With This Ring (Denim & Spurs Book 1)

by Aliyah Burke

“I’m beginning to think you bring it out in me, Ms. Finley.”

  Her smile affected his heart in ways he didn’t believe anyone would be able to do, not after the fiasco with Charlotte. Rubbing his palm along the denim covering his thigh, he rested his arm on the door. The rest of the ride back to Branchwater passed with comfortable conversation, laughter, and music. He bit back his disappointment when the sign for the Diamond J came into view.

  Deep down, he knew that things between them would change, again. Personally, he wished to keep it how it had been at the expo. The horses knew they were home and began shifting restlessly. Parking down by the barn, he shut off the engine and took a fortifying breath. What did one say now?

  As she had at their stop, Samantha jumped out before he could say anything. Rabbit. That’s what she brought to mind. He followed and unlocked the LQ so she could access her bag. It shocked him when she appeared by the ramp.

  “Want me to take one?”

  Anything to keep her around longer. “Sure. Thanks.”

  Soon the horses had been put in their stalls and they were back out by the trailer. “Do you want me to help you clean it up?” she asked, staring up at him. Her brown eyes sparkled in the light provided by the lamppost near the barn.

  “No, that’s okay. I’ll take care of it.”

  She hesitated a moment before pursing her lips and nodding. “All right.” A grin past his shoulder had him turning to see Connor striding up. “Thanks, Dustin. For everything. I had a great time.” Samantha shouldered her bag and walked off with a wave and a “Hi, Connor.”

  “How was it?” Connor asked him, pausing at his side.

  Dustin never took his gaze from the swaying ass of the departing woman. She strode off as if she’d gone as only a friend and they’d not even shared a bed. No lingering looks over her shoulder, no kiss farewell, nothing like that. He wasn’t sure what to make of that. All he knew was he didn’t like it.

  “Dustin!”

  “Damn near perfect,” he admitted as she climbed into her truck and started the engine. The taillights seemed eerily prophetic. As if telling him this was the moment she left his life for good. He couldn’t explain why he felt that, it just was. And he didn’t like it. “Made some good connections, have some people coming out to look at the geldings for sale.”

  “So not what I was talking about, man.” Connor shifted his weight beside him.

  “I know. But that’s all you’re getting.” She was gone. The red glow from her taillights vanished from view, and he felt bereft.

  * * * *

  Finn walked back from the barn, morning’s glow providing her all the light she needed outside of the barn. She’d woken early, equal parts amazed and disturbed by how much she preferred waking in bed with Dustin to alone.

  “You had your time and now it’s done,” she muttered as she jogged up the steps to the house and opened the door.

  Mrs. Pendle had arrived while Finn had been doing chores in the barn. She knew this by the scent of French toast in the air. Her stomach rumbled and she patted it, silently informing it food would be arriving soon. Striding to the kitchen, she smiled at the sight of the woman who’d been a fixture in her life as long as she could remember. More of a mother as well.

  “Morning, Mrs. Pendle,” she said with an affectionate smile.

  “Morning, Finn. How was your trip?”

  “I had a wonderful time. I sat in on a few seminars put on by farriers and learned a couple of things. Saw some people I hadn’t in a while. Bought a few things as well. Your gift is upstairs, I’ll bring it down later.”

  “I don’t need gifts from you, sweetie.”

  “Indulge me,” she replied, brushing a kiss along the woman’s cheek. “Besides, you deserve it.” Finn reached for the bacon on the plate. “Ouch.” She jerked her hand back.

  “After all these years, you think I’m not aware of what your ultimate goal is? To get the bacon before anyone else?”

  Finn flushed. She’d been trying unsuccessfully for years to swipe a piece from under Mrs. Pendle’s nose. Still hadn’t managed to fool the woman yet. “I keep thinking I’ll get quicker with time, but I am beginning to believe that’s your magic power.”

  Mrs. Pendle laughed. “I have many magic powers, dearie, so don’t even try it.” The warning came as the housekeeper ducked her head into the fridge and popped out with orange juice.

