Chapter 11
Maverick
I can’t remember the last time I was so nervous. Everything about this woman makes my heart race and stomach flutter. We ate the best barbecue around, and now I’m wondering if that was a good choice given how I feel.
“You want me to drop you back off at the inn? Or, uhh…maybe we can hang out a bit more?” I ask as we clean off our hands with wet wipes.
The smile that breaks out across her face eases my anxiety. “I’d love to hang out more.”
“There’s a spot near the town lake that’s a main hangout. Might be too cold to swim though.”
Brielle crinkles her nose. “Is this a safe space to admit I don’t know how to swim?”
My mouth drops open. “You can’t swim?”
“My mom would rather die than let her hair get wet, and my dad was always too busy.”
“No siblings?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “No. Sometimes I wonder if they only had me like…picked out.”
I furrow my eyebrows. “You were adopted?”
Brielle looks a little uncomfortable and laughs hollowly. “No, like, they did all that fertility stuff to ensure I was a girl and omega.”
“Oh, I didn’t know they could do all that.”
She shrugs. “Well, when your family has more money than they know what to do with…”
I frown, confused. “Your family is wealthy? And they’re letting you work for tips just to pay for a small room at the inn?”
Brielle bites her lip. “They don’t know I’m here. And I don’t want them to.”
I glance at her and then back down the road.
My curiosity is eating at me, and I’m dying to ask why she doesn’t want them to know, but I can’t ask her to open up without giving anything in return.
The other morning I went with Kinsey to my dad’s community home, and we found out the results of the paternity test. I’m officially an older brother, and I’m not sure what to do with that.
I clear my throat. “My dad fought me at first—when I brought up moving into assisted living, but having a full-time nurse at the ranch just wasn’t working anymore.
He was calling me at all hours, wondering about whatever piece of business he was stuck on at the time.
It was better for the both of us to move him out.
Otherwise I was a week out from quitting and moving as far as I could to get away from him. ”
“You’d leave the ranch?”
I nod. “He was ruining my love for it. And a job like this, you can’t give it your all if you don’t love it. It’s too demanding, long hours with little in return.”
Brielle reaches over, squeezes my forearm once, and lets go.
“My parents treated me like a doll. Someone they could control in every aspect because of the simple fact that they made me. I think for the longest time, I was okay with that. I just wanted to please them until I saw I never could. It’s always going to be something, you know? ”
I let out a snort. “Yeah, I get it. It’s been two years since I took over, and I still have to limit his calls.
I guess that’s one thing I can thank Kinsey for.
He’ll be too caught up with her to bother me with the ranch.
” It’s meant to be a joke, but as soon as the words are spoken, they hit me a little somberly.
My knuckles tighten on the wheel, and my jaw tics.
She’ll get all his attention, but in a way I never could.
She doesn’t come with the weight of responsibility to continue his legacy.
“Kinsey’s mom worked herself to the bone, literally. I’m obviously not an oncologist, but I’m sure the cancer wouldn’t have gotten so bad if she wasn’t so used to feeling like crap. I’m sorry your dad will probably treat her like a princess, but she kind of needs it.”
A smile lifts on my lips and I look at her. “You don’t have to worry. If I hold on to any resentment, it’ll be for the person who deserves it. And that’s not your best friend.”
Brielle winks at me and sighs, moving over so she can lean her head against my shoulder. “Good, because you can take the girl out of the city, but I’m sorry to say I like my material things.”
I laugh. “Is that your warning that I’ll have to get used to spoiling you?”
She wrinkles her nose. “Just a word of caution, because I don’t know if I’m built for ranch life. But I can probably compromise.”
“Like what?” I ask curiously. She may have seen the main house from the outside, but I think she’d be impressed if she went inside.
When my father was recovering from his surgery, we renovated a good portion before he moved back in.
Less rustic farmhouse, and more modern features, as the designer said.
It probably fits the style she’s used to seeing in the city, but hell if I know. I’ve never lived in one.
Her nails dig into my arm. “Well, I mean, I don’t assume we’re gonna be anything past this date, but—”
“Oh, I’m gonna assume. Brielle, I don’t do this kind of stuff. Dates and getting all dressed up, it was for you. Because I want more than just a casual night in my bed.”
