“What crawled up your ass, dude?”
I rode next to Trevor on the horse my parents had bought me for graduation. I had never even ridden her before I left town. Now, I tried to ride her every day. She was a beautiful red and white paint that would do anything I asked her to do. Trevor broke her and trained her. I swear the boy missed his calling.
“Nothing’s crawled up my ass. What’s crawled up your ass, asshole?”
He laughed. “I ask a question, and you’re either so deep in thought you don’t hear me or you snap at me. Dude, if you don’t get laid soon I swear you’re gonna burst.”
“Fuck off, Trevor.”
“See!”
I groaned. “Shit. I don’t know what to do. Amelia gave me her thoughts, but I’m not sure.”
“Well, she’s a woman, so she would probably know better than us.”
We walked our horses side by side through the pasture. “Damn, I missed this place. Missed riding next to you, Mitchell, Tripp, and Cord.”
“This place missed you.”
I smiled. That was Trevor’s way of saying he missed me. “You still friends with Bobby Bishop?”
Trevor brought his horse to a stop. “Why?”
Shrugging, I replied, “Just wondering.”
“I haven’t talked to him since I beat his ass one night. I caught him feeling Amelia up behind his truck at a party.”
Laughing, I shook my head.
“I was positive Mitchell would find some reason to arrest him, and Cord probably threatened him with how he knew someone who knew someone who would break his leg and arm.”
Damn, we all think the same.
I chuckled, and we rode the next few minutes in silence. “So listen, I went over the books. Fred’s been stealing from Dad.”
“No shit,” Trevor said, kicking his horse, picking up her pace to keep up with mine.
“Yeah. Dad didn’t seem surprised. In fact, I think he knew. He just didn’t want to admit it.”
“That’s why he’s been pushing you to look at the books since you scared Mike away.”
“I didn’t scare him away.”
“Keep telling yourself that.”
I didn’t want to let Trevor know how much Fred had taken. It wasn’t small change. It was thousands of dollars. When I told my father Fred had taken close to three hundred thousand, I thought he was going to have a heart attack. After he let out a string of curses, some I’d never heard of before, he got up, went to his gun safe and said he would be back later. I didn’t even bother trying to stop him. I knew he wouldn’t do something stupid, but he sure as shit would scare the piss out of good ole Fred.
“Was it a lot of money?”
Glancing over to him, I nodded. “Yeah. It was a lot of money.”
“Fucker. I hope Dad puts his ass in jail.”
“Let’s hope.”
We checked one of the fence lines and started back for the main barn when we found it still in good shape.
“You still roping?” I asked.
He looked at me like I was crazy. “I’m a rancher, asshat. I rope shit all the time.”
My brow lifted. “So, what? You just ride around roping calves or something?”
“Why? You afraid you’ve lost your touch living as a city boy all those years?”
“Don’t you wish. I can probably still rope circles around you.”
“Prove it then.”
I was the one who taught this little shit how to rope in the first place. If he thought he was better than me I was going to have to show his ass up.
“First one back to the barn,” I said as I kicked my horse. She took off like a bolt of damn lightening.
Holy shit. This horse is fast.
There was no way I could help the smile on my face. Running through an open field on horseback was the best feeling in the world. Nothing was more beautiful. More calming.
As we approached the barn, I saw her. Sitting on top of the fence while Cord worked a horse in the corral. My heart stopped, and I brought Lady to a stop. Trevor raced by and headed to the barn, winning our bet. I didn’t care, though. The only thing I cared about was the beautiful sight before me. I was wrong earlier; there was something more beautiful than running through a field on horseback.
Paxton Monroe.
Her hair was pulled up in a sloppy bun with half of it sticking out wild and untamed. She had on jeans, a T-shirt, and boots. A far cry from the sweet, innocent look she had on earlier today when she picked up Chloe for the mommy daughter spa day.
Slipping off Lady, I walked us over to the pen. Paxton looked at me over her shoulder. Her smile about knocked me off my feet.
“Hey,” she said with a low sexy voice. “Cord said you and Trevor were out checking the fence lines.”
“We finished up. I was about to show Trevor how one ropes.”
She shot me a confused expression. “Doesn’t he already know how to?”
“Fuck yes, he does,” Trevor said from behind me. I grinned as he walked by, stopping long enough to hit me in the stomach with rope. “Let’s do this shit. Paxton get in the middle of the pen. We’re roping you.”
Paxton looked frantically between Trevor and me. “Huh? You’re not treating me like a damn animal!”
“I’m kidding, Paxton. Jesus, take it easy,” Trevor said with a crooked grin on his face.
Cord laughed. “Let me get out of here before the two of you end up rolling around kicking each other’s asses.”
“Wait, what’s going on?” Paxton asked worriedly. I walked to her and dropped the rope at my feet. Placing my hands on her hips, I pulled her body to mine and kissed her.
It didn’t take her long to wrap her arms around my neck. A small moan slipped from her lips. It traveled straight to my dick.
Paxton broke our kiss, and I instantly missed her sweet honey taste. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing. I need to prove Trevor wrong on something.”
She shook her head. “Some things never change no matter how old you are.”
