Strong Passion [The Strong Cowboys of Wilde, Nevada 4] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever)

by Chloe Lang

  “That sounds nice, but that isn’t how it works.”

  “It did for me, Charly. It can for you, too.”

  “Believe me, I wish it would, but I just can’t figure out how it can. I can’t choose one set over the other. I just can’t. Besides, I need to get back to mom, Jess.” Charly hated to give up, but what else could she do? “My detour through Wilde with the Strong cowboys has been amazing, but I’ve avoided what I must do for too long already. There are bills and rent and all sorts of things that need my attention. Real life sucks, but it must be dealt with.”

  Jess came around the table and put her arm around her. “This is hard, I’m sure. But sometimes detours become the destination. Follow your heart, Charly, and I believe everything will work out.”

  Though she hoped Jessie’s prediction was true, Charly’s doubt was stronger than her belief, and she felt her heart began to ache.

  * * * *

  Nate sat across from Charly in one of the booths at the Horseshoe Bar and Grill. She ate her chicken-fried steak slowly. Her mind seemed a million miles away, which concerned him.

  Ever since leaving Austin’s place, she’d been a bit withdrawn. He’d even considered taking her back to the club instead of her hotel, but had decided against it. Sure, she clearly was releasing her inner sub to him, but it still would take time and patience to win her absolute trust and sweet surrender. So, Nate hadn’t veered from what he and his brothers had agreed on at Austin’s.

  “How’s your food, pet?” he asked.

  “It’s good. Thank you.”

  “I’ve got another property to show you, sweetheart.”

  “Okay. But after that, I’d like to go back to my hotel. I want to get something written up for Michael.”

  “When’s he coming back?”

  She smiled. “Day after tomorrow, I believe.”

  He could hear the underlying sadness in her voice, though she was trying to mask it. Fuck!

  As much as he wanted Heath’s plan to work, he just couldn’t see how it ever would. Even if Tobias finally did join in on this insurgent strategy, Seth would never come around no matter how hard they tried. There was just too much bad blood between them, especially with Seth and Heath. Why had he let himself fall into this hole with Heath and the twins? Because he missed the way things had been with him and his brothers before Gabby had fucked everything up.

  “Aren’t you hungry, Nate?” she asked. He could see she was still deep within her own thoughts. Losing her forever wasn’t off the table, yet.

  “No. Just beer for me.” The way he’d been acting was foolish and unlike him. But that had to change regardless of the consequences.

  He saw that Charly’s tea glass was empty, and there was no sign of any staff to refill it. “Let me take this up to the bar for you, pet.” He grabbed her glass.

  “Thanks, Nate.” Again, he heard her veiled anguish, crushing him flat. “If possible, another lemon would be great.”

  “You got it, sweetheart.” He stood and walked through the crowd to the bar.

  Time to accept the reality and lay out something that will actually work with Charly. One, he must let go of the fantasy that she would ever be okay with marrying six men. Clearly, she was okay with being shared by more than one man in the bedroom, but taking it to the altar wasn’t even on her radar. She was from the outside, not Wilde. Two, he had to accept the fact that he and his brothers would never be like they were. Heath’s plan would have to be set aside. Finally, he had to change his methods. Charly was for him. He’d never even considered the one-man-with-one-woman arrangement for himself, but now he most definitely did. Not ideal, but obviously the only way to proceed. He even imagined leaving Wilde and his family behind if that was what it would take to make Charly his.

  “Nate Strong, how in the hell are you?” The voice jerked him from his thoughts.

  He turned and looked at the man who had been his hero for his entire life—Deuce Biggs. He reached out and shook the man’s hand. “Welcome home, buddy.”

  The old man tipped his hat. “Glad to be home.” Deuce was over sixty years old, six feet two, and gray-headed.

  A native of Wilde, Deuce had hit the rodeo circuit full tilt long before Nate had been born, but came back to town every so often for brief stays.

  The man had won three national championship buckles, two in calf roping and one in saddle bronc riding.

