by Em Petrova
Chiseled jaw, straight nose. Eyes that were crinkled with his grin, and damn if the man didn’t have a dimple cut into one cheek like God Himself had taken a knife and nicked him.
He doffed his hat and held it high in the air. His dark brown hair was plastered to his head, but even the ring crushed around it was adorable as hell.
He can’t be more than Brant’s age. She’d never once looked at one of her son’s friends with a hint of attraction, though there were plenty who’d called her a MILF.
Lane mashed his hat back on and accepted his buckle, mouthing something.
Delaney leaned close to Kashley. “What did he say?”
“For Dad.” Her eyes glinted brighter with tears.
Now that Delaney did know. The Calhouns’ father had passed some years ago, and the brothers and sister had begun a ritual of gathering in a circle before the rodeo events began, saying a prayer and dedicating their hard work to their late father.
She felt her own eyes well.
Then the other Calhouns were called to the stage, and she was back to observing the women again. A leggy blonde hoisted a little brown-haired boy of about four up to the rail, while a chubby blonde cherub of a girl clapped and screamed for her daddy.
The only one who wasn’t blonde in the group was a petite woman with raven dreadlocks. She wore a maxi-skirt the color of golden wheat before harvest and a patterned top. But her torso was wrapped in fabric of yet another color and pattern, yet somehow all working together. And in the middle of her chest was a small bulge.
Delaney had seen enough African women to know she was wearing her newborn. When West’s name was announced, she didn’t yell his name but her lips moved, as if she were saying a prayer. The spiritual moment was broken when Kashley gripped Delaney’s arm again.
“Let’s go.”
“Where?” All the women and children were rushing around, gathering drinks and other litter, grabbing their kids close and making their way out.
“We want out of here before the crowd starts to move. Wynonna wasn’t awarded yet, but she understands. We’ll congratulate her in the back.”
Kashley tightened her grasp on her arm and started dragging her through the throng of people. This life was very different from anything Delaney had imagined for her niece. Marrying a Calhoun had seemed as natural as breathing—she’d always been close to Ridge growing up. But the camera flashes, the microphones thrust in their faces and a few super-sized men acting as bodyguards surprised her.
By the time they made it to their destination, Delaney felt stunned. She blinked several times to get her sight back after all the flashes.
One of the ladies laughed. “Your aunt’s shell-shocked.”
“She’s been Calhoun’d,” another said.
“Delaney, this is my family. Joy and the blue-eyed little Merry, Buck’s wife Channing and Buck Jr. He looks just like him, doesn’t he? And Addy May. Isn’t she perfectly chubby?” Kashley turned to Delaney.
Another woman came forward. “This is West’s wife Malou and their itty bitty daughter is called Cho.”
Malou pulled apart some fabric wrappings to reveal the face of the newborn, sleeping curled against her mother’s heart.
“It’s good to meet you all.” Delaney gave each woman a smile and took a few minutes to speak to the children. A thunder rolled toward them.
“Here come the Calhouns,” Kashley said.
They came in groups of three, striding with purpose to their set meeting place and their families. Camera crews and reporters ran along with them, which accounted for the thundering noise. And fans waved papers at them. Some of the guys scribbled signatures and hurried on, but Wynonna was the one taking time for the fans right now.
Delaney took it all in. She gnawed on her lower lip. She was beginning to feel a little claustrophobic. Was it rude to make an escape and text her niece saying she’d meet her later, after it all died down?
Then the family all huddled up. Kashley grabbed Delaney and yanked her into the group. The world got eerily quiet, and two cameras popped into the center, moving from face to face as Buck said a prayer.
“We thank God for our health and strength. For the people who came out to see us today.”
That got a cheer.
He went on, “For all of our supporters, especially our mom, who will be cookin’ us a fine meal as soon as we get home.”
Now he was just playing to the crowd.
He sobered. “Thank you for our wives and children.”
