Chapter 7
So many nights, I lay awake dreaming of Jessa in my bed. And right now, she is exactly where I want her, curled up to my side asleep.
I”m not missing this chance to wake up with her in the morning. Because I know, once we get back to the ranch, things are going to get tense with her brother. I want one peaceful night with her before that happens.
So, gently sneaking out of bed, I throw on some boxers and take my phone out to the back porch and call her brother.
But seeing I missed a call from my buddy, Triton, who served with Drak and me, I call him first.
”Chance! I looked into this March guy like you asked,” Triton answered, not wasting time on formalities. After serving together closely as we did, you don”t have to be.
”Yeah? You find anything?” I ask.
Triton, while part of the Rebel Hearts MC, he does security work too. Knowing he could easily get the information I needed, I asked him to look into Mark, the ranch hand.
”Honestly no. He had one speeding ticket when he was twenty, but otherwise he”s pretty much squeaky clean. He came from a middle-class family, and his parents still live in the house he grew up in. Mom was a teacher, Dad was an accountant. His sister is a stay-at-home mom with two kids. A and B honor roll student. He left suburbia and went to college for finance, then started working on the ranch. Not even a fight in school or a detention.”
”Damn,” I say.
”Listen,” Triton goes on. Your gut hasn”t been wrong yet. Good people will do shitty things. Look at that college kid who was a star athlete, then at a college party, raped a girl. If your gut is yelling, it is for a reason. Listen to it and let me know if you need anything.”
”I will. Thank you,” I say.
After we shoot the shit for a minute, I hang up and turn right around and call Alex.
”Did you get sucked in at the bookstore?” he answers with a laugh.
”Actually, we got sucked in with some of my friends, so I think we”re going to crash at my place tonight. I”ll have her home first thing in the morning,” I say. Then I cringe because I know what his reaction is going to be.
”Are you kidding me?” he says, the irritation clear in his voice.
”She wants to hang out with them. You know I”ve never been able to tell her no.” I remind him that growing up, she would ask to tag along, and I would always say yes. We would fight over it because he never wanted his little sister coming with us.
”Fine, but you two better be in separate beds,” he says.
I flinch. While I really don”t want to lie to him, I”m going to.
”I”ll spend the night on the couch,” the lie comes out before I even get a chance to think of something else to say.
We say goodbye and hang up, and I go back to my room, removing my boxers and slipping back into bed.
I”m not as smooth as I think I am because she wakes up and looks at me with a sleepy smile.
”Everything okay?” she asks, her voice groggy.
”Yeah, I just called your brother to let him know that we would not make it home tonight,” I tell her.
The smile slips off her face, and she awakens a little. ”How did he take that news?”
”He wasn”t happy, and he said that we had better not be sharing a bed.” I smile wickedly.
”And what did you tell him?”
”That I would be sleeping on the couch,” I tell her, pulling her closer to my side.
”You better not spend the night on the couch, or you might as well just take me home,” she frowns.
”I am not taking you home. What I am going to do is enjoy sleeping with you in my arms and waking up with you in my arms. But I’m warning you now that we are going to have to get up early to get you back.” I say, preparing her.
”That”s fine. I can always sleep in the truck,” she smiles, pulling me in for a kiss before she rests her head on my shoulder. We stay cuddled up together, enjoying our intimacy.
”So what do you do now that allows you all this free time?” she asks tracing the tattoos on my chest.
”During my time in the military, I invested my money, and that has paid off. So much so, that my MC buddies asked me to help them invest their money, and I did. They insisted I take a fee, and it’s what led me to become the treasurer of the club. Also, I like to fix up classic cars and resell them, but that”s more of a hobby than a full-time income.” I want her to know as much about me as possible.
”What do you plan on doing when you go back to Dallas?” I ask.
Even though I know she gave up her apartment and put stuff in storage on the ranch, she doesn”t know that I know.
”Honestly, I don”t know. I gave up my apartment, so I will be starting over. But I don”t know if I want to go back to Dallas.”
