4. Alexander
CHAPTER 4
ALEXANDER
She’s a fucking MILF.
As if my dick could get any harder for her. I don’t know what kind of messed-up mommy issues I’m trying to work through, but once the image enters my mind, it won’t shake loose.
Cassidy Knowles—long legs, wide eyes, and a laugh that lodges itself in my chest—sits on my couch wearing a pair of my basketball shorts. They hang low on her hips, and my brain short-circuits every time she shifts.
To make matters worse I’m on my knees in front of her. I take her leg in my hands, my fingers brushing the smooth skin as I wrap her thigh with a bandage. It isn’t just having her in my clothes or even the fact that she’s letting me help. It’s having her here. In my home. That does something to me I can’t explain.
I need to keep it together before she decides I’m some kind of perv and disappears from my world again.
“Your son is with your ex today then?” I ask, more to keep myself grounded than anything else.
“Yeah, this morning.” She sighs, sinking back into the cushions. “I’m sure he’s playing an unlimited number of video games and enjoying a gourmet diet of French fries and frozen pizza.”
“The meal of champions,” I say with a laugh and I gesture to the freezer over my shoulder. “My palate has not changed. I’ve got every brand in there.”
Cassidy laughs too, the sound is soft and warm, wrapping around me like a lasso. “Please tell me you’re joking.”
“Nope.” I grin. “To be fair it isn’t eating real food that bothers me, it’s the cooking that gets me tripped up.”
“Alex…” She shakes her head, but there’s a smile pulling at her lips. “I’ve got to get you taken care of. Maybe some banana bread or cookies. Something homemade…” She continues on, complimenting my home and the views from the picture windows in the kitchen.
As she talks, my mind goes to work, weaving her into the story of my life on this ranch. Then my dick takes over. Before I know it I’m picturing Cassidy in a tiny apron, hair pulled back, and black heels standing in my kitchen. I shake it away.
But before it goes the image morphs into one of weasely Mayor Randolph Bellcourt wrapping his arms around her from behind. And that takes care of the half-chub trying to grow in my pants.
When they first announced their marriage I remember seeing the pictures all over our local paper and social media. Then their constant drama on our town’s podcast was impossible to avoid. After a while I blocked it out, she wasn’t mine. But now the thoughts are enough to make my stomach turn.
The question falls out of my mouth before I can stop it. “What did you see in him, anyway? Your ex, I mean. He’s old and so… ferret-like.”
She laughs but then Cassidy visibly stiffens. Her face tightens into pinched lines and she lets out an exhale. “I didn’t grow up like you,” she says, her voice quieter now. “You had a family. Money. As crazy as things got, you had a safety net. For me, it was just my grandpa. We barely got by when it was the two of us. And when he passed, I had nothing at all. Marrying Randolph gave me stability. Security. At the time, that felt more important than anything else. It was never love, I was a child compared to him.”
Hot fury whips through me. “What an asshole.”
“He is, but if I’m being honest it was an exchange. It’s not like I was in love. I knew even then I was trading his money and stability for… Well, you know.”
My fist balls as Cassidy’s words land heavier than I expect. “You should’ve stuck around. Pa had his issues. But even in his drinking days, he would’ve helped you. Hell, we all would’ve.”
“Hindsight,” she says softly with a shrug. “That’s why I’m making a new choice this time. I want to show Connor that I can build a life for him and that I can be his safety net. I’m never going to be in a situation again where my entire world hinges on someone else. My divorce fresh start might be rough, but it’ll be mine.”
Her words knock something loose in me, and all I want to do is pull her into my arms. Instead, I get to my feet. “How's that feel?”
She moved her leg from left to right. “That’s great, thank you. So much better.”
“Then you’ll get a job, save up, and buy a place?”
“That’s the plan,” she says, her mouth pulling into a line as she gets to her feet. “But Randolph won’t make it easy. He’s got his hands in every business in town. On top of that the prenup I signed as a twenty-two-year-old idiot says I have to stay within twenty miles of Sagebrush Creek until Connor turns eighteen.”
