“Is there an inside joke I’m not in on?” he asked.
“I really enjoy dancing. And have enjoyed having you as a partner, even though you technically weren’t my intended target. And I was just thinking that the troll of a man who sent me after you probably can’t dance at all.”
“That would be ironic. And his loss.”
Heat crawled up Kate’s cheeks and she turned her head away from Julian for a moment, composing herself. He was being so kind after she’d all but brushed him off. “First off, thank you for texting Adam—I really do need to speak with him about a horse. Also, someone told me something about you and I wanted to know if it was true or if they were just pulling my leg.”
He twirled her out and then pulled her back, flush to his chest. He was warm, like any hot-blooded wolf would be, but there was still no spark. Not like with Ryan. Dammit. Even after that lying-stick-up-his-ass-jerk-monkey had sent her on a goose chase, she still wished she were in his arms. Didn’t matter that Julian had a striking roman face, obvious muscles, and this sexy half-nerd-half-Indiana-Jones-cowboy-professor thing going on.
“So tell me, what rumors did you hear?”
“The Shakespeare one seems to be true.”
Julian nodded and put a hand on her hip to guide her through the next few steps. “I’m actually a Shakespeare scholar.”
Kate caught Dee’s eye and gave her a smile. No need to tip off Ryan’s spy. Dee shifted in her chair uncomfortably, but she managed to smile back all the same. Good thing Dee was moving to El Paso. Kate didn’t think she’d be able to stomach a woman who would go along with such a boldfaced deception. Girls should stick together. Always. Quade girls didn’t survive if they didn’t help each other through the shit their grandparents threw at them.
“What else did you hear?” Julian asked.
“Tattoos.”
“I don’t have any, so that was a lie.”
Kate pondered that statement and watched him carefully. “Not even a stallion outline on your hip that matches someone else’s hip?”
“Fuck no,” Julian said, his face a picture of surprise and horror. “And no way does Adam have that either.”
Kate giggled and fell into the rhythm of the next song seamlessly. “Good to know. It sounded like one of those drunk and stupid things teenagers do, but it’s really difficult for a—you know—to get that drunk.”
“It would take multiple bottles of really hard liquor, yes.” He grinned down at her mischievously. “Is that it? I’m curious what else you’ve been told.”
“There was just one other thing…” she let her voice trail off into the bass of the song. Heat crept up her cheeks again.
“Now you really have to tell me,” he said, a low chuckle shaking his chest. He seemed to be warming up to her.
“That you like to have...um…well…relations in public places where you could get caught.”
Julian stared at her for what had to be a full minute. It wasn’t, but it felt like she waited an eternity for him to answer. The song ended and they strolled to the side of the dance floor. He held her hand gently in his, walking with her as if they were boyfriend and girlfriend. So sweet. The man really didn’t deserve to get caught up in the middle of her bullshit life.
“You do not have to dignify that rumor with a response,” Kate whispered, once they reached the empty table where she’d first met him with the other VonBrandt boys.
“Not a complete…rumor,” he finally said, a sigh slipping from him. “Apparently Adam told someone he caught me with…” Julian rubbed a hand over his chin and growled. “Or he told many someones. Dammit, I owe him a broken nose next time I see him.”
“Please, not right now. I really need him to sell me that horse so I can get a job outside of El Paso.”
“That sounds like a story.” He gestured to the empty chair in front of him. “Can I order you a drink?”
“Water,” she said, automatically tensing for the judgment that would follow her non-alcoholic choice.
“Sounds good.” He waved down a waitress and order two waters.
Kate shook her head and plopped down into the wooden chair. “You’re Mr. Perfect—you know that, right?”
Julian snorted and sat down in the chair opposite her. “I wish more women thought that. Although, I don’t think you’re feeling any chemistry either.”
Kate nodded. “But if there was, I’d be all over you like white on rice.”
He chuckled again. “So tell me about this job you want.”
