Brock returned to the chairs in the barn aisle and sank down into one. Pulling the phone from the clip, he paged through until he found his parents’ picture again. They looked happier than ever. It looked like they were having fun, in spite of the issues around them. On the spur of the moment he pressed the dial button.

His father answered on the third ring.

"'Lo."

Brock grinned at the laziness he heard in his father's voice. "Did I wake you up?"

"Of course not," his father said. "Okay, maybe you did. What's up, son?"

Garrett Lowell yawned on the other end of the line. Brock felt bad for calling him. "Sorry I woke you up, Dad. I can't remember you ever taking a nap in the middle of the day."

"Ever since the accident I have been," Garrett admitted. "And I tell you, boy, it's pretty nice. I wake up refreshed enough to face the rest of the day. This arm is taking a lot out of me."

"I bet."

"Ranch doing okay?"

"Yeah, not bad. We've had a few issues."

Brock related the Mopey Dick issue, and the fact that it looked like he'd been herded.

"CrookNeckCreek is hard up for water. They don't have the springs like we do, so they have to haul water in rom out of county. I haven't dammed anything up, but they're very aware that they're getting my runoff. If I decided to build a lake the size of Honeywell, there's nothing they could do about it. They've always tried to put one over on us. They're testing you Brock, testing your boundaries. Seeing if you'll be able to keep it as flush as I have through the years."

Yes, that was probably exactly true, he realized. Maybe they'd been trying to get him into trouble at the bar as well. Things began to become clearer in his mind.

"Okay, Dad. I'm getting what you're telling me and it feels right. I'll let Sheridan know and we'll see what we can do about returning the favor. Maybe that runoff stream needs to go pee yellow for a while or something."

Garrett laughed. "Oh, wouldn't that piss them off?"

Brock laughed as well, enjoying this playful side of his father.

"So, how's Payton?" Garrett asked.

Brock frowned at the odd note in his father's voice. "She's fine, why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason," his father said quickly.

That didn't sound completely above board. "Actually, she's had some trouble recently."

He told his dad about Payton's mare getting injured.

"You helped her out, though, right?"

"Of course I did, Dad. I wouldn't leave her hanging."

His father sighed on the other end of the line. "I know you wouldn't boy. You know, Payton has grown into a wonderfully strong woman. Running that place on her own. Working all the time. I hear she's dating that deputy though. I had hoped she'd have a little more sense that that."

"She's not dating him," Brock growled. "They're friends."

His father gave a knowing chuckle. "I've been out of the dating scene for quite a while, but even I know that sounds lame. Did he say that or did she?"

"She did," Brock admitted.

"Then the deputy has other plans. Hope she doesn't get herself in trouble like that other woman."

Brock's temper was beginning to boil just at the thought, but he also realized his father was messing with him. "You can cut the act, Dad. I'm on to you."

"What do you mean?" he asked innocently.

Then Brock connected the dots. Payton had said that Cheyenne already knew. "Did you talk to Cheyenne?"

Garrett laughed. "Maybe we did. How's it going, boy?"

Brock frowned. "You're not going to chew me out for going after Payton?"

"I hear she's been going after you."

Oh, boy. Just because they were out of town didn't mean they were out of reach. Somebody had cued them in on the kiss in the square. "It's been a mutual endeavor," he clarified.

His father cackled on the other end of the line. Brock heard murmuring in the background, then his mother's excited squeal. "So, you guys are okay with me dating Payton?"

"Yes, of course we are, Brock. We wondered when you'd realize what a gem you had waiting right there for you."

"We're not eloping, for cryin’ out loud, but we have decided to date."

"That's fine, small steps, small steps,” his father responded quickly. "Gotta start somewhere, anything is better than nothing."

Brock shook his head, wondering where his calm, deliberate father had gone. The nut that had replaced him was a little scary.

"When did the two of you decide we would be good together?" he asked out of curiosity.

"Oh, years ago," his father admitted. "But you were too hardheaded to see it. Francine could see it though."

