by Luxie Ryder
Misty would be out of town before they got out of bed.
Chapter 2
Present day—Broken Jaw, Arizona.
‘Do you think you could have warned me first?’
Seth stopped him in his tracks, grabbing his arm. Aiden shrugged him off. ‘What the fuck is wrong with you?’
‘Did you know she worked here?’
Aiden shot Seth a hard look, insulted that his friend thought him such an idiot. ‘Now how in the hell would I have known?’
‘You arranged this job for us.’ Seth still didn’t look convinced.
‘That’s right. I ensured the business that’s been in my family for generations went down the crapper at the exact right time so we could get a shitty job in the middle of nowhere in order to chase some woman we fucked years ago, who, incidentally, couldn’t wait to get away from us.’
‘Breathe, buddy.’
Seth laughed and the anger seeped out of Aiden. He’d said a mouthful that was for sure. But then Seth shouldn’t ask such damn fool questions.
‘It’s not like I checked first to see who else would be working here. You know this opportunity came up at a moment’s notice.’
‘Yeah I know. I’m sorry.’ Seth took off his hat and dragged a hand through his hair, a sure sign he felt uneasy. ‘I guess it was just a surprise to see her. I can’t say it was a pleasant one.’
‘Well, she didn’t look mighty pleased to see us, either. I guess that’s why she disappeared as soon as she finished her set.’
‘She’s got no reason to feel that way. As I recall, it was her who skipped out of town without a backward glance and hasn’t thought about us since.’
Aiden winced at the pain in Seth’s voice. ‘She has no idea we spent all that time looking for her. Misty is probably just embarrassed to be reminded of something she’s obviously ashamed of, that’s all.’
‘That doesn’t make me feel any better.’ Seth’s wry humor didn’t reach his smile. ‘That was the best damned night of my life.’
Aiden slapped him on the shoulder. ‘I know buddy. Mine, too.’
‘And she doesn’t even know it. How fucked up is that?’
There was much she didn’t know. For instance, she had no idea how pissed they’d been to wake up after the night they’d spent together and find her gone. Misty had no way of knowing they wanted to stay in touch. Aiden suspected Seth blamed him for not making that clear to her—although why Seth couldn’t have told her was a mystery to him.
She also didn’t know that they’d spent a year looking for her during their rare free time and that they’d finally tracked her down—only to find her in the arms of the man whom she just married, they were told by the guy tending bar. Misty had no way of knowing that they’d walked away that day, vowing to forget about her, and the fact they fell in love with her.
In a cruel twist of fate, it had been almost impossible to avoid the memories of her for a couple of years after that. She began to make a name for herself in Nashville. Misty had a record out and the country music radio stations played it almost constantly for damn near a year, and she appeared on a few TV shows for a spell. Seth confessed at the time that he wanted to break something whenever he heard the song. Aiden would simply turn it off or leave the room.
‘I wonder what happened.’ Aiden mused aloud. ‘What in hell is she doing here at this dive in the middle of Arizona?’
Seth shrugged. ‘We haven’t heard anything of her in a while. Maybe she quit to have kids or something. Who knows?’
Ignoring Seth’s answer, Aiden found his mind racing through the possibilities. ‘Do you think her husband is here?’
‘How in the hell would I know? Besides, what difference does it make?’
‘No difference.’ Aiden killed the conversation when they neared the bunkhouse. Too many others would hear if they continued to discuss the woman they loved and lost—and just found again. ‘We’ll talk more in the morning.’
Seth nodded and pushed his way through the handful of guys loitering in the doorway, making his way to a bed at the end of a long room that stank so bad, Aiden was pretty sure it was used as a barn for the rest of the year. He threw himself face down onto the bunk opposite Seth’s and put the pillow over his head to block out the noises and smells of his drunken roommates.
Aiden waited until the room fell silent and then got up to take a shower before he went to sleep. The dust swirling nonstop in the constant breeze that blew through Broken Jaw clung to his hair, coated his throat, and his skin itched with it.
