An Angel for Them [Riverbend, Texas Heat 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Marla Monroe

  * * * *

  Travis couldn’t wait to get their Angel up on a horse. She would look great riding around the ranch between them. The more they integrated her into their everyday lives, the easier it would be to court her in earnest later. He knew Randy was getting impatient. They both wanted her in their bed sooner rather than later, but anything worth having was worth waiting for. Angela was definitely worth waiting for.

  They walked out the back door from the laundry-mudroom toward the second set of stables. It housed the horses they wanted to show Angela. The other one held mostly working horses. They would check out the kittens last. He had no doubt she would want to take one home with her. Neither of them had any problem with that. It would give her a greater sense of home. He was all for anything that got her to thinking of the ranch as home.

  “Here we are.” Randy walked up to a pretty bay mare with her head leaning over the stall door. “This is Sunshine. She’s ten years old and is as sweet as cotton candy.”

  Angela walked up to the mare and held out her hand for the horse to sniff her. Then she slid her hand over the horse’s forehead and along her neck.

  “She’s beautiful. What a pretty color.” She rubbed both hands over the horse’s body and talked to her in a soft, lilting voice that had Travis wishing he was the mare with all of her attention focused on him.

  “Come down here, Angela. This is Gracie. She’s a little less docile, but not too spirited for you to handle.” Randy held her bridle as Angela walked up to the slightly larger mare.

  “What color is she? It’s amazing!” She held out her hand as she had for the other horse then ran her hand along the smooth neck.

  “She’s a blue roan. That’s a black horse with white hairs interspaced throughout her coat. I normally only see this on males, but she is the perfect example of a true blue roan.”

  “I’ve never seen anything like her. She’s amazing.” The horse nudged her shoulder.

  Angela laughed and cooed to her as she rubbed all over the mare. This one definitely had more spirit and seemed to like her. Travis could see which one she had picked. When she turned to tell them, he nearly came just from the look of pure happiness on her face.

  “I guess you know who I want to ride, don’t you.”

  “Yep. I’d say that was pretty obvious.” He chuckled. “Randy was sure you’d pick her.”

  “Why the name Gracie?” Angela asked.

  “When we first got her, we placed her in a stall next to one of our geldings we’d named George Burns because he was such a comedian. He was always into something and could open any gate or stall we had. Well, she immediately took a liking to him and constantly talked to him. He’d look over at her and shake his head like he was trying to figure out what she was talking about. The name just stuck, Gracie and George Burns.” Randy chuckled.

  “Where is George now?” she asked.

  Travis grinned. “George was nearly fourteen then. We gave him to Homer for when his grandkids are visiting. They love him and he seems to love them as well. He sure keeps everyone on their toes and in stitches with his antics.”

  “That’s sweet. Did Gracie miss him?”

  “I don’t think so. She still tends to talk a lot when you take her out to ride. You’ll see.” Travis took her hand to draw her away from the mare’s stall. “Let’s go see the kittens, and then you two need to head to town so you can get back before it gets too dark to unload the groceries.”

  As he pulled her toward him, Gracie let out a snort and settled her head over Angela’s shoulder as if trying to keep her there. Angela giggled and turned to hug the mare, telling her she would be back to visit soon.

  Randy led them over to the storage barn where they kept the grain and hay. A couple of tomcats scrambled out of their way as they walked inside the barn. The sweet smell of hay was far more appealing than the more earthy smell of horse and manure from the stables. He followed as his brother took Angela’s hand and led her over to where several bales of hay made a natural enclosed area off to one side. There were two mother cats tending to their kittens inside the enclosure. He waited to see how Angela would react when she first saw them.

  She slowly leaned over with Randy and immediately gasped with delight. Travis couldn’t take his eyes off of her as she lay over the hay bales and looked at the squirming mess of kittens he’d found a few days before. The sight of her rounded ass up in the air was almost more than he could stand. He adjusted his cock in his jeans and walked closer to them.

