Teach Me The Ropes (Bachelor Auction Book 1)

by Vanessa Vale

  “Fifteen. You said your mom was in Phoenix?”

  I closed my eyes and rested my head against his shoulder. Sighed. “Yeah. She goes through men like most people go through underwear.”

  “That fast?”

  “Okay, maybe as fast as most people replace their furnace filter. Better?”

  “I’m getting a much better picture now. Thanks.”

  I couldn’t help but smile. I reached back and tried to pinch his side, but it was all hard muscle. I was equally annoyed and turned on.

  “Are you close?”

  “Only when she needs money. I never knew my dad.”

  “Brothers and sisters?”

  “Nope.”

  “I’m sorry, sugar. That must be hard with your mom. I can’t imagine not relying on my family, even if they are sometimes a pain in the ass.”

  “I’m used to it. I can take care of myself,” I reiterated, perhaps as much for him as for me.

  “You might have taken care of your orgasms before, sugar. It’s my job now. So, the bed…” he murmured, his lips now on my neck. His cell rang, and he stepped back and pulled it from his pocket.

  “Manning.” He turned away from me, walked over to the window and stared out as he listened.

  My head was still spinning with his last words. It was his job to take care of my orgasms? Um… what? He’d given me a handful in the short time I’d known him. They were so much better than any I’d ever given myself, either with my hand or a vibrator. I was equally thrilled and bothered by his possessiveness.

  He glanced over his shoulder at me. Sighed. “Fine. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  He hung up, shoved the device back in his pocket.

  “Sorry, sugar. That was the station. There’s an issue with the fire truck. A part was shipped, but it was the wrong one. Someone’s headed to Helena to get a replacement, but… well, the reason doesn’t matter. I have to go.”

  “I understand.”

  He came over to me, tucked my hair back. His blue eyes moved between mine, dipped to my mouth. “Raincheck on my bed? I’ve got plans for you, and they might take a while. Might have to keep you naked and too satisfied to leave.”

  When he took my hand and walked me back to my car, I was equally thrilled and freaked. I wanted to be with Sawyer, but he was talking babies and rings and keeping me. We barely knew each other, and that meant the luster would wear off. My pussy wouldn’t be that special any longer, and he’d be ready to move on. And then what?

  SAWYER

  Maybe it was the orgasms. Maybe it was Kelsey’s smile. Maybe it was the way she fit so perfectly in my arms. Maybe it was the way she rode my face while she sucked me off so perfectly. Or maybe I was just whipped. Kelsey was it for me. There was something about her, maybe the fact that she wasn’t all sweet and timid. Hell no. She’d gotten down in the hay and gone wild.

  She wanted to be independent. Didn’t want to rely on a guy. I could understand that, especially after what she told me of her ex.

  But it was in my DNA to take care of a woman. I’d thought that was what Tina had wanted, a man to watch out for her and protect her. But she’d wanted the protection of the Manning money not me.

  I never expected to find Kelsey. Never knew it would be like this. I fell for her. Hard. Fast.

  She was sweet with Claire and wild with me.

  Uninhibited one moment, cautious the next. I knew I could get past those walls she had solidly built. Every time I got her to stop thinking, I saw the real Kelsey. The one I hoped would want me right back.

  She was caring. Sexy. Prickly. Fun. Wild. My woman. Yeah, I was fucking keeping her and not just because she was a dirty girl in the hay.

  I just had to figure out how to tell her. I could show her over and over until she believed my actions. I’d hoped to do just that, spending the day in my bed. I’d hinted that I wanted more, wanted long term with her, but had not said it outright. I’d tell her the words when I felt confident, and I wouldn’t be kneed in the nuts.

  As I followed her back into town, I realized I had no idea where she lived. Another thing I needed to figure out because I planned to spend every night I could with her, and if she lived downtown, it would be a hell of a lot closer to the station than the ranch.

  She signaled for the community center, and I turned in behind her. The fire station was three blocks down. Since I had a few minutes, I pulled up beside her car. She was reaching into the back seat and grabbing a bag when I said, “Funny seeing you here.”