  Propping her hip against the counter, Finn crossed her arms. “I wouldn’t doubt that for a second, Mrs. Pendle. And having my hand rapped once today is enough. I’ll stay away from the bacon until breakfast, thank you very much.”

  Finn set the table and the women worked in silence until she got back to the counter. Mrs. Pendle paused in chopping of the fruit and stared at her.

  “Yes?” Finn questioned.

  “You and Dustin Kane?”

  Damn it. Biting the inside of her lip so she’d give nothing away, Finn blinked. “Me and Dustin Kane what?”

  “At the horse expo.”

  “Oh that.” She tucked some wayward hair behind her ear in an attempt to calm her racing nerves. “Yes, I went with him. Stayed in his LQ as well. It had two beds.” Not that they used two. Okay, so that wasn’t entirely true. They used them both, just not in any way she’d be sharing with the woman who’d changed her diapers.

  Mrs. Pendle blew out a heavy breath, a sure sign she was agitated. “I know it’s not my place to tell you how to live your life, Finn.” Her slender shoulders rose and fell. “I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

  How couldn’t she? She’d lusted after Dustin since the first time she saw him and had loved him nearly as long. Locking that away, she canted her head. “Why would I get hurt? He invited me to the expo. He worked the expo while I went and toured around. Helped him a bit when he had demos, but I still fail to see how I will get hurt.”

  Blue eyes, which had offered her such support and compassion throughout her life, met hers. The sheen in them bothered her. Was she about to cry? If so, why?

  “I’ve known you almost all your life, Samantha Mallory, don’t you think to pull the wool over my eyes.” The sheen vanished only to be replaced by an edge. “You may be able to snow your father, but it won’t work with me.”

  She blinked and sighed, rolling her shoulders in a lame attempt to loosen them up. “How long have you known?”

  “Since you were in fourth grade.”

  Fourth? Damn. That grade was right about the time she discovered the hotness that went by the name Dustin Kane. And here she thought she’d been so smart. “And you never said a word? Not to me or Daddy?”

  Her expression reflected her insult at Finn’s words. “Not a one.”

  “How did you find out?”

  A snort this time. “Wasn’t hard to figure. Anytime that boy’s ranch was mentioned or we attended a school function and he was there, it appeared all over your face.”

  “Damn.”

  A grayed brow rose. “Mind your language.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Finn’s response automatic. “Sorry.”

  Mrs. Pendle moved to her side and touched her arm. “Baby, I couldn’t love you more than if you were my own flesh and blood. You moving away broke my heart right along with everyone else’s. I just want to protect you and I see it happening all over again. Only, this time, it’s more.” Her voice dropped. “So much more.”

  Unsure of what to say, Finn remained mute. She worried her lower lip and gathered Mrs. Pendle close. When she heard her father’s crutches on the stairs, she released her. “Trust me, I’ll be okay. I know it is only temporary. I’ve gone into this with my eyes wide open.”

  “It’s not your eyes I’m worried about.”

  Her unspoken words hovered in the air between them.

  “Thank you for worrying. For wanting to protect me. And most of all, for loving me.” She brushed another kiss along her cheek and smoothed out her own expression.

  “Morning to my two ladies,” her father said as he entered
. “How are we today?”

  “Nursing a smacked hand, Daddy,” she replied with a grin.

  Her father’s grin made the world tip back into “right” as opposed to where it had been in “unknown” moments before. “Haven’t learned yet you can’t steal bacon from this woman. She’s got eagle eyes and never misses a thing.”

  Meeting said gaze, Finn nodded. “I know.”

  “Food’s ready, so sit down before it gets cold,” Mrs. Pendle ordered.

  And much like they had when she was growing up, both her and her father listened to the woman who’d become such an important fixture in their lives. Finn looked up when Mrs. Pendle began to leave the room.

  “Eat with us,” she implored. “There’s more than enough.”

  “I ate at home and have work to do.”

  “Daddy,” Finn said, well aware he would take her side.

