Espino, Stacey - Hogtying the Cowgirl [Ride 'em Hard 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (11 page)

Landon slammed his truck door shut and ran a hand through his hair before heading in. The usual darkness gave him pause until his eyes adjusted.

“Landon!”

“Where’ve you been, stranger?”

His tension immediately eased. He’d grown up with these men and should have known better than to hide from them in his times of sorrow. Sometimes friends really could help mend a broken man. But Angel had always been one of his closest confidants. He would have turned to her now, talked to her long into the night as they watched the stars together. But now he’d gone and ruined their relationship by shifting things from friends to lovers. He’d fucked up and there was nothing he could do to undo the past.

Why hide and lie? They lived in a small town so everything was probably already crawling along the grapevine. “Been looking for work in Casterfield.”

“You’re not moving out there are you?” asked Grant.

He shrugged. Landon wasn’t sure what the fuck he was going to do. He’d heard about jobs in the tar sands, some of the men getting rich, but he only knew farming and wasn’t expecting to hear back about the job. His priority now was making sure his folks were secure and happy. They had some savings but not enough to last them a lifetime. Once that was settled he’d try his luck again at getting Angel Garner to be his woman.

“If you’re looking for extra work—”

He put up his hand, making his way to the bar. That’s all he had to do for the men to put the topic on the backburner. He was there to clear his mind, not problem solve or ask for handouts.

“Angel’s been trying to call you all week. She thought you were dead in a ditch somewhere.” Grant waved his hand for Carter to bring Landon a Molson. They sat on the barstools, watching the first football game of the season. Where had the summer gone? Next month his friends would be harvesting.

“I’ve been busy. I should have given her a call, though.” Carter set his chilled bottle in front of him, so he took a swig, anything to give him an excuse not to talk about Angel.

Grant hollered at the television, along with a couple of the guys, before returning his attention to Landon. “So… There something going on with you and my sister that I don’t know about?”

He nearly choked on his beer. “No. Why you ask?”

The question seemed to interest some nosey onlookers. “You and Angel? Have you lost your mind, Landon? That girl will eat you alive. It’s not blood running through her veins, it’s venom.” Cord laughed along with half the bar.

His blood heated. New, potent feelings rose to the surface. “Don’t you have a woman at home?”

“Don’t avoid the topic,” said Ben Richmond.

“What topic?” he snapped. He felt caged in, the walls closing in around him. Carter’s was the promise of relief after a long week, but all he got was questions he didn’t want to answer. He expected Grant or Matthew to defend their sister, but they’d had enough of her antics like everyone else. As much as Landon felt like throttling his friends for mocking Angel, she wasn’t his woman to defend.

“You dating Angel?” asked Grant, more serious now. He nodded for the others to give them privacy. “That’s my little sister, so you best tell me.”

“Damn it, Grant. You know how close we are. Why are we all of a sudden
dating
?”

“Because she’s acting funny, asking about you more than that damn stallion. I think I may have heard her crying in her room the other night. Of course she won’t admit it, you know how Angel is.”

“Look, I wouldn’t know anything about it.” He pulled out a five from his wallet and slapped it on the counter. “I’ve got somewhere to be. I’ll see ya around.”

He headed straight for the exit, desperate to get into the open air and away from everyone. One of them called out just before the door closed behind him, “Don’t be a stranger.”

* * * *

Daylight was slipping away. They’d spent hours in bed, very little of that time actually sleeping. Clay held the creaky screen door open for her. “I’ll drive you home,” he said.

She looked up, the clouds pulled across the sky in a wondrous work of art. The colors were just emerging, promising a fine day to work outdoors tomorrow. “You said we were going to talk horses,” she reminded.

He leaned against the support post of the porch, a cute smirk on his face. He studied her as if he had all the time in the world. “You can have the stallion.”

Angel scowled. “What do you mean? You can’t just give him to me.”

“That’s what you wanted, isn’t it? Good Lord, woman, that’s what’s been bothering you since the first day I met you.”

She couldn’t help but make the comparison of that bastard who’d tricked her into giving up her horse five years ago. Angel had been naïve, only wanting to help her friends. He’d promised to not pursue the purchase of her friends’ ranch if she gave him the prize he’d coveted, along with half the town. Her stomach turned just remembering that fateful day. But she’d do it again if it meant helping the
Carson
brothers or any other of her close friends.

Now Clay had offered her something after she’d given him her body. Was this another payoff? She couldn’t even digest the idea. “You were adamant about keeping the horse until now. What’s changed?” Sex. That was the only difference. Old, buried emotions bubbled to the surface.

He looked puzzled by her reluctance. Clay reached out and tilted her chin up. “You can have the horse, darlin’. He’s yours.”

“I don’t want him. He doesn’t even look purebred.” She jerked her chin away. “Don’t try and pass your mistake off on me. I have no time for an ill-tempered stallion.”

She attempted to walk down the steps, but he grabbed her arm in a too-tight grip. “What exactly is going on with you?”

“Nothing! Just take me home or I’ll walk.”

He seized her by the waist and lifted her to sit on the wooden banister of the porch, placing himself snuggly between her legs. She was effectively trapped, his strong arms draped around her hips. “Now, I know it ain’t natural for a woman to shift from love to hate in the blink of an eye. Something’s going on with you, and I suggest you tell me.”

“Leave me be,” she pleaded, refusing to look him in the eyes.

“You’re not going anywhere until you explain yourself. No lying. And I have all night.”

