Ride Me Cowboy #2 (The Cowboy Romance Series - Book #2) Read online

  “Hey, Lexi.”

  “Yeah.”

  “I think we need to come up with a story for the folks. They’re going to want to know where we were all night.”

  “A story?”

  “Well, yeah. I know that you aren’t going to want this to come out any more than I do, am I right?” She looked mad again.

  “What the hell do you think I am? Some kind of idiot? I thought we’d march in there and when they ask I’d say, ‘We had sex in a barn all night?’”

  “So you do remember,” I said with a grin as I parked the truck. I was trying to lighten the mood. It didn’t work.

  “Oh shut up!”

  “Okay, but we need a story that we can both work with…” she got out and slammed the truck door. Great, I guess I’ll just have to wait and see what she does. If it gets out that we did have sex, that “ick” factor will be way too much for my dad, I know for sure. I’m not sure how Lydia would take it, but I didn’t want to find out. If his new marriage was put in a bad place because of me, my dad wouldn’t forgive me. I got out of the truck and followed Lexi up to the house. She was walking like she was in a hurry. I would have preferred taking my time.

  As soon as we walked into the mudroom, Lydia came around the corner. “Thank goodness. I was worried about the two of you. Lexi, why didn’t you text me back?”

  “Oh Mom, I’m sorry. I haven’t even checked my phone.”

  “Where were you?”

  “We just went to a bar in town to celebrate. We both had a little too much to drink, so we stayed in a hotel.”

  “Oh…well, did you have fun?”

  “Yes,” we both chimed in at the same time.

  “Well, I’m glad you had fun, but you should have at least called me. I was worried sick and so was your father, Mark.” Damn! This wasn’t going to be good.

  “I’m really sorry, Mom. It was just so late that I didn’t want to wake you. I’ll be sure to call if it happens again,” Lexi said. I breathed out a sigh of relief.

  “Well, I know you’re used to being on your own and not having to answer to anyone, so I’ll forgive you this once,” Lydia winked at her. Then she looked at me and said, “Thanks for looking out for her.” I felt like a mule kicked me in the guts from the guilt. At the same time, I was super relieved that Lexi hadn’t chosen to tell her the truth. Now…we’ll have to see what my dad has to say on the subject. He wouldn’t have expected me to call, but if Lydia was upset by it, I’m sure I will get blamed. Lydia headed off to the kitchen, and I followed Lexi through the foyer and into the den. She sat down on the sofa and started taking off her boots. I sat down across from her and said,

  “You never told me when we were talking, what are you going to school for?”

  “I’m just taking me GEs right now. I’m not sure what I want to do yet.”

  “Oh, that’s cool. You’re a freshman?”

  “Yes.”

  “Oh…what have you been doing since high school? Three years is kind of a big break to take before you start college.” That was the wrong question, apparently. Suddenly she was glaring at me again.

  She stood up, picked up her boots, and said, “That’s really none of your business.” Then she stomped away towards the stairs. I was a little bit taken aback. She asked me like a million questions about my life and why I live with my dad and she was pissed because I asked her one? I stood up to go after her…and Dad walked into the room.

  “Well, look who it is. Where the hell were you all night?”

  “We went to the bar and both of us had too much to drink to drive home. We stayed at the Motel 6 in town.” Dad had that disapproving stare going on. Lydia must have been really upset. “I’m sorry. We should have called. I didn’t think about Lydia being worried.”

  “That’s always your problem, isn’t it, Son? You never think about anyone but yourself. Sometimes I don’t think you use your head at all. You were less than twenty miles from the ranch and you chose to pay for two hotel rooms instead of coming home…You did get separate rooms, didn’t you?”

  “Of course.” There was that mule again, kicking me in the stomach.

  “And whose money did you use to so generously finance your night out?”

  “I used my own money, Dad. Besides, it wasn’t like we drank at a club and paid for five stars. It didn’t cost that much.”

