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Ride Me Cowboy #2 (The Cowboy Romance Series - Book #2) Page 3
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CHAPTER SIX
MARK
Lexi stayed locked in her room the rest of Sunday, and on Monday morning, Dad and I went to round up some calves out of the back pasture. That took most of the day and it was a long one. The work was a welcome relief to piddling around on the ranch, but Dad was in another one of his moods. He didn’t really talk to me at all the entire day, he just barked orders when he needed to. We stopped at one point to eat out lunch and I tried to make conversation with him. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against a tree, completely ignoring me. When we finished herding the calves up to the front pasture, we cooled down and stripped the horses and put them away. When we got to the house around seven p.m., Lydia was waiting for us with dinner. She said that she and Lexi had gone to town and she’d brought back chicken and all of the trimmings from the café. She’d even stopped by the bakery and bought some of my favorite croissants. I hope my Dad knows how lucky he is, but I doubt it. In his mind, he just deserves everything good that happens to him.
“Lexi’s not eating?” I asked Lydia as I devoured the chicken.
“She ate already. She asked me to tell you both goodnight. She had a headache so she went to lie down early.” I looked at my dad. He was looking at me. I wondered if somehow he knew she was avoiding me.
“Oh, I hope she feels better,” I said.
Lydia smiled and said, “I’m sure she’s just had too much excitement and change lately. She’ll be as good as new after she gets some rest.” Dad didn’t say a word about any of that…or anything at all during the rest of the meal. Every once in a while I’d catch him glaring at me again. He was kind of starting to piss me off. It was one thing to be ignored – I was used to that. Even when I was a kid, if he was in one of his moods, he would act like I was invisible. I was brought up mostly by the ranch hands and yet he wonders why now I’m not quick to seize the opportunity to be just like him.
When we finished eating, I thanked Lydia for dinner and went up to my own room. If no one was going to speak to me, I may as well be alone. I watched television for a while and wondered what Lexi was doing. I wondered if she was thinking about me. I know that this attraction between her and I can never go anywhere. We’re not blood relatives, but it’s just too taboo. knowing it and accepting it, however, were two different things. I’d never felt an instant connection to anyone the way I had to her. Sparks literally danced between us when we were in the same room. Maybe she had the right idea about avoiding me.
The next day when I got up, I went out to help the ranch hands feed the horses and medicate the three sick calves we had. There was also some fences to fix…there was always something that needed doing. By the time I got back to the house for breakfast, Dad was the only one there. Lydia had left a plate for me and while I heated it in the microwave, I asked casually, “So, where’s Lydia this morning?” I purposely didn’t ask about Lexi. He was always pissed at me about something, so it was hard to tell, but I’m pretty sure he was suspicious of our night out together.
“She’s out feeding the calves.” That was it, no unnecessary conversation with the wayward son. I ate my breakfast in silence and thanked God I had a rodeo I was leaving for on Thursday. It was up north by Fresno, so it would be an overnighter. At least maybe people would talk to me there. After breakfast, I went out to saddle up and go fix some of the fences we hadn’t gotten to the day before. When I went into the barn, I saw Lydia and Lexi. Lydia was showing her how to mix the powdered formula for the babies. She didn’t look interested at all until she saw me and then suddenly Lydia seemed to have her rapt attention. Lydia noticed me and stopped what she was doing to say hello.
“Good morning, Mark.”
“Good morning, Lydia. Thank you for the breakfast.”
She smiled, it was nice that one person on this ranch didn’t seem to despise me. “You’re welcome,” she said. Then she looked at Lexi, obviously wondering why we hadn’t said hello.
“Good morning, Lexi.”
“Morning, Mark.” That was it. She focused her attention back on the powdered milk and with a curious look, Lydia finally did, too. I headed out for another lonely day and prayed for the time to pass quickly until I could get out of here.
I was out near the edge of the property later that afternoon when I ran into a guy named Bob that works for my dad. We all call him Cowboy Bob and everyone has since before I was born. He’s an old school cowboy that was born too late. He should have been out riding the range in the times of one of Louis L’Amour’s novels.
“Hey there, kid! How goes it?”
“Hey, Bob. It’s going,” I said. I had my shirt off, and I was covered with sweat. I’d been fighting with one stubborn fence post for half an hour. I was trying to pull it out and replace it with a new one, but it was being uncooperative.
“We have equipment for that,” he said with a head motion towards the post I was yanking on.
I grinned, embarrassed. “Yeah, I know. I was mostly just working off some steam.”
“Is it about that girl?”
“What girl?” I asked, trying to keep my face neutral.
He grinned. His teeth were stained yellow from years of smoking three packs a day. “The pretty brunette staying up at the house.”
“She’s my stepsister,” I said.
He laughed and slapped his thigh. “Don't that just beat all? You got the hots for your stepsister.”
“It’s not like that, Bob.”
He stopped laughing and said, “I’m sorry, son. What is it like?”
“I just…shit! I guess, yeah, I do have the hots for her. Is that really wrong? I mean, it’s not incest right? We’re not really related.”