  Everyone in town looked up to and admired him, but Nate was his biggest fan.

  “How long are you in town for, Deuce?”

  “That depends, son.” He waved at the bartender, who instantly recognized him.

  “On what?”

  “If the woman I left behind will take me back.”

  “Carlotta?” Nate knew that the two of them had had a fling years ago. “I thought you two were done?”

  The bartender smiled and pushed over a frosty mug and pitcher of beer in front of Deuce. “On the house, Mr. Biggs.”

  “I appreciate that, kid, but not necessary.” The old cowboy placed a Benjamin on the counter of the bar. “Another pitcher for my friend here, okay?”

  “You got it, Deuce.” The bartender whirled around and began filling up another pitcher.

  “Nate, who’s the little filly you’re with? She’s a doll.”

  “She sure is. Charly Wynn.”

  “Not local?”

  Nate shook his head.

  “Good for you, son. Good for you.”

  Nate smiled. “They say I can read minds, but, Deuce, you’re still the best.”

  “A man in love isn’t hard to spot, Nate. And you’re completely gone.”

  “Back to you being back for Carlotta. Are you quitting the circuit?” Deuce no longer competed, but he was still deeply involved with the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. His guidance and instruction were sought after by some of the best competitors in the country.

  “Nope. I love it, boy. It’s in my blood.”

  Nate shook his head. “I’m not following. You just said you’re here for Carlotta.”

  “I am.” Deuce downed the entire mug and poured more beer into it. The bartender brought another pitcher and mug and filled up Charly’s tea glass. “Thanks, son. Keep the change.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Biggs.” The guy moved to another customer.

  “Do you need to take your lady her tea, Nate?”

  “In a minute. Tell me about you and Carlotta first.”

  Deuce shrugged. “She came to town when I was just turning eighteen. She’s older than me by one month, but don’t tell her I told you. I fell hard and fast. So did my brother.”

  Nate was shocked. “You had a brother?”

  “Yes. He was a year older than I.”

  “What happened?”

  “We wined and dined her. It was quite the whirlwind romance.”

  Nate bet Carlotta was quite the looker in her day. “So, why didn’t you two marry her?”

  “We would’ve but my brother was killed in a freak accident. Some idiot fired a gun and our prize longhorn got spooked and gored him in the chest. Carlotta felt guilt for not predicting it, and I just was buried by grief. She insisted that I let her do a reading on me.”

  “She’s got some kind of gift, I know. I had her read my cards back in high school and everything she said happened.”

  “I know. It was the same for me.”

  “What did your cards say, Deuce?”

  “I could have it all if I had the courage to take it, or I could have a half life if I didn’t. I chose the latter, Nate.”

  “How?”

  “I didn’t believe I could love her enough to keep her happy. I had always thought me and Ace would share one woman.”

  Nate nodded. “That’s my dilemma, too.”

  “Son, what’s troubling you?”

  “I’m afraid I’ve got to choose Charly over my brothers.”

  The old man latched his big hand on Nate’s shoulder. “You’re not getting what I’m saying at all, a
re you?”

  “I thought I was. What am I missing?”

  “Carlotta told me something during my reading I’ve never forgotten. She said that though life had dealt us a difficult hand, that didn’t mean we couldn’t honor Ace’s death and have an amazing life together. Son, you can have it all. Sure, this girl is not from here, but why settle for second best? Do whatever it takes to have your dream. Hell, your brothers are all above ground.”

  “What if second best is all there is, Deuce?”

  “Damn, you sound defeated already.” His hero shook his head. “I know I’ve been gone awhile this time, but you sure don’t seem like the Nate I knew.”

  Nate gulped down some beer. Why had he given up so easily on Heath’s plan? Sure, Charly was confused and skittish, but that didn’t mean she would be forever. Tobias and Seth? The plan might work, but only if they tried. “You’re right, Deuce. I’m going for it. What’s your plan for your girl?”

