The sun is setting but still blazing down on me, Sealy, and Shep. It’s reflecting off the water of the creek, making it appear on fire. I toss my baited line into the water and lean back in my lawn chair, the dog watching my every move. We’ve been down here fishing since we finished our morning chores hours ago. My dad had some business to take care of in town so I told him I’d help Sealy with his so he didn’t have to worry about it all when he got back. It’s about the only help the stubborn bastard will take from me.

“So how long you think you’re gonna be in town for this time?” my brother asks as he pops the top on a beer from the cooler.

“Not sure. I’ll know more once I get the contract today I hope. Why?”

“Just askin’ is all. I’m leaving in a few months to get back on the circuit. Dad hired two more guys to start though so he won’t have to pick up any extra work with the rodeo stock.”

“I didn’t know you were heading back out.” My brother is a professional bull rider. He’s been crushing the rodeo circuit for a few years now. He hurt his shoulder some months ago and hasn’t been able to compete since. The rodeo never really stops though. They ride from January to November so he missed out on a lot of the season with it being July already.

“Yeah, I’m going to wait ’til they start up again in January. I won’t get the points I need now to qualify so there’s no use.”

“So the shoulder is all healed up?”

Rolling his injured arm, he nods. “Good as new. I took it slow. I needed the break anyway.”

“I hear that.” I chuckle, tipping my beer back, savoring the icy cold brew.

“Didn’t take you long to find another label though. You had me worried there for a minute, brother.” He tosses me a cocky smile. “Thought you were gonna stay home with us normal folk.”

I beam him with my bottle cap. “Jimmy is good at what he does. Speaking of,” glancing at my watch, “he should be here any minute with my new contract.” Just then we hear someone pull up, the gravel drive crunching beneath tires. Shep bounds off, barking playfully.

“Think he’ll find us down here?” Sealy asks me, sounding way more concerned than I am.

“Shep’ll bring him to us.”

“You’re right.”

Slouching down in my chair a bit farther, I’m startled upright when I hear a woman’s voice talking sweetly to Shep. My brother looks over at me questioningly. Slowly, I crane my neck and look behind me. Addy is picking her way across the bank, Shep trotting happily at her side. Dog’s a damn flirt. I can’t say that I blame him. She looks especially hot today in a sundress, little flowers dotted all over it, and flip flops, her hot pink toes sexier than they ought to be. My brother and I stand to greet her. Out of the side of his mouth he says “Hooo wheee, she lost? I’ll help her find more than her way.” I elbow him in the ribs, satisfied when he lets out a grunt of pain.

“Well, hey there, darlin’, didn’t expect to see you here today.”

“Don’t call me ‘darlin’.’” That’s all I get in the way of a greeting. My brother snickers.

“Course not, Sugar. Wouldn’t dream of it.” She rolls her pretty hazel eyes, done up just enough that I noticed.

“Jimmy Don and I had lunch and went over your contract.”

“He told me. I was expecting him to bring it for me to sign.”

She’s standing in front of us now, Shep sitting at her feet.

“His mama called and asked for a favor. I told him I could bring it out to you since I was coming this way anyhow.” Her voice is all honey when she speaks of Jimmy and his family, but goes back to prickly pear when she says, “Well, are you gonna introduce me to your friend or did you leave your manners on tour?”

A slow smile works its way across my mouth. “Reckon they’re back in a church parking lot on my tour bus.” She looks about ready to stomp off. “Addy Mae Masterson, this is my little brother Sealy. Sealy this is Addy. She’s with Hard Candy who I’m fixin’ to sign with.” My brother takes the hand that she offers up, a real smile warming her face when he tips his straw Stetson like the true blue cowboy he is. Not giving him time to charm Addy anymore than he already has, I draw her attention back to me. “Sealy was just leaving. We can go back up to the house and get everything signed.”

“I was?” my brother asks, amused.