Biting on his lip to stifle a yell when the frigid water of the shower splashed over him, Aiden welcomed the effect on his body. The partial erection he had since he laid eyes on her finally subsided, but only until he began to recall how little she changed. She still wore her hair long and dark. So many women cut it off and styled it in ways he didn’t understand, but Misty left hers alone. Aiden clenched his fist against a hard pulse of arousal as he remembered what it felt like to have her hair wrapped around his hand or spilling onto his chest.
He turned his torso toward the water, allowing it to run down him and over his cock. The image of her made him hard again, but jerking off over a woman who didn’t want him seemed a pathetic thing to do. Sure, he’d masturbated because of her before, but he hadn’t known then she didn’t seem to share his fond memories of that night.
Aiden placed an arm on the wall of the cubicle and dipped his head so the shower splashed onto the back of his neck. His erection still hadn’t subsided and when he looked down at his traitorous flesh, he got another flashback, this time of Misty sucking on Seth. He groaned when the jealousy he always carried over the fact she hadn’t done the same for him sent a false image tearing through his mind. He imagined Misty kneeling in front of him the way she had for Seth, her mouth and hands wrapped around his cock instead.
Giving up the battle with his brain, Aiden wrapped a strong fist around his shaft and gave it a tug. The surge of heat that washed over him made him groan aloud. He pressed his weight onto the hand splayed on the tile and turned his face to bite down into his bicep. When he jerked on his cock again, he muffled his growling response with his arm. Aiden pulled harder, satisfied nobody would hear him.
He let his mind to flood with the images he never allowed himself to enjoy. If he had to be so weak that he couldn’t help but masturbate because of her, then he should at least make it quick and get it over with.
A memory of her perfect ass slapping into his thighs as he pounded his cock in and out of her pussy made his knees shake and his hand speed up. The image of her spread-eagle in front of him, her sweet body writhing and jerking while he worked her clit with his tongue caused another hard jolt of desire to rock through him and he knew his orgasm neared.
But when he conjured up the fantasy of how she would look if she gave him head—her gaze locked with his, her lips sliding up and down his shaft—Aiden fell to his knees, unable to support his weight anymore. His hand tightened around his cock when he spurted hot, hard pulses of cum onto the tile. He bit down harder onto his arm to silence the shouts he made when he jerked to completion, and he imagined her making the same little moaning sounds for him as she made when she took Seth into her mouth.
When the last of the spasms subsided and he could stand again, he washed himself off and stumbled to his bed. Exhaustion stopped him having the energy to even crawl under the sheets. He lay in the hot night air, allowing it to dry his skin and cool the heat still burning through him.
Years of early mornings on the ranch turned Aiden and Seth into creatures of habit and they woke before the sun came up, as usual. Aiden headed straight over to the cookhouse to grab some coffee and returned with it when Seth staggered out into the yard.
‘Looks like I slept a damned sight better than you,’ Aiden said. He handed Seth a mug.
‘You slept?’ Seth stared at him in mock horror. ‘What with the snoring and farting coming from the rest of the bunkhouse, I barely shut my eyes.
’
Aiden didn’t offer up the information that he knew Seth slept more than he admitted to.
Seth wrapped his hands around the mug, grimacing when he took a swig of the worst coffee Aiden ever tasted. ‘I don’t usually have a problem with it, but I had a lot on my mind.’
‘Misty,’ Aiden said, looking away.
‘Misty,’ Seth replied, defeat in his tone.
They fell silent, Aiden lost in his own thoughts. Misty. What did it all mean? Her being here at this very moment in time couldn’t be just a coincidence. He took another mouthful of the scalding hot brew, swirled around on his tongue and savored the burn, punishing himself for having such fanciful thoughts. Misty being here meant nothing. They had their chance with her and they blew it.
Seth’s sudden curse brought Aiden out of his musings. ‘Fuck it all. I thought I was over her. I truly did. But seeing her last night just brought everything rushing back, like we only met her yesterday.’