"I saw it first," he heard his mother call in the background.

Brock laughed, shaking his head. When, exactly, had he lost control of his life?

"Why don't you two get to planning Chad's wedding?"

"Oh, we are," his father promised. "And when we're done, if you want us to plan yours, we will."

Brock cursed and hung up on his laughing father.

He swiped his hat off and ran his hand through his hair. Never in his life had he felt so... manipulated. Was what he was feeling for Payton real? Or a culmination of everyone's plans to throw them together?

No, it wasn't like that. He actually liked Payton, both as a woman and as a person. And no matter how many hopes or plans were in place, if two people didn't feel an attraction, it was all wasted effort. He definitely felt an attraction for her. No, that seemed too tame. He craved her.

The conversation with his father had clarified one vital fact. His parents didn't mind if he dated Payton. His sister didn’t mind if he dated Payton. And really, they’d all kept their opinions to themselves for years now. He’d never had a clue they were all secretly hoping he and Payton would get together. Heck, he’d been worried they wouldn’t approve and his parents were ready to plan a wedding for them.

It was only his hang-ups keeping them apart now.

For some reason, that sent a shaft of arousal through his body. He'd already decided to date her, and he felt like they had a strong base of friendship.

So why hesitate?

He was running out of reasons.

Brock thought about the look on her face when he'd uninvited her to go to the potluck with him. She'd been understanding, but also hurt. What did he care if people saw them together?

He wanted to run over to her place and re-invite her to go with him. Shoving his hat on his head, he headed for the truck.

---

Payton padded quickly through the house. "Coming," she called.

When she swung the door open, she wasn't prepared to see Brock there, hat in hand.

"Hey, Payton."

"Hey, Brock."

She swung the door wide for him to enter the cool laundry room. "Are you okay?"

He was looking at her as if looking for forgiveness. Reaching over he set his hat on the washer lid, then hooked a hand behind her head. Payton had a split second to take a breath before he kissed the living daylights out of her.

She moaned, wishing they'd have done this earlier when she'd said goodbye, but they'd both been distracted, thinking other things. She wasn't sure why he'd chased her down so quickly, but she was always going to be happy to see him.

Then the back of his fingers brushed her breast.

Payton would have cried out if his mouth hadn't been so tight against her own. Instead, she moaned.

When his hand cupped her breast and he arched into her, she shuddered against him, almost breaking his hold. Brock finally let her snatch a breath. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm fast forwarding our dating. Is that okay?"

She grinned at his response. It was fine with her. She'd been waiting for this for years.

Payton backed up through the laundry room, tugging Brock along behind her.

"You're going to break your neck," he growled at her, before swinging her up into his arms.

Tears flooded her eyes at the romantic gesture and she surrendered control to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. It put them at eye level, and she gave him a questioning look. He understood what she wanted, without saying anything.

"I realized I’ve been standing in my own way. I'm really hoping this whole thing doesn't go incredibly wrong and blow up in our faces."

She choked out a laugh. "God, you're so romantic."

"You've driven me to distraction, Payton."

Brock wove through her house, not even puffing as he maneuvered his shoulders through the narrow hallways with her. He must have looked around when he'd been here taking his shower, because he went directly to her bedroom and lowered her feet to the floor.

"I hope you've thought this through, because I'm going to take you up on what you've been offering. I've fought it as long as I can. But I can't promise you anything more than right now. "

Cupping her jaw in his hands, he kissed her as if he couldn't get enough of her.

Payton wasn't sure what had brought about the change, but she wasn't going to deny herself the pleasure of finally feeling him against her, with her, in her.

"I'll take you any way I can get you," she admitted when he lifted his head. "Because I love you, Brock. Whether you feel the same or not, I love you."

His gaze burned with emotion and when he pulled her into his arms again, she had no problem feeling how touched he was. There was a quiver to his strong hands and when he kissed her reverently the next time, she felt like she was on top of the world. "You are such an incredible woman," he whispered.

Then, completely disarming her, he began to undress her.