“Yep.” With a hand at the small of her back, I ignore the little zing of heat touching her causes and lead her to my house, the dog and my brother following right behind. I’m pretty sure I hear Sealy laughing softly but don’t bother turning to check, just following behind Addy, doing my best not to reach out and palm her ass as I watch it sway in front of me, the skirt of her dress flirting with the backs of her knees. What I wouldn’t give for a good gust of wind to come ripping through right about now and twirl that dress up

Once at the back door, I slap my leg for Shep to follow and wave to my brother. “Tell mama I won’t be there for dinner.” He nods and turns to Addy.

“It was so nice to meet you. Maybe next time my brother won’t be hellbent on rushing you off so we can sit for a spell.” Oh he’s really laying it on thick. Since when was his drawl so twangy?

“I’d like that.” I grimace when she answers. My brother needs no encouragement. With a finger to the brim of his hat, he hops in his truck parked in my drive and heads to his place on the property. With over four thousand acres there’s no reason for us to ever move from McCrae land. We could still live far enough apart from each other to have our own space without being too far from the main house.

The door propped open, I wave her in. “After you, Sugar.” She doesn’t give me hell for the endearment. Maybe I’m making progress. Coming up behind her, I give her a second to take in the place. It’s nothing super fancy but it is big. Lots of reclaimed wood and industrial lighting, and a huge island with concrete countertops cuts the great room from the kitchen. I try to see it through her eyes, but I don’t know her well enough. Jenny always thought it was too masculine. I like it because it’s simple.

“Wow, Beau. This is beautiful.” She means it. I can hear the appreciation in her tone.

“Thank you. It’s home. You want a tour?”

“Oh, I don’t want to impose. I’m sure you have things to do.” Even as Addy says it, her eyes are making curious sweeps of the room.

“No trouble. Come on.” Without thinking about it, I take her hand and tug her behind me to the front door. “I know you saw the front pullin’ up, but you have to come in the front door to get the full effect.”

“Your porch is gorgeous. I would live out there.” She sighs a little wistfully.

“You don’t have a porch? Girl, you can’t live in Texas and not have at least a front porch.”

“I know. It’s awful. I live in an apartment downtown. I need to get back to my roots and move back out to the country.” I like this Addy. The one that doesn’t want to kill me and talks sweet to me same as she does everybody else.

We step out on the front porch and then promptly step back into the house. It's a little silly but necessary.

“You weren't kidding. Coming in the back door does it no justice. Look at those beams!”

“Nice, right? Those came from right here on the ranch. All of this old wood did, matter of fact. We took it from the original barn over on the back forty.”

“Oh I love that! This is straight out of an episode of Farmhouse Fresh, you know that?” she exclaims excitedly.

“I have no fucking clue what that is, but okay.” I laugh.

“It’s this TV show, I’m a little obsessed with it. They take old houses set in the country, mostly small farm towns and fix them up.” She talks as she walks through the family room running a hand across the back of the tobacco-colored couch. “This is so their style. I just love it. It’s very modern farmhouse.”

Whatever that means. Pointing to the massive fireplace, “Is that all wood from the barn too?”

“Yep. We even used the actual doors in my room.” I walk away, leading a woman to my room for the first time in my life for something other than fucking.

“I have barn doors in a couple places here, but the ones leading into and inside my bedroom are original.” There’s a pair of double barn doors that leads into the master, I slide them open and she steps in. Thankfully Connie was here today, so the room is immaculate. All grays and muted blues with wood accents. Three guitars hanging on the far wall. There’s another set of double barn doors that lead into the bathroom and a single one that leads into the massive closet that I’ll never be able to fill even halfway.

“This is stunning.” She disappears into the bathroom and then comes back out, peaking into the closet. Good thing I’m not shy or anything.

“I had a great team. I told them what I wanted, went on tour, and came back to this.” I shrug.

“Well, aren’t you lucky?”

We walk back out to the living room, Shep waiting by the couch for us. Addy takes a seat, perching on the edge of the cushion as she pulls papers out of her bag and spreads them out on the coffee table in front of her. Guess it’s time to get down to business.

“You want something to drink?”

