Oklahoma Moonshine (The McIntyre Men #1) (6 page)

The house was in sight now. Another truck had pulled in, and his brothers were piling out of it. She recognized Joey, and could tell even from a distance
that the other one must be Jason. God, was every male in the McIntyre line gifted with leading-man genes? They looked it. A mini-van was right behind the
truck, and two women got out of that one. No one was empty handed. One was blond and carrying a stack of familiar flat boxes.

“Is that the pizza you mentioned?” Kiley asked.

“Looks like.”

She smiled. “Hot damn. I think I’m gonna like your family, Rob.”

Kiley wasn’t used to this sort of...involvement was the best word, she supposed. She’d have called it meddling, except that Rob didn’t
seem to mind his entire family showing up to clean his house without being asked. For her, it felt like an invasion of privacy. But she couldn’t very
well say so. None of them, including Rob, knew she’d been staying there.

At least, not until Selene with her impossible corn-silk hair and glacial blue eyes, said, “Robby, it looks like someone’s been squatting in
one of the upstairs bedrooms.”

Kiley averted her gaze. They were all sitting outside on pickup tailgates and front steps, eating their pizza while fireflies danced to the country music
wafting from the radio. They’d been cleaning for a while already, and she hadn’t had a chance to slip upstairs yet.

Rob asked, “Really?”

“Yeah, there’s a sleeping bag and some food up there. I left it alone, in case it was one of yours.”

Rob was looking at her. Kiley could feel his eyes on her. So she said, “I’ll go take a look,” and dropping her pizza slice onto a paper
plate, she got off the top step where she’d been sitting and hurried inside, through the kitchen to the living room and up the stairs.

She paused at the top to push a hand through her hair. Dammit, she should’ve moved her stuff. She’d overslept, then had to rush to get to the
auction, then returned all eager to talk to Kendra, and maybe spread her ashes down by the river, and kind of got lost in her memories down there. But she
should’ve moved her stuff first. Practical matters came before emotional nonsense. Practical matters included keeping her cover intact. These people
had to believe she was the woman she was pretending to be. The starry-eyed, innocent but ambitious entrepreneur with a slight crush on her business
partner. The nostalgic local girl, reclaiming her childhood home. She could never let them see the real her. A penniless con artist sleeping wherever she
could find a spot, while trying to figure out a way to con Rob out of his half of the ranch.

Because that was what she had to do. Clearly. Gaming him out of enough cash to pay for this place was supposed to have been her last con ever. She’d
really meant it when she’d told herself it would be. But she’d never intended to take on a partner who owned half the place. This was
her
home.

So one more con might just be necessary, and that was a shame, because she was starting to really
like
the guy.

Still, she had to outsmart them all. Her cunning was her only advantage here.

She took a deep breath and walked down the hall and into the bedroom. Her sleeping bag lay unrolled on the floor, the clothes she’d worn yesterday
right on top of it. Her toothbrush was visible in the still unzipped makeup bag, and her cooler sat beside the rest.

She sat down on top of the cooler and let her head fall into her hands. Her father would be ashamed of her, making such a rookie mistake.

“So you’ve been staying here,” Rob said from the doorway.

Looking up quickly, she met his eyes, read them, saw that he wasn’t just guessing. He knew. “How do you know it’s my stuff? Could be
anyone’s.”

He smiled a little. “Well, I’m a guy. A guy’s not gonna forget an outfit like that. At least not within twenty-four hours.” He
nodded at the rumpled white top and ruffly skirt as he said it. “Besides, the upstairs bathroom smells like your perfume. And also, you didn’t
even look in any of the other rooms. You came straight to this one.”

“Didn’t know I was under surveillance,” she said.

He frowned, his big brows bending as he studied her. “You weren’t. I don’t believe in that kind of thing. I came upstairs 30 seconds
behind you to check out the alleged squatter. I wasn’t trying to be sneaky.”

She sighed, lowering her eyes, looking for a believable story to spin for him.

“You don’t have to lie to me, Kiley. I’m not gonna judge you.”

She brought her head up slowly. “I’m not a liar.”

“Good. I’m glad, because I really believe in honesty. It’s a big deal to me.”

