Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
ROWDY
“ W hen’s the last time you went horseback riding, Red?”
She giggles, looking up at the ceiling as if she’ll find the answer there. “I have no idea. I think it’s been three or four weeks.”
“Really? So, you ride in New York?”
“Of course. I visit Island in the City Stables as often as I can. Especially when I’m stressed out or feeling depressed. It’s thirty minutes from downtown, a little slice of heaven in the City.”
Feeling depressed? Does this have to do with her divorce or something else she’s not telling me? I keep the questions to myself, not wanting to ruin the moment. But I make a mental note to return to them later.
“So, you are still a country girl in the city? Even though you refuse to admit it.”
She frowns. “I admit I like horseback riding. It grounds me.”
“You feel up to it today? Even though I ravaged the hell out of your pussy last night and this morning?”
“A real cowgirl never let riding a cowboy keep her out of the saddle.”
“I didn’t know you still considered yourself a cowgirl,” I reply, running my hand through her hair.
She ignores my last statement. “Tell me about your horses.”
“I have a real gentle palomino mare named Ginger. Sweet as can be. A fire-blooded Arabian gelding called Sterling and two Quarter horses I’ve started but wouldn’t call ready to ride.”
“I want Sterling,” she says without hesitation.
“Of course you do. You’re the only creature I know more hot-blooded than that horse.”
“Fight fire with fire, as they say.”
I add, “After our ride, I’ve got dinner lined up for us and a little surprise.”
She smiles broadly, stealing my heart all over again. “Now that Billy’s story is out there, we’re bound to encounter some paparazzi,” she warns.
I nod lazily, tempted to stay in bed with the stunning redhead all day. Usually, the paparazzi thing would rile me up, but I couldn’t care less now that I’ve got Lesley all to myself. “They’ve already descended on Jameson & Cash. Shelley texted this morning about it.”
Red’s face hardens. “I need to talk with Shelley, but I wanted to speak with you first. I was very unimpressed by how she performed during the first fit testing… So much so that I think you need to let her go.”
“Really?” I ask, scratching my chest. I dread this part of being a boss most. “Can’t you train her up or something, so she does better next time?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. How long do you want to babysit her, Ron?” Red frowns, her emerald eyes drilling into me.
“Understood. We’ll discuss it later. But I don’t want to hear another word about work. It’s Valentine’s Day, and we’ve got to get to the stables before I decide to fuck all my best-laid plans and spend the day in bed with you.” I devour her with my gaze, the corners of my mouth turning up in a seductive smile. Never have I hungered this way for a woman before. But considering she’s the first woman I ever remember hungering for, it makes sense.
“You keep looking at me like that, Rowdy, and we’ll never get to the stables.”
“You have a point,” I acknowledge reluctantly, easing out from under her. Jumping out of bed, I feel the heat from her eyes following me. “We’ll need to stop by your hotel so you can change.”
Red nods her head lazily, lying on her belly on the bed, her chin resting on her folded fingers and her legs bent behind her, swinging in the air and showing off her round, ivory ass to perfection. Pale beige freckles cover her skin, like stars in the night sky, and I make a mental note to spend some time playing Connect the Dots with my tongue later. Fuck, if my cock doesn’t stiffen at the thought. I’ve seriously got to get my head out of the gutter.
Trying to pull myself together and show a little self-control, I clear my throat, saying, “I hope you have something better than those dumbass cowboy boots you showed up in the other day. They haven’t seen a lick of work or mud. And I bet you spent a small fortune on them.”
She shrugs. “I can’t recall off the top of my head. But yes, they’ll have to do the job today. Sorry cowboy, but I had better things to pack than work boots.”
“We could run by your mama and daddy’s. Do they have any of your old boots kicking around?” I raise an eyebrow, unwilling to admit this is a test. If Lesley freely brings me around her parents, claiming me as hers, I’ll know we’re getting somewhere.
“They probably have a couple of old pairs, but I’d rather buy new ones than wade through all the junk in their garage. I’m sure they’ll have plenty to say about you and me, too.”