The buttons of her shirt unsnapped easily, but he took his time, stroking each inch of flesh he revealed. Payton's skin turned super sensitive and she began anticipating where he would stroke her. She wasn't always right, which excited her even more.

When every button was unsnapped, he went to his knees before her and spread the sides of the shirt apart, looking up at her as he did. It was one of the most intimate moments she could ever remember having with a man, and he wasn't even touching her yet.

Brock skimmed his hands up her sides, running his thumbs over her cotton covered breasts. Payton wanted to reach behind and rip the thing off, but he was taking his time. She would allow him this exploration.

Her body was humming. Her breasts had hardened painfully as they waited for his touch. Fingertips brushed over them, then paused to circle. Gasping, she quivered in his hold, her body flushing with arousal.

Brock reached around her back and unfastened the bra like he'd done it many times before, but the shirt still covered her. Moving his hands around to her front, he pushed the cups up over her breasts. "You are stunning, Payton."

His hands covered her breasts entirely, massaging with his fingers, lifting to test their weight. Then he pressed them together and peppered kisses between the nipples. When he took her right one deep into his mouth, her quivering knees almost buckled.

Payton shrugged off her shirt and bra impatiently, dropping them to the side. Then she began backing toward the bed. When she got a few inches between them, she unsnapped her pants and began pushing them down her hips, but he stopped her.

"I want to do this."

Grasping the side seam of her jeans he pulled them down over her curvy hips. When he got them to her ankles, Payton stepped out of the fabric and he tossed them aside. Now she was clad only in pale green lace panties with a single little white bow in the center. One rough finger traced the top edge of the panties, then the center line down. Payton knew she was wet, and now he did as well.

Gripping her hips in his hands, Brock tilted his head forward to rest against her tummy. Payton burrowed her fingers into his curls, holding him to her. "I'm trying very hard not to come in my jeans, Payton. You are more beautiful than I could have imagined."

"You've seen me like this before," she laughed gently.

"But not this close. I can see and feel and smell how aroused you are, and I'm about to taste you."

Pushing to his feet, he pressed her backward to fall against the mattress. Payton exhaled sharply as she bounced. Brock loomed over top of her, settling his jean-clad hips against her own. "You are way overdressed, cowboy," she laughed.

Huffing with aggravation, he pushed away from her and stripped. This was one of those surreal times in her life when Payton wished she had a video camera in her head, because watching Brock bounce around on his toes as he shed clothes would have been worth any expense.

His shoulders flexed and released like he was fighting a calf, and his abs curled as he jerked off his socks. The jeans came last and she held her breath, waiting for the big reveal, but he kept his black athletic boxers on.

Damn.

As he crawled over top of her, though, her disappointment drifted away. He settled his hardness into her cleft, making her gasp. When he ground against her, she cried out, turning her head into his neck. She nipped at him, tasting his skin. Oh, he tasted decadent.

Her nip must have excited him because he surged against her, then drew back. He lifted himself away from her, braced on all fours over top of her. "This is going to be too easy. I have to slow down or it's going to be over before we even begin."

She grinned up at him. "We have all day. And night, if you'd like."

Something shifted over his Caribbean irises, like he thought about just plowing into her and having his way, but he shook his head free. "No, we're going to take this slow."

Brock's arms shifted and he moved down her body. Payton thought he was going to crawl off of her, but he rocked up on his heels, instead, looking down at her. With a devilish grin, he grasped the sides of her panties and drew them ever so slowly down her hips. Payton wiggled, lifting her butt to let them slide off.

Brock's mouth spread in a grin as he looked at her.

"You shave your hair?"

She grinned as well. "Not all of it, just most."

His fingers gently combed through the little tuft of hair at the top of her slit. "Well, if that don't beat all. I think that's the sexiest thing I've ever seen."

"Really?" she laughed.

He continued to play with the damp hair, swirling his fingers through it, pushing it up against the grain then smoothing it back down. Payton didn't care. It all felt good. Then he dragged a finger deeper, into her wetness and she gasped. Firm hands lifted one of her knees up and out, exposing her to him better. "I want to learn what makes you cry out, Payton. I want you to show me what you need."