  My window was down, and my elbow rested in the opening. The sun was warm on my skin.

  She spun around, shoving the bag back in the car, her hair whipping into her face. I knew why it was all wild and tangled, and I couldn’t help the caveman feelings knowing it was from sixty-nine. My new favorite position although I was headed to the convenience store after this for the largest box of condoms they sold.

  “Are you… are you following me?” she asked, her gaze darting around.

  My smile slipped as she didn’t look all that happy to see me. I pointed out the front windshield. “The station’s just down the road. I thought I’d get one more kiss before—”

  “Sawyer, I don’t like you following me.”

  I looked to the community center, trying to figure out why she was so bent out of shape.

  “You seem awful cranky for someone who came all over my face just a little while ago. You need some more lovin’?”

  Her cheeks turned pink as I’d hoped, but instead of seeing desire in her eyes, they narrowed.

  I put the truck in park and held up my hands. “Whoa, sugar. That look might fell a lesser man.”

  “Sawyer,” she said, and not in that hot, breathy way she did earlier..”

  I rubbed the back of my neck. “I’m not sure what happened between the ranch and here, but I’ve got to deal with the bad part at the station, and then I can come to your place. Talk through whatever’s bothering you. Lend an ear.”

  She shook her head, tucked her hair back behind her ear. “No. God, look, this has been fun. I’m sorry, but I can’t do this.”

  I frowned. “Do what?”

  “I can’t stay in your bed for a long time.” Her hands came up, and she made those annoying air quotes. “I can’t be what you want.”

  Whatever happiness I felt just a minute ago was fading away. Now I was fucking confused. Pissed. The more she got wound up, the calmer I became. “What is it you think I want, sugar?”

  “It was supposed to be just sex. I told you this didn’t mean anything.”

  “What’s happened? What’s got you this way in the twenty minutes from the ranch? Someone call you?”

  Her cheeks flared with color, and she glanced away. Yeah, someone had bothered her. Someone had got thoughts in her head.

  “Who’s bothered you? Let me help you.”

  “No!” she cried.

  A mother carrying a toddler glanced our way as she went to her car. I gave her a little wave with my hand that rested on the steering wheel.

  Kelsey stepped up to my car window, looked me in the eye. “I don’t need your help, Sawyer Manning. I was doing just fine on my own before you showed up.”

  “You bought me at the auction, if you remember,” I reminded her.

  “I’ll get you your money.”

  I looked up at the ceiling in my truck and gritted my teeth. “I don’t give a shit about the money. I give a shit about you.”

  “No. No!” she repeated, stepping back, hands in front of her. “I’ll get you the money. Until then, leave me alone.” She turned away.

  “Wait,” I said, climbing from my truck. I reached out to touch her but changed my mind at the last second. “That’s it? After what we just did?”

  “It was sex. Sex!” She tossed her arms up in the air although the way she was acting, I could tell she thought the complete opposite. “I can’t fall for a guy just because he’s got a magic dick.”

  I was pleased she thought my d
ick was magical, but I was pissed more. “I thought you liked me for more than my dick. I mean, at least the puppies.”

  That got a small smile out of her as she ran a hand through her hair. Tugged, looked everywhere but at me. “I… I can’t.”

  “Who got you all riled up? Your momma? Someone else?”

  She ignored my questions and looked away. I didn’t miss the tears in her eyes. Someone had hurt her, and instead of coming to me, she was pushing me away. “It’s better this way.”

  I stood there, hands on hips, and watched as she grabbed her bag from the back seat, slammed her door and ran for the building.

  What the fuck had just happened?

  KELSEY

  I made it all the way to the ladies’ locker room and into a bathroom stall before I lost it. God, Sawyer had looked… bewildered. Frustrated. Angry, even.

  My mother had texted me earlier when I’d been at the ranch. I’d left my cell in my car, and I’d missed the note until I’d pulled up to a red light, and I’d checked my phone.

