The Rancher's Proposal (The Montana McGregor Brothers Book 3)

by Paula Altenburg

  “No. I’m just not sure what happens next.”

  “That’s easy enough.” He held up another foil packet. “You put your leg here, like this.” He grasped her calf and lifted her leg around his waist, tucking it under his elbow to hold it in place. “You put your hand here.” He shifted his hardening length into her waiting palm, and she wrapped her fingers around him. He was ready for her again. The knowledge was heady. The tingling that hadn’t completely abated left her quivering and ready for him again, too. He tore the packet open with his teeth. “And while you do that, I can do this.”

  He rolled the condom into place. Then, he lifted her onto his thighs and slid deep inside her, making her cry out with the pleasure of how good he felt. She braced her hands against the desk behind her and arched into his thrusts.

  He took things much slower this time, keeping his eyes on her face. She could read every one of his thoughts. She’d never felt so… naked. So exposed.

  So desired.

  And excited.

  The tingling increased to the point she could no longer bear it. She cried out again, loudly, more demanding than she’d ever have believed she was capable, and then she was safe in his arms and he was coaxing her through it, thrusting upward harder and faster until she came twice. She went limp, panting with exhaustion, unable to lift her head from his shoulder. With one final surge of his hips, and a guttural oath, he shuddered from his own release.

  This time, she was too tired and content to untangle herself from him. He showed no interest in moving yet, either. Traffic on the street, right next to the window, eventually burst through her haze. Tires squealed. A horn blew.

  But here, in the office of her very first, very own business, the outside world couldn’t truly intrude.

  “I had no idea sex could be so relaxing,” she murmured into his chest.

  His laugh rumbled under her cheek. “Don’t blame me for your ignorance. I was willing to educate you five minutes after we met.”

  “Why?”

  She’d never figure that out. Grand was filled with women who’d happily leap into bed with him, and yet, he’d waited for her.

  “I have a weakness for fairy princesses.”

  “You’re ridiculous.” She loved that about him. “I have my own money, you know. I inherited it from my father.” She blurted it out. It was a secret that had been burning inside her.

  He was quiet. Then, “Why are you telling me this now?”

  Her heart, which had begun to slow to a normal pace, reversed its course. “I wanted to tell you before but I didn’t know how. It’s not something that comes up in casual conversation.”

  “So you thought telling me about it during sex was the right time?” A burr of laughter stuck to his words.

  A weight lifted. He was making fun of her. Thank God. She’d been afraid that telling him might make things awkward between them. Word would eventually get out, however—it always did—and she’d hate for him to be the last to find out.

  “You always look so worried every time I say I’ve spent money on the preschool,” she said. “You don’t need to.”

  “Maybe not. But the accountant in me cringes at you sinking an inheritance into a business with such a small return on investment.”

  He still didn’t understand. She had investments worldwide. She didn’t manage her money. It was managed by holding companies and boards of directors. Financially, she could take care of herself—and a few third world countries. “A preschool won’t bankrupt me.”

  “I’ll stop worrying, then. For what it’s worth, after your well-timed announcement, I feel less weird about the condoms now, too.”

  She laughed, relieved that things weren’t going to change between them. Becoming friends with benefits wouldn’t be a whole lot different than their friendship without them, and if he eventually decided he’d had enough of playing house, she’d at least know she’d survive, because she’d survived a lot worse.

  “As much as I hate to say it, we’ve got to go,” Zack said. “Mrs. Fitzpatrick is going to wonder what’s keeping us. We told her four o’clock.”

  Eleanor had the girls outside pulling weeds in the garden when they arrived. Posey admired the patio stones—that she’d arranged all by herself—for a moment. She’d thought Zack would insist on helping, but he hadn’t, and they’d taken her forever.

  She loved them so much, even if they were a little uneven.

  Lydia toddled over to Zack and lifted her arms in the air. He picked her up, raised her over his head, and blew on her belly. She squealed, grabbing handfuls of his hair in her chubby fists.