Kashley tensed under Delaney’s arm. She glanced at her face to see her lips were tight and she kept her eyes downcast. It had been over a year since she and Ridge had been trying for a baby, and after being with the Calhouns for a short time, Delaney understood why that baby was coveted. Family was everything to them.
Delaney would help her any way possible. As a midwife, she had methods, but if God didn’t mean for them to have children, then they’d need to explore other avenues. At least it seemed they’d have money for pricey treatments or adoption.
She looked away from her niece and felt the heavy weight of a stare on her. She met the gaze of Lane Calhoun. A weird lightning zipped along her veins.
He didn’t even try to pretend he wasn’t looking at her. He didn’t bother to politely glance away. No, he stared at her for ten unnerving heartbeats while Buck finished the prayer.
When Lane said, “For Dad,” she felt a shiver snake down her spine.
Damn, what a fine man.
* * * * *
Lane would know Kashley’s relative anywhere. She looked like an older sister, with the same honey blonde hair and glowing skin. The only difference was the woman’s eyes were both blue instead of mismatched like Kashley’s.
He didn’t get much time to study her, but it was enough to see the crease between her brows and know she’d picked up on Kashley’s sadness over not having a baby. The whole family was aware of this, and Ridge had confided in him a few times.
Lane and West had also privately discussed giving the couple a percentage of their rodeo winnings to pay for testing or whatever else they needed.
His brothers straightened from the huddle, and the crowd roared again. He was carried off in a whirlwind of autographs and short interviews about his win and his brand new status as the year’s most eligible bachelor.
Wait, what? He shook his head. “I dunno anything about that.”
He lost sight of Kashley’s relative, but hopefully she was whisked away by the bodyguards. They’d hired the guys after some perverted fan had rubbed himself on Kashley. After that, he and his brothers had discussed locking the women up on the ranch, but that hadn’t gone down well. There’d been a rebellion that had resulted in interviewing the biggest, strongest, meanest men they could find.
After talking to more people than he cared to, Lane broke away with his brothers and they made their way into a room and closed the door. He turned to look at the open space with only his family and some of his buddies from the rodeo circuit. And of course, the film crew.
He grabbed a beer and headed to a group of guys. They stood around bullshitting about the scores, and someone commented about him having the best year of his life. He only kept half an ear on the conversation, because he’d suddenly spotted the woman. Kashley was dragging her from person to person, introducing her to the family.
She held herself like a woman who knew her way around a horse. Shoulders back, head erect. She had a smooth gait that made him want to watch her all day. In jeans and boots, her honey hair trailing just below the shoulders of her black top. He couldn’t stop looking at her.
Then he was towed off to shoot some whiskey. After two shots, a magazine was shoved under his nose. “Have you seen the latest issue of Men’s Monthly?”
He dropped his gaze to the cover—him wearing a sly grin, his hat dusty as if he’d just come in from a ride. Probably had. But the words beneath his image had him wanting to upchuck all that good whiskey he’d just drunk.
Lane’s E
x Spills His Top 10 Sex Positions
Jesus, he had ten?
He nabbed the magazine and shouldered his way to a group of plush chairs set up in the corner. He’d barely flipped to the article before Ridge joined him, a whiskey glass in each hand.
“Figured you need one more.”
“Thanks.” He nodded toward a glass and chrome table, and Ridge set it down.
“What the fuck’s this shit? Who’s the ex?” It had to be one of two women, and he wouldn’t have believed it from either one. When he’d dated them, they’d seemed like normal girl-next-door types. He wasn’t into dating celebrities or the thousands of Buckle Bunnies wanting a piece of him.
He scoured the page to find a small snapshot of Brianna.
“Motherfuck.”
Ridge leaned over him to look. “Jeez, it was her? I never would have thought her capable.”
“Guess the money was too good to pass up.” He ground his teeth as he skimmed the article. Each sex position was labeled with a big number and a stick figure drawing of the arrangement of body parts.
