Dearest Cowboys Box Set

by Mia Brown

  When we were done, Lance leaned back against the couch.

  “I like this,” I said. “It’s working well. This whole setup and my job here.”

  “It is,” I agreed. Lance was a brilliant foreman. It had been one of the best ideas to appoint him. “I wish you would make up with Vee,” he said.

  They had all taken to calling her Vee. It sounded more like her than Ness did, and she seemed to like it.

  “Why?” I asked. “What is she doing?”

  Lance shook his head. “She’s mean when she’s angry, man. And I know you’re the reason. A woman doesn’t get that angry unless it’s about a man.”

  I sighed. “Yeah, it’s about Lily.”

  Lance nodded. “I thought as much. Well, you sort that shit out because we’re all suffering.”

  “You’re not going to tell me what’s up?”

  Lance shook his head, holding his hands up in surrender. “I’m not getting in the middle of this.”

  I sighed and nodded. When Lance left, chuckling about it, I followed him out and went to find Andrew. He was in the barn.

  “What’s going on with Vanessa?” I asked. “Lance says she’s difficult.”

  Andrew laughed. “I wouldn’t say that. She’s ruling this place with an iron fist right now. She’s barking orders like she owns the place, and everyone is too scared to cross her.”

  I raised my eyebrows. The woman with the designer jeans and the fashion boots when she’d arrived was scaring everyone?

  “Is it bad?” I asked.

  Andrew chuckled, shaking his head. “It’s not,” he said. “Actually, she’s really good at this. The men haven’t taken any chances. The work gets done fast now, and it’s perfect every time. I don’t remember things being this good around here since Granddad was in charge.”

  My granddad had been the one to push for the ranch to become as good as it was, and it was with strict rules and hard work alone that he’d gotten it done. My dad had been a lot gentler, which made him beloved by all, but less work had been done. I wasn’t sure yet how we were going to run the place. We were finding our style—but maybe it wasn’t a bad idea that this place was being whipped back into shape. But I didn’t want it to be for a negative reason.

  I didn’t want to fight with Vanessa. I wanted everything to be okay between us again.

  “She’s a good woman, Ace,” Andrew said. “You’re not going to find a woman like her again. She’s not like the rest of them. She’s more serious about this place than we are sometimes.”

  I had noticed that. She was serious about this ranch, and we needed someone like that on board.

  “She’s also good for you,” Andrew added.

  I looked at him. He was dead serious.

  “She puts you in your place. You’re different now, but not because she changed you. Because you wanted to change for her.”

  I wasn’t sure if that was accurate. I didn’t change for anyone. But I had changed. Andrew was right. And I was pretty sure I had changed because of her. I didn’t want to admit to it. Not to anyone.

  “What I’m saying,” Andrew said when I didn’t respond, “is that you should make up with her.” He chuckled. “If you can calm her down enough.”

  “Yeah, apparently that’s a big task,” I said. “Everyone is talking about it.”

  Andrew was still laughing. At least one of us thought it was funny that the woman I wanted to be with was so angry she wasn’t talking to me, and she was biting everyone else’s head off.

  “I’ll see what I can do,” I sighed. “It can’t be that bad, can it?”

  Andrew shook his head, still laughing. He walked away without saying anything else. I watched him go, his words echoing in my mind. He thought she was good for me, that I had to hold onto her. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one.

  I wanted to hold onto her, too. I really liked her. But this time, I wasn’t in control. I had always thought I was. I liked to think that I was charming enough to work my magic with a woman, but Vanessa was immune to my charm.

  She was immune to all my tricks. And that was what made her so special. With her, I had to work hard. I had to make it happen, not sit back and wait for her to come to me.

  It was why I liked her so much. She challenged me in every way, and she made me feel like she was worth my while. There hadn’t been any women like that before.

  I would make up with her, I decided. If, like Andrew said, I could calm her down.

