Kaylee: I’m not the freaking post office. Come get it and you’ll be sure to find out.
Okay, so she was indeed pissed at me for avoiding her. Best to keep it short and sweet.
Me: I’ll be by in a bit to pick it up.
She didn’t reply, which was fine by me. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with bickering back and forth on text messages. The memories of that morning before my dad and Tanner showed up still rocked me to my core.
Once I got into my truck and started it, I called Brock.
“Hey, big brother, how was the class today?”
I groaned. “It would be fine if they stuck to the lesson for the day.”
He laughed.
I added, “Did you happen to order something big that might have gone to Kaylee’s house?”
“No. Let me ask Lincoln if she did. Are you heading back to the ranch now?”
“Well, I had another errand to run but thought if the package was yours, it might be better for you to go and get it.”
“She’s still pissed at you?” Brock asked.
“Of course she is—it’s Kaylee we’re talking about.”
He sighed. “Ty, the two of you need to talk about what almost happened.”
It was my turn to sigh as I scrubbed my hand down my face, then stroked the stubble on my chin. I hadn’t felt like shaving this morning, so I had a heavy five-o’clock shadow going on.
I’d told Brock about what had almost happened between me and Kaylee, and about how, by the grace of God, our father and Tanner had shown up and stopped anything from progressing between us.
“Nothing happened, so why talk about it?”
“You do know that sometimes you’re a real asshole?”
“Yes, I do, and that’s why it’s better to keep my relationship with Kaylee as nothing more than friends.”
“And that’s what you truly want?”
No.
“Yes.”
“You always were a terrible liar, Ty.”
“Can you just ask your wife about the package?”
I heard the screen door open and shut. “Hey, baby, did you order anything big that might have gone to Kaylee’s house?”
Blayze was in the background, laughing. He and Lincoln must have been outside enjoying the nicer weather.
“Is Morgan sleeping?”
“Yeah, she’s been taking longer naps lately. It’s been kind of nice, I’m not gonna lie.”
I chuckled.
“Lincoln said she hasn’t ordered anything.”
“Shit,” I mumbled. “Did you want to head on over and pick it up?”
“Who’s it from?”
“I don’t know—she wouldn’t tell me. Said something about her not being the post office.”
He laughed. The fact that he found any of this amusing pissed me off.
“I’m glad you think this is funny, Brock.”
“Sorry, dude, but it is. If only you would just—”
“I’ve got to go. Talk to you later.”
I hung up before he could say anything more about talking shit out, then tossed my phone down. “Shit.”
I put the truck in drive and headed back to the ranch. When I got to the driveway that led down to Kaylee’s house, I almost didn’t make the turn, my nerves getting the best of me.
“Stop being a pussy,” I said as I floored it and raced down the driveway. I knew it might be something Dad had ordered for the ranch.
After parking right in front of her place, I got out of the truck and took a look at the newly repaired roof. Lincoln had offered to pay to fix it, but Brock had said Kaylee told her no: she had already committed to buying the house, and it was hers to fix. I admired the shit out of her for taking responsibility for it.
I walked up the steps and looked around at the plants on the porch and smiled. What was it about women and the first signs of spring that made them start putting flowers out?
Sitting next to the door was, in fact, a large package with my name on it. From a saddle company in Billings.
“Damn you, Tanner.”
There was no doubt in my mind that my little brother had sent this to Kaylee’s house on purpose. I picked up the box and carried it down to my truck. It was large and awkward, and I almost fell twice. My leg was bugging me for some reason today, and the dull ache seemed to show up anytime I went a few days not thinking about the accident. It was like a bitch slap to remind me yet again of my past.
After putting the saddle into the back of my truck, I went to get in but stopped. It would be pretty damn shitty of me to leave and not even let Kaylee know I had gotten the package.
With a frustrated sigh, I shut the door to my truck and walked back up to her door. I knocked, but she didn’t answer. Glancing back toward the barn, I saw her BMW SUV parked there, so I knew she was home. I knocked again, this time harder.
Nothing.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called her.
“Hello?”
She sounded like she had me on speakerphone.
“Why do you sound like you’re in a can?”
“Probably because I’m trying to stop this leak.”
“What leak?”
“It’s nothing.”
I rolled my eyes, then reached for the door. It was unlocked.
“You really need to lock your front door.”
“Are you in my house? I didn’t invite you in, Ty Shaw.”
“Clearly you did by leaving your front door unlocked,” I said, making my way up the steps.
“Damn it, Ty. Go away.”
I hung up the phone and pushed it back into my jeans pocket. I walked into her bedroom and straight into her bathroom. I’m not going to lie: I was hoping she’d be in nothing more than those lace panties again.
Instead, what I found was Kaylee sitting on the floor, trying to use a wrench to stop the spray of water coming from the hose she had hooked up from the wall to her bidet.
“Shit, I forgot to hook that up for you,” I said, trying to take the wrench from her.
“I got it!” she shouted, water now spraying both of us.
“Obviously, sweetheart, you don’t. Let me have it.”
Kaylee shot me a dirty look. “I’m not your sweetheart. You can leave, Ty. I’ve got this.”
