Forever Wild: A Camden Ranch Novel

by Jillian Neal

  They eventually made it into the shower. Never more than a hand-width apart. As the warm water sluiced over their fevered skin, he washed her, thorough in his care. His lips found hers and they indulged until the warm water ran cold.

  Her phone rang while they were half-toweling off half making-out in the bedroom.

  “It’s Daddy.” She cringed. “What do I say to him?”

  Luke bit his lips together momentarily to keep from laughing at her very obvious discomfort. “You could tell him how good I just fucked you, or you could try, ‘Hey, Dad. How are you?’”

  She stuck her tongue out at him just before answering.

  Settling on the bed and lamenting the momentary absence of her skin on his, he guided her into his lap. There. That was better. And there was his sweet grin on her face. He just had to stay the course and this was going to be their forever.

  She rolled her eyes. “Daddy,” she sighed. “I’d be happy to run the shop for you today. Does this friend you’re spending the day with happen to be female, because you can just say that to me. I’m not a little kid anymore. You and mom have been divorced forever. It’s fine. Just tell me.”

  Luke couldn’t quite make out her father’s response, but her shudder said he’d done as she asked and she wasn’t quite as okay with it as she’d like to be.

  “Are you bringing her to the rehearsal dinner tonight?”

  She drew another deep breath, and Luke tenderly rubbed her back, trying to soothe her.

  “Okay, well, good. We’ll meet her then. Uh, yeah, I’ll be there in about an hour. Love you.” Indie tossed the phone on the bed, and buried her face in his neck.

  “You okay, sugar?”

  “Yeah, Daddy’s taking his chicky-mama to breakfast and spending the day in Ogallala, which doesn’t sound like him at all. He never takes a day off. Apparently, Diana thought he should ask me if I’d mind running the shop today.”

  “He might not ever take the day off because he can’t. If you’re not here, the entire area is without a mechanic. Maybe he’s making hay while there’s sunshine, so to speak.”

  “Oh, believe me he was making plenty of hay last night.”

  Chuckling, Luke brushed another kiss on her cheek. “I was hoping you’d go riding with me today. Guess that’ll have to wait.”

  Disappointment flickered in her eyes. Shit. He shouldn’t have said anything. He’d been trying to show her everything available to her on the ranch not make her regret filling in for her dad.

  “I’d much rather go riding with you, but I want to show Dad that I’m supportive of him, ya know? I bet Mama doesn’t know his girlfriend’s coming tonight. That should be interesting.” A wicked grin formed on her face and Luke shook his head.

  “I know that look. Am I gonna need bail money for this barbecue thing tonight?”

  “Never put anything past me.” She leapt out of his lap, brushed a kiss on his cheek and proceeded to get dressed, much to his chagrin.

  There wasn’t a single cloud in the Nebraskan sky that morning. Luke kissed Indie once more before watching her drive away. Glancing at his watch, he willed the day to pick up the pace and the night to linger.

  They were all excited to take the night off and kick back a few. Beau Riggins and Travis Walker, Pleasant Glen High’s Offensive Tackle and Center to Luke’s Quarterback and Tucker’s Wide Receiver were coming in for the wedding. Trash talking texts had begun the week before about the cornfield football game scheduled for that night.

  Not that he’d ever admit it to anyone else, but Luke couldn’t wait to play again. He wondered if he still had it, and seeing his old team would be fun. The icing on the cake would be seeing Indie on the sidelines cheering him on again.

  Since Indie was busy for the day, Luke decided he might as well head into Ogallala to pick up supplies from Dr. Halverson. He rolled his eyes as he climbed up in his truck. There’d be a solid hour of letting Halverson massage his ego and his degree just to get the meds, but he could pick up Runza’s for Indie and take her lunch, so that made the trip worth it in his book.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Can I watch you work on my mommy’s car?” Hannah, a little girl who’d come in with her mother a few minutes before, wandered in from the tiny waiting area and stood solemnly beside Indie.

  Grinning at her, Indie nodded and found the old stool she used to stand on to work beside her father. “Sure. Do you like to work on cars?”