Aiden wanted to tell Seth he was acting stupid, but he couldn’t. He understood only too well how Seth could feel that way so he said the only thing that made sense. ‘Well, it makes no difference whether we are over her or not. She didn’t want any more to do with us back then. She’s married now or at least was.’
Seth’s face lit up. ‘You figure they might have split up?’
‘Could be, but that won’t help us none. She might have another guy.’
‘No guy would let her work in a place like this.’
‘Look. We don’t know her situation. It’s madness to think she would even give us the time of day.’ Aiden placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. ‘It’s best if you just remember we are here to work, that’s all.’
Seth got quiet again. Finally, he nodded. ‘You’re right. We’re here to learn. If we are gonna save the ranch, we have to put these few weeks to good use.’
The reminder that they only had a short time to glean all the knowledge they could, spurred Aiden to his feet. The plan was to take what they learned back home to Lambert’s Creek. A dude ranch kind-of setup seemed the only way forward. They couldn’t survive solely on livestock and cattle herds anymore. Tourists were where the money was at these days. Aiden figured they had a year to start making the ranch pay its own way again or it would be gone forever. The banks circled like buzzards around a carcass, just waiting for them to miss a payment so they could snatch the buildings and the sought-after land out from under Aiden and Seth’s noses. He’d burn the place to the ground before he let that happen.
Aiden longed for the familiar surroundings he’d grown up in. The ninety-acre ranch had to be on the prettiest piece of land in the state and he didn’t feel whole unless he was there.
By the end of their first full day of tending the horses, Aiden and Seth began to compare notes of the many ways they would ensure their ranch was better than the one they worked at. For one thing, the animals would have better facilities and for another, they wouldn’t be running a family-friendly resort.
‘Couples only,’ Aiden said when he had to save a kid being trampled to death under the hooves of a stallion the boy antagonized, not once, but twice.
‘Maybe a singles ranch?’ Seth suggested, picking up on Aiden’s idea. ‘It would cut down on the amount of activities we’d have to provide. We could offer a little riding, a spot of fishing, and maybe a day out at the local rodeo, but the rest of the time, we’d just need to find ways to throw people together.’
‘We wouldn’t need to hire a lot of staff either. It’s a good idea, Seth and one worth thinking about.’
They ate the supper provided by the ranch in the canteen, grateful to discover it was marginally better than the coffee they’d had earlier. When they first took their seats at the long dining table, it had been filled with other staff members, all of them shouting to be heard over the others. With nowhere else to go, Aiden and Seth stayed put until the cook, claiming that he needed to clean up, finally threw them out.
Two circuits of the staff compound did nothing to tire them out. They returned to sit on the stoop of the bunkhouse, reluctant to go inside until they had to, and Aiden sensed Seth’s resolve to stay away from the bar wavered almost as much as his.
‘I guess we are gonna have to see her some time or another,’ Seth said. ‘We can’t avoid her for the rest of the month.’
‘You’re right. Besides, maybe she needs to know that we can be discreet about what happened between us. She might be afraid we’d say something incriminating in front of her husband.’
‘She may not thank us for the reminder,’ Seth warned him.
Aiden smiled to himself, turning away lest Seth noticed. He’d felt her gaze on him last night—all of him. Misty didn’t need to be reminded of anything. She never forgot, of that he was sure. ‘We’ll play it by ear, okay?’ He turned to head into the bunkhouse.
‘Hey, I thought we were going to the bar.’
‘You can go in your work clothes if you want. I need a shower and a shave.’
Fifteen minutes later, Seth finally emerged from the washroom. Aiden sighed, watching his friend comb his hair and look as if he was seriously considering wearing some cologne. Seth caught Aiden staring at him and placed it back in his locker without putting any of it on.
‘I guess the guys might get the wrong impression.’ Seth laughed and headed for the door. Aiden didn’t tell him he knew who Seth did want to make an impression on.