He cringed. “Isn’t number 1 everybody’s favorite?” Up against the wall sex. He remembered having that with Brianna twice, but they hadn’t been together all that long. And they hadn’t had sex ten different ways.
“Hope she got paid well for making these up. I never did 2 or 3 with her. And what the fuck is 7?” He turned the magazine sideways.
“Your lucky number?” Ridge shot out.
He grunted and shook his head. “Sure as fuck never did that to anybody.” He rotated the magazine, trying to figure out just what body part went where.
“Hey, guys. We brought more whiskey. Thought you’d need it, Lane.”
He jerked his head up to see Kashley standing there with the beautiful relative. His heart hit his boots. He slammed the magazine shut and dropped it to the side table. As he got to his feet, he tried to look like he hadn’t just been reading his own favorite sex positions.
“Do you guys remember my Aunt Delaney?”
The older woman shot her niece a cool look.
“Sorry, just Delaney. No aunt.” Kashley slipped her arms around Ridge, and he pulled her close.
“Good to see you again,” Ridge said. “It’s been a number of years.”
“I’m sorry I missed the wedding.” She shook Ridge’s hand with the same sureness that she walked. This woman knew who she was, and it was sexy as hell.
Lane extended his hand, wondering if he should have wiped it off after touching that magazine. Freakin’ ten favorite sex positions—what the fuck?
He looked directly into her penetrating blue stare. “I’m Lane.”
Her lips quirked up. “You don’t remember me, do you?”
He laughed. “I’m sorry.”
“She lives out east. She hasn’t visited us for ages. My momma’s excited to see her.”
“And I missed the wedding.” Delaney’s voice sounded as though she’d downed a few shots already. A smooth, throaty sound that made Lane think of number 1 with brand new excitement.
“She was in Mozambique, working to provide women’s health care to several tribes,” Kashley piped up.
“Now that’s a noble cause.” He let his gaze skitter over her face, lightly kissed by the sun. She had a worldly look to her, right down to her eyes that looked like the reflection off an exotic sea. Where her hair waved from her forehead were a few glints of silver.
Now that he looked more closely, he detected a crinkle at the corner of each eye. She didn’t look to be much older than Kashley, yet she was no twittering young groupie either.
Her attention dropped to the magazine, and he inwardly cussed. Why hadn’t he thought to flip it facedown?
“Will you be staying with your sister?” he asked Delaney.
“Just for a night or two, yes. It’s nice to come to Tulsa to see Kashley. Then I’m back to work.”
“She’s a midwife,” Kashley put in.
Lane shot his brother a look and received a slight nod of verification. They were looking for answers, and Delaney was part of that. Which meant Lane might be seeing more of the woman. He sure as hell hoped so, especially since he couldn’t stop thinking of her curvy ass hiked into the air while he gave her a resounding number 4.
He swung back to find her examining him. Two could play that game. He dropped his attention to her plush, rose-colored lips.
She bit down on the bottom one, and his cock twitched to life. Oh yeah, numbers 1, 2, and 4 were high on his list. If he ever figured out what 7 was, he might take it for a test drive too.
“I remember you from a party my sister threw once, Lane.”
“Do you?” He racked his brain for some memory, but he would have surely remembered a gorgeous woman like her.
“Yeah, my son was upset because he wanted to tag around with you, and you wouldn’t let him.”
Son? He gave a light shake of his head and tried to sneak a peek at her ring finger. “I don’t recall, I’m sorry.”
She gave a low, sexy laugh. “No wonder. You couldn’t have been more than nine at the time, and Brant was about four.”
His brows drew together. No way was this woman old enough to have a son close to his age. He tried to cover the moment with something witty. “All nine-year-olds are jerks, and it doesn’t surprise me that I didn’t let him hang around. Good thing we outgrow that stage.”
Her eyes flicked to the magazine with his smiling face and fucking favorite sex positions. Dammit, he’d blown it with her.
If I ever had a chance. She was a gorgeous and worldly older woman with a career. She wouldn’t want anything to do with a fuck-up rodeo reality star who was barely older than her kid.