  “Me, me, me,” Trixie demanded, tugging on the leg of his shorts and bobbing her bottom up and down as she danced with impatience.

  “Yes, you too,” Zack said, laughing. He passed Lydia to Posey, then went through the same routine with her daughter. “Would you like a turn?” he asked Eleanor, who was standing beside Posey.

  “Go away with you, you scamp,” Eleanor said, rolling her eyes. “You couldn’t lift me like that with a crane.”

  Zack set Trixie down. He reached for Lydia again, instead. “Let’s go, Lyds. Wave good-bye. The guys will want supper and I’ve got to put the bread in the oven.” He kissed Posey on the cheek. “Later. Thank you for taking care of Lydia, Mrs. Fitzpatrick.”

  He opened the gate in the fence he’d built for her, stepped over the hedge, fastened Lydia into the waiting stroller, and with another wave, the pair took off down the road. The stroller swayed from side to side as he broke into a slow jog.

  “That young man has a lot of energy,” Eleanor said, bemused. She smoothed the tails of her sleeveless shirt over her hips. “He’s handsome, too. If only I were thirty years younger. Maybe forty. I’d give you a run for your money.”

  Posey hadn’t expected that public display of affection from him. She didn’t know how to react, or if it required an explanation. She smoothed her daughter’s sparse curls and decided it didn’t. Zack was twenty-eight years old. He was just getting started. He’d given up a year of his life for his family. That was a lot of responsibility. He didn’t need to take her and Trixie on, too.

  She shouldn’t let him.

  “Would you like to stay and have dinner with us?” she asked the older woman.

  “I’d like to take you to dinner, instead,” Eleanor replied. “Go scrape some of the paint off, put a little concealer on that whisker burn on your neck, and wear something pretty. You can tell me all about what put you both in such a good mood over steaks at the Grille.”

  *

  “You’re in a good mood,” Jake said.

  They were in the upstairs bathroom. Jake shaved at the mirror while Zack mopped up the water from Finn’s bath with the kids’ towels. It looked as if a tsunami had struck.

  Luke had already gone out. He’d be at Mara’s, and unlikely to return until the early hours of the morning, although he always made sure to be home before Mac was awake. Jake would be headed to Lacey’s. They wouldn’t see him again until breakfast.

  Those two details told Zack a lot about what stage his brothers’ relationships were at. Luke’s remained uncertain. Jake, on the other hand, intended to marry Lacey. Guaranteed. Whether or not she knew it yet remained to be seen, but either way, they were doing okay.

  “So are you,” Zack replied.

  He was glad to see it, too. He tossed the wet towels into the clothes basket. He’d run a load through the washer later on, then watch a movie. Tomorrow, he’d drop the kids off at Posey’s while he cut hay in the fields.

  Tomorrow night, however…

  “Want to talk about it?” Jake asked, snapping Zack’s thoughts away from moonlight and fairy princesses. “Anything I should know about?”

  Zack sat on the edge of the tub. Jake leaned against the sink. They stared at each other.

  “I’m taking this as a yes,” Jake said. “So start talking.”

  Zack’s involvement with Posey meant he wasn’t putting off making pl
ans for the future any longer. She was the woman he intended to spend his life with. She deserved the best he could give her.

  There was no time like the present to discuss business with Jake.

  “I’d like to keep my shares in the ranch,” he said.

  Nothing ever fazed Jake. The man was a rock.

  “They were given to you,” his brother replied. “You don’t need my permission to keep them.”

  “Then I have a business proposition for you.”

  “I’m listening.”

  Here’s where things got tricky. Jake might be as solid as a rock, but he was about as flexible as one, too. “Weldon’s been talking about a possible merger.”

  Jake folded his arms, displaying massive biceps. Muscles bulged under his rolled-up shirtsleeves. “Over my dead body. If you try to sell those shares to him, I’ll consider that the first swing and we’ll be taking this conversation out behind the barn.”

