Tyler (Riding Hard Book 4)

by Jennifer Ashley

  His mom wasn’t having that. “Your one-night stands are famous, Tyler. I’ve never yelled at you about them, because I understand grief and pulling away. It’s a hard thing to feel, a hard thing to get past. I know you well enough to see that the way you look at this woman is different. And I like her. But you can’t force it. If you try to grab on to her, she’ll go. It’s the old saying—if you hold a butterfly in your fist, you’ll destroy it. You have to let it sit on your open hand and enjoy its beauty.”

  “For however long it lets me,” Tyler answered, subdued.

  “I’m afraid so, sweetie.”

  Tyler released a long breath. “You sure I’m not all worried about her because she’s hot?”

  Olivia gave him one of her warm, rare smiles. “I’m pretty sure. So are you.”

  Tyler knew she was right. “Shit.” He folded his arms over his chest, tightening in on himself. “Don’t tell my brothers.”

  His mother patted his arm. “They already know, dear.”

  * * *

  Jess didn’t like how ecstatic she was that Tyler came to the apartment to say good night, though her elation dimmed when he remained at the bottom of the stairs and waited for them to come out.

  Dominic jumped happily down to Tyler, thanked him enthusiastically for letting them stay, then ran upstairs to enjoy the novelty of sleeping on a bed that came out of a sofa.

  “Call the main house if you need anything,” Tyler said to Jess, his expression guarded. He’d planted himself five feet from the bottom step Jess was on, his arms folded, shutting her out. “Hell, just yell out the window. Someone will come running.”

  Someone, he said. Not I’ll come running. Something had happened since dinner to make him close up and stand back.

  “Tyler, I’m really grateful,” Jess said, coming off the step. “I’m sorry I’ve been cranky—I don’t want you to think I’m blowing off what you’re doing for us. No one’s ever gone the extra mile for me. It’s hard to know how to handle it.”

  Tyler shrugged, the movement tight. “Then you know the wrong people.”

  His blue eyes held caution, but behind that lingered the heat of a thousand suns, and Jess wanted to touch it. She’d get burned, Jess knew that, but it would be worth it to feel his warmth one more time.

  Jess closed the distance between herself and Tyler before he had time to pull away. In the bed in the impersonal hotel room, she’d lost herself for a glorious time, nothing mattering but that moment. She’d give anything to experience that again.

  Correction, to experience it again with Tyler. Jess rested her fingers on his chest, the thud of his heart beneath his shirt telling her his indifference was a sham. His withdrawal had nothing to do with how much he wanted her.

  Tyler remained perfectly still as Jess rose on tiptoe and kissed his lips. Didn’t reach for her, didn’t unfold his arms. His lips didn’t move either.

  Jess was about to pull away, when his sudden responding kiss kept her riveted in place.

  The kiss was slow, deliberate, Tyler’s lips parting hers, the flash of his tongue in her mouth electrifying. He never reached for her, never unlaced his arms, only leaned down to let his mouth take hers. He was heat in the night, an anchor against the world.

  Jess’s fingers curled, clutching the fabric of his shirt. She rose to prolong the kiss, not wanting to let go, reluctant to retreat upstairs without him.

  Wind brushed her, whispering in the grass beyond the path, ringing in the wind chimes above her. Slowly, very slowly, Tyler eased from the kiss.

  He and Jess stared at each other in the dark, the breeze stirring Tyler’s hair, his eyes unreadable. Tyler unclenched his arms, lifted his hand, and brushed a firm thumb across Jess’s cheek.

  The wind chimes jangled in the increasing breeze, and Tyler stepped away. “Good night, Jess.”

  Jessica swallowed. “Night.”

  She wanted to add … Stay. Just as he’d done in silence in his hotel room a few weeks ago, when the need in his eyes had been unmistakable.

  But Dominic waited upstairs; Tyler’s family, including his mom, was in the house, and she didn’t know what they truly thought of her. The Campbells were friendly enough, but it was impressed into every Texan to be hospitable. Even when you didn’t like a person, you still gave them what you could before sending them on their way. True acceptance took time and had to be earned. Sometimes it never came.

