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Was I wrong to run her a bath? Part of me feels like I’m crossing a boundary. An intimate boundary. Normal people don’t invite their bosses into their homes for a soak. Then again, my relationship with Mollie is anything but normal. How can I be normal around the girl I love to hate? Thing is, I don’t hate her anymore. I…don’t know how I feel, but I do know I’m not about to leave this girl crying alone in a bathtub.
“I literally had to carry her out of the barn to stop her from working. Her body’s wrecked.” Duke chuckles. “Something tells me you didn’t mind carrying her one bit.” “Shut up.” “She okay?” “I’m handling it.” “I bet you are.” “I’m hanging up now.” “Y’all would make a cute couple.” “Goodbye, Duke.” “Go easy on her, would you? We like Mollie. She’s got questionable taste in men—” “Why? Because she ain’t into you?” My brother chuckles. “Because she’s into you.” “Shut up,” I repeat, even as my heart skips a beat. “She’s not into me. We’re just…we work together.” This time, Duke flat-out laughs.
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“You’re the one who hasn’t hung up.” “I’m hanging up!” “You have condoms at the cabin, right?” “Fuck off.” I glance down the hall at the bathroom door. Shit, do I have condoms? It doesn’t matter if I do, because I’m not going to fuck Mollie. Even if my dick does perk right up at the idea. “Safety first,” Duke singsongs. “Y’all get to it. We got it handled here.”
“Being back here—working with y’all—I just—I missed out on so much. If I had known what life was really like here…I mean, I would’ve loved to be out working on the ranch with Dad. I think I’m starting to understand…” I suck in a breath. “What?” “Why he never wanted to leave.” She sounds so sad that for a second, my grip tightens on the doorknob. Do I go in there? Comfort her? I can comfort her from here, best as I can. “I know you have regrets, Mollie. But seeing you today—” I swallow. “You’re doing the right thing.” She scoffs, the sound echoing inside the bathroom. “Maybe. But whether it’s
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“I’m talking about me. I was an asshole to my dad. I mean, you were an asshole to me, don’t get me wrong—” “Past tense.” “What?” “You said I was an asshole. That mean you think I’m not anymore?” A pause. Somehow, I know she’s grinning too when she replies, “You’re growing on me.” There’s a flutter in my stomach.
“Lucky for him, there’s plenty of people willing to give it. Many hands make light work. Having that many hands also means you can take a break when you need it, because others will be there to pick up the slack.” She has a point. I’ve left everyone to their own devices this afternoon, and there hasn’t been an issue. Far as I can tell, anyway. No explosions, no panicked requests for help on the walkie-talkie or phone. Go figure, my brothers are doing just fine without me. And I’m doing just fine without them.
“I wish I had what you do. The chaos is real, sure, but so is the joy.” I chuckle. “Take some for yourself, then. You’re welcome to it.” “You mean that?” Her voice is soft now too. “I mean that, Mollie.” Scary part is, I really do mean it. She’s welcome to stay. Welcome to take whatever she wants. She’s lonely, and I know how awful loneliness is. Right now, though, I don’t feel lonely at all. I like the idea that she doesn’t either.
“So, yeah, I sympathized with Mom. I trusted her judgment, so I knew there had to be a good reason why she felt the way she did about Dad. She thought he was an asshole, so I thought he was an asshole too. And some of the things he did really were shitty. As I’ve gotten older, though—now that I’m here—” “You’re seeing the other side of the story.” “Exactly.” Her voice gets thick again. “I’m seeing your story. And it’s making me really rethink things.”
“See?” I sit up a little straighter. “You’re doing the right thing, deciding for yourself how you feel about Garrett. He’d be proud. It was one of the things I loved most about him—how unafraid he was to do his own thing, even if it didn’t make sense to anyone else.” “Only had to make sense to him,” Mollie replies slowly. “There’s a certain kind of integrity in that. I’m taking notes.” “Of course you are,” I sputter. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Means I like you. More than I should.
His eyes flash. “I like it when you call me sir.” Must. Get. Inside. Immediately. Or I’ll combust. Or do something really stupid and lean in and kiss him myself. “Don’t get used to it.” I sniff, and then I make a mad dash for the house.
