Flawless Surrender (2 page)

Zoey’s stomach clenched. Sure, that was easy for Parker to say. If he knew the history between her and Tanner, he never would have suggested such a ridiculous plan.

Tanner Keegan was the only man currently residing in Stone River who could make her blood boil with just his presence. Her vagina wanted him more than anything else, but she had already tried to walk that road once.

Zoey had basically thrown herself at Tanner several years ago, and he had bluntly rejected her, telling her that he only took women to bed, not little girls. It had left her self-esteem shattered, and her ego squashed. No. No way was she ever going to let that man have that kind of control on her life again. Besides, it was highly unlikely Tanner would ever consider allowing her to rent the room from him. When she was around, he acted as if she had leprosy or something twisted and contagious. Stephen King couldn’t have written a better story of avoidance and horror than the relationship she had with Tanner Keegan.

“Uh-no, thanks anyway. I’m sure I’ll find something acceptable within the next month.” She looked down at the empty chocolate wrapper she was twisting in her fingers rather than meet Parker’s curious gaze.

“Tanner would rent it to you at a fair price. His brother, Dalton, do you remember him?” When Zoey nodded silently, Parker continued, “That was his place until he left for medical school. Hasn’t been back in ten years. Tanner has rented it out a few times to make extra money when the cash flow isn’t as high. With that drought last season, everyone’s pinching pennies this season.”

Zoey felt like a cornered rabbit. How was she supposed to explain to Parker why she couldn’t be around Tanner? Not to mention how her pussy clenched at the mention of the beautiful God-like Dalton, who she hadn’t seen in a decade. “Actually, Tanner and I aren’t the best of friends.”

Parker looked surprised right before his eyes narrowed and he did that weird Alpha male thing where he looked down his nose at her and made her feel about two inches tall. “Zoey Carson, I’ve never known you to be afraid in your life.”

“I’m not afraid of him!” she blustered vehemently. “I just don’t want to subject myself to his presence any more than necessary. I will start apartment hunting as soon as I can push my mom out the door and send her back to her newest fuck toy.”

“No cursing,” Parker commanded and Zoey rolled her eyes. The hard glare he gave her had her shrugging and apologizing pretty quickly. “First of all the word sounds terrible coming from a beautiful woman, and second, my Jules doesn’t need to be exposed to that.”

Rachel snorted, “Yeah, because you and your brothers never curse around her, right?”

Parker had the grace to look admonished. “Occasionally, but we’re trying to curb it.”

“I promise, Parker, I will do my best when I’m here or around Juliet to tame my terrible language,” Zoey said, not wanting to be on his bad side for any reason. Ridiculous or not.

“Thank you. Now, ladies, if you will excuse me, I need to get back to the barn. It was good to see you, Zoey, and if you change your mind about asking Tanner, well, let’s just say I would trust that man with my own daughter. He would never do you harm.”

Zoey couldn’t hold his gaze so she just nodded and looked back to Rachel hoping Parker would take the dismissal and let the subject go. She sighed with relief when the front door shut behind him.

“Well, that was a pretty intense reaction to a harmless solution,” Rachel said, eyeballing Zoey.

“Harmless? Do you remember what happened between Tanner and me? That wasn’t harmless. I got kicked in the gut,” Zoey said, belligerently swirling her ice in her empty tea glass.

Rachel was quiet for a moment. “Zoey, you’ve seen him around town, and he’s never been anything but respectful. Surely you don’t still hold a grudge?”

“So you’re telling me that when you see Mitch Edwards and his new fiancée, Connie, that you don’t want to punch him in his overly white toothy smile?”

Zoey smirked when Rachel’s eyes darkened and her eyebrow rose. “That is totally different.”

“I don’t see how. I offered Tanner Keegan my body and my heart and he stomped on it with his boot heel. I have no intention of making myself vulnerable around him again.” Standing abruptly, she waved her glass at Rachel. “Now, is there anymore tea, or do I need to run to the store for emergency rations?”