  “I hope it’s not too late for me.”

  “You ask her, I bet she’ll say ‘yes.’”

  “She’s built quite the life for herself here in Wilde. I’m asking her to leave this all behind.” Deuce took another long drink of his beer. “God, I’ve never been so nervous about anything in my life.”

  “Love does that to a man, Deuce.” Nate decided that he would follow through with Heath’s plan. He wanted to have it all, and by God, he would do whatever it took to get the woman of his dreams and get all his brothers back.

  Chapter Eight

  Tobias dismounted. The thing had been clearly mangled by wolves, but it was still recognizable as a human arm. Had the man he’d been tracking lost his life to an unfortunate accident?

  Tobias bent down and studied the remains, and then he looked around as far as he could see. About ten yards to his left were two graves that had been dug up by wolves. The man hadn’t been alone. But why had he only seen one set of tracks?

  When he walked over to the graves, he knew why.

  This wasn’t some accident that had occurred. This was cold-blooded murder.

  The bullet casings surrounded the graves and made the cause of death crystal clear.

  * * * *

  Charly looked at Nate by the bar. He was talking to an older gentleman and seem to be entranced by him. In fact, several patrons of the Horseshoe were coming up to the man and greeting him. She’d never seen him before, but clearly he was popular with the locals.

  She turned and saw Grant and Greg Strong, Nate’s two dads, walking to her booth. Even with the added years, the two men’s handsome faces reminded her of their six sons in so many ways.

  Grant asked, “Mind if we sit down, Ms. Wynn?”

  Charly glanced over at Nate with his back to her booth, unaware of her new guests.

  “Please do, Mr. Strong.” She wondered what they wanted to talk to her about.

  “Call me Grant,” he said, taking a seat across from her.

  “I will if you and Greg call me Charly.”

  Greg sat beside his brother. “I bet you’re wondering why we wanted to talk to you.”

  “It did cross my mind, I must admit.”

  “We heard about you looking for property for Michael,” Grant said. “Nate’s shown you a few properties, right?”

  “Yes, he has. He’s been a great tour guide. In fact, he’s taking me to see one more.”

  Greg nodded. “We have a piece of property we’d like you to look at as well.”

  “You’re selling some of your land.”

  “Not exactly. There’s some land adjacent to one of our ranches that the bank is about to foreclose on.”

  “How would you know that?” she asked.

  “We’re both on the board,” Greg offered.

  Grant winked. “Inside scoop, if you know what I mean, Charly.”

  “Why don’t you buy it for yourselves?”

  “We’re considering it, but we’re not ready to tie up that much of our cash,” Greg informed.

  “How much land are we talking about?”

  Grant said, “Two sections.”

  She shook her head. “A week ago I had no idea that a section meant six hundred and forty acres in real estate lingo, but now I do. Michael isn’t interested in going into ranching, gentlemen.” At least, I don’t think so.

  Grant held up his palm. “We get that, but hear us out. He’s looking for a pristine place to put his gay resort. There are several prime locations on this land. Let him parse out a few acres for the facilities, another fifty or so for pleasure riding and such, and then he can lease us the rest of the land.”

  “Sounds interesting.”

  Greg continued, “Additionally, we’d gladly help him get horses and whatever else he needs to get his project up and running.”

  She smiled. “I’d like to see it.”

  “See what, Charly?” Nate asked, setting her glass of tea down in front of her.

  “Hey, son.” Greg stood.

  “Dads, why are you two bothering my girl?”

  Charly’s cheeks heated

  “I like the sound of ‘my girl,’ Nate.” Grant got to his feet.

  Greg patted him on the shoulder and looked at her. “So, our older sons have the leg up with you?”

  Her heart sank at the reminder of the impossible decision everyone seemed to want her to make.

  “Cut it, dads.” Nate glared at them.

  Both of them looked stunned. Grant said, “No harm meant, Charly.”

  Greg added, “Sorry, if we stepped out of line.”

