Brick smirked, grabbing his own beer. “So tell me, Cord, are you enjoying playing house with Haley?”
Taller and a little wider than his brother, the good-looking jackass had earned the name Romeo for his prowess with the ladies. He’d earned Cord’s friendship when they’d endured boot camp together, then came deployments, suffering through Ranger training, and finally, placement on the same Ranger Rifle Team. They went through hell and back multiple times, but nothing had ever tested their friendship until Brick started dating Cord’s sister.
The idiot’s only saving grace had been that he’d had no idea Beth was actually Cord’s sister, Lizzie. Of course, Cord hadn’t found out until after he’d defended his sister’s honor and nearly ruined their relationship.
But it was all good now. And damn, he needed that drink. Putting the bottle to his lips, he tipped the beer back and let the ale wash away what ailed him. It didn’t work.
“Yeah, Cord.” Amusement crossed Vince’s face. “I’d love to know the answer to that.”
“Me, too.” Stone sank down onto a bar stool on the other side of the counter, grabbing the beer Brick slid his way.
Shit. He was hoping by ignoring the question they’d let it drop.
Leo straightened from the table and leaned on the stick. “I noticed you packed a bigger bag. You moving in for good?”
“That’s messed up,” he said with a shake of his head, ignoring the twitch from the body part highly in favor of the idea.
“Why?” Brick frowned. “We were there, remember? Drew told you to take care of her.”
Cord’s gut soured. Christ. The guys had been too busy trying to help save Leo. Only Cord had heard the “she deserves better” in Drew’s last breath. “He didn’t mean it that way.”
“Yes, he did,” Brick insisted.
Vince nodded.
“Drew—” Stone began.
“Ah hell,” he cut him off. “Not you, too.” They didn’t get it. Nor did they realize by putting his wife first, their buddy had been unselfish for the first time in a long time. An attempt to make up for his betrayal. No way, no how, was he asking Cord to shack up with his wife.
Leo ambled closer. “I may have been busted up, but I can still see his face. He meant it, Cord. Drew needed to know you would be there for Haley. He gave his blessing.”
Jesus, this was getting out of hand.
Cord exhaled. “That’s exactly what I’m doing. She needs me to help her with a few things.”
“I think you had the first part right.” Brick slapped his back. “She needs you, buddy.”
The jerks laughed in agreement. Cord stared them down.
“She needs all of us,” he corrected, then went on to explain the woman’s new venture. The deadline she was looking at earned a few curse words and worried looks.
“When you going back?” Stone asked.
“In the morning.” He needed one more night to pull his head out of his ass and center himself. The past twenty-four hours since he lost his mind and kissed her had been a bit tense. Mostly his doing. He was the one who walked away and had been careful not to be in the same room with her since.
“Well, we’re already scheduled out this weekend,” Stone said, setting his beer on the bar, “but we should be able to finish up the Henderson job by Thursday. I don’t see why Brick and I couldn’t help you guys the next two weekends. Vince and Leo can handle things here.”
Relief rushed through Cord. Between the three of them, they’d knock a lot off Haley’s list.
Stone took a pull of his beer then pointed at his brother with the bottle. “I’m sure the girls would love to talk to Haley about the business side of boarding horses. We’ll bring them, too.”
Cord set his bottle on the counter and nodded. “Good.”
It would be good for Haley to socialize. According to the guys, Lizzie and Jovy were enjoying a girls’ night out. Haley needed that, too. From what he’d gathered from Pete, the woman hardly ever left the ranch, unless it was work related.
“So tell us, how is Haley?” Vince asked, standing back to let Leo shoot.
“Yeah.” Brick smirked. “Has she loosened up any?”
He washed down a grunt with his last mouthful of beer. Yesterday, during that damn kiss, she’d been far from tight lipped. Her guard had dropped, loosening all sorts of feelings in him best left locked up tight.
“Still having trouble with your words, Cord?” Stone chuckled, lifting his bottle for another pull.