An hour later, Zoey and Rachel were sprawled out on the front porch with empty glasses and ice cream bowls that were nearly licked clean, when a sudden thumping music grabbed their attention. A cloud of red dust rose in the air down the road. That could only mean someone was coming down the driveway in their direction.

“Who’s that?” Zoey asked, deciding it didn’t really matter to her that much as long as she didn’t have to move. Rachel’s porch was absolutely perfect for relaxing on a late summer afternoon. It was wide with deep steps that suited Zoey’s wide ass to a T, and it had a slew of inviting rocking chairs, and flower baskets scattered all over it. Heaven on Earth was drinking sweet tea while having girl talk on the front porch.

“I have no idea. The guys have people out here all of the time to look at the horses though, and we have some yearlings that are ready to be sold. Could be a client.” Rachel shifted so her feet were on the floor instead of hanging over the arm of the rocking chair she sat in, but otherwise she didn’t move to go greet the visitor.

As a dark red pickup truck came into view, the sound of Tim McGraw’s “Truck Yeah” thumped through the air. Zoey’s heart skipped a beat and her stomach tightened. That red truck was familiar.

When the vehicle finally came to a stop in the driveway about thirty yards from them, Zoey’s eyes met the drivers and she gasped. No way. It couldn’t be.

Tanner Keegan in all of his male glory stepped from the truck. His six foot tall muscular cowboy frame was encased in a pair of worn Wranglers and a faded black t-shirt that hugged his tight abs like a second skin. Atop his head sat a black cowboy hat that shaded his gorgeous amber colored eyes from her view. Her eyes ate him up as always, until he turned to face them and headed their way.

Damn
.
Did he catch her staring
?

“Hey, ladies.”

“Tanner, this is a surprise. What are you doing so far from home?” Rachel asked calmly. Zoey’s eyes narrowed in on Rachel’s face and she wondered if this was a set-up of some sort.

No, her friend knew how she felt about Tanner. She wouldn’t do that. It had to be some sort of odd coincidence.

“Parker said you have some new foals, and we’ve been talking about coordinating our breeding programs. Ideally it will make us all money when we have stronger stock.” Zoey could feel Tanner’s gaze, but she kept her eyes half closed where she lay slumped on the porch steps trying to keep her breathing and heart rate calm. “Hey, Zoey. Long time no see.”

She had to swallow hard to avoid saying something snarky about their last face to face encounter. “Hi, Tanner, how are you?”

“Really good. Staying busy. I heard you graduated?”

He leaned against the post right next to her, so she was forced to look all the way up his sexy frame from a very bad angle. Trying to stop a blush from climbing her cheeks, she threw a glance at Rachel hoping her friend would help her. Instead, Rachel sat there looking like nothing was wrong. Completely relaxed.

Bitch
.

“Yeah, just a couple of months ago. I’ll be working at the Stone River Junior High School.”

Juliet chose that moment to wake from her nap and let out a loud cry so Rachel had to jump up and excuse herself, leaving Zoey to face her dream guy all by herself. It was an awkward sort of nightmare.

Tanner cleared his throat when silence ensued. Zoey shifted on the step so she was sitting up a little more and facing to the side instead of directly at his crotch. The tension was thick, and she didn’t know what to do about it.

When Tanner shifted his stance once more, she sighed. There was no way to avoid someone who was two feet away. “So how is the ranch doing?”

His lip lifted in a half smile and she had the idea that he was pleased she broke first. “Good, but the drought hurt us. Last season’s stock didn’t fatten or strengthen the way they should have. That’s why the guys and I are discussing partnering up our horse breeding programs.”

“If the Triple T and Brooks Pastures are working together, it’s a guaranteed success,” she said, and she had to hold in a moan when his lips spread into a wider smile.

“Thank you for that vote of confidence. I think so too.”

“So how is your family? Do your parents like living in Arizona?”

