by Terry Towers
“Let me get this straight. You come to Moscow and suggest that when I come to America that I not only come to be with you, but also your brother. I tell you to shove that plan. I’m not going to America with you and you took it back. A mistake happens and you fight with your brother for what you wanted all along? What is wrong with you?”
I refused to allow her to turn this back on me. “You said no. You just said yourself that you told me to shove the plan. You were right. It was a stupid plan. We’d agreed on that, but you kissed him anyhow.”
Calvin groaned as he stood with the assistance of his crutches. “She didn’t kiss me, I kissed her.”
My rage turned back to Calvin. I wanted to punch him a second time. How dare he kiss my fiancé. “I leave her here for one weekend and you make a play for her. What kind of brother does that?”
“I didn’t make a play for her. It happened, and I apologize. Maybe you shouldn’t have offered her to me just a little over a week ago.”
“And we’ve agreed the plan was dead. Before I left you told me you weren’t interested.”
“And you were insistent that I’d change my mind.” He shrugged as he touched his fingertips to his bleeding lip. “Maybe I did.”
Motherfucker! I stepped to him, intent on giving him another taste of my fist when Nina stepped in front of him. “Enough, Ryker. Enough! I’m sorry. It was a mistake and I feel very bad. I’m very sorry.”
It had been my idea. My stupid idea and I regretted it. But we’d also agreed that it was a no go. I was the one that got shit on, by both of them, for even mentioning it. But they went ahead and kissed anyhow. At least my way, I had a say in if it was a go or not.
“It’ll never happen again,” Nina stressed, tears rimming her eyes.
Shaking my head, I attempted to get the thoughts that were racing through my head straight. Yes, I’d suggested it. It had been my plan, but plans change. “I need outta here,” I growled, pushing past her and down the porch steps.
“Ryker. Wait!” I heard Nina call out from behind me.
“Let him go,” Calvin responded.
Calvin was right. I needed time to sort out my feelings on this. Yes, it may have been a one-time thing, but that’s something I needed to sort out in my head. Without either one of them pleading their case.
Pulling my truck keys from my pocket, I jumped into the pickup and took off. I needed some time away.
~*~ TT ~*~
Damn, my jaw hurt. If nothing else, Ryker could throw a mean right hook. I suppose I deserved it. Just because he’d brought up the idea of sharing her before bringing her here didn’t mean the offer was still on the table. Not that the offer had been on my mind when I kissed her, nothing had been on my mind other than her lush lips. I should have been more careful around her. Maybe I was lonelier for female attention than I had once thought though that wasn’t any excuse.
“Are you okay?” Nina touched my arm, which I brushed off. Her touch was dangerous. I’d fucked up more than enough as it was.
“I’m fine.” I checked my lip again to see that it had stopped bleeding already. “It’s already starting to heal. I’ve got work to do.”
She looked like she was going to protest but stopped herself. “Okay.”
With a nod, I began to hobble my way down the porch stairs and across the yard to the barn. It was hard going, the road heading to the barn was all gravel and the crutches seem to love getting stuck in the dips and valleys hidden beneath. Now that Ryker was home I really didn’t need to go checking on things, but I needed to get away from the house – and her.
“What are you doing? Isn’t Ryker home?” Kent asked as he noticed me making my way to the barn.
“‘Course he is. You know that. He has stuff to do and we have new animals to attend to. The doc needs to be called to come out here to give the animals an examination before releasing them into the general population. Before he does, I want to give them a thorough look over.”
I really didn’t have to examine the animals, but it was going to give me something to occupy my mind with aside from thoughts of Nina.
Chapter 23
Ryker
What in the hell was I supposed to think about all this? Gone for one week and she falls into the arms of my brother. How could she do that to me? I brought her here. I took a chance and she stabbed me in the back.
Shit. I groaned out loud as I pulled into the nearly deserted parking lot of the Rockin’ Rodeo. With it being early afternoon there weren’t many visitors, but that was okay; I wasn’t there to chat with people. I was there to get royally liquored and figure shit out in my head. Having to deal with people only made my plans of getting shitfaced a lot harder to achieve. Not impossible, but harder.
Shutting off the engine, I hopped out of the truck and made my way into the bar. The same bartender who was tending bar the night I brought Nina there was working today.
“Wow. Two visits in a week. Are you making this a habit?” he asked as he looked up from the screen of his mobile phone when I entered.
“Hopefully not.”
“Where’s that beautiful woman of yours?”
“She’s home.”
He laughed. “Yeah, not exactly much to see here. One trip down Main Street and you’ve seen it all.”
“Very true,” I agreed. “Can I get a beer?”
“What kind?”
“Don’t care. Surprise me. God knows I’ve been loving the surprises coming my way so far today.”
“What do you mean by that?” He bent and retrieved a bottle of beer from the cooler under the counter, twisted off the cap and passed it to me.
“Where’s your lady from? I thought I detected an accent.”
“Moscow.”
“Wow. New to America, or been here a while?”
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t Ryker Stone and without his fiancée.” A female voice said from behind me. I didn’t have to turn around to know who the voice belonged to, I’d heard it most of my life.
