Spurred (Steele Ranch Book 1)

by Vanessa Vale

  I glanced up at the house. “I have no idea what to do with cows. Or horses. I’ll kill them all from neglect. Can she take care of them?”

  Cord’s thumbs slid back and forth over my skin, goosebumps rising down my arms. “Your father set aside money to maintain the ranch. The animals, the buildings, to pay the hands who run the place. You don’t have to worry about any of that.”

  “That’s all my job, as executor,” Riley said coming up to us. He held up a key. “All you have to do is…well, whatever you want.”

  Suddenly overwhelmed, I sighed. “I want a nap.”

  Cord stepped back, took my hand in his, led me up the steps. “Then that is what you shall have. We’ll pick you up at six for dinner. Will that give you enough time?”

  I stared at him, surprised he didn’t ask, just told me I was having dinner with them. They were well aware though, that I had no other plans. It wasn’t like I could come up with an excuse, not that I wanted to.

  Riley unlocked the front door, pushed it open, but didn’t enter.

  Ignoring Cord’s question, I peeked in. There were no lights on, but the rooms that I could see were well lit from the windows. Dark furniture, thick drapes. Wood floors. All mine and all alone. Suddenly, the idea of inheriting a ranch in Montana seemed daunting. And lonely.

  “Yes,” I said in a rush. I didn’t want to have dinner alone, regardless of how it came about. I wanted to be with Cord and Riley. They made being here bearable. Not that I wasn’t thankful, but it was a lot to take in. To come to terms with. A ranch, the size of what, Rhode Island? I’d been imagining the house, the property ever since I’d learned about it. But I hadn’t thought of either man. Now, it was reversed. My mind was filled with them. Their size, their smiles. Their scent. I hadn’t imagined they’d be, well…everything that they were. Dominant, comfortable in their own skin, confident. Gentlemanly, courteous. Dark. A tad dangerous and oh so appealing.

  Having them leave me seemed…scary. I felt protected and safe with them, that everything was going to be okay. That I wasn’t alone. I hadn’t felt that way in a long, long time.

  But I was a grown-ass woman, and I could pull up my big girl panties and spend a few hours in a big house by myself. I cleared my throat. “Six is fine. Thank you.”

  Cord nodded, then stepped back, dropped his hand. “Until then.”

  Riley winked.

  And when they walked down the steps and I was able to take in their fine asses in their jeans, I realized I was in really big trouble. I had the hots for two Montana cowboys.

  3

  RILEY

  “Haven’t you ever heard of being in someone’s bubble?” Kady asked, squirming.

  I stretched my arm out behind her along the top of the booth, leaning in. She sat beside me, so close I could see the freckles on her nose, breathe in her scent. Lemons? Fuck, was that shampoo or body lotion? I inwardly groaned thinking about her all pink and dewy from the shower, spreading creamy scent all over her skin. Good thing my hard-on was hidden by the table.

  “You mean crowding someone? Getting in their space?”

  We were in one of the local restaurants, a quieter one where it was more about the food than the bar. Barlow, Montana, was small, about ten thousand people made it home. There wasn’t a single box store or chain, just a quaint Main Street. It was a simple town and life had been just as simple for Cord and me until Aiden Steele had fucked with it, from the grave.

  Five bastard children, all who inherited the ranch. Unbelievable. The guy hadn’t kept it in his pants. While the three daughters we’d contacted had never known of their father, he’d known of them. Enough, at least, to know they existed. He’d never once contacted them, at least that was what my father’s files had said. I’d met Aiden Steele a few times, but never as his lawyer. While I’d technically had that title when my father died, Aiden had never contacted me for my services. It was only when I became the executor of his estate at his death did I learn about the man. And his wild past.

  When I’d opened the will—for the first time the day after he died—I’d groaned, run my hand over my face knowing my life was going to be taken over by this one client. And paid handsomely for it, based on what was outlined in the will. And this one was solid. There would only be an issue of its validity if the sanity of the signee came into question. While Aiden Steele had been sane and savvy in his ranch dealings to everyone who knew him, he’d apparently never considered settling down. Or monogamy.