Tanner’s parents had retired to Arizona a couple of summers before, turning the running of the ranch over to Tanner alone. Zoey knew Tanner was the oldest of the Keegan boys, and the only one who seemed interested in ranching. Dalton was a doctor working in some far off country helping the needy, and Clint had run off right out of high school to become an actor in California. All three of them were older than Zoey and Rachel. Clint was five years older making him thirty this year, and that would put Tanner at about thirty-three.

“Mom loves it, pops misses home. They are planning to come home for a visit at Christmas. The retirement community has been good for mama though. She spends her time with her friends keeping active.” Tanner moved to sit on the step next to her, and she felt goose bumps pop up on her arms.

“Hmm…yeah, I can’t imagine your dad slowing down.” Zoey shifted away just a little bit trying to put more distance between them. Tanner’s eyes narrowed just a bit but he didn’t comment.

“He really didn’t have a choice after the heart attack.”

She felt her mouth fall open, “Your dad had a heart attack? When?”

His jaw tightened and he grimaced, “Yeah, it was about six months before they decided to retire. It damaged his heart quite a bit, so Doc said he needed to slow it down and take it easy. Before that, it never seemed possible that pops was a mere mortal. Working sun up to sun down without a vacation or a rest…well, I guess we’re all only human, right?”

Zoey’s heart lurched in her chest, and she reached out her hand to cover his fist on his thigh before she could stop herself. “I’m sorry, Tanner. I can only imagine how hard it must be to see him growing older and weaker. At least he survived the heart attack and you have more time with him.”

*****

Tanner’s mind went blank the moment Zoey’s skin touched his. If he was honest, he had been struggling to think ever since he turned the bend and saw her sexy body stretched out on the porch steps. She looked like a fifties pin-up in cut off blue jeans and a blue tank top that made her ocean blue eyes look dark and mysterious. Her jet black hair hung in a solid sheet of straight satin down her back, and he ached to wrap it around his fist and pull her up against him.

He was all too aware of the fact that his own mouth ruined his chances with Zoey Carson. When she made a play for him at Robin’s all those years ago, he had assumed she was joking. She was only twenty at the time, and to his twenty-eight-year-old mind, that had been an incomprehensible situation. She was naïve, and way too innocent for a kinky pervert like him, so he did what was right instead of what his cock wanted, and he shut her down. If only he had found a more delicate way of doing it, maybe they could have had a chance later.

Shaking off his wandering mind and his dirty thoughts, he pulled his brain back into the moment.

“Thanks. I’ve adjusted. I had to hire a few hands to help on the ranch, but otherwise everything kept moving forward just like always.”

He ached to turn his hand over and link his fingers through hers. What would she say? Would she freak out, or get angry? Knowing Zoey, she would punch him in the nose.

Abruptly she stood, giving him and eyeful of her sexy legs, and her sweetly curving backside. Her hips were made for a man to hold onto, and his cock wanted him to be that man.

“I better say my goodbyes and get home. It will be dark soon.”

Tanner stood and turned to face her. He was two steps down from her, so their faces were nearly level, and his eyes zeroed in on her mouth out of habit. Her lips parted and he saw her sharp intake of breath as she swayed on her feet slightly. It took all of his strength to shove his hands in his pockets and step to the side breaking the tension.

A sharp whinny followed by a man’s howl of pain startled them both, and Tanner stopped thinking. He turned on his boot heel and ran for the barn. It wasn’t until he skidded to a stop and felt Zoey plow into the back of him that he realized she followed. His arm went out to instinctively catch her up against him so she wouldn’t fall, and her hands caught his waist clutching at his t-shirt.

The erection in his pants wasn’t deterred one iota by the terrible scene in front of him. Sawyer Brooks was sprawled out on his back in the middle of the barn alley, one leg twisted at a disturbing angle, and blood running down his face.

“Sweet Jesus! Sawyer, what the hell happened?”

“I’ll go call for help!” Zoey said, and Tanner gave her a nod as he dropped to his knees next to his friend. She was out the door in a flash, her black hair swinging behind her.

