Chapter 4
It”s amazing what just one night of good sleep can do for you. Chance insisted on getting up and doing my morning chores so that I could sleep in. Using the earplugs I purchased in town was a great idea. Just now I’m waking up, after a wonderfully restful sleep, and I feel amazing.
Rolling over, I look at the clock and jolt out of bed. It”s almost ten a.m. When it comes to ranch life, practically half the day is gone. Though I can”t find it in me to feel guilty because man, did I need that rest. Constant early mornings are not my thing, and I am not built for them.
I take my time getting up, taking a hot shower, and getting ready for the day. Chance will have everything under control. I don”t expect to smell fresh coffee as I make my way downstairs. But the smell of coffee, along with bacon and biscuits, that fills the house? It’s a wonderful surprise. Not only did I get to sleep in, but I got to partake in a breakfast I did not have to cook. What is this witchcraft?
I smile at my own joke as I go into the kitchen and find my brother there.
”Well, it”s about time you woke up. Half the day is gone,” Alex says. There”s not a hint of humor in his voice.
”It”s not my dream to run this ranch. If you don’t like it, I can go home to Dallas and have back my days of sleeping in. I”ve been here for over a month, and this is the first time that I haven’t gotten up early. You can get over it. Or I can go back to Dallas, and you can manage it all on your own,” I tell him, pouring a cup of coffee. I don”t know where this sass came from, but I don”t regret what I just said.
”Fuck, I know you”re right and I”m sorry. Why don”t we plan that one day a week will be your day to sleep in? Regardless of what’s going on, I will get up and take care of everything,” he says.
I”m so shocked I turn around and stare at him. I was not expecting that, but there”s no way I”m going to turn it down either.
”Deal. You also need to lean on people who care about you more. Bring Chance in every so often to help or ask Ford to come and give you a hand for a day. But if you keep pretending that we can do this on our own, we”re going to drown.”
He doesn”t say anything, he just nods. I can tell my words were a direct hit, but he”s not quite willing to admit quite yet that he needs help. He”s stubborn to the end, just like my dad.
I fix myself a plate of eggs and biscuits and get some of the strawberry jam from the refrigerator.
”Thank you for breakfast,” I say, fixing up my plate.
”Actually, that was all Chance. He finished the morning chores, came in and cooked breakfast, and threatened me within an inch of my life if I woke you up. Apparently, he saw how stressed out you were even when I couldn”t.” Alex says, not meeting my eyes.
That shocks me even more. But I don”t let on to my brother how much it actually means that Chance to sees me.
It”s stupid. He probably doesn”t see me as anything more than the annoying little sister. But a girl can have her fantasies.
”Well, it”s time for Vicki to have more medicine, and I”m going to try to get her to eat one of these biscuits. Then I will be in the office paying bills and getting payroll ready if you need me,” he says, leaving the kitchen and me to have a quiet breakfast to myself.
Enjoying the peace and quiet, I take the time to sort through social media as I leisurely eat my breakfast.
While I didn”t love the big city of Dallas, I did love my lazy weekends. The ones where in the mornings, I would have coffee and breakfast in my pajamas, read a book, do laundry, and then clean my small apartment. Afterwards, I would walk to the little cafe one block over for dinner and bring back dessert to eat and binge-watch whatever show I happen to be into that week.
If I could have my lazy weekends here in Rock Springs, it would be perfect. But that”s just not possible here on the ranch. I grew up knowing that my whole life.
Once I”m done with breakfast, I clean up my dishes, put the rest of the food away, and then head out to the barn in search of Chance to see what still needs to be done. I find him in the barn brushing down one of the horses.
”Thank you for today. You have no idea how much better I feel,” I say as I walk into the barn.
There’s a soft look that crosses his handsome face before he masks it with a smile.
”Good, you needed it. I just finished working with this guy, but if you want to jump in and help that would be great.”
Over the next hour, we work well together. Every time I look up, he”s looking at me, and if I didn”t know that he was my brother”s best friend, I would think that there”s desire in his eyes. But I know I must be reading it wrong.
Just before lunchtime, Mark walks into the barn and sneers at me.
”Looks like Sleeping Beauty”s finally up,” he says with disgust.
Before I can get my mouth open to reply, the brush that was in Chance”s hand clatters on the ground behind me.
Mark”s eyes go wide as Chance marches over to him, grabs him by his neck, and pulls him into the office at the back of the barn.
Standing there frozen, I wonder if I should go back there and stop whatever”s going on and make sure he doesn”t kill him. Or should I just let it be because whatever is happening, Mark completely has it coming. By the time my feet start moving and I get to the back of the barn, I hear Chance”s voice.
”Have I made myself clear?” Chance growls in a tone I”ve never heard from him before.
I know Chance is in a motorcycle club. My brother jokes that he”s turned into a bit of a bad boy, but I have to wonder if that tone has been learned from the work he does at the Club or has always been there.
