“You really want to see me again after our little awkward moment?” I asked. I knew I could run, but where would I hide, anyway?
“Of course, Lainey… and the sooner the better,” he said earnestly.
“See you tomorrow then,” I said as I sauntered off, not knowing, nor wanting to know what time it was. He watched me walk down the road to our ranch, and after glancing over my shoulder a few times and waving, I realized he was going to carry on standing there and watching me until I got into our new house safely. Such a gentleman.
I snuck into the house, grateful that my dad wasn’t sitting up waiting for me. I’d only spent a few hours in the place before we left for the BBQ and I couldn’t even remember where my room was. I knew it was upstairs somewhere, but I wasn’t in the mood to go peering around a dark, scary house by myself.
Even though I was grown and knew that there was no way a boogie man or a clown would jump out and get me, I was mildly afraid something would. I was so far out of my element away from NYC, my instincts were shot. I found the downstairs bathroom and took the fastest shower in recorded history, the scene in Psycho playing on my mind as I scrubbed and washed my body. When I was done, I grabbed a big, fluffy dressing gown out of my suitcase in the lounge and headed for the god-awful couch to get a little shut-eye until morning, unconsciously preparing myself to face my dad.
Chapter Five
Calvin
I walked home and was totally surprised to find a few hang-arounds from the BBQ and an Armageddon-sized mess to deal with the following morning. I thought everyone had left, but those sitting by the dwindling bonfire were completely drunk and almost incoherent. Instead of kicking them all out, which was what I really wanted to do, I decided a little diversion would be a fun way to wind down the evening.
I was walking in a haze of love or more likely, lust. I couldn’t accurately pin my emotions, but they were raw and right at the surface. I just wanted to enjoy that intoxication that no liquor on earth could provide. Only Lainey, and everything she was, seemed to have the power to alter me so greatly and I’d only just met her. Was it infatuation?
Honestly, I needed a drink and a little levity to pull me out of my fog. Left waxing philosophically, clutching a Lonestar, and spouting off about field turnover, Ed had dominated the conversation for most of the evening. I loved my neighbors, but wow, their conversation, while passionate, was often amazingly dull. Of course, that all changed when I walked up to them.
“Well, lookee here what the cat dragged in,” a very inebriated Lindsay Triton said, looking at me a little more seductively than I was expecting.
Lindsay was my farthest neighbor on the east side. She was a widow with two grown sons and usually her conversation was tame. But after guzzling a few beers and some of Vernon Pillar’s homemade whiskey—which could turn your insides into molten lava—she became quite enamored with everyone and everything.
“Whatcha been doing out there in that gazebo of yours?” she interrogated. “Can’t be anything godly,” she said with a chuckle, and I laughed at her remarkably accurate insinuation.
“I was getting to know my new neighbor, Lainey, and we lost track of time. She’s a city girl, so it’s going to take a while for her to adjust here, I fear.” I was being sincere and hoping that sincerity would throw the bloodhound off the trail.
“Getting to know her, huh? I ain’t blind nor stupid, son. I see you two young’uns canoodling over there,” she said with a knowing grin.
“Canoodling? Who still says that?” I laughed. “But, anyway, we were just talking, and I told her just how nice all my neighbors were. You are nice, aren’t you, Lindsay?” I teased, and she let out a grunt of disdain and rolled her eyes at me.
“You should know that city folks get eaten up and spat out with the seeds around here,” she said as she spat on the ground for effect.
“I don’t give ‘em more than a year,” Vernon chimed in, slurring his words.
“That girl’s far too pretty for these parts,” Lyndsay continued. “Men around here need a solid woman by their side,” she said as she raised her hands to her huge, sagging breasts, adjusting them more tightly into her V-neck t-shirt, then nonchalantly pointed them in my direction. Anyone could see that shirt was at least one size too small to house those mighty bazookas, if not two, and I immediately raised my hands in surrender. “Don’t shoot, Lindsay. I give up,” I joked, and everyone laughed out loud. She looked a little indignant, but soon enough a big smile spread across her face when she saw the funny side.
