Ty's Heart: California Cowboys 3

by Selena Laurence

  Within a few steps, Ty’s hands were on her hips, and Jodi was spun and lifted onto the countertop. Her knees opened instantly as he stepped into the vee between her thighs. Then he renewed his interest in her lips, followed quickly by attention to her breasts. He yanked up her tank top and discovered the zipper on the front of her sports bra.

  “I like this,” he murmured as he slowly teased it down until the zipper popped open and her breasts spilled into his waiting palms. His thumbs and forefingers pulled her nipples gently, and she arched and moaned into his touch. But when his mouth joined in, she cried out as a sharp dagger of want shot through her.

  He sucked and licked for what seemed like hours, until she was a writhing mess of need, her core grinding against his erection, her legs wrapped around his narrow hips.

  “Want to be inside you so bad,” he gasped.

  “Then hurry up,” she answered, not caring if she sounded like a horny teenager.

  He had her shorts off in a flash and his board shorts tugged down, his swollen head rubbing through her slick heat when suddenly he stopped.

  “No,” she gasped, pressing against him, wiggling to get all the anatomy lined up just right.

  “Condom,” he gritted out. “I don’t exactly carry them in my swim trunks.”

  “I have an IUD, and I’m on the pill.”

  He pulled back and looked at her, one eyebrow raised.

  “The pill alone hasn’t worked so well for me in the past,” she answered, giving him a wry smile.

  He dropped his forehead to hers. “And thank God for that,” he whispered. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  “Me neither,” she answered, and her heart swelled, because she realized that was the whole truth of it. In spite of how scared she’d been, in spite of how miserable many moments of the last five years had been, it had all brought her here, to the most beautiful child she’d ever seen, and a man—well, she wasn’t going to worry about that right now. He was an amazing father and sexy as hell. That would have to do for the moment.

  “So we’re good here,” he murmured, bringing her back to the decision at hand. He stroked a hand down her side, pausing for a brief second to caress the curve alongside her breast before he ran one finger through the softness between her thighs and groaned softly. “Please tell me we’re good here,” he repeated.

  “So good,” she gasped, kissing him on his stubbled jaw and neck.

  The next thing she knew, he’d lifted her a few inches off the countertop and thrust at the same time. His cock slid in to the base in one stroke, and they both moaned.

  Jodi had to swallow, her need so great and so big, it felt as though it might spill out, open her wide, and let everything inside her pour into the dusty storage room.

  Ty began to thrust, and Jodi planted her heels on the edge of the countertop, draping her arms over his shoulders to stabilize herself. His hands gripped her hips so tightly, she was sure she’d have bruises the next day, and it only turned her on more—the idea of carrying his mark on her body was intoxicating and reminded her that she’d once carried his child. She’d been too busy being terrified to appreciate it, but God, what a lucky girl she’d been.

  “Fuck, it’s so good,” Ty gasped, pumping hard and fast.

  “Yes,” she cried, nodding frantically as she tipped her chin at the ceiling and squeezed her eyes shut.

  “I need you to come, gorgeous,” Ty said, using the term of endearment he used to when they’d dated all those years ago. Hearing it from his lips did something to Jodi. Deep inside, something tender ached for a moment, but then she shifted her hips a touch, creating the perfect angle for his cock to stroke that magic spot inside, and before she knew it, she was balancing on the precipice, the pain and pleasure mixing like so many colors of the rainbow.

  “Oh God!” she cried out, as she tipped over the edge and the pulses of ecstasy slammed through her over and over.

  “Fuck yes, fuck yes,” Ty chanted in a hoarse voice as he pounded harder and faster then froze, his big body jerking slightly as he poured himself into her, her core still squeezing gently with the last vestiges of her orgasm.

  He breathed hard, his muscles tense, until finally everything in him relaxed, and he slumped against her, his head resting on her shoulder as her arms wound around his back and she stroked slowly up and down.

  “I think you broke something,” he choked out.

  My heart, a voice whispered inside her head.