  Mom: Roger broke up with me. I need money for rent.

  I assumed Roger was Mr. Phoenix, but I couldn’t be sure, just another long string of guys who’d let my mother down. If the pattern held, she’d fallen for Roger, moved into his place then got tossed aside when he was bored with her.

  She had no degree. No skills. She’d barely held a job. Her job had been to find a sugar daddy to take care of her and me when I’d been little. But now she was fired from her job and was broke.

  It had hit way too close to home for me. I might have gone to college and had a job, but I’d followed Tom to a new state. I’d thought I loved him. But the way I felt for Sawyer was so much more, and I’d only known him a day. It had been only last night when I’d bought him at the auction.

  Last night!

  I’d told him this didn’t mean anything. I’d meant it. But somewhere between ice cream and puppies, I’d gone from wanting meaningless sex with him to… everything?

  In. A. Day.

  I was just like my mother. Thank God she’d texted. Serendipitous, in fact. I hadn’t heard from her in months, and her text had been the reminder I needed.

  I was turning into her. I couldn’t rely on a man.

  Not Sawyer Manning.

  Especially not him. I’d gone to the community center to shower, and he’d followed me. If I hadn’t been so freaked that he’d find out what I was up to, I’d have found it endearing.

  He’d wanted a kiss.

  A kiss.

  Tears filled my eyes because he must think I am crazy or had the worst case of PMS ever.

  He was so close to finding out I had no place to live. When he learned the truth, he’d be pissed that I’d lied to him. Or worse, he’d help me.

  I couldn’t let him do that. If I did, I’d be stepping right into my mother’s footsteps. I’d be reliant on him. I had to stand on my own. To take care of myself.

  Guys don’t stick. They have their fun, and when they get bored, they move on. Or they lie like Tom to have their fun with no intention of more.

  So I pushed Sawyer away. The guy who made me feel. To make me hope.

  I swiped at the tears that slid down my cheeks, grabbed some toilet paper and wiped my face. It was better this way.

  As I grabbed my things and headed to the showers, I had to wonder why.

  8

  KELSEY

  The shatter of glass woke me. I hadn’t realized I’d fallen asleep because I’d tossed and turned for hours. All I could think about was Sawyer. The look on his face when I’d pushed him away. The desire to grab my phone and call him. Pick up my keys and drive to his house and make things right.

  I wanted him. Needed him in a way that scared me, and that was why I hadn’t done anything. I’d stayed on the cot and willed myself to sleep. It must have worked until now.

  I popped up in bed, listened. There was someone outside the building. I climbed from the bed, went to the window and looked out. I didn’t see anything but the back parking lot. Then I smelled it. Gasoline. I dashed into the main room of the school and froze. Fire. It was spreading up the wall by the sharing corner, the children’s finger paintings on the wall curling up and burning. The preschool had originally been a miner’s house from the turn of the century. The turn of the last century. I didn’t know the building’s history or how long it had been a school, but it didn’t have sprinklers. It was made of wood. The walls, the shingles on the roof. The floors. Everything. There were fire extinguishers in every room and fire code requirements like exit signs, but the flames were spreading too fast for me to put out. I was in a tank top and sleep shorts, and I could feel the heat from the flames touching my skin.

  I coughed, ran back to my bed and grabbed my cell from the floor. The shattered window had the fire pulling toward it, the glass coating the alphabet carpet.

  A whoosh came from outside, and I ran to the front window. A man was pouring liquid on the building. Lifting and swinging, the… oh shit, gas was splashing off the wall. He stepped back, dropped the can. He was in shadow, and I couldn’t make out his face or anything more than that he was wearing a dark hoodie and dark pants. He lit a match and tossed it. The flames erupted, and he didn’t linger, turning and running for a car at the curb. He sped off, the engine revving hard.

  I coughed, the smoke starting to fill the room. I went to the back door, flipped the lock and ran out. I had no idea if the guy would come to the back, but I wasn’t waiting around to find out. If he would set a building on fire, he was dangerous enough to do something else. Like hurt me, the one person who’d watched his crime.