“Are you ready to hear it?” I ask.
“If that’s how you want to spend today, sure. But I don’t want to ruin whatever plans you mentioned either.”
“Good,” I say with a firm nod. “We’ll stick with the original plan. But we’ll also call them from my truck on the ride to the hotel and set up a dinner with them. Your daddy’ll be fit to be tied that I didn’t ask his permission before the engagement.”
Red bites her lower lip, admiring my ass as I turn, grabbing a couple of robes and bath towels from the walk-in closet. I throw a robe and towel in her direction.
She questions, “Don’t you think we should tell them the truth?”
“And what’s that?” I ask, my pulse racing.
“That Billy tricked us into getting engaged, and things progressed from there?”
I grin. “It depends on what you mean by ‘progressed.’”
She covers her blushing face with her hands, peeking through her fingers at me. “We’ll have to spare them the details, of course.”
“But we’ll tell them we’re together? And this isn’t fake?”
She nods, biting her lower lip, and I breathe a sigh of relief. “Alright, Red, are you showering with or without me?”
“With you, of course,” she replies with a look that tells me we’ll be lucky to ever reach the stables.
After talking her into packing up her hotel room early and checking out to make my place her landing pad, we head back to the ranch, fielding a thousand questions from her parents along the way. The Cashes sound confused about Billy’s part in everything, and Mr. Cash emphasizes several times that I owe him a private conversation. But despite their general surprise and confusion, neither parent acts especially concerned or upset, which has Lesley and me shaking our heads after the call.
“Wow, I thought they were going to freak out more,” she says. “If anything, they sounded happy.”
I nod, side-eyeing her. “They want you back here, Red, like we all do. Maybe they think with us being in a relationship they’ll see more of you.” I swallow hard, my face warming. “And they know what kind of man I am. That I would never purposely hurt you, and I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe and make you happy.”
Tears brim in her eyes, and she smiles bittersweetly. “You are too good for me, Ronald Jameson.”
I open my mouth to protest, but she cuts me off. “Honestly, I thought my parents would be horrified with me and scold me to no end for preying on their black-haired baby boy.”
“Baby boy?” I laugh, shaking my head. “And I thought they’d feel I betrayed the whole family and their trust. Of course, we shouldn’t count the chickens before they hatch. I imagine your daddy and I are still in for an interesting conversation.”
She waves my last comment away. “Please, my parents adore you. You can do no wrong. Hell, I felt like they replaced me with you even before I moved away.”
“Replaced you? Lesley, that’s not possible in any way, shape, or form. When you left, you put a hole in your family and this town that no one has ever filled or could ever fill. And you did the same thing to my heart.”
The breath catches in her throat, and her eyes well with tears. Grabbing my right hand, which I rest on the console between us, she kisses my fingers, one at a time, flooding me with love so thick I have to concentrate hard to drive.
I add, “That’s why I had to outwardly hate and avoid you for all those years…because you made it clear love wasn’t an option for us. Of course, you also made the hating easy with your endless disappearing acts and uppity city girl ways. Sometimes, it seemed like the only reason you visited was to boss and judge us.”
“Sometimes, you and Billy deserved it.”
“Fair enough. But I can’t say the same for your parents. That said, I’m calling a truce before we dig any deeper into this. I don’t want to spend the day arguing with you.”
She nods, deep in thought. “The past is the past, and I know my actions have left something to be desired at times. All I can say is I like the future much better anyway.”
A couple of hours later, Lesley and I sit in our saddles, savoring the sweep of the rugged Alpha Ridge Mountains, towering above the so-named creek and town below. “I forgot how stunning this place is,” Red says breathlessly.
Clearing my voice, I feel vulnerable as I ask, “I know you love your life in New York City. But would you consider moving back here to be with me?”
“I don’t know… I mean, I swore I’d leave this podunk little town and never come back. But you sure don’t get a view like this in the City.” After pausing for a long moment, her eyes drinking in the scenery, she crosses her arms firmly over her chest. “The same question goes to you. Would you relocate to New York City for me?”