  She and Tyler shared another look in the growing darkness. If they’d been the only two people in these hills, Jess would have stretched out her hand to him. And Tyler would have taken it.

  Instead he repeated, “Night, Jess,” and started to turn away.

  Jess’s heart ached as she watched him go, and when he abruptly turned back, her heart bumped so hard she could barely hear his words.

  “Grace fixes a mess of breakfast every morning around seven,” he said. “Plenty for everyone. If that’s too early, she keeps something back for late risers. Just ask her. She’s a sweetheart.”

  Another nod, Tyler’s neutral stance returning, and he walked away.

  “Tyler,” Jess blurted.

  He swung around so fast he was a blur in the rising moonlight. “What?”

  Jess swallowed. “Would you mind calling Mrs. Alvarez for me? To tell her I’m all right? I don’t want to call myself, in case …”

  Tyler appeared to understand. “Sure.” He took out his phone as he strolled back to her. Jess slid hers from her pocket and brought up Mrs. Alvarez’s details so Tyler could copy her number. He stood too close when he did it, the powerfulness of him unnerving.

  “Tell you what,” Tyler said when he was finished. “I’ll ask my mom to call. I have a feeling those two will get along fine.”

  “Fixing the lives of everyone around them?”

  “Something like that.” Tyler’s grin flashed.

  His smile tempted Jess to let her inhibitions take flight. Tyler was a man any woman would want to hug. Holding on to him, listening to his voice, his laughter, made everything bad go away.

  Scared Jess to death. She never wanted to be dependent on anyone again, not emotionally, not financially. Standing on her own two feet was hard, yes, but she’d not become a victim once more because she longed for someone else to take care of her. Never again.

  She sensed it wouldn’t be like that with Tyler, but Jess wasn’t sure that feeling was reality or only wishful thinking.

  The good thing was, she’d be able to stay near Tyler, safe from the rest of the world, and find out.

  Did not hurt at all that he was worth looking at while she got to know him. Jess let herself enjoy the view as Tyler turned and walked away to the house. His long, tall body and fine ass was a sight to see. Nope, didn’t hurt at all.

  * * *

  Jess slept well past the communal breakfast. By the time she trudged into the kitchen at nine-thirty, Dominic at her side, Grace was the only one in the house.

  Grace looked around from the stove when Jess entered from the dining room and beamed her and Dominic a wide smile.

  “Good morning,” she said. “I figured you’d want to sleep, so I made sure the mob didn’t eat all the food. I have migas in this casserole—easy to heat, or traditional bacon and eggs if you want. Plenty of juice, and of course, coffee. You just let me know.”

  Grace looked like a beauty queen—one whose hot husband had knocked her up. She had dark hair and green eyes and a fine-boned face. Her body was swollen with her pregnancy, but the way she rested her hand on her abdomen made Jess’s heart squeeze. She remembered the feeling with Dominic, a love and protectiveness she’d never lost.

  Grace was kind too, from what Jess had seen, one of those women who were lovely all the way through. You couldn’t hate them as much as you wanted to, because you knew they weren’t hateable. They were just nice.

  “Thanks,” Jess said. “I’ll take the migas, if you don’t mind. Mrs. Alvarez makes those.”

  “Hers are awesome,” Dominic put in. “
Mrs. Alvarez can seriously cook.”

  Grace gave him an amused look as she took a casserole dish out of the refrigerator and popped it into the oven. “Let’s hope mine live up to it.”

  They did. The migas—eggs, fried tortilla strips, tomatoes and peppers, onions and cheese—were warm, flavorful, and satisfying.

  Grace continued to cook while Jess and Dominic devoured the food. She chopped vegetables and sautéed things, dishing food into containers, which she stacked in the refrigerator. She waltzed back and forth with movements that went with her name.

  “Perfect,” Jess said, wiping her mouth when she finished.

  “Thank you,” Grace said brightly. “How’d I do?” she asked Dominic.

  “Almost as good as Mrs. Alvarez’s,” Dominic said in all seriousness.

  Grace’s smile widened as though she understood this was high praise. “That’s terrific. I’m going to open my own restaurant. I started to before, but then crap happened, and I had to give up. But it’s my dream. It will be a pastry kitchen right here in town. I’m putting things on hold a few months for obvious reasons, but after that…” She brushed her abdomen again.

