The door swung open, and Paige stood there in a pair of faded jeans, white sneakers, and a blue, V-neck T-shirt. Her hair was up in a ponytail, but he found he liked it better when it was down. Pushing the unwanted thought from his mind—it shouldn’t matter to him how she wore it—he tried to concentrate on what she’d just asked. How am I doing? I’m bored out of my fucking mind. “I’m fine, thanks. You don’t have to keep checking up on me.”
She frowned. “You must be bored out of your mind. Why don’t I help you out to the couch? That way I can clean in here and your bathroom, and then throw the sheets and towels in the washing machine.”
He knew she had a schedule she’d been following—a list of chores she did on certain days—and he didn’t want to inconvenience her. Maybe a change of scenery would do him good, not that he’d be any less bored on the couch than he was in here. Even though he didn’t watch much TV, it was better than lying in bed staring at the ceiling. Sarah hadn’t wanted a television in the master bedroom—she’d said there were a lot more entertaining things they could do in there—and after her death, neither Shane nor Tuck had thought of putting one in.
“Um. Yeah. But you don’t need to help me, I can get there on my own.”
Stepping into the room, she spied his crutches leaning on the other side of his night stand and retrieved them for him. She stood next to the bed, holding them in place. “I’d rather help. You were a bit wobbly on these yesterday. I don’t want to have to call Shane and tell him that you took another header.”
He scowled—he didn’t need a babysitter—but her expression told him she wasn’t taking no for an answer. Forcing the breath from his lungs in exasperation, he flung off the covers. Thankfully, he had on a pair of sweatpants, but then again, it would have served her right if he’d been in his boxer briefs or nothing at all. He thought he saw a flash of interest at his bare, sculpted chest, but she glanced away too soon for him to be sure. It wasn’t something he hadn’t seen before when women, and even some men, saw him without a shirt on—heck, Sarah had said his bare shoulders were one of the first things she’d found attractive on him. He’d been shirtless when she’d arrived at their annual barbecue all those years ago, after someone had accidentally spilled their beer on him.
Pushing off from the bed, he stood on his good foot and grabbed the crutches before he lost his balance. Once he was steady, Paige stepped back and gestured for him to precede her. Rolling his eyes, he thrust the crutches forward then followed with a hop. Slowly, he made his way out to the family room with Paige on his heels. He was surprised how strenuous it was to move with the aluminum supports. When he reached the couch, he carefully turned then sat. Leaning back, he brought his leg up to lie length-wise on the cushions.
Paige gently place a pillow under Tuck’s foot. “Is that okay?”
He grimaced as he tried to get comfortable. “Yeah, thanks.”
“I’m sure the pain meds will kick in soon.” She gestured toward the television and then the bookcases. “Do you want to watch TV or would you prefer to read?”
“The TV is fine, I guess—I don’t watch it often. And I don’t read at all.” When she raised a curious eyebrow at him, he clarified. “I’ve got dyslexia. I can read invoices, signs, and simple sentences enough not to be a problem, but the paragraphs in books and magazines drive me nuts. I can’t concentrate enough to enjoy them.” Why he’d told her any of that was beyond him, but he was starting to agree with Shane—Paige was easy to talk to.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“No apologies needed. I didn’t expect you to know. When I was little, my mother was a teacher-turned-stay-at-home mom. She recognized early on that I had a reading disability and taught me how to work around it. Then when I was old enough, she got a job at one of those learning centers, so I got free help with all my other subjects. I was able to pass my classes but in some of them I barely squeaked by. That’s one of the reasons I prefer to work with my hands and let Shane deal with all the paperwork that goes with running this place.”
He pointed at the bookcases. “All of those are either Shane’s, Sarah’s, or from Shane’s mother’s collection. Helen loved the classics and her husband, Peter, would gift her leather-bound copies for almost every holiday. Shane and I continued the tradition for Sarah, but I’ve never read any of them.”
