Rodeo Rancher

by Lauren Wood

  “That was one hell of a thank you Carol.”

  He was throbbing and jerking inside of me, making me gasp and hiss. It took me a couple of moments to answer him. “Just wanted to make sure that it was proper.”

  “Not proper at all, just the way I like it. I have wanted to do that as soon as I got back to Chicago. I have thought about you a lot the last few months.”

  “I have thought of you too.”

  “You didn’t seem too eager when I came to see you before. Going on about a boyfriend.”

  “Things change.”

  “Why, because the suit was the one that went crazy?”

  “No, I think it is because I realized that I love being with you. I don’t know why this works, it shouldn’t, but it does. We are so different, but maybe that is the way it is supposed to be.”

  Chapter 15

  David

  “Lucas will see you now David.”

  Marcus looked a little nervous, but I wasn’t going to take his cue. After everything that I had been through, there wasn’t much of anything that I was actually afraid of. The only thing that I was afraid of was to lose what I had. Carol was mine and I couldn’t fathom losing her, not for anything. It had been almost a week that I stayed over at her place and even less time that we were actually out of bed. She didn’t want me to go and that was reason enough for me.

  I moved into the room that Lucas used as an office. Last meeting was done in one of his establishments. This time it felt more secluded and I still didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Was I just walking into another trap because of what I had done to one of his men? I knew it was a possibility.

  “Thanks for seeing me Lucas.”

  “It has been hard to get a hold of you. I was looking for you a week ago.”

  “Had to get back in fighting form, so I took a couple of days off.”

  “I think you were doing fine when you got out of the hospital. It doesn’t seem like you took much time before you were out in the streets causing mayhem.”

  He was talking about Leo and everything that had happened with him. I wasn’t going to tell him everything that happened, but I knew that Marcus had. He worked for Lucas after all, not me.

  “Had to take care of a few things. Up north we like to retaliate right away.”

  “I have always liked to let someone sit and stew a little while first.”

  “I guess I don’t have the patience for all of that.”

  “No, I guess you don’t.”

  I wasn’t sure if he was mad or not. It didn’t seem like he was, but I couldn’t tell. I didn’t know Lucas, about as much as he didn’t know me. At the end of the day, I had made things harder for him when I got rid of his men. It had to be done, that much I know, but I had to wonder if there would have been a better way. I should have talked to him first before I started stomping heads, but it was too late for that now.

  “Have you thought about my offer?”

  “I didn’t know if it was still on the table.”

  “Why, because of what you did to Leo, Brauns, Keith and Javone?”

  “There was a couple more.”

  Lucas chuckled. “Yeah, but they aren’t with me, so they don’t count.”

  “Oh.” What else was I supposed to say?

  “Yes the offer is still on the table. Leo was on his way out and the rest weren’t much help. I need someone like you more than I need someone like them.”

  “Good, then I will take it.”

  “Are you going to be able to abide by my rules?”

  “What are they?”

  “Pretty standard, but one that you might have a problem with is coming to me first before making a big play like that. You caused a lot of damage and I don’t want the cops sniffing around. We like to keep things quiet.”

  “It was brought to my door, so I had to take care of it.”

  “You should have come to me first.”

  I nodded my head in agreement. I knew that I should have, it was a sign of respect, but I couldn’t. “Things happened pretty fast and I didn’t think about it.”

  Lucas sat back in his seat. “I just don’t want a rogue man working for me. We do things together and you get my okay.”

  “I don’t see that happening again.”

  “After what you did to them, I think not.” He was smiling and I was going to take that as a good sign. The last thing I wanted to do was make him angry. He was the boss of a big gang, not someone that I wanted against me. It had turned out the best way that I know how.

  “I just did what I had to.”

  “No, I heard about it all. Marcus has never been one to get spooked.”

  “I spooked him?”

  Lucas looked towards the closed door. “Yeah you did. He is my nephew and I want him to be fearless, but I did tell him some fear is good. It keeps us alive.”

  I didn’t know what to say. Lucas was getting off topic and before long we were back to the job that I had agreed to. It wasn’t that hard to figure out what it was he wanted me to do. He wanted someone to get their hands dirty for him and I have never had a problem with that.

  “You do for me, what you did for you and I will make you a wealthy man. I know that having you around, things are going to change pretty quick.”

  “Are you having troubles?”

  “Marcus tries, but he needs someone with him, someone that can teach him a thing or two.”

  “That is what you want me to do?”

  “You already are and you have some integrity. That is who I want my nephew working with. It would be good for both of us. You get a bigger piece of the pie and Marcus gets what he needs to one day take over for me. Everyone wins.”

  We shook hands on the deal and though he wanted to sit and drink a while, I had another place to be that was calling to me.

  “Where are you off to in such a rush?”

  “Got to go see my girl.”

  Lucas’ brow went up. “Is this the one that you tracked down and saved on that boat?”