Kate took a deep breath. What did she have to lose? If she didn’t get this job, she’d be on her way back to El Paso and the end of life as she knew it. Julian seemed like a decent guy. Maybe he could convince Adam to sell the horse to her just because. Maybe this whole goose chase thing would work out in the end. Maybe…just maybe…she would break free from her pack after all.
Chapter Eleven
The youngest VonBrandt brother stayed long after the other enforcers—and Julian VonBrandt—had left. It was almost like Adam was waiting for Ryan.
Maybe he was.
They’d done business before, and they knew each other fairly well.
The room had cleared out. If Ryan could just outlast everyone else, he’d have a shot at talking to Adam alone. Beau had started in on one of his incessant tirades about his last rodeo run.
It hadn’t quite sunk in yet that he wouldn’t be joining his brother at the next rodeo. He was approaching thirty, nearly middle-age in rodeo years. Even if he hadn’t been leaving to become alpha, it would have been close to quitting time.
Beau didn’t seem to understand that, and it took all of Ryan’s willpower not to gag his brother or start a fight. His life was going to change, and his brother was oblivious to his growing pains.
Bracken put a hand on his shoulder as the alpha stood from the table. “You coming back to the cabin?”
“I think I’ll wait for Adam.” Ryan nodded at the cluster of VonBrandts, who were the only ones left in the room.
“Where’s Dee?” Bracken looked around, like he hadn’t noticed their ranch manager had been gone for an hour.
“She went to the bar with Kate.”
The alpha raised one dark brow, his face lined in concern. “Has she talked to him yet?”
“No.”
“You can’t talk to him about that horse until she does. This has gone on long enough.”
The words hung in the air, cutting off all of Ryan’s plans. He wasn’t going to openly disobey his alpha, even though he knew he couldn’t let Kate “win” the job.
There was no getting around the fact that he couldn’t work with her. Not if he wanted to retain his position as the Trewitt alpha. And he did. It was the only way he’d be able to do the work he wanted with the Oklahoma pack. Right the rift his father had made three years ago.
Sometimes, lust was just lust. It didn’t have to be Fate. There was no way Fate would be fickle enough to match him with a mate, given his responsibility to his pack.
He hadn’t picked Julian on accident. The rest of the single VonBrandts were too much like Ryan. Or Beau. They were either hard-set on rodeos or sowing wild oats. None of them had the stability and sanity to take care of a woman. Julian VonBrandt, on the other hand, was a harmless, safe kind of guy. Stable. Smart. He’d protect Kate in a way Ryan couldn’t.
A match between them would be for the best, really. Kate was a master flirt. She’d have Julian wrapped around her finger in no time.
Why doesn’t that make me feel better?
“You’re going to be the alpha.” Bracken gripped Ryan’s shoulder. “But we need this girl. Unless you have another non-Trewitt wolf in your back pocket who can run that ranch with you. It’ll be easier for you and Kate to start at the same time. Like you can train each other for the job.”
Ryan just about choked on dead air, imagining himself in the ranch office with Kate. All he could think about was bending her over the desk and…
“She’ll b
e great at that job, by the way,” Beau interjected, having apparently stayed silent for too long.
There was no such thing as silent for too long in Ryan’s book. He preferred it.
“I think she will,” Bracken said. “I have a good feeling about her.”
Ryan fought an eye roll. These two jackasses had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. Hiring Kate would be a disaster.
“I know one of her cousins.” Beau kept talking, not even bothering to lower his voice. Anyone walking by could hear everything they were saying. Dumb as a rock, Beau was. “Dean Quade. I was just telling him about—”
“What the hell?” Ryan’s attention snapped to his brother and he reached out, smacking him hard on the shoulder. “You knew not to talk about this hire here.”
“It’s just Dean,” Beau said with a shrug. “He does calf roping with me. He’s a good dude.”
“He’s a Quade,” Bracken said, leaning in and lowering his voice. “Shit, Beau. What did you tell him?”
“Oh, nothing. I just asked him about her. What jobs she did for them at the ranch. How she was in the sack, and all that—”
Ryan punched him this time. “What the fuck, man?”