  Thirty-Six

  Vanessa

  Lily wasn’t taking to ranch life as easily as I had. It should have been a compliment that I had been able to fall into place so easily. Instead, it was an irritation. I had taken her under my wing to show her around and help her get used to her chores, but she tired quickly, and she was emotional. Even when I only asked her to do the smallest things like mending and sewing or sorting vegetables or eggs, which was about all she could manage as far along as she was. Whenever she didn’t get something right, which was often, she tended to cry about it.

  I tried to see where she was coming from. She had lost her family, and her whole future had changed in a very short time. Dealing with such a big upheaval was hard. But I was still upset with Ace for what had happened and getting annoyed with her overshadowed trying to understand what she was going through.

  “Here, hold it like this,” I said, putting the bottle into Lily’s hand. A calf had just been born, rejected by its mother as had happened when I’d arrived. I was trying to get Lily to feed it. “You need to hold onto it, or he’ll push it right out of your hands.”

  Lily nodded and tried to do as I said. But she was nervous around the animals, and she looked afraid to get too close.

  “It’s only a baby, Lily,” I said. “It’s scared and lost without a mother.”

  Lily started tearing up. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I can’t deal with something like that right now. I’m about to become a mom, and I don’t have a clue what I’m doing. What if I mess it up?”

  I shook my head. “You won’t. You’ll do a wonderful job. Just take it all one step at a time.”

  “I’ll try,” she said.

  I watched as she managed to get it right and feeding went easier. It reminded me so much of Cookie. I had fought all night with her to drink, and finally, she had. It had been emotional for me, too. I had been feeding a little being that needed help because she’d lost her mother when I had just lost mine, too. I could appreciate the symbolism for Lily as well.

  Cookie didn’t need me anymore. I didn’t want to tell Lily that the same would happen here. She was so emotional already—but it wasn’t lost on me that everything that needed your help once upon a time moved on. I would be glad when Lily didn’t need me anymore, though. I had given her a home, a place where she could belong with her unborn child while she figured her life out. I was nice to her. But I was still upset that she had come here to wreck my life.

  I was upset that she’d slept with Ace. A million other women had, too, but I didn’t know them, didn’t talk to them often, didn’t see their faces and find things in them that I liked.

  “We’re going to figure this out together, okay?” I said, and I wasn’t just talking about her work here. “One step at a time.”

  Jaclyn had been this patient with me when I’d started out. She’d been a saving grace, teaching me with patience, being kind to me in a time of need. I had told Ace that she would have taken Lily in, and she would have. What would she have made of it all, though?

  There were days—like today—that I missed her very much.

  “Are you going to be okay here?” I asked Lily after it looked like she’d gotten the hang of it.

  Lily nodded. “I think so.”

  “I’m going to check on the harvest guys, okay?”

  “You’re leaving me alone to do this?” There was panic in Lily’s voice.

  I nodded, trying not to roll my eyes at her. “You’ll be fine. Do what you’ve been doing until the bottle is empty,
leave the stall without the calf escaping, and meet Alana.”

  Lily nodded. I left, glad to get away. Whenever Lily was unsure—which happened a hell of a lot—she clung to me, and I was getting irritated with that. I was irritated with all of it. I was glad I could get away for a while.

  I didn’t need to check on the harvesting guys, of course. They had worked here a long time, and they knew what they were doing far better than I would be able to tell them. But I’d needed an excuse to get away, and I needed fresh air and sunlight. I’d been in the barn with Lily all morning.

  The guys were in the fields, standing together having a smoke.

  “Are you slacking?” I asked. I’d meant for it to be a joke, but my pissed off mood made it sound like I was serious.

  “Just a smoke break,” Pedro said. I nodded. They were good guys. I had been crabby lately, but they had been forgiving, and I was grateful for it. I had been sleeping in my bed in the bunkhouse again, and I hadn’t been the easiest person to live with.

  “What are the plans for the rest of the day?” I asked.