  Because of that, he’d left me a shit storm.

  And Kady Parks. The gorgeous, sweet, sexy, innocent woman who was now the center of my every thought. And jack-off fantasy.

  We’d picked her up at six on the dot and she’d been ready. I wasn’t sure if it was because she’d been eager to see us, ravenously hungry or desperately bored. I hoped for the first, would easily solve the second and could absolutely help solve the third. There were so many ways I wanted to fuck her that we wouldn’t come up for air for two weeks. At least.

  “Someone’s bubble? Is that what you teach your second graders?” Cord asked. For a big guy with a lot of rough edges, he offered her a soft smile I rarely saw.

  We were at a corner table so Kady was between the wall and me, comfortably settled on a booth seat. Cord sat across from us. We’d just given our dinner orders and hopefully wouldn’t be disturbed again until they came. We weren’t interested in sharing her with anyone. We should’ve taken her to our house for a quiet meal alone, but we didn’t want to scare her. We were smart enough to know not to push it. Or her.

  She nodded, tucked her hair behind her ear. God, she was beautiful when she was nervous. The gorgeous red locks hung long over her shoulders, the curls just as wild as before. We were crowding the hell out of her and had no intention of giving her room. I’d rather be in bed with her, my cock buried deep, but it wasn’t time…yet. We wanted her to want us just as much and that meant showing her we were interested. Sure, I’d wait days, weeks, months if she wasn’t ready, but I didn’t think that was the case. Not a chance.

  I settled my fingers on her far shoulder, stroking the bare skin gently. She was so fucking soft. Being in my truck with her was hard enough. Safety meant seatbelts and having the center console separating us had been too much distance. And I’d had to keep my eyes on the road, not her. Now I could give her all the attention I’d wanted since Cord had first brought her file to me.

  No husband, no boyfriend. No one—or any space—standing in the way of making her ours.

  We’d promised her dinner and that was what she’d get. But not only did she now know we only had our eyes on her, so did everyone else in the restaurant. We were staking our fucking claim.

  “You guys never learned about personal space, did you?” she asked, shifting in her seat again, a smile tugging at her lips, realizing we weren’t going to give her any room.

  “With you? Nope,” I said, putting my free hand on top of hers on the table.

  “I can’t even see anyone in the restaurant.”

  “Good,” I added, rubbing my thumb idly over the top of her hand. I couldn’t stop touching her. My body blocked her view to the side and Cord hid the rest. “You’re here with us. You don’t need to worry about anyone else.”

  With her, I was selfish. I didn’t want any other man—besides Cord—to see her in her pretty dress. This one fell to just above her knees in a flowly material that swirled and slid over her thighs and hips, teasing the shit out of me. It had a deep V neck that showed off the swells of her breasts. It wasn’t flashy. No, our girl wasn’t like that. And she didn’t dress like a Montana woman. No jeans and boots for her. No, she looked like she’d just stepped away from a garden party. She had no clue to her appeal and that was what made her so fucking hot. Unless a man were blind, he’d see how beautiful she was and want her for himself. Too fucking bad. She was already claimed.

  “Did you check out the house this afternoon? Rest? Call friends?” Cord asked, changing the topic. After
we’d left her, I’d headed back to the office and got zero accomplished before I gave up and went home to change for a run. I’d had to burn off some of the need I had for her, otherwise once I got her beneath me, I’d be way too rough. Fortunately, I’d rubbed one out in the shower—easy to do with thoughts of her pussy squeezing my dick nice and tight instead of my fist—before we picked her up, otherwise I’d have come in my pants at the sight of her on the porch. All long legs, lush hips and perfect tits.

  “I looked around, unpacked, then fell asleep.” She picked up her wine glass, took a sip.

  “The master bedroom’s got a real nice view, doesn’t it?” Cord asked.

  A week after Aiden Steele’s death, I’d had to inventory the house as part of an assessment of the estate and Cord had helped. We both knew the house now inside and out, down to the number of silverware in the drawers.