My jaw tightens, the anger curling hot and tight in my gut. This guy is just looking to catch one. “The ranch counts then. We’re within twenty miles. Randolph won’t dare mess with you out here. And if he does…” I roll up my sleeve, flexing dramatically.
Cassidy laughs and the sound warms me.
“It’s beautiful out here, always has been,” she says, her voice softening. “But you’re not exactly set up for kids.”
“What do you mean?”
She bites her lip, and the gesture is more distracting than it has any right to be. “I mean, I can’t exactly bring my son to a place with signs like ‘Udder Satisfaction Milk Barn’ with the girl and the tits or ‘Bareback Haven Spa.’ They’re funny, but can you imagine the way Randolph would nail me to the wall in our next custody hearing if Connor had photos taken here?”
“We might not have advertising degrees but when the Kingridge brothers get together we can come up with some winners.” I grin, “those names are classics.”
“They’re something,” she teases with a playful laugh.
“We’ve got a new marketing director, Priya. She said something similar. She’s already working on cleaning things up. This place will be family friendly in no time with the direction she’s taking us.”
Cassidy reaches for her keys on the kitchen countertop.
“Do you want to stay for lunch?” The question comes out like some sort of weird last-ditch effort and I don’t know what’s come over me. I’ve never asked a woman to stay for lunch.
Cassidy shakes her head. “Thanks, but I can’t.”
“Is it the frozen pizza of it all?”
She laughs and it’s a sound I could live on. “No, it’s not that. I’ve got to get my dogs to the groomer and pick up Connor from Randolph this afternoon. But I’m glad I ran into you, Alex.”
My name on those pillowy lips is mesmerizing. “So am I.”
We walk onto the porch, and Choke, our territorial rooster, scurries toward us. His chest is puffed and his wings are flapping as he struts between us and the Jeep. Cassidy hesitates, her hand brushing mine as she steps closer. The sensation sends tingles whipping across my body.
“Don’t worry about him,” I say, placing a hand on her lower back and guiding her past. “Choke thinks he owns the place, but he’s harmless.”
“Choke?” She raises an eyebrow.
“Choke the chicken,” I reply with a smirk.
Cassidy bursts into laughter, her hand flying to her mouth. “Of course. The Kingridge brothers don’t disappoint.”
When I open her car door, she hesitates before sliding inside. “Come to the Hitchin’ Hearts Hoedown next weekend,” I say. “I’ll pull a horse around for Connor. He’ll love it.”
“He’ll be with his dad,” she says, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Then I guess I’ll get you all to myself,” I reply, my grin widening as her cheeks flush pink. “Lucky me.”
Cassidy drives off, and I watch her Jeep until it disappears. My heart rate won’t come down and I know exactly what I’ll be doing before I head back to work. Only before I step inside, I hear tires crunching up the gravel toward me.
I watch as the white truck kicks up a thick cloud of dust and I already know which brothers could be behind the wheel. Bowen and Callum insist on driving like they’re auditioning for Fast and Furious, Farm edition.
They drive me crazy, but they work hard. It’s a trait that separates the upper half of the Kingridge alphabet– Alexander, Bowen, and Callum from the younger ones, Fallon, Geoffrey, and Holden. By the time they came along Pa was done chasing most of his demons, their mother stuck around, and our ranch was booming. They had it too easy and it shows.
“Hey, who was that?” Bowen slams the truck door as he makes his way toward me. “Heard over at the wheat fields that you were talking to someone… a woman.” He lets the last word sit heavy with innuendo.
I roll my eyes. “Word travels fast at the ranch. You remember Cassidy, right? She used to babysit us.”
“Mayor’s wife? What do they want from us? I don’t want to hear nothing about an easement or taxes, we’re square with that. I checked?—”
“She isn’t his wife anymore.” The words snap out of me before I can stop them.
Bowen holds his hands up in surrender and the corner of his mouth pulls into a cocky smirk. “My mistake dude.”