By the time they walked into the bar, Misty began the song she finished her set with the night before. At least Aiden thought it was the same one. He’d been in shock so he couldn’t be sure.
She dipped her head when he caught her gaze, a blush crawling over her cheeks. Aiden turned away, more to spare her than himself. He knew seeing him and Seth caused her some discomfort and he had no desire to make things worse for her. As for how he felt—he felt like he’d been kicked in the gut, just like the previous night.
Seth was convinced that she’d been ‘the one,’ but Aiden didn’t believe in such things, no matter how special the woman. And Misty was special, no doubt about it. But his personal belief always been that they built her up to be some sort of perfect woman in their minds, and he felt sure reality wouldn’t match up to the fantasy. But now she was there in front of them and looking just as perfect as she did last time he touched her.
They hadn’t shared a woman since that night with Misty. They never even discussed doing it again either. Both of them seemed to come to a silent understanding that no one would ever match up to her, so why bother. They both dated individually on and off over the years, but it had never been anything serious for either of them. Aiden didn’t really want the burden of a wife and family to worry about along with everything else, but Seth seemed far less afraid of the responsibility it would bring. So why hadn’t one of the very beautiful women he dated ever gotten him to put a ring on their finger? Maybe Seth held them up to some imaginary standard set by Misty and they all left him wanting.
Aiden closed his eyes and let her voice wash over him for a second. She’d lost none of her natural talent. If anything, she improved. What in the hell was she doing squandering her gift in a place like this? If nothing else, she was gonna have to answer to him for that.
‘Is there a back way out of here?’ he asked the bartender after he ordered a couple of beers. He elbowed Seth in the ribs to stop him gawking at the stage. ‘You’re staring,’ he murmured out of the side of his mouth.
The guy placed the beers on the counter. ‘Not except for the fire exits.’
‘Where are they?’
The bartender pointed to a couple of doors located in plain view on either side of the hall. Aiden ignored the weird look he got from the guy as he walked away.
He turned to Seth. ‘You know, I figured she stayed here until we left last night. This is the only way out.’
‘So she is avoiding us.’ The defeat in Seth’s voice matched Aiden’s mood.
‘I guess so. But like I said, she’s
probably embarrassed.’
Seth shushed him and pointed to the stage. ‘She still sounds amazing,’ he whispered. Aiden nodded but didn’t speak. She looked amazing, too.
Misty finished the song and left the stage quickly, all but ignoring the applause of the audience. Aiden craned his neck to see what the layout was beside the stage and saw her disappear through a doorway. He turned to find Seth, just in time, to spin around and watch him head down the hall toward the door Misty used.
Aiden shouted for him to come back, but Seth already knocked before he could reach him. Aiden had no choice but to stand there with Seth and wait for her to answer.
Suddenly the door opened, a hard and angry version of the soft, happy woman they once known faced them. Misty’s brown eyes lost the warmth Aiden remembered as she stared from one to the other of them.
Seth tried to speak. ‘Misty, hey…’
He dropped her gaze, leaving an awkward silence hanging between the three of them. Aiden and Misty stared at Seth but it appeared he had nothing more to say.
Aiden stepped forward. ‘Sorry about that. We just wanted to say hello. Just wanted to see how you were.’
The smile died on his face when she continued to stare at him like he’d murdered a kitten. Her demeanor began to irritate him a little, especially considering that if anybody had the right to be pissed; it was them, not her. He bit his tongue, still keen to show her that they were her friends.
‘What’s wrong?’
Misty sighed, shrugging her shoulders. ‘Well, I guess I kinda hoped you two would show a little class and not do this.’
‘Do what?’ Seth rediscovered his voice.
‘Approach me, speak to me in the hopes of…well, I’m sure I don’t need to spell it out for you boys.’
‘No, you don’t.’ Aiden took a step back, placed a hand on Seth’s arm. ‘Come on buddy. We made a mistake.’