“You need to be in that tub every night, Mollie.” “Your tub?” His grin twitches. “If you want.” “I don’t know what to say.” “Thank you is a good start.” I only set down the bag when Cash holds out a mug of coffee to me. “Thank you. I really mean that.” Crossing the kitchen, I take the mug. “And thank you for this too.” Am I imagining it, or did Cash intentionally brush his fingers against mine? Electricity zips up my arm, awareness blooming inside my skin.
“Enough with the guilt trip,” I say. His eyes glitter. “Passive-aggressive ain’t my style, Mollie. But you’re the one who’s gotta share the news with your horse. She cries, that’s on you.” “She’s Dad’s horse.” I shove Cash’s shoulder. “And horses don’t actually cry, do they?” He shrugs. “You’re about to find out, aren’t you?” I don’t want to laugh, but I do.
Why would he come now, though, long after Mollie left Dallas? She were my girl, I doubt I’d be able to go a single night without her in my bed. Nothing could keep me away from her. Nothing. What excuse does this asshat have? And why did Mollie buy it? I fucking hate the guy already.
“Why wouldn’t I be all right?” Duke chuckles. “No reason.” “You got somethin’ you wanna say, brother?” “Not at all, brother. Just haven’t seen you this keyed up about a girl in a while.” “It ain’t about a girl.” Wyatt’s turn to snicker. “Sure it isn’t.”
I hold my breath every time I turn a corner now, hoping I’ll run into Mollie. I can hardly sleep because I want to know what witty, pervy things she’ll say to me over coffee the next morning. And at night, after supper, I think about her in the tub. The one in the New House has a Jacuzzi setting. She turn it on, get herself off? She think about me while she does it? Or she think about the prick who drives the Denali instead?
His eyebrows pop up. “You talked about Mom and Dad with Mollie?” “What? She asked, so I told her.” “You opened up to her. The girl you hated so much, you could barely stand to look at her.” I glance toward the door. “I did, yeah.”
Shaking my head, I hold up my hand for another beer. “Doesn’t matter. She’s Garrett’s daughter. Our boss.” “Bet she wants you to boss her around, don’t she?” I slam my beer down on the bar. “Wyatt.”
She were mine, I’d have my hands all over her. Everyone would know she was taken. And she’d know just how much I wanted her. Fuck. Fuck me, I don’t just have a crush on Mollie. I don’t just want to sleep with her. I want all of her. And I can’t deny anymore that I want to be that guy for her. The one she dances with. Who protects her from scumbags like Roddy and Slick here. The one who shows her what a true partner could and should be. I can be that man, Mollie, if you’d let me.
“Aw, your first lovers’ quarrel,” Duke says. I grit my teeth. “You best mind your mouth before I punch you too.” He gives me a shit-eating grin. “Meant no harm. Just…not like you to, you know, be that guy.” “What guy?” “The one punching other guys over a girl.” It ain’t like me. Also ain’t like me to chase what I can’t have.
Cash was paying attention. To me. In a bar crowded with pretty women, I was the one he was watching. And when he saw something he didn’t like— Well, he took action.
I whirl around at a loud bang. Cash stands in the doorway, looking so good—so angry—my right knee literally gives out. I grab at the lip of the sink behind me, steadying myself. “You can’t—you shouldn’t be in here,” I stammer. The door swings shut behind him as he stalks into the room. His scent—eucalyptus, skin kissed with sweat—fills my head. My heart lurches as he begins to push open each stall door. “Everybody out. Now.”
Cash grabs my wrist, stepping forward so my hands are on his chest again. The firmness of his grip makes my pulse riot. “He’s an idiot. You can do better. So much better, Mollie.” “Again, who I’m with—” “That’s really what you want?” He searches my eyes. “Someone who has no clue how fuckin’ amazing you are?”
“Don’t what? Tell you that I was wrong? That you’re everything I thought you weren’t? Big-hearted and generous and smart as hell and, yeah, fuckin’ beautiful? Sexy as hell?” Cash’s eyes graze my face. “Tell me to go, then. Tell me to let you go, and I will. But you gotta say the words, honey, or—” “Or what?” I blame him calling me honey for this sudden burst of bravery. “You’ll give me what Palmer couldn’t?” His eyes flicker. “You’re such a brat.” “Yeah, well, you’re a brute.” “I am.” His gaze is pleading.
