by Megan McCoy
Grabbing a to go cup of coffee from their very own small, perfectly laid out cabin kitchen, she slipped out the door before Holly, Eric, and Ethan came out of their bedrooms.
Taking her coffee and wandering to the barn where they’d been told to meet, she felt a thrill of excitement shoot through her. Sex! She could be having herself some in the next few days. It had been so long. With a hot cowboy? Yeah, that part, had never happened to her. Maybe! A notch in her very own belt. If she wore one.
“Hi, Gorgeous,” a deep male voice drawled her way. Her nerves made her shiver and she turned slowly, clutching her coffee in both hands like a security blanket.
“Hi, Matt,” she said, trying to act bold and not nervous at all. “Looking forward to the ride this morning.”
“Been a change of plans,” he said. “Got a horse due to give birth up on the back 80 and I need to go do a check.”
Her disappointment felt palpable. Almost as if she’d been kicked in the stomach. But she’d been married a long time, she knew how to fake it. “Is someone else leading the trail ride or should I go tell my family to sleep in?” she managed to say as cheerfully as she could.
“Oh, someone else is leading the trail ride. We don’t disappoint and a good time will be had by all,” he said, calmly.
Sure. By all but me, she pouted silently. So much for her matching underwear that so would have been discovered on the trail ride with twenty other people.
“Ms. Liz?” He asked her almost tentatively. “Would you like to ride with me to check on a horse instead of a trail ride?”
Her head shot up, and she stared right into his dancing blue eyes. “I would love that!” Then her city girl nerves kicked in. “Um, can we, I mean, may we tell someone we’re going, and to tell my brothers? Please?” Oh God, she sounded like a high school girl, needing to tell her mommy where she was going.
Matt just laughed and turned to two of the other males in the barn who seemed to be snickering while they brushed horses. Her blush grew deeper and she thought that a nice vacation in Florida sounded very good right about then. Far, far away from the aromatic horse barn.
“Clint, this is Liz. She’s a guest here. Her brothers are going on the trail ride with you this morning. Liz is going with me to check the mare up on the back 80. Would you tell her brothers?” Matt grinned at Liz and she just wanted to melt in a puddle at his feet. Then lick up the wetness. Yeah.
“Harley, Lucas, did you hear that? If she doesn’t come back safe and sound, you all know where to send the search party, okay?”
Liz heard a chuckling, “Yes, boss,” from who knew how many cowboys. Had anything more embarrassing ever happened to her in her life? No. Never.
Then suddenly, it did, as Matt swung himself up on a monster of a horse thing and someone in boots came up behind her, motioned with his hand to her leg and she just looked at him as if he’d grown three heads. What do that even mean? Another ripple of laughter went around the horse barn, as Matt said, “Come on, Clint, just get her cute butt up here.”
Clint, apparently it was Clint, said, “Put your foot in my hands, Ma’am and I’ll give you a boost up.”
Liz knew she’d seen that on TV and in movies, but still, it felt wrong to put her dirty boot in his clean hands. She looked up at Matt and he reached down for her hand. She gave up, reached up and lifted up her foot, and suddenly she was behind him on a horse.
Grabbing him tightly around the waist she hissed in his ear. “If you kill me, my brothers are going to be really pissed off that they have to raise my kid.”
“I’ll remember that if a murderous urge should arise. Maybe you should behave yourself so it doesn’t,” he said, just as if she’d said something rational. “Clint, don’t forget to tell her brothers she’s with me. See you all at lunch.”
Liz shrieked involuntarily and clutched him hard, feeling helpless and in danger of falling, as the horse began to gallop not a half a minute later.
“Hang on,” Matt said. “We have to get out of here before the posse of brothers comes after us.”
“It’s okay! I can handle them!” she finally relaxed as he slowed the horse, but kept her firm clutch on him.
“What’s his name?” She finally caught enough breath to ask a coherent question.
“The horse? Sebastian.”
“How come you can name your horse a real name but your child is called Blaze?” Okay. Someone had to ask him.