  Dad shook his head. “I don’t know when you’re going to grow up.” He stormed out and I realized that I just wasn’t going to be able to win with any of them today.

  I left it all alone for now and went out to the barn and saddled up my horse. When things went sideways, the best place for me to be, as Lexi said, was on the back of an animal. The late morning sun felt really good on my face as I sat on my horse’s back. I led him towards the rolling hills out along the east side of the property. I stopped there, giving the horse a little nudge so that he and I both faced the sun.

  Sarge had been my horse for almost eight years. I hardly had to hold the reins at all when I rode the ranch. He knew where I wanted to go and if I wanted to change it up on him, all he needed was a slight touch of my hand on either side of his neck. When we were stopped and I wanted to go, all he needed was a squeeze of my thighs. Right now, we just stood there at the top of the hill and looked out across the land. My dad didn’t think I cared anything about the land, but he’s wrong. I love this land – I just don’t want to be as stuck to it as one of the trees that grew here for the past hundred years or so. But when I was home, this was my world. This was home and always would be, until Dad decides to kick me out. I have no idea how he could know anything happened between Lexi and me, but he seemed like he did. Not only do I have that to worry about, but Lexi acts like I’m the only one responsible for it. I didn’t take advantage of her. I felt her attraction, and I’m sure that I wasn’t mistaken about that. From now on though, I would be sure to keep my distance. I don’t want to do anything that makes her uncomfortable…or that snaps loose the fragile thread my dad and my relationship dangles by.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  LEXI

  I went up to my room trying to get away from Mark. How dare he take advantage of me while I was drunk, act as if I would be stupid enough to tell out parents, and then act like he had some right to ask me about my personal business? I was fuming when my phone rang. I didn’t even look at the face of it as I answered.

  “Hello!”

  “Whoa! Who pissed in your Cheerios?” It was Samantha, my best friend.

  “Hey, Sam! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bite your head off.”

  “What’s going on? I just called to see how things are going, but it doesn’t sound good.”

  “Oh, it’s fine…I guess. This place is just out in the middle of nowhere, and I hate it.”

  I sat in the window seat and brooded as I talked.

  “Is her husband a creep?”

  “No,” I laughed. “He’s actually pretty nice. It’s just so different here. I went to a rodeo yesterday.”

  Now she laughed. “A rodeo? Really? What was it like? A lot of cute cowboys?”

  One in particular. Oh Jeez, there I go again! I had no idea what I was going to do. First of all, I couldn’t believe that I slept with him. My stepbrother! That’s just…gross. But the memories of last night are starting to come through – the kiss in the bar and the way he touched me…Not gross at all…Ugh! I’m sitting here getting turned on by it while telling myself how gross it is at the same time. What is wrong with me? Maybe there’s really nothing wrong with me. After all, it’s not like I slept with my brother, or any other blood relative for that matter. I didn’t know Mark until I got here, and I was attracted to him before I found out that he was my stepbrother. Maybe there’s nothing wrong with that. I thought about asking Sam what she thought, but then that “ick” factor came into play again.

  “It was…unlike anything I’ve done before. It was fun, though. I actually kind of got into it. My stepbrother is a bull rider.”

&nbs
p; “Your stepbrother? He’s a cowboy? What does he look like?” Samantha has a cowboy fetish. That’s what I should have done instead of sleeping with him. I should have introduced the two of them.

  “He’s…okay.” Why didn’t I tell her how hot he is? Was I really worried that my best friend would want to steal away my stepbrother? Ick.

  I wanted to believe that I really didn’t want him, but if I was being honest, the only thing that kept me from going for it is my mom. She’s finally happy, and she deserves to be happy. She’s made so many sacrifices in her life. I’m not going to screw that up for her.

  “What else have you been up to out there?” Samantha asked me.

  “Mark and I went to a little bar here in town last night and hung out, played darts, shot some pool…” Then we got really drunk and fucked in a barn. Ugh! I was trying hard to act nonchalant and flippant about it not only to myself, but him on the way home. My attitude hadn’t seemed to faze him at all. Nothing seemed to upset or rile him. It almost made me madder this morning when I wanted to fight with him. I wanted him to fight back. No matter how much I insulted him, he found humor in it.