  Jess didn’t want to tell her that after her child was born, her priorities about everything would change—in a good way. But then, Grace had a look about her that said she would have the wherewithal to do anything she wanted. Jess had seen Grace’s husband, the hard-eyed Carter, gaze at her with loving admiration.

  Jess instructed Dominic to carry his plate to the sink, which he did, rinsing it off without being told. She’d already sat him down this morning and explained that they weren’t in a hotel—this was someone’s house, and they couldn’t expect maid service. They had to clean up after themselves, which was polite. Dominic had then explained back that he was nine, and he wasn’t a barbarian.

  As Jess had showered and dressed this morning, she’d decided she’d ask Tyler if she could stay on as a tenant, renewing the offer she’d made yesterday to pay rent. The apartment over the garage was nice, and it would be easier on her and Dominic to live there, at least for a while. Looking through the small town for an apartment or house rental would entail a credit check. Her credit was fine—she just didn’t want one more record for Elijah or his buddies to find.

  But first—“Any ideas on what kind of job I can do?” Jess asked. “Or do I go to the bar?”

  Grace considered. “Be careful if you accept Tyler’s offer to work here at the ranch. I was hired on as the cook, and look what happened.” She indicated her thickening body.

  Jess knew Grace teased but her heart beat faster. If Jess worked in the ranch’s main office, with Tyler coming in and out, she’d never get anything done. She’d be fired within a week.

  “I’m still the cook though,” Grace said, serious again. “For the whole ranch, I mean, with a salary. I’m not the little woman shoved into the kitchen.”

  “You’re not little,” Dominic said in surprise.

  He meant it as a compliment, Jess knew, but she darted a swift look at Grace and opened her mouth to apologize.

  Grace grinned at Dominic and spread her arms. “I know. I’m huge.” Her green eyes sparkled. “Want me to show you the town, Jess? I’ve cooked plenty this morning. If the menfolk can’t find enough for their lunch, then tough. They can make it themselves.”

  “The menfolk?” Jess asked, wanting to laugh.

  “A good name for them. Want to go?”

  “I would, yes.” Jess sprang up with an eagerness she hadn’t felt in a long time. A new place, a fresh start. “I can help you with the dishes first.”

  Grace glanced at the sink where Jess’s and Dominic’s breakfast dishes lay among the pots and skillets she’d dirtied, and waved an indifferent hand.

  “They’ll be here when we get back. A rule in my kitchen is, if you complain, you do the work yourself.”

  “And you get paid for that?” Dominic asked in admiration. “Mom, I want to be a cook when I grow up.”

  “A celebrity chef,” Grace said with enthusiasm. She peeled off the full-length apron that had kept her cheerful pink shirt and stretch black shorts clean. “Then you can hire people to do all the dishes for you. Let’s go.”

  She departed through the back door with a quickness a woman eight months gone shouldn’t have. When Jess and Dominic caught up to her on the porch, Grace led them to the garage and the pickup parked in the driveway below Tyler’s apartment. She opened its door without having to unlock it—must be nice to feel safe enough to leave a vehicle open.

  “I can drive if you want,” Jess offered.

  “No, no. I want you looking out the window. I know where everything is.” Grace caught Jess’s glance at her abdomen. “Don’t worry. I’m three weeks out and if anything happens, this is a small town. My doctor and the clinic are minutes away. I bet everyone in Riverbend knows how to deliver a baby anyway. They’ve either had to do it at home before the clinic was built or they’ve done it enough with horses and cows. But I refuse to lie on hay.”

  So chattering, Grace had them in the truck, Dominic in the cab’s back seat, and started it up. She rolled down the windows as they moved out through the drive.

  “Wave at Tyler,” she said, pointing.

  Tyler stood in the middle of the small ring where Jess had seen him yesterday. At the moment, he was holding the end of a very long rope while a horse at the other end galloped around him.

  Dominic waved enthusiastically, as did Grace. “I’m kidnapping Jess,” Grace called out the window to him. “Buh-bye.”