  “Yes, and I like to catch lizards, and I can catch more than Houston and Cody, them’s my big brothers, and I can run faster than them too, even though they’re bigger than me, and I can climb higher in the Cottonwood trees by our creek, and I can ride on the calves real good and not fall off, and I can catch a baseball in a glove even if Houston throws it really hard and it stings my hand, and I can hit a homerun right out of the back fields.”

  “Wow. I used to love to do all of those things better than all of the boys, too.”

  “Really?”

  “Yep. You want to help me?”

  Hannah nodded enthusiastically.

  “Okay, do you see that ring right there?” She pointed to the oil dipstick. “Pull that out and let’s check the oil. We’re gonna wipe it off first and then stick it back in. I think mommy needs a new gasket and filter.”

  Hannah did as Indie asked, beaming the entire time. “Did your daddy say it was okay for you to work on cars even though it’s a boy’s job?”

  Indie frowned. “Why do you think it’s a boy’s job?”

  “My daddy says there’s boy’s jobs and girl’s jobs, and that I need to stop playing with all the boys and learn to do what Mommy does. But the girls at my school are boring. I want to play baseball on the boy’s teams like the Pirates, and be a mechanic that works on big huge trucks, and maybe also be a bull rider in the rodeo, and a firefighter, and an astronaut, and also maybe the President.”

  “Wow.” Indie’s heart pricked. “Those would all be amazing jobs.”

  “I know, but Daddy says I can’t, and I need to stop talking about it all the time ‘cause it’s silly.”

  “How old are you Hannah?”

  “Eight.”

  What kind of asshole would tell an eight-year-old to stop being silly when they were trying to discuss their career? With a deep breath of oil-laced air, Indie tried to calm her temper.

  “I don’t think any of those jobs are silly. And I think girls can do anything boys can do … even better. You want to know what my daddy used to tell me?”

  Hannah’s eyes never left Indie’s hands as she disconnected the battery.

  “He used to tell me that I could be anything I wanted to be as long as I worked really hard. I always wanted to be a mechanic, so I learned everything I could about cars and trucks and engines. Now, I get to do this every single day, and you know, there is nothing better than making your dreams come true. And I think if you work really hard you can be anything you want to be, too. No matter what your daddy says. Maybe just don’t tell him I said that.”

  “You want me to pinky swear?” Hannah held up her hand with her smallest finger extended.

  Chuckling, Indie pulled off her gloves and linked her finger with Hannah’s. “You just pinky swear to me that you won’t ever let anyone tell you what you can and can’t do, especially if they think you can’t do it because you’re a girl. Deal?”

  “Deal!”

  “Sounds like excellent advice to me.” Luke’s low, slow drawl sped Indie’s heart. She stood and peeked around the hood of the old Dodge Caravan. “Hey there, beautiful.” He popped a quick kiss on her lips. “I brought you lunch.”

  “Thanks. Luke this is Hannah. Her mommy’s van isn’t working quite right. She was helping me check the oil. Hannah, this is my boyfriend, Luke.”

  “Hey, I know you. You’re the horse doctor who fixed Biscuit’s leg when it gots swolled up. Biscuit was Cody’s horse, but he gots to get a new one and now she’s mine,” she explained to Indie.

  Luke lea
ned down to Hannah’s level giving her his kindest smile. Indie couldn’t help but love him even more. “That’s right, I did. How’s Biscuit doing now?”

  “She’s real good now. Thank you for looking after her.”

  “That’s my job, sweetheart. Girl’s gotta have her horse. How else will she show her big brothers who can jump the fences the best?” He winked at her. Indie wanted to hug him, and if she were being quite honest, she never wanted to stop.

  Hannah’s eyes goggled and her precious smile extended the entire width of her sweet face. “You remembered I can do that?”

  “I remembered. And you know what else? I have two little sisters, and don’t tell them I said this, but they can both ride better than I can.”

  “Really?”

  “Really. One time my little sister Natalie had to help me up when I got thrown. There’s nothing boys can do that girls can’t do, too.”