  “We need to take care of this,” Jose said. “And then we’re moving up to the north field.”

  I nodded. I had thought they would start somewhere else, but I had been a bit hard on them, and I wasn’t going to say something again. They all looked at me, waiting for me to freak out about something. I’d been difficult, lately. When I didn’t say anything, they visibly relaxed.

  “I think I’m going to head to the barn,” I said a short while later. “I’ll see you guys after dinner.”

  They nodded, and I turned around and walked away, proud of my ability to rein myself in when I was in a terrible mood.

  I didn’t want to go back to the stable and find Lily and have to be there for her when she was emotionally unstable. I had done all my chores, and I didn’t know what else to do. I considered going back to the bunkhouse and taking a nap.

  When I came over the last hill before the ranch house, Ace was walking up toward me. I didn’t feel like talking to him. Since Lily had arrived, I’d done my best to avoid him. I was angry with him. He hadn’t done anything wrong, per se, but I was angry that his past had come back to haunt him, that it had affected our relationship.

  Since I’d arrived at the ranch, I’d been scared that his past would get between us. I had been so nervous about it that I’d pushed him away at first. As time had gone on and nothing had happened, I’d started relaxing about it and letting him in. It had gone to a point where I had accepted that it wouldn’t be a problem, that I was paranoid.

  And now? My worst fear had come true and in a terrible way. It wasn’t that any of Lily’s story had been true, but I had let down my guard, and now the past I’d been worried about had come to torture me. It had shown me how easy it was to get hurt, how dangerous it was to give my heart to someone like Ace.

  He was headed right for me. There was no way I could walk away without it looking like I wasn’t interested in speaking to him. And I couldn’t be a total bitch, because I was still here as a favor. They could still tell me to leave at any moment. They could kick me off, and that would be the end of it.

  “What are you doing?” Ace asked when he reached me. He stood in front of me, closer than I was comfortable with, and I was aware of his scent, of the bulk of his size. His hair was messy, but off his face as if he’d run his hands through it a couple of times, and his eyes were deep and dark.

  “I’m headed to the barn,” I answered.

  “I mean with the ranch,” he said. “You’re running this place like it belongs to you.”

  Oh, he was looking for a fight, was he? Well, I could do that. Fighting was easier than trying to be nice by a long shot.

  “Someone has to,” I said. “Everyone around here needs direction. It’s been a little slack lately.”

  I put my hands on my hips and willed Ace to counter me. I was challenging him, waiting for him to pick up this fight and run with it. I wanted to get it all out. I had so much pent-up anger and frustration that I wanted to get into a screaming match with him.

  He didn’t take the bait. He just looked at me with an expression I couldn’t read, thoughts brooding that I couldn’t figure out.

  “What are you going to do about it?” I asked. I had to say something to break the silence. Ace grinned at me, and I frowned. It was out of place. What was he smiling about?

  The next moment, Ace grabbed me and picked me up as if I weighed nothing, throwing me over his shoulder. He turned around and walked back to the ranch house. I screamed and kicked and slammed my fists on his back. His shoulder dug into my stomach, and I was furious that he dared treat me this way. He had a grip on my legs that I couldn’t get out of no matter what I did.

  Ace marched into the ranch house like a cave man with me over his shoulder, walking right through the kitchen. I was relieved there was no one around to see my humiliation. He walked into the main bedroom and closed the door before throwing me down on the bed.

  I glared up at him, furious.

  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I demanded.

  Ace crawled onto the bed, his body hovering over mine, and he pinned my arms down so that I couldn’t move. I was furious, but a part of me was turned on by him being so dominating. I fought him, though. The more he tried to restrain me, the harder I fought. I would never be the type to just submit.

  “Stop it,” he said, and I stopped for a second, looking up at him and breathing hard. “I can see how much you care about the ranch and it’s great. I love that about you. But you’re being full of shit.”

  “Let me go!” I shouted.

