“What are you getting at?” Monica asked.
“Ty’s not drinking like he used to, but based on his lifestyle, I don’t have any reason to think he’s changed. I’d hate to see you get hurt too.”
“I don’t understand why you’re concerned about it,” Monica replied. “Look, I’m only here to lay my father to rest. After that, Ty and I will probably never see each other again. Why are you interested? What do you want from him, Delaney?”
“I need something from him. So I need to ask you straight out if you’re staking your claim.”
“I don’t mean to be rude, but what’s between me and Ty is no one else’s business.”
“It’s not that I want Ty back,” Delaney said. “It was a mistake the first time around. We both know that. The whole thing was pure lust.” She hesitated, digging the carpet fringe with the toe of her boot. “Maybe I could have loved him if he’d only tried just a little bit. Even at his worst, Ty is impossible to hate, but he never invested anything in the relationship.”
“Then why did you marry him?” Monica asked, more curious than ever to reconcile Ty’s version of the story with Delaney’s.
Delaney plopped down on the edge of the queen four-poster bed with a sigh. “Because I was desperate to get out from under my controlling family when I met Ty. For as long as I can remember, someone was always telling me how to dress, how to act, and even what to think. I was raised to be the perfect little Houston debutante. I wasn’t free to make even the simplest decisions for myself. All that mattered was the outer package. No one really cared about me. Ty, on the other hand, didn’t give damn about any of those trappings.”
“No, I don’t suppose he would,” Monica said.
“Ty was everything my parents would hate—the perfect antidote to my horrible life,” Delaney continued. “He was also my first . . . but he didn’t know that until after the fact.”
“Really? And how did he take it when he found out?” Monica asked.
“He felt guilty as hell.”
“And you used it against him?” Monica asked.
“More or less. I talked him into eloping.”
“It was that easy?”
Delaney returned a wistful smile. “Yeah, it was. We couldn’t keep our hands off each other back then. That part was good, but it didn’t last very long.” She paused. “I don’t believe Ty ever intended to hurt me, but Ty likes women. A lot. And they’ve always liked him back.”
“Sounds an awful lot like you’re trying to warn me off.”
“Maybe so,” Delaney said.
“You think he cheated on you?”
“He was gone for weeks on end. His drinking got heavier, and his phone calls were fewer and farther between. What was I to think? Then I saw some very incriminating pictures posted on the Internet. He denied any wrongdoing, of course. I know he was pretty messed up back then, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, or that I could forgive him for it.”
“If that’s the case,” Monica said, “what do you want with him?”
Delaney returned a cool smile. “As you just so eloquently put it, what’s between me and Ty is no one else’s business.”
Chapter Six
Ty was looking forward to saddling up ol’ Beau. He hadn’t been on a horse in ages and desperately needed some time to think. He already had a good idea where Tom would have wanted his ashes to be scattered and hoped to figure some things out on the long ride down to the river. Horses were the best therapy he knew—aside from sex, that is. If he couldn’t have the one, he’d have to settle for the other.
He was leading Beau out of his corral when Monica appeared. “That’s a beautiful horse,” she remarked. “I bet he could clear some fences with those long legs.”
Ty grinned and patted the neck of the leggy, bald-faced sorrel. “Working cattle, jumping fences, scaling canyons, crossing rivers. You name it. Anything you can imagine doing on a horse, this ol’ boy’s done it.”
“Really? How old is he?” she asked, stroking the gelding’s nose.
Ty scratched his chin in thought. “Tom gave him to me as a yearling for my fifteenth birthday, so I guess he must be coming up on twenty, but don’t tell him that.”
“Where are you going with him?” Monica asked.
“Thought we’d ride down to a place where Tom and I used to fish for alligator gar.”
Her eyes widened. “There are alligators in that river?”
“Not gators. Alligator gar. It’s a butt-ugly sport fish with a mouth like a gator. They’re also just as big. Tom and I once reeled in a six-footer. The biggest ones on record have been caught in the Red River.”