“You’re the center of everyone’s universe, you know,” I manage. “Everyone on the ranch. Everyone in your family. They all look to you, and you never ever let them down.” He breathes in. Out. “They’re everything to me.” God, how have I not gone up in a fireball yet? Because truly, there is nothing sexier than a man who shows up for the people he loves. He’s showing up for me. “You being here.” I swallow. “Sticking up for me. Helping me. Filling me in on everything I missed with Dad. That’s everything to me, Cash. You’re a good man, and I…” The edges of his eyes crinkle. “What, honey?” “At
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He lets out a low, sinister chuckle, his breath hot on my skin. “How much of a brute you want me to be, honey?” “We’re in a bathroom.” I give his hair another tug. “At a bar.” He sinks his teeth into my jaw. “No one’s comin’ in.” “Everyone knows we’re in here. Everyone knows what we’re doing.” “We better do it quick, then.”
“Can you be quiet?” he grunts. “Why don’t you find out?” I slide a hand inside his shirt. His stomach caves, abdominal muscles contracting into hard ridges beneath my palm. Can’t help it. I laugh. “What?” He’s nipping at my earlobe now. “Your body.” I bite his neck, opening my eyes. “It’s laughably hot.” Cash meets my gaze and runs a hand up my thigh. “Could say the same about yours. Only I ain’t laughin’.”
In reply, he lifts his hand and turns his head and spits onto his fingertips. I jump at the sound. It’s rude, the gesture even ruder. It might also be the hottest thing I’ve ever witnessed. Now he’s reaching between us, reaching between my legs. He presses the pad of his thumb against my underwear. Another dark chuckle. “May not even need this, huh, honey?” “Maybe no—
AHHHHH
“Cash,” I breathe. “Oh my God.” He grunts. “No shit, honey. You’re soaked. For me.” “For you.” I bite back a cry when his fingers fall away from where I want him most. But then he’s tearing off my underwear and sinking to his knees, and holy Christ, he’s going down on me. “Look at this pretty pussy,” he says. “Perfect. So fucking perfect, Mollie. I fuckin’ hate that you kept this from me for so long.”
“Much.” I reach down and cup his bulge in my hand. “But you—” “I ain’t nearly as quiet as you are. C’mon.” He yanks down my skirt. “I’m takin’ you home, honey.” He bends down and grabs his hat and my underwear. I reach for the underwear, but he shakes his head. “These are mine now.” Tucking them into his back pocket, he helps me off the sink and laces his fingers through mine. “How do I look?” I ask. His eyes flick over my face. “Like you just came hard on my face.”
Whatever the case, I know no one is going to fuck with Mollie Luck ever again. No one’s going to touch her. No one but me. And that suits me just fine.
“Y’all behave!” Duke calls after us. The bar erupts in laughter. My own lips twitch. Behaving is exactly what I plan on not doing tonight. I can still taste Mollie’s pussy on my lips as I open the passenger-side door of my truck and help her inside.
Or maybe something is changing the way I think. The way my family needs me—that hasn’t changed. Neither have my responsibilities on the ranch. But I’m starting to understand that those commitments shouldn’t hold me back from commitments I want to make to myself. For myself. That’s the only way I’m ever gonna have a life of my own. I’ve missed out on so much trying to be everything to everybody else. No one asked me to be the hero. The savior. And maybe—hell, maybe they don’t need me to be their savior. Maybe it’s time they learned to save themselves. Laughing with Mollie, dancing with her—I’ve
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Scooting closer, she starts unbuckling my belt. “You give good head. Bet I give better.” “Brat.” I look at her. She looks back. Unzips my fly and reaches inside my jeans. “I’m the worst, aren’t I?” I nearly jump out the window when she wraps her hand around me and gives me a slow, hard tug through my briefs. She circles her thumb over my head, and I feel my underwear go damp as I start to leak.
“You came in my mouth, I wanna come in yours. If that’s gonna be a problem, stop now.”
“They say anything, I’ll take care of ’em.” I hop out of the truck and hold out my hand. She tilts her head and pins me with a stare. “Easy for you to say. Everyone respects the hell out of you.” “They respect the hell out of you too. You’ve earned it this week, working your ass off like you have.” “And now I’m going to lose that respect by fucking my foreman.” My lips twitch. “I promise I’m worth the risk.”
