by Stacy Gail
“It might be on the edge of town, but it’s only a mile away from where we’re sitting. Easy walking distance.”
“Walking? Why are you walking?”
“One, because Gus is too afraid to be in the same car with me, so he refuses to give me a ride to and from work. And two, until very recently Killian didn’t trust me not to hightail it out of town, so he’s never offered me the use of a vehicle. I wouldn’t want him to give me anything, anyway,” she added, scrunching her nose. “Whatever big-ticket items I’ve gotten in my life, I’ve always earned them all by myself. That’s the main reason why I wanted to have a job. Money means I can get myself some wheels, even if it’s crap. Having a car means freedom, and I’m all about freedom.”
“Killian should supply you with a car. I mean, he kidnapped you. And you’re here to offer up part of your body to Des, just in case he needs it. That alone is worth a freaking car.”
“I love Des, so if anyone ever dared to offer me anything in exchange for helping him out, I’d show them what a redhead’s temper looks like up close and personal.”
“Yikes. Remind me not to mess with you.”
“Yeah, I’m scary, all right.”
“And stubborn,” Celia sighed, shaking her head. “I suppose it doesn’t matter to you that the Brodys are billionaires, and one little car isn’t going to break them?”
Dallas felt her upper lip curl before she could stop it. “Their money can’t buy me anything I’d ever want. When it comes to a big thing like a car, I’m going to get it for myself, just like I did the last time I bought a car.” Then she sighed. “A car which is now in storage, according to Killian. About a week after I got here, he told me he’d taken care of it, and that he’d paid my rent for the next year, and is having all my bills forwarded to him, so maybe I shouldn’t sound so high and mighty about not taking a dime from a Brody. But in that instance, I had no choice in the matter. I do have a choice when it comes to getting my own ride, and I’m not going to be beholden to the Brodys if I can help it.”
“They’re the ones who owe you, but I get what you’re saying. Luckily for you, I know a guy,” Celia said, her onyx-colored eyes shining. “Total genius mechanic, and he rebuilds cars as a hobby. I even got my first car from him. I could have a word with him and explain your lack of transportation. He’s a little rough around the edges, but don’t let that put you off. He’s got a soft spot for underdogs.”
Dallas grimaced. “Is that what I am?”
“Hon, you got uprooted from your life, abandoned in a house that’s not yours, and now you’re sitting having coffee with a woman you don’t know while wearing Pikachu pajamas that your freaking kidnapper bought for you.”
“If you think the pajamas are bad, I won’t even tell about the granny panties he ordered for me.”
Celia looked like she was about to faint. “Holy crap. You are the epitome of underdog, and my friend Coe won’t stand for it. I’m going to give him a call later to see what kind of cars he has available on the cheap. Maybe he’ll even loan one to you. But as of right now,” she added grimly, snagging her phone out of her back pocket, “you and I are going online to do some emergency shopping. No woman should be forced to wear Pikachu jammies and granny panties. Better still, we’re going to put it all on Ry’s credit card, because he deserves whatever hurt we can give him, right along with Killian. Sound good?”
“I seriously love you,” Dallas blurted, nearly in tears at the thought of having underwear that fit. “I mean... Thank you, yes. That sounds really, really good.”
“This is ridiculous.” Killian stomped back downstairs to the foyer and let his anger build. It was the only way to stave off the worry. “Where the fuck did they go?”
Ry came into the foyer from the newly finished office. “Knowing Celia, she probably dragged Dallas out of here the first chance she got so they could talk smack about us in private.”
“Call her.”
“Yeah, about that.” Ry grimaced and suddenly looked like he had a bad rash in a sensitive area. “She’s uh, not talking to me right now. And it’s kinda your fault.”
Killian stared at him. “How the fuck is it my fault your wife isn’t talking to you?”
“Yeah, good question.” Fin showed up in the foyer as well, absently tucking his phone into his back pocket as went. “What’d you do this time to get Celia pissed at you?”
“It was Kill who did something, not me.”
What the hell. “What did I do?”
