Chapter 9 #2
“I helped, assholes.” Levi arrives, bearing a tray of still-warm cookies and pastries. “You can’t replace me with a new ranch wife.”
“No one will ever replace you, Levi. If she wants to stay, it’s because she works with all of us.” The words slip out before I think to check my surroundings.
“You’re not breaking up the band, then?” Tripp pipes up from behind me.
Well, fuck. I close my eyes, attempting to school my features into something pleasant. So much for keeping it in the family. Well, the immediate family of the men who’ve been with me since the beginning. Levi mutters beneath his breath as he totes his offerings to West.
“Groupies don’t get a say.” West dismisses the ranch hand, shoving a pastry in his face. “Damn, Levi.”
“So you keep sayin’.” Levi winks, heading back toward the house. “I’ve cooked for your love nest in case you don’t emerge for a week.”
I shake my head. “Thanks, but I suspect she won’t be indoors for long.”
“Who won’t be indoors for long?”
I spin around, cursing myself for not being more aware of my surroundings for the second time in as many minutes, and focus on Lanie. A halo of red hair surrounds her. She clutches a small overnight tote. A laptop bag and a camera case are slung over the same shoulder.
Levi calls out to her. She waves, hesitant, and glances back at me.
“I was worried you wouldn’t come.” I extend an arm, still soaking her in as she steps into me. Christ, she feels good with her face buried into my chest. I breathe in the sweet scent of her, my lips pressing to the top of her head.
“I missed you,” she whispers against my shirt, her voice hitching.
West mutters something, storming away. I let him go, doing what I promised myself earlier and letting my attention pinpoint on the woman in my arms.
Having Lanie here, back on Coyote land, is everything I want. But it’s dividing the family I built, that formed around me when I needed them most. If this is the cost of having more than a fling…
Swallowing back my grievances and determined not to let my screwy mindset ruin today, I catch Lanie’s chin with my knuckle and tip her head back.
“While you’re here, whether it’s for a few days or longer, this is your home.
Don’t be shy here. Especially around these boys.
” The first part of my speech finished, I raise my voice to include everyone in the vicinity.
“They won’t give you any trouble. Right? ”
The men shift. A rumble fills the yard, but my eyes find West’s. He says nothing but jerks his head once. An acknowledgment. It’s something.
I squeeze Lanie gently. “I’m prepared to bribe you with wolves.”
She giggles. “Really? For how long?”
“Love nesters! Food is in the house. I’ll see you later.” Levi sings that last line, drops a key into Lanie’s hand, and sashays away.
Her fingers close around the bright just-cut metal. Hell, I can almost see the panic rising in her.
“And there goes the formality.” I laugh at Levi’s natural flamboyance in an attempt at distracting her.
“You know it’s an act, right?” Lanie waves shyly to the boys as they head toward the bunkhouse. “I met him at the gas station in Valiant Peak last time I drove through on my own. He behaved… normal, then. Well, normal-ish.” Her brow furrows.
I shoot her a glance, making a note to hit Levi up about what happened between them.
“I’ll leave you to work out which one’s the act.
” I catch her hand, interlacing our fingers.
Hers are warm and have small calluses of their own.
My chest tightens. Damn if Lanie isn’t perfect for this place. For me.
“They don’t stay in the house?” Her gaze tracks the line of boys chattering in muted tones. Some, like Billy, still lope along with an endless supply of energy, even after a full day’s work.
West catches the younger man’s shoulder, his face hard as he has a tough word.
I can guess the topic, and it has to do with the rancher who keeps impinging on my hospitality.
Billy’s easy grin fades, though his stance doesn’t take on a defensive posture as I watch.
I nod to West over the taller ranch hand’s shoulder. Message received.
My attention returns to Lanie. “That’s not my choice.
I’m sure some of the younger boys would, and they’d be welcome, but West and Levi built the house with me.
It’s as much theirs as it is mine, so their command takes precedence, despite that both refuse to live in it.
” I liberate her bag as she steps into the house.
Lanie peeks at me over her shoulder, her fingers squeezing mine in a white-knuckled grip. “I have no idea where anything but the kitchen is.”
“This way.” I lead her inside and along an endless hall into another entire wing she hasn’t been to before.
An office sits off one side where I work once I lose the light and am supposed to be sleeping.
