“Thanks for saying that Jack.” She picked up another box without a word. I decided to leave and head into town. The sooner I got my errands done and met with Molly Brown, the realtor handling the Carmichael property, the closer I would be to making my dreams a reality.
* * *
“Uncle Jack! Uncle Jack!” Lily seemed to have a radar for whenever I was around, and anywhere near my new horse which she refused to call anything but Chocolate Sauce. Now everyone was calling him that instead of Mahogany. His actual name.
“What’s up Lily pad?”
“Can we go riding today?” She looked up at me with big eyes that I couldn’t say no to. Her snaggletooth smile pulling a smile from me too.
“Not today kiddo. But tomorrow I’ll be here as soon as you get home from school and we’ll take off, okay?”
“You promise?”
“I promise. But you’ll have to saddle Butterscotch yourself.”
“Okay!” She squealed with the enthusiasm. “Okay I promise.”
I winked and turned away. “See you tomorrow Lily pad.”
“Bye Uncle Jack! Bye Chocolate Sauce!”
“You’re lucky I love you!” I smiled at the sounds of her giggles. Between Lily and her two-year-old brother Mitch, I felt like I smiled all the time. The kids had so much energy and enthusiasm, curiosity. It was impossible to be miserable around them.
Some days it was still hard to believe that my baby sister was married with children of her own. The part where she’s married to my best friend was still weird, but she’d been in love with him from the moment I brought him home, and he’s the best guy I know. If there would ever be a man good enough for her, it was Mason.
“You gonna hide out here all night, or come in for supper?”
“Shouldn’t you be in the house with your feet up and a glass of ice water?”
Sage stared, then scowled, before she grabbed her belly and laughed. “Ice water does sound delicious. And if my brother wasn’t out here doing who knows what with our horses, maybe I could get some ice water with the dinner that’s waiting. For you.”
“Why is dinner so early tonight?”
She frowned, arms crossed on top of her belly and head tilted in that way that said she was trying to figure me out. “Early? Jack it’s already half past six.”
Shit. I’d been in the barn for more than an hour. “Sorry kiddo, I must have been daydreaming.” I wrapped an arm around her and laughed when she pushed away.
“You stink.” She put a few feet of distance between us and waited until I caught up with her. “What, or who were you daydreaming about?”
I wasn’t ready to share the truth with her, yet so I distracted her. “I was daydreaming about getting laid.”
She stopped and gave me that assessing look I hated. “You haven’t been out of town in what, six months?”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not talking about this with you Sage.” A man didn’t talk about his sex life with his sister.
“Does that mean you’re getting some local nookie? Or do you have a secret lover?”
“No, but if you’re that interested, I could tell you about Tammy, she had a set of double D’s and she used to be a gymnast-,”
“Okay fine, point taken.” She fell silent and I knew I was in trouble. A silent Sage was a plotting Sage. “You know who’s gotten hot, Sierra.”
I groaned out loud, and shook my head. “Sage, stop it.”
“I’m just saying she also has a great set of double D’s, and a nice ass and curves for days. If I swung that way, I would be all over that.”
“Now you’re just trying to piss me off.”
She laughed and wrapped her arm around mine. “I’m not, but you really shouldn’t make it so fun. But I am serious about Sierra. You can’t tell me you haven’t thought about it, because if you do I’ll call bullshit.”
Hell yeah, I’d thought about it. Sierra was a fucking knockout, and if it wasn’t for the small fact that she was my baby sister’s best friend, I would have already made a move. But messing around with Sierra would get complicated real fast, and I wasn’t in the market for complicated.
“Of course, she’s beautiful.”
“Do you mean hot like you want to jump her bones, or beautiful like a pageant-woman hot?”
I held the back door open and helped her inside. “Mason please stop your wife from torturing me.”
“Isn’t that one of the perks of being a kid sister?” He strolled into the kitchen and kissed his wife before herding her to a chair with a thick pillow on the seat. “Don’t move until I tell you to.”
