Caribbean Cowboy: Under the Caribbean Sun, Book 4

by Jenna Bayley-Burke

  Thank goodness, she was getting the hell off this rock. Distance would surely shut this down, and she could go back to her regularly scheduled life with no scars, just decadent memories. If she stayed longer, there was no way she’d get out unscathed. The man knew he could have his way with her, at any time and in any way. That kind of vulnerability was dangerous.

  “Are you feeling okay?” Kristin asked as she settled into the seat across the aisle.

  “Fine, why?” They were used to the small planes of interisland travel, but this tin can pushed the limits. Not to mention how landing on this rock had felt like falling out of the sky.

  “You seem…I don’t know, preoccupied. Please tell me it has to do with Holly’s brother.”

  “What are you talking about?” She usually liked talking with Kristin on planes, but this flight was going to require her ereader, and possibly a marriage of convenience. Or a royal wedding. She needed brain candy, stat.

  “Nik, you know, the guy you left the reception with? He’s gorgeous, if tall, dark and handsome does it for you.”

  Janny nearly dropped the device. “But Holly’s brothers are fishermen.”

  “The older ones. Nik is a rancher and Val is in medical school. It was in the wedding program.”

  Which she hadn’t read because she’d been looking for a bad-boy biker and avoiding Sebastian. Fantastic. She couldn’t even manage to have a fling right.

  “You didn’t know he was her brother?” Kristin leaned across the aisle as two more people climbed aboard. “Did you sleep with him?”

  “What are you talking about?” Her mind blinked a bright-red deny signal.

  “You left the reception with Nik, and now you’re all out of sorts. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to do the math.”

  “I left with Nik to get away from Sebastian. And if you must know, I’m hung over. You know I don’t drink. The Prinsens bring it out in me.” She never kept things from Kristin, but what had gone down with Nik was too…well, too damned much to explain. Especially since he was Holly’s brother.

  Which made it even harder to reduce him to some vacation indiscretion. Damn it.

  “That’s too bad. I was hoping that maybe…”

  Janny shot her a glare that read cease and desist.

  “Fine, I get it. No sparks with Nik Hansen. What about any of her other brothers?”

  “I couldn’t tell one from the other.” She hadn’t bothered to think of them that way. They were Holly’s brothers and therefore, not holiday-fun material. She would have avoided Nik if she’d known.

  “One of these days, you’re going to find a man who blows your mind.”

  Been there, done that, and apparently, he was their best friend’s brother. Bitchcakes. She cleared her throat. “I’m much more interested in a Prinsen-free week. In fact, let’s make a pact. No talk of men at all.” She wiggled her pinkie until Kristin caught it with hers.

  “Fine. We can talk about my wedding instead.”

  Nik leaned back into the weather-worn Adirondack chair on his parents’ deck. He’d headed out here with a cup of his mother’s cinnamon coffee to watch Janny’s plane leave. Now the coffee was gone and so was she.

  He’d planned on taking a couple of days to ride back to Oregon, but now that much time alone with his thoughts seemed too daunting, dangerous even. He’d had a life plan for as long as he could remember. And two days with Janny had him rethinking.

  He wanted to follow her, the woman, not the fantasy. Everything about their time together felt otherworldly and unfinished. He never left a job undone.

  “I knew I’d find you here.” Holly stepped onto the porch, sliding the door closed behind her. “Pops is looking for you with his clippers.”

  “Persistent SOB.” He pushed a hand through his hair, wondering if he ought to give the old man a win. He’d refused to cut it before the wedding on principle, but he didn’t care. Bigger things were on his mind. “What are you doing here, anyway? Aren’t you supposed to be honeymooning?”

  “We’re going to Manhattan for a few days, then back to Anguilla. When you live in the Caribbean, every day is like a vacation.”

  “How romantic.” He checked his mug. Still empty.

  Holly moved to the railing, smiling as she stared out at the deep gray of the Bering Sea. “The only things I miss about this place are kicking everyone’s ass on family game night and the blue of the sky.”

