Glenn, Stormy - Cowboy Keeper [Blaecleah Brothers 2] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove)

by Stormy Glenn

  “Then do that.”

  “Rourke, you need to make sure that’s what Billy wants,” Da said. “No matter how we feel, Ira is still Billy’s father.”

  “Baby?”

  Billy turned to look at the sheriff. “If we had one of those restraining things, it would keep my father away from the Blaecleahs?”

  “Here on the ranch, yes. Ira wouldn’t be allowed to step foot on Blaecleah land. If he did, then I could put him in jail.”

  “As long as the Blaecleah family is protected, I’ll do whatever you want.”

  “Baby, you have to stop trying to protect us.”

  Billy snorted and leaned back in Rourke’s arms. “Yeah, like that’s going to happen.”

  Chapter 11

  “Mr. Blaecleah?”

  “How many times have I told you, son, if you’re going to be living here, you need to call me Da.”

  “Sorry, sir.” It had been over three weeks since his brother was arrested by the sheriff and Billy took a restraining order out on his father. He still wasn’t used to the acceptance he received from the Blaecleah family.

  He expected acceptance from Rourke. They were working on a relationship together. They still had a few issues to work out, like the fact that Rourke insisted Billy didn’t need to protect him. But Billy knew someone had to. Rourke took too many chances with his safety. He needed a keeper.

  Billy knew he was the man for the job. As much as he knew Rourke wished he’d stop, Billy couldn’t. He’d been doing it for years. It came as natural to him as breathing. Billy would die if anything happened to Rourke.

  “So, what can I do for you, son?”

  Bill took in a deep breath for courage then quickly blurted out what he wanted. “I was wondering if you had any odd jobs I could do around the ranch to earn some money.”

  Da frowned and stood up, setting the ropes in his hand down on the bench next to him. “You need some money, son?”

  “Not much, I promise. I just—”

  “Billy, if you need some money, all you have to do is ask.” Da started to reach for the wallet in his back pocket.

  Billy quickly raised his hand to stop him. “I’d prefer earning it if I could.”

  Da frowned and dropped his hand down to rest it on the bench. “What’s this all about, Billy?”

  Billy twisted his fingers together and looked down at them. The intensity of Da’s eyes was too much for him to look at while he confessed his sins. “I’ve done a lot of bad things in the past, and I have some people to make it up to, people that I stole from. I think it’s only right that I earn the money to pay them back.”

  Da was silent. Billy began to get worried that he’d let too much information out. Everyone in the Blaecleah family knew of Billy’s past. They still seemed to accept him, but Billy wanted more than that. He wanted their approval as well.

  When Da didn’t answer right away, Billy grabbed the edge of his shirt and started twisting it around his fingers. He would be devastated if Da Blaecleah discovered how much he’d messed up before Rourke decided they belonged together. He’d been a royal screwup.

  “I’m sure we can find something around here for you to do, Billy,” Da finally said.

  “I’ll do anything, muck stalls, dig fence posts, stack hay bales.” Billy shrugged. “I’m pretty good general labor.”

  Da nodded and picked the rope up again. “Why don’t we start with you straightening up this tack room? It could use a good going over. Cleaning and organizing it kind of gets forgotten when we work the ranch all day long.”

  “Thank you.” Billy immediately started straightening up the room.

  “Does Rourke know about this, son?”

  Billy froze then slowly glanced over his shoulder. “No, sir.”

  “Are you going to tell him?”

  “I wasn’t really planning on it.”

  “Do you think it’s a good idea to hide things from Rourke? He’s bound to notice you doing extra work around the ranch.”

  “Yeah, he would at that.” Billy chuckled. Rourke seemed to watch Billy’s every move. Billy knew it was because Rourke was concerned about him, and that gave him a warm feeling deep down inside. But it still felt a little strange when Rourke complained when Billy worked hard. He wasn’t used to someone being concerned for him.

  “So, don’t you think you should tell him?”