  “That’s what Indie said.”

  “Well, Indie’s almost always right. Hey, I got an extra order of Fring’s. Go ask your mom if you can have them.” He offered her the box of fries and rings, and Hannah hugged him fiercely.

  “Thank you. I’ll go ask, but then I have to finish helping Indie work on the van.”

  Indie and Luke beamed at her as she raced back inside the waiting area.

  “You’re amazing, you know that?” Indie threw her arms around him.

  “Nah. She must’ve told me a hundred times about how she and Biscuit could clear all the jumps on their property and how her brothers couldn’t do it. Then her dad spent the rest of the time I was there complaining that he had to pay for me to treat her horse when, according to him, she refused to learn to cook supper. All I could do not to hold him down and let Hannah beat some sense into him with that baseball bat she swings quite well. Ended up not charging him a damn thing with the understanding that if her horse, and only her horse, needed me he’d call. Fuck-whistle’s way too anxious to get her off that horse and in an apron. Makes me wanna skin him alive.”

  “Remember last night when I said I love you?”

  “Hell yeah.”

  “I really, really, really do.” She squeezed him tighter and decided then and there to figure out some way to make this work.

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You could take your own advice you know.”

  “What’s that mean?” Indie went wipe her hands off on a shop rag so she could share lunch with Luke. The Runza’s smelled delicious, even though she was well aware he wasn’t missing a chance to show her all that Nebraska had to offer — as if he wasn’t enough.

  “About not letting anybody decide for you what you can and can’t do.”

  “When have I ever let somebody else decide anything for me?” The memory of being handcuffed to his bed the evening before welled in her soul. Love and lust fought for dominance in her mind. She felt her cheeks heat as her grin expanded. “Except maybe you when you’re wielding handcuffs and a boa.”

  He waggled his eyebrows and gave her a sexy growl. “You do it every damn day, baby doll, but I ain’t got time to argue with you about it. Hannah’s about to be back out here, and after we eat, I promised I’d go into Lincoln with Tuck to pick up the tuxes for tomorrow. Driven all over the damned state today.”

  Lifting her Runza just before she sank her teeth into it, she nodded. “Hey, yeah, why’d you go to Ogallala?”

  “Needed supplies from Doc Halverson and Carrion’s office. Lucked out. Their morning was full of surgeries, so I didn’t have to listen to them drone on about how if I weren’t a dumbfuck I’d trade in my cowboy hat for a white coat and have a real degree.”

  Before Indie could ask just who Dr. Halverson thought he was and if Luke would like for her to adjust whatever fancy-ass car he probably drove, Hannah burst back into the garage bay.

  “Mommy says to say, ‘Thank you very much, Mr. Camden’ and to apologize for bothering.”

  “You’re not bothering us, Hannah,” Indie vowed. She was still trying to figure out when she’d ever let anyone decide anything for her. Maybe Luke was pissed about having to go ask for veterinary supplies and therefore cranky, or maybe he really didn’t want to get back in his truck to go with Tucker to Lincoln. She knew he vastly preferred to be on horseback.

  “Can I go see Romeo and Juliet, please?” Hannah gazed longingly at the horses in the nearby paddock.

  “Sure.” Indie grinned as Hannah took off.

  Just then, a candy apple red Audi coupe pulled up to the bay doors. The distinctive sizzle under the hood said she was in for a long afternoon.

  Luke’s brow furrowed. Clearly, no one knew the owner around town. Indie wasn’t surprised. You didn’t see a lot of S5’s out in ranch land, and in her experience only dickheads owned Audis. They were like magnets for forty-something year old men with more money than sense, making up for all they lacked in both heads with a fancy-ass car and a young mistress with enough air in her head to fill the tires on all the Camden tractors.

  A moment later, her suspicions were confirmed. Guy was just a little older than her with hair he probably paid someone to slick for him and dressed in a suit that cost more than three-months rent on her apartment. He sauntered up to Luke, taking care not to get his alligator boots dirty.

  “Is this really the only garage between Lexington and Ogallala?” he huffed.