Sawyer groaned, “I was saddling that new mare we just got, Clover, and she got spooked by something. When I tried to calm her down she started bucking and kicking to get away from me. She kicked me clear across the barn and I felt my knee pop before it twisted underneath me.”

Tanner looked up when Parker ran into the barn from the corral entrance. “Damn, Sawyer! What the hell did you do to yourself? I just saw Clover shoot out of the barn and figured something was wrong.”

“Stupid fucking horse, whose dumbass idea was it to buy that one?” Sawyer’s face was pale and his jaw was clenched with pain as he reached up to his forehead to feel the wound.

Parker grunted, “I hate to say it, but it was yours.”

Sawyer cursed again, and made a move to sit up only to let out a groan of pain when his bent leg shifted.

“Stay put until the ambulance gets here. You’ve done something bad to that knee, and if you try to move you might make it worse.” Tanner looked around for something to press on Sawyer’s bloody head to stop the bleeding. In the end, he just tugged his own t-shirt off and pressed it to his friend’s forehead. “This cut will need stitches too. I can see your skull, but lucky for you, not your brain.”

Parker snorted, but his face remained drawn with tension. “He has no brain to see. Sawyer, I thought we agreed to wait on Clover’s training until we could put her through her paces together a few times?”

“Yeah, well you were busy, and I had time to work on it today. We needed to get her going,” Sawyer said, groaning when Tanner moved and brushed his injured leg.

“It’s not like I expected her to freak out like that.”

The barn door creaked loudly as it was thrown open and Rachel came barreling in with a bundle full of blankets and baby. Her eyes widened in horror as she took in the situation. Tanner watched a myriad of emotions cross her face before she set her jaw in determination and nudged him out of his place next to her husband.

“Sawyer Brooks, what have you done to yourself? Have you lost your mind getting hurt? This will not, I repeat, will not get you out of changing diapers, do you hear me?”

Tanner was stunned to find her pushing the infant into his arms so she could focus on Sawyer’s injuries. For a heart stopping moment, his inner bachelor freaked out at the tiny bundle of future he held in his big hands, but with everyone focused on Sawyer, he was able to get his nerves under control pretty quickly. Rising to his feet, he stared down at the little girl and he was pleased to see her smiling back at him. She really was adorable.

Rachel and Parker were taking care of Sawyer, so Tanner backed up and took a seat on a stack of hay bales holding Juliet close to his naked chest so he wouldn’t accidentally drop her. It was then that he noticed Zoey standing nearby watching him with a smile on her face.

“What?” he asked with a frown. Juliet seemed to sense the change in his mood because she whimpered a little, triggering an instant shushing sound from his mouth and a little bouncing movement from his arms. He hadn’t even known he could do that.

Zoey moved closer and reached out to stroke her finger over Juliet’s tiny fist. The fingers stretched out and then curled around her index finger like a cuff linking the three of them.

“I’ve never seen you holding a baby before. You seem to be a natural.” Tanner lifted his eyes to hers and he was surprised to see longing in their depths. It must be a female thing to find men holding babies sexually attractive because Tanner didn’t feel sexy in the least. However, he wanted Zoey just as much as her blue eyes seemed to want him, so it made for an awfully fascinating cluster fuck of feelings in his chest.

“This is the first time I’ve held one in years. I didn’t even hold her when she was born.” He heard the words coming out of his mouth, but he wasn’t in control of them.

Zoey glanced back over her shoulder as the sound of an ambulance siren wailed down the drive to the house.

“You’ve done a bang up job on yourself, Brooks.” Silas White was an old school mate of the guys, and Tanner was actually relieved to see him and his partner coming through the door. There was no better paramedic than Silas.

Within moments they were assessing Sawyers injuries and relaying information back to the 911 operator. Somehow in those brief seconds, Zoey had managed to plant herself right in front of Tanner like a human shield between the tiny being in his arms and the painful situation for her father.

