Chapter 17
KATIE
“I don’t know why you grabbed that casserole from your mom,” I told Bray two hours later. I walked from stall to stall in my stable and he was right beside me. He had sugar cubes in his hand and one of the horses, Junior, stuck his head out of his stall and nibbled them right off his open palm.
We didn’t linger at dinner after I’d cleaned my plate, Bray telling everyone I had to get back to check on the horses. Based on the way Lainey smirked at me, she clearly thought that was a euphemism for having sex.
While my pussy was sore from earlier, it clenched with eagerness for more. It was as if one time was all it took and now I was hooked on sex. Hooked on Bray and his very talented dick. And fingers. And mouth.
He and his mom had hustled into the kitchen after dessert and packed up a frozen dish–Mexican lasagna–before we were ushered out the door. Mrs. Wilder gave me an extra tight squeeze, Mr. Wilder told me to call him Pops and Lainey winked.
Winked!
I’d put the dish in my fridge to slowly thaw so I could heat it up for dinner tomorrow. Then I slipped on my work boots and Bray followed me to the stable.
“Because it’s one of my favorites,” he said. I’d almost forgotten what we were talking about.
I went into the last stall and confirmed there was hay in Pepper’s hay net.
“Tell me about Trout,” Bray said.
His words surprised me. I spun around and he was casually leaning against the wall.
“What?” My heart started to race and suddenly it was hot in the barn. It wasn’t because Bray was so good looking. His broad shoulders, those forearms. Those eyes. I could sound like a poet enthralled with every bit of him. I still couldn’t believe I’d had sex with him.
Me!
“Trout,” he repeated. It didn’t seem like he was going to let this go. “What’d he do to you, besides mess with the creek?”
I shook my head. “Nothing. I mean, he’s never… touched me if that’s what you’re asking.”
He grunted. “That’s good, but he can hurt you in other ways.”
I swallowed hard, then shrugged.
“I’m dealing with it.”
His eyes widened, then he clenched his jaw. “It sounds like he’s still messing with you?”
I shook my head quickly to reassure him. I wasn’t used to Bray being so riled. “He’s not.” I sighed. “The things he did were… expensive.”
“Like what?”
“I needed a truck to bring in water for the horses last fall because he’d blocked the creek. I had to pay for the new wiring on the fence and Andy Shaunessy’s time to help me string it. Plus, he sued me for–”
“Andy sued you? For what?”
“No, Conrad Trout. He made me go to court twice for stupid things, but I had to hire a lawyer and they don’t come cheap.”
“He sued you? What the fuck for?” Pepper nudged Bray’s shoulder and he reached out absently to stroke his flank.
“Stupid things that were thrown out of court.”
“He wanted to bleed you dry,” he said through gritted teeth.
“It’s working.”
“The stable though, isn’t it covering your expenses?”
I nodded. “It is. But not all the legal bills, the two mortgages–”
“Jesus, kitten. Why didn’t you say anything?”
I looked up at him, his Stetson casting his face in shadow. “To who?” I asked, confused.
“To Colt. He’s the sheriff. He could’ve gotten Trout to back off.”
“Trout did everything legally. Annoying, but legal. Except for cutting my fence last year, but I can’t prove it was him.”
“Then get Hayes on it.”
Hayes was the lawyer in the Wilder family and a little older than me and Lainey.
“I didn’t want to burden him,” I admitted. I also didn’t want the Wilders to know about my hardships. They’d been so good to me over the years I didn’t want to take anything more from them.
“It’s his job,” Bray almost snapped. “He’ll get Trout and his lawyer to back off.”
I wouldn’t put it past Trout to want my window broken to cause me more financial pain, but it was too… juvenile for Trout to do the deed himself. Maybe he got one of his sons to do it instead of the nephew.
What if Beau’s idea had been right? What if the person had followed Lainey to the ranch and threw it out of anger toward her? Did it mean I was safe and Lainey wasn’t? Did it mean Bray would leave now?
“So you’re paying this all off by working at The Roadside?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“By having a truck that looks like one of the wheels is gonna fall off?”
I crossed my arms and tipped my chin up. I didn’t like what he was pointing out, even if it was true. “It was my grandparent’s. It gets me where I need to go, Bray.”
Not everyone had such a close knit family like the Wilders to help out. My car had to last.
“By not having any food to eat?” he asked, pushing on. “There’s only jelly and cheese slices in your fridge.”
My mouth fell open. My car was one thing, but this? “You were snooping? That’s why we went to your parents’ for dinner? Why you got the casserole from your mom? I’m not charity!”
He stepped up to me, set his hands on my upper arms. “I offered a drink to Buck and Zeb after boarding up the broken window and looked in your fridge for some sodas or maybe even some juice to offer them.” His fingers gave me a little squeeze.
“And charity? You’re mine and I will take care of you and protect you, even if it’s from yourself. ”
I was riled and I didn’t usually get all prickly and angry. Instead, I shut down and avoided any kind of confrontation. How dare Bray say these things? It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours since I climbed in his lap and he was overstepping.
“I can take care of myself! I have for a long time.”