“You kidnapped Dallas. I lied to Celia about it to cover your criminal ass.”
Fin whistled. “Bad shit happens when you lie to your wife, man. Lilah and I aren’t married yet, but even I know that much.”
Ry gave him a dirty look. “Oh, so you told Lilah all about how our idiot brother up and plucked some poor, innocent woman clean off her feet, tossed her into a truck and sped off before she could even scream for help?”
“I didn’t give her that much detail, but Lilah knows our idiot brother well enough to read between the lines. Remember, Kill accidentally kidnapped Lilah right before she nearly died in a flash flood. He’s got a history of being an idiot.”
“Idiot brother,” Killian repeated in the most threatening tone he could muster. “Are you two really going to go with that?”
Ry shot him a spectacular side-eye. “I went with idiot, because felonious kidnapper of innocent young women sounds so much worse. You’re welcome.”
Damn it. “For the record, Dallas told me she was coming back to Bitterthorn to help Des out anyway, all right?”
Fin slow-blinked. “Wait. So...are you now saying you didn’t kidnap her?”
“I’m saying that if you look at it from that perspective, it’s more like I gave Dallas a ride before she knew for certain she was going to need one. Whatever,” he snapped when his brothers simply looked at him. Hell, he knew he’d done the unforgivable by forcing her to come with him, and he’d had more than a few sleepless nights remembering Dallas’s very real terror when she’d fought like a demon to get away from him. He’d deserved the loose tooth and dislocated thumb she’d given him, and then some. “Look, just call her, all right? I want them located, now.”
“You want who located now?” Freshly showered and dressed in jeans, a plain white T-shirt and boots—the basic uniform he’d ordered online for her to wear—Dallas wandered into the foyer with Celia by her side. Her still-damp ruby red hair curled and waved around her porcelain-perfect face, and he almost groaned aloud at the sight of her. How was it possible that a woman could look devastating while wearing the most boring clothes he’d been able to find? “Who’s missing?”
“You are.” Without a qualm, he crossed to her and had her backed up against the foyer wall so fast he wasn’t even sure how they got there. “I couldn’t find you. I can’t get my eyes on you, I get tense. I don’t like being tense.”
“You don’t say.” Those peridot eyes of hers locked onto his like he was the only thing in the room worth seeing. “Haven’t you figured out yet that I have no intention of running away? I know you don’t trust me, but haven’t you figured out at least that much?”
“This doesn’t have a damn thing to do with trust. I know you’re solid.” He leaned in, just a little, and every nerve in his body went into overdrive when her clean soap and baby powder scent filled his senses. Goddamn, she smelled like heaven. “I just don’t like not knowing where you are.”
“I was in my rooms with Celia.”
“Rooms?” Somewhere along the way he’d leaned both hands on the wall on either side of her head. He bent his elbows so that he could drop his head closer to hers, and he took his time breathing her in. “I was upstairs and didn’t find you. What rooms?”
The sound of her swallow made him smile. “The rooms behind the kitchen. A nanny’s suite, or maybe a mother-in-law suite. We were shopping for... um...”
“What?”
She bit her lip. “Underwear.”
The word h
it him like a wall of fire.
“Out,” he barked over his shoulder, but couldn’t manage to tear his gaze away from Dallas as sounds of a mass exodus reached his ears. “Underwear?” he said when he heard the front door close.
“Well, yeah. To put it bluntly, the kind you picked up for me suck.”
“Tell me what you bought.”
“Don’t worry, you’re not getting the bill.” The words all but shot out of her, like they couldn’t get out fast enough. “Since Celia’s mad at her husband, Ry is the one who’s going to get stuck with my underwear bill.”
“I will pay that bill, not Ry. I’ll ask you again.” He leaned closer, and his temperature skyrocketed when he felt her breath feather across his lips. “What did you buy?”
“Just something that fit.” Her gaze at last left his, and the fever blowing up inside him went nuclear when her attention latched onto his mouth. “It’s your fault I had to buy new ones. You bought me these horrible, saggy things that could double as a freaking tent. I have no clue what possessed you to buy them.”