Matt chuckled and she relaxed against him more. She liked the sound of that. “Well, dad named the horse, my ex named the kid. His name is actually Jebadiah Blaze. Jeb is for my dad, and if I tell you the reason for Blaze, will you promise never to tell him?”
Fascinated, she leaned forward, even closer. When was the last time she’d had her arms around a man? Way too long. She liked it, too much. He smelled so good. Like man, and leather and horse and… oh, yeah, she was supposed to like it. It was the fun vacation man. “Yes, I promise,” she said.
“Apparently, he was conceived in a blaze of passion,” he said as if he were embarrassed.
Liz giggled. “Seriously? That is the best kid-naming story ever! I love it!”
“Yeah, women seem to,” he grumbled.
“What about the men?”
Matt snorted. “Men never ask, and I sure as hell would never tell one if they did.”
“Well, I think it’s adorable,” she settled into his back, feeling all comfortable all of a sudden. “My Ben is actually Samuel Benjamin after his grandpa. Funny coincidence! He started using his middle name last year when he got into middle school. How far is away is this back eighty?”
“Behind the front sixty,” he said, and slowed the horse to walk.
“Good to know.” Now that they were away from the ranch area, she felt another thrill of nerves. Alone with a hot cowboy in the middle of nowhere, wearing a matching panty and bra set. She was serial killer material waiting to happen. She hoped that if it happened, she would die in the throes of a mind-blowing orgasm. When had she had one of those that wasn’t self-delivered? Way too long. Might be worth it.
“I never knew Illinois was this pretty,” she sighed happily, looking around. “You always lived here?”
“Sure have. I love it here, but am looking forward to some traveling at some point in my life,” he said.
“I’ve moved around a lot,” she said. “We are living in a rental house now. I’d love to have roots like this. Bring my kid up in the open air and security. You are a lucky man.”
“I am lucky, today,” he leaned back a bit against her. “Got the prettiest girl in the lodge on the back of my horse.”
“I bet you say that to all the girls,” she teased.
“Just the pretty ones on the back of my horse,” he said, solemnly, and made her giggle.
“Is Blaze your only child?”
“Yeah, and he was such a hellion, I was thankful for no more. He’s grown up now, but we had a time with him for a while.” He turned the horse toward the lake.
“Did you always have custody of him?” Was she being too nosy, she wondered? No, this was normal things single parents discussed.
“His mom left here when he was six, and he spent every summer and most holidays here after that. But when he was twelve, he flat out refused to go back to St. Louis with his mom.”
He slowed the horse even more, and Liz relaxed looking around. Her legs were going to be sore tomorrow, more than likely, she thought.
“Luckily, we could both sit down and work out an agreement, it wasn’t a nasty divorce. She just wasn’t happy here and needed to be in the big city.”
Liz looked around again. “Really? It’s so wonderful here. I can’t imagine wanting to leave. I just got here and want to stay forever.”
“That’s what all the people say, then they leave when their time is up. There’s always something at home pulling them back.”
“I guess,” she said, dubiously. What was holding her to her town? Just Ben’s school. If it weren
’t for that, she’d happily chuck it all and move tomorrow.
“How about you? You have primary custody?”
“My husband passed away a few years ago,” she said, “when Ben was seven. He’s going through that hellion phase you mentioned right now. When do they outgrow that?”
“Not soon enough,” Matt said. “I’m sorry about your husband.”
“Thank you,” she replied. What else was there to say?
“You all by yourself?” He asked. “I always had my dad, and the ranch hands to help with Blaze. I don’t know how anyone does it alone.”
“Yeah, just me, myself, and I, right now. Not enough time for anyone else. Ben stays with some friends while I work, gets himself up and ready for school in the morning. I wish I had more time with him, but really, he’s at that phase where he doesn’t care if I do or not. Embarrassing old mom, you know,” she laughed. She knew it was normal, but she still didn’t like it. “My brothers help when they can, but they are both a few hundred miles away. They’re there for moral support, though.”
“You ever thought about moving closer to them?” he asked. “Sounds like you could use a male hand or two.”
