Un-Hitched: A Camden Ranch Novel

by Jillian Neal

  Before she could protest, he’d leapt out of the bed of the truck in one adept movement. Shucking his jeans, he stood naked before her and offered her his hand. She allowed him to settle her on her feet on the muddy shoreline.

  “So, I just take off my bra and your shirt and get in naked?”

  “That is the very definition of skinny dippin’, peaches.”

  “Smart ass.”

  “Don’t get sassy. Paddling your wet backside would sting, but that don’t mean I won’t do it.”

  “Well, then don’t laugh at me.”

  “Why? You’re cute.”

  Rolling her eyes, Kaitlyn shimmied out of his shirt, reveling in his hungry grunt. He was nothing if not relentless.

  As she slid out of her bra, he stalked to the water. With no hesitation, he stepped in and dove forward with a splash. Irritated with her case of nerves, Kaitlyn forced herself to the water’s edge.

  He resurfaced a moment later.

  “Is it cold?”

  “Not nearly as cold as the ones on the ranch. It’s shallow and it’s been blistering hot all day. Come here to me.” He held out his hand. “I ain’t gonna dunk you or do anything you’re not comfortable with. Just come here.”

  Keeping her eyes locked on his she stepped into the water and sank an inch or two. Readjusting, she made it two more steps and had his hand.

  “That’s it.”

  Five minutes later he’d coaxed her in to her waist. The cool water felt nice but not nearly as good as having his hands holding her steady.

  “I’ll teach you to swim in the daylight and once the lakes at the ranch warm up, but for tonight why don’t I teach you to float on your back?”

  “Okay.” A shiver of nerves worked through her. “What do I do?”

  “Relax for me. I’m right here. Ease back in my arms.”

  She tried. Arching her back, she settled in his capable arms and ordered her body to stop tensing up.

  “I’d never let anything happen to you. Ever. Just relax.” Suddenly, his wet lips were on hers, giving her a dose of the best medicine. She eased.

  “That’s it. Now let your head fall back. Get them pretty red curls wet.”

  “Promise you won’t let me go.”

  “Honey, I ain’t ever gonna let you go.”

  Ordering herself to trust him completely, she relaxed in the water. His hands stayed under her back and her ass. A minute later she was floating. Her teeth sank into her bottom lip. She tried to grin without sinking.

  “Look at you. And just so you know I’m a good guy, I ain’t even sucking them nipples standing straight up, staring at me, tempting the hell outta me. I deserve some kind of prize or something.”

  When she started laughing, her rear end sunk, but he never let her go under. And she knew he never would.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The next day, Kaitlyn asked Grant if he’d mind taking her to his parent’s house while he was out working. He’d seemed pleased with that, and she was having a ball in his mother’s ginormous kitchen helping prepare lunch.

  “Can I ask you something else, Mrs. Camden?” She’d been peppering her with questions all morning.

  “You ain’t gotta ask to ask, sugar. Just ask me.”

  “Yesterday, Mr. Camden came by Grant’s house and was telling him about the man who’s selling off all of his cattle.”

  “Wes Abelkopp.”

  Kaitlyn nodded. “And he said that his wife hated ranch life. I asked Grant about that and he said it was hard to live out here. Do you think that’s true, too?”

  She considered while she added another four hamburger patties to the iron skillet. “I suppose if you love the city, love the people everywhere, love the shops, it’s certainly a change to come out here. But I just don’t really believe life is perfect anywhere. Problems in the city. Problems in the country. Problems in between. If you’re depending on your surroundings to make you happy, you’re real likely to end up sad. On the other hand, it is important to know yourself well enough to figure out what you want in life and how to go about getting it. But you have to bloom where you’re planted. Even in the city, dandelions spring up between cracks in the cement. Might not be where they hoped to end up, but they still go on and bloom.”

  The ever-expanding weight in the pit of Kaitlyn’s stomach grew again. She had to talk to her family. She had to go back home. She couldn’t keep running. She couldn’t keep using the Camdens hospitality. As much as she was certain she loved Grant, she had to figure out what it was she wanted out of life and how to go about getting it the right way, just like his mother had said.