  “Oh, um. I believe so. I picked a smaller room to sleep in. The one with the eaves.”

  “The old maid’s room?” Cord asked, an eyebrow going up in surprise.

  “Oh, um. I guess.” She shrugged. “It doesn’t look like a maid’s room. It’s got soft curtains, a pretty area rug and the bed has a pale pink quilt. It’s…cozy, especially in such a big house all to myself.”

  It was a large house for one person, especially for someone who I knew hadn’t grown up in luxury. The ranch house wasn’t fancy, but it still screamed wealth. Montana wealth. Big rooms, high ceilings, lots of wood beams and polished floors. Enough animal heads mounted on the walls to give a kid nightmares.

  I knew Kady lived in the home that had belonged to her parents, the one she was raised in, a simple two-story in a middle-class neighborhood. She’d gone to college to be a teacher, therefore, she knew she’d never rake in tons of money in that profession and was content with that. But now? Money didn’t matter. She was a rich woman. And still she took the smallest room, flew coach even after I’d purchased a first-class ticket. When I’d discovered she’d changed it, I’d wanted to spank her ass red, but I realized it was just her personality. She didn’t do fancy.

  Thank fuck. Neither Cord or I were fancy. We had money of our own—we didn’t need, or want, her for that—we had everything we needed. A house, vehicles, tangible things. But they were things. We had everything, but her.

  Her cell rang and she picked up the small purse from beside her and put it on the table, pulling the small phone out. She read the display. I couldn’t tell from the look on her face if she were excited or afraid. She bit her lip as the phone rang again. “Sorry, I’m not usually this rude and take a call during a date, but it’s my sister. Something might be wrong. They could have—”

  Cord held up a hand. “No worries. Please take it.”

  She offered us both a relieved smile. “Hi, Beth.” She paused, let her sister talk. “Yes, I’m in Montana. Really? Will you hold on a sec? Yes, I’m in a restaurant. Yes, a date.”

  She blushed hotly and glanced at both of us. She’d used the word “date” twice and it was fucking reassuring. She hadn’t said “dinner with her lawyer” or “with friends”. We were dates. Dates had potential and made my cock twitch.

  “Yes, I know where you are. I haven’t—” She sighed. “Yes, I’ll listen to your day, but hang on a second, okay?”

  She lowered the phone, whispering, “Will you excuse me for a minute?”

  I slid out of the booth, held out my hand and helped her up. “Thanks,” she replied as she stood before me. With a repentant last look at both of us, she headed toward the hallway to the restrooms, phone back to her ear.

  I sat back down, took a sip of my beer. “I thought her sister was in rehab,” I commented, turning the pint glass back and forth between my fingers.

  “She is. Haven’t heard otherwise from the investigator in Philadelphia.” Cord shrugged. “I guess there’s no phone restrictions.” He set his forearms on the table, leaned in. “Her sister’s a problem. Did you see Kady’s face?”

  I sighed. “Yeah, worry and guilt. Sounds like the sister’s working that one. The whole ‘I’m in rehab while you’re having fun on a date’ bullshit.”

  Cord frowned, leaned back in his chair. “Her sister’s a grown-ass woman. She needs to be responsible for her own shit,” he replied.

  I held up a hand. “I agree, but I’m hoping Kady thinks that, too.”

  We were quiet for a minute and Cord said, “That dress.” He took a big swig of his beer, as if it were going to help him cool down. Nothing was going to do that except a dip in the river chilled by the mountain snow run-off or a wild night with Kady between us.

  I chuckled. He didn’t have to say more than that because I knew exactly what he meant. That dress of hers was modest, prim, flirty and was sexy as hell. Just like the woman herself.

  I looked toward the restrooms, then back at Cord. “Every single thing about her is completely ridiculous for ranch living,” I said, leaning in and tipping my voice low. “I mean, did you see her shoes?”

  “Yeah, sexy as fuck,” Cord replied, slowly shaking his head.

  “That’s right. Sexy. As. Fuck.” I shifted in my seat, my cock uncomfortable in my jeans. I wasn’t going to find relief anytime soon.