"You're doing a great job," she sighed as his finger ran through her wetness again.

"This is all for me, isn't? Your body craves mine as much as mine craves yours."

"Yes," she gasped as he found the focus of her pleasure. He ran his fingertip around her clit several times, teasing her. Payton cried out, wishing that she had the willpower to pull away, but she really didn't. She arched into his touch, panting in time with his movements. Brock kept up steady, rhythmic pressure and she guided his hand where she needed it.

Sweet heat poured through her as her orgasm peaked and Payton cried out, shifting on the mattress. That felt so sublime. After a minute, Brock's touch gentled, then slowly slid away as she calmed.

Payton felt movement again but couldn't quite open her eyes to see what he was doing. She lifted her arms, expecting him to move up and over her to enter her, but he didn't. Instead firm hands spread her knees wide, then warm, wet heat laved up her cleft. Her hands fell and landed on his head, now between her thighs. Payton squealed as Brock's tongue entered her most intimate place and began to fondle her just as his finger had, but more gently. This was a very different feeling though. The heat and warmth was more fluid, hotter, than his earlier touch, and her body responded. He dipped as deep into her body as he could reach before running his tongue high.

The pleasure that had abated surged back with a vengeance and she climaxed hard. Even as she twisted and contorted, his mouth followed her, dragging wave after wave of pleasure from her.

Brock's heat left the bed for a moment, chilling her, then he was back. This time when his hips settled between her thighs there was nothing between them.

Tears had dripped down from the corners of her eyes, but she forced them open to look at him. Brock grinned down at her. "Your orgasms taste of honeysuckle."

She grinned and lifted her arms to hold him. She ran her hands down his sides, down over his flanks until she cupped his butt cheeks. Squeezing, she shifted her hips beneath him. "I'll have to taste you later. Right now, I think you have some catching up to do."

They shifted naturally together and Payton raised her legs. She peered down between their bodies and gasped, his dick was huge. He'd retrieved a condom from somewhere and with one hand, he reached down to position the head at her entrance. She was soaked with moisture and she was very glad she was, because it had been a long time since she'd been with a man. It would take a minute for her body to accept him.

He sank into her with a groan. "Oh, fuck. You are so hot and wet, I can feel everything."

Payton arched beneath him, relishing the fullness. Gripping his hips in her strong hands, she pulled him tighter against her. Brock may have had some thought about going slow for her, but she knew what he wanted, what he needed.

His heavy arms lifted himself over top of her, looking down the lengths of their bodies. His body pulsed into hers, then pulsed again. Payton cupped her breasts, holding them together like he had earlier. Apparently it was a visual he loved because he slammed his eyes shut and looked away, pausing his hips. The muscles in his arms quivered and she could tell that he was fighting off his orgasm.

"Why are you fighting it, Brock? This isn't a 'one and done'. I'm going to keep you here all day, loving you every way I can."

Something released in his mind, or he gave himself permission, because he began grinding into her hard. Then he pulled almost completely out of her and slammed back in. Payton hadn't expected another orgasm so soon, but if he kept hitting her just the same way she would come again.

"Just like that, Brock, just like that. Oooh ..."

A few more times and her breath was quivering in her throat, then he slammed her into another hard orgasm. She arched and clutched at his shoulders, trapped in the pleasure as his body drove into hers. Then Brock stilled above her as his orgasm crested. Crying out, he lost control, pulsing into her over and over again until he finally went lax.

Payton cradled his big body to her as it shuddered with aftershocks.

She must have passed out because she didn't rouse until he moved off the bed to dispose of the condom. Bending her knee, she curled on her side and pulled the sheet over top of her. The house was chilled from the AC, and she had no problem contemplating a nap after their exertions.

Brock apparently felt the same because he returned to the room and wafted the sheet up so that he could crawl in behind her. Then he covered them both.

She sighed in contentment as his arm curled over her.