  I wish that I could be like that. I let everything get to me and then I stew over it all. If I was at home in the city and trying to avoid a guy, it would be a lot easier. Here, it was going to be practically impossible. I was living with the guy and Mom and Mark’s dad will expect us to have meals together as a family and who knows what else.

  “That sounds like fun. I’ll have to meet this stepbrother of yours. He sounds intriguing.”

  Intriguing he was, to say the least. I looked back out the window and there he was. He was bringing his horse out of the barn. I ducked behind the curtain so that he couldn’t see me, but I didn’t move. I watched him saddle the horse, and I watched him strip down to his undershirt, and I watched his muscles ripple as he climbed up on its back and ride off. I sighed. I was going to have to do my best to avoid him no matter what. My hormones went crazy just at the sight of him.

  “Maybe I can come back to the city this weekend and we can have lunch or dinner or something?” I told Sam.

  “Will the hot cowboy stepbrother be coming, too?”

  I rolled my eyes. “I didn’t say he was hot.”

  “Well of course not…he’s your brother. That would just be wrong.” Ugh!

  ******

  Mark was already gone before I got up the next day, thankfully. I found Mom in the kitchen doing dishes.

  “Where did everyone go?” I asked as I poured myself a cup of coffee.

  “Rob and Mark went out to move some cattle. They leave at dawn when they do that. They probably won’t be back until early evening. I felt bad for poor Mark. I don’t think Rob warned him. He just drug him out of bed first thing.”

  “Oh. What are you going to do today?”

  “I was going to go into town to do some shopping. Would you like to go with me?”

  I would like to do anything to get out of here for a while. “Sure, that sounds great. Do you mind if we take my car? I miss driving her.”

  My mom laughed. “I’m sorry, honey. We have to go by the feed store to pick some things up for Rob. I don’t think your pretty little car can handle it.” The feed store? Who is this woman?

  “Oh, okay.” I was disappointed, but like I said, just getting off the ranch will be good. It’ll give me a chance to spend some time alone with Mom, and I’ll be away from the ranch so that when Mark comes back, I won’t have to try and find ways to avoid him. I did find it weird that my mother was running errands to the feed store…it was very unlike her.

  We took Rob’s big white Dodge Dually to town. It was funny to see my mother climb behind the wheel of the massive four-wheel drive vehicle. She seemed to be adjusting to life out here quickly. I never would have imagined it. When we got out of the dust cloud that followed us from the house out to the main road, I said “Are you happy, Mom?”

  She smiled. “I am happy. I really like it out here. The pace is so much slower than in the city and there’s not all of that competition to see who has the nicer car or the bigger apartment. I got a little tired of all of that.” I noticed that she talked about the place, but she didn’t mention her marriage.

  “I’m glad you’re happy here. What about Rob? Are you happy with him, too?”

  She looked pensive for a minute and then said, “I am. He’s moody and he’s not as good to his son as I wish that he would be…but he’s good to me. He doesn’t tell me no about anything and he’s sensitive to my feelings and needs. It’s a good marriage. I think he and I both made the right choice. Now that I’m older, social status and all of that aren’t anywhere near as important as just being happy.”

  I heard “happy,” and that was good. But I still didn’t hear “love” there. I guess maybe when you’re older “love” doesn’t play as big of a role as it does when you’re twenty-something. She said that she’s happy and she seems like she is, so that’s all good. “What about Mark? You seem to get along well with him.” I had to ask. I need her opinion of him.

  “Yeah, I do. I like him. He’s a good kid. His father is really hard on him sometimes, and I feel bad because he tries so hard.”

  “He tries what?”