She smiled up at him. “I’ll have some ice water please.”
I laughed at the perplexed look on Mason’s face, but he jumped into action to grant her wish. “I’ll have one too,” I told him, barely containing my mirth.
“Get your own, unless,” he turned quickly and shot me a quizzical look. “Are you pregnant with my baby too?”
“Aw, honey you don’t remember?” I patted my flat stomach, still Ranger ready, and pouted.
“You two are ridiculous,” Sage declared and held her hands out for her glass. “Sierra isn’t here yet?”
“Nope. She’s running late, said to start without her.” Mason called for the rest of the family and took a seat beside Sage. “She said don’t even think of holding dinner for her.”
“Fine. Let’s eat. I’ll go grab Mitch.”
“Don’t you worry about a thing, I’ve got the cutest grandson in the world,” Mason’s mama, Tammy said as she walked in, Lily and Tanner following behind her. “Hey Jack. I heard there are two offers on the old Carmichael place.”
I’d heard the same because nothing ever stayed a secret for long in Lucky Flats. “Molly asked me to meet her tomorrow morning, so I’ll know more then.” I hoped the seller didn’t try to jack up the price. A new ranch has a lot of overhead. I didn’t want to think about all the expenses so I turned back to the table. “Tanner aren’t you leaving soon?”
“Yeah. In a few days. Need to get settled for a couple days before the Halloween weekend in Louisiana.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Hopefully I can find some type of Mardi Gras trouble to get up to.”
Tammy laughed and swatted in his direction. “You should try to get up to making me some grandbabies trouble.”
Me and Sage tried to hide our guffaws. But Mason’s shoulders shook and he covered his eyes, unable to control the laughter.
“You already have two fully formed grandchildren and another one baking in the oven woman, what more do you want?” Tanner stared at her, a look of confusion on his face.
Tammy looked at him and held Mitch up. “More grandbabies. Do I need to spell it out for you, or maybe you want a drawing?”
“Ugh Ma, stop it. Please.” He pretended to gag, making Sage and Lily laugh. “No more talk of grandbabies or sex, please.”
“What’s sex,” Lily asked, pulling a satisfied laugh from Tanner.
The door opened and shut in the front, sending the room into a quieter murmur, though not quite quiet. Boot heels sounded on the scuffed wooden floors and before she appeared, I knew who it would be. Because even her fucking walk was sexy.
“Sage Winchester-Manning I hope you’re in labor girl, because as soon as that baby is out of you I’m gonna kill you!”
Sage snickered. “I guess that means your costume was delivered?”
“You sneaky little scoundrel, I swear I will find a way to make you pay for this.” Sierra flashed that sultry smile that could drop a man to his knees at two hundred paces. “Good evening y’all. Hope you saved some for me.” She spotted me and went still, darkening her gaze and spreading her smile. “Jack,” she said and winked at me before dropping a kiss on everyone else at the table. “Good to see you again,” she whispered when she’d done her rounds, voice husky and low.
Like a shot of whiskey.
Straight to my cock.
Sierra
I puzzled over why Molly Brown aske
d to see me as I sat in her office, staring out the small window that overlooked a bush with a few closed-up roses. She asked me to show up at nine in the morning.
Nine o’clock, when I was the bar until one, and I didn’t make it to bed until three thanks to a group of rowdy ranch hands puking on one of the pool tables. And now I sat waiting for her to show up. For the meeting that she called. But I had hope that she had good news for me.
She’d better.
Fifteen minutes after nine Molly waltzed in wearing a candy apple red suit with heels no Texas woman from the back country would be caught dead in, and she made them work with a capital W.
“Hi Sierra. We’re just waiting on the other interested buyer, and then we can get started.” She flashed a bright red smile and dropped down in her leather office chair.
“Can I get a hint?” I didn’t give a damn about another interested buyer, I wanted my land.