”What do you want to do?”
”I”d love to have the life that I had in Dallas, but in a small town like Rock Springs. I don”t want to be a ranch wife because I want to sleep in on the weekends, have lazy days lounging around with my husband and kids. To have time to enjoy life without having to do a thousand chores. When I was little, I always thought about opening a bookstore in downtown Rock Springs, but as I got older, I realized it was just a pipe dream.”
”Why couldn’t you open a bookstore there? With how popular Nick has made the bar and all the people that come into town, it would do really well.” I give her my honest opinion.
”You need a lot of capital to start a bookstore and fill it with books. I have nothing to put up as collateral.”
”If you want a bookstore, then we”re going to get you a bookstore. I will make it happen,” I say before realizing what I”m saying.
”Well, it”s a nice dream, but right now it”s going to have to sit on the back burner.”
Now isn”t the time to convince her that I mean what I say, so I change the subject.
”How are things really going with you and your brother?” I ask.
”Things are tense. We”re fighting more than normal. He”s got stuff to do in the office, and there’s lots of paperwork. But it”s like he expects me to do all the outside chores. so he doesn”t have to come out to the barn anymore.”
I let her talk, but I have noticed it too. I just chalked it up to him wanting to be close to Vicki in case she needed anything.
”I know Vicki is sick, but I”d be more than happy to sit with her, but he”s refusing to leave her side even to take care of the ranch.
Hearing all this, I don”t like what she’s telling me because this should not be all on her.
”Have you talked to your parents? I know they”d be more than happy to come back and help.”
”I thought about it, but I knew that Alex would be so mad. He wants to prove he can handle the ranch on his own, but he”s barely breaking even. He can”t afford to hire another ranch hand even though we desperately need it, even with my help. But when I toss out ideas, they are ignored because this wasn”t the life that I chose, so obviously, I don”t know what I”m talking about. I”m debating leaving right after the baby”s born. I was going to stay and help them get settled, but I think for our relationship and for the family, it”s better that I don”t.”
”It sounds like you need a vacation,” I tell her with an idea forming in my head.”
”Yeah, with all this free time,” she jokes.
”Well, my buddy Stone is getting married up in Mustang Mountain, Montana this weekend, and I think we should go. Make your brother actually step up. Plus, I could really use a weekend away with you,” I say honestly.
Holding the blanket to her chest, she sits up, and looks at me. ”You really want me to just up and go to Montana with you?” she asks in a shock voice.
”Yeah, I do. I want to show you off,” I tell her.
”And how do you know this Stone guy?”
”He”s a member of the Mustang Mountain Riders up there in Montana, another MC Club. We work with them all the time on charity events and different projects.”
”You know I”ve never been to Montana?” she says with a smile that I know I put there.
”You let me handle all the arrangements, including telling your brother.”
”Deal. That is a not a fight I want to have right now.”
After another round of lovemaking, we fall asleep only to be awoken by my alarm.
She grumbles, but she gets out of bed, and we get ready for the drive back to Rock Springs.
After I prepare some coffee for her and we’re in the truck, she seems more awake and alert.
”I feel like we”ve been in our own little bubble. I hate for that to end,” she says once we”re on the road.
”I know, baby girl. Soon we’ll be on our way to Montana and will have an entire weekend to ourselves,” I say, reaching for her hand.
That makes her smile.
”I can”t wait,” she says.
We talk more on the drive back to Rock Springs, and I love finding out little things about her. One of the things that make my ears perk up is that her favorite books are the steamy kind.
Before I know it we”re back at the ranch. When I open the truck door for her, the ranch and the house seem really quiet. With no one in sight, I lean down and give her a kiss.
The quick kiss that I”m planning quickly turned deeper. When she pulls me into her, I don”t want the kiss to end. I don”t know when we”ll get time alone, so I want to soak in as much as I can now.
”You have got to be fucking kidding me!” Alex”s voice fills the air.