“Kaylee, will you just let me help you with that?”
She looked up at me, pure determination in her eyes. “I can handle this. I don’t need your help.”
“Clearly you do. You’re going to flood this whole bathroom, and then it’s going to leak downstairs, and you haven’t even let the ink dry on the contract from buying this place yet.”
Kaylee tried harder. If she ended up breaking it, things were going to go from bad to worse.
“Shit! Come on, you stupid thing!”
“Just let me help.”
“I’ve got it!”
She jerked again, and again it didn’t move. I could see the frustration beginning to build on her face.
“For fuck’s sake, will you just stop being afraid to admit that you need help and let me get it tightened? You’re being childish.”
She let go of the wrench to say something to me, and I grabbed it. “Let me get in there.”
When she moved, she shot me a look that said a million and one things, number one being to fuck off.
When I got the water to stop spewing, I stood and wiped my face off with my shirt. I was frustrated as fuck that she just couldn’t have moved over and let me fix the damn thing.
“I don’t understand why you’re so afraid to ask for help.”
Her fists balled up at her sides, and her face turned red as a tomato. Oh, hell. I just poked a little too hard at the bees’ nest.
“I’m not afraid to ask for help! My whole life, I’ve never had to ask for help, because no one ever let me do a fucking thing! I’m capable of doing things, you know!”
This was a side of Kaylee I’d never witnessed before. The girl on the verge of losing her s
hit.
She threw up her hands and let out a frustrated scream, causing me to take a step away from her. If I wasn’t careful, she might start swinging.
“It got stuck, that’s all. If you’d given me a minute and let me think, instead of trying to do it for me, I would’ve gotten it. I’ve managed to do plenty on my own, and I don’t need . . . I don’t need . . .”
I smirked, and I had no idea why. But I couldn’t stop myself from poking her a little more. “You don’t need what, Miss Independent?”
Tears filled her eyes, and I instantly felt like a dick. A big fucking dick who needed to have his ass kicked.
“I don’t need you. I can do this if you would just have faith in me, John! Why can’t you just believe in us!” She shook her head. “I mean, in me! Why can’t you just believe in me?”
She turned around and wrapped her arms around her body, clearly trying to keep from crying. Then she started to breathe, deeply. One deep breath in, one long one out. I knew that technique all too well. She was trying to keep herself from losing her shit. It was something I had done a number of times after the accident. My physical therapist was all about breathing techniques to calm yourself down and to relax the mind.
I slowly walked up to her and put my hands on her shoulders. Her body tensed. After turning her to face me, I placed my finger under her chin and lifted her face to meet my gaze. There were so many things I wanted to say to her. How much she meant to me. How much I wanted to hold her in my arms and tell her everything was okay.
But how could I, when my own mind was filled with so many doubts?
“I have faith in you, Kaylee. Please don’t ever doubt that.”
She was one of the strongest women I’d ever met. The fact that she’d picked up and left her family to start a new life in Montana alone showed what an incredible woman she was. A single tear slipped free and made a slow trail down her cheek. It killed me to see her cry. I didn’t like knowing I was the cause of that tear.
This was why she was better off without me. She deserved someone who didn’t make her cry or piss her off.
Another tear fell, and I used the pad of my thumb to wipe it away.
Kaylee licked her lips and gazed up at me like all I had to do was kiss her and everything would be all right. And it would, for a little while. We’d forget all the shit in the world for a little bit. Get lost in each other. Then reality would set in. She’d see the side of me that no one ever saw, that no one knew. The side that hid all the pain and hurt. The doubt and loneliness.
If I showed her that side of me, what would she do?
I wasn’t about to open myself up for more hurt to find that answer.
“I’ll go ahead and go. I’m sorry I upset you.”
Before I took a few steps back, I kissed her forehead and turned to leave, but I stopped and looked at her once more and said, “I’m not John.”
She sucked in a breath and took a step away from me. “Wh-what?”
“You called me John.”
“I . . . I didn’t mean . . . I didn’t mean to call you that.”
With a nod, I turned and headed out of her room and down the stairs.
When I reached for the front door, her voice stopped me.
“Wait. Don’t go.”
I closed my eyes. I knew if I stayed, and she asked me to do anything, I’d do it. Whatever she asked, I’d fall at her feet and beg her to let me in. And with the way she had been looking at me a few moments ago, I knew what she would be asking.
Her hand gently lay over mine on the doorknob, causing me to open my eyes and look down at her.
“I’m asking you to stay.”
“Why?” My voice was rough and broken sounding.
“Because I need you, Ty.”
I shook my head. “No, you don’t need someone like me, Kaylee. I’m pretty fucked up.”
Her teeth dug into her lower lip as she looked down at the floor and then back up at me. Her eyes were filled with the same heat as that night at the Blue Moose. I’d almost taken her that night, but the searing kiss she’d given me had pulled me out of the haze this woman seemed to be able to put me in. It made me realize that Kaylee had the power to completely destroy me if she wanted to. I couldn’t think around her, and I needed to have a clear head.
She removed her hand from mine, and I tried hard not to let the disappointment show on my face. I expected her to step aside and let my sorry ass leave.
