by Anna Hard
I scurried over to retrieve the dislodged hat. I dusted it off and held it out to him.
His arm shot up, and he grabbed it from me. He sat up slowly like a man in considerable pain and jammed the hat down over his head. “Well, McSlick, welcome to the world of horses.” He pushed to his feet and gazed down at me. Tiny drips of blood trickled down his chin and along his neck to the base of his throat to mix with the sweat on his skin. The man somehow managed to make blood and sweat extremely erotic.
Feeling suddenly warmed, I discretely fanned myself with my hand. “No broken bones?” I repeated. I couldn’t think of anything else to say because his nearness was now flustering me.
“Don’t think so.”
The ranch hand walked the horse over to him, and he took hold of the reins. He walked over to the side of the horse. “You’d better climb out. Unless you want to get trampled.”
“You’re getting back on?” I asked.
“If I don’t, then the horse wins and he’ll think throwing the rider is the best way to get back to the comfort of his stall and his mound of hay.” He raised his boot to the stirrup. I hurried out of the pen.
He threw his leg over the saddle. “Why don’t you head into the barn and visit the horses inside,” he said almost coldly. It was obvious the man couldn’t stand to have me around. “You’re too distracting.”
“To the horse?” I asked.
“No. To me.” I could hear the muffled chuckles of his ranch hands as they listened raptly from their end of the pen.
“I don’t understand. I’ll just stand here quietly.” I turned the invisible key on my lips.
He walked the horse around and stopped it in front of me. It stood still obediently, but its nostrils were still flared like a dragon about to shoot fire. The dragon on top of the saddle looked about to breathe flames as well. He stared down at me with a cool green gaze that sent a shiver through me, but it wasn’t an ‘ooh, almost stepped on a lizard’ type of shiver. It was something completely different. It was just the black hat and boots and fact that he was on a horse, I assured myself. I’d always had the romantic fantasy of my prince riding up on a horse. But this was no prince staring down at me. Quite the contrary. This was the villain. The extremely handsome, green eyed villain.
“The distraction has nothing to do with you talking.” His gaze dropped to my mouth. “Although those cherry red lips are part of the problem.” His attention dropped to my breasts. “And those amazing—” More chuckling from his men, only this time they didn’t even bother to muffle the sound.
I crossed my arms. “You are so fucking rude. And I’m wearing perfectly acceptable and non-provocative ranch attire. It’s a little warm for a giant wool sweater. Not that I have one. I’m from California, after all. Our sweaters are just for show.”
His white teeth sparkled from beneath the shade of his hat. “Darlin’ it’s not the attire that has me distracted. It’s what’s underneath it that’s throwing off my concentration.”
“God, you are a mannerless swine,” I grunted. His men tipped their hats as I strode past, but this time I didn’t respond with a smile. I headed into the shade of the barn to cool the angry and embarrassed blush from my face and to get as far away from the green eyed villain as possible.
Chapter 5
Luke
The newest addition to the Maverick Ranch was throwing me off big time. When I wasn’t thinking about her, which was rare, I was busy fantasizing about what I would do to her if she was mine. But she wasn’t mine. She was Linda’s daughter, and in some weird, nonsensical, rules of society way, off limits. Taboo, as they termed it. Even though she was a complete stranger and not related to me in any way, the very erotic thoughts I’d been having about her were wrong.
I smiled to myself thinking about the fact that she’d considered a pair of snug fitting jeans and t-shirt somehow less provocative. They were just more pieces of clothing I could rip off her to get to the smooth, delectable girl beneath. Fuck, I needed to cool off in the pool. Pool? Hell, I needed a long dip in the frigid Arctic Ocean.
I was covered in sticky grit from head to toe and decided to go straight to the pool. I pulled off my hat and sunglasses and reached back to yank off my shirt. It was drenched in sweat. I turned around the edge of the neatly trimmed hedge, a natural wall that provided privacy for the pool area. “Damn,” the word fell out of my stunned mouth.
