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Y
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ou sure you know how to do this?” Paddy tried to keep
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his expression grim, but Damien noted the smile at the
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corner of his lips.
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“I know how to ATV. How to ride a dirt bike too.” She was
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so small Damien understood why Paddy was being so careful.
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But she was strong. So much stronger than he’d suspected when
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he fi rst met her.
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Damien handed her a helmet and some goggles. “She’s a
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tough cookie, Paddy.”
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Vaughan loped up. “Been a while since we did this. Seems
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like a good day for it.” He took the helmet down and put it on,
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strapping the goggles on as well.
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Paddy took the lead, Vaughan followed, then Mary. Damien
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brought up the rear. He wanted to keep an eye on her anyway.
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Ezra met them at his place, and once they cleared all the houses,
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they opened up and hit the sort of course they’d created over the
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last several years.
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She was fearless. A few times he’d nearly swallowed his tongue
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at how fearless she was. Once she got the lay of the land, she
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took hills quickly, bumping down the other side without hesita-
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tion. She liked it fast, which made him grin. Inwardly of course;
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he didn’t want bugs in his teeth after all.
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It was rare that outsiders could keep up with the Hurley
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brothers. But she did. She kept at it, never complaining that she
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got muddy or that it was hot. She didn’t fall behind or signal
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for a break. And when Paddy fi nally rolled to a stop at the over-
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look, Damien pulled out the lunch she’d made earlier and they
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all dusted themselves off enough to sit.
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Of course, despite her game attitude with ATV’ing, she also
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was clever. She’d brought some wet wipes to clean up with.
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“What? I’m going to be touching food. Can’t do that with
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dirty hands.” She handed the container to Ezra, who’d been
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staring, but he took it with a nod.
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“I like a woman who thinks ahead.”
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“My ass is going to hurt big- time tomorrow though. It’s been
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a while since I’ve done this.”
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Paddy laughed. “You’ll have to come down more often so
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you can keep in practice.”
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She handed around the food and everyone was quiet for long
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minutes as they scarfed it up.
28S
“It’s really a good thing I’m such a nice guy or I’d be trying
29N
so hard to steal her from you.” Paddy winked at her before look-
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ing back to Damien. “She can cook. She can handle Mom. Dad
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thinks she’s awesome. The animals love her. And she’s not afraid
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of getting dirty.”
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Mary sent him a look from under her lashes and a bolt of
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heat shot through him. No, Mary was not afraid of getting dirty.
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Oh, he’d been with women. Lots of women who did lots of
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sex things. But she truly enjoyed sex in a way he’d never really
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experienced in a partner before. She didn’t just do stuff because
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he liked it, or because she thought it seemed sexy. She was a dirty 09
girl who loved to fuck. She wanted to make him hot, wanted to
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make him come, but she wanted to come too. She wasn’t shy
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about it, didn’t pretend she didn’t want to get off. So totally sexy.
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“I fi nd it hilarious that you even think you could steal her
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from me.”
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“I’m older and wiser, Damien. The ladies like that.”
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Mary laughed, leaning back into Damien. “We do. But I’m
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pretty happy with what I’ve got. He’s a year younger than I am.
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I suppose there’s something to be said for younger men too.”
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Vaughan laughed then. “Well, if you ever get tired of Damien,
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keep in mind that I’m younger than he is.”
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“Boy oh boy. You four are going to ruin me forever.”
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Damien pulled a leaf from her hair, blowing it away with a
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puff of breath.
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It was a good day. One of the best he’d had in a very long
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time. Funny how all his good days of late were because of her.
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Ezra stood, stretching. “When you’re all ready, I think we
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should take her by the stream. It’s pretty down that way. Plus I
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want to check the fence. We did a fi x a few weeks ago but I want
S28
to be sure it’s still holding.”
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“We have a problem?” Damien stood, brushing his ass off.
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“I don’t think so. But I’d prefer to keep Haley’s cattle away
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from our stream.” Haley was the cattle rancher who lived sev-
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eral miles away. But the farthest edge of their land abutted the
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farthest edge of Sweet Hollow Ranch, and their water could be
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devastated if the cattle got into it. Vigilance was a good thing
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because clean water was a necessity for their crops.
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“I’m ready when you are.”
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He held a hand out and pulled her to her feet, pausing to
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brush a kiss over her lips. She smiled up at him.
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“You having a good time?”
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“I really am. Thanks for inviting me.”
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“I wish it could be for longer. Gonna suck when you go back
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home.”
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“There’s time. I’m not going anywhere just now.”
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He took her hand, squeezing it. “Good thing.”
