by Em Petrova
“You’re walking a thin line, Wyn.”
“Maybe you don’t need my help, after all.”
“Fine, just keep the lip in check. Hope you’re feeling strong today.”
“Strong? Hell, I’m downright burly.” She flexed her arms, and a chuckle left Mav before he could check it.
She shot him a look that made him forget all about being wet and cold.
Feeling lighter than he had all day, he gave a slight bow in indication she should come forward and find out for herself that the beast wasn’t willing to move from its spot deep in the thickening mud.
With her usual Wynonna flamboyancy, she walked up to the animal as if she was on a catwalk, swinging her hips. She deliberately brushed against Mav, and he ground his teeth.
“Buck, you move around to its head while Mav and I push from behind.”
She readied herself in position, but as soon as Mav stood next to her, she bumped her hip into his.
“Stop that,” he said, low.
“What?” She turned that coy look on him, the one that gave him thoughts of long, slow kisses and dirty nights making her ass cherry red.
“Bumping into me. You’re doing it on purpose.”
“Now why would I do that? C’mon, Mav. Let’s do this.”
He wasn’t entirely sure she was talking about moving cattle, but he dug in his boots and pushed. She gave a loud grunt as she shoved too, and the cow shifted forward a few inches.
“Grab it by the ears if you have to, Buck!” she called out.
Mav could smell the perfume rising off her skin, despite the barrier of her raincoat. She shook the hair out of her eyes, and his balls clenched with the need to brush it aside and capture her lips.
“On three, Mav. Ready?” Her wide, full lips beckoned. Dammit, he had to focus. He needed that shower more than ever, except now it needed to be a cold one.
He nodded once. “Three, two, one. Yaw! Yaw!”
They gave it their all, and the cow moved up out of the muck. Buck let out a low whoop of victory and grinned at his sister. She turned back to her truck, which they hadn’t heard her drive up in through the din of the rain and lowing of disgruntled cattle. “Got some long boards to put over that dip if you’ll help me get them from my truck.”
“Damn,” Buck said as he drew up beside Mav. “We’ll never live this down. My baby sister saving the day.”
“We discussed getting the boards.”
“But didn’t.”
“Wasn’t much time, with the last three cows panicking once they got bogged down.” Mav wanted to look at anything but Wynonna’s tight little ass swaying in front of him. But he couldn’t look away either.
He overtook her and reached the tailgate first. He lowered it and gripped the top two boards. When he hauled them out of the truck, Wynonna stood right there in the way. He’d rub against her as he passed. Was she doing this on purpose? Girl was playing with fire, lighting the wrong match.
His phone started ringing again. Before he could even register the fact, Wynonna’s long fingers wrapped around his buttocks and she plucked the phone from his pocket. She read the screen.
“Chase. Your brother?”
“Yeah. Don’t answer it.”
“Why not?”
They stared at each other, and he forgot all about the boards or cattle. Even the rain seemed to vanish.
“Just don’t.”
“Give the guy a break, Wyn,” Buck said. “His brother’s trying to get him to leave us and come up there.” Buck stopped with two thick boards over his shoulder. “Your momma doesn’t really need you, does she? You said she’s improving, on the end of her cancer treatments.”
Wynonna was staring at Mav, but he didn’t look her way. “That’s right. She’s on the mend, and she’s just being stubborn. I hired someone to go over there daily and keep her house clean and help her with whatever she needs, but she won’t hear of it. Sent the lady packing without even letting her in the front door.”
“You come by your stubbornness honestly, it seems.”
“Wyn.” His voice came out as a warning.
“So send the help in the back door.”
“Meaning?” He was sick and tired of her sass. It was time to quit talking and let his body speak for him.
“My guess is your momma wants the help to come from you, not your money. So tell the woman to explain the hospital sent her over or tell her she needs to complete her training, and she’ll get her certificate if she helps your mom.”
