Gruff Ass in Love

by Sasha Burke

  I do a double take. “No. I had no idea.”

  “Just as I thought. Well, upon your grandfather’s death, the rights naturally then passed on to your mother. And then when your mother died…”

  I gape into the phone. “Are you saying the mineral rights for Cade’s property still belongs to my family?”

  “Not just your family, but you specifically, Katelyn. They belong to you.”

  “But Cade never said a thing. I’ve been sneaking onto his ranch for months now. He knows my name. Why wouldn’t he have confronted me about it?” Being direct is kind of his thing.

  “Weird as it sounds, it’s possible he doesn’t know. I did a little further digging and it looks like he paid in cash for the ranch, no questions asked. In most land sales, mineral rights follow the land rights, unless otherwise noted. Given the quick sale in cash, and frankly, the not-so-reputable seller he was dealing with, he may not have known the mineral rights had been detached one sale prior. From the contract itself, which looks far too basic for a sale of this size, to be honest, I’m not even sure his lawyers did their due diligence, which is rather alarming given Mr. Walker’s net worth.”

  It’s not totally outside of the realm of possibilities given how quickly Cade had dropped his old life. “It is possible he didn’t run the deal by his lawyers. His brother died protecting the animals on that property. After that, Cade simply walked away from his life in the city and bought the ranch.”

  “I see. Well, that certainly explains the hasty purchase. And given what I’ve read about the previous owner, he probably wasn’t forthcoming about the mineral rights still belonging to your family, which he should’ve disclosed.”

  Jesus, every time he says it, I feel a confusing stab in my gut. The fact that I still have something connecting me to my family is just…more than I ever thought possible.

  After Mom and I had to leave the ranch to move to the city, there wasn’t a night that passed that I didn’t dream about being back there. Growing up, I remember most of my friends wanting barbies and a bicycle while I wanted rock kits and a sleeping bag. And though I don’t still talk to anyone I grew up with, I imagine most of them still have at least some family. I’ve got no one, nothing to hold onto.

  But now I have this. The mineral rights of over fifteen thousand acres that my granddad had loved enough to hold onto and pass down to my mother and me.

  My mind is spinning.

  Because the truth of the matter is that if the current owner were anyone else but Cade, I’m sure I wouldn’t feel at all conflicted about all this. But I am. Very conflicted.

  At my prolonged silence, Professor Cooper asks gently, “What’s wrong? Tell me what’s bothering you about all this. I thought you’d be happy.”

  “If it were anyone else but Cade, I’d claim my family’s mineral rights in a heartbeat.”

  “Why should that stop you? Didn’t you tell me the other day that Cade himself had said you could keep whatever rocks you find on his property? I know it’s not quite the same thing, but from everything you’ve told me about the man, I really don’t think he’d care one way or another which of you own the rights. Essentially, nothing would change between you two. Unless…” He stops before saying what I know he’s thinking.

  “No, I wouldn’t dig up all his land. And you’re right. Nothing would change. Cade will probably not care one bit who owns his mineral rights.”

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  I sigh. “The problem is that California is a community property state.”

  A hiss of understanding echoes over the phone line. “You really think your father would re-enter your life just to fight you over these rights?”

  For fifteen thousand acres of mineral rights? Wish I could say I knew my father well enough to say definitively one way or another. But the truth is that I don’t really know. If we’re going by history, I’d have to assume he would.

  “Since he and my mom didn’t officially get divorced until after my grandparents died, and I can’t prove she didn’t know that she was in ownership of those mineral rights before the divorce attorneys split everything up, I’m pretty sure he’s going to say he deserves half.”

  The real issue is what he could do with his half of the rights. “If my father decides he wants to get a judge to let him dig up some of Cade’s land just so he can see if there’s anything of value to excavate fully, I’d have to fight him in court. I barely have enough money to pay my bills; I don’t have the funds for a long, drawn-out legal battle. You and I both know how long mineral rights lawsuits can go, and how ugly they can get.”

  “No reasonable judge would allow him to get too carried away though. Especially if Cade has his lawyers defending his land rights.”

  “Not unless my father finds something worth doing a full excavation for.”

  “You think there’s something to be found?”

  When I don’t reply right away, he sighs grimly, “Katelyn, if you already believe there is something of value, a judge will rule in your father’s favor to at least have an evaluation done to determine potential resources. Yes, they’ll be restricted in how much disruption they can do to the land, but—”

  “Any disruption would be too much,” I maintain resolutely. “Even for a preliminary evaluation, they’d still have to dig up the area any trained geologist would logically check first. And that’s the one area Cade’s the most protective of. Where the wild horses run. The same wild horses his brother died trying to protect. And when they find minerals worth mining—which my gut, and my granddad’s gut, says they will—there won’t be anything stopping my father from excavating till he’s pillaged that land bare.”

  And in the process, destroying everything of value to Cade, and to me.

  “Lord, what a mess. Here I thought I was going to be delivering good news to you tonight. I’m so sorry, Katelyn. Had I known…”

  “No, don’t apologize. It’s good you found out first. I’m glad I know.” Because now I can come up with a plan.