“In your dreams, Calvin,” she replied. “You ain’t man enough to handle these puppies,” she said, crossing her arms across her chest and suddenly, the laughter was turned on me.
For a moment, I wondered why I’d ever befriended these people. They were simple folk who’d never strayed far from their land. They had no idea what New York was like and to them, it might as well have been as far away as the moon. They’d only ever orbited in their small world, and some had never even been out of their own state.
As kings and queens of their crops and pastures—they could be rather arrogant, opinionated, yet entirely fascinating at the same time. If I was honest though, people in big business—especially the oil business—were no less arrogant or full of their own self-importance, but perhaps they were better at hiding it.
My immediate goal, however, was to dispel any rumors or impressions that Lainey and I were doing anything other than just talking—that’s all we did, after all. She said she was a lady, and I had no reason to doubt her. As a proper gentleman, I shouldn’t have assumed she’d be willing to have sex with me on the very day we met. However, once opinions were formed, these country folks would relentlessly grind the gossip mill, and I was sure Lainey would never survive the scandal of it if they did.
I hung out with the remaining guests for a little longer, talking about ranching, reliving times we’d spent together and anything else I could think of to take the focus off me and Lainey to deter them from gossiping about us. Eventually, the conversation subsided, and I mentioned that it was past two in the morning and it was time for me to head off to bed.
I did offer for them to stay as long as they wanted, but it seemed to have the desired effect, and everyone got up and ambled home. I suppose I should’ve cleaned up the place a little as my regular cleaner was on vacation, but frankly, I was exhausted. It could wait until the morning and I headed off to bed, excited about the prospect of seeing Lainey again the next day.
I usually woke at seven, no matter how late I stayed up the night before, but I was shocked to discover I’d slept until ten; I hadn’t done that since I was a teenager. I still felt groggy and fog-headed, so I stumbled to the kitchen to make a pot of strong coffee.
I didn’t even want to look at the mess I knew was waiting for me on the porch and the side yard until I’d taken a good, healthy swig of Joe. In fact, I was on my second cup when I glanced through the window and noticed everything outside had already been cleaned up. My mind felt a blaze of bewilderment. Who had cleaned my house? Did the cleaner come back early, or did I get her vacation dates wrong?
Not many of my neighbors were the do-gooder type. They be there in a heartbeat to help each other when someone was in need, but never just show kindness unless it was some sort of tragedy. I walked out onto my porch to find Lindsay sitting on the porch swing, taking in the view. I was a little disappointed to discover who my mystery maid was since I secretly hoped it had been Lainey who’d come over.
Not that I wanted her to clean up for me exactly, but knowing she was here and doing something nice would have been exciting. I had such an infatuation with her, but I knew I had to keep my thoughts under control. As I thought of Lainey, my cock started to stiffen, and I sure didn’t want Lindsay getting the wrong impression.
“Morning,” I chirped jovially as I took a seat in the chair across from her. “Did you clean up my yard?” I asked, trying to sound appreciative.
“Me? Clean up yo
ur shit? Nah, I came over to get more dirt on that girl. I must have been so drunk last night, I forgot everything you said.” She leaned in as if she was expecting me to give her some juicy gossip.
My mind did a mental eye roll. “She’s a nice girl,” was all I said.
“Nice to look at maybe, but she ain’t Texan,” Lindsay said with a note of disgust.
“I’m not much for gossiping this morning, Lindsay. We just talked as I said last night. Is there something else I can help you with? Do you want some coffee?” I was suddenly irritated with her intrusion and her attempt to put Lainey down as an outsider.
“So, you aren’t gonna throw me a bone, huh?” she pushed.
“There are no bones to throw. We shared a bottle of wine and had a nice chat,” I told her plainly.
“Okay, okay. I get it. Maybe she is nice, we’ll see.” She seemed pacified for the moment then said, “The faucet on my sink is busted.” She smiled a big smile, showing off all her crooked and decaying teeth. “I thought you might be a doll…” She didn’t have to finish.
