Texas_Heat- (2 page)

Jack hated it when Riley was right. Inevitably Riley was always freaking right when Jack came out of his stubborn focused stage.
The fucker.

He readjusted himself and saw the lick of heat in Riley's eyes. If only they had longer then falling to his knees and wringing a noisy, messy orgasm from his suitwearing husband would have been right at the top of his list.

He chuckled and pulled Riley close for a kiss, a touch filled with the promise of later. Finally separating, Jack left to get the papers from the truck and with them safely in his hand he returned to the throng to find his soonto-be whatever. Certainly not step-daddy, but something a little more official than the guy who was keeping his momma's bed warm at night.

He saw Neil's eyes widen when he approached and guilt twisted in his gut. The man had a couple of other guys with him, two in suits and one dressed in Sunday-best Cowboy. Nice-looking guy, built like a brick outhouse, with short blond hair and dark blue eyes. This guy took a careful step forward to put himself closer to Jack. He wasn't actually between Jack and Neil but it was enough of a stance to be meaningful. They stood toe-to-toe for a few seconds and it was humiliating to think that this cowboy was feeling the need to protect Neil from him.

"Is everything okay?" Neil finally asked.
"Can we talk?" Jack asked formally. The other two men in suits moved away, leaving Neil and the cowboy in front of him.

Neil shook his head. "Please don't. Not now. Can it wait until after?" he asked simply.
The cowboy frowned at Neil's words. Hell, who wouldn't. Neil sounded resigned and just a little pissed. If this cowboy was a good friend then he probably knew everything. Jack wasn't going to let this lie.
"I wanted to apologize for my behavior," Jack said firmly. He knew it was his imagination but he felt as if every eye of the waiting wedding party was on him.
What the hell?
He had told Neil what he thought of him in public before, it was only right to be telling the man now how Jack had changed his mind. "And I have a wedding gift for you."
He thrust the paperwork of the prenup at Neil, and the man looked down at it with resignation on his face.
"Thank you," he said carefully. He didn't immediately take the papers. Jack shook them a little to encourage Neil to take them and at first he didn't get why the guy wasn't snatching them out of his hands. Then realization hit him. Neil probably thought it was the signed and notarized paperwork.
Fuck. When am I going to do things right?

"I didn't—" he started. Then he thought maybe actions spoke louder than words. Taking the thick sheaf of papers, he ripped them cleanly down the middle and then ripped each half again. Finally, grasping the pieces in one hand, he held them back out to Neil who accepted them in his left hand. The man was obviously shocked, judging from his facial expression. Although he was quiet, his expressive eyes spoke volumes.

"Thank you, Jack," Neil said. His voice was gentle and then he held out his right hand. Jack hesitated briefly in accepting the handshake. Didn't seem right welcoming the man into his family with a freaking handshake. With a single step forward he pulled the other man into a close hug that Neil returned immediately.

"Welcome to the family, Neil," Jack said. He stepped back and inclined his head to the cowboy at Neil's side and then with what he was sure was every eye on him, he left to find somewhere to hide again until the wedding began.

The ceremony was beautiful. Donna looked radiant in a lacy summer dress in a pale shade of blue and Neil was smiling so hard that Jack thought the guy could do permanent damage to his face.

Hayley and little Emily were flower girls and Josh's daughter Lea made it three. Lea's older brother Logan was thirteen now and wasn't that keen on being labeled as anything except 'cool dude in a suit' but he did hold Emily's hand the entire service.

Jack couldn't take his eyes off of Hayley. She was taller now, coming up on ten in September; she was the spitting image of her dad with the same blond hair and hazel eyes. He couldn't be prouder of Riley's daughter. She was his as well and she loved her Pappa as much as she loved Riley.

The backdrop to this wedding was home. The beautiful ranch in the setting sun with the vista of their land spreading before him was where his heart felt most at peace. Feet planted firmly on Texan soil with his family around him, Jack was at rest.

Riley slipped a hand into his. "This reminds me of when we renewed our vows," he murmured.
"I love you, het-boy," Jack replied softly so no one could hear.
"I love you too, cowboy."
Jack was only one step away from letting an emotional sigh leave him. This land, these people, they were his and he was theirs. That was the way he was and the way he always would be.

Robbie Curtis wandered away from the main gathering. Neil Kendrick, his best friend since grade school was now married to a woman whom he loved more than life itself and to Robbie that was a fine thing to have. Neil had made a good choice in Donna and forever-loyal-to-hisfriend Robbie could have told the 'big and hulking guy' that Donna had made a good choice in the ever-loyal Neil. Apparently 'big and hulking' had a name. Jack CampbellHayes. Married to some guy called Riley. Married. Two dudes.

Hard enough to take a step out of the closet in his line of work, let alone enter into a gay marriage. The guys who had beaten up his ex, well, they'd be on him quicker than flies on shit.

