Riding the High (Silver Pines Ranch Series)

by Paisley Hope

“Papa is here,” Mabes says in a matter-of-fact tone. So surely, in fact, I almost believe her. “Mabes thinks he’s a butterfly,” Cole explains. “We always see the monarchs flying around the same bush in the yard. They never used to be there, but now they fly around right in front of where my dad sat every morning. He loved it here. Said he would get his own cabin here when he retired.” A look settles across Cole’s face. It’s something between fondness and grief. “We’ll see him. He always comes,” Mabel states.

“Hi, Papa,” she says like he’s sitting right there, and sure as shit, right there in the bush at the side of the porch is the prettiest monarch, settled and calm, its wings barely moving as it perches right beside us. Just as my skin breaks out in goose bumps Cole leans down and whispers in my ear. “Told you, Vixen. Magic.”

Cole carries her up the steps, and she snuggles in against him, her dark hair hanging down over his strong arm. It’s obvious she knows she’s in the safest spot on earth, and I wonder if it’s possible to crush on this man any more; my baby-making equipment feels like it might burst at this sight alone. Plus, he doesn’t even break a sweat on the fifty-foot climb to the top.

I look back at Ginger, suspended between two worlds: my wants and needs as a man and my duty as a father. I don’t even say good night before leaving Ginger on the patio and heading inside.

Vacation Cole is irresistible, and I’ve given up trying to tell myself otherwise. He’s totally relaxed and wanders around shirtless with Mabel like he lives on the lake.

“See you, sheriff.” I wink at him. “Be good, girls,” he says as he starts to walk up the stairs. Something about the way he calls me his girl charges my heart rate as I watch him go. “Can you stop staring at my dad now and help me cast?” Mabel asks, loud enough for Cole to hear. He looks back over his shoulder to flash his signature cocky Cole grin. My face heats, and I wish I could sink between the deck boards on the dock. “I—yes.” I rise to help her, while knowing I’m totally busted. I’ll never hear the end of that one.

I’m angry, I’m relieved, I’m ready to both yell at her and kiss her everywhere I can. There’s time later to talk. Right now, I just need to feel both my girls in my arms, right where they belong.

“Cole. I—” I try very hard to choke back the tears I can feel coming. He doesn’t hesitate for one second. “Fuck, baby, you’re shaking.” He pulls me right to his chest, kissing my shoulder through my hair. “Listen, there is lots to talk about,” he whispers, looking toward the porch to make sure Mabel doesn’t hear him. He uses his finger to lift my gaze. “You did such a good job of keeping Mabel calm, and from what I can tell, not even fazed, throughout that whole experience. And she should’ve been scared, Ginger, because that was so fucking dangerous—” He sets his jaw and looks down to try to keep his composure. He releases me from his grip. “Let’s just get home, and Mabel into bed,” he says, sliding his hands down the tops of my arms.

“In case you are completely oblivious to what is going on here, it wasn’t just her I was worried about out there,” he says, his voice low and deep.

“Every single night is a fight…” he says breathlessly, “every goddamn night since you came here, Ginger.” I have no strength to speak as he continues. “It’s a constant fight for me because all I want to do is leave my room and come to yours.” I shudder as he pulls me even closer. “I stop myself because I know if I start kissing you, we’ll see daylight before I’m done.” “Cole…” I whisper, trying to remember how to breathe. “Today just showed me it is time to stop fucking fighting.”

“I can’t stop this anymore, Vixen.” So don’t.

“I don’t want to try anymore. All I want to do is fucking bury myself so deeply inside you that you remember me there every single second. I want you to feel empty without me.”

Oh, fuck. “So do it,” I dare him. Please, please do it.

I want him. God, do I want him. Who am I kidding? I’ve always wanted him.

“Coming all over me and I haven’t even taken your clothes off yet? Attagirl, Vixen,” he purrs into my ear with a chuckle.

“We’re all a team.” She hums sleepily. I kiss her forehead and pull the blankets up, tucking her tight. “Me, you, and Daddy,” she continues with a yawn, twisting her fingers back into my hair.

