1001 Dark Nights (17 page)

“While I appreciate that...it is sort of embarrassing that I’ve been wrong all along.”

“About us resenting Sutton Grant? Absolutely.
You
resented him. And I worry you’ve gotten sucked back into that cycle of trying to fix a horse that has limitations.”

She’d never considered any of this and it sent her reeling.

But didn’t Sutton ask you that very first day if he couldn’t utilize Dial after he’d been retrained, if you’d be willing to help find him a new home?

Yes. But she hadn’t believed him. In fact, she’d done exactly what her mother claimed she’d done: she’d set out to prove Sutton wrong.

“Damn. I am a fucking idiot.”

“No. You just added the complication of love to an already complicated situation.”

“What do I do now?”

“Talk to Sutton. Tell him you know that we happily handed over Dial to his care. Tell him you’ll help him find another bulldogger to sell to who can handle a horse who performs well but won’t ever acclimate to a normal environment outside the arena.” She cocked her head. “What about Stitch?”

“Oh sure, Mom, suggest that Sutton sell a horse with behavioral problems to my
ex-boyfriend
. There’s no chance that Sutton would oh, hope the horse would hurt Stitch because he hurt me?”

“Sounds like Sutton is pretty protective of you?”

“Yes. Which is sweet and sorta hot, in a Neanderthal way. Sutton and I had words about a freakin’ hug Stitch gave me. That’s when it came out he wouldn’t be competing anymore. I was mad; he was annoying as fuck. I asked for some time and I’ll be damned if he didn’t give it to me. It’s been four damn days! He’s not answering my texts or my calls. I don’t know how to fix it.”

“He hasn’t been to his house?”

“Not when I’ve been there.”

“Does he still have that underground shooting range?”

Again, London was shocked. “You
knew
about that?”

“Of course. It’s his pride and joy. He invited your dad over to shoot.” A sneaky and slightly evil looking smile spread across her mom’s face. “I know one way to get a man back home, and you won’t even have to get on your knees.”

“MOTHER!”

“What? I mean getting on your knees to beg him. Good lord. You have as dirty a mind as your father. Anyway, call Sutton and leave him a voicemail.”

“I’ve tried that.”

“Ah ah ah. But you haven’t told him that you feel so bad about what happened between you two, and you know he’s upset, so you’ve decided to do something nice for him to open those lines of communication.”

“Like what?”

She paused for effect. “Polish all his guns.”

“Oh shit.”

“Then tell him you’ve used a Brillo Pad to shine up the metal parts, but you aren’t sure if you should use furniture polish or car wax on the wood parts. I guarantee you’ll get his attention.”

“Mom. That is brilliant. Twisted, but brilliant.” Totally impossible to do with the biometric locks on the vaults, but it’d get her point across. London leapt up and hugged her. “Thanks for listening. But I’ll admit you scare me sometimes.”

Berlin Gradsky delicately sipped her tea. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Chapter Fifteen

Shining his gunstocks with furniture polish?

That woman had a warped sense of humor. Seriously fucking warped.

Which was probably why he was seriously fucking in love with her.

Sutton didn’t bother pulling into the garage. He parked on the concrete slab and barreled into the house. Shouting wasn’t his style, but he found himself doing it anyway. “London Gradsky, you better not have put a single spritz of Lemon Pledge on my shotguns or so help me God I’ll—”

“You’ll what?” she said from the living room where she was sprawled out on the chaise, drinking a beer.

His eyes narrowed. Hey, wait a second. London was knocking back the special brew he’d brought back from Germany two years ago.

“Still waiting,” she said and then took a big swig.

“Where are my guns?”

“Safely locked away in their velvet lined, dehumidified gun cases I presume.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “Then why’d you send me that threatening text?”

“Threatening text? When I said I was gonna help you out by cleaning up your guns? That was me being nice, asshole.”

“If that’s you bein’ nice, darlin’, I’d hate to see you when you’re bein’ nasty.”

London leapt to her feet. “You’re about to find out.”

“Bring it, cowgirl. And bring me that damn beer you stole. I haven’t had a taste of it.”

