420 Bride Street: Cherry Falls, Book #16

by Cole, Jagger

  “Your ex.”

  “Do to what?”

  “To be your ex.”

  He chuckles deeply as he downs his drink and signals to Mike the bartender for two more.

  “I think our ex’s both read the same page from the ‘how to be a shitty human’ handbook.”

  I wrinkle my nose. “Shit, sorry.”

  “The short version is she cheated on me all over the damn place before divorcing me and trying to take everything I have.”

  I wince. “Ouch. I’m sorry. Is she single?”

  He frowns. “Why?”

  “Because we could set her up with Jeff and sit back with the popcorn to watch the fireworks.”

  Colt roars with laughter as he grins at me. “That was good.”

  “I have my moments.”

  Mike comes back with our two fresh drinks. I finish my first and thank him as I take the second.

  “So,” Colt grunts. “Where’d you end up deciding to stay since you bailed on my guest cottage?”

  I frown into my drink, chewing on my lip. When my silence drags on, Colt turns to frown.

  “You at Cassidy’s place? I mean I know she’s out of town and all.”

  I shake my head.

  His brow furrows. “Doc Watts?”

  I shake my head. Colt turns to face me fully.

  “Where’d you stay last night, Tansy?”

  I shrug. “It was fine.”

  He stares at me. “Don’t tell me you slept in that fucking truck.”

  The whiskey on an almost empty stomach is starting to hit me. So I giggle a little as I shrug. “Okay, I won’t then.”

  He groans. “Shit. Well, look, the position is still open.”

  I start to open my mouth, but he holds a hand up. “It’s not charity. I really could use your help with Chance and his problem.”

  I blush and look into my drink. “I… no.” I shake my head. “No thank you.”

  “Why?”

  “Because!”

  “Because?”

  “Because… I don’t know. I’m not sure.”

  “Because you’ve seen my dick?”

  I blush furiously. “Mr. Patton!” I choke.

  He laughs to himself and takes a drink. “It’s just Colt, darlin’.” He frowns. “Okay, what if I promised that the room would be dick free?”

  I groan as my face burns.

  “I’ll even sweeten the deal. After the month, you can keep staying there. Rent free.”

  My head whips around to stare at him. “What?”

  “You heard me.”

  My brow wrinkles. “I already told you, you don’t owe me an apology. It’s your house.”

  “And I already told you this isn’t charity.”

  “What else would you call free lodging?”

  “A nice thing to do.”

  I frown. “It’s charity.”

  Colt rolls his eyes. “Christ, are you always this stubborn?”

  “Most of the time.”

  He chuckles. “Look, it’s clean, the property is beautiful, if I do say so myself. And me and Harley keep to ourselves.”

  “Harley?”

  “My dog.”

  My mind flashes back to the cute little floppy mutt in the stable who wagged his tail at me before going back to bed.

  “It’s an easy drive back to the clinic, for when that job starts. And I’m not sure if I mentioned this enough times yet, because you seem to be glossing over this little tidbit. But it’s free.”

  I mull that over, sucking my teeth.

  Colt laughs at my silence. “Fuck, you weren’t kidding about that stubbornness. C’mon. honestly, where else are you going stay?”

  “The truck really wasn’t that bad.”

  He frowns. “No. No damn way. You’re coming with me.”

  I giggle. “How demanding.”

  “Yep,” he shrugs.

  “And if I say no?”

  “In favor of sleeping in your pickup truck?” He shrugs. “A man could get a little offended.”

  I grin, eying him.

  “Don’t make me throw you over my shoulder and march you back out to that cottage, Tansy.

  I feel the blush tease though me. My core tightens with a fluttery feeling. And I can’t help but think “yes please” in my head.

  “I’ll even throw in a free dinner and some beers tonight.”

  “Just tonight?”

  He roars another big, lion-like laugh. When the turns to level those piercing dark eyes at me, I tremble with heat.

  “Deal or not, Tansy. Last time I’m asking.”

  This is a very, very bad idea. I mean the job is good. The free place to live, even after I move to the vet clinic, is amazing. And he’s right; the ranch itself is gorgeous in terms of a view out the window.