“To me too.” She bit her lip,
because she’d just lied to him again, and she hadn’t even meant to.

“You spent every penny you had on your share of this place. You don’t have anywhere else to stay. Am I close?”

She didn’t
know how to respond. Honesty did not come naturally to her. It felt too close to vulnerability. “It’s only a temporary thing. I’ve got
funds on the way, I uh, just...there was a delay, and I haven’t got a bank account set up here, yet, and—”

“You have nowhere else to stay.”

“Not at the moment.”

“But you never mentioned that when you told me I could live in the house.”

She shrugged. “I never said you could live here
alone
.”

He pursed his lips, nodded slowly. “So you’re nitpicking words when we both know what you implied, what I understood? Come on, Kiley,
you’re too good for that.” He came further into the room, handed her the paper plate that held her untouched slice of pizza. “It’s
gonna get cold,” he said. Then he manifested two long-necked brown bottles from the back of his jeans, and handed her one of those, as well.

She took it. “Thanks. And...I’m sorry.” She took a big bite of pizza, and it was delicious, so she took another. Then she twisted the cap
off the bottle, and washed the bite down with a swig of beer. “This is good,” she said, looking at the label.

“Algernon West. It’s a little microbrewery out in Tucker Lake. The locals love it.” He took a swig of his own. “So what are we
gonna do about this?”

“I don’t know. I really thought I’d have options, but....” She trailed off there, because he was looking at her like he knew she
was lying. He was good. How did he do that?

“You have an idea, though,” he said. “You’ve known you had nowhere to go a lot longer than I have, so you’ve had time to
think on it. Come on, tell me. How was this all playing out in your mind?”

She blinked three times, and couldn’t find a lie that would make a bit of difference to him. He’d rocked her, knocked her off her game. No one
had ever done that before. No one other than Kendra.

Kendra was so good. So much better at the game than Kiley was. She could fool Kiley almost every time when they were kids. But Kiley had never once fooled
Kendra.

“Don’t try to come up with a plausible story, just tell me the truth,” he said, watching her face like a hawk watches a mouse. “Try
it and see what happens. I dare you.”

She frowned. Just telling the truth and seeing what happened had never even occurred to her. The Kellogg girls had been raised to never tell the truth
unless they couldn’t come up with a lie that sounded better and would elicit sympathy for their cause, whatever that cause happened to be.

Telling the truth just because he asked…wow, was that how normal people really lived?

He was looking at her face, his eyes kind of roaming it all over, and nodding encouragement at her. Sighing, she said, “I guess I was thinking we
could try living together. I mean, not
living together,
” she added rapidly, “Just...sharing the house. It’s big enough. Four
bedrooms, two bathrooms, and if we shared living expenses we’d both have more extra money to put into the ranch.” She bit her lip. “Not
that money’s an issue for you.”

“It is, actually. I want to do this on my own, with money I’ve earned, not the family fortune. I’d just as soon add to it as I go along,
then leave it all for my kids.”

“You have kids?” she asked, stunned.

He smiled, shook his head. “No. But I might someday.”

She did not understand him. He had a fortune he didn’t want to spend. He wanted to make it bigger so he could give it away to kids that didn’t
even exist yet. She didn’t think she’d ever met anyone like this guy. He was completely crazy.

He came further into the room and sat down on her sleeping bag, reached up to take a couple of potato chips from her plate. “So like I told you
before, honesty is important to me. I decided about a year ago to tell the truth all the time.”

“Got lied to, huh?” she asked, taking a seat beside him. He shot her a surprised look and she shrugged. “Was it a woman?”

“It was.”

“She break your heart?”

He pressed his lips, then said, “Cracked it pretty badly. Hurt my pride a lot. But mostly I just felt like an idiot for falling for her game.”

She’d never thought about that before, about people who bought into a game feeling stupid afterward.

“Kiley, I can’t be in business, much less share a house, with someone I can’t trust.”

“That’s kind of a stupid rule, Rob.”

His brows went up. “Why’s that?”

“Because everyone is out for themselves in this world. You’re better off not trusting anyone, ever. People are always gonna do what’s
best for them, and if it hurts someone else, too bad.”