“I—” Paige held up a finger before striding toward the hallway leading to her suite. “Hang on. I’ve got an idea.”
His eyes narrowed in confusion as he wondered what she was up to. Moments later, she returned with one of her Kindles in her hand. Was she going to read to him? He wasn’t entirely comfortable with that. Yes, he could admit his disability, but he didn’t want to be catered to as a result of it.
“I’m guessing you’d be a suspense/thriller fan . . . hmm, let me see what I’ve got on here.” Her finger swiped across the screen several times. “Ah, here’s a good one by Brad Meltzer I think you’ll enjoy.”
“Uh, you’re not going to read to me, are you?”
“Nope. I’ve got a ton of laundry to do.” She reached into the pocket of her jeans, pulled out a pair of earbuds, then plugged them into the e-reader. “This has a text-to-speech feature. It’s digitally generated, so it’s a little monotone, but it’s still enjoyable. If you find you like listening to books, there is a huge variety of audiobooks with different narrators for you to try. Just let me know, and I’ll help you pick out some good ones I’ve already read.”
Paige handed him the device as he sat there, dumbfounded. He’d barely been civil to this woman since she’d gotten to the ranch, and here she was doing something incredibly sweet for him. Not even Sarah had thought about trying to get him into audiobooks—she’d simply accepted that reading wasn’t his thing, although she often gave him a summary of a book she’d read and loved.
Tuck stared at Paige with new and appreciative eyes. Yes, it wasn’t hard to see why Shane, and all the ranch hands for that matter, found her attractive, but there was so much more to her than her pretty features and curves. In some ways, she reminded him of Sarah, but in other ways the women were completely different and unique in their own way. Sarah’s words came back to him out of nowhere—had their wife really sent them someone else to love? Would Paige be comfortable in a relationship with two men? Could Tuck open his heart to her and let her in?
When she leaned down, he could smell her shampoo. It was light and fresh—just like her—and caused a stirring in his groin. She pointed to the e-reader’s screen, and he forced his eyes to follow. “Just tap here to start and stop, and if you missed something—I zone out every once in a while when I’m listening—you can go back just by sliding this icon here.” She straightened and smiled. “Can I get you anything else before I tackle the laundry and plan dinner?”
“Um, no.” Before she’d could step away, Tuck reached out and grabbed her hand. “Thank you, Paige.” He held up the Kindle. “This was very nice of you.”
“It was my pleasure. If you can’t get into that book, you can look through my library for something else. Although, I must warn you, about three-quarters of the books on there are romance.” She shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a sucker for a happy ending, even if I didn’t get one.”
Tuck still had her hand in his and gave it a squeeze. “Your husband was an ass.”
“Yeah, that’s putting it mildly. But, honestly, when we first started dating, and even when we first got married, he was different. Well, he had aspirations like everyone else, but when I think of us as a couple back then, there were a lot of good times. I’m not sure what made Myles change—greed I guess—but there was a point in his life when he’d been a good and decent man, and that’s how I try to remember him.”
Of that, Tuck had no doubt. He couldn’t imagine Paige falling for someone who wasn’t good and decent. He felt bad about what she’d gone through but was stunned at her resolve to remember the happier times and not dwell on the sad. Tuck should take a page from her b
ook. Despite everything, she was determined to start over and find her place in the world once again.
Chapter Sixteen
Leaning against the door jamb, Shane stared at Tucker in stunned silence. His husband was stretched out on the couch, one pillow under his head, another under his foot, and his eyes were shut. He wasn’t asleep, though, as he was drumming his fingers softly where they rested on his chest. Shane hadn’t believed Paige when she’d said Tucker had been relaxing and listening to her Kindle read a book to him. The man wasn’t a fan of TV shows, only watching the occasional movie with Arianna or Shane, and with his dyslexia, he didn’t read books or magazines. But here he was, apparently, enjoying the story he was listening to.
“Holy shit.”
