“I should really go,” she said and walked back to her room.
Buck watched her go, enjoying her ass disappearing down the hall. He unclenched his fists and wondered why he was so angry at her. He wasn’t angry at her, he was angry at the texter, but why? It was with an uncomfortable awareness that he realized he was jealous. He hadn’t felt that emotion since he was very little, and certainly not over a woman. What was she doing to him? He walked back into the yard.
***
“Did you save the ranch, yet?” Brent asked her when she entered his room. Already he looked better, but he was still looking pretty bad.
“I ate something and I took a nap, does that count?” She asked.
“No.”
“Well, it’s on my to-do list. Why don’t you tell me what’s going on, and I’ll have a better chance of fixing things. The only thing you told me was who to maybe trust and something about drugs. It’s not much to go on,” she touched his forehead brushing his blond hair away from his eyes. “You need a haircut.” She pushed her own hair back over her shoulders; she had worn it down for some reason, and was now regretting it.
“It’s on my to-do list,” he said smiling at her. Belle started to get out of bed. “Where are you going?” He said holding on to her.
“I’m going to give you and Joss some time. I won’t be far,” she said and smiling sweetly she walked out of the room.
“Why have you never married her, Dad?” She knew it was a horribly personal question, but maybe one he would answer, they clearly loved each other.
“Because your mother won’t give me a divorce,” he said simply. Joss’s stomach bottomed out.
“What? You’ve had contact with Cassidy?” She said. Brent sighed.
“Yes, she lives in Jackson,” he said. Joss sat in the chair hard, her legs suddenly useless.
“She’s living in Wyoming? I thought she must be dead, but all this time she’s been living in Jackson,” she said. “Fuck.” Jackson was a five hour drive, she thought. Her own mother couldn’t be bothered to travel five hours to see her. To be fair it was longer to Denver, more like eight hours. What did she care? Cassidy hadn’t so much as called in fourteen years.
“I’m sorry, honey.” He looked pained and Joss snapped out of her shock.
“No worries, Brent, it was just a shock. For me she died when Brand did. I haven’t thought about her much, and she hasn’t been a part of my life for a long time, why should she be now?”
“She’s your mother, and she abandoned you when you needed her the most, and never looked back. Do you ever get over that kind of betrayal? I know I’ll never forgive her. Do you remember the day she left?”
“No, why, what happened that day?”
“Nothing, honey. I just wish I could have been there for you more.”
“You were around, that was all the parenting I needed,” she took his hand and squeezed. He chuckled weakly.
“Maybe more than you wanted, but not all that you needed, Joss. You were a handful, but I could have been a better father to you, honey,” he said.
“No, you were the best. You suffered, probably even more than I did. Brand was your son; you don’t ever get over something like that,” she said. Brent’s eyes went over her shoulder and she turned around. Buck was standing there looking mildly sheepish. Joss sat up straighter in her chair and she blushed.
“Sorry to interrupt,” he said.
“That’s okay, Buck. You’ve met my daughter?”
“We’ve met,” both Joss and Buck said at the same time. Brent looked at his daughter his eyebrows went up. He exhaled loudly. He was used to the hands falling for his daughter, and just as used to her making them lust crazed and stupid, but she rarely showed any interest in them. She was clearly intrigued by his overseer, and he by her, and now he had even more to worry about. Brent gave Joss a stern look and she shrugged her shoulders in a move that screamed: “What?” Reminding him of her teen years.
“What’s up, Buck?” Brent said resigned.
“Six hundred head are missing; I’m taking a crew to go round ‘em up out of the mountains to the west,” Buck said.
“Six hundred?” Brent said shakily, losing the little color he did have. Joss stood up quickly and pushed Buck out of the room into the hall and up against the far wall, her hands flat on his chest.