  “Finn’s right, Mrs. Pendle. You should sit and eat with us. If you’re not hungry then you can at least sit and drink coffee or juice.”

  Finn hid her smile as Mrs. Pendle sat. No matter what had been spoken previously, it didn’t escape her notice that when her father fixed a plate and set it before Mrs. Pendle she accepted it without argument. Drinking some juice to hide her smile, Finn thought about the implications of such a telling sign.

  After she finished eating, she made her excuses and headed back outside. The sun, now full above the horizon, still struggled to banish the remaining fog, which curled up from the ground much like a snake as it wound along a tree branch. Leaning against a pillar, she sighed, shoving her hands into her front pockets.

  “Heavy heart, babygirl?”

  She’d not heard him arrive, but it wasn’t a shock he had. Her father had always been intuitive about her emotions. Apparently not as much as Mrs. Pendle has been.

  “Living in Maryland, I forget how much I love it here. I miss home, Daddy.”

  He braced himself against the other side of the pillar. The silence between them, familiar and comforting. She knew he’d talk when he was of the mind to. Evan Finley didn’t rush things.

  “Some reason you can’t come back home then? Something all fired important up there in Maryland?”

  “No, sir. Just my job.”

  “Seems to me you’ve shown to have work here as well.” He shifted his weight. “You have a beau up there you don’t want to leave?”

  “Nothing of the sort, Daddy.”

  “So then it’s that Kane boy?”

  She closed her eyes, grateful the pillar was between them. “Why would you say that?”

  “You really think it’s not going to reach my ears when my daughter is staying with him down at the expo?”

  “Frickin’ small town gossip,” she muttered.

  Her father chuckled and yet, she wasn’t entirely sure it made her feel any better. “I’m just going to assume you went and helped him out.”

  “I did, Daddy.” Helped him out in many, many different ways. No need to share that with dear ol’ dad, however. “I listened in on Stephen Marconni, as well. Two others but his was the best.”

  “Stephen was there?”

  She blew out a relieved breath. At least he changed subjects with ease. Now if only she could flip a switch and go back to living her life when Dustin Kane was an unattainable fantasy and not a flesh and blood memory. Not likely.

  Chapter Ten

  “Dustin!”

  Pausing midstride on the way back to his truck, Dustin peered over his shoulder for whoever called his name. He hadn’t truly needed to come into town today but had given some excuse hoping on the off chance he’d run into Samantha. So far, it hadn’t worked out in his favor.

  A groan escaped as he recognized the man hollering for him. Robert Beaumonde. Charlotte’s father. Her father had been close to his old man, but personally, he had little use for him. Not that he had much use for his own father either.

  “Yes, sir? What can I do for you?”

  Sweat dotted the man’s head as he futilely wiped at it with linen. His face flushed red from what, Dustin wasn’t sure. Heat. Exertion. Nerves. Perhaps the combination of them all.

  “I know you’re busy running the Diamond J, but I was wondering if you had time for a,” he straightened up and tugged at his suit coat, “talk. The two of us.”

  He ground his jaw but pasted a cool, unaffected smile on his face. “Anytime you’d like to stop by the Diamond J, but I’d recommend calling ahead so I’m not out on the range.”

  The man swallowed but nodded. Dustin understood. The relationship he had with Old Man Kane differed greatly plus it was no secret his daughter had been screwing multiple men on their wedding day.

  “Good day, Mr. Beaumonde.” Pivoting, he finished the short walk back to his truck and loaded his bags into the backseat of his truck. He paused, hand upon the bedrail and tried to sort through the thoughts streaming through his mind like a thundering herd. They began and ended with Samantha Finley.

  He’d never considered himself fanciful. Ever. Even during the time he’d been engaged to Charlotte and planning the wedding, he’d kept out of her way and let her pick what she wanted. His focus remained on running his ranch. But since the night Samantha tripped back into his life, his own had changed drastically.

  Shaking his head, he slammed the door shut and turned to open the driver’s door. In his peripheral, he spied a sight that had his heart tripling in speed. He blinked a few times in case it was merely his imagination given how the vixen occupied so much of his mind. Still there and slipping into another store.