I stop at a dark wood door. A heavy, luxurious carpet leads into my bedroom.
I place her bag gently inside the threshold.
“I’ll see what Levi’s set up for dinner. ”
Walking away from her is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but I can see the growing panic in her, in the way she pulls her hand from mine too fast. Giving her space hurts, but if she needs it, needs me to walk away—even for a short period—then I’ll give her anything she wants.
I head back through the house to the main kitchen; rifle through the fridge, extracting a beer; and pour a glass of wine for Lanie.
Levi has laid out a selection of freshly baked savory rolls and a tray of miniature vol-au-vents, alongside a cold roasted chicken and vegetables.
Instructions on how to assemble a gourmet sandwich rest on top of the fruit bowl.
“You’ve outdone yourself, Levi,” I mutter, mentally sending a fresh wave of gratitude and a raise his way.
“He has.” Lanie peeks around my shoulder. “Do you need such intense instructions to make a sandwich?”
Her cheeks bear a residual stain of her anxiety, and I hope to hell I did the right thing leaving her alone in my room.
“Always. Levi’s been mothering me for the better part of eleven years. We went through college together.”
“I can’t imagine you without a cowboy hat.” Her hands tremble only the slightest amount as they slide up my chest.
Her touch is more than welcome. “Who says I didn’t take it with me?
” I snag her waist, dipping my head to catch her lips.
Lanie sighs beneath my mouth, all sweet and soft in my arms. She might have a firecracker of a temper, but with me she’s…
something else. Her hands wrap behind my neck, pressing her body flush against the length of mine.
We’re a perfect fit. When I draw back, her cheeks are flushed with color again, a little darker this time.
“Because I know your sister, remember? And Winnie is so not country.” She tilts her head back, her lips parting to let me taste her between words.
Lanie Parker is addictive as hell. Now that she’s at Coyote Falls, I don’t want her to leave. I’m still waiting for that penny to drop on an empty bank, but I suspect that’ll be a long time coming. Lanie Parker fits at Coyote Falls—and with me—all too well.
“I’m not thinking about my sister right now.” I take my time cataloging every curve, the slopes and dips of her as she presses against me, breathless. “Should we eat first, or—”
“Rand?” West’s voice echoes along the hall.
“Fuck.” I lean my forehead to Lanie’s, relief flooding me when she giggles at the interruption. It takes everything I have to break away from her and step back. “Give me one minute, okay?”
I blow out a controlled breath and go to find West loitering in the hall like a stalker with his arms folded.
“I got a call from Dani Lynd.”
“Could this not have waited a few minutes? Wait—the entertainment agent?” My jaw ticks. What else can go wrong with this damn event? The question I know never to ask, but I do it anyway, albeit mentally.
“She’s canceling the main act for the Invitational. Apparently, she’s double-booked.”
A string of curses flows from me. “Fine, I’ll fix this. But—why did she call you?”
“Because you haven’t answered any of her calls for the last week. Sure you can do it all while you’re—”
I level him with a hard stare. “I’ll fix it. Thanks. Did she suggest a replacement?”
West shrugs, though his eyes flicker, a shadow passing behind them. This isn’t the first time he’s handled my business. The last time was over a decade ago, though there wasn’t any choice for either of us back then. “We didn’t get that far. I told her I’d speak to you.”
The house shrinks around me as I turn on my heel and head back to Lanie. I find her reorganizing ingredients on the island bench. “You’re a gem, beautiful. I have to sort out an issue with the rodeo.”
She offers me a small smile. “It’s fine, Cord. If I’m going to stay for a bit, then I need to learn how things work.”
There’s that f-word again. Fine, fine. It’s all fucking fine.
I grin anyway as she flutters about, opening cupboards. My phone slides into my hand. Five minutes, and I’m done. The agent picks up as I slip into my office to fix the mess intent on screwing with my rodeo.
And my time with my girl.
My head swims with details that should have been cemented months before, along with the rest of the email on the screen before me. I hit send without proofing anything and shut my laptop down. Coordinating the event has been my passion for nearly a decade, but this time, my focus wanes.
I love seeing old and new riders compete, waiting on that golden moment to discover fresh, new talent. Usually, I enjoy this part, too. But not when it takes me away from the girl I left swanning about my house on her own earlier.