“Jesus Christ, the man just had a heart attack, and you stroll in and tell him that? What the fuck?” She whispered viciously at him. His arms pulled her close to him and with her hands to his chest she started struggling a little and then stopped when she saw it was fruitless. A long thumb went under her shirt in back and ran an arc across her skin just above the waist band of her low jeans making her catch her breath. He grinned down at her and she thought he looked very pleased with himself. There were the familiar green and gold flecks in his eyes she saw, just before the pupils obscured much of the irises of his eyes.
“Mmm, you are gorgeous all riled up like this, Duchess,” he took a handful of her soft hair and brought it to his face inhaling deeply. It did something to her insides watching him. “Mmm, damn Duchess, you smell good. I told you that you could barely keep your hands off of me and look where we are.”
“Look more closely at who’s holding whom,” she continued whispering at him. He didn’t stop grinning.
“I’ll tell you what; why don’t you come with me into the mountains? You know how to ride, don’t you? It shouldn’t take but a few days up there. What? Don’t look at me like that, Duchess, we can keep each other warm at night.” She had a frisson that ran through her body, and he couldn’t help but notice it, since she was entirely pressed against him and his eyes got wide and went completely black as she watched all the flecks of color become obscured by his pupils. She had expected his lazy grin, but it didn’t appear for some reason. Instead he looked surprised. She pushed out of his embrace only because he allowed her.
“You can keep yourself warm,” she said cringing at the absolute lameness of her retort. He leaned over to her, way too close for her comfort, but she didn’t move.
“I will, and that little tremor you just had in my arms will sure go a long way to help me stay warm, in fact, we might not even need a fire,” he said softly into her hair. “We ride at dawn if you want to come.” She looked at him wondering if he caught his own double entendre. Yes, he said it intentionally; his smug delight was quite evident.
Gathering herself she started to walk back into Brent’s room.
“Hey Duchess,” she stopped, not looking at him. He waited and she turned.
“It’s only a matter of time, and you know it,” he said and she flushed because he was right, dammit. She left him to watch her retreat. Damn man thinks he’s God’s gift to women. Neither of them saw Belle sitting on the chair next to them.
“It’s like that, is it?” Brent said taking in her pink cheeks and neck. She sighed.
“It’s not like anything, the man is infuriating. He takes perverse pleasure in pissing me off,” she said.
“You’ve only known him for what, twenty hours? He’s under your skin already. He’s the best overseer I’ve ever had, Joss, don’t mess it up for me.”
“Me? Jeez, Dad, it sounds like you are taking an interest in my sex life,” she said grinning at him.
“God no, that’s the last thing I want to hear about, Joss,” his face grew pained again and Belle came back in the room holding a cup of coffee. “Just please be discreet. I can’t have you undermining my authority.”
“Brent, stop worrying, there is nothing to be concerned about, he’s not my type at all,” she said and he groaned.
“He’s tailor made to fit you, Joss. He’s just smarter than the rest of the bozos you hooked up with,” Brent said. “He just doesn’t flaunt it.”
“You have no clue who I’ve ever hooked up with!”
“Oh, please, I lost years off my life during your teen years, and you know it,” he said.
“The whole town knows it
. One guy, Brent. I’m not gonna talk about my lovers with you. And Buck is not among the ranks,” Brent cringed at the thought of her having ranks of lovers. “And if anyone is going to shoot at Buck, I’d like it to be me.” Brent laughed at that. “You sleep for a bit, I’m going to feed Belle,” she kissed him on the cheek and walked out into the hall with Belle. “Hospital cafeteria, okay?” Belle nodded.
Joss wished Belle would warm up to her, but she was as reticent as ever, answering with one word when Joss wanted a paragraph. Joss wondered if she spoke much to Brent, or if that was one of the things he liked about her. Joss was enough to make anyone tire of assertive women. Belle was a small woman, coming up to Brent’s chest. Her long black hair shone in the fluorescent light of the cafeteria, and her dark, sad eyes caught everything, but gave nothing away. Joss didn’t know anything about her.
“Brent said something about drugs,” Joss said. Belle looked at her waiting for a question. “Do you know anything about that?”
