by Soraya Lane
“Hmmm, no,” he said.
“Hmmm, yes.” Chloe stood on tiptoe, still a foot shorter than Ryder. He had to be at least six four, which meant next time she was around him she was going to make damn sure she was wearing heels.
When he bent, Ryder’s mouth was so close to hers that she could kiss him with the smallest tilt forward, could have his lips moving against hers almost instantly, but she didn’t. Instead she looked from his eyes to his mouth, teasing him, thinking about it, almost giving in. Would it be so bad to enjoy him if it was only temporary? If it was clear it was just for fun?
“I thought you didn’t like the idea of being my girlfriend,” he said, shuffling forward an inch, his arms encircling her waist, hands firm over her hips.
“Women are fickle,” she murmured, so close to kissing him. “But this is just for business, to make sure we’re playing our roles right.”
“So you want to be my bought-and-paid-for mistress?” he asked, grinning as he dipped his head and pressed a soft kiss to her neck, just below her jawline, then another even lower.
Chloe stretched her neck out and bit back the sigh that was so close to escaping, mouth parted in anticipation. Only he didn’t move up, lips caressing her collarbone instead, so gently the pleasure of it almost hurt.
“I’m not your mistress,” she forced out, “because a mistress is never the one calling the shots. Rich men use mistresses then discard them like a used pack of cards.”
He paused, his breath hot against her neck, his head slowly moving up so she could feel the heat against her cheek. Chloe could feel her heart slamming hard against her chest, her breathing rapid, fingers itching to claw over Ryder’s skin.
“I’ve never had a mistress before, so I wouldn’t know.”
She laughed, a throaty rumble that she hardly recognized. “I doubt that very much.”
Now his chest was skimming hers, his mouth even closer, his hands slipping from her hips to touch the top of her butt.
“I’ve had plenty of lovers, Chloe,” he whispered, “just no mistresses. And I’d sure as hell remember if I’d had one like you.”
Ryder stayed still, his breath warm on her skin, closer to her ear now than her lips.
“Does that mean I’m in charge, then?” she asked, turning slightly to the right, never taking her eyes from his mouth.
“It means I’m at your mercy, so do with me what you will, darlin’.”
His sexy drawl rattled her, made her want to rip off his T-shirt and push him down to the floor and take him right there in the living room.
She reached up, fingers crawling up his chest, until she reached his collarbone. With all the willpower she possessed and then some, she clutched the neck of his tee and yanked him forward a little, touching her lips to his so gently it was only the barest brush of their mouths. Need swirled inside her, but she wasn’t ready to give in to her lust, not yet. She wanted to stay in control.
When she pulled back, every part of her screaming out for more, his lips so pillowy and warm, she whispered against his mouth.
“We leave for Vegas in the morning.”
Chapter 5
Ryder banged on the front door as he walked in, kicking off his boots and heading down the hall.
“In here!” Nate called out.
He saw both his brothers sitting at the big old oak table that’d been in the kitchen since he was a boy. They were both nursing beers, Chase leaning back and looking every inch the rancher in his worn Wranglers, and Nate with a suit jacket slung over his chair. His two older brothers might look the same, but there was nothing similar about what they did for a living. One wrangled deals and the other cattle. Nate managed the commercial property the family owned here, and in New York and L.A., and Chase ran their main ranch and oversaw the managers on their other Texas landholdings.
“You get back last night?” Ryder asked, pulling out a chair.
“Early this morning,” Nate said. “A day in New York and I’m done. Hate the place.”
Ryder raised his eyebrows. “Yeah, such a hard life jetting around and going to meetings.”
“Fuck you,” Nate said, although he was grinning. “I have to take clients out to dinner, too, you know. Keep all our tenants on good terms and try to acquire more property.”
“Give me a bucking animal any day of the week.”
Nate’s smile faded and was replaced by a scowl. Damn it. He hadn’t meant to piss Nate off, not today anyway.
