by Zoey Marcel
His short hair was dark brown, and his stubble was a lighter brown.
“What are you doing here?” Justin asked.
“Is my presence disturbing you?”
“No, sir. It’s great. I mean, it’s okay.” He looked away and got back to work.
He loved listening to Aiden talk. The brogue might have been Irish, but it wasn’t the distinct jovial sound with the lively flow that he’d heard on TV. The quality of this accent was softer, musical almost, with the beauty of a stream in the springtime. A harder, almost throaty edge came with it, making him sound naturally husky. His voice carried the softness of silk and the crudeness of leather at once. It wasn’t posh. It was raw and enticing, like a gentle caress from a rough hand.
“Is your drink delicious?” Justin asked.
Aiden set his glass on the bar and pushed it toward him. “Try it.”
Justin picked it up. “What is it?”
“Scotch.”
I was right. I’m so good.
“Oo! The most macho drink of all. The test of manliness. Impressive.” He knocked it back and then made a face and spat it out onto the floor, gagging.
Aiden chuckled and took the tumbler back. “I think you just failed.”
“Oh god! It’s like liquid masochism.” Justin coughed and then rinsed his mouth out with water.
Aiden grinned. “It’s an acquired taste. Drink something else if you like.”
“Really? Sweet.” He poured himself a beer. “Thanks.”
Aiden nodded and stared off into space again.
“Not to be nosy or anything, but are you okay?”
“Why is that?”
“You have your brooding man face on. Not that you have a happy face. I mean, maybe you do outside of work. It’s just here you’re all, ‘Grr. I’m a badass. Come here. I’ll step on you. Grr.’”
Aiden just looked at him, smiling when Justin blushed and busied his mouth with his drink. “You talk too much.”
“I really do, but it makes for a strong jaw and an agile tongue.”
“Is that how you pitch y’rself to the girls?”
Justin laughed nervously, blushing and then downing more beer. “Is that what’s bothering you? Some woman is too thick to see how much you like her?”
Aiden scoffed and took another swallow of liquor before answering. “It’s not a woman.”
“Oh.” Justin’s eyes widened and he grew hot. Was Aiden…? “Oh.”
“Whatever you’re thinking, you’re wrong. I was just thinking about my boy.”
“Yeah, you were.”
Aiden shot an irritated look up at him. “My son.”
“Oh.” Justin felt like he’d just collided with a brick wall. “You have a son?”
“Mhm.”
“How old is he?”
Aiden set his glass on the bar. “Nineteen.”
“Seriously? I didn’t know you were married.”
Please don’t be married.
“I’m not.”
Whew.
“Um, girlfriend then?”
Back off, bitches. Where is this coming from? He can date if he wants.
Aiden tapped his finger on the outside of his glass, gazing off into space again. “It’s just me and my kids.”
What? No! Why do you have all this history?
“You made a bunch of babies?”
Wear a fucking condom. Who said you could make babies with someone else? What the hell? It’s not like you could make his babies, stupid. So what if he has kids?
Aiden’s lips swiveled to the side in a lazy smile. “I didn’t. It’s just him and his sister. She’s seven.”
“Oh, wow.” Justin stood there awkwardly for a minute. “Good for you, man. That’s great.”
Like hell it was. He felt like a duck that had just been shot out of the sky during hunting season. Then again, that would mean he was dead, so he decided to rethink his feeling like shot-up poultry.
“They deserve better,” Aiden said.
“Aw, I bet you’re a great dad.”
“Right, that’s why my son would rather spend his weekend with the preacher he lives with than with his aul’ man.”
“I’m sure that’s not true.”
He took another gulp and then set his glass down. “It is. He said they were going to Deadwood to watch the steer show.”
“Oh my god, man-cows!” Cows always made him happy. “Sorry. I just love anything bovine. Go ahead.”
Aiden smirked, shook his head once with a brief “All right then” arch of his brows before saying anything more. “I’m sure they went there, but I went by Brodie’s house the other day to spend some time with my son and he wasn’t there. A neighbor said when Brodie left with him over the weekend, they had camping gear with them. My son never mentioned that.”
“Are you worried they’re gonna...you know?”
Aiden threw him a warning look. “My son’s not gay. The preacher sure isn’t.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
They were quiet for a minute.
“Are you worried he thinks of the preacher as more of a dad than you?”
“It wouldn’t surprise me. He’s a better example, anyway, even if he is a Baptist.”
“What’s wrong with Baptists?”
“I raised my kids Catholic.”
“Oh, so you’re Catholic, huh, except for today?”
Aiden snickered while drinking, coughing a little. “I, em...” He cleared his throat. “I was raised that way. Somewhere along the way, I acquired a few vices.”
Justin cracked a smile.
“I wonder that he didn’t tell me about the camping part of the weekend.”
“Maybe he didn’t want you to feel like second-best as a dad. Nothing wrong with wanting to spend time with a mentor or a close friend. He was probably just thinking of your feelings.”