“No,” Belle said. They were at a far table hunched over disappointing food compared to the dinner Joss had the night before. The fruit was a little gray around the edges, and too soft. She pushed her plate away.
Her thoughts strayed to Buck’s hands, and his strong shoulders, and his long, lean body, and the heat of him when he pulled her against him in the hall and the brush of his lips on hers the night before. Uh-oh. Stop it, Joss.
“Why do you think Brent thinks there are drugs involved?” Belle shrugged her shoulders.
“What do you think is going on?” Joss asked.
“I don’t know what is going on.”
“Are you going to tell me anything?” Joss asked her straight out.
“I don’t know anything, Joss,” Belle said meeting her eye. “But that you should trust Buck, he is your match. I will explain it to Brent if you like.” Joss’s mouth fell open. From nothing out of Belle for years to something terribly personal like that, Joss was astounded.
“Um, no, you’ll just upset him, there’s nothing going on between us, um Buck and me, I mean,” Joss said and Belle just looked at Joss like she was an idiot. She must have seen them in the hall, Joss thought. Finally Belle nodded and the subject was closed.
Joss finally gave up and left Belle to her meager meal. It didn’t appear that they were going to warm up to each other any time soon.
***
The first item on Joss’s list was a new pair of boots, so she went to the one store in town she trusted with her footwear. Next to boots was a hat, because she had no idea where her hat was. A little retail therapy was just the thing to keep her from daydreaming about the hired help. She had studiously avoided the men who worked for her father for years, why was she so attracted to Buck?
Big Jake’s hadn’t changed much in her lifetime, and she expected it hadn’t changed much since it opened eighty years ago. Joss wandered to the back of the store to the shoe department and looked at her choices. She went straight to the Frye boots and chose a smoky gray boot in the style she preferred and turned in a circle to find a salesperson. A large man came out of the back just as she completed her turn and their eyes met.
“I’ll be damned, it’s little Joss Erickson,” he said with a big smile and came over and gave her a bear hug, lifting her from the ground, his face buried in her hair.
“Jake,” she said as he put her down and held her at arm’s length to look at her. “You’re the only one who can call me little,” she said and he wrapped his hands around her waist and squeezed. She squeaked in surprise and he laughed.
“You still fit,” he said holding his massive hands up for her to see. Okay, she thought, that was maybe cute when she was seventeen, but now it bordered on assault…
“You liar,” she said.
“Man alive, you’re pretty as a picture, Joss. It’s good to see you,” he said.
“Thank you, sir, how have you and Annie been?” She asked, trying to remind him he was happily married.
“Well, I lost Annie about two years ago to cancer. Things have been better.”
“Oh, Jake, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know,” she said touching his arm.
“You don’t come in here much,” he said reprovingly.
“I was here at Christmas, but the place was mobbed. I didn’t want to interrupt. How’s Shane?” She asked.
“Married Gertie Robinson, expecting their first in a few months,” he beamed.
“I’m so glad; I liked Gertie a lot. Send my congratulations, that’s wonderful news. You don’t seem old enough to be a grandfather,” he puffed up like a peacock.
“Thank you, ma’am. How about you? You got anyone special?” Joss was suddenly overcome with the memory of Buck’s lips brushing hers last night on the threshold and the feel of his thumb running across her lower back and she felt herself flushing under Jake’s gaze.
“Actually…” she began but Jake cleared his throat uncomfortably and sallied forth.
“What have you got there?” He pointed to the boot she held.
“My old ones,” she looked down at her feet and rocking back on her heels. “Are finally giving up the ghost.”
“Joss, all you need is a cobbler, those boots will last forever. But I’ll still sell you these; you should have a back up. What size? Keep in mind they run small.”
“Then let’s say eight and a half, and can you recommend a cobbler?” He grinned at her.
“Seth,” he called across the shoe racks and tossed the kid her boot. “Find the lady an eight and a half.” Seth nodded and went to the back.
“How’s Brent?”