  “I think you’ll survive,” she murmured.

  “You have no idea.” He pulled back, gently sliding out of her and looking her in the eye. “I want to do this again,” he said decisively. “I know we can’t tell Katie, but I want to see you again. This wasn’t—a one-and-done kind of thing.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m not saying it very well…”

  She watched him for a moment. “You want to be friends with benefits? Fuck buddies? I’m a MILF?”

  He rolled his eyes at her, and she tried to keep her expression light, even though things hurt—all over her body.

  “No. I don’t know what I want or expect, I just know I think about you all the time, I crave you like I would an addiction, and I want to be able to spend time with you. It doesn’t have to be all sex—or sex at all, although after this, I have to say that would be a terrible opportunity to waste.” He grinned at her, and she narrowed her eyes. “But seriously,” he said, placing a palm along her cheek and looking at her so warmly, she wondered how she had ended up here. “I want to spend time with you. I don’t know what that means, I don’t know where that goes—if anywhere—but I’m drawn to you, and it’s not helping staying away.”

  Ah, so that was what had been going on. “That’s why you’re never there when I see her?” she asked. “You’ve been avoiding me?”

  “I’ve been trying to deny this attraction because I know it’s not best for Katie.”

  She laid her head on his shoulder, her arms around him loosely, his breath in her hair as he skimmed his fingers up and down her back.

  “Maybe this is all part of the process,” she said softly. “Our relationship was interrupted just like our lives were. Maybe we need to do this for closure or something.”

  He didn’t answer for a few breaths, but when he did, his voice was rough, and she felt his chest expand with a deep inhalation. “Maybe,” he answered.

  Before she could question him more, though, they heard the sound of voices from outside.

  “Yeah, that far umbrella has a tear in it. I’ll just grab another one from storage.”

  The lock on the door clicked, and Ty reached down to yank up his shorts, then spun around, placing his body in front of Jodi’s. She buried her head against his back as light flooded the small room and she heard a gasp.

  “Oh!” Marlene cried as everyone froze like a tableau. “So sorry. I’ll just, uh, come back, then.”

  The door slammed, returning the room to darkness.

  “Well, shit.” Ty chuckled as he turned back to face Jodi where she was still perched on the counter, her legs open wide to accommodate him. “That was awkward.”

  They looked at each other and both burst into laughter, all the tension of the last few minutes floating away in the dark.

  13

  Ty’s day was spent in a battle with himself. While he’d been staring into her eyes, his cock recovering from fucking her senseless, he’d been convinced they should see each other, test where things might go. But once he’d gotten back to the ranch, gotten Katie up for school, listened to how excited she was to see her mother after school that day, watched as Cade and Nina quizzed her on her addition over breakfast, he’d realized what a huge risk he’d just taken.

  What if he started seeing Jodi and it didn’t work out? What if she decided to retaliate by trying to take Katie? Or worse, she got hurt and took off again? Katie would be crushed either way. She needed her family like she always had, and now she needed her mother too. If she were to lose either, it would br
eak her tiny heart.

  “What’s eating you?” his brother Vaughn asked as they watched a long line of cattle being loaded up to ship.

  “Nothing,” Ty responded absentmindedly.

  “Oh good, so you won’t mind if I set Jodi up with Deke Warner this weekend? He’s been asking about her.”

  Ty’s head whipped toward his little brother, his eyes narrowing when he saw Vaughn’s amused expression.

  “Yeah, thought that would get a reaction,” Vaughn muttered.

  Ty rolled his shoulders, trying to shake off the discomfort the idea of Jodi with Deke caused him.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked.

  “That you still have a thing for her.”

  Ty didn’t answer, just watched the big, soft-eyed cows making their way up the ramp to the truck. He leaned back against a fence and crossed his arms.

  “What if I did?” he finally asked, not meeting Vaughn’s gaze.

  Vaughn sighed. “I’d say you’re living pretty damn dangerously.”

  He was right. Ty had no problem admitting when his younger brother was right—something that seemed to happen more and more these days. But dammit, this time it stung.

