Chapter Ten
“Explain.”
“I don’t owe you anything,” Telford said, not prepared to give an inch, and if any of these men looked below Ayana’s jawline to her plunging neckline—something he was finding damn impossible not to do—he’d throw the first punch.
Who knew a woman would wear a sexy AF wedding dress to an impromptu courthouse wedding?
And why did he have these primitive feelings?
Their marriage was a business arrangement.
He needed an icy shower and probably a kick in his balls to get his head back in the game—whatever game these two cowboys thought they were playing.
“Let’s start with names, boys,” Ayana said and handed a whiskey to each man and then took Telford’s glass. She swirled the drink and held it to her lips, closed her eyes, inhaled, and then looked up—total flirt move.
Damn. She looked sexy.
“Shall I start?” She sipped her drink and ran her tongue along the seam of her lip as if trying to catch every hint of taste. “Ayana Crow.”
She smiled and handed the glass back to Telford. “It’s delicious,” she whispered like it was a secret, then she kissed his lips soft, but lingering a little. “Am I right?”
Her smile was pure sin, and all he was capable of was staring at her like a love-shocked idiot. Talk about improv skills. He had zero, and the wins were in her column.
“So he’s your man,” the cowboy, still wearing his hat, along with the shiny buckle asked. “Cash Hunter’s my professional and legal name, but I was born Benz Telford Stevens.”
It’s true.
Telford lowered his drink, not wanting any of it to slosh.
He’d been controlling his emotions since Cam had taught him how to channel his anger and hurt into productivity.
Still, he felt overcome. He studied the man who looked so similar to him but more sinewy, smaller stature. Useful for a bull rider.
“Rohan Telford,” the other cowboy, who held himself so still, made no effort to shake hands.
“Telford Crow,” he said reluctantly.
Were they related? How close? What did he want to do with the information?
He’d maybe harbored some smug, arrogant fantasy of rocking up and making a bid for the Telford land just to be jerk—throw them off their legacy, so they’d be as rootless as he and Ayana felt, but facing these two men who looked as if they were hewn from the land, he realized how childish the revenge fantasy was.
They were no more responsible for his bio dad’s lack of accountability than he was.
Standoff. The four of them taking each other’s measure. Ayana had a faint smile as she swirled her glass of wine and watched the legs leisurely settle back in the glass.
“Family reunion.” She sipped her wine, eyed them, and swished the wine subtly around her mouth, swallowed and then her tongue ran along the bottom seam of her lip like she’d missed something. “No hugging it out, boys?”
“What the hell are you doing here inviting yourself to my wedding?” Cash demanded.
“Should we sit?” Rohan looked around. “Less of a scene.”
Telford doubted this man ever made a scene. He had a subtle intensity and way of quartering the room that felt like he could slip in and out without anyone noticing.
Ayana quirked a brow at him. It took Telford a moment to read her signal.
He turned and commandeered a booth, indicating Ayana should slide across the green leather first. He sat next to her while Cash and Rohan had a silent debate about where to sit.
Cash won, so he sat across from Telford, and Rohan, clearly reluctant, sat on the inside.
“I’ll protect you from enemy fire,” Cash said with the hint of a smirk, and Telford remembered that Rohan was the former soldier.
“More concerned with having your back,” he grumbled back.
“Baby, I didn’t know I married such a badass.” Ayana leaned into him, whispering, and she nipped his ear with her teeth and smiled.
A server hurried over with menus, but Ayana held up her hand. “Nachos with the works, and potato skins,” Ayana said, startling him again.
We socializing now?
“Getting married works up an appetite.”
“You just got married?” Cash goggled at her.
She jazz-handed. “We had a getaway planned to the Big Sky and treasure state and Telford swept me off my feet. Who could resist him?” She smiled like she meant it, and he felt dazzled and ridiculously let down because he wondered what it would feel like to have her actually care about him.
“You’re telling me you’re not crashing my wedding?” Cash demanded.
“I didn’t know you existed,” Telford lied.
“BS,” both the other men said simultaneously.
“I don’t believe in coincidence.” Cash stared at him with narrowed eyes.
Neither did Telford, but they were at a fork in the road. He thought of the Robert Frost poem that Cam had loved so much about the less traveled road.
“Did he send you?” Cash’s voice was low, tight, and in the pub, Telford had to lean forward to hear him.
“He who?” Telford wondered if they were genetically related so Cash had some mental insights into him.
“Biological deadbeat of a father.” Bitterness coated every word.