“I don’t see no harm in it,” he answered.
“I wish you were my dad, Cowboy Bob.” Bob was one of the hands that taught me all I needed to know about riding bulls. He traveled to all of my mutton busting events when I was a kid.
He smiled gently this time and said, “Your Daddy has always been hard on you. I doubt he won’t find something else to hold against you, if you leave this alone. If it’s just about a piece of ass son, I say get it somewhere else because it probably won’t be worth all the trouble…but if you really like her, don’t let your grouchy old daddy stand in your way.”
Bob and I talked a while longer, but when he rode away, those words were ringing in my head. Maybe I was just going about this wrong. Maybe I should start out by being her friend and that way I could be around her, which is what I really want. I would get a chance to feel things out then, too, and see if it looked like she really wanted something more to happen between us. If not, I gained a friend. If so…Bob was right, it wasn’t my father’s decision to make.
CHAPTER SEVEN
LEXI
I watched Mom mix the powder with the water and I heard her talking, but I wasn’t really processing what she was saying. The little calves were cute, but I would have preferred seeing them on the screensaver on my computer over real life. This barn smelled like wet hay and sweaty horses and to make matters worse, it reminded me of the barn where Mark and I had spent the night. No matter what I did, I couldn’t stop thinking about him.
Just about the time I had that thought, he came into the barn. I tried not to look at him, but God it was hard. If I wasn’t supposed to be so attracted to him, he shouldn’t be so damned good looking. Those blue eyes, the way the black hair curls up around the edges of that old hat he wears, the way his hard muscle ripples underneath his shirt…Damn, I salivate just thinking about it and here he is again, in the flesh. I acted like what Mom was telling me was the most interesting thing in the world until she noticed him. Still, when they had their little friendly exchange, I tried to act removed from it, but I saw the look on Mom’s face. She was getting the feeling something was going on. Mark must have noticed it, too. We exchanged “Good mornings” and I focused back on Mom and he went to get his horse. I kept him in my peripheral vision until he finally left the barn. It just didn’t
seem fair. It was like sitting a steak down in front of a lion and telling him not to eat it. The more I looked at Mark, the hungrier I got.
Mark didn’t come back to the house at lunch time and Rob was gone into town, so Mom and I fixed a sandwich and we ate out on the back patio. It looked out over the rolling hills where the cattle grazed and the pens of wild horses were. Mom told me how Mark went every year to a “round up” in Montana where you were allowed to buy a certain number of wild Mustangs. She went on about how he loved them and how good he was at taking care of them. I listened, but I didn’t say anything until she finally said, “Lexi, did something happen between you and Mark?”
I tried to look innocent as I said, “No, what do you mean?”
“I’ve just noticed that the two of you barely speak and when you’re in the same room it seems like there’s a lot of tension.” Mom’s not stupid. I should have known she would pick up on it. Now, what to tell her about it…
“No. Nothing happened. I just don’t really know him, Mom. We don’t have a lot in common.”
“Hmm, well honey, you might be surprised. I mean could you have imagined me in a barn feeding calves a year ago?”
“Not in a million years,” I told her with a smile. “I’ll try and get to know him better.” I was lying. I already knew him much better than I should. But it made her feel better and she dropped it.
“You’re not seeing anyone these days?”
Nope, that’s why I’m free to have sex in the barn with my stepbrother. “No, not since Peter.”
“Was he the accountant?”
“No, that was Michael. Peter was the cosmetics company executive.”
“Oh that’s right. You didn’t like him?”
I smiled. “I liked him fine, but it was just going nowhere and we both agreed we were holding each other back.”
“I bet you’ll miss those make-up deals he used to get for you. I remember those.”
I laughed. “Yes, I will miss that. I got to try a lot of the products before they even came out on the market.”
The rest of our day went like that, just catching up. It was nice. I’d missed her and talking to her about what was going on in my life. I wished that I could talk to her about Mark. I’m sure that she would have some wise words for me…if it was about anyone other than her stepson.
I made it through another day somehow, following Mom around and when the duties got too smelly or dirty for me, finding something to do in the house. I spent a lot of time on Facebook and Instagram…I was bored out of my mind but looking forward to having dinner with Samantha soon. She had to take a look at her schedule and get back to me. She was doing summer school this year to get ahead on her credits. I admire her for knowing exactly what she wants to do. She wanted to become a nurse and work with kids. Lucky for her – and the kids I suppose, she was a really patient girl.
Mom had came and got me when it was time to feed the calves again that evening. I guess they had to be fed often, like babies. This time she wanted me to do it. I did my best to recall everything she’d said this morning, although I wasn’t listening to a lot of it. She guided me along though, and before I knew it, I was feeding a tan calf with huge brown eyes that were trained on me the whole time. In spite of myself, I got a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. I thought about them not having a mother and that reminded me of Mark. It seems everything reminded me of him these days.
“What happened to their mother?” I asked my mom. There were three of them that we were bottle feeding. They were so tiny and cute. Another way I surprised myself. I’d never considered barn animals to be cute in the least.