  Billy sighed and sat down on one of the wooden boxes stacked against the wall. He looked down at his hands again. “I don’t want Rourke to be disappointed in me.”

  “Son.” Da chuckled. “I don’t think that’s possible.”

  “I’ve done a lot of bad things in my life. If Rourke was ever to find out everything I’ve done, he’d be very disappointed in me.”

  “Billy, you did what you needed to do to survive.”

  “That’s not an excuse.”

  “No, it’s not. It’s an explanation. And I don’t believe that anyone has the right to pass judgment on you if they haven’t lived your life. You did what you had to do in some horrible circumstances.”

  “It doesn’t excuse what I did.”

  “Billy, did you ever intentionally hurt anyone?”

  Billy’s head snapped up. “No!”

  “But you did steal and threaten people, didn’t you?”

  Billy glanced down at his hands again. He was ashamed of his actions. He had been ashamed when he did them. He just hadn’t been able to stop from doing them. Despite what he knew everyone thought, he knew Clem would have been a lot worse if Billy hadn’t stepped in.

  Billy couldn’t count the number of times he’d stepped up and threatened someone, intimidated them. From their point of view, Billy imagined he seemed like a monster. He just knew he had to place himself between them and Clem. It was better if Billy was threatening them than if Clem was.

  The stealing he’d done was pretty much the same. Billy knew if he was the one doing the stealing then he could pick and choose what he took, making sure he never took anything important. Clem would have just taken everything.

  “I did a lot of things,” Billy murmured. “None of them I’m proud of.”

  “You protected Rourke for years and almost lost your life doing it. That’s something to be proud of, Billy, and something I will always be grateful for. Rourke means the world to me and his ma. We’d be devastated if anything ever happened to him.”

  “Rourke means everything to me, too.”

  “Then you should tell him, son. Hiding things from Rourke is not the way to start off your life together.”

  Billy sighed deeply. “It’s just so hard.”

  “Nothing good is ever easy, son. If it’s hard enough for you to fight for, then it’s worth it in the long run.”

  “I suppose I should tell him.” Billy couldn’t think of anything he wanted to do less than talk to Rourke and tell him about everything he’d done, but Da had a point. Billy didn’t like lying to Rourke or keeping things from him.

  “The tack room will be here when you get back.”

  Billy nodded and stood to his feet. As much as he wanted to see Rourke because the man had been working since early this morning, Billy kind of felt like he might be walking toward his doom.

  He tracked Rourke down to one of the stalls inside the new barn. Rourke was brushing down one of the horses. Billy leaned against one of the posts in the barn and watched Rourke work. He could just sit and watch Rourke for hours. The man was breathtaking.

  “I can hear you thinking, baby.”

  Billy chuckled and walked over to join Rourke. He rested his arms on the top of the half wall of the stall and leaned his chin on his fingers. “You look like you’re having fun.”

  Rourke snorted. “Oh, yeah, brushing horses is what I live for.”

  “Oh, I don’t know. I think it would be kind of soothing.” Billy reached out and stroked his hand along the horse’s soft hair. “He doesn’t ask for much beyond food and a safe place to sleep, and small things like getting brushed m
ake him happy.”

  “What about you, baby,” Rourke asked as he set the brush down on the edge of the stall wall, “what makes you happy?”

  Billy’s answer was immediate. He knew it without even thinking about it. “You do.”

  Rourke smiled as he settled his arms down on the stall wall right next to Billy’s and rested his chin on his own fingers. Their faces were a mere inch from each other. “So, what did you come in here to talk to me about, baby?”

  “How do you know I wanted to talk to you?” Billy smirked. “Maybe I came in to talk to the horse.”

  “Well, then,” Rourke said as he stepped back and waved to the horse, “have at it. I was hoping for something a little different, but if you feel the need to talk to my horse, by all means, go ahead.”

  Billy would have thought Rourke was mad by the tone of his words if he hadn’t seen the sly grin on his face. “Actually, I do need to talk to you about something. I guess the horse can wait.”