  A mental image of Holly’s victory dance across the sofa cushions lifted his lips in a grin. “We let you win. It was easier than dealing with your grump.”

  She spun around, leaning her elbows on the rail. “Bring it, little brother. Backgammon, chess, pick your poison. I’ve gotten wicked good at dominos. It’s the game of choice in Anguilla.”

  He smiled wide. “Stick pull.”

  “Indian or Eskimo?”

  “You choose. I can crush you in either.”

  “Eskimo, but I’m putting Harm in my place. The last time you broke my nose.”

  “Your nose was not broken, just bloody. And that was Erik.”

  “The brute. Do you know what he gave us for the wedding? Boxing gloves.”

  The laugh overtook him, shifting his mood. “You have the best brothers on earth.”

  “I do, but that was ridiculous. Not as awful as your earplugs though.”

  He shrugged. “You snore.”

  She stuck her hands on her hips. “Harm swears I don’t. Really, this is the impression you guys want him to have of our family? That we’re a bunch of pranksters?”

  “Might as well let him in on the truth, first off.” He glanced at her midsection, no sign of any baby bump. “Though if he runs, we will hunt him down and use him for crab bait.”

  She shook her head and leveled her gaze at him. “I need you to be serious for a minute before Pops comes out here and scalps you.”

  “I’ll do my best, but no promises.”

  “Harm and I want you to consider starting a ranch on Anguilla.”

  He laughed, but could tell by her expression it wasn’t supposed to be a joke. “You can’t be serious.”

  “He’s bought up a lot of land on the east side of the island. The tourist side is in the west, so he wants a ranch to help with the cost of importing food.”

  “I’m a cattle rancher, Holls. Not a farmer.”

  “Your degree is in agriculture. You could do it.”

  “Making a ranch out of nothing is an expensive process. And slow. This isn’t something I can go and set up like a party. Even if I wanted to.”

  “But you could get it started.”

  “Thanks for thinking of me, but I already have a job. On a ranch without palm trees and white sand beaches.”

  “Nik, I didn’t want to have to do this.” That look appeared on her face. The one that she used whenever she needed to manipulate any of them to do her bidding.

  He stood up so fast the chair jumped back. “I’m going to go find Pops.”

  “I need someone with me until I have the baby.”

  And there it was. He gripped the cold handle of the sliding door, too late to make a getaway. He couldn’t say no. And she knew it. “Saskia is your best friend. She’s there.”

  “Sass is great. And married to Harm’s brother. I need an unshakable team-Holly support system. Even when I’m wrong, which lucky for you doesn’t happen often.”

  He peered through the glass at Leila and Adam, locked in a determined chess battle at the coffee table, and his memory rocketed back to how often he and Holly had been right there. Brother against sister, a brutal battle unless someone unrelated dared intervene. The Hansens took care of their own. Always.

  “Britt is dying to get off this rock,” he said as Leila glanced at him and grinned. At twelve, she hadn’t grown into her teeth yet, and looked exactly as Holly had at tha
t age.

  “Britt needs to go to college with Nina. They have it all planned out.”

  He turned around, Leila’s adorableness making him feel even guiltier about wanting to say no to Holly. “Did you talk to Britt? Because she has no desire to go to school in Anchorage. She wants out of Alaska entirely. Asked me to take her back to Oregon with me. You know how that feels, that need to break free from the family expectations. Take Britt with you.”

  “And do what with her? Let her run wild in the Caribbean? I’ll have to babysit her, find her a job, worry about where she is. I just want someone there for me if I jump off a hormonal cliff.”

  He crossed his arms over his chest. “So you want me to put my career on hold to babysit you? You know I’m only a few years away from being able to buy my own ranch.”