  Just imagining all that beautiful land torn up practically makes my mind up for me. “I just have to get my father to sign over his half of the rights to me,” I announce. Simple as that.

  Of course I’m not naïve enough to think he’ll do that out of the goodness of his heart. “He’ll want money in exchange. As much as he can get.” That’s the semi-simple part. “Which is why I can’t get Cade involved in any of this.”

  That’s the hard part.

  “Katelyn, do you really think it’s a good idea to try to go at this alone? Cade’s got a ton of resources at his disposal. Hell, he could probably take your father to the cleaners in court.”

  Probably. But who knows what my father will do when he finds out that he’s got half the mineral rights of a billionaire’s land. When it comes to the man who literally left me and my mother like a thief in the night, anything’s possible.

  I need to fix this without Cade getting involved. He’s suffered enough loss already without someone like my father desecrating everything he holds dear. I can’t put that on Cade. I won’t. He already tortures himself enough with his demons.

  Mine I can slay with one phone call.

  “So let me get this straight.”

  I bite the inside of my mouth to keep the bile down when I hear the audible greed already bleeding into my father’s voice.

  “You call me up out of the blue to tell me that you just found out you and I own the mineral rights for that old dump in the boonies your grandparents used to own. And you want to give me the condo you live in now for my half of those rights?”

  “Yep. My apartment is worth anywhere between a hundred fifty grand to two hundred grand in the current market. In case you were wondering.” There, that should help push this deal along.

  “What’s the catch?” he asks suspiciously.

  “No catch. I own the condo free and clear; just finished paying off the mortgage last year.”

  “And you just want to trade y
our free and clear condo for a pile of rocks? You really expect me to believe that?”

  How little he knows me. “It’s the truth.” I’d do more for less rocks.

  “What do you take me for? An idiot? What’s wrong with your apartment? Is it a money pit? A shitbag place like that dump we had to live in with your grandparents?”

  “No! My apartment is in great condition.” Seriously, what on earth did my mother ever see in this man? “It’s a small one bedroom—that’s all mom could afford after the divorce—but it’s in a great neighborhood. And the building is really nice. You can check out the comps yourself.”

  Maybe it was my mention of the divorce, but his voice sounds a lot more reasonable when he says then, “I’ll have to send an appraiser to come check it out.”

  “Of course. I’ll be home all week.”

  “What’s the big rush?” Now he’s back to sounding dubious again.

  Pulling at strings, I say the first thing that comes to mind. “I’m graduating soon. With my master’s degree. And I’ve got a post-grad fellowship up north so I’ll be moving anyway.”

  “Oh. Well, congrats on that. Sounds like you did pretty good on your own.”

  Wow, so awkward. “Uh, thanks. So anyway, that’s why I want to get this taken care of as soon as possible.”

  “I still don’t think you’re telling me everything. Why are you wanting to give me your apartment for my half of these mineral rights? Is there oil on this land or something? You trying to pull one over on your old man?”

  “No. No oil.” I choose my words wisely. “There’s no gold either. But Granddad held onto those rights and passed it down to Mom. That’s all I have left of them. And while it may just be a pile of rocks to you, to me, it means something.”

  “Oh yeah, you were always into all that science-y geology stuff like your granddad.”

  “I still am. That’s what my master’s degree is in.”

  If it’s possible to hear a person roll their eyes on the phone, I’m hearing it now.

  “So that’s all this is?” he asks again, sounding less and less skeptical. “You just want those rights for the sentimental value and because you like studying rocks? Because I promise you, if you’re hiding something from me, I’ll find out. If you’re planning to excavate some big fortune after I sign my rights over, I’ll send my lawyers after you, believe you me. Not only will I get what’s mine, but I’ll get a judge to slap you with added damages for withholding information from me. So last chance to come clean if you’re just doing all this to try and rip me off.”

  Well, he just made this all a hundred percent easier. “I can assure you, I have no intention of ever excavating that land,” I say with complete honesty. “I can even put that promise in writing for your lawyers if that makes you feel better.”

  A quiet grunt is his only response to that.

  After a minute, finally, he says, “Yeah, okay. You got a deal. I’ll give you my half of your memories and rocks, and you give me your apartment. I’ll call my lawyer right now.”

  And I’ll get started packing up the only other home I’ve ever known.

  21

  | Cade |

  For the past week, Katelyn’s been distant.

  The end of her two weeks at the ranch came and went earlier in the week. And truth be told, a part of me hadn’t really expected her to leave.

  But she did. And she hasn’t been back since.

  Sure, before when she was trespassing, she’d only come by once or twice a week so it’s not as if she’s long overdue for a visit or anything. And the few times we’ve talked on the phone, she did say she’s just had a lot of work and school things to attend to. Still, I can’t shake the feeling that something’s wrong. I hate not knowing if she’s going through something and not telling me about it.

  More than that though, I really fucking hate that she’s not here. Not just on the ranch, but in my life as a whole.

  During the weeks she stayed at the ranch, she’d made the house a home, made it worth coming home to. Now, everything’s too quiet, too empty.