  “So you’re complaining?” he asked, his fingers strumming on the wood table.

  I gave him a withering look. “No. I’m just saying. She wears heels to a ranch, her nails have pretty pink polish, and I bet she doesn’t know which end of a horse is the front.”

  Cord laughed. He leaned back in so no one else could hear us. “She also has hips I can grip as I fuck her. Tits that will even fill my palms.” He held his hands up, mimicking the motion.

  The thought of Kady’s breasts only made me harder. I swore under my breath.

  “That’s right, fuck,” he replied. “We’ve got a high-maintenance, gentle, sweet little thing who we want to claim. I don’t give a shit if she’s up for ranch life. Once she’s ours, she won’t be living on the ranch, she’ll be with us. In town.”

  “Damn straight,” I added.

  Kady came around the corner from the restrooms and we stood.

  “Everything all right?” I asked, letting her slide back into her spot before I sat beside her. This time, when I got in her bubble, she didn’t say anything. With the slight pinched shape of her mouth, her sister had to have said something to upset her.

  She offered us a fake smile. “What has your investigator told you about Beth? You know she’s into drugs.”

  Cord nodded. His face took on the serious expression I was used to. We might think Kady out of place in Montana, but we didn’t think her stupid. Neither of us was going to patronize her.

  “In rehab. Four months, right?”

  Kady took the last sip of her wine, and I raised my hand to signal to the waiter to bring her another.

  “Yes. At first, she wasn’t allowed to call, but now she can. She knows I’m here and is, well, not happy. The call was to let me know that.”

  I didn’t like knowing that her sister, her only living relative, was a bitch to Kady. I felt fiercely protective of her.

  “So she was complaining you went on vacation and she’s stuck in rehab. It’s not your fault she’s there.”

  “I know that, and deep down she probably knows that too. But she sees this”—She waved her hand casually through the air—“as an example of how the world is against her. She didn’t become a millionaire overnight. I did.”

  “That’s right. You had zero control over that. She has a choice, control over her drug use,” Cord added, reaching out and putting his hand over hers on the table.

  She took a deep breath, let it out. “I know. I’ve known for years. It’s just hard. I’ve tried and tried to help her. She just refuses to help herself while at the same time, blames me. That’s why I’m here.”

  Our girl was so fucking brave. And alone. Losing her parents and having her sister sink into drugs. She had so much to handle, the pressure was pretty hefty for her slim shoulders, but
she did it with a fucking smile on her face.

  “You’re here for a break or permanently?” I asked, my arm over the back of the booth again, my fingers stroking her shoulder. “You have a job, a house, a life in Pennsylvania to go back to. Or are you trying to start fresh, somewhere new where you can give your sister room to take care of her own problems?”

  The idea of her returning to it didn’t sit well, especially if her sister got out of rehab and returned to drug use. Since I’d arranged her plane ticket, I knew Kady was staying for most of the summer. We had time to work on her, to see that being with us was better than anything back east.

  She looked down at the table, then glanced up at me. “Yes, I wanted a break. Until I arrived, I didn’t really believe all this was true, that there really was a father I’d never known existed, a Montana ranch. It’s like out of a movie or something. I’m just a simple schoolteacher.”

  She was anything but simple, but I wasn’t going to say that now. It was time to listen.

  “You heard part of the call. With Beth and all, I just wanted to escape.”

  “And now that you believe the ranch is real, that you’re a millionaire?”

  She rolled her eyes and gave a wobbly smile. “See? Unbelievable. Me, a millionaire.” She laughed then, still overwhelmed by the idea.

  Cord leaned in. “What if we told you we were interested in you, that we find you beautiful? Perfect.”

  She blushed and looked away. “I’d think you’re crazy. Look at me.”

  “We are,” I said, my voice calm. Even. Slow. My fingers kept up their gentle caress of her silky skin.

  We waited, let the silence speak for itself.

  After a minute, she looked up, set her fingers on the edge of the table so those pretty lacquered nails showed. “So what, you want a…fling with me? Both of you?”