Aiden made a thoughtful hum in the back of his throat. “There’s nothing in this world to make you feel like a bigger failure than bein’ a parent. When you’re alone, you can hide the darkness inside you, fight it, embrace it, even. When you have kids, you hafta hide the darkness, even if it’s a part of you. Pretending isn’t the worst part. Neither is knowin’ you can never change, that the one thing you hate the most is the only thing you can’t control.”
Say what?
“That’s the worst part before you have kids,” Aiden said quietly. “After you have them and they get older, the fear of losin’ to your demons becomes second only to the nightmare of realizing that you passed on that same darkness to one of your kids, maybe to both of them.”
He lowered his gaze to his glass, fondling the frosty exterior, pitch softening after the resigned exhale.
“You try to destroy it in its infancy, thinking if you can just control it, fix him he’ll be the man you weren’t. Years pass and it looks like you finally had a fuckin’ victory for once in your life, but deep inside...” Aiden gestured with his hand, shaking his head and lips pursing. “There’s this nagging little voice that keeps sayin’ ‘You failed. He’s just like you. He’s gonna get hurt bad. Maybe even do the hurting.’ Bad blood runs through my veins. It’s inside him...because of me.”
What the damn?
“What did you do that was so bad?”
“I failed their mother. If I fail with my kids nothing else I do matters.”
Aw, but you’re the best guy ever. Don’t be sad. I’m gonna touch you. Oh my god, here I go.
Justin reached across the bar and touched his arm. “I don’t really know what the heck you’re talking about, but I’m sure you haven’t failed with your kids. Your son loves you, and your daughter is still young enough to teach. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”
Aiden closed off. “I shouldn’t be tellin’ you all this. Fuckin’ scotch.”
“It’s okay.” Justin gave his forearm a squeeze. Damn, the guy was strong.
“You should go.”
“Okay. Thanks for talking with
me. It means a lot that you opened up to me.”
In a flash, Aiden’s hand was clamped down on his wrist, stopping him. Some kind of intense emotion was plastered on the man’s face, or maybe ten of them, but the wildness was quickly getting camouflaged by a poker face.
Justin’s erratic pulse thrummed against his clenching fingers. He swallowed, feeling naked beneath Aiden’s hard leer. The feral glint in his eyes might have been anger or lust or just plain insanity. His wrist looked so small in the alpha male’s grasp.
“What we talked about...don’t repeat it,” Aiden said quietly.
“I wasn’t going to.”
He let go of Justin and reached for his glass again. “I’ll pay you extra for workin’ off the clock.”
“Thanks.” Justin gave him a distracted smile, hand trembling in a way he couldn’t steady. “I’m gonna head out.”
“I tried that frozen coffee you recommended,” Aiden said when he started to leave.
Justin pivoted to face him, in awe. “You did? What did you think?”
“Like you said...” Aiden tipped his glass toward his lips while speaking. “Heaven in a cup.”
“Heck yes! I told you frozen coffee was epic.”
He smiled. “You were right.”
“I hope your day gets better.”
“Off with you now.”
“Okay. Bye.”
“Cheers.”
Sometimes Aiden could be a real jerk and piss him off. Then there were times like this when he did something unexpected and attentive to him, like deviating from his usual choice of black coffee to try frozen coffee just because Justin had said it was his favorite. What a nice guy…except when he wasn’t.
Chapter Five
Kendall dabbed at her cheeks, trying to wipe away the tears when she saw her older sister pull up in her yellow Beetle Bug. It really was a cute car and suited Melanie well. Kendall climbed in, putting on a smile that was half genuine.
“Oh my god, this is such a great surprise!” Melanie squealed and threw her arms around Kendall once she was seated in the car. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“I missed you, too. You look so good. I’ve never seen you in love before. It looks good on you.”
“I’m just happy to see you.”
Kendall buckled her seatbelt, smiling at the light in her sister’s soft blue eyes. Melanie had the glow of radiance that came with being in love. Kendall remembered that well. She’d had it years ago with that wonderful bastard she’d dated. Last night and this morning, she’d had a similar glow. It could have merely been afterglow, but this rejection felt too painful to be from the mere end of a lusty adventure. She’d lost her head over René and quite likely her heart, too, in the process.
Stupid girl.
“Well, it might be from being in love with my men, too,” Melanie admitted dreamily as she started driving.
“I told you.” Kendall studied her sister with mock suspicion. “With five men wrapped around your finger, your glow could probably be seen from space.”
Melanie grinned. “They are amazing. I love my cowboys.”
“All five of them, huh?”
She nodded, still looking like a sappy sap.
Kendall shook her head. “That’s crazy, Mel. Oh, sorry. I forgot you don’t like being called that.”
Melanie waved her off while she drove. Her eyes harbored none of the pain and fear that they once had whenever someone accidentally slipped up and called her Mel. “It’s okay. I don’t mind anymore. Greyson calls me that sometimes.”
Kendall was blown away. Those men must have really healed Melanie if she could now be called by a nickname that used to put tears in her eyes because of her troubling past.
“I can’t wait to meet them. Oh my god, your ring is even more gorgeous than in the pictures.” Kendall gawked at the aquamarine heart that was courted by diamonds on either side like a ménage of jewels coexisting on the same band.
“Isn’t it?”
“They’re definite keepers.”