  He did know everything and I groaned a little. Carol was my weakness and I didn’t want everyone to know that. It would put her in danger and make me look soft. Both of those options are dangerous.

  “Yeah, that’s the one. Some women are hard to forget.”

  Lucas nodded and smiled to himself. I had a feeling that he had a woman in his life that he couldn’t shake either. Sometimes that was just how it was supposed to be and I knew that there was a reason that I had met Carol. I didn’t believe in fate, but with her, it was hard not to. She was the one for me and no matter what happened next, it would be okay if she was by my side.

  THE END

  MORE STEAMY ROMANCE BY LAUREN WOOD

  CHARMED BY SEAL

  Chapter 1

  India stands in front of her mirror, looking at this god awful green dress and wondering how she got herself into this. There is nothing that she won’t do for her friends, regardless of the sacrifice that comes from doing such a deed. She’s never been able to say no and that has gotten her into some insane situations.

  “I have to say that that dress is very fetching on you. You’re going to be one of my bridesmaids. I’m just worried that you’re going to take the attention away from me. I don’t need every guy panting after you. They’ll be undressing you with their eyes.”

  “I don’t think that you’re going to have any problem with the guys keeping their attention on you. Everybody is going to be amazingly mesmerized by your presence. That white dress is a stunner. It was lucky that we were able to find it in the madhouse. That sale was one for the record books. It was lucky that we had some kind of plan before going into that 50% off sale.” “I sometimes wonder why I get myself into things that I wouldn’t normally do for my own family. Julia is my best friend from high school. I was guilted into being one of her bridesmaids. This dress will keep me celibate for the duration of the wedding and reception.”

  “I hope so and you know how Bryan has a wanderi
ng eye. I’ll tell you a secret and it wasn’t him that I was most interested in. His brother has this charm that makes me want to drop my panties in his presence. This guy has everything going for him. He was recently shipped overseas and I haven’t seen him since the moment that he disembarked. I guess he’s going to be at the wedding. I just hope that I can keep it in my pants, long enough to say my vows.” India had heard Julia talk about the groom’s brother on occasion, but she never believed or took much stock in the rumors.

  She finally was able to take off the dress, feeling a little bit better and know that when she got into her customary black leather jacket that she would feel like herself again.

  “I know that I told you that it’s perfectly fine for you to come stag. I just wonder if you couldn’t wrangle up some kind of date. It will look strange for you to be there alone. Don’t worry; I’m not going to put any pressure on you. You did an amazing job on my bachelorette party. I can’t even tell you how impressed I was by that stripper. He could dance, but it wasn’t his moves that I was most interested in. I’m sure that everybody, including you noticed what he was packing in those tight little black briefs of his.

  “I did see what that stripper was equipped with. He was swinging it around like a baseball bat and then he disappeared with the bride to be into the other room. When they emerged, she was smiling, her hair ruffled and there was no doubt in my mind that something untoward had happened between the two of them. She never did speak of it, but maybe that was her final hurrah before attaching the old ball and chain.

  “I don’t think that we need to talk about that night. Let’s just say that things happened and we’ll leave it at that. I’m just glad that I finally found the man of my dreams and I only wish that everybody could be, as happy as I am. I’ve been looking for you, but your tastes are a little bit different than my other friends. You always seem to find fault with everybody that I set you up with. I’m beginning to think that it’s a lost cause.” Julia had just taken off the dress, feeling like a princess in it, but now getting back to reality.

  Tomorrow was the big day and they were having it on a beach overlooking a cliff and the ocean. It was where they first met and she was going to enjoy that moment of complete wedded bliss.

  “I’ll be sure to be there early to pick you up tomorrow morning. We need to get you to the wedding on time. I’ve arranged for the hairstylist to meet us on the beach. Your favorite band from that pub crawl that you did with Brian is going to be playing your favorite song. It took a lot of convincing to get them to relinquish their hold on their own lyrics. I think we both know that money talks.” India had Raven black hair, stood at only 5’5, 110 pounds with most of that weight on her oversized melons.

  “Just be sure that you wrap those up tomorrow nice and tight. Your natural wonders are not exactly easy to ignore.” This was a contention between the two of them for some time. Julia was not, as blessed and even through augmentation, she was only comfortable with getting another cup size. She had her one feature that drew most men to her like a moth to a flame. Her legs went straight to heaven and there wasn’t a moment that went by that Brian didn’t continually express how lovely her legs were.

  “I’ll make sure that they are well concealed. I would hate to think that I was going to take away from your big day.” India had never been in the position of having a man down on his knees about to propose. She had them in that position, but only for going down on her.

  Julia was talking to the counter attendant. She took every opportunity to tell everybody that she was getting married, flashing that huge ring and lording it over others. India was happy for her, but she was also jealous and that green streak was causing her to feel like she wanted to lash out at someone. She was tempted to go to a bar and just get laid, but she didn’t think that that was the answer to her troubles.