  But it’s the man that might be inhabiting that view, living fifty feet away, that throws a monkey wrench into this idea. The man who’s disarmingly charming, fantasy-inspiring, and pretty much gorgeous on every level. Also, I’ve seen him naked. All of him.

  Living across the back yard from him is an absolutely terrible idea.

  Luckily, terrible ideas are kind of my bag these days. I stick my hand out.

  “Deal.”

  Colt takes mine and shakes it, and I tremble inside down to my core.

  What the hell have I just gotten myself into?

  4

  Colt

  The steaks are already sizzling on the grill when it occurs to me that I have no idea if she even eats meat. We’re both in the back garden area between the main house and her guest cottage. I look up from the grill, and I chuckle when I see Harley in absolute heaven, getting his tummy rubbed.

  “Suckered you in already, huh?”

  “He’s the sweetest!” She laughs. She grins as she leans down to use both her hands to rub his fuzzy belly. “You are just the sweetest little thing, aren’t you?”

  Harvey’s tongue lolls out, and he happily wags his tail. I roll my eyes. “He’s a whore is what he is.”

  “Wow.” She looks up at me with a raised brow. “Harsh.”

  “What? He is. His loyalties are to the next tummy rub or snack. Watch.” I grab a piece of the gristle I trimmed from one of the steaks and raise it up. “Harvey! Hey bud, look what I got for you!”

  Harvey raises his head slightly. He licks his chops, but then flops back down and rolls back onto his back. I glare at him as Tansy erupts into laughter.

  “Wow, you just got roasted.”

  “Fuzzy little prick,” I mutter at my dog. He gives me a little whimper, but he stays right where he is for Tansy’s tummy rubs.

  My eyes slide from Harley to her, though. She’s still playing with the dog and doesn’t notice me staring, which is a good thing. Because I’m seriously staring. A surge of lust burns inside of me as my eyes slide over her. For the hundredth time, I wonder what the fuck I was thinking basically insisting she come back to stay here.

  Actually, the problem is that I know exactly why I wanted her back here. I was never much of the player type before I got married. Unlike my ex, I never cheated or stepped out. And then after Satan tried to take everything I had, I just kind of dipped out on the whole dating thing. I lost interest, and for a long time there, I wanted fuck-all to do with women. Any woman.

  Thing is, I’m a thirty-four-year-old, healthy, straight, red-blooded guy. But I haven’t been with a woman since my divorce, and that shit was five years ago. And honestly, it’s becoming a bit of a problem.

  I don’t exactly advertise that, either. I mean shit, some of the guys who work for me would have a field day knowing I haven’t been laid in close to six years. I get offers. I’ve been set up on blind and not blind dates. But nothing’s ever pulled my attention. No woman has ever made me want to step out of that celibate hole I’ve been living in since Satan tried to fuck me in the ass without even a courtesy spit.

  No woman, that is, until yesterday, when I woke up naked and looked up to see a fucking angel
standing in the doorway. Granted, she was looking at me with a mix of horror and fear. But even so, something flipped in me.

  Hurricane Tansy just blew into my life, and something tells me shit’s about to get shook the fuck up. Thing is, I’m not so sure that’s a bad thing.

  I’m still standing there like a jackass drinking in the way her jeans form to her goddamn perfect ass, when she looks up.

  “What?” She frowns and jumps to her feet, turning to brush a non-existent something off of her butt. “Something on me?”

  I clear my throat. “Nah, you got it,” I lie.

  She grins at me. Her face is a little flushed, since we’re both on our third beer. Yeah, drinking with Tansy: add that to the growing list of shit I should not be doing.

  That brings me back to the whole thing with getting her to stay here. Yeah, I need help with Chance, and she’s the perfect candidate for the job. But wanting her to come back to stay out here has fuck-all to do with the job.

  It’s got to do with the fact that I want her out here. I want her around, near me. I want to be able to glance out the window and spot her out in the backyard.

  I groan. Fact is, I just plain want her.