“Fuck you,” he grunted.
Vince snickered. “No trouble with those words.”
“So, you’re saying the stubborn woman hasn’t given you any trouble?” Brick glanced sideways at him, his eyes dark with disbelief. “She let you work? Didn’t try to do things on her own?”
“Is she any good with tools?” Leo asked.
Cord tossed his empty bottle in the recycle bin in the corner and grabbed another beer from the fridge. “Yeah, she’s good with them, especially on bringing them down on herself.”
Leo frowned. “What? Tools fell on her?”
“Yeah.” His chest tightened at the thought of the shears cutting her chest instead of her arm. She was damn lucky.
Stone straightened in his seat. “Was she hurt?”
He nodded. “Cut her arm and hand, and bruised her wrist. Not too bad, though. I took care of it.”
Brick studied him closely. “Did you now?”
Christ. “Don’t make a big deal out of it.”
“But it is a big deal. Other than to fix my back, you haven’t opened a first-aid kit in years.”
He sipped his beer and shrugged. “She was bleeding. I couldn’t just let her stand there and bleed.”
“No,” Stone said, “but you could’ve let Pete handle it.”
Ah hell. He knew where this was going to lead. “Pete had already left to stay with his sister.”
The whole room grew quiet. He swore the balls on the table even came to a complete stop.
Stone blinked. “Wait…didn’t you say she let the other ranch hands go?”
“Yep.”
“And she only kept Pete,” Brick said.
“Yep.”
“So it’s just you and Haley on the ranch? Alone?” Vince asked, slight twitch to his lips.
Fuck it. He was done answering.
Brick folded his arms across his chest and continued to regard him closely. “And you’re going to be there three weeks?”
He fought back his annoyance and lost. “So?”
“No so. None whatsoever.” Brick shrugged. “But you, my friend…oh, you are so going down.”
He jerked his head toward the idiot. “What the fuck are you talking about?
His buddy snorted. “You and Haley have killer chemistry, and now you’re stuck in a house together all alone. Do the math, man.”
“Changes nothing.” Except it already had, and Jesus, if the guys ever found out he’d never hear the end of it. “Nothing is going to happen because I won’t let it.”
Brick and Stone glanced at each other before they barked out laughter loud enough Haley probably heard them in the next county.
Bastards. There wasn’t anything funny about it.
He stared them down. Again. “When have you ever seen me do anything I didn’t want to?”
“Don’t you see? That’s just it. You do want to, Cord,” Stone insisted. “You very much want to do stuff with Haley.”
Brick clapped him on the shoulder. “We’ve been in your shoes, buddy.”
He glanced at the others.
“Don’t look at me,” Leo said, holding up his hands. “I’m still working on getting my head on straight. Don’t need to bring a woman into my shit.”
God, could he relate.
Vince sighed, leaning on his stick. “I’d love to be in Stone and Brick’s shoes.”
“And what shoes are they?”
Brick grinned. “The ‘I’ve got a handle on this attraction’ shoes. Big news
flash, pal. You don’t.” The idiot chuckled. “I felt the same way. Well, actually, ever since meeting your sister, I wanted to do stuff with her. To her. You get the picture.”
Christ. Now he needed to wash his ears out with icepicks and rinse with a Japanese sai.
Brick grabbed his beer. “But I never planned for it to lead to a relationship.”
Thank the Lord the guy was going to shut up. He didn’t need to hear anything related to his sister and sex. Tipping back his bottle, he sucked down more beer.
“Yeah.” Stone nodded, twisting his bottle on the counter. “You think, okay, I can handle a couple of dates. After all, it’s only for a few weeks.”
“Then bam.” Brick hit his fist off his palm. “You don’t want it to end.”
“And you’re left scrambling because you’ve fucked up.”
“Big time.”
He still didn’t see what this had to do with him, though, and he was past tired of the subject. Time to end it. “Good talk.” He finished off his second beer, tossed the empty bottle in the recycling bin, and nodded as he walked around the front of the bar. “Good night.”
