Chapter 34
THIRTY-FOUR
Zephyrine
“We’ve gotta teach you to tie a proper knot.” Levi watches me tie his horse off as I walk with out with him to fix once of the fences. The other ranch hands were busy and he wanted to show me this part of his childhood home.
“This is a proper knot.” I frown as I look at the perfectly serviceable knot that I’ve used to tie the rope off.
“Square knots don’t hold, sweetheart. They’re fine if you’re tying your shoes or a present, but not much else.” He takes the rope from me and redoes the knot before grabbing the picnic and blanket off his horse. I brought a book and some water in my bag so I could keep him company while he works.
“Well, it’s the only knot I know. It’s been perfectly good until now.” I follow him down the bank a little way and luckily there’s a nice spot near the fence that’s in need of mending with a view of the mountains.
“The fact that you’re standing here says otherwise. If you would’ve put me in something stronger, I might still be on that bed back at the convent.” He winks at me as he lays the blanket down in the grass.
“I still think you worked some sort of magic to get out of those.” I flash him a suspicious look.
“Nah. Square knots just have a loose hold with rope like that. Here, I’ll show you.” He grabs a set of extra ropes off the saddle and walks back.
The sun illuminates him from behind like he’s an angel—one with lots of tattoos, a cute butt, and a cowboy hat and boots, but honestly, that’s my kind of angel anyway. He grins when he sees me staring as he gets back to me.
“What’s that look for?”
“Just admiring the view.” I shrug as he holds out his hand to help me back to my feet.
“It’s a good one, isn’t it?” He glances back over his shoulder at the mountains.
“Perfect.” I grin, not bothering to correct him.
“All right, well, come here. I’ll show you how to tie one that’ll hold real quick. You never know when you might need something like this.”
“I thought we were having a picnic before we started work. That was the bribe wasn’t it?”
“We are. But you’re on a ranch now, cowgirl. You have to earn your supper.” He flashes a boyish grin, and it makes my stomach flutter.
“Yes, sir.” I roll my eyes and laugh, but I follow him to the fence. I’m more interested in getting to watch him work than I am in learning knots, but if it makes him happy, I’ll try.
“Did you all work out here when you were younger? Or did you just have it as more of a playground as kids?” I ask, peering out at the vast sprawling acres of land that seem to go in every direction.
“We worked it. We still had some cattle here when I was a kid, before we sold them off. Grant and I got put through the wringer, but he made Aspen learn too. Ramsey got off a little easier than the rest. My dad wanted us all to learn to run the ranch though. He used to say we couldn’t hold anyone else accountable for the work if we couldn’t do it ourselves.
” Levi follows my line of sight and stares out at the field as a small group of mule deer takes their supper a couple of hundred yards away.
“Do you miss it? Or do you like the casino better?”
“Casino is definitely less hard labor. But I miss the ranch too. Ramsey and Hazel are gone quite a bit now with him playing back in Ohio, so I’m here plenty to keep things going. It’s been nice to get back a little more than I was when they were separated.”
“They’re the ones whose wedding was attacked when they were getting remarried?” I ask. I haven’t had a chance to meet them yet, but I’m curious about all the Stockton siblings.
“Almost, yeah.”
“Did they get to finish the wedding?”
“No. Not yet. Everyone was a little too worried about your father making a second go of it.”
“But they will? I hate that he ruins so much.” I wish I could fix everything he’s broken.
“They will. They’re just trying to plan it, and now that Grant and Dakota are engaged, I’m not sure what they’ve got going.
Dakota and Hazel are real close, and they were talking about having a double wedding.
” He squints in the sun while he looks at me.
“You’d have to ask Dakota. I don’t keep up with all that.
I just take my marching orders when they tell me to get things done. ” He grins.
“Does that make you the last one then? That isn’t married or about to be, I mean.”
“Yeah, I guess it does. I hadn’t thought of it that way. But last I heard, Aspen might be calling it quits, so maybe not.”
“Do you think you’ll ever get married?” I realize what an awkward thing it is to ask after the words leave my lips.
We aren’t exactly together, but our complicated mess of a situation certainly isn’t headed down any aisles.
“I don’t mean—I’m just curious, to be clear.
” I laugh nervously, and he smiles sympathetically in return.
“So this isn’t a proposal?” He grabs his heart, massaging it like I might have broken it.
“Very funny. But it was a halfway serious question. You seem very lone-man-on-the-mountain, at least what I’ve known of you.
I suppose I haven’t seen you under normal circumstances,” I ramble out loud, realizing I might not even know the real version of him.