But his body wasn’t buying that. Not one bit.
She shot him a smile that made his jeans tighter in a specific region. “You had a great overall high score, Lane.”
Now that was level ground he could chat about. “I appreciate it. Looked a little hairy, that last run, but I pulled it out.”
“I missed seeing your rides, actually, but they must have been something.”
“Do you follow the rodeo?”
She shook her head. “I’m so busy that I’m lucky to sleep and eat, when I’m not feeding the animals, that is.”
Kashley filled in the blanks. “Delaney has a small ranch.”
“How small?” he asked. This woman couldn’t be more perfect, could she?
She held up two fingers about half an inch apart. “Itty bitty. Some horses and a couple cows. A goat that is always getting into mischief and one of those donkeys that is the reason they’re called asses.”
He chuckled. “Been around a few of them myself.”
She smiled right into his eyes, and damn if his heart didn’t somersault again. “Enough chickens to keep me and everyone at the office in eggs too. But it’s getting to be too much for me to handle. I’d like to downsize, and soon.”
He was more than intrigued. How did a woman like her handle all of this? Delivering babies and trips to foreign countries along with a ranch? And she still had time to help her niece achieve her dream.
“Oh, I see Wynonna over there. Let’s go talk to her. C’mon.” Kashley hooked her arm in Delaney’s and started off. Delaney threw him a wave, and he tipped his hat, feeling strangely let down.
“Stop looking at her ass, Lane.” Ridge’s tone was amused.
“You would be too if you weren’t already hitched.”
“Probably, but don’t tell Kash.” He picked up the magazine and flipped to the article again.
“What the hell are you doin’?”
“Getting some ideas.”
Lane started walking away. “Help yourself. It’s on the house.”
Chapter Two
Lane leaned against the porch railing and gazed out on the ranch. It wasn’t yet to that time of year when the grass turned brown from heat, and it was green as far as the eye could see. The front lawn needed cutting. He’d have to add that to
his afternoon to-do list, along with digging fence posts.
Right after he had another hit of caffeine, that was. He hadn’t slept all that well, and he needed the pick-me-up.
He started to bring his coffee mug up and stopped dead as two horses galloped into his line of sight. Even from quite a distance away, he could spot long blonde hair streaming behind the riders.
He lowered his cup and peered closer. For several long minutes, he watched them crisscross the field. He’d know the posture of the lead rider anywhere—he’d seen Kashley ride since they were kids. But the second one who was playing cat and mouse with her…
At the sound of a boot step, he looked around. West crossed the porch wearing a day’s beard growth and with his shirt untucked. Very uncharacteristic for him. “You’re lookin’ rough, brother,” Lane said.
“Baby was up most of the night. Malou says she’s going through a growth spurt.”
Lane handed him his untouched mug of coffee. “Here—you need this more than I do. What the hell happens during a growth spurt? Shouldn’t the kid sleep more?”
“I guess they eat a ton for a few days, which means Malou’s up and down all night long, since she’s breastfeeding.”
“Seems like you’re out of the equation. Put in some earplugs and sleep.”
West gave him a trace of a grin before he took a sip of coffee. “Wait till you’re a dad.”
He grunted. “Won’t make much difference. I didn’t sleep that well without anybody waking me up. Hey, who’s that riding?” He jerked a thumb toward the field.
West squinted. “Kash.”
“And Channing?”
“No, that’s her aunt, I think.”
Lane’s chest tightened for some unknown reason. Once they’d arrived back at the ranch, he’d given up thinking about the woman. But his blue balls hadn’t eased since he’d gotten a gander at her curvy ass sashaying away from him that day.
“Guess they decided to go riding.” West drained the mug and set it on the railing in front of Lane. “Thanks for the joe. I’m headed out with Buck. Tell Mom we won’t be in for lunch.”
“Checking on the price of those horses on the Triple J?” Buck had recently decided they should get more involved in horse stock and was seeking only the best around.