  “Look, she’s done and said all the right things,” Vaughn continued. “And she’s great at the voodoo medicine stuff. My leg feels better than ever. But we’d all be fools if we ignored the history here. She was drifting around the country when you met her, she never once considered keeping Katie, and she took off without a single look back.”

  Ty nodded. That was all true, but the way she looked at Katie now, the reverence in her voice when she talked about her—it was hard to reconcile the Jodi he saw today with the woman he’d known five years ago.

  “You don’t think someone can change that much?” Ty asked.

  Vaughn cleared his throat. “I’m not sure, and I guess I think Katie’s too important to take the risk.”

  Fuck. Vaughn was echoing what Ty’s more rational parts were telling him. Keep it to business, be prepared for the other shoe to drop, don’t trust her any more than necessary. Then an image of her and Katie staring up at him at the beach flashed through his head, and everything inside him went to jelly again.

  He ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

  “Look,” he said, turning to face Vaughn. “I know rationally you’re right. And I know this is about Katie’s well-being, her future, her happiness. You know I’ve always put her first—in everything.”

  Vaughn nodded solemnly. There was no question about Ty’s devotion to his daughter.

  “But I’m struggling here. I’m having these…fantasies. About the three of us, about her and me—someone who loves Katie as much as I do. Something that’s like what we grew up with.”

  “Fuck,” Vaughn said slowly. “Dude.” He shook his head, his eyes full of disapproval. “You need to get some distance from this before you make a mistake you can’t undo.”

  Ty swallowed around the lump in his throat. “I think I already did.”

  Vaughn’s gaze darted to his, and words went unspoken but were communicated all the same.

  “When?” Vaughn asked.

  “Couple of days ago. I went for an early surf and saw her out for a run on the beach.”

  One of the ranch hands whooped as a cow reared up, trying to get out of the chute that led to the truck, and Ty saw Vaughn shift, ready to help if needed. The recalcitrant cow was subdued, and Vaughn relaxed back against the fence.

  “You can’t tell Cade.”

  Ty’s stomach clenched.

  “What aren’t you telling me?” Ty asked.

  “He’s hired a private investigator.”

  Ty’s vision blurred for a moment, a haze of shifting images and a pain that throbbed behind his temple. His fists clenched and unclenched as he paced a couple of steps away, then back again.

  “What the fuck?” he gritted out.

  Vaughn’s eyes were sympathetic, but his words were blunt. “The attorney recommended it, and Cade’s not willing to leave this up to Jodi’s good will. Katie’s ours too. You’re too close to the whole thing. What you did the other day proves it.”

  Ty’s lips were pressed against his teeth as his whole body tightened in pent-up anger. He felt suddenly impotent, unable to take a step in any direction for fear of making the wrong move.

  “Do I dare ask what this investigator has found?”

  Vaughn shrugged lightly. “Most of what she’s said seems to be true. But there was a man, a couple of years ago. She filed a restraining order against him. Domestic violence.”

  If Ty thought his blood pressure had skyrocketed a few minutes ago, it went through the roof now. With a dozen of his employees standing nearby, he didn’t want to yell at Vaughn, and Cade wasn’t there to punch, so he did the next best thing, turning to the big round post that anchored the fence and hitting it with the flat of his hand as hard as he could.

  “Son of a bitch!” he growled as pain shot up his arm. Then he kicked the fucking thing for good measure, hearing a cracking sound when he did.

  “Good one,” Vaughn noted in a calm voice. “You want to go for three and see if you can knock it over?”

  Ty put his hands up in surrender, breathing hard as he struggled to get his adrenaline under control.

  “Some fucker put his hands on the mother of my child?” His voice was raspy, his throat coated in dust the nearby cows were kicking up.

  “We don’t know the details,” Vaughn said. “But the investigator’s still digging.”

  “I want a name,” Ty snarled. “And an address.”

  “Seriously? That’s what you get out of this? Not the fact that this woman may have such poor taste in men she could put your daughter in danger?”

