by Vanessa Vale
“To buy you at the auction to get you into bed so she could leave you like that? She was pissed.”
“A total understatement,” I grumbled.
“How’d she even find out?” he wondered.
“Kale’s accident yesterday.”
His eyes widened in surprise. “Seriously? I heard he ran off the road because of a fucking cow?”
“Yup.”
He shook his head and laughed.
“I called Graham, who was on duty.” Thatcher knew what had happened the night before, but he hadn’t heard what I’d figured out earlier. “He confirmed it was Sarah who took the call and towed Kale’s truck away from the scene. She must’ve found his paperwork. Kale’s the one who got the letter.”
Thatcher grabbed a paperweight off the side table and tossed it back and forth between his hands. “I didn’t know Sarah was working for her father.”
“Last I heard, she was doing his books.” It was a small town, and I was the police chief. “Has been ever since she was a kid and got smarter than her old man in math.”
“That’s probably not hard to do,” he said, setting the paperweight down. He stood and ran a hand over his hair. “He’s in the bar often. Pays his tab, but it’s always pretty hefty.”
I didn’t like Bill O’Banyon. He was a total asshole. He didn’t like me either, and I knew he thought I was an asshole. He’d made that very clear. I was a punk. A little shit who shouldn’t even be looking at Sarah, let alone dating her.
While I respected the fact that he protected his daughter, he also didn’t see her for who she was. He hadn’t thought I was good enough for her, that only a guy like Bunky would do. The little fucker had married Sarah’s sister, Lynn. It didn’t matter to Bill that his son-in-law couldn’t keep his dick out of other women or any of the other stupid shit he did. He’d wanted his daughters to have what he didn’t. Wealth. Cars. Status. It didn’t matter that Lynn was probably miserable or that Sarah didn’t want that lifestyle. He didn’t give a shit about what she wanted as long as it had a fancy title or wealthy last name.
Sure, he’d paid for her college, but he wasn’t rolling in cash like Bunky.
All Sarah had ever wanted was to be a mechanic and run a shop. Just like her dad. She’d once told me that dream, been eager for it. But since the only time I’d heard of Sarah going on a tow recently was for Kale’s truck, it was obvious he was stringing her along. Why she hadn’t set up her own business since she’d finished college and graduate school, I had no idea. I had to wonder what was keeping her there.
I’d seen her tinker in the past. She knew her shit when it came to engines.
“What’s that smile for?” he asked.
“She fixed the fucking tractor when none of us could figure out what was wrong with it.”
She’d been eighteen and still in high school.
Thatcher tipped his head back and laughed. “God, I forgot about that.”
“Uncle Thatch!” Claire’s voice carried from her room.
Thatcher gave a little wave as he left the great room. I couldn’t miss his shouting, “I think that was seventeen seconds. The fastest yet.”
I loved that my brother tucked Claire in, that they were close. Alice was there for her for any girl-type things that came up, but thankfully there weren’t too many at this age. But Alice was ready to move and be near her sister in Alabama. Claire needed a mother, and the only woman I’d ever pictured for the job had been Sarah. But I’d assumed Claire would be a baby we made together. That she’d be the one tucking my daughter in. I’d also assumed we’d live happily ever after.
That hadn’t turned out. But Sarah’s actions the night before had changed everything. She was pissed at me. She was still hot for me. I could still taste her sticky honey on my tongue. I’d been given a second chance with her. Sarah might not know it, but she’d set the two of us back in motion. She was going to be mine again.
8
HUCK
* * *
Saturday night
* * *
I could hear the music from the street. People spilled out of the Lucky Spur’s entrance, a fun weekend night in The Bend. Thatcher had converted an old mill into a bar. It was cavernous and brick. One large room with concrete floors. A large patio area that was on the river, fairy lights strung overhead to brighten the space. Large garage doors lined the one wall to the outdoor seating and were all open.
