Redneck Romeo (Rough Riders) (25 page)

“I need another goddamned beer,” Ben said and took out two bottles, passing one to Dalton.

“I wondered if Uncle Charlie had used the ‘spare the strap, spoil the child’ philosophy on you or your brothers.”

“Nope. But I can see why you’d think my former whip expertise stemmed from dealing with childhood trauma.” He pointed his beer bottle at Dalton. “Kinda like you used to act out by getting into all them dust ups with any guy who looked at you crossways.”

“I had a fucked up need to prove I could defend myself—probably why I instigated half of the fights.”

“The only time I remember my dad raising his hand to one of us was when Chase was five. He ran out in front of the tractor when Dad was picking up hay bales. Dad jumped outta the cab so fast, grabbed Chase by one arm and spanked the living crap out of him. Me’n Quinn were shocked. Then Dad knelt in the dirt and got right in Chase’s face. Talked to him, hugged the shit out of him and made him sit in the cab with him for the rest of the day. Which was the worst sort of punishment for Chase.” Ben paused. “Your brothers didn’t know when it was goin’ on?”

Dalton picked at the label of his beer bottle. “One night after too many shots of Jagermeister I told Tell about Casper’s random whippings when I was a kid. Shocked him because Casper used to smack me in front of them sometimes and Tell thought that’s all there was to it. Sounds fun, don’t it?”

“Not even remotely.” Ben seemed to chug half his beer. “Your mom wasn’t aware of what was goin’ on in her own house?”

He looked at Ben. “It didn’t go on in the house and it never happened when she was home. My fuckin’ big-mouthed brother Tell spilled his guts about it to her after I told him.” He drained his beer and twisted the cap on a new one. “The next day she tracked me down and…” That was one of the worst days of Dalton’s life. Seeing his mother crumble. It’d crushed him knowing she’d carry guilt that wasn’t her burden to bear. Especially seeing her broken after witnessing her transformation into a stronger, independent woman after she’d left Casper. Which was why Dalton wouldn’t tell her about his conversation with Casper three years ago. It would shatter her all over again.

“Don’t blame you for not bein’ the forgive and forget type when it comes to him. Do your brothers expect that from you?”

“They’re havin’ a hard time forgiving me for bein’ almost completely out of touch for three years. Now that I’m here…I don’t wanna sit in Casper’s room for hours on end while he glares at me and refuses doctor’s orders.”

“My dad said the same thing after he visited.”

“And Casper wonders why he doesn’t have hardly any visitors.” He swigged his beer. “I assumed the cousins are still pissed off at me because they think I took off three years ago and left my brothers holding the bag.”

“Holdin’ the bag.” Ben snorted. “I can’t speak for anyone besides me’n Quinn, but we never saw it that way. No one blinked when Chase took off for different pastures. Or when Carter did. Or when Cam did. Brandt and Tell ain’t been suffering from work overload bein’s that Jessie and Georgia are sharing part of their daily work.”

Dalton sighed. “How’d we get on this subject anyway? I thought we were talkin’ about my life in Montana. You and Ainsley ever been up to Boden’s hunting lodge?”

“Nope. He’s invited us to visit but it’s never fit into our schedule. Boden’s not a cattle man so he doesn’t understand calving.” He stood. “Look, I’m glad you told me about this stuff even though it burns my ass that you went through it alone, say nothin’ of when you were a little kid. Obviously in your time away you found a way to deal with it, or heal from it or whatever.” Ben’s eyes were somber. Conflicted. “Lemme know if you wanna talk. Or if you need an extra hand with the handyman stuff.”

“Thanks.”

He slipped on his coat. “Oh, heads up in two weeks we’re playing poker at my place.”

“Texas Hold’em?”

Ben snorted. “Regular poker. Not that made-for-TV game that relies on luck, not card skill.”

If Dalton had a buck for every time he’d heard that. Wait. He did—from playing Texas Hold’em with guys who had that same attitude. He took their money and smiled. “Who’s we?”

“Just the cousins. Been a while and I figured we could gauge if your public tournament loss changed the way you play.”