  She smiled, though her insides were cracking. “No harm done. I would like to see that property, though.”

  “Property?” Nate’s eyebrows shot up. “What property?”

  “Your dads told me about some land that is about to get foreclosed on that Michael might be interested in for his project.”

  “Where?”

  Greg offered, “It’s the old Sims place, son.”

  His eyelids narrowed. “That’s the property that the Masters twins bought. You’re going to pull the rug out from under them.”

  “Son, they were too strapped to buy it in the first place. Their mother needs them working on the family ranch, not some side project. Besides, we plan on leasing it from Michael if this deal works out.”

  “God, you two can be ruthless.”

  “That’s ranching, son.” Greg tipped his hat to her. “Charly, a pleasure. We’ll be in touch.”

  “Young lady, you must come to the house for dinner.” Grant smiled broadly. “I’ll check with our wife and see if tomorrow would be good.”

  “That sounds wonderful, sir.”

  “It’s Grant. Remember.” He winked.

  She watched Nate’s two dads walk out of the Horseshoe with the words “our older sons have a leg up” ringing in her ears.

  Nate touched her cheek. “Pet, don’t let those two old cowboys ruin your mood.”

  She looked down at her hands. “It’s not them that have done it.”

  He placed his hand on her chin and lifted. She looked into his eyes and felt tears begin to well up in hers. “Then what is it, Charly?”

  “This whole town wants me to choose three of you. I just can’t.”

  “I’m not asking you to. We have a plan. You’ve got to trust us.”

  “Plan? Your mother told me the scoop. Three men is the max. Not four. Not five. And especially not six.”

  “Fuck their rules, pet.”

  “So you guys want me to marry all six of you, is that it?”

  “Simply put, yes.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I’ve heard about what happened with Gabby. Even if Tobias got on board with this, how in the world would Seth?”

  “Let us worry about that, sweetheart.”

  “No. I can’t. This is my life we’re talking about, my heart. I’m not trying to be selfish, but, Nate, the deeper I fall into this the more painful it will be to me when this ends. And it will end. You guys love Wilde. I see it on all your fac
es. It is home. I’ve come to love it, too, but it can never be.” Her heart raced in her chest as her panic and dread spun inside her. “I’ve hit a setback on my job prospect in Malibu, but I will be a counselor one day, and eventually will get my doctorate. There’s no place for me here.” Tears fell down her cheeks. “I…can’t do…”

  “Sub, that’s enough,” he said quietly but firmly.

  She snapped her mouth shut, unable to refuse him.

  “That’s better. Now, listen to me, Charly Wynn. You are worrying about things that you don’t have to. Stop it. Maybe you’re right about Seth, but maybe you’re not. One thing for sure is I love you, and I will not let you go without a fight. You’re right that there are lots of things to work through, but you must leave that to my brothers and me. Will you?”

  She closed her eyes tight. “I’ll try, but—”

  “No ‘buts.’ Now, let’s go look at the property I promised to show you.”

  Still full of doubt, she stood. “Okay.”

  Deep inside, she knew that one day she would have to leave Wilde and the brothers behind. It was clear to her that even their parents expected them to follow suit with a three-man max with one woman. Impossible. There were no miracles handy that would grant her a future in Wilde with the Strong brothers. As soon as possible, she would have to leave, taking her broken heart with her.

  Chapter Nine

  Charly sat quietly in Nate’s truck as he drove them through the cattle guard. Though this place could be gotten to in a truck or car, she missed riding Majesty. There was something calming for her when in the saddle.

  As they rounded the corner on the dirt road, her jaw dropped at what she saw. In the middle of the road stood Heath, Drake, and Dax, all in their typical cowboy attire.

  “What are they doing here?”

  “You’ll see, pet.” Nate parked the truck, and her heart began to thud in her chest.

  Heath opened her door. “Hey, sweetheart.”

  “Hi,” she said meekly. “What’s this all about?”

  He winked, leaned in, and kissed her. Her toes curled, and her heart sped up.