“Hey.” Beau held his arm where Ryan’s fist had landed. “I didn’t really say that.”
Before he knew what was happening, Ryan’s palms started to sweat and his heart began to race and his vision narrowed down to a point. It felt like he needed to step up and protect Kate. Like he would have to fight. He didn’t like Beau talking about her at all. But especially not like that.
“What exactly did you say?” Bracken asked, his voice low.
“I asked him what kind of jobs she does on the ranch. Oh, and what events she used to ride—I’m pretty sure I remember her barrel racing when she was younger.”
Ryan tried to force his breath to even out, but he just couldn’t do it. He was practically seeing red, thinking about his brother talking to Kate’s family. Asking questions. Prying. Maybe referencing her sexuality or personal life—because, let’s be honest, that’s exactly something Beau the idiot would do.
“Maybe it won’t be so bad.” Ryan leaned back in his chair and tried to flex his hands to get some blood flowing to them again. “Maybe they’ll just think we want to check out the competition or something.”
“If it gets back to Phillip Quade, he’ll probably just think I’m reconsidering you and Kate.” Bracken ran a big hand through his graying hair, but Ryan’s heart skipped a beat.
“Me and Kate?”
The alpha looked around the room and leaned in to the boys. “A couple of years ago, Phillip Quade approached me about setting you up with Kate. He doesn’t have a bulldogger.”
“Doesn’t have a bulldogger?” Ryan repeated, dumbfounded. “Like he’s gonna collect me?”
“Not collect you. But he does like to run a full team, and none of those guys are really any good at it.” Bracken’s shoulders went up, like he was excusing the creepy behavior. There were so many weird things about that West Texas alpha, and this was just another entry on the list. He didn’t like the idea of Kate having to go back there. Ever.
But wasn’t that exactly what he was doing by trying to keep her away from the Trewitt pack? Making her go back home?
No, you’re going to come up with another solution. Dammit. This is so fucked up.
“Then he wanted Beau and Kate to pair up,” Bracken continued.
“Dude, that would have been sweet. She’s smokin’ hot. She’s probably a tiger in the—”
Ryan didn’t even realize he’d punched his brother in the face until he was standing over his body, sprawled out on the floor, and Beau was making angry noises. His alpha pushed on his shoulders, backing him up against the wall, and the VonBrandts all came around the table toward them. Ryan was shocked, practically dumbfounded. It was almost like his memory, maybe even his free will, had gone blurry in his anger. For a split second, he thought about pushing away from Bracken. But he deserved to be restrained.
Beau was a Travis, which made him pack. He was his brother, by the gods. He never should have attacked someone in his own pack. It made him as bad as Pops.
Everyone was talking to him at once, getting angry or being curious, and Ryan just stood there, shaking his head, looking down at his brother. Beau had said crude things about Kate, and that was not okay.
“He’s fine,” Bracken was saying to the Texas alpha. “He’s just a little on edge. Ryan, why don’t you go cool down outside?”
The blonde VonBrandt woman was helping Beau up off the floor, and Ryan felt a hand apply pressure to his own shoulder. He looked behind him, only to find Adam VonBrandt escorting him out of the dining room. They went through the foyer and out onto the porch, before either of them said a word.
“Man, what the hell was that?” Adam asked, a little bit of awe in his voice. “I’ve never seen anyone move that fast before. Not even another wolf.”
“I don’t know,” Ryan said, leaning over and putting his hands on his knees. His body was still on the edge. He’d had a momentary flash of Kate being pawed by his brother, and he’d lost his mind. A part of him registered that he’d actually repressed the violence he’d wished to do to Beau. That’s how bad this was.
“Well, that was impressive, to say the least.” Adam clapped him on the back, like he was congratulating him on a battle well-fought.
“He’s just my brother. We get on each other’s nerves.”
“I know the feeling.” Adam nodded back toward the house. “My brother gets on my nerves, plenty. He camps out on them. He has a timeshare on my nerves, for fuck’s sake.”
