My morning vanished and my afternoon was quickly doing the same as I ran the ranch. My older cousin, Kenneth, helped out a lot. He and his understudy, Jamie, pulled their weight and then some. Bradley, too. He drove me crazy half the time, but he was a hard worker. Between them, me, and Dad, we handled the ranch just fine. I was still tempted to hire on more help, though. We could afford it and I was swamped, the way it was.
There was another man, Adams, who helped guide hunting tours with Franklin when we needed him, but Franklin hadn’t asked for help in a long time. We also owned a twenty-acre farm up the road that was farmed by an older man named Thomas. That was basically a hands-off part of the business. Thomas paid us to lease the land and did all the rest of the work.
Over the years, the ranch had expanded and gone in different directions, but most of our work revolved around raising and selling cattle. At any given time, we usually owned around two thousand head of cattle. That meant I was busy as hell when it wasn’t grazing season. We were about to come out of it. That meant I would be going up to the pasture where the cattle grazed in the warmer months and getting them.
I liked bringing them home. Jameson did, too. He got bored when he didn’t have a herd of cattle to boss around.
I was bent over, yanking on a board that was jammed against part of the fence, when a hand landed on my back. I let go of the board and went flying backwards, into the chest of Jagger.
He wrapped his arms around me, holding me steady. “Excited to see me?”
My body reacted to his instantly. Heat flooded my core, my nipples pebbled, and my breath caught. It’d been a long time since I felt my body respond to a man’s in that way. It made me feel soft and sensual and immediately aware of him, pressing into my back. “Are you excited to see me?”
If I expected any ounce of shame from the man, I was barking up the wrong tree. He brushed his nose up the side of my neck and chuckled. “Very. I’ve been looking all over this ranch for you.”
I sighed. I was going to have to visit my guy in town. Or make a visit to the sex shop outside of town. Although, then I’d chance being seen by one of the evil old ladies from the Ladies of the Succession. I’d never hear the end of it. They’d already followed me around, practically picketing me, for getting a divorce.
“Did I lose you?”
I turned my head slightly and found myself nose to nose with Jagger. His eyes had gone darker and his dimple was gone. Replacing the relaxed smile was something harder, something dangerous. The hardness didn’t scare me, though. It lured me in like a siren’s call.
My tongue slipped out to wet my lips and his eyes locked onto the movement. My stomach clenched and I came to terms with the fact that I wasn’t going to call the guy in town. I was going to brave the same course that I was sure plenty of women had braved before me. I was going to offer myself up to the man holding me. Then, maybe, I could focus. He’d be gone and I’d be free.
“Are you dating anyone?”
“I don’t date.” He was letting me know, like he was worried I would ask him out. Cute.
“Married?”
“Never have. Never will.”
We agreed there. One time was enough for me. “Celibate?”
“Is this a job interview or are you going to ask me to come to your room later?”
His bossiness sent a fresh wave of liquid heat to my core. I sucked in a sharp breath and pressed my body tighter against his. “No.”
“No?”
“Not my room. Meet me in the barn after everyone goes to sleep.”
His arms turned into steel across my stomach. “Is there a reason we’re waiting? There’s no one around for miles.”
I smiled to myself and ate up his impatience like it was my favorite dessert. Jagger wanted me bad. I pried myself from his arms and gestured at the board. “I still have work to do.”
I might’ve been thinking with my hoo-hah when I set up our little meeting, but I couldn’t skip work. Unfortunately. I took in the shocked and frustrated look on Jagger’s face and laughed.
His hand snaked down to my waist and he pressed a kiss to the back of my neck that made me shiver. Then, he leaned down, grabbed the board, and yanked it hard enough to get it unstuck. “I guess now’s as good a time as any to get the system set up.”
I frowned at how easy he’d gotten it off the fence. “I could’ve done that. I just needed to use a prybar. That doesn’t mean I’m weaker than you.”
“Woman, I’m rearing to go right now and you’re patiently waiting for some midnight rendezvous. I never considered that you were the weak one of the two of us.”
“Come on. I’ll show you the spots we talked about.” I led the way back to Jameson, where he was loosely hooked to a fence post and happily looking around. “How did you get here?”
“I walked. Figured I could use the exercise. Your dad told me I was lazy and belonged in a city somewhere. That was my cue to leave my chair.”
“He’s not used to seeing a grown man just lay around all day.”
He laughed. “Am I supposed to not think that you’re insulting me?”
“I’m not insulting you…much.” I shot him a grin. “We’re just used to ranching, where if you’re getting a break, obviously you’re doing something wrong.”
“Well, I’m supposed to be on vacation, anyway.” Something different flashed into his eyes, something painful. “You would’ve gotten Cash for this, but he’s got something going on in his personal life.”
I thought back to anything I knew of Cash and came up mostly blank. “Is he like you were back then? Because if he was, I can imagine he has a lot going on in his personal life.”
Jagger rolled his shoulders that suddenly looked twenty times more tense. “He’s not like me. He’s usually Mr. Put Together.”
I stopped at Jameson and stroked the horse’s face. “And you’re not put together?”