“They are good to me. So, how have you been? It’s been so long.”
“It has. That’s why I figured I’d stop by here to visit you on my way to New York. I’m finally making the move to the Big Apple.”
“That’s great, Kendall. Good for you.” Melanie frowned when she examined Kendall’s face before refocusing on the road. “Have you been crying?”
Kendall grimaced and flipped down the visor to scrutinize her face. “Crap.”
Her mascara and eyeliner had smudged a bit, but the streaks weren’t too bad. Despite her sorrow, she’d held it together fairly well to prevent her makeup from running too badly. She pulled some cleansing pads from her purse and wiped away the inky smudges.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“I just made a fool of myself, is all.”
“How so?”
“Oh, I met this amazingly sweet guy last night. He was so good to me and he was really hot. We kind of slept together, and this morning I ran into that Dom Quentin I told you about.”
“The one you’ve been corresponding with online?”
“Yeah, him.” Kendall rolled her eyes. “Well, the guys met each other. That didn’t go over so well.”
Melanie made a face. “Ooh. I’m sorry, honey.”
“It’s all right. I don’t know what I was thinking. It’s not like anything could have come from it when I’m moving to Manhattan in a few days.”
“Maybe they could share you.”
Kendall’s head jerked. “Shame, Melanie. I’m not looking for a bunch of cowboys to tie me down to a dinky town on the prairie. No offense, but I’ve got dreams.”
“I have dreams, too,” Melanie said with a happy sigh. “My men made them come true.”
Kendall shook her head, but she had to smile at her sister’s happiness. “You’ve got it bad.”
“I know. I can’t wait for you to meet them.”
“I’m sure I’ll like them if they mean so much to you.”
“You will.”
She fiddled with her fingers, debating whether or not to say something. “You didn’t tell Charlie I was in town, did you?”
“No. I didn’t even know until you called me just a little bit ago.”
“I know. You’re not planning on telling him, though, right?”
“I wasn’t planning on it. If you want him to know, you can tell him.”
Kendall gazed out the window at the golden spread swaying gently in the breezy sunshine. “I don’t. I just came here to see you before I fly out to New York. I wasn’t even sure if I was going to meet Quentin or not. It really surprised me when he said he lived here in McKenna Downs. René was another big surprise.”
Melanie patted her thigh in consolation. “Don’t worry. Maybe after our visit you can go and talk to them.”
“I don’t think so. I really just want to forget this whole thing and pretend it never happened.”
But it did happen, and in her heart she knew she would never be able to forget it, any of it.
* * * *
The ranch was luxurious and magnificent, with sprawling grasslands, a shimmering lake, and a house that looked more like a resort for the wealthy on a romantic getaway weekend. The interior of the spacious house was made of logs in most of the rooms and it had a cozy cabin feel despite its mammoth proportions. There was masculine simplicity left over from the cowboys’ bachelor days, but it was sweetly evident that Melanie had garnished the place with plenty of feminine touches, giving it more of a homey quality rather than a museum feel.
Melanie’s five cowboys, Diego, Greyson, Hunter, Emmett, and Jake were absolute hotties and incredibly loving to her sister. The pet names they called Melanie and the endearing way they pampered her with love for her shining in their eyes was truly breathtaking. If Kendall had harbored any doubts about the sanity of Melanie marrying five men, her worries were laid to rest when she saw how much they fawned over her sister and how obvious it was that Melanie ad
ored them as well.
Kendall felt a tinge of sadness. She wanted that, not a permanent ménage relationship per se, but it would be nice if somebody wanted her for the long run and not just for sex. How the heck was it that Melanie had five men spoiling her and Kendall had none? She didn’t covet what her sister had, since she was truly happy for Melanie, but seeing her sister with all her princes, and that she’d found her happy ending, made Kendall wish that there was someone in the cards for her as well.
Maybe she’d meet him in New York. It would probably be best not to get too serious with him until she made it big in the fashion industry. She couldn’t let some well-meaning man jeopardize her career.
A while after dinner, Kendall stepped outside with Melanie to drive back to the hotel. She froze, completely flabbergasted when she saw a familiar light-blue truck parked outside. René and Quentin stood outside it as if waiting for her.
Melanie smiled. “Are you boys here to drive Kendall back to the hotel?”
“Yes, ma’am, we are,” René replied.
Kendall winced and turned to her sister. “Melanie.”
Melanie put her hands on Kendall’s arms, speaking in a low volume to keep the men from hearing. “It’s okay, honey. I think you were wrong about them. They obviously like you a lot or they wouldn’t have driven all this way just to be with you.”
“It’s gonna be awkward after this morning.”
She smiled and shrugged. “Or it could turn out to be the best decision you ever made. You never know. Just see where it goes.”
Kendall pursed her lips and turned to face the two smoking-hot and completely unreadable men in front of her after Melanie had gone back inside the house.
Quentin nodded sideways toward the truck. “Come, Kendall. We want to talk to you.”
Uh-oh. Is this the “You’re a ho and we could never be with you” speech?
But if they thought that, they wouldn’t have come all this way like Melanie had said.
Kendall walked down the steps. “I appreciate the ride.”