She smirked. Then she tipped the bottle up and drained it. She wiped her lips with the back of her hand and belched.

“You are the most annoying fucking woman on the planet.”

“So does that mean you missed me?” she asked softly.

Here was the moment of truth. “Yeah. I missed you like a limb.”

“Sutton.”

“London. I know we need to talk, but c’mere and gimme a kiss ’cause the last few days have sucked without you.”

He didn’t wait for her to come to him. They met halfway, and he wrapped her in his arms for several long moments, reminding himself of how well they fit together, in so many ways.

“I missed you too, bulldogger.”

Sutton twisted his hand in her hair and tipped her head back to get at that sweet, hot mouth of hers. The kiss heated up, and he paused to say, “I like how that beer tastes on you.”

“Stop talking and kiss me some more.”

He did just that. But as much as he wanted to let the passion between them expand, letting it show her how he felt about her, he needed to say the words. “London,” he murmured against her lips.

She flattened her hands on his pecs and pushed, putting distance between them. “Uh-oh. That’s your serious voice.”

“I have different voices?”

“Yep. There’s your
Jesus, woman
tone, which means you’re exasperated with me. There’s your
Hey, sweet darlin’
rasp that means you’re about to strip me naked. Then there’s your
C’mon, sweetheart
taunt that means you’re teasing me. And there’s the softly spoken
London
, which means...I’m never exactly sure what I’m in for with that one.” She raised her gaze to his. “So if you do plan to tell me something good that’ll make me smile, weep with joy, and throw myself into your big, strong arms, let’s get through the bad stuff first.” She touched her lips to his. “There’s things we both need to get off our chests.”

He pressed a kiss onto her forehead. “Sounds fair. Kitchen or living room?”

“Living room. That way if you really piss me off I’m farther away from the knives and you have time to run.”

Yep. He so loved this woman.

London held his hand and led him to the sectional couch. After he’d settled himself in the corner, she immediately stretched out on top of him, nestling the side of her face against the center of his chest, pressing her hip between his legs. Being body to body, where he could touch her at will but wasn’t staring directly into her eyes as he made his confessions, would make those confessions come easier.

Sutton ran his hand down her arm. “Is this okay for you?”

“It’s perfect for me.” She kissed his pectoral. “Start when you’re ready.”

He reflexively tightened his hold on her hip. “You won’t take off?”

“Nope. Unless you tell me you’re part of some religious sect where they allow you to have as many wives as you want, because I don’t share well at all.”

“Me neither.” He marshaled his thoughts and decided to get the worst over first. “The reason I have no intention of ever competing as a professional steer wrestler again is because I made a deal with God that if I survived the wreck, I’d walk away from the sport for good. I’m keeping my word because in that moment I finally realized how lucky I am.” When she didn’t laugh or call him an idiot, he told her the story. “So no one knows what really went down. Not my family, not my sponsors, not the CRA.”

“How long have you been medically cleared?”

“Four months. My brothers busted me trying to work with Dial right after I’d been released. I chose to perpetuate the lie. No idea why I did. Seemed smart at the time. Then it just steamrolled. But you know better than anyone what happens to a highly trained horse when it’s allowed to run amok. Needing your help with Dial was completely sincere.”

She traced the edge of his shirt pocket. “I know. I knew when you didn’t balk at pretending to be my boyfriend as a stipulation of me helping you that you were desperate.”

“Not the word I’d use...”

“After the first time we kissed, I knew I was in big trouble with you.”

“Why?”

“Because I didn’t give a damn about Stitch anymore.”

“But I thought you did and I kept pushing us into bein’ more visible as a couple—”

“When all I wanted was alone time with you, my hot man. So you believe me when I say Stitch means nothing to me? That conversation you interrupted—”

“That overly friendly hug,” he corrected with a growl.

“Was just a hug between friends. I didn’t only ask you to pretend to be my boyfriend to make Stitch jealous. I needed my ego bolstered after being dumped. I never wanted Stitch back. I guess I didn’t make that clear.”

He sighed. “How did this get so fucked up?”

“Because we both kept following our own agenda. How long did you plan to keep me training Dial?”