“Give me a few minutes to freshen up and I’ll be over,” I responded, not terribly enthused by the task ahead of me.
I figured I’d either help Lindsay or she’d be in my hair all day, and if Lainey was feeling anything like I felt, she probably needed a few more hours of sleep before I went back over there. However, the prospect of calling on her was enough motivation for me to get moving.
“Do you mind hanging out here while I get ready?” I asked, not really wanting her milling around my place.
“Sure… unless you want me to come scrub your back… or anything else?” she said with a grin.
“Um, thanks for the offer, but I’m a big boy now. I think I’ll be fine on my own,” I said, my face burning with embarrassment.
“I’ll bet you are,” she muttered, her eyes tracing down my body to my crotch and lingering there.
I smiled nervously, and my hands moved unconsciously to block her gaze. “Uh… right. I’ll be back as quick as I can,” I said, and turned abruptly to go back into the house.
I felt annoyed as I walked toward the bathroom. She could have just called instead of coming over unannounced. At least if she’d called, I would’ve been spared starting off my morning with an unwelcome view of her one-piece, strapless, and short jumpsuit—which was her signature two sizes too small, of course.
That hideous outfit was so tiny, her butt cheeks were barely contained within it, leaving me with nothing to wonder about what was inside. Nope, not interested… at all. I took a quick shower, threw on an old pair of jeans and T-shirt, and went out to greet her again.
“Mmm, mmm, mmm,” she exclaimed, hungrily. If only I had a gorilla suit to wear instead.
“Okay, I’ll have to make this a quick trip, Lindsay. I have a lot to get done today,” I warned.
“It’s Saturday, whatcha gotta do?” she pried.
“A lot of stuff,” is all I gave her.
“Okay, let’s take my truck. I promise to have you back before you turn into a pumpkin,” she laughed, thinking herself riotously funny. I’d been driven to her place in her truck a hundred times before, so I couldn’t really protest this time—but I wanted to. The last thing I wanted to do was be at the mercy of this woman.
Chapter Six
Lainey
I had trouble sleeping, so when I heard my father stirring, I woke to face whatever music there might be.
“Morning, Dad,” I said, sounding more chipper than I felt.
“Morning, kiddo. You sleep ok?”
Great, Dad was chipper too. No trouble yet.
“Oh, not bad for our first night here. I’m sure we’ll settle in soon. Calvin offered to take us into town later, by the way. I think all we have left for breakfast from the road trip are the Nescafe packets and some granola bars.” I tried not to, but it sounded like I was making a peace offering.
Come on, Lainey, buck up. You’re a grown woman, you can talk to strangers, or um… neighbors you hardly know if you want. Boy did I feel weird.
“Granola bars sound good to me,” he said kindly. “That Calvin is a nice man, isn’t he? I’m glad you two hit it off as well as you did last night.” He smiled and moved to look for a kettle in an opened moving box.
Wow, that might have been it.
No lecture, no “Honey, I’m just looking out for your best interests.” Maybe that was the end of it. Whew, perhaps he did recognize that I wasn’t a child anymore. Despite avoiding a Dad lecture, I was still nervous—something just felt off. It was probably the fact that I resisted the move and I was still in shock that we were actually in Texas. Strangely, all I wanted to do was run to see Calvin again. Somehow, being with him made it all better.
Dad and I finished the breakfast, which really didn’t satisfy us, but it was all we had unless we wanted to drive the moving van into town. We didn’t have to return the U-Haul for another two days, so I suggested we keep it so we could buy furniture. I planned to set the garish, powder puff pink bedroom set in my room on fire, so there was that to replace, at least.
I hoped to convince my dad to dump it all, but I didn’t want to push my luck. We also needed to buy a car and a truck, so we had quite a bit of shopping to do. Hopefully, there were decent grocery stores in town since I was craving brie and a baguette, but I didn’t want to get my heart set on anything. Maybe that’s why I was so into Calvin. He seemed real, and somehow, familiar.
“What time did he say we would head into town?” Dad asked.