“I didn’t realize Tom enjoyed sport fishing,” she said.
“Yup. Ranching, fishing, hunting, flying his plane. Tom was a real man’s man.”
“There’s so much I still don’t know about him,” she said sadly. “And now I never will.”
“You knew enough to love him,” Ty reassured. “And he loved you back, Monica. He was damned proud of you too. Hell, he bragged about you all the time and even carried your picture in his wallet. He showed it to me the day he had his first stroke. I think he had some crazy matchmaking scheme in mind.”
“He wasn’t so subtle about it with me either,” she replied dryly.
“Oh yeah?” Ty cocked a brow. “What did he say?”
“Tom never kept it secret that he didn’t like Evan, but he thought a great deal of you. He wanted us to run the hotel together, but I think he had hopes of more. I set him straight that it was never going to happen between you and me.”
He eyed her levelly. “Never’s an awful long time.”
“This is a pointless conversation.” She shoved her hands in her pockets. “I only came down here to ask if you knew Tom’s favorite spot on the ranch.”
“Yeah. I know it. It’s a grassy knoll that overlooks the river. You can see Tom’s entire spread stretching out for miles from there. He loved that spot. Matter-o-fact, it’s where me and Beau were headed.”
“Can I go with you?” she asked. “Delaney loaned me some jeans and boots.”
She stuck out a foot to show off a pair of dusty ropers. His gaze tracked from the boots slowly upward. He was surprised he hadn’t noticed sooner the boots and faded denim encasing her mile-long legs. Monica Brandt was hot as hell in her skirt and heels, but looking at her now, he was filled with the urge to back her up to a wall and peel those jeans slowly off her hips.
“Please, Ty,” she said.
Ty hesitated. The biggest reason for the ride was for some alone time. He had so much to figure out. Monica’s presence would only muddle his head. “It’s a long ride,” he warned her.
“How long?”
“Couple hours. Probably four to get there and back. Five if we hang around a bit. That won’t put us back ’til about supper time.”
“I don’t have anything else to do except for going through Tom’s effects, and I need you for that.”
“Fine,” he grunted. “I’ll take you. Just don’t complain to me later ’bout your sore ass. I s’pose we can find an ol’ ranch horse ’round here that’ll suit you . . . unless you jus’ wanna climb up here on ol’ Beau with me.”
She eyed the horse dubiously. “Can he carry us both?”
The horse gave a snort of protest.
Ty replied with a chuckle, “He might not like it much, but it won’t hurt him any. He’s big enough, and it’s about time he earned his groceries.”
Monica questioned her judgment the moment she mounted the horse behind Ty and wrapped her arms around his big, hard body. After last night, she’d sworn to keep her distance, but now that distance could be measured in millimeters. She shut her eyes, inhaling the tantalizing scents of mingled leather, horse, and male musk. It wasn’t just his smell, a unique blend of old-time Marlboro man with a hint of urban cowboy, that turned her on, but his easygoing nature, quick wit, and natural, unaffected swagger. Most of all was how he wore his masculinity with
out apology.
Ty was just as much a man’s man as Tom had been, but Ty also liked women, and as Delaney had painfully pointed out, maybe too much. Could she ever trust a man like that? Though her heart wanted to say yes, his history told her emphatically no.
“So what were you and Delaney so chummy about?” His sudden question broke the silence.
“Are you growing paranoid in your old age, Ty? I told you, she offered me some jeans and boots.”
“Her place is only fifteen minutes away. You were gone for almost two hours.”
“You timed me?”
“Course not, I simply noticed. I was talking to Bob when I saw you leave. My ears were burning the whole while you were gone.”
“That’s a tad egotistical, don’t you think?”
“Is it?” he asked. “Gotta wonder how you filled that time.”
“You really just want to know if we talked about you,” she said.
“I already know that much,” he replied. “What did she want from you?”
“Why do you think she wanted anything?”