“Settle down you two,” Chase said, leaning forward and clinking his beer bottle to Ryder’s. “How’s Chloe?”
Ryder sipped his beer, calmed his nerves. He half expected them both to know what he’d done, although he knew he wouldn’t be sitting here now if they did.
Nate’s smile returned, one of his eyebrows shooting up. “Granddad said you’re taking the jet tomorrow. You’re whisking the blonde away for a dirty getaway, aren’t you?”
“I can’t believe I didn’t recognize her from Joe’s. She’s seriously hot,” Chase said.
Ryder clenched his fists, pissed off for no good reason. Hearing his brothers talk about Chloe like that … It was stupid, because that’s how they always talked about women, but everything about her made him go all over-protective. Maybe he’d gone too long trying not to care too much about anyone, and now he’d met someone who seriously pushed his buttons, which was driving him a little crazy.
“We’re going to Vegas and her name is Chloe.”
Nate slammed his elbow into Chase’s side and they burst out laughing.
“Her name,” Nate imitated, “is Chloe.”
“Fuck off,” Ryder swore.
“Settle down bro,” Nate said, leaning across the table and sliding him another beer. “We’re just not, hell, I don’t know. It’s weird seeing you all jumpy over a girl.”
“Enough,” Ryder snapped, grabbing the beer and finishing half of it in one long swig. “I don’t want to talk about her with you two. Not now, not ever.”
“Geez, he’s got it bad,” Chase said with a chuckle. “Have you whispered those three little words in her ear yet?”
“I said fuck off,” Ryder muttered.
“What, you suddenly can’t take a good ribbing about a girl?”
Ryder growled and lunged for Chase across the table, needing to take his frustration out on someone.
“Ryder!” Nate grabbed his arm at the last minute, just as he was about to connect with Chase’s face, hauling him off the table so they both went tumbling.
Ryder hit the ground with a thump, Nate landing half on top of him and Chase falling sideways off his chair. Goddamn it! He raised a hand to his head, waiting for the blast of pain that he knew was about to hit.
“Lucky we’ve all had a few beers, huh?” Chase said with a grin from a few feet away.
“What, no thanks for stopping you from getting your teeth knocked out?” asked Nate, extracting himself from Ryder and standing, flexing the arm he’d landed on.
“He deserved it.” Ryder stayed lying on the floor, the wood cool against his skin. He was still nursing last night’s hangover and now his head was thumping.
“We’re just playing around,” Nate said. “What’d you expect when we saw her driving your car? You’ve never even let me drive it.”
“Just admit you like her,” Chase said. “Simple as that. She’s not just some cute girl you picked up and brought home, is she?”
“What, then you’ll miraculously shut the hell up?” Ryder asked.
He watched them exchange glances.
“Yeah,” said Chase. “Stop pretending like she’s just some cute piece of ass and man up.”
Heat rose like an angry snake through Ryder’s body, creeping fast into his veins until he wanted to explode. “Goddamn it! She’s not…”
“A piece of ass,” Nate finished for him, giving him a shove. “Admit it. Just fucking admit it.”
“Fine,” Ryder snapped. “So I like her. Is that what you wanted to hear?”
Nate’s mouth twisted into a half smile and Chase sniggered, but neither of them said a word. Ryder hauled himself up and surveyed the mess, two bottles on the ground and one tipped over on the table.
“Who would have thought, huh? Our baby brother getting all twisted in knots over a woman.”
Ryder ignored him and crossed the room to the fridge, pulling out another three bottles. They could tease him all they wanted, he didn’t give a damn. He had a plan with Chloe and what he needed was for his brothers to leave him the hell alone, so if that meant admitting to them that Chloe wasn’t just a good-time kind of girl, then so be it. They were supposed to be dating so him being all protective over her went with the territory.
“So does she have any hot friends?” Chase asked.
“Maybe.” Ryder gave Chase a beer, slapping him over the back of the head then dropping it in front of him. “Aside from one cute brunette at the rodeo the other day, I don’t know yet.”