I gulp, trying to swallow all the emotion coursing through me. My feelings for her, my feelings for Cole. They threaten to suffocate me as I lie here and try to hold it together. Whatever is happening between Cole and me, Mabel is the priority, but I can no longer deny these feelings I’ve always had for him. They are on a freight train heading warp speed down a track. The only thing that will tell whether we land safely or crash and burn is time. Tonight, I need to let go. So I simply kiss Mabel’s forehead and breathe in her sweetness. I need her as much as she needs me. “Good night, sweet girl,” I tell her. “Good night, Ginger.”

“You look fucking beautiful in my kitchen, Mrs. Ashby,” I whisper, offering another kiss to her palm.

“I didn’t kiss you because I was traumatized. I kissed you because I have thought of nothing else since Vegas. I wanted to kiss you. In fact, even with Mabes in the next room, it’s fucking taking everything in me not to kiss you right now. Understand?”

“Well, who am I to stop you from doing what you want? It’s your special day. Which means your rules, sheriff.” She shrugs, her voice like smoke, and it’s a tempting challenge. Fuck, everything this woman does is sexy as hell.

“I don’t know what the fuck is going on in that pretty head of yours, Ginger,” I say as I lean in to the mirror beside her. Her freshly showered coconut scent overwhelms me as I tilt closer. “And you can keep hiding behind that sassy, standoffish little attitude all you want, but you need to understand two things.” I turn my head, rinse, and work away at the other side of my face as I talk. Just having her in here makes the bathroom that much more humid. “One. No one is perfect, and whoever made you feel like you had to be all the time was wrong for putting that kind of pressure on you. People make mistakes, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worthy of your trust.”

“Two,” I continue, “I’m not messing with your head. I don’t fucking understand this any more than you do, but I do know that, even if you’re unsure about me, you wanted me to kiss you last night.”

“I’m not pissed off that I had to bring you, or that I’m keeping anything from my family. I’m pissed off that I can’t fucking control anything when I’m with you. I’m pissed off that I’ve spent years forcing myself not to give in to the way you drive me crazy.”

“Being gentle just takes too goddamn long,” he says, looking over my naked form. “Now, I want to taste my wife.” He groans as he moves between my legs.

“Spread these thighs wide, be a good girl and feed me your pussy, Ginger.”

“Ginger. When it comes to you, I don’t forget.” He eases into me further, stretching me, filling me, pulling the last loose stitch I have holding back my control. I completely unravel as he groans and whispers, “I remember every fucking thing.”

That just won’t do. “Eyes here, baby. I’ve waited years to give in to this. I want all your attention now.”

“Did we just officially become best friends close?” she jokes breathlessly. I bend down to kiss her sweet lips. They’re so soft my cock jerks, ready to go again. “I’d say we just became closer than best friends close.” “And that is what exactly?” she asks with the cutest little smile. “You and me close, Vixen, you and me close.”

I can’t stop thinking that all those years of denying myself, growing closer to Ginger as a friend, were worth the wait. Sex with a connection is totally foreign to me, but now that I’ve had it, nothing will ever compare. Ginger may be my friend, but I’m pretty sure she is quickly becoming my obsession too. I couldn’t even make it through a shower that was meant to clean her up without taking her again last night.

I can’t stop whatever this is between us. I don’t have the strength anymore. But, at the same time, I can’t expect more from her. Even when the primaries are over and my probation passes, my life comes as a package deal, and I have no idea if Ginger is ready for that.

“Good wives swallow every last drop. Understand?” I say, my voice like gravel.

“Are you trying really hard to make me fall for you or something, Mr. Ashby?” she asks as I pull a fresh pair of boxers from my drawer. I move in the direction of my bathroom, still naked. “Nah, I would never do something like that, Vixen,” I call as I head down the hall, grinning the whole way. Because, right now, I’m just riding this high. And fuck, maybe getting her to fall for me is exactly what I’m trying to do.