McKenna was stretched out on one of the chaise lounges. A big straw hat covered her face. She had on a bright blue bikini and a whole lot of flawless, golden skin.
“Fucking California girls,” I muttered to myself.
I stayed down at the deep end of the pool. Dad had put in the biggest pool he could manage in the space provided. Blue water rippled on forever like a small lake, and I was glad for space between the tempting blue bikini and me. I would jump in, cool off and get back out before she even drew her face out from under the hat. I would just not look at her. I would pretend that she wasn’t there.
I sat on a chair, and with some effort, yanked off my boots. I stripped down to just my boxer briefs and dove in. After a long dusty morning with the horses, the water felt like fucking heaven. I was going to need aspirin for my shoulder tonight, and the scrapes on my chin were going to make shaving impossible for a few days. But the good news was that I’d gained a lot of ground with the colt today.
I stayed submerged long enough to clear my head. By the time I popped up, McKenna had gotten off her lounge. She was wading in the beach style entry at the shallow end. She’d made a futile attempt at piling her long silky curls up on her head. Her lean, muscular thighs and flat stomach were slathered in suntan lotion.
A low groan caught in my throat, and my cock pressed against the front of my underwear. There was no possible way to hide an erection in boxer briefs. I would have to stay underwater until my pain eased. If that was even possible given my extremely sexy pool mate. Shit, get a fucking hold of yourself. I scrubbed my face, forgetting about the scrapes on my chin. Fresh blood trickled from the cuts again. I was a goddamn basket case and all because of one girl. How the hell did that awkward, little metal-mouth grow up into such a fucking goddess?
“This pool is amazing.” She leaned down to stir the water with her hands, and her astonishingly beautiful tits nearly spilled out of the two tiny blue triangles pretending to be a bathing suit.
Don’t engage. Don’t get too close. I was fucking talking to myself. The girl was causing me to talk to myself. “Uh huh,” I answered coldly.
She stood there at the end of the pool. I tried not to look at her, but it was impossible, like when they tell you not to look at the sun during an eclipse but you look up anyway because you’re certain you are missing something amazing. Even though you know it is dangerous to look at it, you look anyway.
Her bottom lip was pushed out. There was no way to misread her expression. She was hurt by my curt response. “Was it something I said?” her voice wavered ever so slightly. “Is this still about that mango smoothie?”
“It’s not about the damn smoothie.”
She lowered her body into the water and pushed off. While I was relieved that she’d submerged her incredibly hot form, she was heading my direction and that was not good. Truth was, I was pretty fucking pathetic when it came to denying myself something I wanted. And I wanted McKenna. I wanted every fucking inch of her.
My cock strained against the cotton fabric as she glided through the water to me. She turned, and I released the breath I’d been holding. If she’d swam right up to me there would have been hell to pay. She pulled herself up onto the small built-in seat in the deep end and stared at me with round blue eyes, looking ever so innocent with her clumps of long wet lashes. Maybe it was that innocence that was making me so damn crazy.
I stayed in the center of the deep end treading water. The top cur
ves of her breasts stayed above the surface. They rose and fell with her soft breaths.
“I’ve never had much family.” She swallowed, and the movement along her creamy white throat stole my attention. Kissing that throat became my newest obsession. Along with kissing every other part of her. “My mom nearly died having me. I’m sure you’ve heard that story. She always liked telling it as if I’d been some kind of a demon child or something. Of course, she couldn’t have any more kids. So it was just me and Dad. And now that he’s gone . . .” The sadness in her tone made me swim closer. I knew it was stupid, but she sounded so lost and genuinely upset.
She smiled weakly. “I’ve always thought it would be nice, you know, to have someone I could be close to that wasn’t just a friend or an acquaintance. Like a sister or brother.”
I froze and an icy knot formed in my stomach. She sensed my sudden mood change.