He cocked his head. How the hell did she do that? In seconds, she came up with the answers to all the world’s problems. He carried the boards to the dip and dropped them. Buck had already laid out his boards and was making the return trip for more. He overheard what his sister was saying.
“She’s got a good idea there, Mav.”
“Yeah,” he grumbled.
She beamed. And damn if she didn’t bump into him again.
“One more time, woman, and…”
“And what?” She cocked a brow.
“Remember whose wedding you’re plannin’.” He spun away and strode to the truck.
Five more trips and they had a small bridge covering the worst of the mud. Mav headed back across the field.
“Where you going?” Wynonna called.
“I’m hittin’ the shower. Buck, you’d be smart to go home and get a hot shower and a meal too. Plan on coming back and checking this with me in an hour.”
Buck nodded and started walking in the other direction toward his place.
“Wait, Mav. I’ll give you a ride,” Wynonna said.
He kept walking.
The last thing he needed was to be sequestered in a small, close truck with the woman he wanted nothing more than to strip… bit by slow bit.
Oh yeah. An icy cold shower. No future, no past, just now.
* * * * *
“Are you looking forward to the new season? Have you been practicing barrels?”
Wynonna crossed her legs and smiled at her interviewer. This wasn’t the usual Rope ‘n Ride crew asking her questions, but Power Magazine had sent over someone to talk to her about a special feature on women in the next issue. So she had to put some different manners on.
She wanted to inspire other females to follow their dreams, but how could she say that right now, her dream was to become a country girl version of the fifties housewife? Staying home with nothing to do but work with her horses and grill the occasional steak sounded like heaven.
She needed a break from the rodeo, barrel racing and all the fame that came with it. Not being able to sleep a full night in a hotel because fans would find out what room she was in and knock on her door at all hours. Having media follow her everywhere. Not to mention a lot of creeps.
Was it so wrong she wanted to just sit around and leaf through her wedding magazines and plan?
Thing was, she’d never thought much about weddings, let alone her own. She wasn’t a little girl who’d dreamed of white gowns and flowers in her hair. She’d been more about putting ribbons in her horse’s tail and coveted the sturdiest cowgirl boots.
She’d spent hours poring over the magazines with her sisters-in-law and was no closer to understanding what she wanted for her wedding day. One important detail itched at the back of her mind—her father.
She had nobody to walk her down the aisle. Sure, she had five brothers and a few uncles who might do the honor, but…
She shook herself and focused on the smiling reporter. “I’ve been busy around the ranch with other things. I haven’t done much racing lately, though I take my mare out faithfully every day and work her.”
“You have quite a few more strong years left in the sport. What do you have planned after you retire?”
Another question she didn’t want to answer. Momma’s kitchen hung with the fragrant scent of cinnamon and sugar, and in the other room, Ridge and Kashley’s son, Montana, was working up to a full-fledge tantrum. Momma was watching him for a few
hours while they went into town.
The fussing turned into a bellow, and Momma rushed into the kitchen, a red-faced baby boy on her shoulder.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize you were giving an interview,” she said halfway to the fridge and the collection of bottles there.
Wynonna waved with a smile. “It’s fine. Momma, this is Sara from Power Magazine. She’s asking me questions for a feature on working women. Sara, meet my mother and little Montana.”
The woman got up from the table to ooh and ahh over the baby, which Montana only tolerated a minute before he screamed that there wasn’t a nipple in his mouth. They continued the interview with boring questions while her mother bustled around heating a bottle. When the baby drank with hungry noises, they shared a laugh.
“I’ll leave you to it,” Momma said on her way out.
Wynonna could think of a dozen places she’d rather be than sitting here giving an interview. She was fed up with the whole lifestyle. Maybe it was time to move out, find an isolated spot and set herself up.
Crap, she was engaged, wasn’t she now? She needed to think of Austin going forward. Whatever decisions she made would affect him too. But he hadn’t been that supportive, didn’t want to hear about her misgivings about the show or questions about a future family.
“Rumor has it that you’re engaged to be married.”