Instead, she stepped between me and the door and pulled her wet T-shirt over her head.
My eyes drifted down her beautiful body. Her nipples were straining against her white lace bra, making my cock instantly hard. I’d never in my life wanted a woman as desperately as I wanted Kaylee. Those blue eyes seemed to penetrate straight into my fucking soul.
“Kaylee,” I managed to get out, my voice sounding shaky, like my self-control was balancing on a thin wire.
Then her hands went to her sweatpants, and she pushed them down.
“Me fucking you isn’t going to fix anything,” I said, looking directly into her eyes.
“Then I’ll fuck you, because it might not fix anything, but I’m tired of wanting you. Needing you.”
A low growl formed at the back of my throat as she said that while pushing her bra straps down her shoulders, placing those perfect tits on display for me.
I shook my head and took a step back.
The fight was over when she shimmied out of the lace panties.
My self-control shredded into a million tiny pieces as I took two steps toward her and pressed my mouth to hers.
Her arms wrapped around my neck, and I picked her up, her legs instinctively wrapping around me.
“Yes, Ty. God, yes,” she panted.
This was wrong. So fucking wrong, and at the same time, so damn right.
One thing I knew for sure: this woman deserved to be in her own bed, and not fucked against the front door of her house.
I turned and headed toward the stairs, then raced up them. She held on to me tightly, her body pressed against mine. The heat between us electric.
After walking back into her bedroom, I stopped long enough to shut the door. It wasn’t like anyone would be walking in on us, but you never knew when my family would magically appear.
Slowly, I laid her on the bed, then reached behind me and pulled my shirt over my head, tossing it to the floor. “I’m no good for you.”
“So you keep saying, but so far what I’m feeling from you is very, very good,” she replied, giving me a sexy smirk.
“I can’t do a relationship, Kaylee, so if you aren’t looking for just sex, tell me to stop now, because that’s all I can give you. One night. I can only give you one night.”
Her eyes moved over the upper part of my body with pure lust. She got on her knees and started to unbuckle my belt, then undid my jeans. I’m pretty sure I stopped breathing momentarily as I watched her every movement.
“Kaylee.”
“Stop talking, Ty.”
She pushed my jeans and boxers down all at once, causing my cock to spring out. She licked her lips, her eyes never leaving my dick, and my knees shook.
Then, before I could even get my thoughts straight, she took me in her mouth—and my whole body jerked in response to her heat.
That perfect mouth wrapped around my dick, and she moaned like I was the best thing she’d ever tasted.
I closed my eyes and prayed I wouldn’t lose my load in her mouth right that second. It had been too damn long since I’d been with a woman, and only one woman had been on my mind for months. Now the subject of my thoughts was on her knees, sucking me off, and it was taking Herculean strength to not blow my load in record time.
“Fucking hell,” I whispered, slipping my fingers into her blonde hair. She wrapped her hand around my shaft and took me slow, like she was savoring the taste of me on her tongue. I groaned and let her do what she wanted. I needed her to slow down—hell, I actually needed her to stop altogether. But t
his felt so damn good. Too damn good. Sinful, almost.
Grabbing her hair, I tugged her off my cock.
“Fuck, baby, I’m going to come if you don’t stop, and this can’t be over before I even get started with you.”
She looked up at me and smiled as she crawled back onto her bed. I kicked off my boots, then the jeans and boxers she’d pulled down, and joined her on the bed.
“My turn,” I said in a husky voice. I needed to take back some semblance of control here so I could slow this train down and enjoy her body. Every last inch of it.
Kaylee bit down on that lip and spread herself open to me. Her confidence in bed was a huge turn-on. I loved that she knew exactly what she wanted and wasn’t shy about it. At all.
I knew I should have stopped us; she deserved more than a casual fuck. But I couldn’t deny myself. Tasting her, fucking her, making love to her. I wanted all of it. All of her, even if just for one night. If I could get just one taste of her, one feel of her, it would appease the want that seemed to grip my chest every time she was around.
Just. One. Taste.
The moment my tongue swept over her, though, I knew I would never be satisfied with any other woman again.
Kaylee Holden was going to destroy me in one night.
“Oh God!” she panted, her fingers digging into my scalp, pulling me.
I licked and sucked, my hands holding her hips in place as she attempted to get closer, only to draw away when her orgasm became too much.
Ultimately, she gave in and welcomed everything I was giving her. She cried out my name, and I freaking loved the sound of it falling from her lips as she tumbled over the edge with her moans and whimpers of pleasure. It was like music to my ears.
I’d always paid attention when giving a woman pleasure. What did they like, what made them come harder? What sounds did they make as they were getting ready to come? It wasn’t for my own pleasure, though. It was for theirs. But with Kaylee, her sounds did something to my chest. To my beating heart, which seemed to beat faster and harder as she cried out my name.
With soft kisses placed on her velvet skin, I moved myself up her body. I took one nipple into my mouth as I twisted and pulled the other, causing her to whimper my name again. God, the way she responded to every single thing I did to her. A soft moan, a whimper, my name whispered from her lips. I fucking loved all of it.
Always Enough Page 11