  It’s not even just in a “haven’t been laid in six years” way, either. Again, without sounding vain, I’ve had offers. A lot of them, actually. And I’ve had plenty of opportunities to “clear the pipes” so to speak. So it’s not like my interest is piqued with Tansy because the first pair of legs to saunter past my eyes in six damn years.

  It’s something more specific than that. Hell, if I can place what it is, especially since I’ve known her for all of twenty-four hours. But whatever it is, it’s got a hold of me, and I don’t see it letting go any time soon.

  The smell of steak hits me, and I startle. Shit, almost burned it. I rip my eyes away from her and start tending the grill again. But then I remember why I looked up in the first place.

  “You eat meat, right?”

  “Nope.”

  I frown. “Fuck. Really?”

  Tansy grins at me. “Yeah, I’ve been watching you prepare two steaks for the last forty minutes and just sitting on that info.”

  I roll my eyes. “I’m telling you, if the vet thing doesn’t pan out, there’s a career in stand-up out there for you.”

  She laughs. “Think so, huh?”

  “Well, ‘career’ suggests people would actually pay money to hear your lame jokes. So, maybe not.”

  She hoots out another laugh, her whole face smiling and blushing. Fuck, just seeing that gets my heart racing faster. To say nothing of my dick harder.

  “Maybe you could be my opening act?” She winces. “Oh, shit, sorry, I just remembered I’m supposed to be looking for someone funny to be my comedic opener.”

  I chuckle as I shake my head and kill the rest of my beer.

  “And yeah, I eat steak.”

  “Good, cause they’re done.”

  “Anything I can do to help?”

  “She says, as the meal ends it’s preparation.”

  Tansy giggles again. She glances at the little patio table outside that already has plates, silverware, and the garden salad I tossed up.

  “Or… not.”

  “You could grab us two more beers?” I grin as I pile the cutting board with both steaks and the pile of grilled veggies.

  “Oh, I think I’m—” her mouth shuts. She wets her lips, and out of the corner of her mouth as I kill the gas on the grill, I see her eyes slip over me.

  “Two beers, comin’ up!”

  I serve up both the plates at the table as she grabs two cold ones from the cooler and then joins me.

  “Bon appetite.”

  “So, this is the nightly routine, right?”

  I chuckle as she grins at me.

  “I mean, Colt, I refuse to pay these kind of rent prices if I’m not getting wined and dined with steak every night.”

  “Yeah, what a rip-off,” I grunt. “Landlord must be a real dick.”

  She blushes when I say the word. It’s just enough to get me remembering exactly what she saw yesterday morning.

  It gets me wondering if she’s still thinking about that, too.

  We start to eat, and Tansy groans when she takes her first bite. “Okay, shit, that’s really good. I could get used to this for the next, well…” she blushes. “However long I stay here.”

  I wince a little inside. Shit, that’s right. I haven’t exactly mentioned the full situation to her yet—the fact that in a month, Satan is coming to reap what I’ve sown. Part of me feels like an asshole for keeping that part from her. But it is what it is. In a month, she’ll move on from this job to the one waiting for her at Dr. Watt’s office. And then she’ll be able to find her own place in town.

  Away from here. Away from me.

  But I roll my eyes at myself when I think that thought, and I wash it down with beer.

  The dinner is fantastic, and the conversation just flows. It’s like her and I sitting down to eat together just feels natural—like we’ve been friends for years and know just how to banter. She’s funny as hell, and smart, and she keeps me on my toes the whole time.

  Also, by the time we’re done, we’ve had another two beers each. And it’s pretty clear we’re both feeling great.

  Tansy stands, but then immediately grabs onto the back of her chair. She giggles as she steadies herself.

  “Wow, so, ignore that,” she laughs.

  I chuckle as I stand, feeling pretty drunk myself. “Consider it ignored.”

  “I mean, wouldn’t want my temporary boss to see me—” she hiccups and instantly blushes. “Uh, drunk.”

  “Right, exactly. Wouldn’t want my temp vet to see me—” She blushes even deeper before I can even finish the sentence. But that blush tells me she damn well is still thinking about the other morning.