“I know.” He sighed. “But you’re not alone any longer. You shouldn’t have to deal with the likes of Trout or his nephew or anyone else by yourself. Colt will be all over Trout like flies on manure. Same goes for Hayes and whatever legal bullshit you’re dealing with. Call him.”
I blinked. “What? Now?”
He nodded, pulling out his phone. “Yes, right now.” He swiped a few times then put the phone to his ear. “Hey. Yeah. Katie needs to talk to you.”
When Bray held his phone out, I had no choice but to take it and tell him everything. Bray remained quiet, listening to my side of the conversation. When Hayes said to stop by the next day to talk further because he was with Trig and Ellie, we picked a time, then hung up.
“There. See? You’re not alone any longer.”
The anger I had toward Bray’s bossiness and well, over the top actions, dissolved like a cube of sugar in a hot cup of tea.
That sounded so good. It felt good to have Hayes to help me with my legal troubles.
Plus, to have Bray on my side sounded amazing.
He could literally carry the heavy load.
And to have an entire family behind me… God. I’d been alone for so long.
It was a relief to know that when Trout came back–because he would–that I didn’t have to stand up to him alone. That at the end of the day, I’d see Bray’s truck and trailer bumping down the drive because he was coming home to me, not because his sister had been in danger on my property.
“You sure, Bray?” I shook my head, remembering guys like Bray had what he wanted. We’d had sex. Heck, he’d even gotten to fuck a virgin. “My life is a total mess. You’ll get enough of me and move on.”
He shook his head, his glare returning along with my consistent argument. “Never.”
I huffed, not believing him. “I’m not worth it, Bray.
Trust me. I’m not exciting or interesting.
I work here in the stables.” I waved my arm around.
“I work at The Roadside. In my limited downtime, I like to stay home. Read. I don’t even own a dress!
If I lived in the old days, I’d be a dowdy spinster. ”
“The way you rode my dick, I’d never think of you as dowdy.”
My mouth fell open at his crude–and hot–words.
I pushed on, because I knew the truth. He barely knew the real me. “I’m a mouse. Plain. Boring.”
His blue eyes narrowed. “There is absolutely nothing boring about you. I should spank you for the way you’re talking about yourself.”
I gasped. Then my pussy clenched.
He studied me for a moment. “Like the idea of getting spanked, kitten?”
I tossed my arms up, which dislodged his hands. “How would I know?” I shouted. “I haven’t had one decent guy look at me before let alone threaten to spank me.”
“Good.”
I looked up at him with bleak eyes. “Good? Do you know what it’s like to be the ugly one? The–”
His eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched. “Don’t.”
“–one who’s forgettable. It’s true, Bray. I’m twenty-six and I was a virgin until today.”
“Good, because you weren’t meant for any of them. You were meant for me.”
Tears filled my eyes. “Why now, Bray? I’ve been right here.” I pointed to the stable’s dirt floor, then at my chest. “Why would I think you’re going to stick when you haven’t noticed me until now? Would you have even noticed me if I didn’t climb in your lap last night?”
“Me being blind is not your fault. I didn’t see what was right in front of me,” he admitted. “At the same time, it seems like I’ve always known you’d be mine.”
I felt the same, but was too scared to ever hope.
I shook my head and ducked out of the stable.
I heard his heavy footfall behind me so I knew he followed.
I waited and worked on closing the building’s exterior door.
“No, Bray. I’m sorry. I can’t risk this.
The sex was amazing. God, I had no idea.
But you’re going to change your mind and leave. I can’t have another person–”
He grabbed my arm and spun me around, pulled me into him so our bodies were pressed together. Cupping my chin, he forced me to look up at him. His face was shadowed beneath his cowboy hat, but I saw the intensity of his blue gaze.
“I’m not leaving you.”
I shook my head and a tear slipped down my cheek. “Everyone leaves me, Bray. I’m used to it. My parents. My grandparents, too.”
Dying in old age wasn’t the same thing as my parents’ abandonment, but the point was the same. I was alone. I was safer staying alone instead of falling for someone who might break my heart again.
He sighed and kissed my forehead. “Fuck, Kitten. I know you’ve been hurt. I wish I could take that from you. I’m not leaving.” He punctuated those three words with pauses. “You don’t have to believe my words, but I’ll prove it to you by sticking.”
I wanted to trust him. Desperately. To be lured into this feeling of safety and that I was, for the first time in so long, not alone.
“How can I believe you?”
“Because if Ma found out I hurt you, she’d shoot me.”
I couldn’t help the way my lips twitched. He was right. I’d seen Mrs. Wilder angry before and you didn’t fuck with her when that happened. She was also an excellent markswoman. I wasn’t a half bad shot since Lainey and I learned from her.
“Then there are my brothers,” he continued. “Don’t forget Lainey. She already vowed to run me over with the combine if I hurt you.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at my friend’s vivid and gruesome method.
It was kind of all of them to want to protect me, even from Bray, but it only meant one thing. “You mean you’re stuck now.”
He sighed again, this time wearily, and stared at the darkening sky before meeting my gaze. “All right. That’s it.”
Before I could blink, he spun me around. I slapped my hands against the building to brace myself. Then he got my jeans undone and pushed down over my hips before I could do more than shout out his name.
Then… he spanked me.