by Em Petrova
He relaxed a bit at the normal talk she always had a way of providing when he needed it most. But here he sat, a grown man having nightmares. He wasn’t a child anymore, and he felt ashamed that she’d come looking to soothe him.
“Just a dream.”
She crossed the room on silent feet and sat next to him on the sofa. When she slipped an arm around his back, he leaned toward her. “Go on and tell me. You always feel better when you do.”
He heaved a sigh. “Too much to tell.”
“But something’s been eating at you. I’ve seen you carrying it like an armor on your shoulders.”
He compressed his lips. “Yes, something happened.”
“And you left a job you love.”
His heart beat heavily. “Not sure I love it anymore.”
She squeezed him. “That happens. People change. Our needs change.”
“Yours never seem to change.”
“It’s true I never stop wanting the best for my boys. And I’m content with a peaceful spot in my garden and some sun on my face.”
Silence descended between them for a moment. The tick of the wall clock and Mimi’s solid strength calmed his racing heart.
“A woman was killed,” he said at last.
She stiffened. “Who killed her?”
“Her own father. I went to arrest him and he pulled a gun. His bullet had my name on it, but he shot his daughter accidentally. She didn’t make it.”
Mimi rubbed his back. “Sounds like that black mark is on his soul.”
He nodded and scrubbed his hands over his face again. “It is, but I can’t stop seeing it. Since then, I don’t want to even touch a weapon.”
“And those ranchers put one back in your hands when they asked you to hunt the coyotes.”
He nodded.
“You’ve got a heavy burden on your shoulders, Ash. But you’re strong and you’ll find a way out of it.”
The trill of the telephone made them both jerk. She jumped to her feet and hurried to grab the phone on the side table. Calls that came in the middle of the night never carried good omens.
He watched her for a moment. “Yes,” she said softly and then lowered the phone from her ear and held it out to him.
With a hard squeeze of his heart, he stood and took the phone from her. “Moon.”
“I got one o’ the bastards.”
“Who’s this?” Asher cocked a brow at Mimi, and she shook her head.
“Radosh. I shot one of the coyotes trying to take down my cow.”
“I’ll be right up.” Asher replaced the phone in the receiver and stared at Mimi across the dark living room. “Radosh got a coyote. Lock up behind me, all right?”
She nodded and then followed him to the front door, where he grabbed his hat off the peg and an old flannel to slip on. Before he left, he squeezed her hand. “Thanks for always being there for me, honey.”
“Love ya, boy.”
“Love you too.” His throat closed on the words he rarely spoke in his entire life.
As he walked to his car, his mind worked over the strange cadence of the words and the meaning behind them. Love wasn’t a word used often in their home before Mimi came along. Then she told them all on a regular basis. Asher knew little of love, outside of her and his brothers. To him, love meant having each other’s backs, no matter what.
And he’d seen the way love shattered a man like Sterling, who’d shot his own daughter. Love drove Kinsey to keep checking on her father and defending her brother’s poor choices.
What a fucked up emotion.
Then when he thought of the love between his brothers and their fiancées, something inside him softened a bit. Zayden and Dane were happier with the women they loved. They were better men because of Esme and Brennah. Love hurt people…but it held the power to transform them too.
The weighty thoughts continued to plague him as he drove to Radosh’s place. For a moment, he wondered if he should call Kinsey and get her to meet him there. But she’d be asleep and he didn’t want to wake her in the night and frighten her.
When he pulled into the driveway, Radosh had all the place lit up. The garage light illuminated a form on the ground.
He looked up at Radosh. “You shot it.”
The guy nodded. “Protected my assets.”
Asher stared down at the dead coyote. “Don’t blame ya.” Kinsey wouldn’t be very happy about it, but Radosh did what he had to in order to keep the predator from killing his animal.
“Just the one?” he asked the rancher.
“Three came at the cow in the field.”
“You were huntin’ them?”
“Heard the horses going crazy and then the dogs kicked up a fuss. I woulda called you to do the job we’re payin’ ya for, but there wasn’t time.”
Asher nodded. “I’ll sit in the field and keep watch for the rest of the night and then take the coyote in to the game office in the morning. You can sleep easy the rest of the night.”
Radosh looked down at the coyote and shook his head. “Thirty seconds later and I’d be down a couple thousand bucks for that cow.”
“I know.” He didn’t tell Radosh he’d discovered a den on Drover’s property or that he hadn’t done a damn thing to get rid of the animals holed up there. He’d dropped the ball. Why?
Fact was that his heart had never been in this job. Even with his own ranch down a calf, he didn’t feel the impact the way his brothers did. Asher had nothing to lose. Nothing to live for.
Nothing to love.
If he wanted some peace and maybe even happiness again, he needed to find something he could be passionate about. Something to work for. Something that mattered.
Chapter Seven
Kinsey stood at her kitchen counter, cleaning up the coffee grounds she’d just spilled all over the place. In the mornings, it took a while before her clumsiness fled. But she felt especially bleary-eyed today, after lying awake for hours the previous night.
