Forty
“He caught y’all in the barn?” Reillyasked Leah, not at all surprised that the woman had spent the past half hour attempting to sway Reilly over to her side by regaling her with details of her time with Stone.
“Yes, he did,” she said proudly.
Ever since Stone left, Leah had turned on the charm, and Reilly’d let her think it was working because … well, the truth was, it was entertaining as fuck. Like seriously amusing. The woman was exactly what Reilly had imagined her to be after the conversation she’d had with her brother the first day he was back.
Were you boinkin’ the boss’s wife again?
Daughter.
Seriously?
Seriously.
Was she hot?
You could say that.
Spoiled, rich-brat hot?
Exactly.
You got caught, huh?
Not on purpose.
Leah Johnson was definitely a spoiled rich bitch. Everything about her screamed oblivious and entitled. Reilly was pretty sure she was sincerely convinced Stone was going to hop in his truck and follow her back to Houston because she batted those fake lashes and thrust out her chest.
In all fairness, Reilly wasn’t as certain that he wouldn’t, but she would do her part to ensure he didn’t have another choice.
It was petty and childish, sure. But who gave a fuck? Stone was where he belonged.
“I might’ve mentioned I needed his help,” Leah continued.
Reilly was lost. “Who’s help?”
“My father’s.”
“Ah.” Then it hit her. “Oh. You set it up so your dad would pop in and catch you and Stone in the act?”
Leah’s grin was wide and proud. “He would’ve found out eventually. I was just helpin’ things along.”
Then it dawned on Reilly what Leah said. They’d been caught having sex in the barn, and Leah had set it up so her dad would catch them. Gross.
Although she wanted to bleach the mental image from her brain, she was too curious to leave it alone. “Why?”
Leah shrugged. “I knew Daddy would insist Stone do right by me. Since Stone wasn’t in a hurry to move things along, I added a little incentive.”
Reilly nodded as though that made perfect sense when, in reality, she threw up a little in her mouth. “Backfired, huh?”
Leah’s gaze shifted to the doors. “Not really. I knew Stone would react the way he did. At first. But I also know I’m the best thing that’s happened to him.”
“Oh.” Reilly choked down a laugh. “Is that right?”
Her voice lowered as though they were sharing state secrets. “He’s got big dreams, and I’m his meal ticket.”
Wow. Reilly had wanted to be a lot of things growing up—fireman, architect, the door greeter at Walmart—but she’d never wanted to be someone’s meal ticket.
“What does that entail?” she asked simply because she knew Leah wanted to share more.
“You can only get so far in life without an education,” Leah explained, her perfect nose tilted up in that prissy pose she had perfected. “Stone’s good at manual labor, but I don’t see him running a ranch.”
“He doesn’t have the education,” Reilly supplied, realizing where Leah was going with this.
“No offense, but there’s a big difference between brains and brawn.”
“You don’t say.”
“He’s got the brawn, but he needs someone with brains to back him up. He needs me. We’ll make a good team.”
“So he’ll work for you?”
“Eventually, yeah. Daddy says Stone’s good with the ranch hands, so I’ll let him manage them.”
“You’ll let him. Interesting.”
For all the book smarts this bitch had, she was clueless. Her mouth continued to run, and she didn’t realize Reilly was baiting her at every turn.
“You know what you should do?” Reilly said when Leah stopped talking.
“What’s that?”
She leaned in, lowered her voice. “You should make him your house boy. He’d like that.”
Leah laughed, her eyes glittering. “That could be fun.”
“I know, right? Put a collar and leash on him, parade him around for the whole ranch to see.”
Leah’s eyebrows lowered.
“Or maybe put one of those things on him. You know.” She motioned to her face. “What’s it called? That thing that goes over a horse’s face? They bite down on that thing. What’s it called?” She opened her mouth and mimicked putting her finger sideways. “Anyway. You know what I’m talkin’ about. It’s used to guide them.”
“A bridle?”
Reilly snapped her fingers. “Yes! Exactly. Put a bridle on him. Make him your pet because”—she widened her eyes and thickened her drawl for dramatic effect—“he’s uneducated and all.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Yeah. You did.” Reilly stepped toward the island. “And you know what? You’re an idiot for thinkin’ my brother’s an idiot because he doesn’t have a degree. He knows what he wants, and he goes after it. He’s one of the good ones. He doesn’t mind startin’ at the bottom and workin’ his way up. And the shit he’s learned in life doesn’t come from a book.”
And there it was. The spark she’d been working to ignite. It backlit Leah’s eyes and caused her cheeks to turn rosy. Reilly imagined her growing bigger, turning green, and morphing into the Hulk. Unfortunately, she didn’t, but she did dial her haughtiness up to twelve.
“I’ll have you know that Stone won’t ever run my Daddy’s ranch. Or any ranch, for that matter. Not without me. He’s an outsider. A nobody. If he expects to make it in the cattle business, he needs a name backing him. I’m his best shot at ever makin’ somethin’ of himself.”
“And what exactly do you get out of it?”
Leah’s lips pulled back. “I’ll have a man who’ll do exactly what I tell him to do.”
Reilly pretended to be too stupid to live. “That’s a thing? Havin’ a man for a pet? I need one of those. Can I Google man-pet and find one? Or would you call him a show pony? That’s a thing, right?”
“Call it what you want, but I can give Stone the life he wants.”
Reilly twisted her lips and smiled, cutting her eyes toward the door where her brother had been standing for the past few minutes.
Leah slowly turned her head, her eyes widening. “Stone?” Her Hulk impersonation disappeared, and sweet Leah returned. “Hey. You’re back. I ... uh … didn’t hear you come in.”