  By that evening, Grant’s brothers and sisters were adamant that everyone was going to Saddlebacks.

  “We don’t have to go,” Grant commented again as Kaitlyn applied her favorite peach-shimmer lip gloss.

  “It’ll be fine. I kind of want to see a little more of the town.”

  “There ain’t all that much to see.”

  “I know, but it would make them happy for us to go.”

  “Yeah, but doing something because it makes someone else happy ain’t a great reason to do it.”

  “I know, but this is no big deal. I liked dancing in your truck last night. Now, I can do it at a real honkytonk.”

  “All right, fine, but if you want to leave, you just say the word and we’re out.”

  Mentally preparing herself for a few hours of intensely concentrating to hear anyone speak at all, Kaitlyn gave Grant a forced grin as he held the door to Saddlebacks Honkytonk open for her.

  The whoosh of warm air taunted her cool skin. She gave the gravel parking lot another quick scan. Why had she agreed to come here? Crossing her arms over her chest, nervous tension crawled up her spine. Her stomach flipped and suddenly she wasn’t certain she could eat at all. What if somehow someone she knew saw her there? What if she couldn’t hear well enough to get away? What if they called her father?

  Immediately assaulted by the drone of conversations she had no hope of understanding, the shrill tones of the ancient jukebox, the sloshed bubbles of beer hitting glasses coupled with the hum of the tap, and the scrape of barstools along the hardwood floor, Kaitlyn relaxed slightly when Grant wrapped his left arm around her and kept her tucked by his side. “I’ve got you, sugar. You want to go back, just tell me. All I want is to be with you.” He spoke directly into her good ear and then brushed a kiss in her hair like that was the only purpose of him holding her so closely. She hadn’t said a single word. He’d proven yet again that when it came to her he was always paying attention.

  Tucking her into a large booth near the back, he positioned himself so he could play interpreter for her if she needed him to and kept his arm around her. His brothers and their wives took the seats on the opposite side.

  “If all the Camden brothers are in here it must be bad,” a bartender covered in tattoos and piercings approached the table. Kaitlyn scolded herself for the ping of fear that pricked at her stomach. She hadn’t quite made out what he’d said other than something about the Camden brothers, and her judgment for his tattoos was something her father had taught her. Even when all of Keith’s Army buddies had gotten a few after bootcamp, Keith hadn’t because their father hated them.

  Summer, Austin’s wife, wiggled out of the denim jacket she was wearing. Kaitlyn caught the edge of a tattoo under her black tank top. Luke was talking to the bartender. She couldn’t understand much of the conversation. Luke’s voice wasn’t quite as low as Grant’s, so she discreetly studied Summer’s tattoo.

  It looked like the Camden brand she’d seen on the entrance gates. “You okay, sweets?” Summer reached over and placed her hand on Kaitlyn’s.

  “I’m sorry, what?” she startled.

  “She asked if you were okay.” Grant spoke directly in her left ear again and made it look like another tender kiss.

  “Thank you, but I should tell them. Um, I’m hard of hearing. Actually, I’m completely deaf in my right ear, and the hearing in
my left isn’t great either. It’s a little difficult for me to hear over all of the ambient noise in here.”

  If there had been any remnant of doubt left as to how much she loved the Camdens, it disappeared when none of them appeared shocked.

  “Well, Austin’s hard a’ listening, so we’ll figure it out. I’ll just speak up.” Summer winked at her.

  “Probably work out all right for ya, that way you ain’t gotta listen to him bitch quite as much,” Luke gestured to Grant. He spoke just loud enough for his voice to slice through the noise surrounding them.

  “I ain’t hard ‘a listening.” Austin smirked.

  “Bullshit,” Grant, Luke, Indie, and Summer all chimed in. Kaitlyn doubled over laughing. That she’d heard loud and clear.

  “I was just admiring your tattoo,” Kaitlyn confessed as the laughter died down.

  “Oh, well here.” Summer jerked the tank top up, and there on full display wasn’t the Camden brand, it was Austin’s. Trying to imagine having Grant’s brand on her body sent another flood of heat throughout her. Suddenly, she completely understood the appeal of a tattoo. Being branded by Grant was precisely what she longed for.

