6. Holden
“Rosie did a year of nursing school, so she does all the wound care on the ranch that doesn’t require an ambulance. You’re lucky I didn’t call one. You’re lucky he didn’t snap your neck with that kick.” Cash storms out of the bathroom, leaving me alone with a bleeding jawline.
My head is pounding. I shut my eyes to try and ease the dizzy feeling.
I hear quiet footsteps, but I don’t open my eyes. The light smell of vanilla reaches my nostrils, and my first instinct is to inhale.
Rosie.
I open my eyes to see her meticulously opening a first aid kit and setting things out on the bathroom countertop. Her aqua eyes meet mine briefly before she looks back down to thread a needle. She reaches for a bottle of saline, pouring it onto some gauze.
“This might sting,” she says quietly. She moves her hand up to gently dab the gauze on the slice over my jawline.
I exhale slowly, trying to focus on the pain instead of the way my head is swimming.
I’ve never been this close to her. For the first time, I’m noticing the pale freckles on her nose. Her full lips are shaped with flawless dips and swells, the perfect shade of rosy pink.
“Any dizziness?” she asks.
I grunt, not wanting her to show any concern for me. “Just stitch it up.”
She presses the gauze harder, making the cut sting. I hiss out a foul word, shutting my eyes again.
“If you’re dizzy, it could mean you have a concussion. If you pass out, we’ll have to take you in to make sure there’s no internal bleeding.”
She stares into my eyes like she’s looking for some sign of a concussion.
“I’m fine. Stitch it up,” I grunt.
She has no idea how I had wounds ten times worse than this in prison after getting jumped regularly.
She sprays something on my jaw. “This will numb it.”
“I need a drink.”
I feel her move away, which gives me the space I need to exhale.
Why am I letting her get in my head? She’s probably here for her father, using Duke and Dolly as a decoy reason.
Her uncle’s blood is on my hands, so if I’m honest with myself, I can fully understand why she dislikes me. What I can’t wrap my head around is why she’s still dating my brother and working for my family if it’s not for an ulterior motive. Her friendship with Dolly should be on the rocks after what happened, but they seem closer than ever.
She has to be spying on us.
“Here.”
I open my eyes to see her hand outstretched, holding a glass of amber liquid. I toss it back, letting the whiskey burn down my throat. It’s my first drink since my release.
“Why are you here?” I finally just spit it out. I’ve never been one to avoid confrontation.
Her ample chest rises and falls as she inhales a deep breath, narrowing her gaze at me and pursing her lips.
“My boss told me to doctor you up. I do what I’m told.”
Is that so?
She reaches out a hand toward my face, pausing before her skin meets mine. Her lips part slightly as she tenderly touches the skin near my cut. “Can you feel this?”
“Yes.” I finish the whiskey, leaning my head back and settling my back against the chair Cash dragged in here. “Just do it. I need to get back out there.”
And I need to get away from my brother’s spying little girlfriend.
“It’ll be numb in a few minutes.”
“Last I checked, you work for me too, and I’m telling you to do it now.”
She sighs, reaching for the needle she threaded, where it sits on the counter. “Hold still.”
I watch her eyes as she leans in, slowly poking my face with the needle and filling my nostrils with her vanilla scent.
“Why’d you drop out of nursing school?”
She stills, lashes fluttering for a moment before she continues to work. It barely stings.
“I had to take care of my mom.”
I keep staring at her face, wondering if her skin is as smooth as it looks. “What’s wrong with her?”
The last I heard, the Dixon family was still as rich and haughty as they’d ever been, grieving the loss of Clay Dixon’s brother as if he were a saint. Cain is better off as worm food, along with all the other pedophiles who prey on teenage girls.
Rosie purses her lips, pulling the thread so tight that I almost wince. “None of your business.”
It’s a damn shame she’s so fucking beautiful and completely off-limits.
She looks exactly like what I need to quench my thirst after three and a half years in a drought.
I lean forward, moving into her personal space. She pauses, blinking slowly before she meets my gaze. Our faces are inches apart.
“What are you really doing here, Dixon?”
