Tyler (23 page)

Branded… she was his!

He eased them onto the bed, pulling her on top of him, not willing to pull out of her just yet.

Her breathing gradually slowed, matching his. Tyler tightened his grip on her and reveled in the wonder of the woman in his arms. She’d believed in him when the odds had been stacked against him. She trusted him when anyone else would have turned and walked away.

She was a spitfire—a generous lover who’d captured his heart and seared his soul branding him with her initials deep inside of him. As he drifted off to sleep, he reveled in the knowledge that he wasn’t ever going to let her go.

“You get lucky last night?”

Tyler looked over his shoulder at his brother and grinned.

“Damn, bro,” Dylan grumbled. “I think you should let me and Jesse have a turn working at that bar. You shouldn’t be the only one getting laid; it’s just not right.”

Tyler wisely kept his mouth shut and shook his head.

But his brother was like a dog with a juicy knucklebone. “Grandpa taught us to share.”

Tyler snickered. “He sure as hell didn’t teach us to share women, Dylan.”

Dylan shoved his brother out of his way and led his horse into the corral. “He would have if he’d thought about it.”

Tyler laughed and stuck his foot out. Dylan went down hard on his knees but used the momentum to tuck and roll, springing up, catching Tyler off guard. “You want to negotiate who gets to take a turn going to The Lucky Star
tonight, Ty?”

As quick as that, the brothers glared at one another, tempers simmering. Tyler slowly rose to his feet, hands loose at his sides, knees bent ready to take his brother out with a flying tackle. He tensed, preparing to spring.

“You two going to fight and waste these longnecks I popped open for you?”

“Jesus, Jess,” Dylan ground out. “Just hold on… don’t drink mine; it’ll only take me another minute or so to convince Ty to let me fill in for him at work.”

Jesse snorted, tipped his head back, and took a long pull from the beer in his left hand.

Tyler eyed the ones still gripped in Jesse’s right hand. The dark brown glass was slick with moisture. Nothing better on a hot day than a cold beer. He and his brothers preferred the longneck variety. “Damn.” He was tired and thirsty, but sleep was a long way off, and as much as he enjoyed pounding on his brother, he could fight with Dylan anytime.

He reached for the beer and took a long pull. “If you knew what I did at work, you’d change your mind.”

“Yeah right,” Dylan tipped back his head a chugged half the bottle.

“You do lay your life on the line every night, big brother,” Jesse quipped.

Tyler’s guts tied themselves into a knot that would hold a calf hog-tied.
They have no idea.
Maybe it was time to fess up and share the burden not being honest with his brothers had become.
Just get it said.
“I strip for money.”

Dylan choked mid-swallow and beer shot out of his nose.

Jesse snickered. “Don’t waste the beer.” He turned to Tyler. “That a fact?”

Tyler could feel his face flame with embarrassment. It wasn’t something he would joke about. They were his brothers, damn it; they should realize that. “You think I’m telling tales?”

Dylan had finally stopped coughing and was wiping tears from his eyes. Tyler couldn’t remember if snorting beer hurt, so he figured the cuss was laughing at him.

What had you really expected, son?
“Like I’d make something like this up.”

“It’s a regular honky tonk,” Jesse said, watching him, “just like over in Wichita County, with kids shooting out the front of the place on a weekly basis.” Jesse waited for him to agree.

But Tyler couldn’t lie. He was tired of trying to shield his brothers from the truth to save the family name and reputation. Shaking his head to clear it, Tyler asked, “You been there lately?” He waited for an answer, knowing neither brother had had time to go into town since he’d started working at The Lucky Star.
They were working their fingers to the bone, dead tired falling into bed at night, same as he was. The only difference was that he got undressed before he finished his shift at the bar.

His brothers just shook their heads and walked away. “Telling tales just like Grandpa,” Dylan muttered. “It’s your turn to rustle up supper, Jess,” he called out over his shoulder as he strode toward the ranch house. “It’s Lori’s night off.”

Jesse called out, “Yeah, yeah, coming!” Turning back toward Tyler, he looked as if he wanted to ask him something.

Tyler waited, but Jesse ended up shaking his head and walking away.

“I told ’em, Grandpa.” Tyler sighed. “And they accused me of telling tall tales.”

At least you tried to come clean,
the voice in his head sounded firm
. That counts for a lot in my book.
Tyler kicked at a clump of dirt with the toe of his boot. It exploded on contact. “We need rain.”