  “What do you think? Look like little rats, don’t they.” Travis loved teasing her.

  “No they don’t! They’re adorable. I can’t believe the two momma cats are raising them together like this. They look to be almost the same age.”

  Randy spoke up. “I think the calico over there had hers about four days before the orange one did.”

  “What are the momma cat’s names?” she asked as she watched the kittens play together.

  “Uh, momma cats,” Randy said.

  She huffed out an annoyed breath and bumped his shoulder. “That’s terrible. They should have their own names. How old are the kittens?”

  “The first batch will be six weeks old tomorrow and the others are about four days behind.” Randy reached down and picked up a calico ball of fur and sat it on the hay bale between them.

  “She’s so cute. Oh look! She’s hissing at you, Randy.” The furry creature was jumping up and down sideways hissing at the man.

  Travis chuckled. “He should be cozying up to him instead. Randy is the reason they all have extra food and fresh milk each morning.”

  “Aw, that’s so sweet, Randy.” She put the little kitten back with the others and randomly rubbed over all of them.

  One fuzzy orange runt climbed over the others to reach her hand. It latched on to her thumb and tried to chew on it. She giggled and pulled him out to cuddle him. Holding him up so she was eye to eye with the creature, Travis watched as she rubbed it against the side of her face and talked to it. Yep. She’d ask for this one, he was sure of it. He and Randy exchanged glances. His brother’s eyes seemed almost misty.

  “Um, Travis. Do you think I could have one of them? I’d take good care of him and clean up after him.” She didn’t look at either of them as she caressed the kitten.

  “You’ll have to talk to Randy about that. They’re his domain, not mine.”

  She turned to Randy, gave him the biggest wide-eyed look he’d ever seen, and poked out her lips before she said, “Please.”

  Randy didn’t have a chance. Even though Travis knew his brother had planned to make her beg even more, the big man caved like a boxer with a glass jaw.

  “Hell. I guess so. We’ll need to get supplies while we are out. Do you know which one you want?”

  She grinned and thrust the runt she was holding out at him. “This one. He needs extra attention, and as small as he is, he isn’t getting it with all of the others around.”

  “Well, put him back and we’ll come get him after we get back. He’ll be fine till we make it back from town.” Randy stood up and waited for her to replace the little thing before he helped her to her feet.

  To their surprise, she hugged both of them and thanked them. Then, as if realizing what she’d done, she raced out of the barn. He and his brother looked at each other and shrugged. It was a start. Then Randy grinned and Travis had a feeling his brother had an idea that would prove to be dirty.

  “What?”

  “I plan to use that kitten for all it’s worth.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “How about a hug for letting her keep that rat you got?”

  Travis pretended disgust and stepped back. “Not on your life, man.”

  Randy just grinned and headed for the barn doors. “I think it will work just fine. Since the cats are my domain, you’re going to have to figure out your own trick to getting hugs from our Angel.”

  Travis couldn’t help but chuckle. Leave it to Randy to figure o
ut an underhanded way to get some attention from their woman. Well, two could play at that game. He’d figure out something. He wasn’t about to let Randy steal all of her affection right off the bat. Shaking his head, he followed the two back to the house where he watched them load up to head into town. Then he walked back out to the stables and saddled up his horse to check out those cat tracks for himself. He had a lot of planning to do and riding out along their boundaries would be just the place to do it.

  Chapter Eleven

  Angela had a good time shopping with Randy. It surprised her that he could be so playful when usually he seemed more reserved. When they started picking out vegetables in the produce section, he’d made comments about everything she picked up.

  “What about cucumbers, Angela? Do we need nice thick, long ones for anything?” He wiggled an especially large one in her direction.

  “Randy. Put that down. We aren’t having salad. No cucumbers.” She’d felt her face grow hot and quickly turned away from him to examine the tomatoes.