“Until you said he was back to normal or that you couldn’t get him there.” His hand traveled back up her arm and he brushed her hair from her shoulder. “Then I remembered why your folks agreed to sell me Dial in the first place—because you’d keep working with him to the exclusion of every other animal in their stable. So I was selfish, hoping it’d take you a long damn time to retrain him.”

“Because...?”

“Because I fell in love with you. I hoped if you had more time with me, you’d fall for me too—when I wasn’t second guessing myself that no one really fell in love in a week.” He felt her smile against his chest.

London lifted her head and looked at him reverently—and they weren’t even naked. That had to mean something, right?

“Talk to me.”

She ran her fingertips over the stubble on his cheeks. “I expected you to say you didn’t think this was real because you were my rebound man.”

“Shit. I should’ve been worrying about
that
too?”

She laughed. “No.” Then she sobered. “Here’s the truth. Dial is as good as he’s ever gonna get. At least under my training. I’ve been pretending that he hasn’t made much progress because I didn’t want to leave you.”

He grinned so widely it hurt, then he wondered if he might’ve pulled a muscle.

“I’ve been milking this job. But not for money. Every check you wrote me is uncashed. I also suspected you weren’t being truthful because you let me be. You weren’t gauging Dial’s progress. A guy antsy to get back on the dirt would’ve been out there every day harassing me for faster results.”

“You didn’t take my hands-off approach as that I trusted you to do the job I’d hired you for?”

“Nope.”

“Damn.”

“But I’d hoped that you were keeping me around because you were starting to feel things for me since I’d fallen in love with you.”

Sutton kissed her then, knowing he’d remember this moment for the rest of their lives.

“So what now?”

“You move in with me.”

“Like we’re roommates?”

“Fuck no, we won’t be roommates. And we ain’t playing house either. This is for real.”

“I can move my stuff into your room?”

“Woman, half your shit is already in my room—don’t think I didn’t notice.” He held her chin and feathered his thumb over her lips. “Dream come true having a woman like you in my bed every night.”

“A woman like me?”

“A hot, feisty, sexy cowgirl who loves me for me. Not because of the championship buckles, the fame, or the money. “

“The money is a nice bonus. But will you be in our bed with me every night? Because that’s been another thing we haven’t discussed. Your need for space.”

“Baby, it’s not about me needing space; it’s about me needing more time. For the past month I’ve been haying with my brothers, and keeping you thoroughly fucked to entice you into staying with me forever, and that wears a man out. So the only time I could study for the test I’m taking to become a range master was in the middle of the night. The only other thing that’s been constant in my life besides bulldoggin’ is my love of guns. My buddy Ramsey owns an indoor/outdoor gun range. The first week you were here he told me one of his range masters is getting deployed for a year. He asked if I’d be interested in taking the test and filling in. Then when the guy returns from deployment, he’ll find me a permanent position if I like working there. So that’s where I’ve been the past two days, taking the written test, which wasn’t fun at all, and sharpening my skills here and at the range for the firearms qualification portion, which will be the fun part.”

“It’s a really exciting change and opportunity for you, Sutton! How awesome you get to do another thing that you love to make a living.”

That shit-eating grin spread across his face again. She got it. She got him in ways he didn’t have to explain. “Thanks. I planned on telling my family after I told you.”

“Will you make an official announcement about retirement from the CRA?”

“Most likely. I’ve been avoiding my PR person, so I’ll talk to her about it.”

“That leaves just one thing left to deal with.” She paused. “Dial.”

He brushed her soft cheek with his knuckles. “I asked my buddy who’s a veterinarian in Wyoming to keep his ear to the ground for anyone interested in a championship bulldogging horse. Dial needs to work, so I prefer he went to a qualified candidate. Payment, lease, whatever is all secondary to me at this point.” He paused. “Why? Do you already have someone in mind?”

“No, but I agree it’s better to wait than just shipping Dial off and cutting your losses. As long as folks in the rodeo world know you’re serious about finding the right competitor for him, you
will
have interest. Whether it’s the right interest? Dial is the best judge.”