  “What?”

  “I asked your da if he had any odd jobs for me to do around the ranch so that I could earn some money.”

  “Baby, if you need money, all you have to do is ask. What’s mine is yours.”

  “I know, but I need to earn this money myself. I did some real bad things when I was with Clem, and if I ever hope to be accepted by the people of Cade Creek then I have some atonement to make.”

  “Baby, if this—”

  “Please understand, this is something that I need to do on my own.”

  Rourke looked at him for several intense moments then nodded his head. His hand gently patted Billy’s. “I do understand, baby, but I also want you to understand where I’m coming from. If you need help, I want you to ask me. While you may need to do this on your own, you are not on your own.”

  “I know.”

  “I’ll always stand by your side, Billy.”

  “Baby.”

  “You’re just not ever going to let me forget, are you?” Rourke chuckled.

  Billy grinned. “Nope.”

  “I suppose I can get used to it.”

  “You’d better. You started it.”

  “Speaking of starting things, I have something for you.”

  “Oh?” Billy watched Rourke reach into his back pocket and pull out his wallet. When he opened it up, he grabbed two pictures. One, he shoved back into its plastic holder. The other one he held out to Billy.

  “Yours got ruined, so I thought I’d get you another one.”

  Billy’s breath caught in his throat when he looked down at the picture Rourke handed him. It wasn’t the same picture Billy had from before. This one was even better. It was a picture of Billy and Rourke together.

  Billy was leaning back against Rourke’s larger body. His eyes were closed as he tilted his face up into the sun. Rourke’s arms were wrapped around him, and he was looking down at Billy’s upturned face. Everything Rourke felt for Billy was shining in the smile on his face.

  “Rourke,” Billy whispered past the lump of tears forming in his throat.

  “I wanted you to have something to hold on to, something you could look at every day, any time you wanted to, that proved to you that you belong here.” Rourke tapped the picture with his finger. “There’s a framed one in my dresser drawer. I thought we could put it on the bedroom wall until we move into our new house.”

  “We’re moving?” Billy looked up at Rourke, thoughts of the picture leaving his head, to be replaced by the fear that he’d have to leave the ranch. The mere thought made his heart ache. He loved living here. He felt safe, accepted. He didn’t want to move.

  “There’s this real nice plot of land over by the woods that holds some special memories for us. Ma and Da already said we could have it, and I thought it would make a wonderful place for our back porch.”

  “Special memories?”

  “That’s the first place we ever kissed, remember?”

  Billy frowned. “And that’s a special memory for you?”

  “For us, baby, for us. It was the first time I saw you as something more than Billy Thornton the troublemaker. That one little kiss set us on a path that brought us where we are today. I’d say that was pretty special.”

  “So, you want to build a house there?”

  “Can you think of a better place?” Rourke chuckled. “I’m even marking that tree so that the builders don’t touch it.”

  “What tree?”

  “That tree I had you against the first time we kissed, the first time you ever came for me.”

  Billy inhaled sharply, his face burning.

  “You didn’t think I knew about that, did you?”

  Billy’s skin might have been flushed with embarrassment, but the heated look Rourke sent over his body burned him alive and made him ache.

  “Well.” Billy swallowed hard. “You did say I was a hot little piece.”

  “You are, but you’re my hot little piece.”

  Billy opened his mouth to argue with Rourke. He wasn’t prepared for the tongue that invaded his mouth instead. But he didn’t argue. Kissing Rourke was like having a prelude to what heaven was like.

  Rourke’s lips roamed over Billy’s. His tongue licked Billy’s lips then brushed against Billy’s tongue before delving inside to explore. Billy’s pulse went from normal to hyperactive in the blink of an eye, or the lick of a tongue. Billy moaned and leaned into the kiss, wanting more.

  “Okay, I’ll be your hot little piece,” Billy whispered when Rourke finally pulled away. He would have agreed to anything for one of Rourke’s kisses, and he knew it.