“And what does she think of you riding rodeo?” Nate asked.
“What the hell do you think? I haven’t met a girl yet who doesn’t love seeing me ride a bull or a bronc.”
Nate glared at him, his voice like a lion’s growl when he spoke. “Bullshit.”
“Come to my next ride and see if she’s there watching.”
Nate didn’t look impressed with being goaded, but Ryder didn’t care. He knew what they all wanted him to do, and he’d already made it clear that he was going to make his own choices about what he did and didn’t do in his life. He might be back in Texas, but he wasn’t going to give up the one damn thing he was good at. Besides, he knew Chase wasn’t as pissed off with him as Nate was, but if their granddad had been here too—then Nate would have looked like the easy one.
“I’ll stop when I need to stop. Haven’t you seen the gear I’m wearing these days? There’s no chance I’ll hurt myself again.”
“When you’re dead? You’re gonna be real useful to us if you stop then,” Nate muttered. “You know Granddad wants you more involved in the business.”
Ryder looked at Chase but just received a shrug in response. “Lay off. We’ve talked this to death already. Can’t you just let it go?” If his granddad wanted him more involved, then he could tell him himself.
“Ah, let me think,” Nate said, his glare raw anger. “No.”
Chase pushed back his chair, drained his beer, and stood up. “You guys wanna come see a man about a bull with me?”
“That code for something else?” Ryder asked, staying seated and watching his brothers.
“Nope. Just sayin’ it like it is.”
He glanced at Nate, still scowling at him, and decided he’d go with the brother who looked less likely to commit murder.
“Yeah, I’ll come,” Ryder said. “Lucky some of us were born capable of working on a ranch.”
Nate stood, pushing up his shirtsleeves and bunching his fists. The fact that he was wearing suit pants and a dress shirt didn’t make him any less intimidating, but Ryder had dealt with being the youngest all his life, knew how to keep up with his brothers. He might have been smaller once, but the only advantage Nate had on him now was a few more years’ experience.
“Easy,” Chase said, coming between them and putting a hand on Ryder’s chest to push him out of the way.
“I’ve got ranch business of my own to attend,” Nate told them. “Sam’s coming over to show me a new horse he’s been working with.” Nate’s childhood best friend trained all their horses, and they all liked an excuse to watch him work.
Ryder followed Chase out into the late afternoon sunshine, closing his eyes and turning his face up toward the sky for a moment. Texas was in his blood, and so was this ranch. He might scrap with his brothers all the time, but family meant everything to him—his grandfather was the most important person in his life. And he was so close to making the biggest screwup of his life, one that could cost him everything, which meant he had to keep himself in check.
“Come on, Romeo,” Chase called out.
Ryder jogged the distance between them. “Coming.”
“Want to go for a ride? I need some cattle moved into the pens.”
He shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.” He’d had only a few beers and it wasn’t exactly far to ride. “What’re we bringing them in for?”
Chase laughed, making a scissor motion with his fingers. “Castration. You’d know all about that though, right? Not like you to back down from a fight.”
“What the fuck are you saying?” Ryder stopped walking so fast his boots sent a cloud of dust up in the air.
“That your girl might have your balls.” Chase made a face and shuddered theatrically.
“Don’t you…”
“Chloe. Her name is Chloe. Yeah, I heard you loud and clear the first time.”
Ryder slammed his shoulder into his brother’s as he passed. They might be dickheads half the time, but they were only trying to rile him up. He’d trust them with his life—although maybe not his girl. Women were fair game, survival of the fittest, but if he had it his way neither of them would be seeing Chloe at all if he could help it.
“So you’re really pulling out all the stops for this one, huh?” Chase asked, catching up and falling into step beside him.
What did he say to that? That she was the one calling the shots? They’d get a damn good kick out of hearing that a woman was telling a King what to do, not to mention trying to dig him out of trouble.