After stopping in to see her dad, she’d found no food in the house and him just sitting in the recliner, staring at the TV. His lack of interest in life was starting to alarm her even more. There had to be a way to shake him out of his grief enough for him to take care of himself better at the very least.
Her worry over him directly connected to her concern for Trent. Her brother’s trial date would soon be set, and only his public defender knew if her brother had a chance of being acquitted of the charges.
Which led her mind to Asher.
The dream she’d had of him hadn’t helped one bit either—the one where he stripped her down ever-so-slowly and licked each inch of her naked body. She’d woken in a fever of need, which only eased a small bit when she fingered herself to completion. The rumble of his dirty talk from that day in the Jeep fed into her arching off the bed and swallowing blissful cries.
After that, she’d slept a bit longer, and then woken feeling sweaty and rumpled. Not even a shower could erase the hours of sleeplessness.
She pulled the garbage can over to the counter and used her hand to brush the scattered coffee grounds into the trash. She reached for the coffee for another attempt, but her phone buzzed.
Only Branson ever called at this time of day.
She picked up her phone and stared at the unfamiliar number on the screen. When she answered and the dusky tone of her lover flooded her ear, her whole body jolted with electricity.
“Kinsey, something’s come up. Meet me at the warden’s office.”
“Asher…what is it?” Her dream came tumbling back full force, and she could barely focus on his words and not the dark, delicious things he’d done in that dream.
“Just meet me, okay?”
“All right. I need a few minutes.”
“That’s fine. I’ll wait for you.” With that, he ended the call, leaving her staring into space. Shake it off, Kinsey.
He hadn’t called and told her to meet him at the office for another forbidden encounter in her Jeep. The
n again, Asher had some pretty racy motives most of the time, and she couldn’t count on him not wanting to have sex in plain sight of her boss or coworkers.
She shook herself and then abandoned her efforts to make coffee, even though she needed to caffeinate in order to get through the day. She grabbed her bag and headed out to meet Asher.
The man confused the heck out of her. She didn’t want to experience that leap of her heart just from the sound of his voice. Those were things that happened from dating someone, but they definitely weren’t dating.
They were fucking.
Big difference.
Asher wasn’t someone to take home to Daddy. As far as she knew, her father didn’t know Asher had returned to Stokes, and she’d like to keep it that way.
The more she thought on Asher’s role in her brother being behind bars again, the more she had to question the things her father and brother told her. Asher had been sent to collect Trent—he’d only done his job. But as time separated her from her big brother, she began to wonder if they were as close as she once believed. He could be a different man than the one who’d left Stokes. He could be involved in drugs and been desperate enough to try to sell them.
When she pulled into the parking lot, she hardly marked the fact she’d been driving. She spotted Asher leaning on his car, arms folded and head bowed. At the sound of her engine, he looked up.
A heated trail of desire blazed through her. Why did he have to be so damn hot and the best lover in the universe?
He waited for her to park and get out before walking over to meet her. The lines around his mouth dissolved all trace of his dimple, and she studied his eyes.
“What happened?” she asked.
He twitched his head to indicate she should follow him to his car. At the trunk, he stopped and used the key to open it. The inside had been lined with black plastic. He flipped this back to reveal the dead coyote.
“What the hell!” She whirled on him. “You were hunting at night?”
“I was out last night, but not huntin’ exactly. I was more of a patrol.”
Fury washed through her. “You could have told me. We had an agreement!”
He nodded. “We did. I told you I’d do things your way.”
“And you went back on your word.” She planted a hand on her hip and twisted away from the sight of the dead animal he’d hauled down here in his trunk.
“I didn’t go back on my word. I didn’t take the shot—Radosh did. He called me in the night, said he’d caught some coyotes attempting to take down his cow. He stopped them just in time and shot one of the three.”
“Still, you took care of matters on your own.”
He glared at her. “I told you I didn’t kill the animal. Radosh did. He had to, Kinsey. We’re not talkin’ about some protected animals here. Coyotes roam these woods in packs large enough that they’re doing some real damage to our cattle. Now stop getting worked up and help me get it outta my trunk. It’s starting to stink.”
She bit back the scream she barely held in check. “When Radosh called, what did you tell him? Did you tell him to go ahead and kill it?”
“Hell no. By the time I got there, he’d already taken matters into his own hands. But Kinsey, I would have done the same thing in his shoes.”
“You could have told him not to do it!”
He arched a brow. “You think anyone would listen to a Moon?”
She turned back to the trunk and reached for the edges of the black plastic. “I refuse to discuss this with you any longer, Moon.”
“Have it your way.” He grabbed the other end of the plastic and lifted the entire weight while all she had to do was guide the removal from his trunk. They laid it in the grass next to the building for her to later examine and make some notes about, and then he turned for his car again.
She watched him slide behind the wheel and slam the door. Without another glance her way, he drove off, leaving her so angry, she could bite through the hardest of steel and mash it to bits.
Good—she’d never see him again. She wouldn’t be working closely with him, and she definitely wouldn’t ever end up in his arms again.