The frog in her throat was choking her. She didn’t want to face her demons. Only Landon knew about her past, not even her brothers or parents. Clay was forcing her relive a history she wanted gone and buried. She was the queen bitch of the town, the spoiled brat who sold the prize her daddy struggled to save for and helped her train. What cowgirl in their right mind would give up something so special? Nobody knew the truth.

“It was a long time ago. No sense bringing up the past.”

“Darlin’, it’s bad enough I know next to nothing about you. I plan to change all that, but whatever’s bothering you is significant. Now let it out.”

There was nothing to tell. She had just been overreacting. People died every day, had serious ailments, accidents, and horrible tragedies in their lives. Angel didn’t have the right to grieve over what had happened to her. “It was five years ago. A middle-aged industrialist asked me to give up my horse in exchange for my friends’ ranch. I allowed it, so there was no harm done.” She stopped before she couldn’t speak. It hurt her more than she realized.

“He had no right to take advantage of a young cowgirl. You’d only have been a wide-eyed seventeen-year-old five years ago, darlin’.”

“Oh, please! I knew what I was doing.”

He pulled her into a bear hug. She resisted, but he held the side of her head to his chest. Angel struggled, grunting and angry, not wanting Clay or anyone near her. She wanted to escape to her secret place on the Richmond ranch but didn’t even have her own truck with her. Clay was so damn strong, holding her in his vise grip.

“Shhh.” He continued to coo, and when she finally ran out of steam, he stroked her hair. His patience astounded her. Most people, including her own family, didn’t have the tolerance for her hysterics. Her breathing started to steady, the strong beat of Clay’s heart having a calming effect.

It hurt to lose the horse, but even more to be hated by her friends, and to witness the shame in her parents’ eyes for something she didn’t do, but couldn’t tell. She whispered, “He gave me a secret to carry with me. Because of him I’m unable to trust others. I don’t know how to be unconditionally loved without thinking I have to pay for it. I’m in constant need of attention, but when I get it I push it away.” The tears flowed now. It was all out in the open.

“That’s my girl.” He kissed her forehead. “Things are going to change now because you
can
trust me. I’m not going anywhere.”

“I don’t want you feeling sorry for me, Clay.” She wiped her eyes with her finger.

“You certainly know the way to a cowboy’s heart.” He helped her to her feet. “Now let’s go get your stallion.”

Chapter Eleven

Clay had been certain he left the horse to graze. He’d mended the smaller paddock to house the animal when he was away from home, but he was nowhere in sight.

“I must have left him in his stall. I’ll tell you one thing, he’s spirited. He took pretty well to a training lead once he knew he could trust me.”

“As long as you don’t break that trust, he’ll be loyal to you.”

The cowgirl was speaking about herself as much as the horse. She’d already given him enough to stick around for the long haul. He’d give a relationship with Angel his best effort, show her that he could be trusted and would never intentionally hurt her.

He opened the gate and walked through the breezeway of the barn. The horse was gone. Clay spun around, scratching his head. His gelding was eating hay Clay had set out in the afternoon, but he was alone.

“Where is he?” she asked.

“Gone.” He made another check of the paddock and barn and then checked the perimeter fencing to see if the horse could have escaped somehow. It was unlikely he’d roam far anyway with all the feed and fresh water he could want right on the ranch.

“What on earth do you mean? He didn’t just let himself out. Did you pay for him at auction?”

“Of course. You have to pay cash before they let you take your winnings.” Where could the horse have gone? If Angel wasn’t with him, she’d be his first suspect.

“We’ll go report it to the sheriff. They don’t take kindly to horse thieves around these parts. We’re a small community, too. If anyone spots him or if the thief tries to sell him, we’ll know about it. Lord knows I just have to tell my aunt Wendy and you’ll have your horse back before you can file the police report.”

Clay didn’t want to make trouble, especially without proof the horse was actually stolen. Maybe the stallion jumped the fence. He was wild enough to try. “Why don’t we try that first, then? We can ask around. Maybe we’ll see him in the fields when we drive out your way.”

They drove through all the back roads, hoping to find the horse. No luck. When Clay finally decided to drive Angel home, he was sadder for her than he was for his own loss. She’d wanted that horse something fierce. It was his pleasure to give the stallion to her now that he considered her his woman. Everything he owned was at her disposal, including his body whenever she desired it.

As they neared the Garner ranch, the spotlights were on and a few men moving about in the shadows. “My brothers are going to kill me. I snuck off without their permission this morning. My mare is still at the
Carson
ranch.”

He didn’t bother asking her to explain. Right now he just needed to get her settled and ensure she wasn’t lectured to the extreme. Angel was a grown woman, not a child. She may be living under her family’s roof, but that could change soon enough. Once they got to know each other a little better, he’d be ready to commit for a lifetime. Clay had been with a lot of women and met a lot of different people on his travels. Angel was the type of girl he could settle down with and not grow bored or regret it. Maybe he would have an heir after all.

* * * *

Angel bit her lip hard enough to draw the taste of blood. Her brothers, the Carsons, and Landon were all standing around talking in the yard. One of the pickup trucks was still running, the headlights flooding the prairies beyond the darkness.

Were they all outside because of her? She prayed it was for some other reason, maybe loading more grain, or making plans to share some labor.

Clay parked the truck and hopped out, moving toward the men with his usual confident stride. She followed behind like a timid mouse. “I brought home your little sister.”