Wrangled and Tangled (30 page)

“They want a what?” Janie demanded.

“A community party.” Tierney sipped her wine. “In the dining room. It has a sound system for the dance. They’ll provide the food. It’ll be BYOB. All’s we have to provide is the event space and the cowboys.”

Janie froze. “No. You did
not
promise them cowboys, did you?”

“I didn’t promise them a lot of cowboys, nor did I specify the ages or marital status of said cowboys, but I didn’t think it’d be a big deal to track some down. After all, we are in Wyoming.”

Groaning, Janie slapped her own forehead. “You weren’t at Harper’s bachelorette party, were you?”

“No. Why?”

“Because that gang from Bernice’s might look like sweet innocent women of a certain age, but my God, they are absolutely wild underneath those pastel twinsets, floral housedresses and support hose. It’s scary, Tierney. They outdrank me, they outdanced me, and they sure as hell outlasted me. I woke up, hungover, with a note pinned to my shirt that said, ‘Next time, pace yourself so you don’t poop out so early’.”

Tierney laughed. “Buck up because you will be there, smiling that charming dimpled smile of yours, finding them two-step partners all night long if that’s what it takes. Because we would’ve been seriously screwed if not for them volunteering their cooking time last week.”

The Thanksgiving Day meal had been a huge hit with the guests, and every couple rebooked their reservations for the following year. The rest of the weekend had been a breeze.

Janie’s eyes turned sharp. “Have you spoken to Renner about this community night with the senior set?”

“No. It’ll be a surprise when he gets back.” She glanced at the clock. Which should be any time now—not that she was anxious. Okay. She was chomping at the bit to see him again. They’d spent hours on the phone every night during his sojourn on the blacktop. She found him easy to talk to, and it really thrilled her they hadn’t discussed the Split Rock much at all. In retelling some of his stories, he’d had her laughing so hard she had to clutch her stomach. But they’d also discussed other things, places they’d been, movies, TV, friends. The sweetest thing? He’d picked out a few romance novels from an online bookstore and had them delivered to her, with a suggestion she earmark the good parts for them to try when he got back. So it was ironic that by not seeing him for ten days, Tierney knew him better than she had before he’d left.

“Don’t even think about asking me to do your dirty work,” Janie warned. “You get to fill him in on all of this.”

“I’ll shoulder full responsibility. How do you think he’ll take the news that the ladies specifically requested him as one of their cowboys?”

“Tierney, you are so dead.” Janie’s critical gaze swept the room. “Can I have your half of the office after he kills you?”

“Renner’s a smart guy. He’ll be gracious to the saviors who pulled our asses out of the fire. Besides, I’m putting him in charge of rounding up other cowboys to invite to this soiree, because if he doesn’t? His dance card will be full. All night.”

Janie shook her head. “I’m formally putting in my request for your shoe collection too. Dead women have no need of Christian Louboutin peep-toe pumps.”

“I’m sure Abe will have fun.”

“You’re asking Abe to come?”

“No. You are.”

“Dammit, Tierney, that’s not fair.”

Obviously Janie didn’t want to share Abe even with the senior set. Too bad. Tierney smirked. “If it makes you feel better, I’m making Harper bring Bran.”

Renner pulled into the Split Rock at two a.m. He parked behind his trailer and forced himself to drag his suitcase inside. The place was freezing-ass cold so he cranked the heat and showered and shaved quickly. He unearthed a pair of clean jeans from his dresser and pulled on a long-sleeved T-shirt. It’d be torture to put his boots back on after wearing them for the sixteen-hour drive. But with ten plus inches of snow, slipping on a pair of flip-flops to sneak over to Tierney’s cabin wasn’t an option.

Tierney. He’d missed her. Despite being so damn busy over the last ten days, he’d managed to talk to her every day. It was weird how easily they’d meshed. How much he looked forward to hearing her voice every night. Listening to her opinions and her offbeat way of looking at things. He’d sent her a few trinkets he thought she’d get a kick out of. Not to mention they’d exchanged some red-hot text messages. But there was nothing like the real thing, having her eager, wet and wrapped around him completely.

He trudged across the moonlit snow to her cabin. The lights were off. He used his key and stepped inside. Even in the darkness a feeling of peace settled over him. He checked the sofa, making sure she hadn’t fallen asleep, like she had so many nights after working until the wee hours because her father was a damn slave driver.

At the foot of her bed, he took a second to drink in the sight of her sleeping on her stomach, sheets twined around her naked limbs.

Oh hell yeah. She’d slept nekkid as a welcome home present for him. If he wasn’t so goddamn desperate for her, he’d wake her up slowly and sweetly. He stripped and crawled over her, skating his palms up the backs of her arms, threading their fingers together. Burying his face in the spot between her neck and shoulder, bathing his lungs with her scent.

She stirred. Flexed her fingers. Wiggled her ass. “Renner?”

“Were you expectin’ someone else?”

“Well, Tobin—”

“Is a dead man if he’s ever been in your bedroom,” he growled and sank his teeth into the section of skin on her nape that almost brought her to orgasm.

Tierney reared up and her body shuddered beneath his.

Renner canted his hips, sliding his erection up and down the crack of her ass as he used his mouth on her neck. He inhaled the musky sweet fragrance of her hair as he continued to rock into her. He scattered kisses behind her ear. Following the curve with the barest tip of his tongue. Each pass made her writhe and shudder.

In a graceful, catlike move, Tierney slid back, keeping her arms and chest on the bed as she pushed to her knees and allowed enough space for him to slide in behind her.