“I do okay, even without a male hand,” She said dryly. Who did he think he was? “Really, I’d love to move, but until I find a place to be settled, forever, then I’ll just wait, and not uproot Ben any more than I have to, you know?”
Matt walked the horse around the edge of the lake and she looked over the water. “I love the water,” she said wistfully. “If I did move, I’d love to live next to some.”
“Yeah, there’s nothing like watching a sunrise, or a sunset over the water. I’ve never been to the ocean. I want to go see the sun rise over the ocean from a big cruise ship.” He threw an almost embarrassed grin over his shoulder at her, and her heart flipped. “Never told anyone that,” Matt said.
“I’ve been to the ocean, but never on a cruise ship. Can you imagine being out in the middle of the ocean, no land in sight, and the sun rising over the horizon?” She said dreamily, thinking of a honeymoon cruise with a hot cowboy. Oh geez, that was not good at all! Two weeks of sex, she reminded herself. Nothing more.
“Almost here,” he told her after quite a few minutes of silence. “Keep your eye out for a new colt,” he told her.
Relaxing her hold on him, a bit, she started looking around the big open area scattered with horses here and there. No young colt snuggled up next to his or her mommy, or scampering around the big green pasture.
“There we are,” Matt said. “Come on, let’s go check them out. We’re going to get off Sebastian, but stay back a bit. You don’t want to accidently get hit with a hoof if the mom gets spooked.”
Sliding off the horse, she had a moment of panic. How was she going to get back on this huge thing? Matt swung himself off and dropped the reins in front of the horse, who stood still while he walked away. She walked a few feet away from Sebastian, hoping he wouldn’t get spooked and kick her either. Horses were big and probably unpredictable. What had to happen to spook them?
Hanging back was boring, but she decided to behave and do as she was told. Getting hit by a kicking horse was not on her list of wants. Matt walked up to them like she grabbed a shopping cart at the grocery store. Just one of those things you did with practice and experience and didn’t think too much about.
Smiling, she looked at the little brown horse by its big auburn colored mom. Cute little thing, darker than the mom, and all gangly standing up, nursing. How old was it, she wondered? She’d probably never seen such a new baby horse in her life. The mom looked much calmer than she had been after giving birth. She’d been terrified and couldn’t believe they were letting her actually leave the hospital with this tiny human thing. There was something to be said for natural instinct she imagined, that gave horses and other animals a knack for knowing what to do with their offspring.
The cowboy checking them out was just as cute as the new horse baby in a totally different way. Tall, dark, handsome, not scrawny or fat, but totally built and really hot. What was it the kids at the gym called them? Guns? His arm muscles, under his shirt. Yeah. That. She bet he could do pushups all day and into the night if needed, and oh did she need. Long legs, jeans that were just tight enough she could tell he was well endowed, well, she could but she wasn’t going to! Boots. What was it about boots that was so hot on a guy? Maybe it was just her. Maybe it wasn’t. He’d talked about his ex, but hadn’t mentioned an ongoing.
After a few minutes, Matt came striding back to her. “Little filly!” he said, delightedly, swooped her up and swung her around.
“Yes!” Liz laughed out loud. She hadn’t been swung since her brothers were teenagers and thought it was fun to make her dizzy and sick to her stomach. This was nothing like that.
Matt put her back down on her feet, and tilted her face up. “I’m going to kiss you now,” he said.
What was she supposed to say? She had no clue. So she didn’t say anything, but just flung her arms around his neck and allowed the man to have his way with her.
Liz had dated a few times since her husband had died. Kissed a few frogs. This guy, yeah, he was no frog.
Her knees sagged as his mouth firmly forced hers open, his tongue dancing against hers. Oh, yeah, cowboy rhythm. It was better than a city guy’s any day. Her arms clutched him tighter as he pulled her closer. She wanted to melt into him, be one with him. It had been so long since she’d felt this way. Never wanting it to stop, she whimpered softly and pushed her pelvis to him, hard and could feel him harden in return. Oh yeah. That’s what she wanted. Overpowered, all she wanted to do was melt into him while he ravished and plundered his mouth, taking just what he wanted.