I winked and slapped her ass. “Hey, when did you change your clothes from spa day?”
Trevor yelled, “Let’s get this show on the road! I need to ride to the south pasture to check on a few pregnant mares.”
We both ignored Trevor as Paxton answered me. “Figured maybe we could go for a ride later, so I brought a change of clothes.”
My brow lifted. “You and me? Or we as in Chloe as well?”
She dug her teeth into her lip. “You and me. Your mom wanted to spend some time with Chloe.”
Those words went straight to my dick as well. “One second, baby. Let me set Trevor straight.”
I walked to the dummy calf. Trevor smirked and stood back. He started to spin the rope over his head and tossed it, ringing the dummy bull with ease.
Stepping up, I followed his lead and roped it just as easily.
“Beginner’s luck,” Trevor spit out.
“Beginner? I taught you how to do this!”
We stepped farther and farther away. Each time we both ringed it.
Before I knew it, we were roping real calves, and Cord was timing us. Of course it helped I had my own personal cheering team with Paxton, and then Chloe. Mom brought her down in the Mule after Paxton texted her about the contest.
“Go, Daddy! But don’t hurt the baby cow!”
Smiling at my daughter, I winked and shouted, “I won’t, pumpkin.”
Trevor went next and had a small problem getting the calf turned over and on the ground. I knew I had it in the bag.
“If Steed beats your time that’s five in a row!”
“Damn!” Trevor shouted as I nodded for Paxton to let the calf out. I took off, roped it, jumped off Lady and had the calf over and on the ground in the fastest time I’d ever run.
“Dude, that was six seconds!” Cord shouted. “You could be making millions!”
Paxton and Chloe jumped up and down, calling my name.
Mom walked over to Trevor. “Oh, honey. Remember he’s been doing it longer.”
“Mom! He was gone for ten years!”
Walking up to Trevor, I hit him on the back. “Dude, did you really think I wouldn’t find a place up in Oregon to ride? How in the hell did you think my daughter learned how to ride?”
Trevor stared at me with a blank expression. “I hate you, Steed. You suck!”
Cord and I both started laughing as Mom tried to play peacekeeper. “Now, Trevor. I didn’t raise you boys to be sore losers.”
Chloe pointed to Trevor. “Oh, Uncle Trevor said hate!”
“Sorry, Chloe,” Trevor said as he kissed her on the top of her head.
Turning to Cord, I said, “You should put a mechanical bull in the bar.”
His eyes lit up. “You know, that’s a damn good idea. Can you image the woman who would get on it drunk and—”
“Small ears, boys! We have small ears!” my mother called out as she pointed down to Chloe.
Cord winced. “Dang it. I forget sometimes.”
Paxton sighed. “I swear, you boys will never grow up. You ready for our ride?”
There was something in her eyes that told me she had something other than riding on her mind.
I nodded and walked over to Chloe. “Hey, pumpkin. Daddy and Paxton are going to go for a ride. You going to be a good girl for Grammy?”
Chloe grinned. “Yes. We’re going to make pumpkin bread! Your favorite, Daddy!” Her little arms wrapped around my neck, and she squeezed as hard as she could. When she leaned back, she did her best to whisper, “Are you going to ask Paxton to marry you?”
The sharp intake of air from Paxton had me cringing. I placed my hand on the side of Chloe’s cheek. “No, baby. We’re only dating. Remember? We talked about it.”
Her little eyes turned sad. Mom and I had talked about how attached Chloe was becoming to Paxton, and she was concerned how it would affect her in school with Paxton being her kindergarten teacher. Chloe, however, didn’t act any different at school according to Paxton, which was a relief…but she was becoming more and more obsessed with me asking Paxton to marry me. I knew Chloe longed for a mother. A real mother who showed her affection, and Paxton was stepping into that role nicely. Hell, I’d marry her tomorrow if I thought she would say yes, but I knew she was still dealing with her own issues, and I wasn’t about to push her into anything.
Paxton leaned down so she was eye to eye with Chloe.
“Chloe Cat, I love your Daddy so very much.”
Chloe smiled big and bright. My eyes lifted to see Mom staring at us. Her eyes threatening to spill over with tears.
“But, it’s been a long time since we’ve been boyfriend and girlfriend. We have to…get to know each other again.”
With her brows furrowed, Chloe asked, “But don’t you already know each other?”
Paxton and I chuckled. “We do, sweetheart, but Daddy did something that hurt Paxton’s feelings. I didn’t do it on purpose, but I made her really sad.”
Chloe’s eyes filled with tears. “Would you ever do that to me, Daddy?”
My heart ached in my chest. “God no, Chloe. I didn’t mean to do it to Paxton, but Daddy was not in a good place a long time ago. I promise you I’ll never hurt you or Paxton. Ever.”
Chloe leaned and asked, “Did you say you were sorry?”
I kissed the tip of her nose. “I did, pumpkin. And Paxton has accepted my apology. But we need to get back to how things were before I left. I know it’s hard for you to understand.”
Her next words nearly were nearly my undoing. My daughter would forever own my heart.
She nodded. “I trust you, Daddy.”