She’d come to know him so well and loved to anticipate his needs, even as she verbalized hers. Had he ever had this kind of connection with a woman? Not only in bed, but also out of it?

His cock was in his hand, nudging her pussy and he impaled her.

She expelled a moan and arched.

Gripping her butt cheeks, he watched his cock tunnel in and out of her juicy sex. Mesmerizing as it was, seeing those pink tissues part to take him, he wanted a skin-to-skin connection with her. His hands smoothed over her lower back, her middle back, up her shoulders to circle her wrists.

He flexed his pelvis. Pulled out and slammed back in.

Ten days away from daily sex and his stamina suffered—he was getting close, but evidently so was she. He drove her higher with hot, openmouthed kisses and the slight scrape of his teeth to the side of her neck. Whispering in her ear to give it up, to let go, taking her to that point where her body finally answered the mating call of his. Satisfied their mutual need.

Her hands clenched into fists on the mattress and she released a keening wail. Her pussy squeezed his cock with enough force to stop his thrusting as her orgasm overtook her.

Somehow he kept it together until the last pulse. He pulled out, rolled her onto her back and plowed into her. He craved this closeness, her legs around his waist, her fingers digging into his ass, her scent on his skin and filling his lungs. In that perfect moment, Renner buried his face against her neck, and let go.

Before his dick stopped twitching, his mouth sought hers. He kissed her with the tenderness his body hadn’t been able to offer, aware, maybe for the first time, that Tierney gave him something he hadn’t known he’d lacked.

Neither seemed eager to break the kiss or the connection of their bodies. But Renner suspected he was crushing her. He lifted his head. Smiled at her. Swept a hank of hair behind her ear. “Hey.”

“You sneak in here in the middle of the night, fuck me like a man possessed and all you can say to me is . . . hey?”

“Hey . . . I missed you?”

She smiled sassily. “That’s better.”

He kissed the corners of her eyes, the bridge of her nose, her cheeks, her chin. “You’re beautiful.”

“Renner. You don’t have to—”

“I want to. Because when I see you every day I take that beauty for granted. When ten days go by without seein’ you? I realize I oughta tell you that more often.” He kissed the soft set of her mouth. “So I am telling you, Tierney. You’re beautiful.”

She didn’t play coy. She rested her forehead to his and said, “Thank you.”

“Now go back to sleep.”

“So this was a dream?”

“Dream my ass.” He rolled her over and smacked her left butt cheek as he put his mouth on her right cheek and gave her a big hickey.

“Renner! I can’t believe you did that.”

As his gaze traveled up her curves covered in all that beautifully smooth skin, he had another primal urge to mark her all over. Prove she was his.

So he did just that.

As he stumbled back to his trailer two hours later, he wondered why Tierney never asked him to stay.

Chapter Twenty-four

A
be had been helping out at the Split Rock, keeping an eye on Tobin, the new hired hand, while Renner was out of town. Although he strolled into the barn early—he didn’t beat the kid there. Kid knew how to work, he’d give him that much.

Kid. Right. He wasn’t a kid. Which reminded Abe that at Tobin’s age, he had already been running a successful ranch operation for a couple of years. He’d already been married. And divorced.

“Hey, Abe. I thought you were Renner.”

Abe faced him. “Nope. Although I see his rig is parked in front of his trailer this mornin’.”

“He got back late. But I wasn’t sure if he’d want me to go ahead and feed the stock like I’ve been doing, or if there are things he’d rather do himself. I also kept track of everything I did last week, so you can double-check it and see if Renner would rather have me working in another area—”

“Tobin. Slow down. It’s early yet and I’ve barely sucked down my first cup of coffee.”

“Sorry. I’m just... nervous.” Tobin took off his brown and gold University of Wyoming ball cap, ran his hand over his dark head and put the cap back on. “I’ve been around ranches and cattle my whole life but I feel like a freakin’ idiot compared to you and Renner.”

That shocked the crap out of Abe. “Yeah? How’s that? Because
I
wonder why you’re toiling in a barn with a master’s degree in reproductive biology.”

Tobin mimicked Abe’s posture on the opposite side of the support post. “Because I’m the third son of a rancher. My two older brothers were running the ranch by the time I’d started high school. And when I graduated from college, raring to bring my ‘new’ knowledge back to the ranch, Dad and my brothers saw nothin’ wrong with the way they’d been doin’ things. So I checked around to see how much education I’d need to get into commercial stockbreeding programs. Or what the state requirements were for ag positions. A master’s degree was optional, but it wasn’t like I had a job offer to mull over, so I stayed in school. I received my master’s in May. I’ve applied a couple places but the economy is tight around here.”

“What about elsewhere?”

He held Abe’s gaze. “I never wanted to live anywhere besides Wyoming. It’s not like I haven’t traveled. I spent part of last year in Brazil learning about their cattle industry. But the bottom line hasn’t changed. My family doesn’t need or want my help on the ranch. So I’d rather work as a ranch hand, doin’ what I love, than get stuck doing something I don’t, because my dad thought I’d be better off educated.” Tobin sipped his coffee. “Honest enough for you, Abe?”

He laughed. “Yeah.”

“What about you?”

“Do I have a college degree?”

“No, I’m curious about the cattle operation you’re running with your brother. Rumor is that the Lawson and Turner operations are the successful ones and have been for years when others failed.”

Abe shrugged. “We do all right. Why?”

“You’re younger than my oldest brother. I wondered if you stick to doin’ everything the same way your family did? Or if you’re open to new ideas in the ag industry?”