Well, in the spirit of keeping things platonic so we don’t ruin our friendship, on a scale of one to ten, with one being a responsible adult and ten being a total fucking slut for Cole Ashby, I’m sitting at about a one hundred and one.

There is nothing Cole does that isn’t attractive, but, damn, cowboy Cole might sit at the top of my list.

“Maybe you had to shoot your shot, but I have a secret.” He leans in slightly. When his amber eyes find mine and he smiles big enough for his dimples to appear, my breath hitches. “I would’ve done it anyway, Vixen. Never could say no to you, even then.”

We move so effortlessly together, there’s no trying with Cole, we just are. “Easy, Vixen,” he says gruffly, pulling his

Cowboy Cole and chocolate? I don’t say it, but I sure think it: If I had to have a first date with anyone, I wouldn’t want it to be with anyone other than Cole Ashby.

“You think of all this on the fly?” she asks with genuine curiosity as we reach the blanket at the edge of the water. “Nah, I can’t take that much credit. Been planning it since the day you told me you’ve never been on a date,”

This ache, this need to be inside her confirms she’s the drug I’m quickly becoming addicted to.

“You can come when you admit it, baby. Admit we’re not just friends. Admit this is something so much more.”

“What do you need, Vixen? You need me to be a good friend and let you come?” I ask. “Yes,” she cries. “Please…”

“Tell me you’re lying to yourself, tell me how badly you want me.” I push on. “I do…I do…so badly. All the fucking time, it’s so frustrating. Please, Cole,” she chants. “Such a good girl.” I kiss her and move back to the pace that has her coming apart. She’s ready within seconds. “Honesty feels good doesn’t it?” I ask, losing my breath as her legs tighten their hold. “Yes.” “Look at this tight little cunt milking my cock. Take every fucking drop from me, fucking strangle me,” I command.

I give it all to her willingly, kissing her as I do. The moment washes over me and cleanses me of anyone else I’ve ever thought about or touched. I know I’ll never be the same. From this second forward, there’s no one but her. I’ll never forget the first time in my entire life that I made love to Ginger Danforth Ashby under a waterfall.

“Um…Hello!” CeCe says, waving her hand in front of my face. “You’re completely zoned out staring at my brother. Stop making sexy eyes at him.” She crumples her pretty face in disgust. I look from her to Ivy. “You totally are.” Ivy backs her up.

I’m not going to argue with my sister, but I think I know Ginger better than she does. I was the one there for her when CeCe left for seven years. I was there after her first day of teaching, and it was me who sat at the Horse and Barrel with her as she questioned whether or not she’d made the right career choice. Not CeCe.

“The team?” Mabel smiles, the picture of innocence. “Our team. Me, you, and Ginger.” I turn to Ginger, who shrugs. “The team. Didn’t you know?” “Daddy and the girls!” Mabel puts both her hands up. I laugh and scrub my face with my hand. Ginger smiles up at me. “Well, alright then, team. Let’s do this,” I say with a grin that doesn’t leave my face the whole way up the driveway.

When our eyes connect across the room, his molten gaze settles somewhere deep within me. It’s more than knowing I’m starting to care for him, a lot. It’s more than I can explain. It’s almost like I can breathe deeper and feel calmer the moment his eyes find mine. He leans back in his chair and sips his drink before flashing me a smirk. It’s a smirk that tells me what I already know. When this ends, and I move back into my own house, leaving Cole Ashby is going to fucking destroy me.

My ovaries go firmly into overdrive as he tightens her bun, making sure all her hairpins are in place, while telling her not to be nervous about walking down the aisle. The warmth that spreads through me tells me that I’m definitely falling in love with my husband, and I have no fucking idea what to do about it.

“You’re mine, Ginger. You’ve always been mine.”

“You asked me why this G is branded into my skin?” I start. Her body instantly stiffens. “Each moment…” she says, trailing off when she can’t finish the rest of the saying inked in Italian under the G. “Each moment only once,” I tell her, still tracing what comes to mind: friend. I push the bubbles away and lean down to her ear with a kiss as I trace the last words. Soul, love. “It’s you,” I whisper.