Taking a swig of my beer, I groaned inwardly as I turned to face her. “Buffy. How’s it going this afternoon?”
“Fine,” she replied, sliding onto the bar stool next to me. “Better now that I’ve bumped into you.”
Cocking a brow up at her, I took another drink from my beer. “That so?”
“Do you want my opinion?”
Not in the least, I silently answered. “About what?”
“About your girlfriend.”
“Fiancée.”
“The usual, Buffy?” the bartender asked.
Quickly glancing at him, she nodded. “That would be wonderful.”
Apparently, the usual was still a Jack Daniels and Coke. No surprise. It had been the same drink from virtually the moment she’d started drinking, which if I could recall correctly was at roughly thirteen. In our area there wasn’t a hell of a lot for teenagers to do other than drink, fuck and get into shit with the law. All of which I’d done my fair share of, as had Calvin.
“Thank you.” She said accepting the drink and taking a sip. “I heard through the grapevine that you met Nina through a mail-order site.”
I nearly choked as I began to take another drink, coughing and sputtering before being able to answer. “Excuse me?” How in the hell could she have learned that?
“It’s a small town, gossip spreads quickly.”
“Yeah.”
She began to twirl a strand of golden hair around her index finger. “Those women are all gold diggers. They have no loyalty. They’re only in it for a green card. It’s a common scam.”
Anger began to well up within me and my jaw clenched. Who in the hell did she think she was? How dare she make ridiculous assumptions on something she knew nothing about.
Edging herself a little closer to me, she ran her index finger, featuring a red painted, pointed fingernail, along the outer side of my arm. The only reaction my body had to the touch was the need to move away. As much as I wanted to inch away from her, I fo
rced myself to stand my ground.
“You should be with an American woman, one that knows how to take care of a man like you.”
I wasn’t ready to go home yet, not by a long shot. If I were to stay here until I figured out what to do about my situation then Buffy would be a necessary evil, I’d be forced to endure. Taking a deep breath in, I slowly released it. She’d have to leave soon enough, it was noon hour; no doubt she was just on her lunch break.
~*~ TT ~*~
Nina
What a damned mess I’ve made of things. I’d had nothing but good intentions when offering to help Calvin, surely Ryker knew that. He’d see it after he cooled off a little. Even with that knowledge, I still felt horrible for what I’d done. If the tables were turned I’d be demanding to go back home on the next flight. I doubt I’d be able to handle the knowledge that my to-be husband shared a passionate kiss with another woman.
As the hours passed and neither one of the men re-entered the house, I became more and more nervous. At least I had cleaning to keep me busy. Nothing like the smell of lemon disinfectant to keep a person occupied.
I had no idea what I was going to say to either of them when they did arrive home, but at least when they came home it could all be resolved. There’s not much I hated worse then having issues unresolved and then having to spend hours worrying and running through scenarios through my head.
Just as I was finishing up with the toilet, which really didn’t need cleaning, I heard the front door open. My heart stopped beating for a moment. Which brother would it be? Not that it mattered, even after all these hours of cleaning and waiting for them to come home, I had no idea what I would say to either one of them.
Taking a deep breath in, I pulled the latex, yellow gloves from my hands and placed them on the bathroom counter. Grabbing the red bucket, I dumped the dirty water into the toilet and flushed it down. Picking the gloves back up, I draped the gloves over the rim of the bucket and placed it back into the bottom shelf of the cleaning closet.
I was exiting the bathroom when I discovered Ryker coming down the hallway in my direction. His hair looked a little dishevelled and his expression was grim. When our eyes locked, he didn’t smile.
Oh, fuck me. This isn’t going to end up good. I might as well pack my bags now.
“Ryker,” his name escaped my lips in a gush.
“Nina, we need to talk.”
Nodding, I met him in the hallway, not sure if I should give him a hug or stay away. I could really use a hug right now though. I left the decision up to him and to my dismay he didn’t attempt to hug me.
“Let’s go into the living room.” He motioned for me to follow him into the room directly to the right of us.
“Ryker. Listen. I - ”
Sitting down on the sofa, he patted the empty seat next to him. “Just let me talk first. I have some questions.”
“Okay.” I felt like a child waiting to be interrogated and punished by their parents. Though, a part of me screamed that I didn’t do anything wrong, not really. It was just something that happened. I didn’t mean for it to happen. It was a mistake.
“I came to you first and haven’t talked to Calvin yet. I’ll do that later.”
“Okay.” Running a hand through my hair, I released an unsteady breath and waited.
“How did it happen?”
With a sigh, I decided to be as honest as possible. “I spent the weekend with Calvin. He was resistant – at first. But he came around. We started discussing Allison and I offered to help him clean out the closet.” I frowned as my mind flashed back to the vision of Calvin, the pain etched in his expression. “He found a box that had a bunch of baby clothing and stuff in it. So much pain. He had so much pain. I hugged him and looked up and we kissed.” I shrugged. “It just happened. But then I ran out of the room and tried to stay from him.”
“Are you attracted to him?”