I wasn’t here to drink even though I was off shift. Thatcher had called me around eleven to give me the heads-up that Sarah was here. With a man.
No fucking way was that okay. I’d made her come the night before. In my bed. Even if she was angry with me, that pussy was mine.
I took off my Stetson when I entered, went to the bar, and waited to catch Thatcher’s eye. He came down the line with two drinks, handed them off to a woman along with a wink. When he got to me, he tipped his head toward the back.
I looked in that direction, and there she was. With a fucking guy. I didn’t care if he was helping her with a Sunday School program for church.
Just seeing Sarah across a crowded room made my dick hard. My mouth watered for another taste of her. She might have been trying to punish me, but all it had done was make me want her more. Since she was here with someone, it was my turn to be angry.
I remembered how she used to respond to me all those years ago. Melting beneath my kiss, whimpering beneath my touch. But now? She was heat and fire. Passionate and wild. And she’d given all of that to me.
When she’d slapped the paper on my chest, I’d seen her anger. Fuck, how could I have missed it? I’d also seen her heat.
I sidled up to her high top. She and her friend looked up at me. The guy stared wide-eyed in my direction.
“Huck,” Sarah said, swallowing hard. “I was just—”
“Leaving,” I finished for her, standing beside their table, feet spread wide.
“Sarah, you know him?” the guy asked, then swallowed hard. Good, he was afraid of me. He should be for even looking her way.
“I know you,” I said, setting my hands on my hips. “Two reckless driving citations and a night in jail for drunk and disorderly.”
The guy—Brad Blaison—flushed. Yeah, I had the right guy. He wasn’t a total fuckup, but he didn’t deserve to even look at Sarah.
“Find another target, Brad,” I told him.
He hopped up faster than the Easter Bunny and disappeared into the crowd.
Sarah stood as well. For one so small, she had a lot of fury. “You’re an asshole.”
I didn’t move. “I’ve heard that before.”
She rolled her eyes and looked away, then headed for the entrance. Since it was the direction I wanted her to go, I didn’t say a word, only followed.
Once we were outside, I set my hat back on my head, then reached out and grabbed Sarah’s hand. “Where are you taking me?” she asked.
I didn’t say anything, just led her to my truck. I’d parked far from the entrance, near the road. Out of habit, I’d backed into the spot. There was an empty space next to my truck.
“You want a guy, baby girl, I’m right here.”
“Stop calling me that,” she snapped, running a hand through her hair. It was wild and long down her back. She had on another dress, this one missing the damned tie at the hip. It was yellow and had a little ruffle just above the knee. The neckline dipped in a V that all but invited my hand to slip into it and cup her small breast. Brush the nipple with my thumb.
I’d always called her baby girl. She was six years younger than me and had been eighteen when we first got together. While I wasn’t into being her daddy, I’d always want to take care of her. Protect her. Based on how I’d reacted when she was sitting inside with Brad, I was still pretty fucking possessive, too.
She turned and faced away from me. I could see the roll of her shoulders, the way she was looking down at the ground. “As for being my guy, you lost that chance a long time ago.”
&n
bsp; “And I got it back last night when you sat on my face.”
“How dare you!” It was pretty dark, but I was sure her cheeks were a bright pink when she spun back.
“You pressed your knees into my ears all on your own. I didn’t force you since I was cuffed to the fucking headboard.”
If looks could kill, I’d be dead on the ground. “I can’t believe you said that!”
“No more Brads,” I warned.
She set her hands on her slim hips. “For your information, I came here with my friend Jane. Brad stopped by, asking after work for my dad.”
Stopped by? He hadn’t left since Thatcher had called me. I lifted my chin. “Text Jane and let her know you’re with me and not coming back.”
Her mouth dropped open and she sputtered. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Maybe not, but you’re done in there.” I leaned back against my truck and crossed my arms. She could argue all she wanted. She wasn’t going back inside. Brad may have wanted an interview, but no one did that at a bar on a Saturday night. He’d wanted a different kind of job, one that involved getting under her pretty yellow dress.