  Tyler raised his hand in acknowledgment, though he didn’t speak. He turned to watch the truck all the way out of the ranch, never mind the horse kicking up its heels at the other end of the line. Jess knew Tyler watched because she looked back at him until the trees cut off her view.

  “What was he doing?” Dominic asked.

  “It’s called a longe line,” Grace said, her plump hands placed precisely at ten and two o’clock on the wheel. “They use it to exercise the horses they won’t ride today, or to warm them up for other things, or to gentle new horses. The brothers are constantly training. It’s a lot of work.”

  Dominic thought about this. “I’m thinking cook is better.”

  “I don’t know,” Grace said. “You fall in love with horses pretty fast. You might be a cowboy yet.”

  “Mmm,” Dominic sounded skeptical. “Maybe.”

  As they passed under the gatepost, Jess was seized by sudden panic. Circle C was a safe place, a haven. Last night and this morning, she’d been sure nothing bad could happen to her as long as she was at the ranch. Now she was emerging into the real world with all its dangers.

  Her mouth went dry, her pulse beating hard as Grace slowed to a halt at the end of the drive. Jess half expected to see a line of motorcycles strung across the grasslands waiting for her, Elijah in their lead.

  What confronted her was an empty, two-lane road, its black asphalt faded by the Texas sun. One pickup raced by them, and Grace pulled onto the road behind it. Oblivious to Jess’s tension, she kept up her conversation.

  “The ranch is within Riverbend’s town limits, but just barely. The rest of the metropolis is over the rise.”

  “We were at a gas station yesterday,” Dominic told her.

  “The gas station,” Grace said. “Good, then you’ve seen most of Riverbend already. I’ll show you the rest then we’ll go to the diner. It’s the heart of the town—or maybe its stomach.”

  Jess’s hands began to unclench as Grace drove on. She saw no sign of Elijah and his men, very few bikers at all. This was ranch country—most of the vehicles were pickups and SUVs built for hauling loads of hay or pulling trailers.

  Dallas, for all its big-city might, was surrounded by farms and ranch land, so Jess was used to horse trailers and trucks full of hay bales. Absent in Riverbend were slick cars and businessmen in suits, high rises, coffee houses on every corner, and chain restaurants, strip malls, and big retail stores.

>   “This is downtown,” Grace said as she passed the gas station and drove around a square with a large courthouse in the middle. “The shops in this area are all owned by locals—Carter and his brothers help small businesses set up here instead of letting in the chains. AGCT has been running a year and so far has been very successful.” She didn’t bother to keep the pride from her voice.

  “Where’s the school?” Dominic asked.

  “Not in Riverbend. The elementary school is in White Fork, and the high school is in between the two towns. I went to both, as did the Campbells. They’re kind of famous. Not for their good grades.” Grace chuckled.

  “Mom won’t let me get bad grades,” Dominic said darkly.

  “That’s smart of her,” Grace said.

  Jessica didn’t like that the school was in another town, which meant she’d have to send Dominic off on a bus. Either that or drive him there and back, and worry about him all day. Then again, maybe she could get a job at the school. She could work in the office or maybe be a cafeteria lady. She bit back a laugh picturing herself in an apron with a plastic hair net, but then she sobered. She’d do it if it meant a paycheck and the ability to watch over Dominic.

  Grace showed Jess the shops along the square, the small area of old bungalows where Christina and Grant and their little girl now lived. Adam and Bailey had built a house down the road from the ranch. Ross had an apartment over the shops on the square near the sheriff’s office where he worked.

  “None of the Campbells ever wanted to move far from home. Isn’t that sweet?” Grace headed the big truck toward the gas station and the diner beyond. “I have no room to talk. My family’s ranch is down that road.” She pointed to a turnoff beyond the square. “I moved a whole ten miles.”

  “You love it,” Jess said with conviction. “It shows.”

  Grace shrugged. “I’d never live anywhere else. I like going to Austin to shop and have fun, but it’s crazy. So much traffic, development everywhere, crime. Riverbend has its share of crimes, but nothing like the cities.” Grace gave her a sideways glance. “Oh, but you know that. You’re from Dallas. No offense.”