  She started feeling them and picking out the firm but ripe ones. Randy wandered over and picked up one. When he squeezed it like she was doing, it squished and he growled. Angela couldn’t stop the snort and subsequent laughter that escaped at the disgusted look on his face. She quickly grabbed some paper towels that were on a roll near them and held them out while trying to stop laughing.

  “Why is it you can squeeze them but they burst on me?”

  “I don’t squeeze them as hard as you do.”

  “I think that one was rotten in the first place. It was all squishy.”

  “That’s why I look for the firm fruit.”

  “Yeah, that reminds me of a woman’s breast. I bet yours are nice and firm with just the right amount of squeezability.”

  “That’s not even a word, Randy. And stop talking about my boobs.” She took her tomatoes and pushed her cart toward the cabbage and onions as her face heated up at his suggestive observation.

  While she chose the cabbage and onions for the slaw, Randy drifted over to stand in front of the melons. She picked out what she needed then turned to find Randy holding up two cantaloupes in front of his chest. He waggled his eyebrows. Angela couldn’t help but laugh at him.

  “You’re incorrigible. Put those back before you bruise them.”

  He frowned and looked at them. “You can bruise them like you can a breast?”

  She rolled her eyes and took one from him to replace it in the bin.

  “Hey, why don’t we cut up some fruit for dessert like watermelon and cantaloupe instead of making something? It would save time and be better for us.”

  “That’s actually a good idea.”

  “Hey, you act like I can’t have good ideas.” He pouted at her.

  Angela laughed. “It’s not that I think you can’t have them, it’s that most of the time you’re more interested in how to be bad.”

  “Well, I’m okay with that.” He followed her as she started thumping the different melons before choosing one.

  She was surprised when he didn’t make any more comments while she picked out a couple of watermelons and several melons as well as some strawberries and peaches. Instead he followed behind her until she got to the meat section. Once there, he took over, talking to the butcher and telling him what they needed. Since he seemed to know what he was doing, she wandered off to grab the hamburger buns they would need.

  When she made it back with her arms full, it was to find a very beautiful woman standing much too close to Randy to be just an acquaintance. She stopped in the middle of the aisle and stared as they talked. Randy kept shaking his head. He was pressed between the cooler and the strange woman but he made no move to move to either side. Angela’s stomach sank as her heart sped up. Why was she letting this bother her? She had no hold on them. They weren’t her men, and she’d been trying to avoid any type of entanglement with them from the beginning.

  Still, the sight of the overly affectionate female hanging all over Randy pissed her off. Tears burned the back of her eyes. Before she could stop herself, Angela stomped over to the buggy and dumped the buns in without worrying about whether they got smashed or not.

  “Is the meat ready yet, Randy? We need to get back to the ranch. I’ve got things to do.” So what if her voice came out a little bitchy.

  The woman looked over at her, giving her the once-over then dismissing her as if she were nothing. That made her even madder. The bitch acted as if she were beneath her or something.

  “I’ve got to go, Belinda. It was nice seeing you again.” Randy tried to extract himself from the woman but wasn’t having much luck.

  “But, Randy, we haven’t settled on a date yet.”

  “I told you, Belinda. I’m busy and don’t have time for that. Now move so I can go.” He finally moved to the side and lunged for the basket, taking it out of Angela’s hands. “Let’s go, honey.”

  She could feel the other woman staring daggers in her back as they made their way to the front of the store. She couldn’t help but feel some satisfaction that it was her that Randy was leaving with and not that blonde bimbo with fake nails. The sight of those bloodred nails fiddling with the buttons on Randy’s shirt had sent red-hot rage surging through her blood. She’d never felt anything like that before. She wasn’t normally a violent person, but she’d itched to scratch that woman’s eyes out.

  “One more detour, Angela. We need to look over in the pet section and find what you need for the little rat.” Randy led her over to that aisle and helped her pick out what she needed.

  “Okay, litter pan, litter, kitten food, kitten milk, and a brush. That’s the main things. What else do you need?” he asked as he piled everything under the shopping cart.