He'd wandered past the general groups of wellwishers, inclining his head whenever he was spoken to, and eventually managed to escape the celebrations and make his way to the barns at the rear of the house. No one stopped him and anyway, he was much happier with horses than he was around people. He was curious; apparently this spread dealt with breeding and Neil spoke about how there was expansion into training good solid quarter horses.

Leaning against the closest stall he was face-to-face with a beautiful bay. He crooned low and extended a hand to her in greeting and she snuffled his open hand before shaking her head and taking a step back. Robbie laughed, she was definitely flirting with him as she nudged up against him.

"Hello, beautiful," he whispered. Her ears flattened and then perked up. "Why aren't you out on all this gorgeous space?" Unconcerned by what he was saying and instead intent on nuzzling him, he laughed at the horse's unashamed request for fuss. He'd only left Australia a week before, had only said goodbye to all he knew and loved there a simple seven days earlier. But the scent here, the horses and the hay, made him long for the place he used to call home. Neil was going to hook him up with some parttime work. Hell, his friend had said that at the end of the day he could learn to assist Neil. Robbie didn't do well with charity, even that offered by his oldest friend—the man he called his brother. He guessed though he didn't really have a lot of options and was glad to have at least one friend back here in the States.

He glanced up the row of stables and counted a minimum of six spaces. The stables were clean and well cared for. In fact, the fencing, the stables, and everything to do with the ranch operation was a lot cleaner and sturdier than the ranch house itself, which was looking a little tired—not to mention the potholed road leading to the house. So many things here reminded Robbie of home. When a ranch put everything they had into the welfare of the horses and the livestock then you knew it was a good place to stand.

"Solo-Alexandra." The voice from behind startled him. Robbie cursed himself for his inattention. It was things like this that got a man in trouble. He slowly turned to face the man whose voice he recognized. Hmmm. Big and hulking, aka Jack Campbell-Hayes, one of the married guys.

"Sorry?"
"Alex for short. Her momma is this beauty, SoloCal." Jack was indicating a gorgeous sorrel mare pushing at his arm for attention.
"Beautiful horses." Robbie wasn't sure what else to say. Neil had tried his hardest with Jack, but Robbie had seen one too many drunken emails from his friend demanding to know why Jack hated him. Well, for Robbie, someone hurting his friend riled him.
"Almost lost them both a while back in a fire," Jack continued.
"Neil told me." No point in letting Jack think that Neil hadn't told him every damn thing concerning the Double D.
"I'm not placing your accent." Jack was frowning. He was a good-looking guy, and a frown darkening his blue eyes wasn't a good look. He was everything Robbie avoided. First he was a cowboy, a stubborn one at that, and second he was a strong guy and could probably drop Robbie to the ground in a heartbeat. After everything that had gone down back home Robbie had learned his lesson. No cowboys. No big cowboys.
"Wyoming born and bred, Australia for the past ten years," he finally answered reluctantly. Social skills escaped him.
"Australia?"
"As a buckaroo, a cowboy, working with quarter horses on a spread in the Northern Territories, some three thousand acres."
"The D is eight hundred acres," Jack mused. "Australia, eh? That explains the accent, I guess." Jack lifted a booted foot and rested it on a wooden crossbar below Alex's stall door. "Definitely a tinge of something other than American in there."
For a few minutes the two men looked in on the horses in a near companionable silence. Robbie wasn't entirely sure what to say. He had a lot of questions inside him. Neil had said Jack was expanding the training side of the ranch. Did that mean he was training horses for rodeo and show or for working on ranches? Robbie had a list of questions in his head and he was concentrating on how to word them when they were interrupted.
"Hey, gorgeous." Jack turned with a grin and Robbie watched as way-tall-dude, the other half of the Campbell-Hayes couple, near pounced on Jack. Clearly Robbie hadn't been spotted if the way Riley was grinding up against Jack was any indication. "Knew you'd be hidin' out here."
Was it Robbie's imagination or was Riley's voice a little slurred?
"How much champagne did you swallow?" Jack asked with a grin.
"Enough to fuck you here and now in front of everyone," Riley answered. His tone was deadly serious.
"We have company," Jack explained. Riley didn't stop with the hugging and pulling but he did at least look over his shoulder at Robbie. His eyes widened and then he extricated himself from Jack with a rearrangement of his groin area. Robbie pretended not to notice. Riley was gorgeous up close. He'd seen photos, he had Internet, and he had followed the whole soap opera that was their lives from murder to barns being burned to marriages to hostage situations. Where Jack was all holy-hot-as-hell cowboy, Riley was wearing that suit like he'd been born into it. He was leaning into Jack and Jack wasn't moving away or keeping any distance between them. If anything, Jack had an arm around his husband and was pulling him closer. Riley certainly seemed to sober quickly and Robbie wondered how much was alcohol and how much was playing.
"Don't mind me," Robbie said quickly. Silence.
Fuck.
What the hell had he just said? He was trying to be clever and funny and instead had come over as some kind of voyeuristic pervert. He waited for either man to say something, anything. In fact, he tensed in expectation of being beaten to the ground. Every muscle tightened in anticipation of the need to defend himself.
Jack simply looked up at Riley, who was smiling broadly.
"Nah," he said. "Let me take this big lug indoors. Nice to meet you, Robbie." Jack extended his right hand and Robbie rubbed his own on his best jeans before shaking Jack's hand. When Riley did the same Robbie shook and then took a step backward. He left the barn, walked around the corner, and leaned back against the wall. He wasn't far enough away not to be able to hear Jack and Riley talking but he couldn't make out whole words. Sighing, he turned to go find Neil and make his excuses. When he passed the open barn door he couldn't have stopped himself from looking in if he'd tried.
Riley and Jack were locked so closely in an embrace you couldn't see light between them. Riley had his head tilted back and Jack was tracing a path of kisses from jaw to throat. When Riley let out a groan of need and pushed Jack away from him and back against the barn wall it was possibly the most erotic thing Robbie had ever seen. Flushed and harder than he had been in days he left the area as quickly as he could. Shame at his reaction conflicted with the lust inside him.
He had never missed Paul more than he did today.