  No wonder Weldon was so frustrated—not that he was the epitome of reason, either.

  “Like that would be a fair fight,” Zack said. The only one who stood a chance against Jake was Luke, and even then only because Luke was smarter. “I’m not selling the shares. I want to take out a loan against them and use the money to buy shares in the Running River. Weldon’s ready to retire, but he’s not ready to give up the business he’s spent his whole life building. I’ll buy in first as an investment, let him be senior partner and boss me around for a few years, then when you’ve got the Wagging Tongue back on its feet, we talk to him about buying the rest of his spread.”

  “You’d be taking one for the team,” Jake said, thinking out loud. “It’s not a bad plan. Do you think he’d go for it?”

  Zack nodded. “The plane crash threw him off, too. He would have come to you and Dad in a few years with a similar proposition.”

  “What about your job in Helena?”

  “About that…” Zack drummed his fingers on the side of the tub. “I quit it when I made up my mind to come home.”

  “I see,” Jake said slowly. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I had to see what kind of shape the ranch was in first. The way things are right now, it can’t support three incomes. It can barely support two. If this opportunity with the Running River hadn’t come along I would have stayed to help with the kids for the year, but then I would have had to look for a new job.”

  “If you can get Weldon to agree, then I’m in,” Jake said. He looked at his watch. “I’m late. I’ve gotta go.”

  Zack put the laundry in the washer, made himself popcorn, and sat down to watch a movie. He couldn’t keep his mind on it, however. He had so many plans swirling around in his head. As soon as he had his own business arrangements in order, he’d ask Posey to marry him. By the time everything fell into place, she’d be completely won over.

  He was so in love with her it was stupid. She’d feel the same way if she wasn’t so scared. He’d help her get past that.

  He couldn’t wait until tomorrow to talk to her again. They’d both be starting new business ventures and he wanted to tell her. He picked up his cellphone and punched in her number. Before the phone could ring, he heard a noise on the baby monitor. It sounded like Finn.

  He flicked the phone off and set it on the sofa.

  Finn stood in the upstairs hallway, stark naked. They had trouble keeping clothes on him. For whatever reason, he liked his boys to be free. He blinked his eyes as if unsure of where he was. It happened sometimes—he’d half-awaken to go to the bathroom and not be sure of the direction. His discovery that it wasn’t where it should be usually led to a meltdown, something Zack would love to avoid. Mac and Lydia were asleep and it would be great to keep them that way. The emotional toll Finn’s meltdowns exacted on them was extreme.

  “Hey, little mister. What are you doing up? Where are your pajamas?” Zack asked.

  “I have to pee.” Finn ignored the second part of the question.

  He’d likely stuffed them under his mattress again. Jake, who took his role as a new parent seriously, had researched the behavior online. He figured there was a good chance Finn had a sensory problem and his clothes felt uncomfortable against his skin. The therapist Jake had hired said there was an equally good chance it was a control issue.

  That was the explanation Zack favored. Finn could dress and undress himself whenever he pleased, making it one of the few areas in his life right now that he had any autonomy over. Plus, it got him attention. Finn had classic middle child syndrome. Couple that with MIA parents and they’d all agreed it wasn’t a battle worth fighting. The therapist, however, had recommended Jake set some ground rules for him—no disrobing in public, and at home, only in front of the family.

  Zack had set one more rule. If Finn, who liked to bed-hop at night, wanted to sleep with him, pajamas were requisite attire.

  “The bathroom’s this way.” Zack pointed him toward the door, then supervised the operation, because the five-year-old’s aim wasn’t the greatest when he was wide awake, let alone half asleep.

  Finn was awake enough that getting him back into bed was going to take some persuading, though.

  “I want a glass of water.”

  “Not a chance,” Zack said. “The glass of apple juice you had after supper is the reason we’re standing here now.”

  “Can I sleep with you?”

  “Are you planning to wear your pajamas?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you going to hog all the covers?”

  “Probably,” Finn said. “I don’t do it on purpose. They get all tangled around me.”