  Indie watched Luke’s eyes narrow. “Not really sure to tell you the truth, but it’s definitely the best.”

  Whipping the Gucci sunglasses off of his face, he gave Luke an incredulous glare. “I highly doubt that. Does anyone here know how to work on anything but John Deere products?”

  Luke’s nostrils flared and Indie noted the flex of his biceps in the pressed, button-down shirt he was wearing. She couldn’t quite hide her smirk. If this douchebag wasn’t careful, his ass was going to get an intimate meeting with Luke’s shit-covered work boots, the kind real men wore.

  Trying to remember that her daddy needed the money, Indie stepped up. She had a policy of adding a minimum $250 charge for being an asshole anyway. “We can take care of your S5. Sounds like you might have a leaky vacuum line. Audi’s are notorious for that. Coolant’s hitting your manifold. That’s the sizzle you’re hearin’.”

  “And whom might you be?”

  Making no effort to hide her eye roll, Indie pointed to the sign over the garage. “I’m Indie Harper. This is Harper’s Garage.”

  “I see, dear. And when will the actual mechanic be back?”

  Luke huffed audibly. “She’s the mechanic. Best there is. She just diagnosed your car without even lifting the hood.”

  “I see.” If the man’s lips curled anymore they’d block his pointy little nose and keep him from breathing. Indie didn’t see this as a loss. “I think I’ll just take my chances and find someone with some actual experience with luxury automobiles in Ogallala. I’m sure it will be fine.”

  “You got a fire-extinguisher in there?” Indie ordered her fists to remain by her side.

  The man’s pompous grin made her want to vomit. “No. Why in God’s name would I travel with a fire extinguisher? Is that how you planned to ‘work’ on my car?” Okay, the finger quotes around the word work were several steps too far.

  She bared her teeth, and Luke wrapped his arm around her to keep her from lunging at the asshat. Indie had never actually required her fists for fighting. They worked when necessary, but her tongue was a far more versatile weapon.

  “My God, if you were any more of a tool you’d come with a Craftsman warranty. You know what, why don’t you take your half-inch dick and your pansy-ass car all the way to Ogallala with no coolant in it. Take a deep breath when it starts smoking. ‘Least that’ll support your empty skull for a while. Most of the ranches along 80 have some kind of watering hole for the cattle. You could always drive it on in before it catches fire. ‘Course, if you hit any of the cattle or the corn stalks out here, I’ll guarantee you there’ll be at least a dozen
cowboys out to whip your sorry ass. But take your chances. Personally, my money’s on the stalks and heifers.”

  She let the man spit and splutter while she returned to the minivan.

  “Got no idea why you ain’t already back in your fancy car, mister, but if you need some help I’d be happy to escort you,” Luke snarled.

  “I have never been treated so rudely. Believe me, I won’t be back.”

  “Best news I’ve heard in a while,” Indie called from the bay.

  Joining her in front of the Caravan, Luke was chuckling. “How far you figure he’ll get before it starts smoking?”

  Smirking, Indie listened closely to the car as Mr. Asshat had to make a three-point turn to get out of the gravel driveway. “Worst case, he’ll get it to the Kilroy’s place, best case the south entrance to the Brady’s ranch, but that’s being generous.”

  Luke brushed a kiss on her cheek. “Let’s finish eating. Then I’ve got a few calls to make.” He fished his phone out of his pocket and gave her that wink that made her heart vibrate against her ribs.

  “Who are you calling?” God, she loved that cool confident grin.

  “I’m going to pick up Tucker, so I’ll tell his daddy and brothers not to help the douchebag when he pulls up. Gotta call Cash and Sienna Brady and tell them the same.”

  Luke made no effort to hide his laughter when he leapt out of his truck beside a smoking Audi on the long dirt lane that led to Tucker’s small home in the middle of four dozen corn fields. Tucker and his younger brother Wesley were both sporting the signature Kilroy smirk.

  “Damn, city-boy, you drove right past the best mechanic this side of the Mississippi,” Wesley chuckled. “Why didn’t you stop?”

  “Oh, he did,” Luke chimed in.