It had changed him. Not only in the way he played cards, but how he could strip everything down to the basics. Cut and run if he needed to, or bluff his way into a better position if need be. “I’m in. But I don’t wanna hear any bitching when I clean all you guys out.”

“That’s not fair! You’re cheating.”

“How is it cheating, Rory?”

She swung the Wii remote and smacked the onscreen tennis ball, sending it way out of bounds. Her avatar hung her head in shame when the scorekeeper announced Dalton’s doubles team had won the match. She looked over at the man.

He grinned. “Another game? Or you wanna play something else? We haven’t tried out that fantasy quest one yet.”

“Let me think about it.” Rory flopped on the couch. She never dreamed that playing virtual tennis would make her physically tired. She’d worked up a sweat. But so had Dalton so she didn’t feel like an out of shape couch potato.

She’d been very resistant when Dalton had bought the Wii. Growing up, she’d never played video games. She’d secretly scoffed at those who did, thinking they oughta get a life. But Dalton had insisted she try a couple of the programs before passing judgment. And yeah, she’d gone into it expecting she’d hate it. But she hadn’t. Not at all. The games were fun, a great way to blow off steam, get her body moving and spend time with Dalton doing something new and different—besides checking off sexual positions in the
Kama Sutra
.

He hadn’t gloated and said I-told-you-so. He’d just reminded her they used to play games and make believe as kids. Then he’d picked up an extra unit for her place so they each had one.

So maybe Rory had been secretly practicing so she didn’t get trounced every time, at every game.

Dalton had mad gaming skills, but not because he was one of those single men addicted to a virtual life. In college she’d dated a few guys who’d rather play online than play with her. Having a Wii hadn’t cooled Dalton’s libido at all—the man admitted he was addicted to her and proved it at least once a day. Had he ever proved it this morning before she’d gone to work. Just thinking about the heat and the intensity sent blood rushing to her face.

“I recognize that look,” he said, sitting beside her.

Rory reached up and brushed the damp hair from his forehead. “The look where I’m thinking back to how you rocked my world in the predawn hours and started my day with a bang?” Her fingertips followed the contours of his sigh-worthy face. His smooth face. She loved the little things he did for her—like shaving later in the day so she didn’t end up with beard burn when he kissed her, wherever he kissed her, because his mouth was on her a lot.

“Been reliving that a time or two hundred all day myself.” Then he plucked her up and settled her across his lap, wrapping his arms around her. “So did whacking a tennis ball relieve your stress?”

“Some of it.” She’d had a horrible day. Hannah had been a nightmare, barging in her office at least a dozen times, demanding explanations on reports Rory had filed months ago. Stupid, busywork questions that Hannah could’ve found the answers to herself if she’d bothered to look.

Even though Rory understood the disruptions were Hannah’s bitchy reminders that she still retained dominion, it was annoying. Rory’s tongue should’ve been bruised from biting it so many times. Plus, Hannah’s continual interruptions had put Rory further behind on her current project—which Hannah also knew. After having autonomy with this project, Rory realized it’d be hell working with Hannah again.

Hopefully she’d get a callback from one of the other places she’d applied the past few weeks. Problem was, even if she got offered her dream job, she couldn’t accept it until she finished this special project.

“You’re awful quiet, sugarplum.”

“Lost in bad workday thoughts. Thank you for coming over to try and chase them away.”

He stroked her hair. “Nowhere I’d rather be than with you. If you’re still needing a distraction, I have an idea on how to force them ugly work thoughts right outta your pretty head.”

Rory straddled Dalton’s thighs, tucking her knees by his hips as she faced him. “Force?”

“Coax,” he corrected, placing a kiss on the center of her chest. “Damn. You always smell good.”

“But I’m sweaty.”

“I’m pretty sure my sodium intake is dangerously low today.” He parted his lips and dragged his mouth across her collarbone. “You taste good too.”

“Keep that up, McKay, and you know what’ll happen next.”

“Yeah. You’ll be even sweatier wearing a big ol’ smile.”