I think he was ready to settle in and get his life in Texas started. Me, I was dragging my feet. I looked at the clock, and it was only seven in the morning. Wow, no wonder I felt so funky. I’d only had about five hours sleep. I looked through the window over to Calvin’s place and while it was hard to see in the distance, it looked a wreck from the BBQ party.
“I don’t know. He didn’t say, but it looks like a tornado has swept through his place over there. He’ll probably need some help cleaning up first, I’d think.”
“Good. That’ll give me some time to figure out all the fix-its we need around here. I want to make sure we get the right supplies.” Dad was giddy, like a kid in a candy store.
“Oh my god, you are such a dad!” I scolded.
“Yep, gotta be me,” he claimed.
“I’m going to head back over to Calvin’s and see if I can help him clean up.” I thought Dad would easily sniff out my plan, but he didn’t let on if he had. He seemed lost in his own little world of making lists of stuff to buy as he checked the place over.
“Sure, honey. I’ll see you in a few. Tell him thanks again for inviting us over last night.” He was such a cute, sincere old man, and I felt lucky to have him.
When I got to Calvin’s, the house was completely quiet. It seemed like he was still sleeping, which struck me as odd because I thought cowboys always got up with the sun. I didn’t want to wake him if he was still in bed, so I found the trash bins around the side of the barn and tidied up his yard and porch. It looked a lot, but it didn’t take me that long before the place was all cleaned up and I was in desperate need of another shower.
I checked one more time to see if Prince Charming was awake yet, but it was all still very quiet inside. Then an icy chill ran down my spine—maybe he was hiding from me? Oh, come on, Lainey, I chastised myself. I wasn’t insecure, it’s just, well, the whole ‘my name is Lainey, I’m a dainty lady’ thing still had me twisted in knots.
As I got out of the shower in the second story bathroom, I saw Calvin on his porch with one of the women from the previous night. It was hard to tell from that vantage point, but they seemed to be having fun. I heard her laughing then they then got into her truck and drove away. I didn’t want to feel jealous and angry, but I couldn’t help it—I felt so… used.
There I was the night before, beating myself up for having a fling with a man I’d just met, and the very next morning he was off with someone else. I knew it wasn’t like we
were boyfriend and girlfriend, and I did tell him I wasn’t going to get all possessive over him, but wasn’t he the one who said he didn’t want to look like an asshole? I guess he was proud of himself for waiting a few hours before he hooked up with someone else.
I knew how crazy I was sounding, but I couldn’t stop myself from going there.
Chapter Seven
Calvin
The faucet repair was taking forever, which I knew was intentional on her part. First, she couldn’t find her tools. Then she had to take all the stuff out from underneath her sink. Then I needed a flashlight that she couldn’t seem to locate. The kicker was when she smoothed her hand over my ass as I bent over her sink, trying to get the rusted pipe loose.
Her advances didn’t stop there, either. She bent down and pressed her massive chest onto my arm, claiming to see what the trouble was. The worst was when I finished the repair and crawled under the sink to turn the water on. She reached through my legs from behind me and grabbed my dick, hard. I jerked my head up in surprise and banged it on the sink.
“And what about this faucet?” she asked, all breathy as she feverishly fondled and stroked my manhood.
What the fuck?
“That faucet is mine, Lindsay, and it’s working just fine. It doesn’t need any help,” I said, batting her hand away.
“It doesn’t even need a little inspiration?” she asked, stroking me again even harder.
“For Christ’s sake, Lindsay! It’s time for me to go home.” I was serious and hoped I sounded that way.
“Just bend me over the couch then, I’ll take it quick and dirty,” she pleaded, unzipping her jumpsuit and revealing her breasts.
“What the hell has gotten into you?” Now I was livid.
She looked me square in the eye.
“I saw you last night. I watched for quite a while, and you two weren’t just talking. It’s been a helluva long time for me, so if you’re doling out the dick, I’m ready for my slice. If you don’t give me some of that,” she threatened as she stared at my semi-aroused cock, “I’m sure the rest of the folks would be eager to know all about the ho who just moved into town.”
Saddled On The Cowboy: A Hot Western Romance Page 3