Finally, they parted and he held her close, whispering in her hair. “Damn, girl. Didn’t expect that.”
“Me, neither,” she gasped out. “But I liked it.”
“So did I,” what was that tone, she wondered. “Liz?” He set her away from him, and looked at her, intently. “Would you like to go out with me tonight? Like on a date?”
“Matt, I think I would,” she replied happily.
“Good,” he said. “I would have hated to be disappointed.”
Suddenly, the only thing she wanted in the entire world was to not disappoint him.
* * *
Eric tried to tamp down his impatience. He wasn’t a teenager. He had control over his emotions. Mostly. But he remembered being Ben’s age and he knew how trying it was. The ups and downs and roller coaster of emotions. But, damn, the boy needed his butt blistered. His mouth twitched as he realized that if his wife, who was at least fifteen years older than Ben was, acted like he did, her ass would be red hot, and her nose in the corner, no doubt. But this sullen teenage kid… yeah. Not an option.
Taking a deep breath, he tried again. “Let’s go fishing. What else are you doing today, Ben? You might as well come with us.”
“No, thanks,” Ben said, shortly and pulled his blanket over his head.
Ethan rolled his eyes at Eric, and by mutual brotherly agreement, they both grabbed an edge of a blanket and pulled. It came off to reveal a scrawny boy in boxers and nothing else, a boy who sat straight up and yelled, “Stop it!” and grabbed his blanket back.
“Come on, Ben, we aren’t leaving you alone, and you are going fishing. When was the last time you went fishing?” Ethan asked.
“We told your mom we’d take you. You don’t want to make us out to be liars, do you?” Eric joined in, wishing he were closer to be more involved with the kid. He seemed to need a male parental figure in his life, badly. Or maybe this was how all teenagers acted. He didn’t run into one very often. They were a foreign species. Then he remembered a lesson from one of his management classes. Give people two options and they will choose the least objectionable one, rather than none.
“You want to pick out your clothes for the boat, or should I do it for you?” he asked.
“I can do it. Just leave, okay? I’ll
be out in a little bit.”
“Fifteen minutes,” Eric said in his best stern father voice. “We’ll be waiting. I’ll make you a waffle while we’re waiting.”
“Fine,” Ben all but spat out.
“You know how to make waffles?” Ethan asked him, as they walked into the kitchen.
“Sure. You stick it in the toaster and it pops up. Hang around with me, bro, and I’ll turn you into a cook,” Eric said. “You think he’s going to get up?”
“I don’t know. Were we that bad when we were his age?”
“You were. I was perfect. And Mom’s favorite.” Eric opened the freezer and looked for the waffles. “See if we have syrup, okay?”
“I think I was the favorite,” Ethan grumbled. “You were the bossy big brother. Where would syrup be?”
“According to Holly, I’m still bossy, but she likes it. Try the cabinet over the fridge.” Eric said, returning triumphantly from the depths of the freezer with the waffles.
“I don’t know how she puts up with you,” Ethan complained. “If I tried to boss Meredith around like that, she’d hand me my head.”
Eric shrugged. “Everyone’s different. My woman likes and really enjoys a hard hand. Yours might not.”
They fell silent, both of them thinking about Meredith’s background with her abusive ex. When she’d first met Eric, Meredith had shied away from him, thinking he was too much like her first husband who had beaten her so badly she’d lost their baby. Still nervous at times, she relied way too much on Ethan’s opinions and thoughts, Eric thought. But he knew Ethan was treating her with kid gloves and gently teasing and loving her into self-confidence. He admired that about his brother more than he knew how to say.
Now, Meredith and Eric were the best of buddies, in a too shallow kind of way. Eric liked knowing that he’d won Ethan’s skittish girlfriend over, while still maintaining what she called his alpha persona. Luckily, he had his little Holly under his thumb so well, he could communicate with her via lifted eyebrow or a small hand movement. That came in handy is public while still keeping her starry eyed and wild about him. How lucky could one man be?