  She climbed into her Jeep Renegade, a black shining piece of metal that she had given herself, as a gift when she became one of the most sought after wedding planners. She felt like Julia was taking advantage of her, but this was not uncommon in their relationship. It wasn’t just Julia and all of her friends seemed to see her, as somebody that they could walk over like a doormat.

  Perhaps they thought because of her Indian descent that she would bend over backwards and not ask for anything in return. What they didn’t know was that her Indian background was only in her dark features and her raven black hair.

  “I really don’t want to go to this thing. It’s bad enough that I have to see her happy, but to stand there and witness it is just going to be like putting the knife in just a little bit deeper. I always thought that I would be the one to find happiness. She was mean, she liked to put people down and for Brian to even consider her to be worthy of marriage is beyond me.” She gunned the engine, feeling the weight of the world fall from her shoulders with the wind blowing through her hair.

  India had never been to her namesake, from which she was named after. She was born right here in Chicago and your parents had adopted her when she was just a baby. She was never much into her own culture, until she was old enough to start to research it on her own. Her primarily white parents did their best to raise her with a set of values, but they also made her feel that she was different.

  As she was driving away, she knew that the escape onto the road was just a momentary reprieve. The circus that was going to occur tomorrow was making her head spin. The bride had, so many requests that it was almost hard to keep up with them. On any given day in the last nine months, there were changes to be made at a drop of a dime. She hardly had any time to herself, except for when she was working on other people’s happy days. She still didn’t understand how she got caught up in this profession, but it seemed to follow her wherever she went.

  India had a sense of style, knew that she could make that perfect day into something that would last forever. After her first one, as a gift to one of her friends, word of mouth got out pretty quickly and she was soon inundated with, so much work that she had no problem quitting her day job at a call center.

  “I’m always around people that are finding that one true love, but I’m left out in the cold looking in. I just don’t think I can take this much longer. I like the money and I like the people, but this is weighing me down like an anchor around my neck. I just want to find a good guy that takes my breath away. I don’t think that’s, so hard or unreasonable.”

  Chapter 2

  The big day had arrived and everybody had smiles on their faces, even though they probably really didn’t want to be here.

  “Get away from me. You’re making it worse. If you don’t stop touching me, then I’m going to hurt you.” India was standing here watching Amber perform her magic on her highness. “You’re not doing it right. I told you exactly what I wanted.” This girl was really getting on India’s nerves and she had no desire to stand there and watch this verbal abuse take place.

  Slipping out, she found herself breathing a sigh of relief. She knew that it was only short lived and that she would be called upon once again to put out a fire that was made by Julia. They were like sisters, but like sisters they had this rivalry that continued to follow them around like a dark cloud.

  “I know that she can be a handful, India. We’ve all been friends with her for long enough to know how she is. This will be the last one that you have to do for any of your friends. We’re all married now and I’m expecting my second one.” Lacy had always seen India, as the black sheep of this little group.

  “Don’t remind me. I’ve seen you marry the man of your dreams, and then find that family that you’ve been looking for. In must be nice, considering that you came from a broken home.” “I don’t want to be a bitch, but if she was going to take off the gloves and make me feel smaller than an ant, then I wasn’t just going to stand here and let her do that to me. I was never one to speak up, but I was getting a little sick and tired of playing second fiddle.”

  “I never meant anything by it, India. There’s n
o reason to get angry with me.” India was happy that she had finally taken a stand, but it did make her hand shake. Everybody had their breaking point and apparently hers was this wedding. Looking around, India knew that today was the last day. She still had to contend with those that were her clients, but at the very least all of her friends would never ask her of this favor again. That is of course if they were able to keep their marriages alive. She had seen Lucy and she did not look happy and there was no sign of Nicholas.

  She found out through the Grapevine that Nicholas was a bit of a cheater. He liked to find those little Asian girls that were old enough for consent. He had this sickness that grabbed him by the throat and wouldn’t let go. At first, she was forgiving, but after several times of falling off the wagon, she finally called it quits. They were separated and India was about to go over and talk to her, when she spied on a young man with this look in his eyes.

  He was standing there with a flute of champagne in his hands, while fidgeting with the red tie around his neck like a noose. She felt the same way about the green dress and everything in her wanted to rip it off her body and walk around stark raving naked.

  “I don’t have time to socialize and Julia is going to want my undivided attention. It’s just that he seems to be lonely and it doesn’t hurt that he’s fucking easy on the eyes. The boy could take me for a ride and come back for seconds any day of the week.”

  “I know that it’s boring, but you don’t have to make it look like you’re going to the gallows.” The man in question turned his eyes on India. Billy thought that today was going to be one of those days. He didn’t want to be here and felt more comfortable in the jungle with a gun on his shoulder than standing here trying to make idle chitchat with anybody that had decided to walk into his gravity. “I’m guessing that this isn’t your first one.”