by Lexie Davis
Accidentally Theirs
When Harper Tate’s grandmother left her the deed to Wild Horse Ranch, the last thing she expected was to inherit five sexy cowboys along with it. As a professional in the real estate world, she makes a living by finding cheap houses and flipping them for a nice profit. That was exactly what she plans to do with the ranch once she fixes it up, but the men have other plans for her.
Gabe Bailey, Logan Collins, Nick Montgomery, Aaron Harnett, and Cooper Dalton all grew up in the foster care system. Each of the men came to Wild Horse Ranch broken and battered. After landing a job and a place to stay, they've worked to rebuild their life, but finding a woman to come home to at night still remains a top priority.
The longer Harper stays on the ranch the more trouble she finds. Her father doesn’t want her to keep it. Someone is stealing money from them. And the five men have her heart tangled and knotted in confusion. She can’t resist them. The more she wants to say no, the more she finds herself begging. Can this businesswoman find a way to fix her problems and get the men of her dreams?
Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Western/Cowboys
Length: 35,397 words
ACCIDENTALLY THEIRS
Lexie Davis
LOVEXTREME FOREVER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: LoveXtreme Forever
ACCIDENTALLY THEIRS
Copyright © 2015 by Lexie Davis
E-book ISBN: 978-1-63259-908-7
First E-book Publication: November 2015
Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2015 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Epilogue
About the Author
ACCIDENTALLY THEIRS
LEXIE DAVIS
Copyright © 2015
Chapter One
“I’m here.”
Harper Tate held her cell phone to her ear and stared at the funeral home she was about to enter. It was a shitty day for a funeral. The skies decided to open up and pour down on them while thunder rolled in the distance. She’d packed the wrong outfit with the wrong shoes for the gloomy weather, but it didn’t matter much now. She was here and she wasn’t leaving until her grandmother was buried in the ground. Rain or shine. Designer heels or not.
“I still think it is really awkward that you sent me to your mother’s funeral instead of coming here yourself.”
Her father had been weird about his mother’s passing. In the span of her entire life, she never once met her grandmother. He never talked about her or his life in Crawford, Kansas. When she’d ask him about it, he would brush her off. Even when she found out about her grandmother’s passing, he still didn’t have much to say other than to nominate her to be his proxy.
Now, she was thrown right in the middle of it.
“You’ll do fine. You always did hold yourself with a sense of class I never had. You get that from your mother.”
She stared out the windshield of her Range Rover. Her mother. The pain of losing the connection with someone she loved terribly sat fresh in her mind. She couldn’t imagine how her father could be so cold toward the death of his mother. She would have given anything she had to spend one more hour with her. Or just a few seconds even. How he could simply go through his adult life and not care? None of it made any sense.
“Just pay your respects and stay for the reading of the will. I made you my official proxy so if anything needs to be signed you can do so for me. I don’t want anything from her estate. Please let them know that.”
She blew out a breath. “It’s not normal, Dad. You should want to be here. You should want to see your family. I don’t know these people but you do.”
“You’ll be fine, Harper.”
She had a sudden case of the nerves and wished like hell she brought her sister with her. Or her boyfriend. Of course she actually had to have a boyfriend to bring him. She sighed and stared at the clock on the dash of her SUV. It was now or never and she really wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.
“I’ll call you when it’s over. Sign everything over to your sister, right?”
“Yes. Amanda can have whatever she left me. I don’t want it.”
Harper signed off and dropped her phone in her Louis Vuitton Neverfull Bag. She couldn’t have possibly felt more out of place than she did in that moment. Reaching for the door, she opened it and climbed out. Her black pencil skirt and flirty polka dot blouse seemed appropriate when she had packed, but the pouring rain and the puddles on the pavement, she wished she’d chosen something else. Looking around at the visitors dressed in plain black, she felt like a clown at the funeral. Taking a deep breath she left her car, beeping it locked behind her. Her Jimmy Choos clacked agains
t the pavement as she walked to the front doors of the funeral home. Several men dressed in jeans and a nice button down shirt nodded toward her. One even held the door open as she entered the building.