That a deal? No one’ll see you.” “And if they do?” “That’s what a shotgun is for. C’mon.” I bend my fingers, motioning her out of the car.
“Because!” Mollie takes the glass I hold out to her, eyes wide. “I was…frustrated, okay? It’s like the world’s worst best tease, being around you and your chaps and your fucking mustache all day, every day.” My dick twitches at the idea that I turn Mollie on so much—so often—she had to call a friend for relief. Aw, honey, you know you’re only gonna find relief if it’s with me. “So you like the ’stache,” I manage.
“I do.” I drink, the tequila hitting my bloodstream. “A murder/homicide hasn’t happened yet. You’re looking mighty fine on horseback. You and the cowboys get along, and Patsy and John B just adore you.” I meet her eyes. “You’re tryin’, Mollie. I think maybe that’s all he wanted when he gave you the ranch and said you had to live here for a bit. He wanted you to try it on.”
“Thank you. Now get over here.” Sipping her drink, she raises a brow. “Okay. Maybe I also like it a little bit when you tell me what to do.” “You like it a lot. Get over here, honey.”
AYE
“I couldn’t see it this well in the truck. You’re—it’s not fair, Cash. God pulled out all the stops when he made you. Shoulda left some pretty pieces for the rest of us.” I laugh, reaching for her pussy with my other hand. “You got lots of pretty pieces, honey.”
“I’ll wear a condom if you want me to. No questions asked. But I wanna feel you. All of you.” And, yeah, maybe the fantasy of knocking you up turns me on in a way it shouldn’t
Lol
“I like you, Cash Rivers,” she says, expression softening. I gather her wetness on my first two fingers. Stroke her clit one, two more times before I reach up and slather the moisture on her nipple. “You’re about to like me a lot more, Mollie Luck.” “Awful”—she yelps when I bend down to circle that nipple with my tongue—“full of yourself, aren’t you, cowboy?” “Naw, honey. Just honest.”
You’re perfect. I’m falling for you, and I wanna know what I can do to make you stay.
Something feral takes hold inside me. A desire to possess this woman. Claim her in some fucked-up, caveman way. So instead of doing what I should—head to the bathroom for a warm washcloth—I reach down and gather my cum on my first two fingers. Then I look Mollie in the eye and use those fingers to push my cum back inside her.
“Night, cowgirl.” I hear the smile in her voice when she says, “I like that nickname better.” “Let’s sleep in a little, yeah?” I find myself asking. “I know I said I’d take you home early, but if I’m being honest, I’d really like you to stay.” Mollie goes still. “Cash Rivers wants to sleep in?” “Just a little,” I say with a chuckle. “I won’t set an alarm. Fair warning: I’ll probably be up early anyway.”
I imagine it’s a regret Dad wouldn’t want me to have. And the person who’s opened me up the most over the past few weeks, who’s encouraged me to turn toward vulnerability, has been none other than Cash Rivers. No way Dad intentionally brought us together, knowing we’d end up being good for each other. No fucking way, right?
I blush when I think about him touching me there after we had sex. What he did was obscene. A little weird. And so fucking hot, I’m squeezing my thighs together thinking about it. I’ve never been with someone who…marked me like that, I guess. Are all cowboys so wildly possessive? Or is it just Cash? Is it Cash, but only when he’s with me?
His kiss is soft but hot. It’s the kind of kiss you can’t help but fall into. One that makes your head spin and your heart sing, a poignant reminder of the sweetness of being alive and being here. Right now. In this kitchen, with this man.
“I got you, honey,” he murmurs against my cheek. “You’re gonna be okay.”
“Learned from the best.” I touch a finger to his chest. “So let me take care of you. I know you probably have a million things to do this morning on the ranch, but I propose you don’t do any of them and stay in bed with me instead.” The edges of his eyes crinkle as he searches my face. “I do have a million things to do.” “Make me all of them.” He laughs, a deep rumble in his chest. “You’re bad.” “You’re tempted.” “Hell yeah, I’m tempted.” Reaching up, he swipes his thumb over my lips. “This is just…new territory for me. Ain’t easy to let go.”