“No, thanks,” she answers distracted as she gets her piles in order. I take the time to admire her. Tanned legs, dainty feet, and all that damn hair. The urge to reach out and wrap it around my fist should shock me. It doesn’t. Miss Addy Mae has put the sex in sexy and the fact that she doesn’t seem to like me or that she’s basically my boss doesn’t in the least diminish the fact that I want to fuck her clear into next week.

She glances up and catches me staring. “What?”

“Nothing at all, Sugar. Just waiting for you to be ready for me.”

“I’m ready for you.”

“Careful. I might go and take that the wrong way.”

“Take it any way you want as long as you sit down and sign these papers. We have a couple things to discuss.” Yup, she’s all business now.

I take a seat next to her and she promptly slides papers over and hands me a pen. “I’ve already explained all of this to Jimmy Don, but I can go through it with you too.”

“Just give me the Cliff’s Notes version.”

“We’ll record the album you’re currently working on as soon as possible. Jimmy Don says you have a group of guys that rotate out on the road with you and that you want to keep them with you, so that’s in here.” I nod hoping that was what they’d say. “Then over a five-year period you’ll have to commit to three additional albums and three tours.” The whole time she’s talking I’m watching her mouth, the way her lips tip up the slightest bit like she’s on the verge of smiling even though she’s not. The swath of bubble gum pink gloss I’d love to see left behind on my cock. These thoughts aren’t going to win me any points with her. She’s a ballbuster when she’s serious, and right now she looks pretty serious. “Does that all sound acceptable to you?”

“Yes, ma’am.” My eyes fall to her lips again all of their own accord. Then down to where the thin cotton of her sundress molds to her chest, the round globes high and more than a mouthful. I shift, trying to ease the bite of my zipper against my swelling dick. Fuck. I need to get out and get laid. I can’t be chasing after Miss Addy Mae “I hate your face” Masterson.

She clears her throat, and I draw my eyes to hers. Funny, she doesn’t look like she hates my face right now. Actually, she looks a little like she might want to sit on my face. She keeps looking at me like that, and I’m apt to offer her a seat. Fidgeting a bit she crosses her legs, drawing her already short skirt up even higher on her smooth, honey-colored leg. Wrong move. I shift so that my leg comes into contact with hers, testing the waters to make sure I’m not getting these signals all mixed up. When her breath catches, I know I’m not. Just as I reach my hand out to run a finger down her bared-to-me thigh, my house phone rings. Knowing that my mama is the only one who ever calls me on it, I cuss under my breath and snatch up the handset from the table behind the couch.

“Yes, mama?” I bite out, a little more short than I meant to. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Addy straighten her spine and school her features like she’s come to her senses. Shit. Listening to my mama prattle on, I feel my hard on dwindle and my blood cool. “Yes, ma’am, we’ll be right down.” Ending the call, I look at Addy to see that she’s cooled considerably. Probably for the best. “You hungry? Mama said supper’s ready and we’re expected to show up.”

Her eyes widen. “Me? No. That’s all right. You can just sign these two spots and we can talk about the other stuff later.” She pushes the pen I hadn’t realized I put down back into my hand. “Here.” She taps a spot with her fingernail, waiting on me to do her bidding.

“She’s not gonna let you leave without coming to supper. She knows you’re here and she’s decided you’re coming. That’s all there is to it when it comes to Jolynn McCrae. Trust me.” I scribble my name where she indicated and wait as she flips the page to the next signature line, her bottom lip clamped between her teeth. Signing the last page, I toss the pen down. “You think you can be nice to me, pretend you like me just long enough to have a meal with my parents?” Smirking I nudge her leg with mine.

“I don’t dislike you.” She tries to convince us both.

“Okay then, you think you can keep from jumping my bones at the table?” That’s met with an evil eye that has me barking out a laugh. “I’ll take that as a yes. For now.” Winking I stand, offering my hand to help her up. Hurriedly she stashes her papers into a manila file and slips it into her bag before taking my offer of help.

“We have a lot more to go over.”

“I just signed my life over to you. We have all the time in the world now, Sugar.” I use my drawl to draw out the word, taunting her with it. But again, she doesn’t take the bait. I think she might like my teasing. And I think that I might like that. A little too much.