“You know what? For us, it will be.” Stone grinned. “And you want to know why?”
“No.”
“I’m going to tell you anyway.” The bastard grinned. “Because we took a chance and let someone in.”
That wouldn’t work for Cord. He didn’t have a heart to leave open.
Chapter Five
Haley was halfway through her Saturday morning, cleaning out another stall in the old barn so any repairs needed could be easily spotted, when she heard a truck pull up. Cord. Had to be. And damn her stupid pulse for leaping at the thought.
He kissed her stupid, knocked down her defenses, and just when she was ready to let him in, he walked out. Avoided her ever since. During that time, she had the opportunity to think straight, and it dawned on her that he probably had a girlfriend, and it had been thoughts of that girl and the date he’d left the ranch for last night that had been behind his rejection.
Technically, he never said it was a date, just told her not to include him in her dinner plans and that he wouldn’t be back until the next morning.
Which was now. And he was. Back.
Dammit. Already she was suffering brain farts.
He sauntered in, looking too damn sexy for her own good. Stubble on his chin, hair somewhat messed, as if he’d run his fingers through it. Gray T-shirt stretched tight over a chest she was never going to get out of her head ever again. Jeans with worn creases in all the right places, and a neutral gaze. He gave nothing away. As usual.
“Hi, Haley.”
“Hey.” She nodded. “So you’re talking to me today?”
His lips twitched. “I deserved that. Sorry.”
Surprise washed through her. Now she was curious. She headed toward him, removing her work gloves as she walked. “You feeling okay, Warlock?”
“Fine. Why?”
“It’s just that ‘sorry’ isn’t a word you say often.”
“I do when it’s necessary, and the way I’ve treated you since we kissed is unacceptable.”
Holy shit. He was actually acknowledging their kiss? Her heart rocked against her ribs. Now that he had, she had absolutely no idea how to respond.
“It was a mistake. There was no reason to take it out on you,” he said.
Haley stilled to the point of not breathing. A surprise? Yes. A shock? Sure. Not a mistake.
“So…are we okay?” The anxiety clouding his gaze and the tightness stiffening his broad shoulders told her that her opinion actually mattered to him.
Although they were far from okay, she nodded and smiled, determined to put his mind at ease. “Of course. We’re friends,” she replied, and realized it was true. “We may have come by it a little unconventionally, but I consider you a friend, nonetheless.”
He nodded, letting out a breath that eased the stiffness away and his gaze cleared. “How’s your arm? Do I need to change the dressing?”
“It’s good,” she rushed to say. Lordy, she did not need that man’s hands on her. “I’ve been changing it.”
He glanced past her and frowned. “You’ve been busy. I hope you haven’t overdone it. Maybe I should take a look anyway.”
“I’m fine.” She stepped back, because his gaze was sporting a determined gleam too strong to ignore. “And I only cleaned out two stalls. Two out of twelve is not a lot.”
“It is if your arm, wrist, and hand are injured.” This time he moved too quickly for her to anticipate and had her arm in his vice-like grip, examining her wound with a surprisingly gentle touch.
All the protests died on her lips and she called herself all sorts of fools. How could he render her speechless with the briefest brush of his thumb? And it wasn’t even sexual. His touch was impersonal and yet, her heart was thundering in her chest, pounding away her breath.
Unreal.
She was an idiot, and proved it a few seconds later when he moved his attention to her wrist, running his thumb back and forth, causing her pulse to leap again, only this time he literally felt it.
He stilled, just like he had in her bathroom. And she remembered what had happened next. That incredible kiss. His gaze lifted to hers, all dark and smoldering, as if he, too, was reliving their kiss. Drinking and tasting like they’d been starved.
Was it bad that she wanted to taste him again?
It is if he has a girlfriend, her mind insisted. And slammed her back to reality. She was never going through that again.
Dammit.
What the hell was she doing?