  He shut the door of his truck and followed her into Bates’. The low lighting gave him a moment’s pause, and he scanned for her as he waited for his eyes to adjust. There weren’t many people in here, and he nodded at the few he passed.

  Samantha was in the far right corner standing in front of the saddles. He paused before reaching her and took the moment to just watch. Black jeans molded with sinful perfection to her lower body. Her hunter green tee hung over the gentle swell of her derrière. A simple cutout horse head barrette held her hair to hang down the middle of her back, the dark brown and highlighted strands creating a lovely image amongst the silver.

  She stood there, hands in her back pockets and rocking back on the heels of her boots.

  “Something on your mind, Samantha?” he asked, moving up beside her.

  A slight jump before she recovered and looked at him. With the heel of one hand, she wiped at her eye. “You startled me,” she stated the obvious.

  His gaze raked her and he fought off the instantaneous urge to haul her close and kiss her. Had she been crying? She crossed her arms over her chest. A chest he’d eaten…nope, not the time to go there. With a stern reprimand to his unruly cock, he focused back on the woman before him.

  “Everything okay?”

  “Just here to pick up some things for daddy. What are you doing here?”

  What to say? Followed you in here made him sound a bit more than stalkerish. “Out running some errands.”

  Her smile, halfhearted, dimmed some of the light that had exploded within him at seeing her again. He stepped closer and reveled over the flaring of her nose and the increased pulse in her neck. Her pupils dilated as well.

  “Are we going to pretend the weekend didn’t happen?” he queried in a low voice, digging his nails into his palm to refrain from cupping her face. He noticed a silver chain around her neck but the pendant was below her shirt so he couldn’t be positive it was the one he gave her. He wanted it to be.

  “I don’t know,” she countered. “Are we?”

  “You seem like you’re avoiding me.”

  “We returned from the expo last night, Dustin. It’s only afternoon of the following day, so how exactly have I been avoiding you?” She licked her lips, and he nearly groaned. He knew firsthand how that tongue felt on his skin.

  “Oh, excuse me, am I interrupting?” Tara, Homer Bates’s wife, asked.

  “No,” Samantha said.
r />   “Yes,” he claimed at the same time.

  Samantha flashed him an irritated glare. “No, you’re not, Tara. We were just talking.”

  Hiding his discontent, he skimmed his teeth with his tongue as he shoved his hands in his pocket. “Right,” he groused. “Just talking. Who’d you need to talk to, Tara?”

  “I needed a word with Finn.”

  “Sure thing.” The women began to walk away.

  “Samantha?” he called out. She turned back to him, one brow arched in question. “I’d like a word with you when you finish so we can finish this discussion.”

  Her gaze raked him from head to toe. “Sure thing.”

  Dustin remained back by the saddles and waited. Less than five minutes passed before she returned.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Have dinner with me tonight.”

  She trailed her hand along a turquoise and black blanket. “Busy tonight, sorry.”

  “Tomorrow?”

  She shoved her hands in her pockets and rocked back on her heels. “I’m busy for the week.”

  He scowled and stalked closer to her. “You’re avoiding my eyes, Samantha. Look at me.” Eye contact came however, barely. She was nervous. Skittish. He blew out a breath. “You’re waiting for Homer to fix something?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good, then you have time. Come on.”

  “What?”

  “We’re going to the bakery for something to eat and drink. Since you don’t have time for me tonight, we’ll talk now.”

  “I’m—”

  “Waiting. We can wait at the bakery.” He gestured with his head. “After you.”

  She didn’t speak until they’d taken a seat at the bakery. He picked a booth near the back and noticed how she sat so the wall was at her back instead of the door. He left her there while he ordered them each a coffee and a bear claw. Items in hand, he returned to her and set hers before her.

  “What’s this about, Samantha?”

  “Why don’t you call me Finn like everyone else?” She poured a liberal amount of sugar in her coffee and stirred it without looking at him.

  “I told you, Finn’s a man’s name.”