Rory tipped his head back and ran her fingers though his hair. “Anything interesting happen in your world today? Did HGTV stop by and offer you a home improvement show?”

Dalton snorted. “No, but my cousin Ben did drop in.”

Not that she’d ever say anything to him, but it bothered her that few of Dalton’s McKay relatives had stopped by to see him. “What did he want?”

“To say hello and invite me to a family poker game a week from next Sunday.”

“You going?”

“Hell yes. Gonna school them.” He twisted a piece of her hair around his index finger. “So you know how we’ve been all social and stuff lately? I was lookin’ in the paper to see what’s goin’ on this weekend and I saw that next weekend there’s a poker tournament in Deadwood. Thought it might be fun if we rented a room Friday and Saturday night. I haven’t played in a while so I figured I could brush up on my skills and we could make a weekend of it. Eat out. Hang out. Have lots of wild, kinky, loud hotel room sex.”

Rory grinned. “I’m in as long as you’re not expecting me to enter the tournament.”

Dalton actually looked horrified at that prospect. “Ah. No.”

“Cool. So if I’m arm candy for a high roller, should I plan on wearing my skankiest outfits? Wouldn’t it be fun if people thought I was a hooker?”

“Jesus, Rory. That’s not funny.”

“Sure it is.” She shifted her hips side to side across his groin. “We could even play the gambler and the whore.” She rubbed her tits under his chin. “After all, it is Deadwood.”

“I’ll make reservations.”

“Was Kyler there when Ben stopped by?”

Dalton shook his head. “He called to let me know he couldn’t help out today. He has a big history project due. But he did say to pass along his thanks that we went to his game last weekend.”

“It was really sweet that you wanted to go.”

“Sweet. Right.”

“I’m serious. You’re such a sweet, thoughtful man.”

His cheeks reddened. “Stop. You’re about to get a demonstration of my not-so-sweet side.”

“I’m game.” Rory teased his lips with hers. “Want me to get out the handcuffs, blindfold and anal lube?”

Dalton’s eyes lit up. “You bought anal lube?”

She smirked. “Nope. Just wanted to see your reaction.”

“Oh, you’re not gonna get the reaction you’d hoped for, jungle girl.” Dalton pinned her to the couch and started tickling her.

“Dalton!”

He teased her and tickled her until she was laughing and yelling at him to stop. Just when she caught her breath, he’d start in again. The crazy man used to tickle her all the time when they were kids so he knew her most ticklish spots.

Jingle started barking and Rory seized Dalton’s distraction to squirm away from him. “I swear I’m gonna pay you back for this when you least expect it.”

But Dalton wasn’t looking at her. Rory turned and saw her mother standing by the front door. She scooted upright and straightened her clothes. “Mom? What are you doing here?” What was up with people just barging into her private space without knocking today?

Her mom eyed Dalton before meeting Rory’s gaze. “Sorry I just walked in. I didn’t know you had company.”

Bull. Dalton’s truck was parked right outside.

Dalton said, “Hey Mrs. D.,” and put his arm around Rory.

“So what’s up?”

“I hadn’t seen or heard from you for a couple of days so I wanted to make sure you were all right.”

“I’m fine, besides my shitty workday. I ended up working late tonight and Dalton was sweet enough to bring me supper.”

He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “I like takin’ care of you.”

Man. Could he act any more proprietary?

“I see that.” Her mother pointed to the revamped doggie door. “Is that your doing too?”

“Yes. Isn’t it awesome?” Rory answered. “Cold air poured in and Jingle had problems with it closing around her. Dalton fixed it for me, which was such a great surprise.” Rory didn’t tell her mom she nearly burst into tears after seeing Dalton’s handiwork. He knew how much her dog meant to her and he couldn’t have picked a more romantic gesture.

Her mom said, “That was really nice of you, Dalton.”

“Wasn’t a big thing. Just swapping out the seal and tweaking it here and there.”

Silence.

“Anyway, I won’t keep you. I brought you a loaf of pumpkin bread since it’s your favorite.”