Disgust washed through her body like a bucket of ice water, cooling every bit of her desire. She tugged free and stepped back. “I should get back to work,” she muttered, grabbing her gloves off the ground.
He nodded, looking as bewildered as she felt. “I’ll take my things into the house then give you a hand.”
No avoiding her this time?
That was a surprise. She was still contemplating that when he returned and started on the next stall.
“Stone and Brick are coming out next weekend to lend a hand,” he stated. “And the following weekend, too.”
She straightened and let out a breath, unaware her chest had been weighted down until some of it dissipated with his words. “That’s so sweet of them. I appreciate it.” She moved to the opening in the stall to glance across the way, to where he stood gripping a pitchfork, muscles flexing in his forearm, mouth grim.
He nodded. “They would’ve come this weekend but have a job to finish.”
“Of course. I appreciate any time you all can give, as long as it doesn’t interfere with Foxtrot. Or your personal life.” She decided to venture. “I hope your girlfriend doesn’t mind you staying here.” Or the fact we can’t seem to keep our hands—and lips—off each other.
His head jerked back and he frowned. “Girlfriend? I don’t have a girlfriend. Jesus, you think I’d kiss you if I had a girlfriend?”
“I…” She blinked, trying to ignore the elation flowing through her from that knowledge. “It wasn’t a pleasant thought. But you’d made it seem as if you’d had some sort of prearranged date last night, from the way you mentioned it the other day.”
Dawning cleared the disgust from his gaze. “I did. Group therapy at At-Ease,” he replied, shocking the hell out of her for two reasons.
First, because she hadn’t known they started that at the ranch. And second, because never in a million years would she have pegged the tight-lipped Warlock as someone who would open up at any kind of therapy, let alone a shared one. Her heart warmed a little further for the man who wasn’t afraid to seek help if he needed it.
She cleared her throat. “Oh. I didn’t know you had group therapy there. Is it new?” she asked as nonchalant as possible, needing to completely avoid the fact he was unattached.
He shrugged. “Leo suggested it a few months back after having met with the therapist in private a f
ew times, and since it appeared to be helping him, we felt it might help a few of the other vets at the ranch.”
“And has it?”
He nodded. “I think so. Each week a few more wander in.”
She wanted to ask if he opened up, but that was way too personal a question and none of her business, so she nodded and changed the subject, determined to get a grin out of him. “There’s something I’ve got to know.”
His gaze turned weary. “What?”
“You any good at killing spiders? Because there’s a web in the corner of the stall you’re at. That’s why I skipped it.”
His lips twitched. “You mean the invincible Haley has a weakness?”
Bad judgment where men were concerned topped the list.
“First of all, no one is invincible. And second…hell yeah I have weaknesses.” And it wasn’t just spiders. She had the sinking feeling the gorgeous former Ranger regarding her with a slight gleam in his eyes was capable of wreaking havoc in her life if she let him.
So don’t let him.
That gleam turned into a flicker of admiration, and that was a little more than she could handle, so she nodded and turned around to get back to work. Their attraction was palpable. Whenever they were near each other, the air around them seemed to change to a weird, heated fog. At least it had for her. Just because she became aware of every inch of sexy guy didn’t mean she affected him the same way, and that really scared her. God, she hated the self-doubt. But what scared her the most was how much she enjoyed their connection. Wanted it. Craved it.
Craved him.
She inhaled a shaky breath. Yeah, she had weaknesses. None more dangerous than Cord. He topped the damn list now.
Hell, he was the list.
…
At the dinner table the next night, Cord did his best to be polite and contribute to the conversation, in an attempt to make up for running out on the two dinners she’d made that week. The first was an oversight. The second was his survival instinct kicking in. His inner safety mechanism after nearly combusting from that hot-as-hell kiss in her bathroom. There was no way he’d be able to sit at a table with her and pretend it never happened. Pretend he didn’t want to have her for dinner, and then again for dessert.
The Right Ranger (The Men of at Ease Ranch) Page 4