  The bartender returned with a pitcher of beers for the table. “You gonna introduce me, Grant?” He gestured to Kaitlyn.

  “This is Katy Sommerville … my girlfriend.”

  Like she’d been doused with the cold beer, Kaitlyn’s mouth hung open in shock. Girlfriend. Had they discussed that? That sounded supremely official. Another round of nerves twisted in her stomach. It sounded a little too official. Her mind made no sense. A moment before she’d wanted to tattoo his brand somewhere on her body. She’d spent the entire day mentally preparing herself to live out on the ranch with him. Now, she was nervous about being called his girlfriend. Grant really should just dump me and find someone who isn’t insane.

  “Did you tell her that ‘fore you up and decided to tell Aaron that?” Luke chided his brother.

  Aaron chuckled. “I’m gonna hand you a shovel and let you dig yourself outta that one, but I will promise to keep it to myself, which might ease the blow. Natalie coming in tonight?”

  “I’m beginning to think the only reason we get such good service in here is ‘cause you got a thing for our sister,” Austin harassed.

  Kaitlyn could just barely make out his words. The panic in her mind drowned out most of the racket in the bar. The only other time in her life she’d been someone’s girlfriend was when she’d begrudgingly started dating Seth. She’d snuck out once in high school under the encouragement of Trenton Miller, the boy she’d had a crush on, and had tried to go to a party where she was certain he was going to ask to be her boyfriend. Keith managed to catch her at the end of the fairway and made her go home.

  In New York, she went to a party with Ollie Shelton, a guy she briefly dated from culinary school, but she’d hated it as much as she’d ended up hating Ollie. Drunk college kids out of control and random hookups that took place all over someone’s parents’ Fifth Avenue apartment wasn’t something she was interested in participating in.

  Girlfriend wasn’t a role she was all that accustomed to fulfilling, and somehow not one she was entirely certain she was rid of. She still hadn’t officially talked to Seth. That ridiculous ring was still shoved in her suitcase.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I told you I’m no good at half-measures,” Grant sighed. Disappointment and fear clouded his eyes.

  “It’s fine.”

  “It ain’t fine. Don’t lie to me.”

  Ordering her thoughts, Kaitlyn landed on the real reason it had upset her. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to lie to you. Could we just talk outside for a minute? I want to be your girlfriend. I just need to do this right.”

  “Move,” Grant ordered Austin out of his way. Dammit, why couldn’t he just figure out some way to stop fucking up on Kaitlyn’s account? He was sick of apologizing and half-terrified she was going to ask to be taken home at any moment.

  Stalking through the sea of ranchers and cowgirls clogging up the dancefloor, he let the chilly air slap him in the face as he led them outside, blocking her from the wind.

  “I’m sorry,” he began as soon as the door slammed shut and he had her out by the truck he’d driven them in.

  “Please, don’t apologize.” Cementing the notion that he would never in this life or the next understand women, she stood on her tiptoes and threw her arms around him. Embracing her automatically, he had no idea where the hell this was going.

  “Sugar, I ain’t sure if we’re washing or hanging out. You wanna tell me how bad I fucked up so I can go ‘bout tryin’ to fix it?”

  When she settled back in front of him, she was grinning ear to ear. “You didn’t fuck up at all. I just never, ever want to be a girl that cheated on you. I don’t want to cheat on us. I couldn’t. You mean too much to me. I don’t want Seth to have anything to do with us. The past two days I’ve been going along, half-pretending that we’re already a couple and that we live together, but in the back of my mind I knew I was just playing house. I don’t want to do that. It’s like I told you, I pretended to be someone else for so long. And you,” she shook her head in disbelief, “somehow, you convinced me to at least attempt to be me. Well, I have to deal with Seth and my father. I have to deal with whatever is waiting on me in Lincoln before I can have a relationship with you. And I want to have a relationship with you more than I want to take my next breath. I just have to do it in the right order. It’s the only way I won’t feel like I cheated on us.”

  Well, hell. All right then. “So, you’re saying after you tell the shitwhistle to go fuck himself sideways, then I can call you my girlfriend?”