Oh God, I felt uncomfortable. Shifting on the sofa, I attempted to calm my frazzled nerves. If I was going to lie, then this would have been the best time to do it. How could I admit I was attracted to his brother? What type of girl admits that especially after I’d lost my mind on him when he came to Moscow when he mentioned sharing me?
But as I looked deep into his icy blue eyes, I knew there was no way I could deny how I was feeling. I’d never lied to him before and refused to lie to him now, even if it meant that our relationship would be over, and I’d be put on a one-way ticket back to Russia.
Lowering my head in shame, I couldn’t look him in the eye when I said, “Yes. I’m so sorry, but yes. I couldn’t stand him at first. He’s so rude and arrogant and mean, but when I got to know him over the weekend, I came to realize that he’s the way he is for a reason. He misses his wife. He needs a woman in his life to make it complete. I wanted to make him feel better.”
“I’m sure he felt better,” Ryker growled.
Looking back up at him. “I would never have slept with him. It was a mistake.”
“And what if I kissed another woman, how would you feel about that?” His expression was unreadable.
Had he kissed another woman while he was out? Evened the score – so to speak? That was not acceptable. I’d put myself on a plane. I’d find the money to leave!
“By looking at your expression, I’m going to guess you wouldn’t be on board with that idea, would you?”
“No. No I wouldn’t.” I sat up a little straighter, tilting my chin up in defiance. “But I also didn’t offer to share you with another woman.”
“And we’d agreed sharing you with Calvin was off the table. That was the agreement.”
“It was. And I don’t want to have you both. I’d happy with our arrangement. You and me. You and me only.”
He looked at me, with skepticism in his eyes.
“That’s what I want. Just you.” The last line was said with a little less conviction. Yes, I was a little curious and the greedy part of me was tempted by the idea. But I was a one-man woman. Always had been and always would be.
He nodded. “Okay. I’ve got some things to do, before I can call it a day since I wasted most of it already. I won’t be long.”
Without another word, he got up and exited the living room, leaving me as confused as ever has to how things were going to progress with us.
Chapter 24
Calvin
Leaning over the rail of the goat pen, I couldn’t get my mind off the situation. How in the hell I managed to get myself in this ridiculous position was beyond me? Had I just stuck with my original plan of avoiding Nina at all costs then there wouldn’t have been any issues. Now I’d always be the asshole that kissed Ryker’s future wife.
“Hey Calvin, got a minute.”
Speak of the devil.
Turning from the goats, who had all been given a clean bill of heath from the pet doc, I faced my brother. Looking at him, I wasn’t sure if this was going to be Stone brothers battle, round 2 or if things had cooled off. Ryker had a knack for being able to mask his emotions when he really wanted to.
“I’m just here to talk.” He put his hands up, palms towards me and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. I knew that smile well; it’s the smile that he gave people when he was nervous. “I come in peace.”
Hobbling over to a bale of hay, just outside the barn, I took a seat. My damned leg was just throbbing. I should be back in bed and letting the leg heal, but I wasn’t inclined to go back in the house in case I ran into Nina.
Should have known I’d be tracked down eventually. Not like I could stay out here forever. I was hoping to at least get my head on straight about what had happened. Did I want Nina? If I were to be honest with myself then the answer would be yes. Could I have her? And should I want to be with her? That was a resounding, hell no! It didn’t stop the fact that I felt a yearning whenever I thought of her though.
Clearing my throat, I asked, “What’s up?”
“We need to talk about Nina.”
Saw th
at coming. I could play the ‘you offered her to me’ game, but I wasn’t going to be that petty. “There’s nothing to talk about, Ryker. She’s your girl. I had a moment and made a mistake. I guarantee it won’t happen again.”
He took a seat on a bale across from me. “You have a thing for her.”
“I don’t know her. Don’t make assumptions.”
“You trusted her well enough to have her help you with the closet. That’s not a small thing.”
Taking my Stetson off, I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. “What do you want from me, Ryker? I’m not sure why you’re pressing the issue. She’s yours, I made a mistake that won’t happen again. End of story.”
“There is an issue though.”
“None that I can see.”
“The issue is that you’re attracted to her. If I wasn’t in the picture, she’d be the first woman that has come into our lives that I’d you’ve had an interest in.”
I was started to get very aggravated with this conversation. “Just get on with what you’re here to say.”
Ryker shook his head. “You’re such a fucking asshole.”
“So I’ve been told.” I placed my hat back onto my head, preparing myself to stand back up. This conversation was over.
“I talked to her and she said she just wanted me.”
“Why are you beating a dead horse. There’s no problem. I’ll stay away from her. She doesn’t want me anyhow. It was a stupid thing that happened that won’t happen again.”
“The problem is she’s lying to me.”
Frowning, I looked up at Ryker. “About what?”
“About you. About not wanting you.”
I couldn’t keep the anger from my voice. “Look. If you don’t think you can trust her then send her back. If you can then I’ll be happy to steer clear of her. None of this has to do with me.”
“It does because I think we should reconsider my previous offer.”
“What are you talking about? What offer?”
