“Linc?”
I stop in my tracks. The look she’s giving me almost has me getting off right here. “Yeah?”
She pulls me close, lifting up on her toes. Her breath hot against my ear as she says, “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For making me feel pretty.”
“You have no idea how pretty I’m going to make you feel when we get home,” I whisper back. “Now, get the diaper bag and go to the car so I can strip you naked and—”
Her giggle is soft as she smacks my behind. “Behave.”
Graham is watching us from the other side of the room, Mallory at his side. He smirks. “I’m guessing our conversation will have to wait until tomorrow.”
“You’d guess right. I have more . . . pressing . . . things to do. I’ll be by your office first thing.”
“I’ll be expecting you around ten.” He nods.
“Must be nice,” Barrett chimes in. “Getting up on Linc Time.”
“I get up way before then,” I say, making my way toward the door. “I just don’t do anything with any of you before then.” Pausing at the threshold, I look back at Barrett. “Wanna meet me at seven at the park for a run?”
“I’ll meet you,” Ford laughs. “Seven, you say?”
“Oh, fuck you. No way in Hell I’m running with you.”
My brothers laugh as I give everyone a final wave and blow Mom a kiss. Danielle is right behind me. We step onto the porch, but she stops as soon as the door is shut behind us.
“What’s the matter?” I ask, searching her face.
“Nothing.” She brushes a strand of hair out of her face. “I just . . . I love you, Landry.” She works the blanket up around Ryan’s face. “You’re the best, you know that?”
“Yes, I do. Now let’s get out of here so I can prove it.”
Her laugh trails behind her as she heads to the car. As I watch her go, I can’t help but think Dad is right.
It isn’t about how many women you ring up or how many stats you tally at work. It isn’t about how good you look or what kind of car you drive or the people that associate your name with the word “valuable.”
It’s about eating takeout on the couch with a girl in sweatpants. It’s about being in a relationship where you know she isn’t going to watch your show without you. It’s about making babies and cleaning up vomit and going grocery shopping on a Friday night instead of heading to the bar.
Dani opens the car door and bends forward, retrieving a pacifier from the floorboard. “I’ve been looking for this for a week,” she says, taking Ryan from my arms. She buckles him in and kisses his forehead before turning back to me. “You ready?”
“The questions is: are you?”
She looks back at Ryan and then to me. “I want to ask you something.”
“Okay.”
She puts her arms around me, her lips curling at the corners. “I mean it.”
“Okay,” I say, kissing the tip of her nose.
“I know Ryan’s still little and my emotions have been a little all over the place, but I kind of want to have another baby. Soon. I mean, not today but within the next year or so—”
My blood turns so hot I think I might pass out. “If you don’t get in that car, woman . . .”
“Is that a yes?” Her question is dripping with sweetness.
“As if that’s a real question. I . . . fuck it.” Moving before she can sense it, I lift her up. Her legs go around my waist as I press her against the passenger’s door of the car. My lips find hers, my tongue sliding between them.
Her hands slide into my hair as she moves her mouth against mine. The heat of her pussy is warm against my stomach, her swollen breasts pushed against my chest.
“I want to fuck you right here,” I growl, but Ryan’s cries ruin the moment. I pull back from the kiss and rest my forehead against Dani’s. “Maybe we just practice for another baby for a while,” I groan.
“Practice makes perfect.”
“You’re already perfect, pretty girl,” I say, lowering her to her feet. “You driving or am I?”
“You just want to sit in the back with Ryan and play with him.” She laughs because she knows she is right.
“So?”
“Go on,” she says, rolling her eyes. “I’ll drive.”
I swipe the keys out of her hands. “Not a chance. You’re too slow, and we have plans.”
The sun begins to drop behind the tops of the trees. I jog around the front of the car but stop before getting in. Looking up at the sky and the wild pattern of purples and pinks, I think of all the things I hoped for in my life. None of them I got. Yet, somehow, it sure feels like I got everything.
About the Author
USA Today and Amazon Top 10 Bestselling author Adriana Locke lives and breathes books. After years of slightly obsessive relationships with the flawed bad boys created by other authors, Adriana has created her own.
* * *
She resides in the Midwest with her husband, sons, and two dogs. She spends a large amount of time playing with her kids, drinking coffee, and cooking. You can find her outside if the weather's nice and there's always a piece of candy in her pocket.
For an email every time Adriana has a new release, sign up for an alert here: http://bit.ly/AmazonAlertAdriana or text the word adriana to 21000.
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Also by Adriana Locke
The Exception Series
The Exception
The Connection, a novella
The Perception
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The Landry Family Series
Sway
Swing
Switch
Swear
Swink
Sweet - coming Summer 2018
The Gibson Boys Series
Crank
Craft
Cross, a novella
Crave—coming Summer 2018
Standalone Novels
Sacrifice
Wherever It Leads
Written in the Scars
Battle of the Sexes
Lucky Number Eleven
12 Days Until Sunday—coming fall 2018
Love & Hate at the Stallion Station
A Dark Texas Nights short story
Lex Martin
“Love and Hate at the Stallion Station” is a short story featuring Chase and Willow, characters related to the Dark Texas Night series.