“Because that’s Delaney. She doesn’t do anything without an ulterior motive.”
“Do you really despise her that much?” Monica asked. Although Delaney had been just as snarky toward Ty, Monica had no doubt she still had feelings for him. She wondered if Ty’s outward animosity was also just a ruse.
“No,” he confessed, “I don’t really despise her. She just annoys the hell out of me.”
“But weren’t you the one who did her wrong?” Monica shot back.
His back stiffened. “I told you it wasn’t like that. Who are you gonna believe, Monica, a bitter ex-wife or me?”
She replied slowly, “As Tom used to say, there’s two sides to every story, and then there’s the truth that lies somewhere in the middle. I think I’ll stick to that middle ground on this.”
“Fair enough,” he grunted, his body relaxing under her hands.
“I don’t know what she wanted from me, Ty, but I got a strong feeling that she wants something from you.”
He tensed again and shifted in the saddle. “Why do you say that?”
“Because she asked flat out if I was after you.”
“Did she now?” He turned his head to catch her eye. “And what did you say?”
“I told her it was none of her business. But I also told her I’m leaving, so I’m sure she’ll draw the right conclusion. Does she want you back? She swore she doesn’t, but her actions make no sense otherwise.”
Ty snorted. “Delaney may be a walking contradiction, but she knows we’re done.”
“Then what does she want?”
Ty’s chest rose and fell with a sigh. “A baby.”
“A what?” Monica repeated, dumbfounded.
“Delaney wants a kid and thinks she can persuade me to be the daddy. Course, she’s delusional on that account.”
“But why you?”
“She doesn’t want to go to a sperm bank.”
“She’s young. Why not just remarry?”
He shrugged. “Seems I ruined all her notions of matrimony.”
Monica digested his words. Delaney’s actions might seem desperate but made a certain amount of sense. She’d been burned before, but Ty was at least the devil she knew. It was also clear now why she was concerned about Monica’s involvement with Ty.
“You said she tried to persuade you. How, Ty?”
“Money . . . lotsa money.”
“She tried to bribe you into sleeping with her?” It was Monica’s turn to stiffen in the saddle. “How much, Ty? What are you worth as a breeding stud?”
“Twelve million, interest free.”
“That must be flattering,” Monica replied dryly.
He smirked. “If you don’t think I’m worth it, maybe I need to refresh your memory.”
“Don’t even go there, cowboy.” She let out a derisive laugh. “You had your chance just last night. Don’t think for a minute you’ll get another one. What did you do after you sent me away? Jack off in the shower?”
“Sure did,” he said, ignoring the taunt. “What about you? Were you thinking about me pounding my big cock into you while you writhed in your cold and lonely bed?”
It was far too close to the truth. She squirmed. The horse shifted, making her all too aware of the moist heat invading her core. “Just stop it,” she hissed with a slap that bounced off his broad back.
He turned around with a chuckle. “Best hang on tight.” With that warning, she tightened her hold as he spurred the horse into a smooth, rocking lope.
Loping along the riverbank with Monica holding his hips in a vicelike grip, Ty swore under his breath. Nothing was worse than riding with a hard-on, but stupid shit that he was, he’d done it to himself. Self-restraint and patience were two of his talents, but Monica was a supreme test of both. Last night had been an exercise in self-control that he had no wish to repeat. It was mighty hard to stay focused when her eyes had screamed “Fuck me hard, Ty.” He consoled himself that the torture would end the minute they dismounted. Mumbling a few more curses, he reminded himself once more about that long game.
They didn’t speak again until he pulled up at the stand of willows that Tom’s granddaddy had planted two generations back to mark the most prime fishing spot on the Little River. They stood for silent minutes gazing out at the swiftly rolling tributary that stretched, wound, and undulated through Tom’s land.
“So this was his favorite place?” She grimaced. “Not at all what I expected. It’s so . . . murky.”