“It’s better if we wait.” She gave me that small professional smile that sent chills down my spine. I wasn’t getting my land back.
“I’d rather you just tell me that you’re going with the other buyer so I could go home and get some sleep.”
“Patience, Sierra.”
I rolled my eyes at her and focused on the shrub just over her shoulder. Finally, the door opened again to reveal the last person I expected to see. Jack Winchester.
“What are you doing here?”
“I have an appointment with Molly,” he told me with a confused frown.
“So do I.” Realization sank in a moment later. “Oh, no. What the hell is going on?”
We both turned angry stares on Molly. She invited Jack to sit, completely unaffected by the anger simmering off both of us. “This place was on the market for a while, and then out of the blue it’s gotten two offers. The seller is now thinking maybe they can get more. I’ve tried to convince them that this was just a fluke, but they want to up the price by another fifty grand.”
“Fifty grand? Do they need to sell the place to buy more of the crack they’re obviously smoking?” Because that’s the only way I could see how they could justify raising the price like that.
“What about a counter offer,” Jack asked, his blue gaze intense and total business.
“That’s why I called you both in. Sage, you told me that you were thinking about turning the place back into a ranch. But you don’t have the time to run it yourself, and you haven’t found a ranch manager yet.”
“I have a lot to figure out, Molly. But that’s not really your business, or the seller’s.” I crossed my arms to stop myself from reaching across the small pine desk and choking the hell out of the impeccably dressed realtor.
“Right,” she sent an apologetic grin my way and pushed on. “Jack this will give you more of a cushion for your operating costs.”
He looked just as confused as I felt. And madder than a cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
“What will?” His words held more bite than he normally used on anyone but me or Sage. Molly sat up tall, and folded her arms in a move I was sure she practiced in front of a mirror.
“You two can purchase the land together and split the costs, the chores and the profits!” Leaning back in her chair with a proud smile fixed on her face, she waited for her pat on the back.
I wanted to pat her, all right. On the nose. With my fist. “You want us to buy the ranch together?”
“Yes?”
Right. “And what made you think this was a good idea?”
“Well honestly Sierra, I thought that since you and Jack are practically family, you both would rather compromise than see the ranch go to someone else. Or remain vacant.”
Damn her for being so good at her job. I didn’t love that she made a good point, but I could concede the point. In my mind.
“I need to think about it,” I told her. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to share the property with him, but it might kill me if I didn’t get over this stupid crush on him.
Jack stood, a furious expression on his face. “Think all you want, but my answer is no! I don’t want to work for someone else, and I don’t want to be partners either.”
Wow. I nodded as his words sank in, each syllable cutting into my flesh like shattered glass. Why I let his words hurt me as much as it did, I couldn’t say, but it’s something I needed to work on.
“Great. Molly send a counter offer with an increase of fifteen thousand. I’ll just have a small herb and vegetable garden instead of making it a working ranch again.” I just wanted my home back. The ranch was a dream for another day.
“Are you kidding me?” he roared the question at me. “You can’t possibly mean to let all that land go to waste!”
“If it means I get the property, then yes.” I stood and got in his face. “What do you care, anyway? Outbid me or get the hell out of my face, Winchester!”
Jack let out a grunt that was equal parts anger and raw hunger, at least that’s what I heard when I laid eyes on all that uncoiled intensity. “Molly can you give us a minute to talk please?”
“Sure. Holler when y’all need me!” She strolled out, her ridiculous heels clacking loudly on the floor.
As soon the door clicked shut behind her he turned to me. “You really want this place?”
“I do. Jack, it’s my home, and I don’t need to have a working ranch to have the land. I’m fine with that. Are you?” I could tell by his demeanor he wasn’t fine with it at all, but I crossed my arms and waited, ignoring how hot, sexy and downright alpha he looked glaring down at me.
“You don’t have time for a ranch.”
