Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
JOEY
“You have everything you need?” I ask Max one more time. “Your stuffy and your pillow? Your water cup?”
“Yes, Mommy,” he answers.
The baseball hat he’s wearing is a bit too big for his head, but he looks adorable. Add in the oversized backpack and it looks like he might fall over backward.
“You know we’ve watched him before, right?” Chase asks, tossing his sleeping bag into the back of the truck.
I cast him a glare. “Yes, but you’re taking him camping. I get to be overbearing if I want to.”
Rylee smacks my brother on his arm. “Let her be. She doesn’t get many nights apart from Max, so she can worry.”
Chase rolls his eyes at her before giving her a kiss.
“You know I’ll be available whenever you need me, okay?” I adjust Max’s backpack one more time.
He wraps his arms around me. “I love you, Mommy.”
“I love you too, Baby.” I press a kiss to his cheek. “Have the best time with Uncle Chase and Aunt Rylee, okay?”
“I will.”
I toss his backpack into the truck before helping buckle him into the car seat and shutting the door, waving at all three of them as they pull out.
Max has spent the night with them before, but he’s never been camping. It’s only one night, but he’ll be gone all day and well into tomorrow before he comes home. I know they love Max and are equally excited for this weekend, but it doesn’t make it any easier watching him go.
Hopefully Max won’t scare them off of wanting their own kids one day. I’d love for him to be able to have some cousins to play with.
As they disappear from view, I walk back up the stairs to our tiny place. I still have a few hours until I meet Sam, so I might as well make good use of my time.
Usually, by the time I get home from work, make dinner, and put Max to bed, I’m exhausted. I don’t have the energy to clean or do much more than a quick tidy.
Doing it now helps with the anticipation for tonight. An uninterrupted stretch of time with Sam. Just what I want.
After deep cleaning the kitchen and bathroom, I take a long luxurious shower. Something I never allow myself. I shave. I scrub with my favorite salt scrub. Hell, I even shampoo my hair twice before getting out of the shower.
I have no idea what Sam has planned for us tonight, so I opt for something more casual to wear. I throw on a pair of cutoff denim shorts and a darker chambray shirt before blowing my hair dry. I keep my makeup light. Based on how Sam ate up my lip gloss the other night, that’s really all I need.
I grab my overnight bag—that was ready yesterday because I was so excited—and head out. But not before running into my dad.
“Hey, Joey. Where you off to?” I don’t miss the glance down to the bag in my hand.
“I, umm.” Shit. I never thought I’d run into my parents. They were supposed to be gone all day. One of the downsides of living in the apartment above their garage. “Meeting Presley and Georgia. Might have some drinks and figured better safe than sorry.”
He smiles at me. “Always so responsible, even when you’re having a night off.”
“Max is excited.”
He nods in agreement. “That’s all he could talk about yesterday.”
“And I’m sure it will be the only thing he talks about for the next week.”
“You want a ride?” Dad asks.
I shake my head. “No.” I answer a little too abruptly. “I mean, I’m good. I don’t want to have to bother you with picking me up tomorrow.”
“Okay.” He drops a kiss to my cheek. “Be safe.”
“Dad. I’m twenty-five.”
“Doesn’t mean I don’t worry about you and your brother.”
I watch him go back to their house as I throw my bag into my car. I hate lying to them, but I don’t really have an alternative.
Hey, Dad. I think I’m falling for your best friend. I can’t imagine how that would go over.
I push all thoughts of my dad out of my head as I drive to the ranch. It’s one of the perfect days that people love about Pinecrest. Bright blue skies. Sun high overhead. Tourists are crowding the sidewalks of the main drag as I pass through town. I recognize a few of them as guests of the ranch.
The drive out is easy. And quiet. I don’t pass many people as I bypass the main road to the ranch and head to the back roads that lead straight to the barn.
The fresh air that blows through the open windows helps to calm my excitement. I take the meandering road away from the busy barn to the lone house a mile or so away. Sam is standing out front in a dark T-shirt, jeans, and his cowboy hat.
Grabbing my overnight bag, I shut off the car and hop out. Sam turns to face me, a wary expression on his face.
Uh-oh.
“Hey.”
A pained look washes over his face. “Hi, darlin’.”
“Everything okay?” I ask.
Nerves bubble up that this is going to be over before it even starts.
“Apparently one of the cows got into the old barn we’re fixing up.”
“Okay.”
“I have to go out and make sure they didn’t get into anything and lock it up.”
“Is that all?” I ask.
“It might be an hour or two,” he says.