I haven’t seen the everyday version of Levi.
The one who goes to work each morning and heads up security at the Avarice, a guy who probably grabs his coffee out of a break room and validates time cards during the week.
“It’s not something I’ve thought a lot about.” He shrugs. “Grant and I have always been so focused on the business side of things. The normal side is a lot more paperwork and time in front of the computer, and a lot less time in the cabin or outdoors. It’s been nice to have the break.”
“Do you wear a suit normally?” I look at the jeans and pearl snap he has on now, rolled up at the sleeves from the work he was doing earlier in the stables.
“Often. I don’t know about normally. Why?”
“I'm just curious about what you’d look like on a normal day. Or at a wedding, all dressed up.”
“Not a fan of Wranglers and cowboy boots?” He shifts his hat on his head and gives me a mock forlorn look.
“Oh no. They’re my favorite so far. I just feel like I need the full range of experiences.” I grin at him.
“All right, well…” He gives me half a smile like I’m making him nervous. “Speaking of tying the knot…” He holds up the rope.
“Right, back to the lesson at hand.” I nod, putting on my serious face and trying not to laugh when he raises his brow at me.
“I’m gonna tie you up if you keep being so damn sassy.” He pretends to come at me.
“Sounds like fun.” I tease him in return.
He shakes his head, but I see a flash of appreciation in his eyes.
“Gimme your wrist.” He holds his hand out. I eye him warily, but I offer mine left one up and allow him to take it.
“You wanna tie a solid knot, it’s easy as hell.
You take it like this. Make a tree like so, and a little rabbit hole at the bottom.
Then you take this side. The rabbit comes up through the hole, runs around the tree, and goes back down the rabbit hole again.
” He explains it to me like I’m five years old, and I giggle until I feel him tighten the rope.
He pulls me closer to the fence and wraps the other side around the rail.
“See, you’ve got the tree here. Rabbit hole here.
What does the rabbit do?” He looks at me.
“Comes up through the hole, runs around the tree, and then goes down the hole again.” I repeat his instructions back to him, and he follows them nimbly with his fingers, tightening the rope when he’s done.
“There. Now try to get away.” He leans back against the fence, crossing his arms as I try to pull away and find myself stuck. He grins. “See how you can’t just slip out?”
“Point taken. Now let me go.” I raise a brow in his direction as I watch him take in the sight. I can tell he likes it a little too much.
“Ask me nicely, and I’ll think about it.”
“Let me go, please.”
“Hmm…” He hums in contemplation, watching me squirm again. “I’ll think about it if you give me a kiss.”
“Now you’re changing the terms. You said you’d let me go if I asked nicely.”
“No, I said I’d think about it, sweetheart. And I did think on it, like I promised. I decided I want something in exchange for your freedom.” He rounds me, bringing his body close to mine as his eyes rake over me.
“This is becoming a real habit of yours.” My eyes lift to meet his, and he grins like he’s got an ace up his sleeve. I feel my heart do its favorite little flutter-and-flip routine in my chest. The one it can’t seem to stop doing in his presence.
“It keeps working out so well for me. Why would I stop?” He tilts his head, leaning down slowly until his lips are an inch away, and I can feel the heat of his body pressing close to mine.
I close the gap between us, kissing him like it’s our first time, and deepening it as his mouth explores mine. I reach forward while he’s distracted, snatching the other rope off his arm and looping it around his wrist. He looks down when he parts from our kiss, a questioning look on his face.
“My turn to try it. Practice makes perfect, right?”
“Right.” His eyes scan mine, heavy with desire, but he steps back. He adjusts his hat and unties my wrist from the fence, letting me stretch it and handing me the second rope.
I make quick work of the first knot on his wrist and the second on the fence. He clicks his tongue with a sound of approval and nods as I move to the next one.
“How did you say it went again? I’m trying to memorize it so I don’t forget.” I feign the need for his help, and he repeats the story about the rabbit for me as I follow the instructions.
“All right. First, I make the tree and put a hole in the side?” I look to him for clarification.
“At the bottom.” He nods, so focused on the way I'm tying the knot that he doesn’t see where I’m tying it.
“Oh right. At the bottom. Then the rabbit comes up through the hole, around the tree, and back in?” I race the rabbit through her last steps and pull her tight before he has time to question it. Grinning at my handiwork when I see the final product.
“Just like that.” He nods his approval and then moves to show me something when he’s stopped by the rope. I’ve tied him to either side of the fence rail, and I watch the moment his eyes light on the realization.
He’s my prisoner now.