“Every man for himself, huh?”

“And every woman.”

He nodded. “Well, I guess we’re gonna have to agree to disagree about that philosophy. But as to the rest...I meant what I said. I can’t
be in business with someone I can’t trust.”

“Well, how do I make you trust me?” she asked.

“By being honest.”

“Well, how do I know I can trust you?”

He studied her, nodding slowly. “Good point. Okay, how about this? We both agree, here and now, that we’ll always do what’s
best for the ranch. That way, you can feel comfortable that you know my motives well enough to be honest with me. Do you think you can do that?”

She thought for a second, then lied. “I can if you can.”

“Good,” he said. “So I’m gonna ask you a question. And I’d like you to answer me honestly.”

“Are you
testing
me?” She was starting to get pissed. How dare he?

“No. I don’t play games like that. I just have a simple question. Remember that guy who was bidding against us at the auction?”

“Sure I do.” She looked around the bedroom. Where the hell was her purse?

“Did you put something in his coffee?” Rob asked.

It was in the car, that’s where her purse was. In the car, and the car was unlocked, and he’d probably looked inside it, given that he’d
already admitted he didn’t trust her as far as he could throw her. So he knew. He
was
testing her. The rich, arrogant bastard.

“Kiley?”

She slugged back more of the beer, swallowed hard. “Ipecac,” she said. “A few drops of ipecac. It’s harmless, they give it to
toddlers to make ‘em yak up stuff they shouldn’t have eaten. Poison berries and what not. He had to go puke, and we got our ranch. No harm
done.”

He looked at her like he’d never seen her before, blinked as if in shock, got up and turned toward the door.

“Oh come on, Rob.” She jumped to her feet, too. “We would’ve lost the place if I hadn’t—”

“Just because you’re gonna lose doesn’t mean you get to cheat,” he said.

“Cheat my Oklahoman ass. Where is the law that says you can’t make a guy puke to get what you want?”

“I’m pretty sure
it’s called assault.”

“
Assault?
He threw up. I didn’t
hurt
him. God, why are you being so dramatic?”

He kept walking. She raced after him. “You told me to be honest. You said you wouldn’t judge me. Who’s the liar now, Rob? You’re
just a pampered, rich son of a gun who’s always been able to buy anything he wants. You’ve got no clue what it’s like to be denied, to
have to struggle, to not know where your next meal is coming from, to have nothing to your name but a POS car held together with chewing gum and twine, and
not even know where you’re gonna sleep from one night to the next, and—”

“Okay, okay.” He put his hands up like she’d pulled a gun on him, then turned slowly, and lowered them again. “You’re right,
I was judging you. And you’re also right that I don’t know what your life has been like. I’m sorry.” He sighed. “Thank you
for being honest with me about the...ipecac.”

He had cut her off just as she was working up to a great rant. It was frustrating.
He
was frustrating. “You’re...welcome. I
guess.”

“I can’t move back into my room over the saloon. Jason’s already rented it out. So I guess we’ll have to try this your way.”

She blinked in shock. “You mean...share the house?”

“Yeah. I mean share the house.” He nodded past her, at the room she’d just exited. “I take it you’d like this to be your
room?”

She nodded.

“Okay.” He turned away again, then paused at the top of the stairs. “How much exploring have you done since you’ve been back? You
look in the barns yet?”

She shook her head. “The barns are probably still packed full of junk, both of them. Been that way for as long as I can remember. When we were kids,
Dad forbade us from going anywhere near them. We did anyway, but…” She stopped there. “Why do you ask?”

“There’s an old car out in the big barn. God only knows if it’s salvageable, but I think it’s in better shape than the one
you’re driving. Edie’s husband Wade owns the garage in town. I’ll ask him to give it the once-over. No labor charge for family. Just
parts, and he might be able to find used ones or salvaged ones and make it work.”

  “But...I’m not family,” she said.

“I am. You’re my business partner, so that’s close enough.”

He continued down the stairs.

Kiley tipped her head to one side and watched him go. His long legs and easy stride, his broad shoulders in that denim shirt, and the dark curly hair that
tickled onto his neck and probably needed a trim.