The pang in her chest felt different from the fury already throbbing there…almost an arrow of pain.
Dammit. No. Absolutely not
That sensation could only mean one thing—she was starting to care about Asher Moon.
* * * * *
Kinsey tore the citation off her notepad and handed it to the man. “You have somebody coming to pick you and the ATV up?”
He stared at her.
At her side, Branson issued a sigh at the man’s dense understanding. “You can’t drive the ATV. It’s not registered, and we’ve already established you’ve had one beer too many while fishing today, buddy.”
Kinsey took out her phone. “Who can I call to pick you up?”
The guy scratched his jaw. “I reckon my brother might come for me.”
“Okay, what’s his number?”
“I don’t remember. It’s in my phone, and my phone’s back at home.”
Branson looked to Kinsey, who just shook her head.
“Tell us your brother’s name, and we’ll look up his number,” she said.
Long, painful minutes later, she and Branson loaded the drunk man into his brother’s truck and his unregistered ATV in the back. When they walked to their vehicle, Branson let out a low chuckle.
“I’m glad you weren’t out checking coyote traps on that call. You wouldn’t have believed me if I’d told the story.” He started the truck.
“Dealing with dense people is one thing. But dense and drunk? Too much for one person to handle.” She laughed but didn’t feel all that humored. Her entire day started off wrong with Asher bringing in the dead coyote, and she still seethed with anger. But their shift was nearly up, and she could soon go home—right after she checked in on her dad.
At times, she wished she could just go home to her apartment and shut off her mind for one night. It was probably good that she hadn’t adopted a dog yet like she planned. She didn’t have all that much time for one.
“Uh-oh. I’m sensing you’re about to sigh.” Branson tossed her a look. “What’s up, Reynolds?”
She released the sigh he expected. “I just have a lot going on.”
“Is it your dad? Or Trent?” He was one of the few who knew about her brother’s problems with the law.
She rubbed at an aching spot between her eyes. “Both.”
“It probably didn’t help to start off your day the way you did—with Moon bringing in that coyote.”
“Did you have to bring that up? I haven’t thought about how angry I am in at least two minutes.”
He smiled. “Sorry. But you know I’m going to say it, right?”
She groaned. “Branson—”
“No rancher’s going to sit there and watch his cattle be attacked. They have a right to protect their ranches. Moon’s just caught in the middle, same as you.”
Another sigh escaped her lips, this one heavier. “I know you’re right. Maybe if the man wasn’t so damn irritating, it wouldn’t have rubbed me so wrong.”
The look in her partner’s eyes had her drawing up straight in her seat.
“What?” she shot out. “Why are you giving me that look?”
“Because I’ve never seen you act this way, Puffy. It makes me wonder if you and Moon have something more going on.”
“We don’t,” she spat. “Definitely not.”
Just insanely hot sex.
“All right then. Give the guy a break, though. It wasn’t his fault Radosh shot the coyote to protect his cattle.”
She closed her eyes and then opened them slowly, a little bit more calm instilled in her. “Radosh was within his bounds, and Moon wasn’t responsible.”
“Now don’t you feel better? How ’bout we go for a drink after we clock off?”
She shook her head. “I have to stop in and see my father. Maybe next time, Branso
n.”
“Too bad. I thought I’d get your take on this bar waitress I’ve been thinking of asking out.”
“I’m sure you can make your own decisions regarding dates.”
They turned to head into town. The day grew dreary, and if that man had been able to ride his four-wheeler, he would have gotten a good soaking before he reached home. The first raindrops splattered on the windshield, followed by an almost immediate boom of thunder.
“Glad we’re not out in this. And yes, in response to your comment, I’m quite able to make choices about who I date. I just value your opinion because we’re friends and you know me well. I hate to get involved with a woman who’s all wrong for me and I can’t see it because she’s so pretty that my mind’s boggled.”
“That pretty, huh? Maybe I do have to see this woman, after all. I’ll agree to one drink and then I’ve got to get to my dad’s.”
It turned out that Kinsey needed that drink, and Branson found the courage to ask the woman of his choice on a date. So when they parted ways, Kinsey felt a bit more balanced in her life—at least until she walked through the door of her dad’s house.
The lights were turned off and the curtains drawn shut. She looked around and spotted her father in his recliner.
“Dad, is the power out? It wasn’t in town.” She moved to switch on a lamp. Golden light flooded the room. “It’s on. What are you doing sitting here in the dark?”
“I guess I was so pissed off that I didn’t think to turn on the lights.”
“Pissed off about what?” Her stomach dipped.
“I spoke with Trent today. It seems they’ve brought more charges against him.”
Her eyes widened, and she moved to sit on the ottoman at his feet. “What charges?”
“A hit and run.”
She gasped. “Of a person?”
He nodded.
Oh God.
“Dad,” she said gently, “there’s no way the charge could be false. The police have their facts right or they wouldn’t have been able to charge Trent.”
He stared at her. “You’re saying your brother’s a criminal?”
“I-I don’t know what to believe. But I think we need to stop taking sides and instead consider how to best help Trent get through this.”