  My cock thickens in my jeans. But I quickly shove that thought away. No. Besides being my tenant and under my employ for the next month, it’s still a no. I mean what is she, twenty-four? Twenty-five? And she came out here to escape guy issues, not fall into all of my shit.

  “Um, so…” she grins at me. “Thanks for dinner.”

  “Hey, any time. All part of the charity work we do out here at the Cherry Blossom Ranch.”

  She rolls her eyes. “Dick,” she giggles. Fucking hell, she keeps giggling and smiling and looking like a goddamn snack like that, and we’re going to have a problem. Or at least, I am.

  “Anything I can do to clean up?”

  “Oh, the cook doesn’t clean. So, dishes are all you.”

  Her brows knit, but then she nods. “Oh, yeah, for sure. Let me just—”

  “Tansy.”

  She looks up.

  “I’m joking. You’re good.”

  “What? No, I can definitely—”

  “Save it for the next steak dinner, alright?”

  She grins. “If you insist.”

  “You okay to drive home?”

  She laughs. “Hell to the no. Good thing I’m sleeping fifty walkable feet that way,” she jerks both thumbs over her shoulders.

  “Need an escort?”

  I mean it like a joke. But her face instantly turns red, and her eyes snap to mine. Her teeth rake over her bottom lip, making me groan a little inside. Tansy opens her mouth, but then blushes deeply as she shuts it.

  “I’m… I think I can make it.”

  I grin. “Good stuff. So does nine work for you tomorrow?”

  She frowns. “For?”

  “To fix Chance’s dick?”

  She turns bright red and laughs as she rolls her eyes. “Right, yeah, that.”

  “That whole job thing.”

  She points a finger at me, looking pretty toasted as she winks. “Got it. Yes, nine is great for horse dick.”

  I chuckle. “I mean, what time of day isn’t good for horse dick?”

  “It’s pretty much an all day affair.”

  I chuckle as her giggle floats through th
e evening air.

  “Until tomorrow then.”

  “It’s date.” She frowns. “Or, yeah. Something.”

  I laugh. “Night, Tansy.”

  “Night, boss.”

  I watch as she turns on her heel and half saunters, half dances her way down the path through the garden towards the cottage. And damn if my eyes don’t land on that ass and stay there.

  She steps in and glances back at me. When she sees that I’m still there, her face reddens, and her lip slips back between her teeth. Then she closes the door, and the spell is broken. I groan as I sink down into my chair and pick up the last of my beer.

  Shit, how the hell am I going to survive this girl living fifty feet out my back door?

  I finish the beer quickly and stack all of the dishes. Inside, I drop them all in the sink. But suddenly, my eyes land on the stack of clean, folded white towels stacked by the back door.

  Shit. I forgot about those; for the guest cottage. I wipe my hands off and grab them as I bolt out the back door. I jog over to the cottage, and without thinking—out of habit of no one living here for pretty much ever—I twist the knob and swing the door wide open.

  I skid to a stop as Tansy whirls, gasping. She’s maybe ten feet from me, in the middle of her living room area, standing over her open suitcase on the couch.

  And she’s not wearing a goddamn thing but the world’s tiniest pair of blue thong panties.

  She gasps, her hands flying to cover her tits as she whirls to me.

  “Shit—” I grunt, skidding to a stop in my tracks. And I just stare at her. It can’t be helped. The beers aren’t exactly working in favor of looking away. But even if I were stone cold sober, I don’t think the armageddon itself could tear my eyes away from the beauty standing in front of me.

  “I…” I frown. “Towels. For you,” I mumble. Neither of us are moving. I’m not turning away or leaving. But she’s not screaming or cursing at me, either. She’s not bolting to the bedroom or the bathroom. She’s not even snatching something up to cover herself.

  She’s just standing there, hands over her tits, in just that little blue thong.

  We stare at each other breathlessly. Neither of us says a word. But suddenly, I’m moving on autopilot. I step into the cottage. The towels land in a heap on the chair by the door. But I keep walking—striding to her. She whimpers softly, which does fuck all to break my stride.