Copyright © 2018 by Lex Martin
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Love & Hate at the Stallion Station
A Dark Texas Nights short story
Chase
A bead of sweat rolls down my forehead, and I wipe it away with the back of my hand. It might be raining outside, but it’s still humid as hell in the barn. I’m dying to knock off for the night, take a long shower so I feel human again, and toss back a cold beer, but these guys need to get tucked in.
I give Rowdy Good Time a scratch behind his ear.
“It’s just rain, big guy.” The sorrel stallion doesn’t look convinced and stomps in his stall. “I promise, everything’s okay.” I speak in a soft voice, like I would to a child. I don’t have any kids—thank God—but if I did, I’m guessing this is the way I’d sound. Nothing like I usually do when I have to bark out orders around here. But a nighttime routine in the middle of a Texas thunderstorm requires a gentle hand.
“Chin up. You’ll see your girlfriend tomorrow.”
It’s probably sad that my horse has more going on in his love life than I do. Not that I’ve tried too hard up to this point, but as I get closer to my thirtieth birthday, the more significant this shit seems. Sure, I’ve dated but nothing serious. Sex with a willing, warm woman is
easy enough to come by without any entanglements or drama.
Which is how I find myself alone, in a barn full of horses, on a Friday night.
My back pocket buzzes with another text. I pull it out and shake my head when I see the message from my cousin.
* * *
Ethan: You’re really flying solo? Aww, the captain of the football team can’t get a date?
Fucker. I laugh as I confirm that RSVP for his wedding later this summer. He shouldn’t be shocked I’m going alone.
It’s not that I can’t have a date. It’s that I don’t want a date. Not for a wedding. There’s no one I’m serious enough about to tread those waters. Take a woman to a wedding and she starts imagining herself in that white dress and you at the altar.
No thanks.
Add in the way Ethan looks at his fiancée, Tori, and I want to gag a little.
The sound of tires squealing to a stop on my gravel drive out front makes me pause as I’m finishing up with the last horse. I step out of the stall into the center aisle in time to catch Willow Summers stomping through the barn looking fierce as fuck and just as fine as the first time I laid eyes on her in high school. Over the years, I’ve bumped into her around town, but she generally avoids me, so it’s surprising to see her here.
“To what do I owe the pleasure of this delightful visit, Miss Summers?”
Her scowl deepens, and I chuckle. This woman could shrivel a lesser man’s dick at ten paces with that glare. I don’t fancy myself as someone who has crushes, but if I did, it’d be Willow. No one else has ever come close to fitting that bill except her.
“Don’t you smile at me, you cocky bastard. You know full well why I’m here.” Her long black hair looks wild about her shoulders. Droplets of rain glisten across her beautiful, albeit pissed, face.
For some reason, I’ve always had this effect on her. Like she’s not sure if she wants to slap me or fuck me. Unfortunately, she’s never given in to the impulse to get naked and horizontal with yours truly, but I’m pretty sure she’s nearly slapped me a time or two in the fifteen years I’ve known her.
I allow myself a quick perusal of her petite frame.
A baby blue tank top that matches her hypnotic eyes. A billowy white skirt that teases me with glimpses of those luscious legs. A pair of scuffed cowboy boots.
I back away before all my blood heads south.
“Sorry, sweetheart. Haven’t a clue.” I tug off my baseball cap and reach for my T-shirt that’s dangling off the back pocket of my Wranglers. After a quick swipe of the fabric across my forehead, neck, and chest, I can breathe again.
Something about this woman has always driven me crazy. Wish I could scratch that itch and get her out of my system once and for all, but she’s never given me the time of day. I’ve never had any trouble getting my pick of females around here, but Willow’s in a class of her own.
When she doesn’t say anything, I turn back to her.
She stares up at me and blinks.
I don’t miss the way her eyes take me in. The way they travel over my chest and shoulders. Down my abs.
She opens her mouth a few times before she says anything. “Can you please put on some clothes?”
I fight a smile. “Why? Afraid you can’t control yourself around me? Is my virtue in danger?”
A laugh escapes me as she rolls her eyes, but I don’t miss the heat rising in her cheeks. We’ve never lacked sexual chemistry. And I’d bet everything in my wallet that she’d have given into this long ago if I had a different last name.
She huffs. “You mean if you had any virtue left? I assumed you left that in Mr. Hillar’s meadow our senior year.”
My smile widens. “Had some fond memories there back in the day. Would’ve been fonder if some of them included you.”
Her nostrils flare. “In your dreams.”