  I dashed for the trees on the far side of the parking lot and hid behind a huge cottonwood. Leaning against the rough bark, I fumbled with my phone. I was too panicked, too keyed up to type in my unlock code, so I pushed the Emergency button. I’d never appreciated such a feature before now.

  “9-1-1, what is your emergency?”

  “A fire. The preschool on South Grant is on fire.”

  SAWYER

  After replacing the bad part on the engine, I’d stayed at the station, hanging with the guys instead of going home. While she hadn’t been in my bed yet, going home was going to remind me of the fun afternoon we’d had. I doubted I’d be able to go into the stable ever again without getting hard. Anything to avoid thinking about whatever the fuck happened at the community center earlier.

  When the call came in for a structure fire, I’d been with the others to get the firetruck rolling in under two minutes. We were able to see the glow of the flames as soon as we left the bay. By the time we pulled up, got the hoses laid and the water on the preschool, the front was fully engulfed. Fortunately, there was enough land around it that no other buildings downtown were threatened. It didn’t take long to push down the flames, but my crew would be handling hot spots longer.

  Neighbors had come out to watch, but they’d stayed back. I finished rolling up one of the hose lines and caught sight of Huck. Tipped my chin in greeting. I expected to see him here at some point. Our jobs overlapped often. The street was blocked off, and he cut across it to join me. Flashing blue lights from all the emergency vehicles bounced off his grim features.

  I shrugged off my heavy fire jacket, so I was just in my bunker pants. Sweat made my t-shirt cling, but the night air felt good. “Sometimes I hate my job,” I muttered.

  Huck grunted. “Place went up fast,” he commented.

  “Too fast,” I replied.

  “Accelerant?”

  I nodded. “The scent of it is strong close to the building. Not all of it burned off.”

  His jaw clenched. A house fire was one thing, but arson in The Bend?

  I ran a hand over my face. “At least there weren’t any kids in there.”

  Huck’s eyes narrowed, and he looked up at the black sky and took a breath. This was Claire’s school, and the idea of her and any of the other kids being inside…

  Fuck.

  A woman in sweats
and slippers came over to us. Forty, maybe, although it was hard to tell in the harsh lights and at midnight. No one looked all that great pulled from their bed. She set one hand on her chest as she tried to catch her breath.

  “I’m Irene. I run the preschool.”

  “Thanks for calling this in,” I told her. “We got here fast because of it although there’s still a lot of damage.”

  The front of the building was pretty much gone although the back room still stood.

  “I didn’t call it in,” she said, looking around with worry and not at her destroyed school.

  I looked to Huck. Emergency dispatch was a county run office down in Helena. The call hadn’t come directly to his station.

  “She didn’t,” Huck confirmed. “Kelsey did.”

  Irene spun in a full circle. “Oh God, where is she?”

  “Kelsey?” I asked, even though I knew exactly who Kelsey was. In intimate detail.

  “She’s with one of my deputies,” Huck told her, and she practically wilted in relief.

  I looked around although anyone outside of the lights from the emergency vehicles were swallowed by the darkness. I didn’t have to search hard because Graham and Kelsey were headed our way. Graham was friends with Thatcher, had played ball with him in high school.

  I didn’t pay him any attention. I only had eyes for Kelsey, who had her eyes on me as well. I took in her wild hair, her tank top and tiny shorts. She’d clearly been in bed. The way she had her arms crossed over her chest in the middle of all this, she wasn’t wearing a bra and trying to hide that fact.

  Irene went over to Kelsey and pulled her in for a hug. “God, I was so worried!”

  “I’m fine,” Kelsey said, reassuring the woman, giving her her full attention. “I got out, no problem.”

  Got out? My walkie talkie squawked, someone calling for Incident Command, which was me. I had to step away, but I kept my eyes on Kelsey.

  When done, I went over to her, took her hand and tugged her away. I gave Huck a glance over my shoulder as we went but didn’t give a shit if he wanted to question her.