Wynonna blinked at the question. “Yes, I am.”
“Is your fiancé around the ranch? I’d love to get his word on the upcoming season and what it’s like to be marrying a woman as busy as you are.”
“Um, no. He’s…” Where was Austin? Last she’d heard from him, he’d been somewhere up north. Minnesota? Wisconsin? She couldn’t remember. He seemed to be in a new city every day.
She rubbed the aching spot between her brows.
“Austin’s not on the ranch, but he should join me in a couple weeks.”
The reporter leaned on her elbows. “Give me the dish about your upcoming nuptials. All your brothers were married right here on the ranch. Is that your dream too? Small and intimate or as big and showy as you are?”
Was she big and showy? She didn’t feel like it right now. Maybe she’d lost some of her mojo the past few weeks. Routine never set well with her, and she always tried to shake things up around here. Lately, she’d been slacking. Time to rile this family. Give the Rope ‘n Ride show something good to film.
“I’m not sure about the wedding plans yet. I have so much to discuss with my fiancé, and I want to make sure he’s involved, you know?”
Sara nodded, her smile big and fake and annoying as hell. Wynonna wanted to get her out of her house as quickly as possible.
“I am planning a celebration here at the ranch, though. Maybe a demolition derby or a rodeo between just me and my brothers.”
“Oh, that sounds really interesting. Tell me more.”
Wynonna talked on and on but her mind was oddly in Oregon with Mav’s mother. She hadn’t known she had cancer. As far as Wynonna knew, Mav hadn’t visited her in years. And he had a brother. Was he older or younger?
He never spoke about his family or growing up in Oregon. It was a world away from Oklahoma. At what point had he left?
All her information had been gleaned from overheard conversations, and none of it from Mav’s own mouth. He was as closed-lipped as a politician’s whore.
Or maybe a politician’s whore has her mouth wide open.
She giggled at her own thought but stifled it for Sara’s sake. They talked more about Wynonna’s idea for a family rodeo and where she saw herself in five years.
The question sobered her. How could she say she didn’t see herself rodeoin’ this season let alone in five years? And with any luck, all the cameras would vanish and leave her in peace. Five years from now, she did not want to be giving interviews.
They wrapped up and Wynonna led the woman out to her car. They stood talking for a minute before Sara drove away. As soon as her tires were crunching over the wet gravel, Buck Jr. emerged from the barn with the puppy.
Wynonna’s smile froze on her face when she saw who trailed them.
Mav. In all his cowboy glory, Mav. Dark eyes burning from under the low brim of his hat and his jeans riding so perfect on his hips. His chiseled jaw begging for her kiss.
Damn, she needed to get hold of herself. She had Austin, and she wasn’t some silly schoolgirl crushing over her father’s foreman anymore. She’d been there, done that and had the T-shirt balled up somewhere in the bottom of her closet.
Mav was a good-looking man, and age had only enhanced him. But those stolen kisses… Well, they were nothing but slips. She’d done what she wanted when she wanted and with whom she wanted her entire life. It was easy to forget. Or maybe her brain was trying to bring out the party-girl in her again, the woman who’d slept with two guys in San Antonio and dated a porn producer.
Though, at the time, she hadn’t known what he was.
Still, I don’t have any interest in Mav.
Then why did her heart patter like a horse with three legs when he turned his gaze on her?
The little boy threw Mav a look over his shoulder. “Should I tell Austin to come now?”
“He may listen. Try it.”
“He’s playing in the puddles, though.”
Mav laughed, and Wynonna sucked in a breath. The unfamiliar sound threaded through her, weaving low through her belly. “He might be too distracted to listen to your commands right now, sport. Why don’t you take him up onto the porch and try where it’s dry?”
“Good idea!” Buck Jr. ran off with the puppy at his heels, leaving Wynonna alone with Mav. Last time they’d stood in the rain, she’d been taunting him by bumping into him. Why? She’d been embarrassed by her behavior later, and spent hours texting Austin just to make up for it, though her fiancé knew nothing and never replied.