“All the better for gar fishing,” Ty replied with a grin. “But there’s also a great view. It’s up there.” He pointed to a grass-covered slope. “C’mon, lean into me and hang on tight.”
Ty urged the horse up the steep incline. Reaching the top, he gestured to the expanse of gently rolling landscape unfurling for miles like a massive carpet of green and gold. “Take a good look now, Monica. It’s all Tom’s. As far as the eye can see.”
“No it isn’t, Ty,” Monica replied softly. “It’s yours.”
Ty’s heart swelled with a sudden surge of emotion that struck him dumb. Pride was part of it, for certain, but then his gut twisted with an incomprehensible feeling of loneliness. Was this how Tom had felt? Like the king of a vast and lonely kingdom? Maybe that’s what had continually called him back to Vegas? And now all of it was his. He still hadn’t quite come to grips with that.
“You were right. It’s breathtaking,” Monica murmured on a sigh. “Now I wish we’d brought his ashes with us. This is the perfect spot.”
“You wanted to do it now?” Ty asked.
“What’s the point in waiting? I don’t want to drag this out any longer, Ty.”
Did she mean saying goodbye to Tom? Or was she in that big a hurry to leave both Ty and Oklahoma in the rearview mirror? Fuck that plan.
“You can let go now,” he said and then swept her off the horse. He followed and dropped the reins to the ground.
“Aren’t you going to tie him?” Monica asked.
“Just did,” Ty replied. “It’s called ground tying. There aren’t a lot of trees on the open range, so ranch horses are trained to stay put.”
“Oh. Did you teach him that?”
“Yup. I’d like to boast that I taught that horse everything he knows, but truth is he’s taught me a whole lot more.”
“Like what?” she asked.
“Responsibility, to start with. Day in day out, you have to be there for horses, whether you feel like it or not. That’s carried over into many aspects of my life.
“I’ve also learned patience and self-discipline. It can take weeks or even months to teach an animal to do something. Sometimes you think they’re never going to get it, and then when you least expect it, the breakthrough happens and it all pays off.
“I’ve also learned adaptability—that no single approach works all the time. Sometimes we need to change tactics to get the results we seek.”
&n
bsp; She raised her chin to meet his gaze. “Is that what this is all about, Ty? A change of tactics?”
He cocked his head. “Maybe.”
Tom had believed enough in Ty to put him in the CEO seat, but he needed Monica to bring the dream to fruition. He’d vowed to do whatever it took to make that happen.
“What else has that horse taught you?” she asked.
“Humility.”
“Really?” she snorted in disbelief.
“Yeah, really. No matter how good you think you are, eventually your ass is gonna hit the dirt. It’s a mighty humbling experience when the horse sticks his nose in your face after dumping you. But you have to get up, brush yourself off, and get right back in the saddle. If you don’t do it, you’ll only lose your nerve.”
“But how can you ever trust an animal that’s thrown you?”
“There are always risks,” he said. “But if you don’t get back on the horse, you’ll always be afraid of getting the worst end of a deal, instead of enjoying the best. Who wants to live with that kind of crippling fear?”
“Some of us are braver than others, Ty.”
“I s’pose that’s true enough,” he said.
Pulling down a saddlebag, he threw it over his shoulder and then took her by the hand. Leading her beneath the lone oak tree guarding the hill, he unrolled a blanket and sprawled out, patting the space beside him. “You ready to talk now?”
“Isn’t that what we’ve been doing?” she asked, settling herself beside him, arms wrapped around her knees.
“No, sugar. We’ve been talking all around it.”
“It?”
“Last night.” He moved in close until his face was mere inches from hers. His voice was casual as his gaze dipped to her mouth. Now that he had her alone, he wasn’t above using any means, fair or foul, to change her mind.
“Last night?” she repeated with a visible swallow.
“Yeah. Told you I’d give you what you want as soon as you agree to come back to Vegas with me.”
“What I want?” she gave another derisive snort. “That’s an interesting spin. I don’t think I imagined that raging hard-on you had last night, Ty.”
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