Ryan allowed himself a little laugh, and felt a bit of the tension diffusing. But he’d still tense up if he even thought about Kate. Who knew what she could be doing at the moment. Or who. Suddenly, he wasn’t okay with the thought of her being with sending her off with anyone else—even the professor.
Ryan found himself questioning every choice he’d ever made about Kate. He didn’t like that she was so far away from him, and that he couldn’t check on her. He didn’t like that he’d sent her after another guy. He didn’t like that he even cared at all.
“Feeling any better?” Adam asked, at last.
“A little.” Ryan stood, walking from one side of the big porch to the other, letting his hands rest on the columns. He had orders from his alpha not to do anything until Dee talked to Adam. But he wanted to talk to him about the horse and get it over with. He was ready to move past this…whatever this was.
The buzz from Adam’s pocket jangled Ryan’s last nerve, and he turned around to look.
Adam was standing near the door, looking at his phone. He smirked and looked up. “You know that Kate Quade girl?”
Ryan’s insides tensed. “Yeah.”
“My cousin says she’s at the bar, looking for me.”
So, the jig is up, then? Ryan just about reached for his own phone to text Dee. Dammit.
“You ever been to Joe’s bar in town?” Adam continued, clicking his phone off and putting it back in his pocket.
“I haven’t.”
“It’s a pretty interesting place. And it’s Thursday, so it’s Ladies’ Night.”
Ryan kicked at a speck on the porch with one booted foot. He didn’t like where this conversation was headed. He didn’t want to take Adam right into the lion’s den. That would be like admitting defeat.
“Do you think Dee’s there?” Adam asked, his voice a little softer than Ryan had expected from the sarcastic younger brother of the big alpha.
“I’m not sure, anymore. I think she was there.”
“She’s mated, y’know.” The man’s voice was even lower, and Ryan’s hackles started to bristle. “She doesn’t think I saw the tattoos, but I did.”
Ryan just nodded, trying to think of how to counteract the damage to come. Because there was no chance he could bring the conversation back around to the horse now that it had swung to Dee. There wo
uld be no recovery.
“Why would she hide them from you?” he asked carefully.
Adam snorted. “Because we’ve been sleeping together for ten years and I was probably going to end up asking her to marry me.”
He didn’t dare respond to that. It was like stepping into a trap. Instead, he redirected the conversation into neutral territory. “I’m not much of a bar guy, really.”
“Well, you wouldn’t like Joe’s, then. It’ll be rowdy on Thursday night at ten o’clock.”
Ryan looked at his watch. It really was almost ten. The time had gone by so fast—first with Kate, and then in the summit. He already felt like he’d been thinking about her for his whole life. Like his world had been reoriented.
“My cousin said this Kate Quade girl wants to talk to me about a horse, though,” Adam said, pressing his fist into one of the white columns near the door. “I should go.”
“I’ll go to the bar with you,” Ryan blurted out, half pissed at himself as he said the words. He wanted to keep Adam away from the bar. Not take him right to Kate. But there might be no other option.
“I thought you didn’t like bars.”
I like Kate Quade was the first thought that fluttered across his consciousness, like a little butterfly he wanted to shoo away. Or kill. “I should see what the nightlife is like here.”
“Lots of humans.” Adam pushed off the column. “If you want a one-night stand.”
“Not looking for that,” Ryan said.
“Oh, right. You’re the new Trewitt alpha. Don’t you have to be single, or whatever?” The VonBrandt brother pointed toward a red truck parked right alongside the porch. “Here, come with me. We’ll go check out the local talent at Joe’s and I’ll meet this Kate Quade girl who wants to buy a horse.”
Ryan followed him, reluctantly. But he couldn’t think of another reason to keep Adam on the ranch. Kate had put out the siren call, Adam was on his way, and there was nothing Ryan could do about it.
Rodeo Wolf: Fated Mates of Somewhere, Texas (#2) Page 8