Rosie can’t seem to tear her eyes away from my body. The sloppy sound of the girl moving over my dick fills the cold night. The hay is sticking onto the skin of my bare ass.
I keep my eyes locked in on the mayor’s daughter, wondering why the hell my little brother’s girlfriend is so fascinated by the sight of me getting blown.
I know Duke and she haven’t done anything sexual yet because of her father’s threats about pressing charges. Now that she’s eighteen, I figured they would’ve jumped into the hay themselves. My little brother seemed agitated and anxious about it a few weeks ago when it was almost her birthday. He was counting down the days.
I don’t make a habit of corrupting barely legal females. In fact, I prefer to hook up with women my age or older. Dolly’s friends and classmates have a weird fetish for sleeping with as many of her brothers as they can, and it seems the older the brother, the bigger the accomplishment it is to them. I’ve been fending them off for years now.
Rosie Dixon’s mouth is agape as her eyelids droop slightly with what looks an awful lot like … desire. Her generous breasts are rising and falling with deep breaths as she stands just a few feet away, gawking. My dick gets harder, and the girl moans around it, gripping the top of my thigh.
I’m about to ask Dixon if she wants to take a picture or maybe sell some damn tickets when she suddenly turns around and bolts.
I chuckle, watching her as she goes. I pull myself out of the girl’s mouth, staring down at her face. My phone buzzes in my back pocket.
“It’s okay if you forgot a condom. I don’t care.” Her tits are out, and she doesn’t look like she has any intention of redressing herself.
I stare into her eyes as I slowly pull up my Wranglers. My phone buzzes again. I pull it out, looking at the screen to see Sterling’s name.
I press the green Answer button. “Yeah?”
“Dolly’s missing. Cain Dixon’s truck is here.”
My blood turns ice cold in my veins as I stand upright. I never took my boots off, so after buttoning and zipping my jeans, I grab my rifle from where it’s leaning up against the barn wall. My pistol is on a ledge next to it. I tuck the handgun into my waistband.
“The fuck did you just say?”
“Where are you? Rosie said she can’t find her.”
So, that’s why Rosie was in here. She was looking for Dolly.
I check the safety on my gun. “I’m in the barn. Get your ass in here with a gun.”
Madi jumps up and grabs my arms. “What happened?! Where are you going? Aren’t we having sex?”
I look down at her, suddenly feeling sorry for her. “Shit’s about to get fucked up. You need to leave. Get off the ranch—now.”
I know what kind of man Cain Dixon is. I’ve saved young women from his perverted intentions before.
She claps her hand over her mouth.
I find her shirt stuck to a hay bale, tossing it toward her. “Go now. It’s for your safety.”
She pulls the shirt over her head before grabbing my face, pulling me down and kissing me on the mouth. “Call me.”
She spins around and runs out of the barn just as Sterling, Duke, and Cash walk in. They’re each holding different guns, except Duke, who’s holding a bow and arrow.
“Where was the last place you saw her? When did Cain get here?”
Sterling’s face is grim. “Rosie said Dolly got upset that she and Duke were fighting and went on a walk. When Rosie went to look for her, she couldn’t find her.”
“What the fuck does Cain have to do with it?”
Sterling clenches his jaw, looking at our other brothers’ faces before answering me. “Duke saw them talking in town the other day.”
I turn to face my younger brother, ready to crush his nasal bone if his answer doesn’t satisfy me. He juts his chin out in defiance—typical of Duke.
“It wasn’t a big deal. I drove Dolly to the store for groceries. When she came out, Cain was helping her carry shit. They were laughing, talking. Nothing was weird about it.”
I clench my fist around the butt of my shotgun. “He’s fucking twelve years older than her. His brother has it out for the ranch. You didn’t think this was relevant to mention?”
Duke is too young to have knowledge of Cain’s nefarious activities and habits. I can’t fully blame my younger brother for this, but it’s his fucking job to protect our sister too.
“We need to focus on finding Dolly,” Cash says. “Maybe she invited him over.”
My gaze cuts over to his, thoughts spinning. I’m the man of this house now. These decisions weigh on me, but whatever is happening tonight, I know it’s not good. My gut has never failed me, and tonight, something fucked up is going down.