Grandpa’s voice was oddly silent. Garahan men knew when to talk and when to keep silent. Obviously, it was time to ride it out. His brothers would either keep ragging him, busting his chops about stripping for a bunch of women… redheads at that… or they’d leave him alone.

Right now, Tyler couldn’t say which he preferred, but he had hoped to talk to his brothers. A group of teenagers were running wild on the western border of town, roughing up other kids, shooting up the fence posts and signs hanging at the entrance to half a dozen ranches between Pleasure and Mesquite. Ranchers don’t take kindly to having their property shot up. He and his brothers would probably do serious damage to anyone who took out the huge wrought-iron brand hanging on the gate to the Circle G. Timmy better not be running with that crowd or he’d skin him alive.

Finishing off the rest of his beer, he followed his brothers inside. He had just enough time to eat and get cleaned up before heading into town, to the job he hated and the woman he loved.

***

It had been a good day… with a great beginning. Her gaze flicked from the crowd up to the man on the stage, reliving the morning and the sweet love they’d made.

His gaze met hers, and it heated and lit a fire inside of her. Doing a hip swivel thing that would have rivaled Elvis had her thinking of how good it would feel if they were locked together instead of yards apart, with women hooting and hollering in between.

Tyler licked his lips and her belly clutched. From the look in his eyes, he knew he had her full attention. His eyes darkened and the hint of desperate, dark desire pulled her in until she thought she’d drown in the twin pools of deep dark brown.

Later,
he mouthed.

Her eyes widened and a shiver raced up her spine. He saw it all and flashed his killer grin right before he tipped his hat at her.

Scanning the crowd, relief washed over her when she didn’t find the blonde they’d forcibly removed from the club the night before. No scenes, no distractions. Good; she planned to spend the night doing some distracting of her own. But right now, it was time to focus on working, or else she’d spontaneously combust. That thought had her grinning and turning back to let her eyes feast on the man who’d turned her heart inside out and her world upside down.

He reached for the rope coiled on the chair in the middle of the stage. Emily walked closer, admiring the smooth, easy motion of his hands as he lifted the knotted rope above his head in circular motions right before he let it go into the crowd.

Maybe she could convince him to teach her how to throw a lasso. It might add just the extra bit of spice to what she had in mind for her cowboy tonight. She had two more fantasies that they hadn’t tried… hot coffee and ice cubes, and the silk scarves and the bedpost. As he reeled in the woman he’d been told ahead of time to lasso, Emily shook her head. It was time to stop thinking about what she wanted to do to Tyler and start thinking about collecting the receipts and getting the night deposit ready to drop off at the bank. With ten minutes to closing time, whatever receipts for drinks Gwen would be serving before last call could wait to be deposited with tomorrow night’s receipts.

A few minutes later, she walked to the front door. “I’ll be right back, Jo,” she called out.

“Wait for me,” her cousin called out hurrying to catch up.

They linked arms and walked toward the bank, chatting about their meeting earlier in the week and the results they’d had so far. There was no question that Mavis Beeton was definitely on their side, ready, willing, and able to lend the businesswomen in town a hand and lead the way toward keeping Pleasure and its heritage intact, while Tyler had agreed to round up the ranchers.

“So Mavis is ready to ride to the rescue?”

“Absolutely,” Em said. “She’s ticked at Frank Emerson, calling him high-handed and arrogant.” Emily paused. “And a couple of things that’d make you blush.”

“I’m glad she’s on our side.”

Once their money was safe in the night depository, they headed back toward the bar. They’d walked two and a half blocks when they noticed two tall men walking toward them. The light from the street lamp made it impossible to make out their faces, but the loose-limbed stride of the one and the purposeful stride of the other had them relaxing. “Looks like we were gone too long,” Jolene whispered. “Here comes the search party.”

“Ladies,” Tyler tipped his Stetson and set it back on his head. Emily was close enough to see his expression change right before he asked, “What took so long?” Tyler’s gaze met Jake’s over the heads of the women. “Redheads are barrelful of trouble.”

“But worth every minute of it,” Jake added.

“Absolutely,” Tyler agreed. He reached for Emily, and in that moment, holding Emily against his heart, he realized that nothing mattered… not the ranch, not his brothers… nothing. Because he realized that’s what he’d be without Emily… nothing.