“Are you all right, Luke?”
“You don’t fucking get it, do you, McKenna?” I swam to the side and climbed out. She peered up at me from the step looking even sadder than a few seconds ago. “The last thing I want to be is your goddamn brother.” I grabbed my clothes and boots and walked out of the pool area.
Chapter 6
McKenna
The slope we stood on was dotted with elegantly carved headstones, patterned in a perfect array amongst the bright green blades of grass. A massive brown hawk with a limp garter snake clutched in its beak had flown a slow, majestic circle over the gravesite during the ceremony. I tried to decide if it was somehow symbolic or just a creepy coincidence.
The interminable humidity, the warm stickiness that I’d come to expect but had not yet learned to ignore, permeated the air. Even the breeze wafting up the lush green hillside from the highway below, did nothing to dry the moisture on my skin.
I stood next to John and Drake, John’s eldest son, stood on the opposite side. Luke was across the circle. I was surrounded by a sea of unfamiliar faces hidden by designer sunglasses and custom hats, fashionably big ones like those worn on derby day for the women and crisp cowboy hats for the men. There was no shortage of alligator boots, giant bellies or cumbersome silver belt buckles either. And I knew no one. I was at my mom’s funeral, the only child and living blood relative of the woman in the pearly pink casket, and with the exception of the Maverick men, I didn’t know one damn person. I was a stranger at my mom’s funeral, an outsider.
Mom must have loved living here with this circle of rich friends to keep her social life roaring. Posh parties and snooty lunches were what my mom lived for. Aside from a new pair of heels, of course.
Long before this day had come, John and Mom had discussed final wishes. Mom had insisted that she didn’t want anyone staring down at her dead body in an open coffin. For that, I was grateful. I wasn’t completely sure I would have been able to look.
Following the funeral, John had invited everyone back to the ranch for a wake, an expensive, gourmet affair complete with rare wine and hundred year old whiskey. I desperately wanted to spend time alone, maybe down in the stables rubbing soft muzzles and listening to the musical chorus of snorts. But I was the daughter, and I was expected to endure an afternoon of chatting with people who I didn’t know and who I had absolutely nothing in common with.
And, then there was Luke. We’d hardly spoken two words since his harsh comments and rude departure from the pool. The man despised me, and since I had no idea why, there was nothing I could do to repair the relationship. He’d been right about the size of the property being so big we’d hardly ever cross paths. I was thankful for that.
I’d met his older brother Drake the day before. He was a bit smaller and not quite as spectacularly handsome, but he had qualities Luke lacked. Like kindness. And charm. And manners. Like his father, Drake had made me feel like a member of the family rather than a nuisance.
The last flowers were tossed into the grave, and the mourners began the slow and almost precarious descent down to the cars. John turned to take my arm.
“If you don’t mind, John, I’d like to stay here alone for just a few minutes. I will meet you at the limo.”
Even with dark sunglasses covering his face, I could see the raw emotion in his expression and it brought tears to my eyes. “Of course, McKenna. Take as long as you need.” He turned and walked away.
The gravediggers moved right in to lower the casket to its eternal resting spot at the bottom of the deep hole. I’d held it together throughout most of the ceremony. John had given a truly poignant eulogy. He seemed to have understood her much better than me, or my dad, for that matter. It was as if John had been her true soul mate and it had just taken them both years to find each other.
As the pink casket disappeared, a thickness swelled in my throat. My eyes ached with tears. She was gone for good. She’d been the source of so much irritation and grief throughout my life, but in the end, she’d been my mom. There was only one person on the planet who you shared a true physical connection with, even if it was only for nine months, and that was your mother. After my birth, my mom had had to stay in the hospital recuperating from her heart attack. My dad had taken care of me that first month. He’d been the one to get up every few hours and feed and change me. It seemed that with my unorthodox first month, my mom had lost that connection with me. The umbilical cord was cut and then they took me away. Shit, we’d never really had a chance.