  Rourke chuckled. “Damn right you will.”

  Billy rolled his eyes and pushed away from the stall wall. “You think you have this all figured out, don’t you?”

  “I think so.”

  “In that case, let me handcuff you next time.”

  “Me?”

  Billy pressed his lips together to keep from laughing at the astonished look on Rourke’s face. He’d bet almost anything no one had ever propositioned him in such a way. “Yes, you. You’ve handcuffed me often enough and had me displayed for your pleasure. Why not let me return the favor?”

  “Is that something that interests you, baby?”

  “It might.”

  “It would probably be more fun if you handcuffed my legs, too.”

  Now it was Billy’s turn to be astonished. “You’re okay with it?”

  “Baby, I’m okay with anything you want to try.”

  “Now?”

  Rourke chuckled and gestured to the horse. “Let me finish here and we can go play. Da will have my hide if this horse isn’t brushed down before I put her to bed for the night.”

  “Can I help?”

  “Hand me that brush.”

  Billy grabbed the brush Rourke had set down earlier and handed it over. He grinned when Rourke reached down and adjusted the thick erection bulging behind his zipper then started brushing the horse again. It was nice to know that he wasn’t the only one feeling horny at the moment.

  “I heard from Sheriff Riley,” Rourke said absently.

  “And?” Billy was surprised that his heart didn’t start beating rapidly with panic at the first mention of the sheriff. He was slowly getting used to being on the right side of the law.

  “Clem has been arraigned on three counts of attempted murder, one count of assault, one count of arson, and one count of kidnapping for locking you in the cellar when you tried to warn us he was going to burn down the barn.”

  Billy blinked. “That’s a lot of charges.”

  “It is, but he deserves every one of them. If the judge finds him guilty, he’ll be doing a lot of time. How are you going to feel about that?”

  Billy shrugged.

  “Billy.”

  Billy rolled his eyes and huffed as he pushed away from the wall and walked around to the open gate of the stall. “I don’t really have any feelings about it, I guess.”

  “Really? None at all?”

 
Billy shrugged again. “Clem stopped being someone I really cared about the first time he hit me. Beyond being glad he will be locked away so that he can’t hurt us anymore, I don’t care. I just want him gone. I’m tired of having to watch over my shoulder all of the time.”

  Rourke’s hand stroked the side of Billy’s face. “It’s hard having to live in hell, isn’t it?”

  Billy nodded and leaned into Rourke’s hand. “It’s not easy, but I’d do it again if it meant keeping you safe.”

  “Baby.”

  “Yeah, give it up, Rourke.” Billy laughed. He stepped through the entrance to the stall and pushed himself into Rourke’s arms. “It’s not going to end anytime soon, so you’d better get used to it. It’s my job to take care of you.”

  “You’re not my keeper, baby.”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “Baby—”

  “You said we belonged together and you were keeping me. That means I get to keep you, too. And that makes me your keeper.”

  Rourke gave Billy a quick kiss then leaned back, grinning. “You know I love you, right?”

  Billy smiled. “And that makes every second I lived in hell worth it.”

  THE END

  WWW.STORMYGLENN.COM

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Stormy believes the only thing sexier than a man in cowboy boots is two or three men in cowboy boots. She also believes in love at first sight, soul Mates, true love, and happy endings.

  Stormy lives in the great Northwest region of the USA, with her gorgeous husband and soul Mate, six very active teenagers, two boxer/collie puppies, one old biddy cat, and one fish.

  You can usually find her cuddled in bed with a book in her hand and a puppy in her lap, or on her laptop, creating the next sexy man for one of her stories. Stormy welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website at www.stormyglenn.com

  Also by Stormy Glenn

  Blaecleah Brothers1: Cowboys Easy

  True Blood Mate 1: Heart Song

  True Blood Mate 2: Alpha Born

  Wolf Creek Pack 1: Full Moon Mating