Telford leaned in so close that he could see Cash’s pupils flare with emotion, and his navy-blue eyes sparked with fury like Telford had been informed his did when he was furious and about to fight.
Spooky.
And his amped emotions weren’t helping. He didn’t want to lie. But he didn’t feel ready to come clean.
“I wasn’t sure you existed,” he settled on. “My mom didn’t talk about my dad. Just said he was a smooth-talking rodeo cowboy who rode horses like a god and danced like sin.”
“Ew! I didn’t need to know that.” Cash looked like he was going to puke.
Neither had Telford at the time, but he’d pestered his mom. Ayana sipped her wine and placed her hand on his upper thigh. He shot a look. Her smile was enigmatic.
“They were together a few weeks one summer in Wyoming. She was a barrel racer and winning, and he … don’t know what happened, but one morning his truck was gone and so was he. I didn’t know if I had siblings or not and didn’t care.”
“So why you here now?” Cash circled back, a hard look in his eye.
Not surprising probably. He didn’t know anything about him. Maybe he thought he wanted something from the famous bull rider or the Telford family.
Like father like son.
His stomach curdled with the thought. Cold sweat broke out on his scalp, and for a moment he didn’t feel like he could speak.
“Hearing about your wedding was serendipity,” Ayana answered, her fingers lightly played on his thigh.
“The check-in clerk took one look at Telford and assumed the relationship. So much for guest privacy, although a little chilly alpine ziplining and obstacle courses and whatnot would get my blood flowing.” She smiled winningly at Cash, while Telford nearly choked on his whiskey.
Both men blinked at her, clearly off balance.
Join the team.
She’d had him off balance since her first breathy hey.
“Is it an individual survivalist competition or teams? That would be an interesting way for a woman to pick a mate. Hmmmmm. Wish I’d thought of that.”
“Jesus,” Cash muttered. “How do you sleep at night?”
“One eye open.”
Cash’s muttered comment reminded him that he didn’t have that kind of marriage. Yet. The surprise confrontation with his biological family wasn’t going at all how he’d planned.
Was this what she meant by improv?
He knew he should take charge but damn she was sexy bossing it up.
“I was born in Wyoming but grew up in Texas. Single mom. But she …” He had a hard time continuing as bitter anger and grief swirled over him and why had he started down this road. “She died young. I grew up in foster care. No family.”
Cash cursed. His hand holding the bourbon shook and the amber liquid sloshed. He slammed the glass on the table, leaned back in the booth as if trying to get more distance and rubbed his palms down his jeans.
“Sound familiar?” Telford ventured.
“Too familiar,” Cash muttered.
The silenced stretched, uncomfortable and active as if it had intelligence and fingers to pinch and scrape.
The nachos arrived. A mound of tortilla chips, steak, sautéed onions, bell peppers, jalapenos, black beans, and a river of cheese topped by fresh salsa.
“Thank you,” Ayana said, handing the four small plates around like they were family catching up.
She stuck a fork in the nachos and eased some out onto his plate and then hers and handed the fork to Cash, who paused and then shrugged and dished out some nachos for himself and then handed Rohan the serving fork.
Telford’s stomach felt knotted. He had no desire to eat. And nachos weren’t healthy, but he felt an unexpected … something from Ayana to play nice, be social, get information if he wanted it. Take a bite literally and metaphorically.
She dug in. “I saw a Mexican restaurant when we rolled into town. Any good?”
“Rosita’s,” Rohan said. “Family-owned like most almost all the businesses in town. Delicious. One of my family’s go-tos, but most dinners we have together at the ranch.”
Rohan took a bite. Chewed efficiently. Looked at Cash.
“Still not sure why you’re here,” Cash said. “Not sure how I feel about it. But it’s a free country. I took a DNA test to make sure my relationship with the Telfords was real.”
As a challenge, it was a dropped glove.
“I only arrived a few weeks ago,” Cash said.
Telford had been about to pick up a loaded chip. Do what Ayana thought of as the social dance. He dropped it.
“We all took a DNA test,” Rohan said.
That grabbed Telford’s attention. “To what end? I didn’t come here to take anything from you.”
Well, he hadn’t had a definitive plan. Ayana’s interest turned from nachos to him.
“Not a damn thing,” he added, certain now.
He’d been considered by many to be ruthless in business, but if the Telfords were family of a sort, he didn’t need to follow his bio dad’s cruel indifference or perhaps meddlesome destruction.
“That’s what I said,” Cash muttered. “But still, you’re here.”