“I had my reasons.” As he stood there, he realized those reasons no longer mattered. “Tell me what you bought.”
“Not granny panties.”
“Details, Spice.”
“Um...”
“It’s okay.” Something unbearably sweet moved in him when color flooded her cheeks. Never in a million years would he have guessed she could be shy. “I won’t tell anyone.”
That adorable color in her face intensified, and it was a remarkable thing to watch. “Just... I just bought underwear that fit, that’s all. I like hipsters, bikinis and thongs, so... yeah. That’s what I got. No big deal.”
“I don’t like hipsters, baby, so you won’t be wearing those. They don’t show enough cheek for my tastes.”
It was ridiculous, how cute she was when her jaw dropped. “Did you hear what you just said?”
“I was here when I said it.”
“But...wait.” She gave her head a shake, as if trying to clear it. “Okay, let’s remember something important here. You don’t like me.”
“I don’t?” That was news to him.
“I’m Delphine Faircloth’s daughter. That means you’re not even going to know when I’m wearing hipsters, or anything else, so this conversation is pointless.”
“I no longer give a flying fuck who your parents were, or mine. You know why?”
“Uh...”
“Because they don’t matter. You’re Dallas. You’re the woman who didn’t run when she could have. You’re the skilled professional who helped the ranch out, for free, when we needed it. You’re the protective big sister who’s so sweet and good-hearted, you love a brother who doesn’t even remember you. You’re you, with all your weird quirks and surprising layers. You’re not Delphine, so it’s time to put that ghost to rest.”
She did some kind of magic with her eyes. As he watched, they seemed to soften and glow in a way he’d never forget. “Thank you. That’s good to hear.”
“And as for this conversation being pointless, you’re wrong again. There will come a time when I will, most definitely, be seeing what underwear you’re wearing, so remember—I don’t like hipsters.”
That was all it took to bring the fire back. “Then that’s all I’m going to wear.”
“Try it, Spice,” he invited, delighted. At least she hadn’t told him no. “How many thongs did you get? I have all kinds of love for thongs.”
“Once they come in, I’ll be happy to let you borrow some.”
Smartass. “Thanks so much for that generous offer, but I would need something far more...substantial to take care of what I got going on.”
Her breath caught, and the sound of it nearly gave him cardiac arrest. “Bragging?”
“Honest.”
“Wow.” She rolled her lips in between her teeth, as if she needed something at that moment to be in her mouth. He almost groaned out loud as his dick began to throb. “That’s...something to think about.”
“About my cock?” he asked, and smiled when the red once again flooded her face. “That’s good to hear, Spice. I want you thinking about it. You know why I want you thinking about it?”
“Because you’re a man, and that’s what all men think about?”
“Careful.” His hand was in her hair, gripping it with just enough force to make her gasp and lift her face to his. With his free hand he pressed his thumb to her lips, pushing against that soft flesh, and he couldn’t get enough of its crushed-silk texture. “I love your spicy sass, you have no idea. But don’t ever make the mistake of comparing me to anyone else. You’ve never known a man like me, because there’s never been another man like me. Understand?”
The faint shake of her head was endearingly baffled. “Honest answer? Not even a little.”
“Guess I have to show you what I mean.” With that, he bent and caught her mouth with his, the one thing he’d craved since he’d last had that mouth under his.
God.
God.
This was what it was to be brushed with heaven.
Kissing Dallas was like his very own private miracle—beauty, joy, an immediate welcoming and a sweet, giving softness. Never had a single kiss given him so much. It was as if a part of him had been waiting for this exact woman and this exact mouth, and her headlong response told him without words that she was in the same boat. This touching, this intimacy... It was right. No matter what the circumstances were, and no matter what logic told him, that one phrase hammered in his blood.
This was right.
When he at last broke contact, Killian discovered her arms had come around him—one around his waist and the other straining hard around his neck, as if she didn’t want the kiss to end.
Excellent.