  Now Ty finally snapped, jabbing a finger in his brother’s face. “Don’t you dare. Don’t you dare make this about her. Some son of a bitch lays hands on a woman and you make it into her bad judgment? Jesus.” His lip curled in disgust. “I thought Mom raised you better than that.”

  Vaughn had the decency to look chagrined. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

  “No? What exactly did you mean, then?”

  “Only that when she spends time with Katie, you’re getting more than just her, you’re getting her baggage, anyone she’s friends with, the men she potentially dates.”

  “She’s not dating,” Ty said decisively.

  “Unless it’s you?” Vaughn’s eyebrow rose.

  And that’s when Ty knew, when he realized no matter how many people said it was a bad decision, no matter how much of a risk it represented, no matter that it wasn’t rationally in Katie’s best interests, he wanted Jodi. Not just for Katie, not just for him. He wanted her for them. He wanted a family, something he hadn’t thought of with anyone else since the day Jodi left.

  For five years, Ty had been perfectly happy devoting himself to his daughter, his business, and his brothers. He’d been fine with no-strings sex, a life of work, Vaughn, Cade, Lynn, and Katie. Having a girlfriend or wife hadn’t ever entered his thoughts, because he didn’t want to risk Katie’s heart along with his own.

  But now? Now he found himself wanting something more. He found himself wanting to let his own heart go where Katie’s so obviously already had—straight to Jodi. It was as if he’d been saving that spot in their lives for her, and now she was here, he couldn’t turn her away, couldn’t pretend he didn’t want her nearly as much as Katie did. And he sure as hell couldn’t envision a world where Katie and Jodi spent time with another man—good guy or not.

  So yeah, Jodi wasn’t dating unless it was him.

  “Maybe,” Ty prevaricated.

  Vaughn’s gaze narrowed, his mouth drawn tight. “You’ve never been the self-destructive type,” he said. “And Cade’s going to lose his shit over this.”

  “Well, we both know he’ll get over it.”

  “Will you at least let him keep the investigator on board? Get some more information about this
domestic violence issue?”

  “I’ll get back to you on that one,” he answered decisively. “I need to sort some things out with her first.”

  Vaughn didn’t answer.

  “I mean it,” Ty said, pointing at his baby brother, who sported a short beard and arms thicker than Ty’s. “Tell Cade no more investigations until I say so. It’s an invasion of her privacy, and she’s given us no reason to mistrust her.”

  “Whatever you say.” Vaughn let out pained sigh.

  The last of the cows shuffled up the ramp, and the gate was shut. As the ranch hands walked around the transport truck making all the closures secure for the ride, Ty pulled his truck keys out of his pocket. “I’m going to check the herd in the north acreage, then go to town for a few things.”

  Vaughn snorted, but Ty elected to ignore him.

  “Lynn’s picking up Katie to come help at the café after school. It’s Cade and Nina’s night to cook dinner. You and T.J. coming?”

  Vaughn muttered a “yes,” and Ty gave him a sharp nod before striding to his truck.

  As he drove away, his brother stood and watched him, and Ty fought the churning sensation in his gut. God help him, he hoped this was the right decision. Because if it wasn’t, Katie wasn’t the only one who’d end up hurt.

  He hadn’t been to her house before, but luckily Lynn didn’t ask questions when he texted her for Jodi’s address. Now as he stood on her little front porch, looking at the pretty flowerpots that seemed to spring from every available surface, he wondered for the thousandth time if he was making the right choice.

  He considered turning around and heading back to the truck, but before he could escape, the door swung open, and there she was. Every thought but want fled his head, and he took a shuddering breath to steady his buzzing nerves.

  “Hi!” she said, looking surprised as her platinum hair fell in waves around her face.

  He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Uh, hey. I probably should have called first…”

  “No, it’s fine.” Then her eyes grew wide. “Oh my God, is Katie okay?”

  “Oh yeah, she’s fine,” he confirmed.