The tears streamed faster now. I crossed my arms around myself to keep from shaking. She’d left me for good. They both had left me for good. I was completely on my own. My shoulders jerked with sobs. After holding it together like a damn stone statue throughout the entire funeral, the plug had been pulled and I fell apart.
I held tightly onto myself and closed my eyes waiting for the tears to stop flowing and the ache in my chest to subside. A large arm circled my shoulder and cradled me. I assumed it was John and continued for a few seconds longer, figuring I deserved this little moment of despair. I’d been holding back pretty well, especially after the ugly crap I’d gone through back home with Joshua. He’d been my only other family for the last year, but in the past few months, I’d discovered that I’d given my heart, body and soul over to a cruel asshole. I’d blocked his texts and calls, and I hoped never to see him again. So, it seemed, a little self-pity was long overdue.
The arm tightened. That was when I realized that what I really needed at that moment was some human contact, some compassion. I was so utterly alone, and that prospect left me terrified.
I turned into John’s chest. Something didn’t feel quite right. The usual tobacco and cologne combination was absent. The large, round beer belly was missing as well. The chest my face was pressed against was hard, rock hard. The arms that held me were like protective steel. An unexplained sensation fluttered through me— I wanted to stay locked in those safe arms forever. Drake, perhaps? He seemed like the type who would readily offer a hug.
I drew in a long, shuddering breath and took a couple of futile swipes at the tears pooled in my eyes. I peered up into the face of the man who held me. Pale green eyes stared back.
I sucked in a sharp breath and pulled away. “I thought you were John.”
“Nope. Sorry to disappoint.” It seemed my abrupt departure from his arms had bothered him. Or that might have been my imagination with some wishful thinking sprinkled in.
“Guess you miss her more than you thought,” he said. A sleek black suit. He’d donned a black suit for the grim occasion. He looked so handsome, it made my already aching heart hurt more.
I swallowed hard, trying to soothe the dryness in my throat left behind by the cry session. “She was my mom, after all. And, well, you know, we only get the one real mom. I wish we’d patched things up before she decided to leave me here alone.”
“You’re not alone, Slick. You’ve got us Mavericks, and not many people get
that lucky.” He smiled. He was being charming and nice and . . . likable. I decided my safest bet was to stay completely on my guard. His mood could change at any time.
He held out his arm for me to take. “Your chariot, or, in this case, a stretch limo, awaits.”
Cautiously, just in case it was a prank, I took hold of his arm. It was the occasion, I assured myself. I’d just watched them lower my mom into her grave, and he’d caught me balling in a crumpled heap. That was surely the reason for his sudden kindness.
“Drake and I hardly ever see our mom now. She left when I was eight, right after the divorce. For the longest time, I was so pissed at her for taking off. I was sure she hadn’t even put up a fight for us. Years later, when I was old enough to understand the power of wealth, I’d discovered that she had fought like hell for custody, but Dad’s lawyers were just too good.” And now he was embellishing his sudden attempt at humanness with a sentimental mom story. Who was this incredibly perfect man?
“That’s rough for you and for your poor mom. Divorce is always ugly.” This I knew too well.
The extremely beautiful brunette who had attended both the church and the graveside service with an elderly man, who I’d assumed was her grandfather until I caught him goosing her ass on the climb up to the gravesite, walked carefully across the lawn in her black pumps. She wore a diamond necklace around her neck that looked as if it weighed more than her, which probably wasn’t an exaggeration. The woman was bone thin. She looked as if she ate nothing more than celery and spent the first two hours of every morning with a personal trainer. I was probably not far off with that assessment.
“Luke,” she called. Her trek in spiky heels was nothing short of harrowing . . . and entertaining. Several steps into her journey, she got her heel stuck. She looked helplessly across the grass. “Well, Luke Maverick, are you going to just stand there, or are you going to come and help a lady in distress?”