He met my eyes and it felt like he was suddenly allowing me to see more than I wanted to. The darkness there was tinged with pain and I had to look away. “I’m about as put together as a thousand-piece puzzle rolling down a hill.”
“Hence the vacation?”
“Sure. That’s what I’ll go with. Don’t worry. I won’t fuck anything up. This part of the job is easy. Set up a few cameras and a network, link them to all of your devices, and then I’m basically done.”
There was too much happening. My heart was growing heavier by the second, hearing the pain in Jagger’s voice. I didn’t know what’d happened to him, and I didn’t want to, but I could feel it. I didn’t want to see him as an aching, struggling person, though. I wanted to fulfill a night of crazy sex with him and then watch him leave the next day. I didn’t have time to start feeling anything for him, even sadness.
I forced a smile and patted his cheek. “Never thought you’d fuck up anything. Was just a little worried about the virtue of the women in town, but I’ll just take you off their hands for the night.”
His big hands wrapped around my waist and easily lifted me onto Jameson. “And what about your virtue, Lace?”
It’d gone up in flames the minute I set eyes on Jagger. I slipped into my saddle and then reached out to tug the ponytail holder out of the back of his hair, freeing the sun-kissed blonde strands. “I don’t believe in it anymore. I’ll meet you back at the house. We’ll go over the plans once more and then get busy after a snack. I’m starving.”
He ran his hand through his hair and grinned at me, dimple firmly back in place. “Race you.”
I raised an eyebrow. I was on a horse and he was on foot. There wasn’t a chance in hell he’d take me in a race. “You’re crazy.”
His eyes burned with playfulness as he winked. “Yep. That’s what they told me. Winner gets to spank that sexy ass of yours.”
My mouth fell open and then snapped shut as I watched in awe as he took off at a dead sprint towards the house. He was crazy. He was fast, but he was crazy. It was over a mile away and I was on a horse.
Even as I nudged Jameson’s side and urged him forward, I was tempted to let the insane man win. I’d never been spanked, but I had a feeling that anything would be fun with Jagger. And it was just one night. There was freedom in that.
My competitive nature didn’t want to lose, though. I clicked my tongue at Jameson and he charged forward. I headed the way I normally went, over the small bridge that went over a creek that curled through the property, but when I got to the bridge, it’d been blocked by a sweating Bradley, on his hands and knees, repairing the planks of wood like I’d asked him to. I swore and then turned to go the longer way. I could still beat Jagger.
Jameson was racing up the driveway, thrilled to be getting to run like mad, when I spotted Jagger hit the front steps of the house. He bent over with his hands on his knees and sucked in a big breath. Then, he stood up, off went his shirt, and I forgot how to make Jameson stop moving. Luckily, he was smarter than me in those moments and skidded to a halt just in front of Jagger.
I looked down at the man and contemplating doing him over my work. I’d never done it before, but maybe it would be worth it. I could drag him up to my room, lock the door, and spend the rest of the day feeling like a woman instead of a ranch hand. It’d been a long time since I felt like a woman for more than just a few seconds at a time.
Another sound entered the space where my brain was supposed to be and I looked up with heated eyes to see my father coming out of the house. That shook me out of it. I made a face and then hoofed it out of there. I needed a few seconds to catch my breath if I was going to work with a shirtless Jagger in front of my dad.
I parked Jameson in the paddocks beside the barn and patted him on the side. “I bet Sister Susie is on the other side of the barn. Try not to trip over yourself loving on her, Jameson.”
As if he could understand what I was saying about Dad’s horse Susie, he took off in that direction. I locked the gate and then dragged my feet getting back to the two men staring at me. Dad’s looked was more disappointed, while Jagger’s was more smug. The thought of what Jagger’s look meant for me had me stumbling.
“You shouldn’t ride Jameson like that towards the house.”
“Yeah, Lace. You should be more careful.”
I raised an eyebrow at Jagger. “It was fine.”
Dad opened his mouth to complain about something else, I was sure, but I held up a hand and cut him off. “I’m going in to grab a snack and then I’m going to show Jagger around the property.”
Dad waved his hand at me and clapped Jagger on the shoulder. “I’ll do it. Your mom isn’t feeling well, so she’s laying down. Why don’t you get dinner ready?”
My eyes narrowed and I crossed my arms. “Oh, sure. That makes sense. That’s totally what I’ll be doing when you retire. Just cooking dinner for all the menfolk.”
“Now, Lacey, you know”
“No, I don’t know. Go ahead. Dinner will be ready in a little while. I’m assuming you still want that roast.”
I stomped up the stairs and into the kitchen. Pissed off and hurt that Dad somehow still managed to make me feel inadequate, I didn’t hear Jagger coming.
He grabbed my arm and pulled me into his chest, taking my cry of shock into his mouth as he pressed his lips onto mine. It was a simple kiss, as far as kisses went, but it burned me to my toes.
When I tried to deepen it, he pulled away and stared into my eyes. “I don’t get blamed for your dad’s bad choices. Tonight is still on. I still get to spank you. You lost, fair and square. No excuses.”
Then, he just spun on his heel and left me standing there, shocked.