Shane’s eyebrows shot up at Tuck’s murmured words. There were no signs of distress and his eyes were still closed, so Shane had no idea what’d prompted the curse. Striding over, he squatted next to the couch and set his hand on top of Tucker’s. His husband startled, and his eyes flew open. “Shit! Don’t do that!”
Tucker fumbled with the Kindle as he tried to shut it off, and then yanked the earbuds out. Shane chuckled in amusement. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”
Sighing, he flopped his head back down on the pillow. “I just found out who the murderer is, and he’s about to kill again. I didn’t hear you come in.”
“I thought Paige was joking when she said you’ve been listening to a book all day.”
Tucker sat up and pushed on his hands, grimacing as he did so, until he was resting against the back of the couch. “I thought she was kidding when she suggested it, but I’m really enjoying it. I’d be further into it, but I fell asleep after lunch for about an hour. How was your day?”
“Good. We finished fixing the fence in the west pasture, and everything’s set to start moving the herd tomorrow. I’m going to hop in the shower, then we’ll have dinner. Paige made homemade pizza, so we can eat it in here. Sound good?”
“Sounds great.” He sniffed the air, and his stomach growled. “Smells good, too. I’m starving.”
“So am I, but she made plenty.” Shane stood. “How’s the foot?”
“Throbbing, but not as bad as it was earlier. Paige gave me another pain pill about an hour ago.”
“Good. Oh, and Lila’s here—she’s eating with us too.” He paused, studying Tuck’s face. There was a sense of peace there he hadn’t seen in a long time, and he didn’t think it had anything to do with the narcotics. Whatever had happened between Tuck and Paige during the day had changed the man. Maybe he was starting to realize Paige was someone special—the woman who might finally heal them. Their three-way attraction was growing, and if Tuck was done fighting his feelings, he and Shane would be able to start seducing their sweet house manager. Neither man would ever forget Sarah—she’d always have a place in their hearts—but there was room there to love another woman, and if Shane had his way, she’d be Paige.
An hour later, Shane, Tuck, Arianna, Lila, and Paige were scattered around the family room, on the L-shaped couch and two recliners, watching the animated version of Beauty and the Beast for what felt like the one-millionth time to Shane. Arianna, however, laughed, and oohed and aahed as if it was the first time she was seeing it—just like she always did. With the little girl sitting between them, the two women chatted about a variety of things, mostly about the town, its history, and the upcoming Rodeo Bonanza. Paige had agreed to help out that day for a few hours, and Nicole had assigned her to the ticket booth with Lila.
Out of the three, thin-crust pizzas Paige had made from scratch, two had been completely consumed by Shane and Tuck. The ladies split the third one between them. Shane had been amused when his husband had repeatedly raved about how good his pizza was—that was the most he’d heard Tuck say to Paige in one sitting. Add that to him telling Shane about the book he’d been listening to, Tuck had been a bit of a chatterbox that evening. Even Lila had stared curiously at her brother a few times. It had been a long time since the man had been as cheerful as he was right now. Shane also didn’t miss the somewhat discreet glances Tuck was giving Paige, and the ones she was giving both of them. Her cheeks had been tinged pink several times over the past hour, and he wasn’t sure if it was from the compliments and attention or if she was remembering what’d happened in the barn two nights ago. If he had to guess, it was probably a mix. Yup, things were going to get mighty interesting around here.
When Lila got up to use the restroom, Arianna also stood and put her empty paper plate on the coffee table. “Daddy, can we play Jenga?”
“Sure, pipsqueak.” He got to his feet, happy to have his daughter interested in anything else other than watching the movie. “Let me clean off the table while you go put your pajamas on then get the game.”
As Arianna ran to her bedroom, Paige jumped up and began to gather the paper plates and the empty pans she’d cooked the pizza in. “I’ll do it.”
Grasping her hands, he gently guided her back to her seat. “You did enough today—I’ve got it.”
“Um . . .” She stared up at him, and his cock twitched in his jeans. Damn, he could get lost in those eyes of hers. “O-Okay. I mean, I can help.”