Muttering, she grabbed her cell from the purse she had slung over her shoulder and sent the message. Shoved the phone away.
“There, satisfied?”
Slowly I shook my head. “Not yet. Not until you are. I might have gotten you off last night, but it was clear afterward that you sure as fuck weren’t happy.”
Her hands fell to her sides. “Huck.”
“You got questions for me. Ask. You don’t need to handcuff me to do that.”
“Why didn’t you tell me Claire wasn’t yours?” She snapped her mouth shut as if the words had fallen out by accident.
“She’s mine.”
“Not biologically,” she countered, shaking her head. Her blonde hair flew around her shoulders as she did so.
“The way that matters the least.” Once I’d learned the truth, Mandy had admitted she had no idea who Claire’s actual father was. She’d said it could have been a number of guys, but not me.
It was one thing on a long list I’d shared with Kale in case Mandy ever came back to try to claim custody. Which it seemed she had.
“A sperm donor doesn’t make a guy a good father.”
“I thought…” She cut off, set her fingers over her lips. She wasn’t angry now. She seemed upset. Sad.
“What? What did you think?”
“That you’d moved on to someone else right after me.”
I’d broken it off with her at the end of July, not long before she headed to Bozeman. I’d left for Helena directly after. Claire had been born the following May. If someone took the time to do the math, which Sarah obviously had, she was right. I’d have gone from taking her virginity in the back of my pickup, the same one I leaned against, to Mandy’s bed within a few weeks.
Except I’d never been in Mandy’s bed.
I pushed off the truck. Shrugged. “You believed the same as everyone else.”
“Believed—” She sputtered, stared at me. “Are you kidding me? You came home with a baby! Why would you have an infant that’s not yours?”
I pointed at her. “That. Right there. You think I gave a shit then what people thought of me? Or now?”
“I thought you cared about what I thought.”
“I did.” I ran a hand over my face.
She huffed out a laugh. “You have a funny way of showing it.”
I sighed. “You found out Claire’s not my biological child. She’s legally mine though. I’m her daddy, and that’s all that matters. All she’ll ever know.”
I laced that with a hint of warning in case she had any ridiculous ideas.
“You walked away from me. Told me you were holding me back. You had no job besides working the ranch. The town knew you as a slacker.”
“Your father’s word, I believe,” I countered.
Tears welled in her eyes. “I tried, Huck. Tried to change your mind. I wanted you just as you were. God, I loved you.”
That hit my chest harder than any bullet.
“If I’d known the truth about the baby, it would have been different.”
I shook my head. “And yet I stopped being a slacker and got my shit together. You didn’t come to me until last night.”
She stared at me. I doubt she even blinked. I hadn’t been able to tell her the truth. I’d walked so her family didn’t get ripped to shreds back then, and it wouldn’t make a difference now.
“What I want to know is when you’ll be in my bed again.” She wasn’t the only one who wanted answers. “This time to stay.”
Her mouth dropped open. Then closed. Then open again. “I don’t want that!”
I smirked. “Really? Your nipples and dripping pussy last night said otherwise.”
“How dare you!”
“You’re the one that bought me, baby girl. For five hundred dollars, you at least deserve a little dick, don’t you think?”
She came over and slapped me across the face. It rocked my head to the side and stung like a bitch, but I’d made my point.
I took hold of her shoulders and pulled her close. “Why are you so outraged? Because your plan backfired? You wanted to get back at me for keeping the secret about Claire, but you discovered you still have feelings for me.”
“Feelings of hatred.”
“And lust. You want me.”
“God, how does your ego fit in your truck with you?”
“If you didn’t want me, you wouldn’t have climbed into my bed. Knelt over my face.”
“Women can only get off if their feelings are involved?” she countered.
“I don’t give a shit about other women. I care about you. You can’t. You’re a one-man woman, baby girl.”
