Instead of signing the payroll, Shane leaned back in his office chair and twirled a pen through his fingers. His mind was still replaying last night in the barn. After arriving home from the commerce meeting, he’d gone into the kitchen to see if there were any cookies left over. Paige and Arianna had baked them after school. He’d just taken a bite of one when movement out back caught his eye. Paige had stopped next to the horse barn, and even with the distance between them, he could see her take a deep breath. In her hand had been her e-reader. He’d watched as she disappeared into the barn, and then waited for her to come back out. Moments went by before he saw a flash of light through the open loading door to the loft and realized it was from her e-reader. She’d made herself comfortable up there to read.
Behind him, Tuck had shuffled into the kitchen. “Hey.”
Shane had glanced over his shoulder to see his husband frowning at the plate of cookies. Wearing a T-shirt and sweatpants, the man was as hot in those as he was in tight jeans and no shirt. Shane had figured out what was going through Tuck’s mind lately—having a pretty woman their own age living with them reminded him of all the little things Sarah had done to make their house a home—like baking fresh cookies. Paige was slowly making a few changes to freshen up the place—new throw pillows, scatter rugs, and placemats had appeared without warning after Shane had approved her list of things she wanted to update. She’d also reorganized most of the rooms, so they were back to being as neat as when Sarah had been alive. Without a doubt, Shane missed their wife—a lot—but he’d made her a promise to live his life to the fullest, and he wasn’t going to let her down. He just had to figure out a way to help Tuck move on too, and, damn it, Shane wanted Paige to be the one to help him do it.
An idea had suddenly come to him. He’d overheard Paige and Nicole talking one day about a new book that’d come out. A ménage romance. His longtime employee and Sarah used to joke about the books, with Nicole wanting Sarah to compare real life to the fictional ones they read about. Shane should have known Paige had read some ménage romance books, because while she’d been a little stunned when he’d explained about his marriage, it hadn’t looked like a new concept to her.
“Hey, put your boots on and come with me,” he’d ordered.
Tuck’s frown had increased. “Where?”
“Just put your damn boots on and c’mon.”
Following a few seconds of hesitation, Tuck had finally stepped over to where his boots sat by the backdoor and slid his sock-covered feet in. After closing the door softly behind them, Shane had led him across the dirt expanse to the horse barn in silence, his cock lengthening in his jeans, anticipating what he’d been about to do—what he’d been about to instigate. Knowing Paige was listening, perhaps even watching, had made the whole thing hotter than hell. Shane’s orgasm had been more explosive than he could remember it being as of late, and that was saying a lot, because fucking his husband’s mouth was second only to fucking his ass.
Tuck would be pissed if he knew Shane knew Paige had been in the loft above them, but if Shane’s plan went well, the man wouldn’t find out. Once he got Tuck on board with seducing Paige, maybe then he’d tell him, but for now, his mind fast forwarded to this morning. He wasn’t sure if anyone else had been aware Paige couldn’t look either of her employers in the eye or seen the blush that’d stained her cheeks. Not wanting to push her, Shane had resisted teasing her in a manner only she would have understood.
“Jamie to base. Shane, you there?”
Standing, he stepped over to the bookshelf where the ranch’s base radio unit sat. There were several cellular dead spots scattered about the ranch, so they had this as a backup. Shane picked up the transmitter. “What’s up, Jamie?”
“Need you to head out here with the truck. Tuck’s horse spooked at a rattler and tossed him, then came down on his ankle. It’s gonna need to be X-rayed, and he’s in too much pain to ride back.”
Shane could hear his husband cursing in the background. Tuck had a high tolerance for pain, working through it more often than not. If he couldn’t ride, it had to be bad. Shit. “I’m on my way. Give him a fucking bullet to bite on.”
Jamie had already been laughing when he hit the transmit button again. “Yeah, you just got not one but two middle fingers. See you in a few.”
Snatching his hat from where he’d tossed it on the room’s loveseat, Shane set it on his head, then collected his keys, wallet, and cell phone from the desk. He almost ran over Paige as he hurried out into the hall and grasped her arms to keep her from falling backward. “Shit, sorry, Paige.”
“No worries. Is something wrong?”
“Yeah, sounds like Tuck might have a busted ankle. Got thrown from his horse then got stepped on.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh, no! Do—Do you need help? I could go with you.”
Smiling, he shook his head. “Nope. I’m not going to subject you to his foul mouth right now. I’m taking the truck out to get him. Jamie and I’ll be able to get him in it without a problem. The closest X-ray machine is about twenty minutes away. I’ll call you as soon as I know what the verdict is. Do me a favor, though? Don’t mention it to Arianna. She gets spooked at the mere mention of a doctor unless it’s for her own checkups. I guess she still remembers all of Sarah’s appointments and hospital stays, even though she was only four, almost five, at the time.”
“Okay,” she said while nodding. “I’ll just tell her you had to go out on business or something. But call me if you need me.”
“Count on it.” He couldn’t stop the wink he gave her, and despite his worry about Tuck, he was thrilled to see her blush.
Ten minutes later, he parked a few feet away from where Tuck was lying on the ground, then climbed out of the driver’s seat. Tuck’s face was contorted in pain, and he was still cursing. “About goddamn time. Get me up.”
“Think it’s broke?” Shane asked, squatting down to take a look at his husband’s foot. They’d wisely left the boot on—it was keeping the swelling in check for now, but the Tony Lama boot might have to be cut off. Tuck would have a fit if it came to that; they were his favorite pair of work boots—Sarah had given them to him on their last Christmas together.
“I’ll be surprised if it isn’t.”
“Rowdy okay?” Shane glanced up at Tuck’s horse, grazing nearby, and then at Jamie Dalton.
“Yeah, he’s fine. Once I killed the rattler, he calmed down.”
He took a deep breath and let it out. “All right. Let’s stabilize Tuck’s foot, then you can help me get him up and into the passenger seat. If he complains, feel free to call him a little girl.”
Tuck growled. “Fuck you, Shane.”
Shane retrieved a heavy wool blanket he kept in the back for Arianna to use during the winter, then found some rope in the tool box that was in the bed, directly behind the cab. He held the folded blanket around Tuck’s ankle, to give it a cushion, while Jamie tied it in place. With Shane on one side and Jamie on the other, they put Tuck’s arms around their shoulders, then stood as gently as they could, taking him with them.
“Fuuuuccck.” He hissed through gritted teeth. “God damn that fucking hurts.”
Shane could only imagine—Tuck wasn’t one to complain about injuries or if he was feeling sick.
It took a little maneuvering, but they got him settled into the passenger seat. Leaving Jamie to get Rowdy back to the barn, Shane climbed into the driver’s seat. He drove across the pasture as slowly as he could, watching out for any dips that would cause the truck to rock. It took twice as long to get back to the house, but once he hit the road, the smooth pavement allowed him to accelerate to a normal speed.
He glanced over at Tuck and noticed his pale face. Reaching over, he grasped his husband’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Did you hit your head at all?”
“Nah. Just didn’t roll fast enough and the damn horse stepped on me. Shit, I’m going to be useless if they cast it.”
“Don’t worry about it. We’ll assign you a driver to chauffeur you around on the golf cart.” They had a souped-up one that could handle the rough terrain and pull a flatbed cart attached to it. Once again, Tuck gave him the finger.
Shane chuckled. “Anytime, babe.”
As he drove to the clinic, Shane hoped the injury wasn’t serious, but a part of him was wondering what would happen if Tuck was laid up for a bit and had to hang out with Paige at the house. Maybe he’d open his eyes and see they had a second chance at love with a woman—that is, if Paige was willing to try a ménage relationship with them.