  Hanging up my jacket, I head to the kitchen, starved because I worked through supper again. Fourth time this week. But without Katelyn here, there isn’t much reason for me to come back to the house so I usually just stay out and work until I’m too beat to continue.

  And since I’ve been sleeping like shit without Katelyn in my bed with me every night, I’ve basically been exhausted to the point of being a total asshole to my men. Not that they’ve said anything. They know I miss the hell out of her. They do, too.

  When she was here, we all used to eat together like some big damn happy family at least a couple nights a week. Now that the guys are back to fending for themselves at mealtime, no one’s sat down to break bread together since.

  None of us are happy without her here.

  Yanking open the fridge even though I know it’s pretty much empty, I do a double take when I see all the shelves stocked to the brim with food, all of the containers with cutely vicious post-its addressed to my guys, warning them all that if they steal any of the food from me, she’ll cut them off of corn bread for a month.

  Goddamn, I’ve missed her.

  “You want me to heat up something for you?”

  I jerk my head up to the top of the stairs and see her standing there like a fucking dream. Slamming the fridge door shut, I take the steps two at a time to get to her.

  “You worked late tonight,” she says with a frown. “You must be so hungr—.”

  I crash my mouth onto hers and pick her up, wrapping her legs around my waist while I take her straight to my bedroom. When we get there, the only reason I stop kissing her is so I can step back and stare at her to make sure she’s really here.

  “You should’ve told me you were coming over.” I run my eyes over her face, making note of the signs of stress and sadness that weren’t there before. “I would’ve come home sooner.”

  “I wanted to surprise you. And since I forgot to give you back your key when I left—”

  “It’s yours,” I interrupt. “Keep it.”

  She blinks up at me, but doesn’t say anything.

  Katelyn being quiet for any reason is the last bit of evidence I need to know my gut’s been right. “What’s going on, sweetheart? Talk to me. I know something wrong.”

  “I’m just working through some things right now. I’ve got it handled. Don’t worry. It’ll all be over soon.”

  I get that she’s strong and independent. And I love that about her, respect the hell out of her for it. Regardless, being unable to help her is killing me.

  I study her drawn expression for a long time and just let every worst case scenario run through my head, worried now that it’s something I literally can’t help her with. “Baby, are you sick again? Because if you are, you shouldn’t be at your apartment alone. That time you had the flu, I couldn’t send my guys over half as often as I wanted. But if you stay here, we can all take shifts and keep an eye on you 24-7.”

  She smiles in surprise. “You sent them over that time?”

  “Of course. You were sick. But they were all happy to go; it’s not like I forced them or anything. You know how much they all adore you.”

  She sighs and leans forward to wrap her arms around my waist and settle her head against my chest. “I’ve missed you guys. All of you.”

  At her quiet, wistful tone, I’m officially losing my shit. “Baby, tell me what’s making you so sad. I can hear it in your voice.”

  “I promise I’ll tell you everything in a couple days. Just let me handle it.”

  “One more day,” I counter gruffly. “I’ll wait one more day. And even waiting that long is going to be near impossible for me, but we’ll do it your way for now. After that, you have to tell me something. Anything. Deal?”

  She sighs. “Okay. But for now, can we not talk about it? Can it just be about us right now? Because I’ve really missed you this past week.”

  “Jesus
, I’ve missed you too, sweetheart. I’ve been a miserable ass without you. I thought about kidnapping you and dragging you back here so I could chain you to my bed at least a dozen times since you left.”

  Shaking her head, she just laughs softly. “Always with the handcuffs.”

  “You like my cuffs.”

  “We both do.”

  Hell, this woman.

  She gives me a questioning look then. “You know, we never actually got a chance to have that talk you wanted. And now with my two weeks up, I wasn’t quite sure where we stood. If our temporary thing could keep going on or—”

  “Take off your clothes.”

  Her entire body trembles and her voice goes husky as she asks, “Are you sure you don’t want to set some ground rules first?”

  “Katelyn, I need to feel you coming on my cock. Need to. Not just want more than oxygen. Need. Now. Hearing you still call this thing between us temporary is making me fucking crazy. So take off your clothes, baby. Now.”

  She shudders and seems to go in a sexy little trance for a bit so I help her out by dragging all her clothes off for her, tasting every inch of her as I strip her bare.

  Christ, I’ve missed this. I don’t know how the hell I went so many days without her.

  Swallowing hard, I fight the urge to just slam my cock into her and pound her into the bed until we’re both coming so hard we wake up the whole damn ranch.

  Hell, I want to. And Katelyn’s definitely not making things any easier on me what with her slipping her hand between her legs before I’m even fully inside her.

  I’m nearly drunk with need now watching her rub her little clit just because she knows how insane that makes me. Gritting my teeth together while I struggle to maintain control, I force myself to go slow and slide into her inch by inch. Long, deep strokes only. I’m not going to mess up her first night back in my arms by putting my needs before hers.

  Bringing my lips down on hers, I feel a shiver race through her body when I hit that perfect angle that makes her even wetter. She’s already close to coming and shoving me right up to the edge along with her. Her back arches up into me and I feel her muscles gathering, her pussy tightening. Damn it, I love how responsive she is.