“Did I mention she said no to me the first few times I asked her out?”
Chase slung his arm around Ryder’s shoulder. “Look, if you need help with the ladies…”
Ryder laughed. “What, taking her to Vegas isn’t enough?”
“Maybe you need to play hard ball. Girls want what they can’t have.”
Ryder chuckled. “Yeah, so do I. The second she turned me down all I wanted was her and no one else.”
“Come on, let’s get these cattle moved and sorted, then you can tell me all about her over a few more beers.”
“Sounds good.” If only he didn’t feel like such a goddamn liar, it wouldn’t have been a half-bad way to spend the afternoon.
Chapter 6
He stood tall as he waited for Chloe to walk down through the terminal to where he was standing. His brothers might have given him shit about taking the jet on short notice and whisking her off to Vegas, but he’d let them hassle him all they wanted if it meant keeping his secret.
Cool beads of sweat broke out across Ryder’s forehead just thinking about what he was keeping from his family. Stamp it out. It was the only way he could deal with what had happened, pretend like he was still in control and was going to get it back. And he had to believe Chloe. His gut told him she could do it, that she could actually pull this off, but then he thought of Parker’s smarmy face and he wasn’t so sure all over again. But giving her a chance wasn’t his problem—there was no reason not to let Chloe try to help, because she couldn’t hurt him more than he’d already hurt himself anyway.
“Hey beautiful,” he called out as she came near, smiling when he saw her.
“Hey,” she replied, blowing away a strand of hair that had fallen forward to brush her lips.
Ryder took one of her bags from her so she had a hand free.
“You ready to go?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
She was clutching the handle of a carry-on bag, and one glance told him that something was making her nervous. Or maybe she’d been nervous this entire time and she’d just been doing a damn good job of disguising it.
“You okay?” he asked, running his hand down her arm, stopping at her elbow when her body stiffened.
Chloe smiled even though she was still tense to the touch. “I’m fine. I just didn’t think I’d be going back to Vegas ever again. It’s not exactly somewhere I’ve been yearning to visit.”
“Bad memories?” he asked, picking up their bags and walking slowly alongside her.
“
Just imagine being dragged around casinos, bars, and back rooms as a kid, every night of the week sometimes, and then you’ll start to get an idea.”
Ryder glanced at her, saw that even though she was trying to be upbeat there was real pain behind her words.
“I had a shitty dad, too,” he told her. “Everyone thinks we grew up in this amazing house with everything we wanted, but sometimes all you really want as a kid is a parent to give a crap about you, huh?”
Chloe nodded, her eyes meeting his when he glanced at her. “Did your dad pass away?” she asked.
Ryder nodded to the security guy and ushered Chloe through the door first, walking out onto the tarmac. “My mom died just after giving birth to me and my dad, well, let’s just say that some men shouldn’t be fathers.”
Chloe stopped walking, her expression hard to read. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize.”
“What? About the fact that I killed my mom or that my dad walked out?”
She frowned. “Both.”
“Don’t feel sorry for me,” he said, clearing his throat and nodding toward the plane. “I had it way better than most and a granddad who’d have done anything for us. But if I saw my dad again right now?” He chuckled. “I’d tell him to fuck off and keep walking.”
“Do you have champagne onboard?” Chloe asked, eyes wide as she stared at the jet they were approaching.
He paused, and considered how impressive the plane must have looked to someone who hadn’t seen it before. He’d been traveling in it since he was a boy, although Nate did most of the airtime in it these days for business, but he never tired of seeing their family crest on the side, the rearing horse proud for all to see.
Ryder waved at the flight attendant standing at the top of the stairs, in uniform and waiting with her hands clasped behind her back. The punch of fear hit his stomach again as he realized he was so close to losing all of this, that his granddad could take everything away from him for letting the family down. Partying and not giving a damn about life was one thing, but actually fucking up like he had was unacceptable.
“Ah, sure do,” he replied, gesturing for Chloe to walk ahead of him.