Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
RORY
The back door opened and I whipped around to watch as my dad pushed through, followed by Zach, then Cord. In the time since I last saw them, my father had obviously given Zach and Cord ball caps to protect their faces from the sun.
And damn, could Cord Paulson rock the hell out of a ball cap.
The sight of him in a baseball cap, his boots covered in dust, his tee damp with sweat and clinging to his defined shoulders and chest, sent a surge of heat from my nipples to the apex of my thighs.
The man was sexy all the time, but like this, having spent the morning working my parents’ ranch in the hot sun, he was just yummy. There was no other word for it.
“Boots off!” Mom clipped when the three of them started to move deeper into the kitchen. “You get dirt on my clean floors, you’ll be havin’ your lunch out in the barn with the animals.”
I looked quickly to Zach to assess how he’d react to my mother’s admonishment and instantly relaxed when I saw him look up at my father, who was looking down to give him a secretive eye roll. The corners of Zach’s mouth tipped up in a small, shy grin.
Then I shifted my gaze to Cord and smiled. He returned it and winked, sending a million butterflies fluttering like crazy in my belly.
“So?” I asked the group at large. “How’d everything go?”
“Good,” Dad answered, removing his cap and hanging it on a hook by the door. Cord and Zach did the same, and when Zach’s head was free, my father reached down and gave his hair a ruffle. “Kid’s pretty damn good in a saddle, especially considerin’ he’s never been on one before.”
“Really?” I asked with excitement, my eyes shooting back down to him. “That’s awesome, Zach!”
“It’s no big deal,” he muttered, casting his shy gaze to the floor.
“I don’t know about that,” Mom spoke up. “Never heard of someone takin’ to the saddle their very first time. It’s unusual. Must mean you’re gifted at it.”
At Mom’s words, his head shot up, and he wasn’t able to hide the flash in his eyes as he asked, “Really?”
“God’s honest truth,” she said. “Been on this ranch for close to fifty years. Number of people known to be a natural their first time doesn’t even take all the fingers on one hand. And most of them were full grown.”
No matter how hard he tried, Zach couldn’t hide the swell of his chest at Mom’s praise.
“Boy’s a deft hand at fixin’ fence too,” Dad added. “We covered a helluva lot more ground today than I expected. Figure with how hard he worked, he’s more than made up for the window situation.” He looked to me, a knowing glint in his eyes. “What do you say, Ror? Can we call this one square?”
I tried my hardest to sound casual as I said, “Sounds good to me,” but the way Zach was staring at my parents with wonder lurking in his gaze made me want to rush to him and scoop him up in a hug I was sure he wouldn’t appreciate.
As hard as it was, I bit back my desires.
He still felt the need to be tough and unaffected, and I was going to let him. At least for now.
“I—” Four sets of eyes shot to Zach as he cleared his throat and continued. “I don’t mind helpin’ more. Didn’t like muckin’ the stalls, but the rest of it wasn’t so bad.”
I pulled my teeth between my lips to keep my smile in check. My attention shifted to Cord, and the need to smile instantly fled, the intensity of what I saw working over his face stealing every bit of air from my lungs.
“I don’t know about you,” my father continued, unaware of the sudden shift in the atmosphere around us, “but I’ve had my fill of workin’ for the day. You ever been fishin’ before?”
Zach’s lips parted and his eyes grew wide as he shook his head.
“Then that’s how we’ll spend the rest of the day,” Dad announced casually, then clapped his hands. “Now it’s time for the womenfolk to feed the men!”
Mom gave him a playful slap on the arm, and they moved in to grab plates. I stepped close to Cord, reaching out to grab his hand before he could load his plate down with food. “You got a second?”
He cocked his head to the side and his brows pulled together. “Yeah. Sure.”
With his hand still in mine, I led him out of the kitchen, down the long hall to the front of the house, and into the family room where we’d be well out of earshot.
“Everything okay?” he asked once we had privacy.
“I was just about to ask you the same thing.” At his confused expression, I pushed on. “You got a look on your face back in the kitchen. Did something happen while you guys were out there?”
The concern in his eyes fled as a look so tender it made my chest squeeze took its place. “Nothin’ happened, dollface. It was a good morning.”
“Then—”
“Your dad handled him with care, Rory. And he managed to do it in a way that it wasn’t obvious to Zach he was bein’ handled with care. Always knew your dad was a good man. Today just confirmed he’s even better than I thought. Zach flourished under that.”
“So…” I took a step closer, needing to be absolutely sure he was okay. “You weren’t mad just then? ’Cause you looked mad.”
His voice took on a gentle cadence that made my heart slide into my throat. “Baby, what I saw today was a family with so much love in their hearts, they’d give it all to a kid they barely know. Your dad didn’t treat him like a visitor. He treated him like family.”
“Well… that’s because he is.”
That dark green grew heated. “See? That’s exactly what I mean,” he said on what sounded like a growl.
“You didn’t even blink just now. You’ve known him a few days, and that’s just the way it is.
He’s in your care, he’s family, and that’s all there is to it.
What you saw back there wasn’t me being angry, Rory.