Inside, she smiled at the staff of the funeral home, all of them looking at her like the foreigner that she was. She took a deep breath and followed the sign to the room for her grandmother’s visitation.
The room itself was chilly and could have really used a makeover. The carpet was a rose color and the pitiful excuse for a flower stand looked like a forest full of greenery. Very few of the flowers next to the casket held any color and the casket spray was a simple ordeal of red carnations. She waited her turn before walking up to the wooden casket where a larger woman with blonde hair stood.
She was no stranger to dealing with people she didn’t know. As a real estate executive at her father’s company, she’d gotten used to being around strangers. It simply felt weird that any of these people could be her relatives and she simply didn’t know them.
“Hello,” the woman greeted her, smiling. “You’re Hugh’s daughter, aren’t you? Oh, I hoped you’d come! You are really pretty and so fancy.” She grabbed Harper’s hands and smiled wider. “Oh, I’m so happy to meet you. I’m Amanda, your father’s sister.”
Harper smiled at her. “Harper Tate.”
She was her father’s only child even though she had a sister through her mother’s first marriage. Ellie was her rock and she really regretted not taking her up on her offer to come with her, in that moment. She knew her father wouldn’t care, but her sister knew how difficult it was to walk into someone else’s family and pretend like you belonged.
“Oh, honey, you’re gorgeous. With that long blonde hair and those pretty blue eyes, you won’t be able to keep the ranch hands away from you. There here somewhere. Five handsome cowboys that are real hard workers. Do you have a boyfriend? I can introduce you to them. They live in momma’s house. She hired them to man the ranch.”
Harper smiled at her even though her mind raced. Her aunt was trying to set her up with a cowboy. Wouldn’t her father simply love that.
Not knowing what to say, Harper glanced over at the casket. For the woman inside, she didn’t look a day over sixty even though she was closer to eighty. She had blonde hair and soft skin void of too many wrinkles. Pictures beside the casket were of a small child that looked just like Harper. She blinked a few times and glanced toward Amanda.
“You look just like her. Of course Hugh does too, but you’re definitely a spitting image of a younger version of Mama.”
Harper didn’t know what to think about that. Her grandmother was not someone that her father talked about. It almost felt like betrayal because she found herself wanting to get to know about the woman. To understand what happened between them and see if her father could eventually come around. He had a look of disgust on his face anytime she mentioned him coming with her and an even worse attitude when she asked him questions about his family. He didn’t want to talk about them. He didn’t want her to get to know them and she felt robbed of that relationship she could have potentially had with her grandmother.
“I want to introduce you to everyone. Momma always said the more people you know the better off you were.” Amanda pulled a younger girl up to greet the guests before grabbing Harper’s hands and leading her down the hall. “We’ve got some family here. They’ll all be excited to meet you.”
Harper followed her to the family room and tried her best to smile when several eyes stared back at her. The men that greeted her out front filled the area, snacking on the food provided for the family. One stood in an effort to give her his seat.
“I’m fine, really.” Harper tried to decline the offer but he’d already moved to the cabinet where a platter of different homemade cookies sat. She stared at the seat like an idiot before she decided to sit. What else could she really do?
“Everyone, this is Hugh’s baby, Harper.”
Several people cheered and cried as they came toward her, wrapping her in a warm bear hug. Harper felt her eyes widen and the man across from her chuckled. She didn’t know what the hell was going on, but it didn’t really matter. They were happy to see her and she was glad that she was there.
“You look just like her.” A little old lady smiled up at her. “Oh, Janine would be so proud of you. Look at you. Are you married, sweetie?”
“No.” She gave the woman a small smile. “No husband or kids. I’m married to my job though.”
The men stared at her to the point she felt uncomfortable. Amanda’s comment about fixing her up with the ranch hands came to mind. She hadn’t had the best luck with men in Atlanta. What would be the harm in dating a cowboy in Kansas? They were attractive enough. Not a single ugly one out of all five.