“A coyote got them, we think. Somehow something got into the pen one night and got all three of them. Thank goodness the babies were in the barn. Poor Mark was the one that found them. The poor thing was sick over it.”
“Oh, poor things,” I said of the babies. I saw Mom smile out of the corner of her eye. “Don’t get that smug look. I’m acclimating so I can spend more time with you, but this still isn’t my thing.”
She laughed. “That’s okay. Just the fact that you’re here and you’re willing to do these things with me for now makes me happy.”
“I’m glad. I want you to be happy. I have to say though; I am surprised that you’re so happy here. It’s so different from your former life.”
She smiled. “Former life makes me sound like I’m in witness protection or something.” With a nervous laugh she said, “Different is not always bad, honey.”
I thought about how “different” it was to have the hots for your stepbrother. Sometimes different is bad…I begged off dinner again that night, making Mom suspicious once more, I’m sure. I just don’t think I can sit across from him and make casual conversation without Mom and Rob being able to pick up on the fact that something is not right. I feel such a strong pull towards him. It’s like gravity – like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to keep hiding it.
I had just gotten out of the shower and was dressed in a tank top and shorts. I brushed out my hair and was about to sit back down in front of the laptop for my nightly Facebook session when there was a knock on my door. Thinking it was Mom, I pulled it open and was surprised to find Mark standing there. He let his eyes roam from my head to my toes and back up again. They left a trail of heat on my body, and I was afraid that I was blushing.
“Hi,” he said when he made it back up to my eyes.
“Hey. What’s up?”
“Can we talk?”
“About?”
He made a face. The poor guy. I was making this really hard on him. “About us and about what happened last weekend…”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because we both know it was a big mistake and it can’t happen again. End of story. There’s nothing else to talk about. There is no ‘Us.’”
“I hate this awkwardness between us.”
“We don’t really know each other, Mark. Just because we…spent the night in a barn, doesn’t take that fact away. It’s supposed to be awkward.”
“I want to get to know you,” he said. Damn him. Why can’t he be an ass so that I’m justified in ignoring him? I want to get to know him, too, but I’m not going to admit that, either.
“Mark…We can’t do this…”
“All I want to do is get to know my stepsister, Lexi. We’re going to be spending time together in the years to come, like it or not. I know that nothing else can happen like what happened the other night, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.”
“I just don’t really see that we have any common ground other than our parents to build a friendship on, Mark.”
“I have a rodeo this weekend. I’m leaving tomorrow. Come with me.”
I sighed. “Do you remember what happened the last time?”
“You had a great time. The thing that happened was after we went to the bar and we both drank way too much. You told me yourself that you had a lot of fun at the rodeo itself, right?”
“Well yeah, but…”
“Just think about it, okay. I’m taking off about eight in the morning. If you want to go, I’d love to have the company.”
He left then. He left me with a pounding pulse and shaky limbs. I think I was even sweating a little bit. This man was killing me and he expected me to go to a rodeo with him…out of town? He’s crazy…isn’t he?
I mulled over it for a few hours until I went down to find my mother and say goodnight. She was sitting on the sunporch knitting. The light from the moon was filtering in from the skylights overhead and the air was cool from a light breeze that blew through the screened in porch. “Hi, Mom.”
She put the knitting down and smiled. “Hi honey. Are you doing okay? Are you hungry?”
She started to get up and I said, “Sit back down. I’m fine. I’m not hungry and if I am, I’m a big girl. I can find the kitchen. I was actually just talking to Mark…”
“Oh good, I w
as beginning to worry that the two of you didn’t like each other.”
I laughed. That was definitely not the problem. “Mark and I are fine, Mom. Please stop worrying so much. He’s not a bad guy, I guess.” I smiled, but I really wanted to hear what she had to say about him.
“He’s not,” she said. “One day you should go out with him while he’s working with the sick babies or delivering a calf…he’s so compassionate with the animals, and they love him. Animals have an instinct about people. They love Mark. That tells me more about him than anything.”
“That’s good. It had to be hard marrying a man whose grown son still kind of lives with him.”
Mom shrugged. “I really don’t mind it. First off, he’s not here that often, maybe two or three months at a time before he goes back on the road again. But something else that I have to give him credit for is the fact that from day one he treated me like I had as much right to be here as he did. He’s one of the most respectful people I’ve ever met.”
“Why doesn’t he have a girlfriend?” Shaky waters, I know, but it was something I was really curious about and not ready to ask him.
“He did when I first met him. I’m not sure what happened. I never met her. My assumption would be that it’s hard to maintain a relationship when you’re on the road so much.”
Exactly what I tried to tell him the day we talked about it and he insisted it could be done. “Mark told me that a lot of the guys he rides with have wives and girlfriends. I thought that was strange, too. I know that I wouldn’t care for being in that kind of relationship.”
“Well, I do hope he finds someone one of these days. He deserves to be happy.”
I only nodded at that. Then I said, “He asked me to go to his rodeo with him up near Fresno. I really enjoyed the last one, surprisingly. I think I’d like to go to another. Would you mind?”
She made a face like she was thinking and then she said, “Will you be spending the night?”