“Since I won’t have a ranch, it won’t be a problem.”
“I don’t want a partner,” he insisted, raking a big calloused hand through his cropped hair.
“You said that already, and I believe I rescinded that offer.” He was just getting started, so I settled in my seat and waited for the show.
“It would be a disaster.” He said it more to convince himself than me, I think. “You don’t want to share land with me.”
I didn’t know if I wanted to share the land with him either. It was hard to tell, because I liked Jack. Even aside from the stupid, ill-advised crush, I liked him. Partnering with Jack would allow me to have just about everything I wanted for my future. But then again, I’d be sharing living space with the man who fueled all of my sexual fantasies since I was a girl, and had a starring role during vibrator time. And I went through plenty of batteries thinking about Jack Winchester. His fit body, deep blue eyes, the graceful efficient way he moved, and that lazy grin that made a girl want to make every last one of his wicked commands come true. But still…
“I don’t?”
“Do you?”
“Depends,” I shrugged. “Where would you live?”
“Since I’m not the fucking help, I’d stay in the main house.”
“Then I guess I’m open to talking about it. I guess.”
“Well don’t do me any damn favors Sierra.”
I smiled at his fiery temper. “I wouldn’t dream of it, Jackie.”
“Don’t call me Jackie,” he admonished with a scowl that only made me laugh. He stood and began to pace. I could see the gears turning in his head, spinning something fierce, and it was a beautiful sight. Long jean-clad legs that bunched and flexed with every stride, his tight round ass formed a perfect question mark with every step. Made my belly clench low and deep. Yeah, living with Jack might blow out my budget on batteries.
“She’s right, you know. As loathsome as you might find it to share the place with me, it’s the ideal solution for each of us.”
He didn’t like it, not at all. He wanted that land for himself at the original asking price, and the seller had thrown a wrench in his plans. “Why do you even want this with me?”
“I don’t want it with you Jack. But I don’t want to lose it either. And like I said, it works for both of us. But it’s up to you.” I stood and gave him a long intense stare because
I had a feeling that no matter what happened with that piece of land, things were about to change.
He looked like a world of trouble and I already knew it would hurt so good.
* * *
Halloween was just over a week away, and instead of lying in bed wrapped around a big strong muscled male body, I was putting paper lanterns up all over the M&M Ranch. With the only person who could get me to give up hours of beauty rest to help her out.
“Was it necessary to have four different lanterns?”
Sage bobbed her head up and down. “Yes. Some areas will have less light for romance or ambience, and others will be well lit for food, conversation and all that crap.” A laugh bubbled out of her as she popped out another lantern and slid it across the table. “That’s the last one,” she told me, but I heard what she didn’t say.
The lanterns were done, but there was more work ahead. We left the lanterns on the table inside the barn and headed outside towards the table being attacked by a million pumpkins. I groaned.
“Pumpkin carving?”
“It’ll be fun, you can even make some very dark and scary like I know you’re dying to!”
The problem with having a best friend who has known you all your life was, they knew you well. “Fine, but I want it noted that I’m doing this in protest.”
“Noted,” she told me as we sat down in front of two medium-sized pumpkins. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay living with Jack?”
Absolutely not. “Yep. We’ve already decided that he’ll take one side of the main house and I’ll take the other.” At least that was our tentative agreement until we were able to do a more thorough inspection once we received the keys.
“I know that honey, but this is Jack. The guy you have, for some reason, had a burning in your loins for since you first discovered you had loins. Sorry to tell you this, but it took me and Mason about five minutes to start knockin’ boots once we started living together.”
I groaned at her lewd gestures and suggestive eyebrow wiggling, dropping my head in my hands. “We will not be knocking boots Sage. Jack looks at me and you know what he sees? Another little sister. I’m working on getting over my thing for him as we speak.” And it was actually starting to work. As long as I didn’t see him. Smell him or spend any time around him.
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