Riley's gift to Donna and Neil was a week on the same island that he and Jack had been on when they first heard that Riley was a dad. When he initially broached the subject with Jack he had expected some kind of resistance, but Jack smiled and said that the whole idea was a good one. Not one word about the amount of money Riley was using on the gift.

The guests were grouped around the limo that Josh had been responsible for organizing. It had been decorated with ribbons and balloons. Riley didn't envy Donna and Neil the trip to the airstrip, where the Hayes jet sat ready and waiting, with that much crap advertising their just-wed status.

Everyone was waving as the car pulled away and no one moved until the vehicle was nothing but a trail of dust in the air to mark its passing.

"That was a lovely wedding." Eden sighed. Riley pulled her closer for a hug. Her boyfriend, Sean, was a long-term partner but he had yet to pop any kind of question of marriage. As a journalist he was very seldom in Texas and their time apart was more and more frequent. He hadn't made it to the wedding today or indeed stepped foot anywhere near Eden for a month. Riley liked the guy. Well, he liked him as much as any big brother liked a sister's lover. But he couldn't be the only one who was wondering why he was away so much and why it was taking this long to settle down and propose to Eden. Maybe he had gotten cold feet? Maybe he had someone else? Riley didn't vocalize his fears.

"I'm fine. Can't a sister grab some brother time now and then?"
Riley laughed and hugged her even tighter. He was a good foot taller than her and she was soon in a position of finding it hard to breathe. He released her when she punched him in the thigh with her free hand and in a flash brother/sister was normal and on an even keel.
"Are you staying?" Riley asked.
"I'm going with Mom and Jim but I'll be back tomorrow to help clean up."
Riley glanced at his watch. The midnight hour was close and he stifled a yawn.
"We have a crew doing that, but I know Hayley would love for you to come over."
Jack stepped into their small circle and prized Eden away from Riley.
"My turn, brother-in-law privilege," he insisted.
Laughing, she cuddled in close.
"Are you staying?" Jack repeated Riley's question.
"She's going back with Mom and Dad," Riley answered for her.
Jack raised his eyebrows over Eden's head. Riley knew exactly what his husband was thinking. With the Hayes side of the family gone and with the Campbells just down to Hayley and the two of them, it meant that for the first time in many weeks they had the ranch nearly to themselves.
"Do you think Hayley would like a sleepover with her aunty?" Eden asked. Her voice was muffled against Jack's chest and she pushed away. "I don't want today to end and we could go shopping tomorrow." She brightened at the thought.
Riley tried to be the responsible parent. The last he had seen of Hayley she had been running circles around her cousin Logan, who watched her with that tolerant patience only a family member could find. For some reason she had latched on to Josh's eldest boy and it was a hundred kinds of cute to see Jack's nephew so happy to be with Hayley.
"I'll go find and ask her." Eden said this without waiting for an answer and quickly walked away to find her niece.
In small groups the guests left, then Eden with a hyper Hayley, followed by the caterers, and finally the group of cleaners that had left the ranch looking nearly as normal as it could be after hosting an event like a wedding.
Paparazzi had stayed away from the event, at least off of Double D property, and no helicopters had been seen, although Riley did wonder what kind of journalistic crowd people leaving had to get through to get off of the D. When finally it was just the two of them Riley felt relieved and expectant. A whole night with the buzz of champagne in his blood and his sexy husband within reach was surely a recipe for only one thing.
In unison they turned to each other.
"I'll check the horses—"
"I'll be in the barn—"
Jack gripped Riley's jacket and reeled him in for a hard kiss.
"Gimme ten," Jack groaned.
"Make it five, cowboy."