“Is he going to be okay, Si?” Rachel asked from her place against Parker’s chest. Despite her initial confidence, the pallor of her skin proved she was freaking out like the rest of them.

Silas looked up at her with a smile, “Of course he is, Rachel, but he’s going to have to go to the hospital in Austin. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say he’s torn something in that knee. We can patch up his head and give him something for pain at the clinic, but then we’ll have to transport him to have an MRI done.”

Rachel looked up at Parker and then back at Sawyer before her eyes landed on Tanner and her daughter. “I can’t leave Juliet.”

“Yes you can, I’ll watch her,” Zoey responded firmly, and just like that, the tiny woman took control of the situation. “I’ll stay here with Jules, while you two go to the hospital with Sawyer. Where are Rogan and Hudson at?”

Parker’s eyes came up to meet hers, and Tanner could see the concern in his glazed expression. “Austin. They went to take care of some business and won’t be back until late. They can meet Rachel at the hospital. I still have the evening chores to do and the animals can’t wait, but I would be grateful if you could stay to watch Jules.”

“I’ll stay with them so you can go, Parker. You need to be with Rachel and Sawyer, and I can handle your evening chores.” The words spilled off Tanner’s tongue before he could stop them, and the relief on Rachel’s face was blinding.

Zoey frowned, and for just a moment Tanner wanted to laugh at the annoyance on her face. So Miss Carson didn’t want to spend the evening with him. Well that was certainly a change from her words years ago. He wondered if he could change her mind.

“Thank you, Tanner!” Rachel said, pausing just long enough to press a kiss to her daughter’s forehead before she followed Sawyer and the paramedics out of the barn.

Parker stepped over and ran his finger over Juliet’s tiny head. “Thank you both. Rachel looks like she’s keeping her cool, but she’s falling apart inside. Knowing you guys have it under control will keep her a little calmer. Oh, and Tanner, you can help yourself to a shirt when you get in the house.”

He tipped his hat at Zoey and then disappeared out the door leaving Tanner and the two females alone listening to the sounds of vehicles leaving.

“Well that was a lot of excitement for one day,” Zoey said with a heavy sigh.

Tanner watched her as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “He’ll be okay, you know. If it’s torn they might have to do surgery, but it will heal up in a couple of weeks.”

Zoey’s smiled tightly, “Yeah, I know you’re right. I guess we better get Juliet back inside before it gets much darker.”

Tanner glanced toward the corral doors to find the sun was almost completely set already. “Alright, you take her and I’ll get the chores done as quickly as possible.” He passed Zoey the baby. Her gasp startled him, but the heat in her eyes as she stared at his naked chest had his cock hard as iron behind his zipper. Her gaze stroked over his wide shoulders to his light pink nipples and followed the line of dark hair that split his pecks and led the way to the waistband of his jeans. The moment her view tipped to stare at the bulge behind the denim, he stopped breathing.

Zoey still wanted him.

There was no denying the flames in her blue eyes, or the flush that crept up her high cheekbones, and inside he was a mass of confusion. Physically, he wanted to eat her up. To fuck her until she was hoarse from screaming his name. But nothing had changed. He was still too old for her, and way too perverted. Hell, the first time he told her to get to her knees and suck his cock, she would probably bite it off. No, Zoey wasn’t for him. No matter how much they physically set each other on fire.

He cleared his throat, and her blush darkened. “I better grab a shirt first. Can you manage her without me for a bit?”

Zoey tossed that curtain of black hair arrogantly and glared at him. “For your information I’ve been babysitting since I was twelve. I can handle one tiny human without your assistance, Superman.”

“Good, because I left my cape at home,” he called out as she left with Juliet clutched to her shoulder. Tanner sat for a moment in the cooling evening air willing his erection away before he went into the house to grab a shirt. The sounds of Zoey cooing to Juliet in the nursery burned into his brain and made his hard heart clench.

He had already decided that Zoey wasn’t for him. Now he just needed to keep his distance. Even as he thought it, his inner voice scoffed.