“You’re helping Buck Jr. train the puppy?”
“Yeah, I’ve got the dog to the point where he’s not crying all night. Just half.” His lips twitched in as much of a smile as he gave anyone.
“It’s really great of you.”
“Buck’s got a lot on his plate. Adding puppy training isn’t easy.”
“But it’s easy for you? You’re busier than all of us.”
When Mav tightened his lips, a dimple flickered at the corner of his mouth. She’d always wondered if he let loose for once and really smiled if that dimple would curl her toes.
Good thing he didn’t smile, then. She had no business wanting these things. Why was she forgetting about Austin so easily? Maybe because she hadn’t seen him lately.
Buck Jr. disappeared into the house and came out with Ryder. Buck Jr. pointed to the side yard where a dummy of a bull sat, constructed of PVC plastic pipe and just waiting for an eager little boy to try to rope it.
Wynonna pointed and Mav followed her finger. They shared a smile and several cameras crowded closer as Ryder took Buck Jr. into the side yard and handed him a rope.
The rain was coming down lighter now, and a few breaks could be seen in the clouds. Wynonna’s attention locked on the dark shadow on Mav’s jaw. Didn’t look as if he’d shaved this morning. Had he gotten up late? Did he ever open his eyes and wonder how he was going to face another day of back-breaking ranch work?
Too easily she pictured him disheveled from sleep, hatless, shirtless…
She dragged in a deep breath and set out across the yard to where Ryder was teaching her nephew to make a lasso.
“Like this.” He slipped the rope around itself to create a slipknot. “Now you try. Take out the knot so you see how it looks coming apart.”
Buck Jr. took a minute to pick the knot back out of the rope before he attempted to tie it, his tongue sticking out from between his teeth in concentration. Mav joined her in watching Buck Jr.’s attempts, and she was far too aware of how close he stood. So close that his body heat warmed her arm through her shirt.
Ryder showed Buck Jr. o
ne more time and the little boy had it.
“Good. You’re quick. Now hold the rope like this.”
“I know. My daddy showed me.” Buck Jr. took the rope just like a pro, whirled it and tossed. His loop hit just shy of the bull dummy’s horns, but he continued to stand there giving his all until the rain started up again in earnest.
Mav touched Wynonna’s shoulder, and she looked at him. He was so overwhelming—several inches taller than her. He was big all over, and just being in his presence made her feel delicate.
“Go on inside before you get soaked.” His gaze dipped to her breasts.
Heat infused her cheeks, and she didn’t know whether to give him a good telling off or hook her arm around his neck and kiss the hell out of him. Was he smirking? Dammit, he was.
Two could play that game. She let her gaze drop over his body and settle on his crotch. It wasn’t the first time she’d noticed a very impressive bulge there but the first time she’d blatantly looked while he knew it.
To her amusement, he twisted away like a shy schoolgirl. “Dammit, go inside,” he commanded.
She arched a brow at him and held his stare a second too long. Then she turned and headed back to the house. Her mind spun, blood humming with arousal she shouldn’t feel.
Maybe she should dump the blame on her absent fiancé. He needed to get his butt to the ranch and quick. There were only so many times she could remind herself she was engaged when he wasn’t around and wasn’t returning her texts.
I’ll call him when I get inside.
But as soon as she got to her bedroom and changed out of her damp shirt, she faced the mirror and noted the hard pebbles of her nipples through her bra. Mav had been staring at them.
And if his distended jeans told her anything, he liked it.
* * * * *
The last few nights, the puppy had started out sleeping in a box at the foot of Mav’s bed. But come morning, the fluff-ball would be curled against his side. Mav’d never been one to coddle animals. In his line of work, he couldn’t get too soft. But something about that puppy was wearing him down. Okay, maybe it was because Wynonna had brought it home. While Mav would never, ever call it by the stupid name she’d given it, he thought of it as her puppy, and he liked having it around.
