Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
CASSIA
"Why aren't you back at the resort?" Rhys demands, his voice rife with suspicion.
"Because it snowed?" I ask, clutching the phone to my ear and scowling out the kitchen window. He's so nosy! I swear, having a detective as an older brother is incredibly annoying. It's like his bullshit radar never misses. He can smell a lie before I even tell it.
"Two days ago, Cassia," he says. "It snowed two days ago."
"I've been doing research for my new book."
He snorts his disbelief.
"I have. This ranch breeds red Angus," I say, a little smug about it.
"They're coming into calving season, so there's a lot of work to do.
I've been learning the ropes." This is only partially untrue.
Cord let me follow him around most of the day today.
At least until I distracted him in the hay barn and Jace almost caught him with his hand down my pants.
Apparently, Hamburger is on the lam again.
Cord sent me inside so he could go track the bull down a few hours ago.
It's after dark and he still isn't back.
I'm starting to worry that something happened to him or that crazy bull.
I haven't heard from him at all since he left.
Calling Rhys to distract myself might have been a mistake though.
He's not helping calm me down any. He's just driving me nuts.
"Right," he says. "You've always been a piss poor liar, Cassia. What's his name?"
"Who's name?"
"Whichever Decker brother has you all twisted up in knots. Is it Cord or Camden?"
"How do you know their…never mind," I mumble.
Of course he knows their names. He probably knows their entire life histories at this point.
I wouldn't be surprised if he hasn't already called the local Sheriff to grill him too.
Have I mentioned that having a cop for a brother is lame?
I think about denying that either of the brothers is involved in my decision to stay at the ranch, but quickly decide against it. "His name is Cord."
Rhys sighs. "Is he good to you?"
"So good," I whisper. Cord has been nothing but amazing to me since I got here.
Last night, he was incredible. I've never been pampered before, but he spoiled me.
After I soaked in a bubble bath, he fed me steak and baked potatoes, then we cuddled by the fire and talked for hours.
Eventually, he stripped me naked and gave me another "lesson".
This one involved his hands and mouth all over my body…
and me riding his face while I sucked him off.
I don't even remember falling asleep, or him carrying me to bed.
But I woke up this morning with his face between my thighs.
"Rhys, I think…" I trail off and swallow hard. "I know I'm in love with him."
Rhys is completely silent for a long moment, absorbing, and then he sighs. "I figured that was the case, baby sister," he says. "You wouldn't still be there if you didn't love him."
"I'm scared," I admit.
"Of what?" His voice drops to a growl. "If he's not good to you…."
"No, it's not that," I hurry to say. "He's amazing, Rhys. Truly. He treats me like a queen. It's just…I don't know what I'm doing! Do I tell him how I feel? Do I just not say anything and go home on Sunday? How do I know if he feels the same way?"
"If he's got a fucking brain in his head, he feels the same way," Rhys growls.
"Our mother may not see the incredible woman she raised, but everyone who knows you does, Cass.
Only an idiot wouldn't know you're the best thing that could ever happen to him.
If he doesn't see that, he's not nearly good enough for you and never will be. "
"Don't you dare make me cry, Rhys Edward Flannery," I whisper-shout, spinning away from the kitchen window to pace around the kitchen. I can't see anything out there anyway. It's too dark. "You know how much I hate to cry."
"Not trying to make you cry," he says, chuckling.
"I'm just saying. If he's worthy of you, he feels the same way.
Tell him, Cassia. Don't spend the rest of your life wondering what might have been if you'd only taken a chance.
Don't let her be the reason you spend the rest of your life wondering what might have been. "
He's right, I know he is. I don't want to wake up a year from now or ten years from now or fifty years from now and regret not telling Cord how I feel.
And I will regret it. If I leave here Sunday without telling him that I love him, I'll regret it for the rest of my life.
I made a promise to myself not to let fear rule me this time.
I have to see it through to the end. Even if he doesn't feel the same way about me…
I think I'd rather know than live the rest of my life wondering what might have been.
"Thanks, Rhys," I whisper, my throat welling with emotion. We may not have been raised together, but I couldn't have asked for a better brother. "I love you."