  She nodded and took a step toward him, shoving her hands into the pocket of her black Lady Kaya hoodie sweatshirt. He glanced down at the Bragging Rights emblem on his T-shirt. It hadn’t taken either of them long to get outfitted in the latest clothes from the Hansen fishing boats. Though he adored his mother, Nik avoided wearing anything with the name of the boat Pops had named after her. He’d never puked on Brand’s ship because he’d never been forced to sail on her. By the time they’d had Bragging Rights up and running for Brand, Nik had secured ranch jobs that allowed him to keep his feet on dry land every summer.

  “Nik, I want you to come to Anguilla. Figure out if it’s farmable before Harm sinks any more money into it. Help the economy while you earn enough to buy a ranch wherever you want at twenty-eight instead of thirty. I helped you come up with that life plan, remember? I’m not asking you to let go of your dreams. If you hate it, I’ll figure something else out. But come take a look at the land, give Harm some ideas if you don’t want to tackle the project yourself.” She gazed up at him, giant eyes more watery than he cared to see.

  “I have a job, Holly. Taking the week off to come up here was hard enough. I can’t leave the ranch in a lurch.” He’d been sitting on this very deck, trying to think of when he might break away again to see Janny. Logistics weren’t in his favor.

  “You’d have to leave when you bought your own ranch, right? You’re working on a family ranch right now. You said there’s really no future there.”

  He really needed to stop talking to his sister. Apparently, she kept an arsenal of information in her head in case she needed to win an argument. “If this is really what you need, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll go to Anguilla if you can get Britt to go to college.”

  Holly jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck. Guilt seeped through her excitement. He hated letting down his boss, and that his decision might be more than slightly motivated by the chance to see more of Janny.

  The door swooshed open behind him, punctuated by the buzz of Pops’ hair clippers. “I found you, boy. Time to make a decision.”

  “Whoa there, old man.” He pulled Holly to the side as he turned to face their father, who was flanked by their teenaged brothers, Finn and Adam.

  “You need a haircut and I need a foreman for a build. I’m aiming to get both settled with you.”

  Dread swirled in his gut. “You’re building a new boat? For who?”

  Pops turned off the clippers. “For me. Lady Kaya is trustworthy enough for a new captain.”

  “So you’re getting a new boat and Brand has Bragging Rights. The fleet’s only so big. You can’t build a new ship for each of your sons.”

  “I don’t have to build one for you. Don’t worry about who gets what. Just go to Seattle and supervise the build. I can’t spare any of the crew.”

  “Sorry, I’m going to have to pass on this drama festival. Getting a second boat for Brand was one thing, but how do you decide who gets the third boat? Erik because he’s the next oldest? That’s just going to piss off Geirr. And who’s going to run the deck, work as engineer? Nope, I don’t want any part of this.”

  “Nik, you’re a member of this family, and it is about time you start contributing. You saw all that went into the build of Bragging Rights. I’m not asking you to fish, or help your mother with the business side, just go run a build so the ship will be ready faster. They’ll take their sweet time if there’s no one riding them.”

  “I’m not running your build.”

  There it was. The guilt of being a wayward child who would rather stay ashore than farm the sea. The pain used to be sharp, but over the years, Nik had let some of that go, because all he could muster up was a sad sigh.

  “Nikolas, don’t be selfish.” Pops flipped on the clippers once more. “Cow shit isn’t going to disappear. You can get back to shoveling out stalls once Legacy is at sea.”

  Finn ducked back in the house and returned with a barstool and the kitchen scissors.

  “Legacy. I like it, but my answer is still no.” Nik peeled off his Bragging Rights T-shirt before assuming the position. He’d be lucky if the old man didn’t shave him bald. “Besides, I’m going to Anguilla to make sure Harm is good to our girl.”

  For once, Lars Hansen seemed speechless. Nik figured Holly had provided him with the only excuse their father would take without a fist fight.

  Kaya Hansen leaned out the still open door and pulled her long braid over her shoulder. “What in the world?”

  “Nik’s going to make sure Holly settles into married life, so I’m giving him a haircut. He’ll sweat to death if he has that mop in the Caribbean.”