  “He tries to make his father proud of him. Rob is so wrapped up in the fact that Mark wants to do his rodeo stuff instead of staying put and being a rancher that he can’t see beyond that. When Mark is home on the ranch, he works as hard as or harder than any one of the hands. Rob doesn’t pay enough attention or he could see that kid loves this land as much as he does. When he’s not at the ranch and he’s out on the circuit, I don’t doubt that he’s working just as hard. But, the difference is that he’s having fun doing it and that’s important. I don’t believe you have to do something you’re miserable doing in order to make a good living. You remember that when you decide to choose your major and your career. It’s going to be a lot easier if you choose something you love.”

  “Like your piano playing?” I got nostalgic as I said that. She used to play for me all the time. I missed that.

  She smiled. “Yes, like that. I never got rich and famous, but I always loved my job. That makes it easier to go to work every day. I tried explaining that to Rob about Mark, but he didn’t want to hear it. I think Rob just had this idea in his head his whole life that Mark was going to want to follow in his footsteps and run this ranch. He was disappointed when he told him that he didn’t, which is understandable because Rob thinks of it as a legacy that he built for his family and Mark is his only child. But I don’t think he should hold the fact that it’s just not what Mark wants against him. That’s just completely unfair.”

  It sounded to me like she and Rob had discussed this before and maybe even heatedly. Mom had some strong opinions about how people should treat their own children, with good reason, though. She had seen her share of bad parenting in her life. She’d had to speak up then, and I doubted that she was afraid to speak up now.

  “It’s funny, because he seems proud of him when I hear him talk. Like at the rodeo when he was talking to people about Mark’s ride.”

  “I’m afraid he’s able to communicate how he feels better to everyone else,” Mom said. I thought about how hard that must be on Mark since Rob was his only parent.

  “Well, maybe you being here will be good for them both then,” I told her. She was really good at conflict resolution. Some people were just born with it, I think.

  When we got to town, I was surprised to see that although it was small, it seemed to have everything a person might need. I saw restaurants and fast food places, a post office, and a large grocery store. There were a lot of sporting goods stores and a big mill where Mom said they made feed from corn.

  We went to the grocery store first. Everyone there said hello to Mom by name. When she introduced me, they were all so nice and welcomed me into town. I can see why she likes it here, I guess. I would get bored in under a week, but I suppose my mother’s days of
wanting to go out and do things were mostly over, anyways. Then we went to the boutique where they sold everything a country girl could need to create a wardrobe. I was going to buy myself a skirt.

  “I’d like to buy you some things…”

  “Mom, you already do enough. I have plenty of clothes.”

  “I know, but I can afford it and I want to do it. There were a lot of times when you were growing up that I couldn’t splurge on you. I could barely afford the necessities. Pick a few things out. I want you to be comfortable here.” By the time we got out of there, my mother had bought me three bags full of things.

  We stopped at the bakery, and she picked up some croissants that she said Mark really liked. It was sweet how she included him in everything, but that was her. She was one of the most loving, kind people in the world and she would do whatever it took to make me happy. I owed her the same courtesy. I was definitely going to stay away from Mark. She didn’t need that kind of drama in her life.

  Lastly, we went to the feed store. They knew her there, as well.

  “Good morning, Lydia!” The lady at the front desk greeted her.

  “Good morning, Stacey. This is my daughter, Lexi.”

  Stacey looked surprised. Mom and I were used to that. As far as looks go, our hair and eye and even skin tone were at opposite ends of the spectrum. “Nice to meet you, Lexi. Will you be in town long?”

  Not unless I become suicidal. “I’m staying for the summer,” I told her. “I go back to school in August.”

  “Well I hope you have a good time in our little town. It’s small, but the folks are really nice and it really has a lot going for it.”

  I smiled. I doubted that this town had much of anything going for it, but I wasn’t going to tell Stacey that. “I’m sure I will,” I told her. “Thank you.”

  After Mom paid Stacey for her “usual,” the feed was loaded into the truck by a couple of guys on the docks. Mom checked to make sure it was alright and when she saw that it was, we loaded up and headed back out to the ranch.