"I love you too, baby sister. Good luck, I guess. Tell him if he hurts you, I'll bury him where no one will ever think to look," he says, a smile in his voice. I'm pretty sure he's only partially teasing though. My brother is…kind of a bad ass, honestly. I certainly wouldn't want to piss him off.
"Deal," I say. "I'll call you this weekend."
"Behave."
I disconnect without answering and then laugh quietly. He can behave if he wants, but there's no way I'm agreeing to that. As soon as Cord gets here, I'm telling him how I feel, and then I'm going to do the exact opposite of behave. In fact, I plan to be very, very naughty.
* * *
"Cord!" I cry, flinging myself at him as soon as he steps over the threshold. I hit him like a comet, knocking him backward two steps.
"Hey," he says, boosting me up into his arms.
"I was so worried about you!" I wrap my legs around his waist, kissing all over his face.
His skin is icy cold against my lips. It's after midnight.
He's been out there for over eight hours.
He's probably freezing to death. All night, I've been worried out of my mind, afraid he was going to freeze to death in the woods looking for Hamburger.
"I'm right here, pretty baby," he promises, kicking the door closed behind him. "Had to chase the fucking bull halfway to town and back." He grips my ass in both hands, grinding me against him. "You miss me while I was gone?"
"Yes," I murmur, nuzzling my face into his throat. "Is Hamburger okay?"
"Fine," he grunts. "Back in his pen and mad as hell about it."
"How'd he get out?"
"Jace swears he played dead," he says. "Claims he didn't move a muscle until they opened the pen to check on him, and then he was on his feet, raising hell.
He escaped in the ensuing chaos. Chaz, one of the younger hands, saw him charging toward the barn doors and jumped out of the way. He ran right through."
"Did anyone get hurt?"
"Just their pride," he mutters, carrying me through the kitchen and into the living room. "One day, they'll listen when I tell them that he's a sneaky son of a bitch who can't be trusted."
I laugh quietly. "You talk about him like he's human."
"Pretty baby, that bull is about as close to a cantankerous old cowboy as I've ever seen," he says, his boot hitting the bottom stair. "If he could talk, he'd tell us all to kiss his ass where the sun don't shine."
"Have you ever thought about following him to see where he's trying so hard to go?"
"Other than straight back to hell where he came from?" he mutters.
"I'm serious," I laugh. Even though he's annoyed, he can't hide the affection and amusement in his voice.
He loves that crazy bull. I don't think it annoys him nearly as bad as he pretends when Hamburger runs off.
"Maybe it's not that he's trying to leave so much as he's trying to get somewhere.
Maybe if you let him finish whatever he's trying to do, he'll stop trying to do it. "
"Princess, the only thing that bull is trying to do is piss me off." He kneads my ass, his grip firm. "He's been running off since he was old enough to stand on his own, but I'm done talking about his mean ass right now. I'd rather talk about the one in my hands."
"I'm not mean."
"No, you're not," he agrees, his voice soft as he make it to the top of the stairs. "You're the sweetest little thing, especially when you're naked and on my cock where you belong."
"Aren't you hungry?"
"Oh, I plan to eat plenty, Cassia," he says. "Maybe I'll even let you suck me off again while I enjoy my meal."
"Cord," I moan, my core heating at the thought of having him in my mouth again.
I'm pretty sure he's turned me into a sex addict this week.
As soon as he touches me, my body ignites.
I've never wanted anything the way I want him.
Even if I live to one hundred, I know I never will again.
This bossy, sexy cowboy is it for me. He's my one.
He carries me into the bedroom, squeezing and kneading my cheeks in his palms. I love the way he touches me.
He isn't gentle about it. His grip is possessive, demanding, like he knows I belong to him and intends to make sure I know it too.
With his coat on, there's no finding leverage to grind against him.
He slides me down his body until my feet touch the floor. "Spent a lot of time thinking about you today, pretty baby," he says, shucking off his coat. "I missed the hell out of you."
"I missed you too, Cord."
"Yeah?" He peels his t-shirt off over his head, letting it drop to the floor at his feet.
"So much," I whisper, twisting the hem of the t-shirt I borrowed from him all up in my hands.
My stomach flutters with nerves at the soft expression on his face.
When he looks at me like that, I think maybe he does feel the same way I do.
He certainly looks at me like he does. "Cord, I…
" I take a breath, exhaling it into the room. "I love you."