A few other people came over to her to share anecdotes about her grandmother before they eventually filed out of the room, leaving her alone with the cowboys. It was nearly lunch time and her stomach growled from the lack of nourishment.
“Fix yourself a plate.” One of the cowboys nodded toward the plates. “The casseroles are pretty good. Ms. Gerdie is one hell of a cook.”
She smiled. “I’ve never really ate a casserole dish, but I’ll give it a try.”
She stood and went to the table where the dishes sat. The casseroles looked like vomit. Someone had taken a spoon and chopped it up to the point it was unrecognizable as to what it was. They smelled good though.
“Where are you from?”
She turned slightly to see who had asked the question. “Atlanta. Born and raised.”
The men looked pained. Harper didn’t know what that was about so she went back to scooping out some of the casseroles onto her plate.
“I’m guessing your dad didn’t come.” One of the men said with disgust. “He never would take a call from her or even acknowledge that they were related. Why would he come to her funeral?”
She sat at the table with the four men. The one that gave her his seat stood next to them, arms crossed over his chest. She didn’t know them, and she didn’t like them making comments about her father.
“Do you know my dad?”
“Nope. I don’t want to either.” He met her stare. “You’re beautiful. You look just like Janine when she was younger. She had one photo of you that she kept in her purse. She showed it to everyone when they’d ask about her grandkids. She always said you were doing wonderful things. I’m not sure if she really knew what you did for a living. She was proud of you though.”
Harper’s throat tightened. She glanced down and moved her fork along the food on her plate. “I didn’t know she had a picture of me.”
“Hospital picture. She was there when you were born. Flew into Atlanta, she said. First time on an airplane.” The man’s grim expression eased. “God, she’d talk about that story for hours. With everyone, too.”
Harper scooped a bite of food into her mouth. The delicious flavor of the casserole coated her tongue as she chewed the bite of food. She never expected it to taste so good having looked so horrible, but she enjoyed it. Her stomach did as well.
“I’ve never heard that story. I really don’t know anything about her.” She glanced between the men. “Are you my cousins or something?”
The talkative one laughed. “No. None of us are related. We’re her ranch hands.” He pointed to each of the men, right to left around the table. “I’m Gabe Bailey. That’s Logan Collins. Nick Montgomery and Aaron Hartwell. The one standing is Cooper Dalton. We’ve all basically grown up at Wild Horse Ranch.”
She smiled at them. “It’s nice to meet you all.”
“Harper?” Amanda came into the room and smiled at her talking to the men. “I didn’t ask you earlier but how long are you staying? I’d love for you to stay with me. I’ve got to go through momma’s things after the reading of the will. I’d really like for you to help me. Maybe we can get to know one another before you leave for Atlanta.”
The hopeful look in Amanda’s
eyes was enough to make Harper regret the plan she made with her father. She was only supposed to stay the one night. Her flight left at eight that evening and it left very little time for her to actually get to know anyone. She licked her lips.
“I’m actually only staying long enough to finalize the documents after the reading of the will. My father made me his proxy so I’ll be taking care of the legal paperwork then flying back home. My scheduled flight leaves at eight so I have to be in Wichita by then.”
Amanda’s face filled with disappointment. “I had hoped you would stay longer but I suppose you’ve got a real busy life in Atlanta. If you’re anything like Hugh you do.”
Harper didn’t know what to say. They had treated her with nothing but kindness. It felt dirty in a way to sign the papers and jump on a plane. Amanda left with her shoulders hunched and a sad look on her face. Harper swallowed and turned to face the men.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do here. I know nothing about my dad’s family. I know nothing about Kansas. I’m completely a fish out of water and I feel like I’ve just stomped on any bubble of hope she had.” Harper was suddenly furious with her father for sending her here. He should have been man enough to come himself instead of sending her to deal with what he didn’t want to face.
“You’re nothing like him.” Nick narrowed his eyes at her. “I wasn’t sure, but from all the stories I know of your father and grandmother, you’re nothing like him. That’s a relief for everyone.”
She chuckled and stood to get something to drink. “You said you didn’t know him and you don’t know me. How can you make that assessment?”