“Nope. You can sit there and relax.” It took all his willpower to let go of her hands and not look to see if Tuck was watching their exchange. If he saw the interest he hoped was on his husband’s face, he’d be tossing Lila out the door and Arianna into her bed, just so they could have Paige to themselves. Not yet . . . but soon.
They played the wooden-block game for about an hour, laughing and teasing each person who was trying to make their move without toppling the tower over. After Tuck lost for the second time, Lila stood and stretched. “It’s getting late. Thanks for dinner, Paige. It was delicious.”
“Any time.
Shane placed his hand on the back of his daughter’s head. “Time for you to go to bed, sweetheart.”
“Please can I stay up for a little while longer?”
Her pleading eyes usually had him caving, but he shook his head. “Uh-uh. You’re already up past your bedtime, and it’s a school night. Kiss everyone goodnight. I’ll come tuck you in in a few minutes.”
“Okaaayyyy.” The adults all chuckled at her adorable pout as she gave each of them a hug and a kiss.
Getting to his feet, Shane walked Lila to the door, then waited until she’d gotten into her car and put it in drive before he turned off the porch light. Meanwhile, Paige had finished putting the Jenga blocks back into the box and collected the empty glasses from dinner, bringing them into the kitchen. Now that she was alone with them again, she was avoiding looking directly at either of them. Tuck’s brow was furrowed, as if he was trying to figure out what was wrong, while he silently watched her. Well, Shane wasn’t filling him in—not yet.
Shane stopped at the entrance to the hall. “After I read Ari a book, I’ll help you back to bed, Tuck.” He’d taken another pain pill a little while ago and had been a little unsteady on his feet during a trip to the bathroom.
“I can do it,” Paige said as she came back from the kitchen. “I got him out here without a problem. He did most of the work, anyway.”
He glanced at Tuck, who nodded. Shane shrugged. “Okay. Just pray Ari doesn’t pick Beauty and the Beast for me to read again. I’m so sick of that one.”
Paige’s chuckle was a delight to hear, and it tickled his groin as he strolled down the hallway and entered his daughter’s room. “Here, Daddy. Beauty and the Beast.”
Using the crutches, Tucker advanced down the hallway a little slower than earlier. He felt spaced out from the drugs. Paige trailed behind, just as she’d done each time he’d moved around the house today. Despite his injury and his earlier resistance, he’d kind of liked having her fuss over him today.
Hobbling into the master bedroom on one foot, he made his way over to the bed as Paige set her Kindle on his night stand. He tried to turn around to sit on the bed but lost his balance. In a refle
xive reaction, as he felt himself start to fall, he released the crutches, reached out, and grabbed Paige’s arm. She was caught by surprise, so instead of stabilizing him, she was yanked off her feet. Tucker fell back onto the bed with her on top of him, almost knocking the breath from his lungs. “Shit! Are you okay, Paige?”
“Oh, my God. Did I hurt you?”
“No, I’m fine. I’m sorry, I turned too fast.” He froze when their current positions registered in his brain. She was sprawled over his chest and abdomen, and her hips were nestled between his thighs. His dick didn’t mind at all when every ounce of his blood rushed to it. He knew the second she realized she was in his bed . . . with him . . . in a suggestive manner . . . with his very hard cock between them. Her gorgeous, blue eyes went wide, but she remained as still as he was. It was as if she couldn’t figure out how to get up without making things worse. His heart rate sped up as he stared at her mouth, which had rounded into an “O.” All he would have to do was lift his head a scant two or three inches and he’d be kissing her.
“Ahem. Am I interrupting?”
At the sound of Shane’s low and amused voice, the spell was broken, and Paige scrambled to get off Tuck. “No! No. Um . . . it’s not what it looks like, Shane!” Her wiggling against Tuck’s thick erection didn’t help matters, and his eyes rolled back into his head for a moment until she managed to get her feet on the ground and push off him.
“Well, that’s disappointing.”
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