“You think that man’s you?”
“It always was. I just had to make something of myself. Make myself worthy.”
“Like I said, I loved you just the way you were. You didn’t have to prove anything to me.”
I shook my head. “Your father was right. But I got my shit together. Graduated the academy, became a deputy.”
She held up a hand. “Wait. What does my father have to do with this?”
“He’s always hated me. You knew that.” I shrugged, remembering his harsh words. “I proved him wrong. Then you proved me wrong when you didn’t come to me after that first year of school.”
“You keep saying this. There was no way I’d come back to you after what you did. What I thought you did.” She set her hand on my chest, tipped her chin up, and blinked. “Why do I have to repeat myself? I thought you’d been with someone else, wanted her enough to make a child.” She wilted then, as if she’d been deflated like a balloon.
“Claire’s mine. How that came to be doesn’t matter.”
“It does to me!” She sighed, blinked hard as if willing tears back. “It took me a long time to get over you, Huck. I can’t go through that again.” She looked down at the ground.
I remembered that time like it was yesterday. Sarah and I had spent the night together in the back of my pickup. I’d driven us onto the back forty on the ranch by a creek. I’d packed a late-night picnic and made a bed of old blankets. She’d given herself to me that night. It had been perfect. Hot as fuck. Sarah had been sweet in her innocence. Sexy.
A few days later her father had met me at the door. Told me to call it off. Threatened Sarah’s college chances. So I’d walked.
That had been my wake-up call. The one thing that I wanted, I wasn’t worthy of. So I’d tried to make myself worthy of her. I’d made something of myself so she could be proud of me. So my parents would have as well. I’d even saved an infant from a fucked-up life. One look at the tiny, squirming blonde bundle and I’d known it was going to be me. I’d just hoped it would also be Sarah.
I squeezed her shoulders. “So last night. Why’d you do it?”
“I found that paper in Kale’s truck. Seeing it and learning the
truth? I was so angry. All those years ago you made me think—”
“I didn’t make you think anything,” I countered. “You did it all by yourself. With your daddy’s help.”
“Don’t bring him into this.”
I agreed with her. Bill had pulled us apart before. I was thirty-fucking-two years old. I didn’t need to go through Sarah’s daddy to be with her any longer.
Pulling her into me, I leaned down and kissed her. I couldn’t be gentle, not now, not when I was desperate for her. My frustration and need, my longing and craving for this woman poured out of my kiss. I licked into her, remembered her taste. I tangled my fingers in her hair, and I angled her head as I wanted. I knew the second she gave over, her body all but melting into mine. I wrapped an arm around her to hold her up, pressed her curves into me.
“Fuck, baby girl, you’re so sweet,” I murmured in her ear right before I nipped it. Then I went back to her mouth. Feasting. Plunging. Consuming. I turned us and backed her into the side of my truck, and let my knee wedge between hers, and she began to ride my thigh.
I had no idea how long it went on for, but when my hand was up her dress and playing with the lacy edge of her panties, I remembered we were in a fucking parking lot.
I settled my forehead against hers.
“It’s just you and me, baby girl. Always has been.”
“Huck,” she whispered, licking her swollen lips.
“I think it’s time you had a little chat with your daddy.”
I could understand him wanting to protect his daughter. Hell, I’d probably do the same for Claire when she was eighteen and a guy was sniffing around her. I’d even have my service pistol out when I did it.
But I’d walked away just like he’d wanted. I hadn’t done it for him but for Sarah. Then I put myself on the path to make her mine by going to the academy, and it had all fallen to shit. I wouldn’t trade Claire for anything, but I’d always had what-ifs. I did now, especially with her in my arms.
Sarah wasn’t a kid any longer. She was a grown woman and knew the truth.
She shook her head. “You’re the one that walked. Who never believed in us. That I’d go to school and then run my own shop. That you’d be there for me.”