“Now,” he said quietly. “Look me in the eye and tell me if you’ve ever had a man kiss you the way I do—like he’s searching for your soul and won’t stop until he finds it. Like he wants to kiss you so hard you’re feeling it in the wee hours of the morning when you can’t sleep. Tell me it’s easy to compare me to any other man you’ve ever known. I’ll wait.”
“You’ll be waiting a long, long time.” The words came out on a tremulous breath. “You’ve convinced me. I’ve never met a man quite like you. I just don’t know if that’s a good thing.”
“Yeah?” With a surprising reluctance he eased back, and he couldn’t help but grin when she didn’t immediately let him go. Then her arms abruptly dropped, her expression becoming guarded, but not before he caught the flash of confusion in her eyes. “Only you can decide that. But you should know I’m going to make sure you’ll have plenty of opportunity to figure it out in a way that lands in my favor.” Before she could answer, he caught her around the nape and planted one last kiss on that sweet mouth. “Fin and Lilah will drop by later to go over the finer points of our operation here at the ranch, something you’ll need to be up on by the time you start work on Monday. Have a good day, Spice. I’ll see you later.”
Chapter Six
“Good morning, thank you for calling Green Rock Ranch. How may I help you?” Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, Dallas stuck the last pin into her hair before grabbing a can of hairspray. She’d twisted it into a French braid, then tucked the plait under at her nape. Her mane of hair might be Merida-level wild, but today it wasn’t going anywhere. “Thank you for calling Green Rock ranch, home of Pure Angus and Black Angus stud services. No, wait. Stud services sounds weird. If they want stud services, they can bring that up themselves.”
It was stupid how nervous she was. For crying out loud, she hadn’t even gone looking for a job, so it wasn’t like she was emotionally invested in making it work. It was temporary. Everything in her life was temporary. That was the way it had always been, so there was no point in caring too much about...well, anything.
But damn, she wanted to do a good job for Killian.
No, she automatically corrected herself. Not for Killian. Not for anyo
ne. She just wanted to do a good job. Excelling at Green Rock Ranch felt absolutely vital.
Why, though?
Why the hell was she tying herself in knots?
Apart from the ranch being a legend and its dominance in the cattle industry helped in the founding of Texas, it was also part of her little brother’s heritage. That meant something. Not to her, of course. As the official “spare parts” person who wouldn’t otherwise be there, she didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. But...
This ranch mattered.
She’d spent the majority of her weekend memorizing everything Lilah and Celia could give her when it came to the ranch’s operation. There were two distinct business arms of Green Rock Ranch—the Black Angus stud farm, which was the greatest stud farm in North America, and Pure Angus, the new organic Black Angus beef line that currently had just a few clients, but had huge growth potential.
After drilling all the facts and figures of her new job into her head—from how many head of cattle they currently had in the organic herd to the three names of the stud bulls—Dallas had no idea if all that prep work was still going to be good enough for her to handle Green Rock Ranch’s business.
The test of her readiness would happen today.
This morning.
In just a few minutes.
Oh, boy.
A muffled shout of her name snapped her attention away from the kamikaze butterflies in her stomach. With one last glance in the mirror, she left the bathroom and headed out into the main part of the house, only to come to a halt at the kitchen doorway. Killian was coming in through the opposite door, a coffee mug with a bow attached to it in hand. He and his brothers had been MIA all weekend—a cattle convention in Dallas, according to Celia. The moment she locked gazes with him, the anxiety that had been tying her in knots abruptly vanished as if it had never been.
If I can’t get my eyes on you, I get tense.
Hastily she shook her head, dispelling the errant memory.
“Dallas Faircloth, reporting for duty.” She saluted, then did a quick circle. “How do I look? Professional enough for the Green Rock Ranch brand?” Celia had lent her a gray pencil skirt, which was perfect for the simple white blouse she’d been wearing when Killian had first abducted her. She’d also been wearing black heels, which didn’t quite have that summer look, but it was either the heels, or the sneakers or cowgirl boots that Killian had ordered for her.
