget and years refusing to remember. But seeing Nico again brought it all flooding back.
Stone had learned a lot about himself that night.
Fifteen years ago, at the ripe young age of twenty-one, he’d had quite a few sexual encounters under his belt. None that tripped him up the way that one did, and it wasn’t because he’d been with a man. Definitely not that. As with just about anything in his life, Stone didn’t discriminate. It wasn’t in his nature.
Growing up, Stone had created and nurtured a reputation of being the wild one, the unpredictable one. No one knew what to expect from him, and he’d liked it that way. He’d been a playboy all through high school. His only requirement was that they had to be willing, and he had to be interested. He’d never run out of options, and not once did he choose to have a steady partner.
He’d been around the block so many times that when his high school class was coming up with superlative awards, they’d chosenLeast Likely To Settle Downas his. They weren’t wrong.
It wasn’t until he was a few years out of high school that a woman truly caught his eye, and he’d indulged in something that resembled a relationship. He’d never questioned how it happened because whenever he thought about Stevie Shepherd, he had only good memories. To this day, she was by far the sexiest woman he’d ever met. Not because she was gorgeous, although she certainly was that. Or at least she had been back then. He couldn’t attest to it now because he hadn’t seen her in fifteen years. But, yeah, she’d been hot enough to catch fire. Long blonde hair and big brown eyes, that elfish chin, and that perfect little ass, Stevie had caught his attention immediately. But her chipper personality and never-met-a-stranger attitude had turned him on like nothing else.
To sum it up, he’d been head over heels in love with her.
Stone wouldn’t deny that the events of that night had sent him running. He’d pretended it was a job that had lured him away, but the truth was, he’d run. Fast. And he’d forced himself not to look back.
His reputation followed him even after he left for bigger and better things. He’d floated for a few years, moving from ranch to ranch, learning the ropes, sleeping in shitty bunkhouses with assholes who thought he was all hat and no cattle. He’d proven them wrong, working his way up to foreman twice. The first time had resulted from a rather heated affair he’d had with the ranch owner’s wife. She’d been particularly fond of him, and he’d been working too hard to give a shit about whether he was crossing lines. He’d held the role for six months before her husband found out and fired him on the spot.
The second time he’d worked his way up had been on merit. That was about the time he’d realized he wasn’t getting any younger, and fucking for the sake of fucking was getting in the way of his career growth. He’d lasted four years in a role that taught him so many things before finally getting a job offer he couldn’t refuse. He’d hated to leave, but his boss had outright told him he’d reached the proverbial ceiling. He couldn’t go any further.
So when Doug Johnson approached him to manage the Double J—known for producing high-performing cattle with a focus on champion bucking bulls—Stone had finally realized there was a dream to be had. He wasn’t interested in being the hired help for the rest of his damn life. He wanted to run things. So for the past five years, he’d made it his mission to learn everything he needed to know about operating a ranch with the Double J’s prestige.
He wasn’t oblivious to the hard work and the ridiculous amount of money that went into a goal of that magnitude, but he was determined. Stone had secured his spot as Doug’s right hand in all things and was on track to one day take over since Doug’s daughter had no desire to take the reins.
It wasn’t until about two years ago that Stone learned the real reason his boss had poached him, and it had nothing to do with his ability to make the man money, although he figured that had been at least part of it. No, the reason Doug Johnson hired him was because he thought Stone was gay—something Stone never refuted—and Doug figured that was the best way to ensure his daughter’s virtue remained intact. Never mind that Stone was only one of dozens of men working on the Double J.
Too bad ol’ Doug hadn’t shared that little nugget with him from the beginning. Maybe then Stone would’ve made better choices.