  His mother’s smile could light the world. “Have everyone line up. I’ll start with Nik and get through all of you.”

  Lars scratched what was left of the hair on his head. “Holly said no haircuts.”

  “That was just for the photos, Pops. I didn’t want my family to look bald.” She took the shears from Finn. “I’m thinking this could be fun. Just like old times.”

  Nik closed his eyes, the sharp snip setting his teeth on edge. One of these days, he was going to have to learn to tell women no.

  Chapter Five

  Nik heard tires carving their way through the dust of the bare road long before he saw Holly’s sleek black sedan covered in ashy powder. He’d been on Anguilla for months, but oiling down the road wasn’t even on his to-do list. This project bordered on the impossible, and he didn’t want to waste time or funds on anything that didn’t bring the concept of a ranch forward. Hell, he was still working on dirt.

  Holly parked between the big black truck Harm had given him to drive and the junker of a pickup he’d filled with horse manure this morning. He left the forty gallon drum of compost tea he’d been stirring and headed her way.

  She climbed out of the car and wrinkled her nose. She glared at him over the convertible top. “Can you move your shit? I brought lunch, but this travelling outhouse has to go or I’ll puke.”

  “Aye, Captain.” He reset his straw cowboy hat on his head as he jogged to the pickup. Since it didn’t have doors, he slid right in and moved it to the far side of what would one day be the front pasture. He hoped.

  He made his way back to the low table and Adirondack chairs he’d built from old pallets where Holly had begun setting up their lunch. His neglected stomach growled for attention as he spied the barbeque ribs and tubs of fruit. He checked his filthy hands and wished for running water.

  “I brought these too.” Holly plopped a pack of baby wipes on the table.

  He sat and tried to ignore the scent of fresh baby as he wiped his hands. “Isn’t it too early for you to be carrying a diaper bag?”

  She shrugged and grabbed a tub of fruit. “I figure if it gets shit off a baby, it’ll work for getting shit off your hands.” She swirled her fork in the air. “Explain to me again why you’re a garbage collector?”

  He tucked into the fall-off-the-bone ribs, eating three before answering. “I’m not a trash man, I’m a magician. A ranch is only as good as the grass it feeds its cows. I
have no grass, just sand and limestone dust. So, in order to make this work, I have to make dirt, so I can make grass, so I can raise cattle. No compost means no dirt, no grass, no ranch.”

  Holly sighed. “At least you have a plan now. Remember when you first got here, and we showed you this place and you started laughing?”

  “No telling if the plan will work, but if it does, I’ll wind up with a doctorate in agriculture. I couldn’t do this without the help of the university.”

  “Dr. Hansen. Val is going to be pissed if you’re a doctor before he is.”

  He couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “Then our dear little brother needs to get off a fishing boat, stop deferring medical school and get his life going.”

  “It’s not easy to walk away from a job that pays that much. We wanted out of Alaska entirely. Val wants to go back and work at the clinic.”

  He turned his attention back to the food, because he hadn’t eaten in a day and because he didn’t want to bicker about family politics. He’d come to Anguilla to make sure Holly felt supported through her pregnancy, and fighting over choices their siblings made wasn’t going to accomplish that.

  “Remember my friend, Janny, that you danced with at the wedding? She’s flying in today.” Holly spoke as he finished the last rib.

  “Kristin has mentioned that every time I’ve seen her for the last week.” Janny had been on a rotation in Boston after her Greek vacation. He hadn’t asked about Janny, though his sister and her friends had dropped hints like the feral Anguillan goats dropped their dung—heavy and everywhere. He’d spent the better part of the last two months trying to figure out a way to make a ranching operation possible on an almost-infertile island. Janny’s return was like the oasis he wasn’t sure he’d see correctly.

  “Does she know you’re here?”

  “Who?” He didn’t have anything to say about the Janny situation, partly because he didn’t want to discuss it with his sister, but mostly because he didn’t have any answers to give.