”Yes,” Mark says in a strangled tone, and I can tell from the sound of it Chance has his hand around his throat and is allowing him just enough air to breathe. A moment later, the door slams open, and Mark walks out, takes one look at me, and bolts in the opposite direction.
When I turn around, I find Chance exiting the office. I”m still frozen in my spot. ”What did you do?” I ask.
He stops and rubs the back of his neck and looks down before looking at me again.
”What your brother should have done,” he says. Though his tone is soft and nothing like what I just heard in the office.
”Thank you,” I say as I walk up without thinking and pull him into a hug.
For just a moment, he tenses and then wraps his arms around me, holding me tightly.
I should pull away, I know I should, but right now I just feel so safe in his arms I never want to let go. He continues to hold me close to him, and then rests his head on top of mine for a minute. With everything in me, I wish this was real and I could pretend that he”s mine and that this is normal. It”s a stupid schoolgirl crush, and I know it. Someday, I”ll get over it, but there”s nothing wrong with enjoying this moment, right?
When I think I pushed this hug as far as I possibly could, I back away, and I”m unable to make eye contact with him, so I look down at my boots. That”s when I notice how hard he is.
From just a hug with me? That has to be a normal reaction to a hug, in general, not a reaction to me.
Wanting to break the tension, I clear my throat and say the first thing that comes to mind. ”I was thinking of making meatloaf for dinner. Is that still your favorite?”
He answers with a big grin on his face. ”If letting you sleep in gets me your mom’s meatloaf, I”m going to have to make it a point to do it more often.”
He spent so much time here growing up that he got to be the taste tester as I cooked the recipes my mom taught me. Eventually, it got to the point that you couldn”t tell if Mom had cooked or if I had.
Every time Chance came over for the weekend, Mom would ask him what he wanted to eat, and he always said her meatloaf. I”ll never forget the first time that I made it instead of my mom. He couldn”t tell the difference. He was so proud of me he started asking me to make the meatloaf instead of my mom when he came over.
The rest of the day flies by, but every time I turn around, Chance isn”t that far away, and he always seems to have his eyes on me. Finally, it”s time for me to go inside to prepare dinner. Just as I get everything in the oven, my brother comes downstairs.
”Whatever you”re cooking smells good,” he says, pulling me into a hug. ”I really am grateful that you”re here, and I don”t like fighting with you like we did this morning,” he says as Chance walks into the kitchen.
Chance frowns, and I know he wants to ask what we fought about, but he won”t, at least not in front of my brother. Looking around, he sees what needs to be done, so he washes up and sets the table.
It”s easygoing, just like old times, and Vicki even manages to come downstairs and join us a little bit. I try to soak it all in because who knows how many more nights like this we will have. Eventually, Chance will find someone and there will be another person at the dinner table, though the thought of that makes me sick.
”I”ve got the dishes today,” Alex says once we”re done eating.
”Well, I”m going to get a start on my evening chores,” I say, jumping up from the table and heading for the door.
”Hey, wait a minute! I”ll help you out,” Chance says, following me.
”Thank you again for everything. Your presence has allowed the ranch hands to check the fence lines, which we have been putting off for far too long,” I say as we go to the barn.
Having some help with the evening chores and getting all the animals settled and fed is nice. Once again, every time I turn around, he has his eyes on me. After I lock up the feed room for the night, and turn around, he”s right there. His eyes are riveted on mine, causing me to press my back against the door that I just locked.
When I meet his beautiful gold amber eyes framed with those thick eyelashes that I’ve always loved about him, I’m startled by the desire I see. For a few minutes we simply stare at each other, tension thick in the air. With him this close, all I can think about is him kissing me. I lick my lips at the thought, and his eyes dart down and follow my tongue.
”Fuck it,” he says before wrapping a hand behind my neck and pulling me to him, crashing his lips to mine.
Holy shit! Chance is kissing me. Though it takes a few seconds for my brain to start working again, I quickly wrap my arms behind his neck, tugging his hard body close to me. As tight as I possibly can. Taking the hint, he uses his body to pin me against the door. He tilts my head up to deepen the kiss, and his lips on mine are sublime. I let out a moan because I didn’t know a kiss could feel so hot, so damn piercing. When he nips at my bottom lip, I gasp, which allows his tongue access to mine. Never, ever have I been kissed so passionately and never have I been this worked up over a kiss.
When he pulls back, I hate the loss of him. But I have to take a moment to catch my breath before I look up at him. He rests his forehead on mine. ”You have no idea how long I have wanted to do that,” he whispers before giving me a chaste kiss.
”We need to get inside before your brother starts wondering where we are,” he says, taking a step back from me. ”You go first and tell him that I”m locking everything up.”
Taking a deep breath to get myself together, I nod and go up to the house. Thankfully, my brother is nowhere to be seen as I bolt up to my room, the door locked behind me.
Holy hell, what just happened?