  Her entire body shook with her laughter. “I would really like that, but I also have to face my dad and whatever hell might come with that.”

  “You ain’t facing any of ‘em alone, sugar.”

  “Thank you, but I think you better take me back to Lincoln tomorrow.” He swore the stars above them couldn’t outdo the fervent sparks of determination in her eyes. The moonlight played in the auburn of her hair.

  His chest ached. His entire body ached for her. She wanted closure. He couldn’t deny her that, but dammit, he wanted to. He wanted to make her forget life before they were together even existed. Her life before had been some kind of twisted shit of making her parents happy. It had hurt her. That was more than he could stand.

  “Tomorrow, huh?”

  “It could maybe be late tomorrow after we spend the day together if you want. Do you understand why I have to do this? Please know I’m not trying to hurt you. It’s like my heart, that never ever belonged to Seth, already belongs to you, but my brain wants the closure. Probably my stupid lawyer side and the fact that I was raised by the chief of police. Just please tell me you know that when I’m with you, it doesn’t even matter what we’re doing, it’s all my heart. Does that make sense?”

  “Kinda.”

  “How about I really never want to leave, but I want to do right by you always?”

  “Pretty sure that’s my line, peaches.”

  “Yeah, and you’re not the only one who’s hoping that Camden legend is true.”

  Desperate to hold her, he drew her back to his chest and nuzzled his face in her hair, inhaling her scent. It was the same today as it was the day before. He’d been so hell-bent on taking her back at his house he hadn’t noticed. Now, he wanted nothing more than to slow down time so he could memorize every detail about her. “How come you smell like a ripe peach in summertime all the time now?”

  “I decided I don’t want to wear a different scent every day anymore. I want one that makes me happy, and I thought you might like it because I really like you calling me peaches.”

  “You really mean that when you said you hope the legend’s true?”

  Lifting her face from his chest, she stared him down. “Yes.”

  “Promise me something,” he commanded.

  “Anythin
g.”

  “Promise me you ain’t just saying you want to be my girlfriend because you know I want you to say that. I won’t be another man in your life who tells you how to feel. I don’t want you doing things just ‘cause you think they make me happy.”

  “I promise, Grant. This is me, the real me. Not old-Kaitlyn or New-Kaitlyn, just maybe Katy with a Y,” she laughed.

  “I can handle with a Y. Just no more of that broken Kit-Kat shit.”

  “Never again.”

  “Fuck.” Terror bolted through him as soon as he saw the squad car approaching slowly. Blue flashing lights blinded him as it pulled into the parking lot blocking the entrance. “Get in the truck,” he ordered.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  “Oh my God!” Abject panic blistered out from Kaitlyn’s chest, scorching through her limbs. She trembled. Grant steadied her as he opened the truck door and tried to lift her inside. “No. I am not broken. I am not weak, and I am not going to be bullied by my father anymore.” Something deep inside of her snapped in that moment. Her heart beat against her rib cage, certain now was the moment it was going to make its escape.

  She clung to Grant but stood on her own two feet.

  “You get your hands off of her now,” Josh shouted across the parking lot. Suddenly, Sophie bolted from the car.

  “Oh my God! Kit-kat.” She raced towards them. “Are you okay?”

  “I am fine. Better than I have ever been. What are you doing here?” Kaitlyn’s voice shook, but she stood her ground.

  “I’ve been calling you for two freaking days! Josh got his tag number when he pulled you over and I made him bring me out here. I’m going to kill you. How could you just run away?”

  “You told me to run away!” Kaitlyn matched her volume.

  “I also told you to keep your phone on. Daddy’s going crazy. He’s being awful, yelling at me, yelling at everyone. Mama won’t come out of their room. I got Seth to drop the criminal charges against you. How could you be so irresponsible?”

  Incensed rage burned away any trepidation she’d felt a moment before. Jerking out of Grant’s arms, she glared at her sister. “Is he, Soph? Is he being awful? Demanding and hateful and Mom’s so depressed you can’t even exist in the same house because the air is too heavy to breathe? Why don’t you tell me what that’s like?