  “Hear me out,” he said, and I had no choice. “If you’re so damn serious about this place, if you want it so badly, you’re going to have to take it as it comes. And that’s with me right along with it.”

  I made a face. “Yeah, that’s going to happen,” I said. “It’s going to be me, you, and all the women you screwed.”

  He was getting angry. I wanted that. I wanted him to be angry so we could have it out once and for all.

  “Don’t be a bitch about it,” he said. “It’s my past. Sure, it’s a shit one, but it’s there. You’ll have to deal with it. It’s all or nothing, babe.”

  I was still breathing hard, tired of fighting. Tired and turned on with him on top of me like this, taking charge.

  “So, what? I’m supposed to accept everything that happened? Accept Lily being here?”

  “You’re the one that asked her to stay,” he said, and he was right. I had done that. And it had been the right thing to do. He was also right in saying I was full of shit, but I wouldn’t admit to that outright.

  “Whatever,” I said.

  “God, you’re hot when you give me attitude,” Ace said, and he lowered himself onto me, pressing the length of his body against mine. He kissed me, and I stopped fighting.

  His tongue was in my mouth, his body pinning me down. I wrapped my arms around his neck, all that anger translating into sexual tension, and I wanted all of him. I wanted him to strip me naked and fuck me. I had to get it all out of my system.

  Ace seemed a lot more on board with that plan than with fighting it out. He tugged at my clothes, undressing me clumsily. He seemed as urgent as I felt. I pulled at his clothes and bit by bit, we undressed each other until we were naked.

  We rolled over, and I got on top of him, lowering my mouth over his hard cock without much ceremony. He gasped, and I pumped my head up and down, licking his shaft as I slipped him in and out of my mouth. He moaned and groaned and reached for my hair, taking a handful and guiding me down on his cock. I only let him call the shots for a short while before I pulled back and he popped out of my mouth.

  “My turn,” he said, but I shook my head. I pushed him down with my hands on his chest and straddled his hips. It was all an illusion of control, I was aware. He could push me off him with no trouble at all. But he stayed down, and I kissed him, my naked body hovered over his. I l
owered myself down enough that my pussy was on his dick, but I didn’t sit down on him. Instead, I slipped him up and down my slit, letting the head brush over my clit, and I shivered when I did.

  I kissed Ace slowly, planting kisses all over his face and down his neck. He shivered when I nibbled on the delicate skin above his collarbone. I moved my body so that my breasts were on his chest and my pussy so close to his cock it was torture.

  When he couldn’t hold it anymore, he wrapped his arms around me, done with letting me be in charge.

  “You’re driving me mad, woman,” he said. “If it’s not because you’re ignoring me, it’s with this. I can’t take it.”

  He pushed into me from beneath, and I cried out. He pumped into me hard and fast without building up, and I shivered. It was hot sex, raw and animalistic and what we both needed.

  He fucked me like that until I orgasmed. I cried out in his ear before he slowed down and convulsed on top of him before he finally stopped.

  Ace flipped me over, rolling us around with skill so that I was beneath him, and he was still inside me. He picked up that pace again, ramming into me. My legs were open, my hands on his shoulders, and I dug my nails into his skin as he pounded me. This was what I needed. I needed rough and reckless. I needed to get over whatever it was that was eating at me.

  When I came the second time, I cried out, and Ace groaned with me.

  “God, you feel so good, babe,” he said.

  I had to say the same for him, but I didn’t have a chance through my heavy breathing. I moaned and whimpered as Ace changed his pace, slowing down and then speeding up, pushing me closer and closer to the edge again and again without letting me topple over.

  “Please, let me come,” I said when he kept torturing me. I was shivering with anticipation, my nerve endings on fire.

  Ace pulled out, and I got onto my hands and knees. He pushed into me, and I arched my back. He held onto my hips and rode me, and it was powerful. He slammed into me, my breasts swinging back and forth and the bed creaking something awful. I didn’t care. Neither of us did.