“Not the City, but there’s plenty of room for compromise. After all, most of New York state is rural with lots of farms. Some of those farms produce fine mounts and cattle, too.”
“It’s about more than geographical considerations, though. I prize my independence, but you want me to be vulnerable with you. I hate letting my guard down.”
Bringing my horse up next to hers, I lean towards her, stroking her face and staring deeply into her eyes. “Only because you’ve never been with a man you can let your guard down with.”
Red laughs bitterly. “And I’m supposed to trust you, the boy who pranked me mercilessly and spent his adult life detesting me.”
“I think we established last night I’m no longer that little boy prankster. And as for the rest of it, we both gave like for like. I’d say we’re even, wouldn’t you?”
“I suppose…”
“You can trust me, Lesley. I swear it on my mama’s grave and everything I hold dear.”
“Don’t do that,” she says, fat teardrops brimming in her eyes.
“I already did. Now, don’t you forget it… From now on, you come to me for whatever you need. I want to be the one who protects you and cares for you…the man who provides for you. And I don’t want any secrets between us.”
She looks down, her face blanching. “Whether that’s in New York or Alpha Ridge Creek…”
“Wherever we decide, except maybe Antarctica. I’ve heard the horseback riding isn’t especially excellent there,” I tease. “I know you’re not too keen on this place, but promise me you’ll consider it. We could ride like this every day if we wanted to.”
She laughs as if I just said the most ridiculous thing in the world. “That’s a funny joke. You do realize I’m a total workaholic. I’m talking sixty or more hours per week. Hell, I sleep at The Red Brand building some nights.”
“What kind of life is that?” I counter with a grimace. “The whole point of me starting Jameson & Cash was to back away from an all-consuming career. Rodeoing took everything from me. I led the life of a nomad, often living out of my trailer. I loved what I did, so it never felt like work. But you’ve got to have more balance in your life.”
“Red is my life,” she replies firmly.
“And what do you have to show for it? No man to hold you at night. No kids to adore you. The way you make it sound, I’m not sure you even have friends…or pets.”
“I have sacrificed everything for my brand. I don’t expect you to understand it. Besides, I don’t know if I even want kids. Or can still have them. I’m forty years old, Ronald, which means a high-risk pregnancy, even if we get lucky.” She side-eyes me, making her face stony. “Is that a dealbreaker?”
I remove my hat, running my hand through my hair. “I don’t mean to get sentimental, but the only dealbreaker for me would be trying to live without you.”
She bites her bottom lip looking down and patting Sterling’s neck.
I can tell she’s on the verge of tears again, so I keep talking to give her a chance to recover. “All I’m saying is with a little balance, you could have your work and this life, and me, too.”
Lesley smiles, her expressive eyes fluttering toward my face and conveying everything I need to know. “I want you. You’re my new non-negotiable.”
My heart thumps against my ribs, and without hesitation, I reach into the pocket of my black duster, pulling out a small box. I was torn about when to give her this little surprise and originally planned on it after dinner with roses and chocolates. But in this stunning place, wild and free together, it makes the most sense.
I say, “I would like to do this right later, but with the media swamp we’re wading into, you need a ring to wear that shows the world you’re mine. It belonged to my mama, and it would mean the world to me if you’d wear it.”
“Your mother’s ring?” Red’s eyes flash to the box poised in my hands. “I can’t let you do this, Ronald. No, I can’t take this from you.”
“Yes, you can, and I hope you will. It’s all I have left of her, and I want you to have it. I know it’s not much. The diamond’s tiny, and the band’s nothing special, so we can get you a replacement later. But until then, please do me the honor of wearing it.”
Tears flood her eyes, and she leans towards me. I finish closing the distance, wrapping my arms around her and finding her juicy pink lips. Red tastes like the only forever I want, and as I slip the ring on her finger, she swallows hard, beaming at me and saying, “This doesn’t feel fake, does it?”
“No, Lesley, there’s nothing fake about this.”