“Why don’t I go with you?”
“You don’t mind?”
I throw one arm around his shoulder and press up onto my toes. “Of course not. Getting to spend time with you is what this is all about.”
A sly grin lights up his face. “What if I asked you to muck out the stalls at the barn?”
I shrug a shoulder. “I’d do it.”
“And if I had you help clean up the bugs from the corners of the barn?”
“Don’t push it, Sam.”
He shakes his head before stealing a quick kiss. “Let’s go. The sooner we get done, the sooner we can get back here and I can make sure you’re well fed.”
“Why would I need to be well fed?” I feign ignorance, watching as he takes my bag from me and drops it inside the entryway of his house.
“Because…” Sam pulls me close, hand squeezing my ass. “What I plan to do with you tonight? You’ll need your energy.”
The promise in his words hits exactly as it should.
Sam helps me into his truck—I can’t help but smile as I think about what we last did in here—and he drives us toward the older part of the property.
With Kade’s focus on fixing up the buildings that will bring in guests, these structures haven’t been the priority. Now with more funds, I know Sam and Kade have been out here working. Especially with the damn cattle threatening to burst out of the fence whenever they get a chance.
But once this is up and running, this will be another major part of The Lost Spur’s income.
“I’m glad you’re helping Kade out here,” I say.
“Yeah?”
I nod, watching as billowing, dark gray clouds start to move in.
“I love working here.”
“Me too, darlin’.” He shoots me a wink before turning his focus back to the road.
The old, decrepit barn comes into view. A few cows are lazing around, chomping down on the grass.
“You guys really can’t stay out of here, can you?” Sam asks, jumping out of the truck and walking toward the barn doors. The lock looks broken on the front.
“Are you really mad at them?” I ask, eyeing one of the babies near their mom.
“Don’t let them suck you in. They’ll do some damage if they want,” Sam grumbles.
“Aww.” I rub the forehead of one of the cows closest to me. “Don’t listen to him. I like you.”
Sam grabs me by the hips and steers me inside. “C’mon, Joey. The faster we check things out, the faster we can leave.”
“But what if I want to play with the cows now?”
I bat my lashes at him as I steal his black Stetson from his head and drop it on mine.
“You’d rather spend our evening playing with cows?”
“Did you have other plans?” I ask coyly.
“Yes. And they don’t involve cows.”
“Hmm. I guess so. You’re a close second.”
Sam swats my ass as I run by him. “I think I ought to punish you tonight.”
I turn and face him, heat blooming in my cheeks. “Is that a promise?”
“Abso-fucking-lutely.”
With this barn not functional yet, it’s used for storage. Large lockers fill the space. There’s not much out here, but Sam checks everything.
“Doesn’t look like they got into anything, but I’ll need a new lock for the door.”
“Do you have one?” I ask, spinning in a circle. Hay crunches under my feet.
“In the truck. Be right back.”
He pecks me on the cheek as he jogs out. The smell of rain permeates the air, and the pitter-patter begins on the roof as Sam runs back inside.
“Got it?” I ask.
He nods. “Yup.”
“Ready to go then?”
He shakes his head, throwing the chains to the side. “Not yet.”
“Why not?” I ask. “It’s raining.”
As evidenced by the water running through the leaking roof.
“Dance with me.” He holds his hand out to me as my heart stutters in my chest.
“What?”
“You heard me, darlin’. Dance with me.”
I take his hand and Sam draws me in close. My hands land on the strong muscles of his chest. His heart is beating a rapid tattoo against his ribs. Mine is threatening to burst out of my chest.
Sam hums a tune I don’t recognize as we start to sway.
Tears well in my eyes as the rain starts to pelt us as it grows in intensity. Much like my feelings for Sam.
This. This is all I’ve ever wanted.
Someone to dance with. Someone to care about me. Someone to treat me like…well, like I’m their world and they love me.
Leaning back, I fist my hand in Sam’s T-shirt and pull him toward me in a fiery kiss. It’s wet from the fat raindrops rolling down our cheeks.
It’s the perfect kiss. The one I will think about when I’m old and gray. The moment when everything in my life made sense. Because one man decided I was worth taking a chance on.
Sam moves down my neck. Soft and slow. Fast and hard. I love his mouth on me. I can’t take the heat coiling inside of my body.
It’s like Sam knows this.
“Let’s go,” Sam says, a deep growl in his voice. “I don’t want us getting sick tonight. Because I have plans for you, Joey.”
I smile back at him. “Lead the way.”
We run through the downpour to the truck. I can’t wait for what the rest of the night brings.