  At least he was honest.

  “Okay,” Zack said, giving in. Whoever tucked Finn in at night usually found him in their bed the next morning, anyway. “But your pajamas have to stay on the whole night.”

  He got Finn settled in.

  Downstairs again, he retrieved his phone. It was late, but not too late. Posey liked to read in the evenings and often stayed up to finish a book. A quick check from the kitchen window confirmed a light was on in her house.

  She sounded drowsy—a lot the way she had earlier, when she’d been naked and well-satisfied in his arms.

  Thinking about it had him wanting her all over again.

  “Did you know there are four summer stars and three of them form the summer triangle?” Zack asked, distracting himself. “Vega, Altair, and Deneb. Deneb is the fourth brightest star in the sky right now, and yet it’s over 3,000 light-years away.”

  “What’s the name of the fourth star?” Posey asked.

  “I try to impress you with my knowledge of the summer triangle, and yet you aren’t satisfied,” Zack said. “It’s Antares. Thanks for asking.”

  “What about Antares makes it so special?”

  “It’s the brightest star in the summer sky. It’s also red. The name means ‘rival of Mars.’ Go ahead and google it if you don’t believe me.”

  “I believe you. I’m just not sure why you brought it up.”

  Because he liked giving her things to think about. She wasn’t prone to making quick decisions. “Someday, we’re going to need names for our kids. I thought it would be fun to name them after stars in the constellations that are visible during whatever season they’re born.”

  There was a long stretch of silence. Maybe asking her to name their future children was going too far.

  “I realize you’re joking, but I can’t name a child Antares, even in fun,” she said. “We’re not celebrities.”

  She said it with such upper-crust, New England horror that he had to keep going. “I like the sound of Deneb. We could transpose the letters. That would give us Bened. How about Bennie for short? That would be cute for a girl.”

  “I’m hanging up on you.”

  “No, wait. Not yet,” he said hastily. “I wanted to talk to you about something.” She was listening. At least, she didn’t hang up. “I’m thinking about buying into the Running River Ranch.”

  “And you wan
t to borrow money?”

  Where on earth had that come from? “Hell, no.” He was mildly offended she’d suggest such a thing. He didn’t take loans from women—especially one with a child to support. “You save your money for your preschool. I have my shares in the Wagging Tongue to invest.”

  “What do your brothers think of the idea?”

  “I haven’t spoken to Luke yet, but Jake’s warming to it.”

  “Is this what you want?” She sounded cautious.

  “It is.” More and more every day. Now that Jake knew about it, he was cautiously optimistic. Maybe even a little excited. “What do you think of the idea?”

  Would she consider becoming a ranch wife? In a lot of ways, it wasn’t an easy life for a woman. He couldn’t quite picture Posey helping to birth cattle, but otherwise, she’d be perfect. He had it all worked out in his head. She didn’t mind the isolation and she loved children. She could translate that love over to animals, too. And a ranch was the perfect place to raise a family. There was always work to be done and fun to be had.

  The next step was to convince her. The trick was in planting the seeds early.

  “I think you should do what makes you happy,” she said.

  Not good enough. “Trixie and Bennie would love it.”

  “Good night.”

  This time, she did hang up.

  Not before he heard the smile in her voice, though.

  He leaned back on the sofa and stared up at the wide wooden beams running crossways in the ceiling, imagining the night sky instead. She’d had a bad experience once and now she was gun shy. She wouldn’t have another one, however. Not with him. He’d make sure of that.

  He was going to marry her. He’d find a way to convince her. But when it happened would be entirely up to her.

  And if she decided ranch life wasn’t for her?

  They’d cross that bridge if they had to.

  Chapter Eleven

  Posey studied Zack’s profile.

  Dark, russet hair licked over his forehead. He had a straight nose and sharp cheek bones. Thick-lashed lids rested against lightly-tanned skin. The relaxed, satisfied curve of his mouth reminded her of all of the places that mouth had explored.