I can feel her swallow against my bicep. “Like hypothetically, if we continued dating,” she says. I roll my eyes, letting her have her doubts that this isn’t serious as she continues, “I’d want a big princess nest. The comfiest mattress and pillows, with a canopy over it. Probably all baby pink.”
I grimace. I can’t imagine lying in a room that’s going to look like the inside of bubblegum, but if that’s what she wants, so be it.
“And have you heard of push presents?” she asks.
I’d been so lost in thoughts about designing a pink nest that I’d tuned her out a bit. I shake my head, glad I caught her question so she’ll never know. “No.”
“It’s a gift you give a woman for pushing out a baby. I think we should adapt something like that for heat. A heat present.”
I chuckle lightly. “I assume this is on top of your courting gifts.”
“Well, since you’re offering,” she teases, sitting up when she sees me pulling off the freeway. “Oh god, we’re here. I don’t know if I want to swim after eating so much.”
I reach over, grabbing and squeezing her hand. “We don’t have to swim. Trust me enough to teach you one day though? I don’t like knowing you don’t know how.”
Her big eyes blink, and then she nods. “I do.”
A small shiver courses through me at her words, not only because of her trust, but because I can imagine her saying that to me while wearing a white dress.
“Wait, Kinsey told me about this place. This is like theee makeout spot. You know the place everyone goes to get a little nooky?”
I can’t stop the laugh that barks out of me. “Nooky? I think the last time I heard that word was when I was setting up bingo at the town center.”
She shrugs. “Then those women are no different than my mother’s bridge clubs. Either way, did you bring me here to get a little dessert?” She winks at me, and I shake my head.
“Just wanted some peace and quiet. I thought if I brought you back to the ranch, you’d think I was implying something I’m not. But here you are trying to seduce me.”
Brielle huffs, leaning forward. “If I was seducing you, you would know.”
I swallow to coat my drying throat, and ignore the painful hardening of my cock when her tongue sweeps across her plump lips.
“I don’t expect anything. I’m happy just spending more time with you.
” I nod toward my truck bed. “I got a whole pile of brand new horse rugs back there if you want to hang out back there.”
A single eyebrow lifts. “Horse rugs?”
“Blankets. Thick and heavy to keep the horses warm.”
Brielle smiles. “As long as they don’t smell.”
I shake my head. “Picked them up earlier. Brand new.” She follows me out of the truck, waiting to the side as I climb over the tailgate and arrange the blankets, padding the bottom comfortably so we can sit. I drop the tailgate down and help her into the truck bed.
She settles back into her cushioned seat, moving slightly to lean against my arm. The night is peacefully silent except for crickets chirping and waves obeying the moon’s pull, lapping against the shoreline.
“You know, I’ve never hooked up outside of, like, my clinic heats,” she says in a whimsical tone, as if she’s truly reflecting on it and not persuading me to be naughty with her.
“You’re a bad influence,” I warn her with a hoarse throat.
Brielle waggles her eyebrows with a mischievous smirk. “Am I? Or am I just helping you let loose?”
Nothing loose about how tight these jeans are around my growing erection. I’ve been hard since she pranced out of her room in that perfect fucking dress, tempting me with her gorgeous looks and tantalizing scent.
“Fuck it,” I growl out. I lean back enough to undo my belt and pants to give myself some room. I pat my thighs. “Come here, Little Omega.”
She shudders, hearing the tease of my alpha bark in my voice. Brielle licks her lips and nods at my legs. “All the way off. I don’t want anything slowing me down.”
I hesitate for a second. There’s no way I can control myself if she’s begging and pleading for more when she’s resting prettily in my lap.
Do I want to fuck right near the docks? It makes me feel like a teenage virgin, trying to sneak something past my parents.
I feel like she deserves a five-star hotel above my budget.
She whines a little, fluttering her eyelashes at me. Fuck it all. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for this omega. Brielle is beyond anything I could have imagined.
I lift my hips to drag my jeans down to my knees. My cock springs out, a solid thud against my abdomen. I look over at Brielle. Her eyes are on my thick, hard cock, and her little tongue licks at her bottom lip. It makes my cock twitch at her admiring stare.
“You see something you like?”
She looks up at me, her lips pulling up into a coy smile. “Very much.”
I match her teasing smile. “Wanna come ride it?”
Her laugh is soft. “Thought you’d never ask, Cowboy.”