“That’s why I’m in town, he had a heart attack. I just came from the hospital, he’s getting better, but still in a lot of pain.” Jake took her hand.
“I’m sorry to hear that, Joss. How are you holding up?”
“I’m good, thank you for asking,” she gently pulled her hand away. She liked Jake, and she thought his son was one of the nicest boys she’d ever dated, but Jake was clearly lonely, and Joss had no plans to keep him company.
“Can Brent have visitors?”
“Not yet, but in a few days, he’d love to see you,” she said. Seth came out with a big box.
“Have a seat,” Jake said taking the box from Seth kneeling in front of her. “Put your other foot on my shoulder and push,” he said.
“These aren’t that tight, Jake,” she said thinking it was kind of an intimate thing to do. The image of her feet on someone’s shoulders was very erotic to her, and she had a moment where Buck filled all her senses and she flushed again.
Jake reached for her foot. He pulled off her boots and put his large hand around her arch and moved his fingers slowly along the bottom of her foot. She pulled her foot back immediately and he looked up into her flushed face with a strange expression on his own. He looked shocked, like he just discovered he had a foot fetish.
“That tickles,” she said lamely. She thought Jake might be making a move on her and she was a little bit horrified. He was younger than her dad, but having gone out with his son once or twice in her senior year of high school, made this sudden fascination just a little too weird. Jake stood up and handed her a boot. She slipped it on with practiced ease, and then did the same with the other, which was slightly tighter. Walking around the carpeted area she smiled.
“These are perfect, I’ll take them.” Jake nodded.
“Keep them on; we’ll get the others fixed up for you.” He put her old boots in the new boot box. “What else do you need?” She put her foot to the seat and bent over to pull her pant legs over her boots and looked up to catch him checking out her ass. Fuck.
“A hat, I have no idea what happened to mine,” she said and he jumped a little at getting caught eyeballing her butt. He nodded and they walked over to the hat display.
“Here, this is the one for you,” he said. It was a black flat brimmed hat with a string of small silver Conchos running around it. It was beautiful. She tried it on and it fit very nicely. Jake l
ed her to a mirror and she looked at herself.
“I look like a greenhorn with all my fancy new finery,” she said and he laughed.
“You look very pretty,” he said looking over her shoulder at her reflection. She had a thought that she needed to nip this fascination in the bud, but knew that Jake would be embarrassed and he would come to his senses as soon as she was out of his store.
“Give my best to Gertie and Shane, Jake,” she said and strode quickly over to the counter as he watched her go.
She paid and left and went into the grocery next for more fruit. There was very little at the house, and it was mostly what she ate in the summer. Once she had gotten all she thought she’d need she remembered Buck saying he needed condoms. Jesus Christ, that man. She considered not getting them, but in the end she finally got them, rolling her eyes at herself. Maybe she could borrow a couple and go find Billy Tomlinson, he was probably still around somewhere.
Her final stop was a toy store, and they had one hula hoop that they had to find in a back room. It was covered in dust and dented here and there, and she was delighted.
When she got back to the ranch she put her things in the fridge and put the box of condoms on Buck’s bed on top of the jean jacket he loaned her. She didn’t want to hold it to her face another night. Buck’s room was sparse. There were no photos, none of the belongings that people accumulate over time, and aside from clothing and a book on his bedside, there was nothing to indicate anyone lived here. She couldn’t help thinking once again of his arms around her as she shut the door. Crap, why did she have to be an asshole magnet? She reopened the door again and walked around the bed to see what he was reading. It was American Gods, by Neil Gaiman. She read that a month ago, how weird.
She opened the book to see where he was in it and the bookmark fell out and on to the floor. When she picked it up she saw it was a picture of three kids, two little boys and an older girl. They were clearly siblings, and just as clearly Buck’s relations. They had his eye shape, his high cheekbones, his straight black hair, and were very cute. All three kids were laughing in the shot. What was she doing? She closed the book, put it back and walked away.
Breaking the Bad Boy Page 5