Stone looked at Reilly. “You’re a T-rex, you know that?”
“And I wear a tutu,” she noted, flashing a smile as she leaned back against the counter and crossed her arms over her chest.
Mission accomplished.
***
“Tell me you’re not busy,” Stevie saidwhen Niyah answered the phone.
“Of course not.” Her best friend flashed a grin.
Stevie stared at Niyah’s face on the screen, grateful for FaceTime because it meant she didn’t have to go without seeing her best friend. It wasn’t as good as being in the same room, but it helped. When Niyah lived there, they went to lunch at least once every week, indulged in a girls’ night a few times a month, and hung out doing nothing simply because they could. Back before Niyah got engaged to and then married Adam, they spent all their spare time together. So, no, this wasn’t the same, but it was better than nothing.
“Melanie”s here,” she whispered, bringing her phone close to her face.
“What?”
“Meh. Luh. Knee.” Stevie pulled the phone back and pointed toward the door. “She’s here.”
Niyah’s eyes widened, her gaze shifting to Stevie’s bedroom door. “Nuh-uh.”
Stevie bobbed her head up and down. “Yuh-huh.”
Niyah frowned. “Why?”
“Dunno.”
Her best friend canted her head to the side and cocked one eyebrow. “Don’t bullshit me right now, Stevie. What does she want?”
Stevie gave in with a sigh, flopping back on her bed. “She said she misses Nico and wants to talk to him. She showed up before he got here.”
“You didn’t kick her butt out the door?”
“I felt bad.”
“For?”
She shrugged again. She honestly didn’t know why she felt bad. She shouldn’t. Nico and Melanie were over a long time ago, and unlike Melanie”s accusation, it had nothing to do with her.
“He told her we were together,” she blurted.
Niyah’s eyes widened, and a slow smile formed. “What did she say?”
“She accused him of cheating.”
“The cuckoo bird realizes they’re not together, right?”
“Back then,” Stevie clarified. “She asked him if I was the reason they broke up.”
“You tell her no, that your man just so happens to like your other man?”
Stevie smiled. After their conversation the other day about Valentine’s surprise ideas, Stevie texted Niyah to let her know that things were looking up. Granted, their text messages would require NSA analysts to decrypt because they spoke mostly in emojis.
She opened her mouth to say something when she heard the front door close.
“Uh-oh.” Stevie looked at her bedroom door like that might help her see what was going on outside of her room.
“Uh-oh, what?”
“I think she left.”
“Stevie?” Nico called from the hallway.
“Go talk to him,” Niyah said firmly. “Then call me later and tell me everything.”
“What am I supposed to say? What if he wants to get back with her? What if she went home to get her stuff so she can move back in?”
“Stop it. You’re bein’ crazy. You said he told her y’all were together.”
He had, and that had honestly surprised the shit out of her. Not to mention, it caused an avalanche of guilt to cascade down on her. She had no reason to feel guilty. They’d done nothing wrong. But it still didn’t help the awkwardness that had settled like a wet blanket over the room.
“Stevie? I’m comin’ in,” Nico announced.
Before she could end the call with Niyah, the door opened.
Stevie turned the phone around so Niyah could see her brother. “Say hi.”
Nico walked right over and plucked the phone out of her hand. “Hey, Sis. She’s gonna have to call you back.”
“Be good to her, Nico.”
“Always.”
“Call me later, Stevie!” Niyah shouted.
Nico ended the call and tossed the phone onto the bed. J?ger popped up, his paws on the bed, his nose sniffing as though Nico had just tossed a treat. Stevie scooped him up and put him on the bed, using him as a distraction.
“Did you know she was comin’ over?” Stevie asked because it seemed like a fitting question.
“No.” He sat on the edge of the mattress and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “But it doesn’t surprise me.”
“Really?”
“The way this day’s goin’, I’m not sure anything could surprise me.”
A sense of foreboding swept through like an icy wind. “What happened?”
Nico scrubbed his hands over his face. “I went to the Jamesons’ house this afternoon.”
“How’d that go?” Not that she really cared, but it was the right question to insert after that statement, so she waited patiently.
“Fine. She officially hired us.”
“That’s great.” However, her happiness injection fell short of the mark. “So what’s the problem?”
He sat up, swallowing hard enough that his Adam’s apple did a slow bob in his throat.
“Stone was home, and he, uh…” Nico inhaled slowly, then blew it out. “There was a Double J truck parked near the barn.”
Stevie frowned. Her brain kicked into high gear, attempting to process what that meant. When it clicked, a vise clamped down on her chest, choking the air from her lungs.
She should’ve known it was too good to be true.
“Don’t jump to conclusions,” Nico said, reaching over to put his hand on her leg.
“Are you kiddin’ me?” She glared at him. “Like you’re not thinkin’ the same thing.”
She could tell by his expression that she wasn’t the only one thinking Stone was already packing his shit to go back where he came from.
“We need to give him the benefit of the doubt, Stevie.”
“Fuck that.”
Before she could get off the bed, Nico was on his feet, standing directly in front of her.
“Move, Nico.”
“No.”
She would’ve scrambled off the other side, but J?ger was laid out on the mattress, snoozing as though it was a lazy afternoon, completely oblivious to the chaos that was making mincemeat of Stevie’s heart.
“Let’s go over there,” Nico said rationally.
“For what? So we can wave at him when he’s drivin’ down the road?”
“No. So we can talk to him. See what’s goin’ on.”
Stevie clamped her teeth together. She didn’t give a shit what was going on. She didn’t care if Stone was already halfway to Houston.
Maybe if she repeated it a few thousand times, it would be true.