  “I’m going to use one of my old shirts for his blanket and a box for his bed, but he needs a few toys to play with while I’m busy at work.”

  Randy helped her choose a long feather, a jingle ball, and a small furry mouse. Then they pushed the full cart to the checkout stands. While Randy unloaded the supplies, she arranged them on the belt so that the bag boy would put them in the right bags. She didn’t want anything to get ruined just because it was in the wrong bag. She shivered at the thought of the buns ending up with one of the cantaloupes. Not many people knew how to bag groceries, much less teenagers.

  She watched the teen bagging their purchases to be sure he didn’t mess up while Randy paid for the groceries. To her surprise, the young man seemed to know how to separate out the meat from everything and to put the buns in separate bags from anything heavy. When the kid started to push the cart out for them, Randy gave him a tip and told him he could handle it from there.

  “There are women here who need the help more than we do, son.” The teenager smiled and nodded his head before heading back to the next register.

  Randy helped her up in the cab of the truck before loading the bags into the backseat. Angela went over the grocery list and compared it to their receipt to make sure they hadn’t forgotten anything. Then she added up in her head how much she owed Randy for the kitten’s supplies.

  When she tried to hand him the money, he frowned and pushed her hand away.

  “What are you trying to do? Make me mad?”

  “I’m paying you back for my kitten’s supplies. I don’t expect you to pay for my pet.”

  “Think of it as an, um, welcome-the-new-pet gift,” he said as he started the truck.

  “It’s too much, Randy. If it was just a bag of food or a few toys, that would be one thing, but this is too much.” She tried to give it to him again, but he pushed her hand away.

  “It’s from me and Travis.”

  She waited until he was busy backing up then she tried to stuff it in his jeans pocket. His hand trapped hers against his thigh and she realized that it had her thumb brushing along something that definitely wasn’t money on the inside of his thigh. She froze.

  “Randy? Can I have my hand back?”

  “I haven’
t decided yet.” He looked into her eyes for a few seconds then nodded and released her hand.

  Angela jumped back to her side of the truck and pretended to be busy with her purse as Randy drove. God, he felt big. There was no way she could mistake the size of his cock considering where her thumb had been in relation to his crotch. A mild shiver traveled down her spine. She knew her face and neck were red by how hot she felt there.

  “You’re cute when you blush, honey.”

  “Don’t, Randy.”

  “Don’t what?” She could hear the smile in his voice.

  “Tease me. Don’t have fun at my expense.”

  “Angela, I would never do that. I just think you’re cute when you get all red and embarrassed. All you did was touch my cock through my jeans. It was an accident. No big deal.”

  Angela tried to relax and take it like he said as no big deal, but to her it was a big deal. She’d gotten wet thinking about it. Right now, her pussy was soaking her panties and her mouth felt dry. She shouldn’t be having these feelings for her bosses. The only place this could lead was to heartbreak and unemployment. She had to get a hold of her hormones and put some distance between herself and the two sexy ranchers or she was doomed. Somehow that didn’t make her feel any better. Instead, she felt as if she would choke on all the emotions that threatened to push through.

  Neither one of them talked the entire trip back to the ranch. She could only assume that Randy was thinking about the blonde sex bunny from back at the store. Needless to say that thought only made her feel worse. By the time they made it back she was ready to go back to the cabin and hide. Instead, she found herself walking to the barn with Travis to get her kitten.

  * * * *

  Once back at the cabin with the tiny ball of yellow-and-orange fur, Angela set up the litter box and the kitten’s food and water bowls. Then she spent the next thirty minutes showing him where it all was over and over again until she thought he was familiar with the way to get to them.

  She planned to fix a salad for dinner and then go to bed early since she would need to be up early to start getting the various side dishes for the cookout ready. After wearing out the ball of fur by playing with all of its toys, she settled it in the box her boots had come in with one of her old shirts and left it sleeping while she fixed her salad.