Emily sighed and snuggled closer, her delectable body rubbing against Tyler’s worn jeans, stirring things best left alone until later to full attention. Tyler bent down and whispered, “You can’t move now, or else everyone’s gonna know how bad I want to get you naked.”

Her low and sensual chuckle amplified the want that filled him to bursting every time he was near her. “Come on, sweet thing,” he rasped, pressing his lips to her temple. She shivered, and he knew it had just as much to do with burning up the sheets as it did branding themselves on each other’s hearts. It was in that instant that Tyler realized the real reason he’d never let Emily go. He loved every bit of her… temper, redhead, and all. She was everything to him. All he had to do was convince her that she loved him enough to take him, lock, stock, broken down ranch, and all.

They walked back to the bar, and once everyone was inside, Tyler locked the door behind them and walked down the darkened hallway to where Emily stood waiting for him. He was amazed that he no longer thought the mirrors or red velvet benches odd. The place had grown on him. He hadn’t been working at The Lucky Star all that long, but long enough to put a dent in the mortgage and he was finally starting to chip away at the feed bill too.

“Hey, sweet thing.” He walked over to where she stood and pulled her into his arms. Once he had her there, he knew it wouldn’t be enough.
Not tonight.

“Mmmm…” he pressed his lips to the top of her curls and breathed in the scent that was uniquely Emily. “You ready to go upstairs?”

Emily leaned against him. “Not yet, but I think Jolene’s done in.”

He lifted his head and asked Jake, “You taking her upstairs?”

Jake nodded. “I’m taking Jolene to bed.”

Emily’s head shot up. “Did you mean that the way it sounded?”

Jake grinned at her. “Yes, ma’am,” he said before his smile faded. “You have a problem with that?”

Emily snuggled closer to Tyler and answered, “I think you’re just what my hardheaded cousin needs. You planning on doing something to change my mind about that?”

Jake scooped the tired woman into his arms. “No, ma’am.”

Tyler laughed. “Go on, get a head start, we’ll be busy down here for a while.”

Emily shivered in his arms.

He rasped, “
Real
busy.”

Alone, he eased his hold on her so he could watch her eyes. Grandpa always said the mouth might lie, but the eyes never would.

He placed a hand to the curve of her backside and pulled her hard up against his erection. His mouth covered hers, and he let himself feast. When he finally came up for air, he said, “You’re like a drug. Each time I touch you or taste you, I want you more. I’m acting like a teenager… a walking, talking, raging hard-on. I can’t get enough of you, and I can’t wait to be inside of you.”

“You sound worried. Wanting me shouldn’t be a reason to worry, Tyler.”

He clamped down on his libido and found the control he thought was just out of reach. Shaking his head to clear the lust from it, he realized he needed to explain. He wanted her to understand. “I’ve messed up before, Emily. By being too focused on the ranch and making ends meet. It’s a demanding lifestyle even when times are going good. I’m not exactly relationship material… I know… I’ve been told that before.”

Emily stared up at him and eased back until she was an arm’s distance away from him. “I understand hard work and the endless hours. Since moving out to Texas, we haven’t had time for much other than keeping the business afloat, and dodging the Preservation Society and those other groups hounding us for money.”

“Em, I’ve failed in the past and it scares me that I might this time too.” He held his breath waiting for her reply. Would she throw his ex in his face? Would she decide he wasn’t worth the time or effort? She said she loved him… shouldn’t that mean she would stick by him?

Grasping his hand in hers, she smiled and said, “I know you said you wouldn’t ask me about my past lovers, and I appreciate that you haven’t, but I have to confess that I haven’t been able to make a relationship work yet. I’m scared that you’ll walk.”

“Away from you?” He shook his head, awed by the fact that the perfect woman for him didn’t realize just how
perfect
she was. “I’d have to be deaf, dumb, and blind to walk away from the best damn thing that ever happened to me.”

She squeezed his hands and brought them to her lips. “We’re a pair, aren’t we?”

His heart felt lighter, having shared his greatest fear with her. He tugged on her arm until she tumbled against him. “I’m sticking, Em.”

“Thank God.”

“Does that mean you are too?” He needed to hear her say it. It wasn’t enough that she loved him. She had to like him and accept him for who and what he was; the Circle G was part and parcel of that.

“It’s a no-brainer, Tyler,” she said, pressing her lips to where his heart beat a steady rhythm. She looked up at him and must have seen the worry on his face because she asked, “Don’t you believe me?”