It was me being so goddamn moved that there are people like you and your folks on this earth that it overwhelmed me. ”
Holy shit. Everything he’d just said, the way he’d said it, I was now so overwhelmed I didn’t know how to handle it. “Honey,” I breathed, moving in closer. In that very moment, I’d have given everything I had, all my worldly possessions, to give him even an ounce of what he felt we’d given to Zach.
“You’re beautiful, Rory. Most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Inside and out. I just want you to know that, baby.”
Oh God.
Oh God!
I couldn’t take this. Mom was right. There was absolutely no protecting my heart from this man.
Because it already belonged to him. “You are too,” I whispered, somehow managing to speak past the huge wad of cotton in my throat.
“After everything you went through as a child, you grew into a man with the kindest, most beautiful soul. That amazes me, Cord. I don’t think I would’ve come out of that to be even half the person you are now. ”
It felt like there was an invisible string tied to the two of us, its force pulling us together in a way I knew I was powerless to fight against. And as I looked up at his strong, chiseled face and felt the electricity sparking between us, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to.
“Cord,” I said, the breath expelling from my lungs. His head lowered toward mine. He was going to kiss me. I wanted him to kiss me. I was burning for it, at risk of going up in flames until I was reduced to nothing but ash.
I closed my eyes and waited, every inch of my body singing with anticipation. But it wasn’t his lips against mine I felt a second later. It was his forehead brushing against mine, and when my eyes shot open in surprise, I saw that his were clenched shut so tight it looked like he was in pain.
His chest rose with a huge inhale, and then, in a blink, he was two feet away. “Come on, sweetheart,” he muttered, his expression washed clean and clear. “Let’s get some lunch. I’m starved.”
Then, as if nothing had happened between us, he turned and started out of the room and back down the hall.
Leaving me wondering what the hell just happened?
Cord
I’d have rather had bamboo shoots shoved beneath my fingernails than walk away from Rory just then.
The way her face had gone soft, her blue eyes darkening as she leaned in closer, the subtle smell of jasmine coming from her skin and invading my senses.
Christ, it took an act of strength I didn’t know I possessed not to throw her onto her parents’ couch and take what I’d been wanting for so goddamn long that I could practically taste it.
But I couldn’t.
At least not yet.
Emotions were high right now. With everything happening with Zach and how her life had been turned on its head practically overnight, it was no wonder her guard was down.
And I didn’t have a doubt in my mind that, if I’d made a move just then and given her what her body was screaming for, she’d have hated me for it once her head cleared and she remembered she was dead set on protecting herself from me.
I couldn’t risk that.
I was getting in there. The road was a slow, bumpy one, but I knew I was getting in. I wanted all of her, not just a fleeting moment, and to get that, I couldn’t jump her while she was vulnerable. I needed to be patient, bide my time, and rebuild the trust I’d broken.
So I did what I thought was best and walked away. Even though it hurt like a motherfucker.
Bill, Becky, and Zach were already gathered at the kitchen table and digging into their food by the time I made it back to the kitchen. Grabbing a plate, I moved to the spread set out on the island and started loading up.
Rory didn’t reappear until I was seated and already eating. I watched as she made her plate, and it wasn’t lost on me that she refused to look in my direction.
“Hey, Cord, you gonna go fishing with us?” Zach asked, calling my attention back to the table.
“I will if you want me to, bud.”
He was quick to slam those shutters down and gave me a shrug. “Yeah, sure. I mean, whatever. If you want.”
I didn’t bother biting back my chuckle as Rory joined us at the table and tucked into her food. “Well, good. Glad it’s cool with you either way. I haven’t been fishin’ in years. It’ll be nice to relax for a bit.”
“You’ll love it out there,” Rory said, her voice sweet and low, and when I looked over, she was smiling serenely at Zach. “That river stays cold year-round, even in the summer. I used to go out there after spending all day in the sun and jump in to cool off.”
“Clothes and all,” Becky added on a mock grumble. “Came in soaked to the bone, smellin’ like a wet, dirty sock.”
Rory’s eyes trailed around the table as she giggled, but the instant they landed on me, she swallowed it down and quickly looked away.
“Now I get to sit back and bask in the joy that my girl’ll get payback with you, now that you’re livin’ here,” Becky told Zach. “Once we show you the lay of the land and teach you how to do all the cool stuff, you can go back to her house at the end of every day stinkin’ to high heaven.”
Even though he tried not to show any outward appearance that he liked that, there was no missing that he did as he asked, “You mean the ATVs and snowmobiles?”
Bill swallowed down a bite of his food and gave his daughter a teasing look.
“Son, that’s just the half of it. Livin’ on a ranch, there’s all sorts of trouble you can get yourself into.
And as a man, it’s my job to teach you all those ways so you can go home and drive my girl as crazy as she used to drive her mama. ”
“How about we try not to set him up to break his neck,” Rory said with a teasing scowl in her father’s direction. “Zach and I are just getting to know each other, and I kinda like having him around.”
Oh yeah, I thought when I turned to look at the kid. He definitely liked hearing that.
I twisted my neck and looked at Rory to see if she’d caught it as well. Once again, when our eyes locked, her smile fell and she looked away.
And I was left with the eerie feeling that I’d seriously fucked up.
Again.