“How’d you know?” She probably has no clue how many she’s starred in. An image from the other night flashes in my mind. Of my fingers digging roughly into her thick locks. Of her moaning into my mouth. Grinding against my lap like she wanted me as much as I’ve always wanted her. “My favorite fantasy is the one where you’re on top—”
“Would you stop?” With a wave of her hand, she cuts me off. “How can you be so flippant at a time like this?” She slaps a piece of paper onto my chest. Standing this close, I can smell the droplets of rain in her hair and something sweet. “You know how much my father’s farm means to me. How could you do this?”
I grimace, my mind racing to understand what she’s talking about. I’m so fucking confused. Even more so by the tears welling in her eyes. I’ve never seen this girl cry. Even when her mother passed last year, she was stoic. Probably for the sake of her dad, but still. Makes me want to give a good beatdown to whoever upset her.
My heart kicks against my ribs as I glance down at the letter, and that swell of anger grows when I see the letterhead of my father’s attorney.
“Willow, I had nothing to do with this. I didn’t know your farm was on Duke’s radar.” Duke Carter, my father, is a miserly bastard, which is why most of our family stopped talking to him years ago.
She snatches it out of my grasp. “Don’t you fucking lie to me, Chase.” Her lower lip trembles, and I decide right here and now to do everything I can to make this right.
I may have teased her from time to time when we were growing up, but only in dumb attempts to flirt. But this? Take her land? Harm her family? I’d never stoop so low.
I hold up my hands. “Swear to God, Lo. I’d never try to hurt you. You have to believe me.”
I’m not sure when we became enemies. When she embraced this idea that we were on opposing sides. That I’d fight her for something as precious as her farm. She needs to know I’m not involved with this nonsense.
When that tear tumbles down, I can’t help it anymore. I step closer and cup her cheek, rubbing gently across her soft skin with my thumb.
“Don’t cry,” I murmur. “It’ll be okay.”
Her breath catches, and her eyes widen as I stand toe to toe with her. In all of our interactions over the years, I don’t think we’ve ever been this close. Close enough to feel the buzzing of electricity between our bodies.
I tower over her, and when she stares up at me, cheeks flushed, lips parted, looking so fucking beautiful, it makes me wonder why I didn’t go after her years ago. Wonder why I let whatever weirdness that crept up between us stand.
“Lo, I promise I’ll never let Duke foreclose on your farm.” My voice is soft. Calm. Barely above a whisper. “I know you’ve never liked me, but I’m not the prick you think I am, and I can tell you that I will always have your back.”
I’ve never said anything truer. From the first day I met her, I’ve admired this woman. The way she always worked hard at school when I could barely get my shit together, lucky to skate by on my athletic abilities. The way she busted her ass on her father’s farm when I was out joyriding with my friends. How she took care of her mother when she got sick, an experience I’ve never had, thankfully.
She takes a deep breath, but she doesn’t step away. “We both know your father gets what he wants.” It kills me to hear the defeat in her voice.
“Maybe. But I’m pretty sure I want this more than he wants your family’s property.” Her eyes search mine, and I hope she can read into what I’m saying right now. I give her my most charming smile. “Come on, Lo. Let me take you to dinner.”
Which is the wrong thing to say.
“Is that what this is about?” She jerks out of my arms. “You want me to sleep with you to get your dad to back off?”
“What? No. Jesus.” I scrub my face. “I mean, yeah, I’ve always wanted you, Willow. You must know that.” She keeps walking backward. Fuck. “But that has nothing to do with Duke trying to foreclose on your farm. I’ll stop him regardless of whether you let me take you out for a steak or not.”
The barn door blows open behind us, and she shudders with the blast of wind. I j
og over to shut it, and when I peer out across my property, the rain is coming down so hard, I can barely see her SUV ten feet away. When I finally get it closed, I’m drenched.
I’m laughing at how ridiculous this all is. Willow looks like she wants to murder me, but I’d give my left nut for her to believe me. I reach for my old T-shirt again and wipe the water off my face.
“Willow, how much do I love Shelby?” This whole town knows I’m obsessed with two things, my horses and my vintage 1967 Mustang.
Caught off guard by my question, she rolls her eyes. “Why are you asking me such a stupid question?”
I toss my T-shirt over a chair, and stalk closer, walking toward her until her back hits the stall. “Answer my question, doll.”
She crosses her arms and tries to frown, but as she glances away, a smile tugs on her lips. “You love your car. Everyone …”
“Everyone knows that, right?” She’s nodding, looking at me like I’m a dumbass for asking her something so random. I grab her hand and place it on my bare chest, across my heart, where I know she can feel it hammering away. “I promise on my beloved Shelby that I will not let my father foreclose on your property regardless of whether you finally give into this crush you’ve had on me since high school and let me take you to dinner.”
Her mouth falls open, and her eyes open wide. “I do not have a crush on you, you pompous jerk.“
Propping my arm against the wall behind her, I smile as I dip my head toward hers. “Yes, you do. Stop fighting it.” When I can feel her minty breath on my lips, I pause and wait for her to smack me or kick me in the balls, but she doesn’t.
There’s one thing I need to know, though, before I take the last step.
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