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She handled things in Vaughan’s kitchen like a boss. She cur-
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rently wore a bathing suit cover-up as she moved effi ciently
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around the room. Damien was her appointed assistant that day.
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His mother had checked in, edged into the kitchen, but she’d
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been pretty respectful. He was glad Vaughan had suggested she
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cook there instead of their parents’ place or even Damien’s.
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Paddy and their dad were in the pool. Ezra sunned himself
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and Vaughan split his time between the kitchen and his backyard.
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He’d wanted this for his family. A gesture to say thank you
28S
for the way they always supported him. He was out on tour for
29N
months at a time, but when he got back his parents had dealt
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with his mail and his mom kept his place aired out. They’d loved
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him through a lot of fuckups, a lot of changes. That support had
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meant everything to him. And now Mary was making them a
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feast and it meant even more than having a random caterer do
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it, or to take them to a restaurant.
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“This kitchen is pretty fabulous too.” She checked on the
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chicken, apparently satisfi ed. “I could have made something way
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more complicated than fried chicken, you know.”
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“I do know. But your fried chicken is ridiculously good and
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I wanted my family to know that too.” And his mother would
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approve of something simple versus something really compli-
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cated. Oh sure, she’d appreciate the skill, but a good fried
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chicken would be something she could admire. Practical as well
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as tasty.
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“Oooh, potato salad too?”
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She grinned at him. “Vaughan mentioned that he loved it.”
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His mother liked that answer; he could tell by the way she
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stood up a little straighter.
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“You need another root beer?” she asked Mary.
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“That’d hit the spot. Thank you.”
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It wasn’t that no one ever drank around Ezra. They did from
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time to time. But drinking in the middle of the day wasn’t some-
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thing he engaged in usually. Maybe at lunch he’d have some
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wine or whatever. But this was family time and root beer would
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be just fi ne with fried chicken.
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“Damien, can you take the tomatoes out of the fridge please?”
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He did, placing the platter next to her. He watched as she
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cut mozzarella into discs and slid them between the tomato
S28
slices. “Now I can use that balsamic you gave me.”
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The smile she gave him shot straight to his toes. Weird that
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a gift of some old vinegar would do that, but when he’d given it
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to her she’d teared up a little. And that had meant he needed to
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kiss her a few times. And that had led to a fast, hard fuck on his
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kitchen table.
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He caught her eye and knew she’d been thinking of that too.
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She drizzled the balsamic and olive oil over the tomatoes and
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cheese. “Thanks for the tomatoes, Sharon. They’re really lovely.
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Perfect for this cheese.”
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“Glad they could be of use. I’ve canned a million of them
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this year it seems. But this last crop I fi gured could be put to
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good use.”
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Mary dished some up. “Damien, can you hand this to
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your mom?”
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His mother took a few bites. “I admit to you now that I was
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not convinced such a thing would taste good. I fi gured I’d take
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a bite and then fi nd a way to dump the rest. But damn if I wasn’t
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wrong. This is delicious.”
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Mary beamed at his mom. “Thank you. That’s a wonderful
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compliment. When the tomatoes are fresh it’s a million times
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better. I don’t make this during the rest of the year, only when
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I can get local tomatoes that are fresh off the vine. Once you
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taste them this way, you’re spoiled for life.”
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Mary checked on the corn. “Nearly done. The salad is ready
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too.” She peeked in the oven. “Give the biscuits another two
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minutes. We’re nearly fi nished.”
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“I’ll get everyone out of the pool and have Ezra and Vaughan
28S
set the table as they’re dry anyway.” His mother headed out.
29N
Damien got close enough to risk a kiss. “Thank you for doing
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this. By the way, I think you’ve totally won my family over. They
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like you better than me.”
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She laughed, her eyes dancing. “Yeah? I like them a lot too.”
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“Let’s eat, Curly.”
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“Sounds good.”
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06
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She paused in the doorway of his practice room at his house. He
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went inside, a sweet pride on his face. “Just a place to play. I have 09
a studio space where we practice as a band up in the barn.”
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Ha, the
barn
. The barn was a sophisticated, fully kitted- out 11
studio and rehearsal space. The barn had been fi lled with Hur-
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leys. Here? Well it was just the two of them. At last.
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All day they’d been out with his brothers, riding ATVs. Vis-
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iting the orchards and the horses. They’d even taken a dip in
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Vaughan’s pool and had a barbecue. She’d wanted him a little
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bit more with each passing moment.
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He was so . . . hot. He stood there in low slung jeans and a
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T-shirt, his tats showing. No shoes. Every inch the rock star. It
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made her sweat.
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“I think you should play for me.”
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He turned back, startled. “Me?’
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