Flawless Surrender (7 page)

“Gotcha. You have a thing for her. I don’t blame you, but I won’t make any promises. If she gives me a signal, all bets are off. That woman is hot as hell, and based on her reading material, I think she has a kinky side I would love to explore,” Clint said just as seriously.

Dalton perked up, “Kinky side?”

“The book on the night table in my old room certainly isn’t a children’s book,” Clint said with a laugh.

“Her choice of reading material is her business. Lay off, Clint,” Tanner snapped.

“Got it, Skipper. So, tell me what’s been going on at the ranch.” The three men settled in to catch up, and Clint finally felt like he could breathe again. This was home, and this was how home was supposed to be. The three of them together again, talking horses, woman, and beer. It had been years since he felt like he belonged somewhere, and he was glad it was here.

*****

Zoey was really irritated. Who the hell did Clint Keegan think he was? Good grief, these Keegan cowboys were arrogant and cocksure as any prize bull in the pen. By the time she had dinner ready she had no appetite for anything but chewing cowboy ass. There was no way she could tolerate the flirting, kissing, and teasing from all three of them.

After Tanner left her high and dry in the kitchen, she had gone in and taken an hour nap to recover her sanity. Of course she had masturbated twice too, but that was just to take the edge off her temper…or so she told herself.

She was on her way to forgiving and forgetting the incident when Clint scared the shit out of her in the kitchen while she was making icing to drizzle over the cinnamon bread. His arrogance had lit the fire under her mad again out in the barn. Between Dalton’s open flirting, Clint’s arrogance, and Tanner’s brooding, she was piping hot and ready to blow by dinnertime. Half mad and half horny didn’t make a good combination when she had to face off with all of them.

The three men came out of the barn as a unit, and Zoey felt her lungs tighten and her mouth go dry as she stood on the front porch watching them saunter toward her, laughing as brothers. Clint’s appearance in Stone River wasn’t all that much of a surprise to Tanner and Dalton.

He was the youngest, but he was slightly taller than Tanner and Dalton, although it was hard to tell when he was the only one without a hat on. Ever since he hit puberty he had been good looking, but he had aged to perfection after high school, and she was honestly shocked that he hadn’t made it big in Hollywood.

Seeing the trio all together, she instantly had thoughts of a wild group orgy. She could envision them stripping her down right here on the front porch and having their wicked way with her.

Good grief, Rachel’s four husbands have s
kewed my sense of reality
.

Even though her panties were damp and her nipples were aching, she forced a frown to her face and crossed her arms over her chest. The three men quieted when they drew closer to her. Clint had a wicked grin on his face, Dalton looked slightly confused by her annoyance, and Tanner just refused to meet her gaze.

“So it’s one big happy family then?” she asked in the bratty tone she knew irritated Tanner.

Clint threw an arm around each brother’s shoulders and laughed. “Yep, come on over here and we’ll have a group hug, angel.”

Zoey rolled her eyes and spun around to go back in the house.

“Even better, I like it when you walk away from me. Then I get to see that ripe ass,” Clint called out. His gasp of pain when one of his brothers—probably Tanner—elbowed him in the gut, gave Zoey a small measure of satisfaction. “Fuck you too, Skipper. You don’t have to maim me because you have a hard-on for her too.”

She made her legs move a little faster as a hot blush stole up her cheeks. The idea of any one of the three brothers having a hard-on for her drove her body temperature sky high. The sensation of Tanner’s cock against her belly was scorched into her brain, and she couldn’t stop herself from wondering about the size of his brothers erections.

As she went to lift the heavy pot of chili from the stove, she felt warmth at her back, and two muscular arms stopped her. Looking over her shoulder, she found Dalton inches from her backside, and she let out a little gasp. “I got it, Zoey. Sit down.”

His lips just barely brushed by her ear before she ducked under his arm and hurried to carry the bread to the table. Clint had taken the seat next to hers, and Tanner was at the head of the table, which left Dalton to sit across from her. She was surrounded by the three of them again, and it made her head swim a bit.

“So, Zoey, how did you end up living at the Triple T?” Clint asked as he reached for her bowl and dished chili into it as if he did it every day. She stared at the bowl for a moment of pure fascination before remembering her manners and thanking him.

“It’s a long story,” she said noncommittally while helping herself to a slice of bread.

“I have nothing but time,” Clint answered with a laugh right before sinking his teeth into his bread. He moaned with pleasure and she smiled at his reaction. Arrogant ass or not, she liked seeing people enjoy her cooking.

“A developer bought the building I was living in, forcing me to look for a new place, and then my mom stole all of my money so I couldn’t put a deposit down on the only house for rent in town. That left me high and dry with only a few days left to figure out where to stay.”

“Damn. I’m sorry I asked, angel. I didn’t mean to upset you.” Clint looked genuinely apologetic and she shrugged at him.

“Everyone in Stone River knows my parents are worthless. I guess I’m just a glutton for punishment. She showed up asking to stay at my place and then she disappeared one night along with all of the money in my bank account.” Dalton reached across the table and squeezed Zoey’s hand giving her a reassuring smile.

“I for one am glad she left. It sucks that she took your money and hurt you, but I’m not sure when I would have gotten to see you if you hadn’t ended up here at the Triple T.” She gave Dalton a small smile of thanks before turning back to Clint.

“I was planning on staying with Rachel and her husbands, but they just had a baby, and then Sawyer had to have surgery on his knee—“

“Wait, husbands? Did you say Rachel and her husbands? Rachel Morgan had a baby. With Sawyer? As in Brooks?” Clint’s mouth hung open in surprise and even Tanner laughed at his expression.

“Yes she did, now shut your trap before the bees start building a hive in there,” Tanner said shaking his head.

“Holy shit, it’s like I’ve died and gone to heaven. I come home to find a sexy angel is sleeping in my bed and people are embracing group love! Why did I ever leave Stone River?”

“To be a star!” Dalton answered with a dramatic wave of his arms.

Clint snorted, “Yeah that didn’t work out so well.”

Zoey frowned at him, “But you were in several commercials. I even saw the dog food one a few times.”

Suddenly the cocksure man was a sad and dejected little boy, and Zoey’s heart broke a little. She had to scoop food into her mouth to keep from putting an arm around him to comfort him.

“Unfortunately that is my only claim to fame. I never managed to break into the biz. I spent more time bussing tables and mowing lawns than acting. So tell me about Rachel and Sawyer and her other husbands.”

“Rachel legally married Rogan Brooks, but they had a commitment ceremony between all four brothers and her. She just had a baby girl a couple of months ago, Juliet.” Zoey explained, she felt Tanner’s eyes on her as she chatted with Clint, but she made no move to acknowledge it. Her pride was still stinging from his rejection earlier.

“How in the world did that happen? And why?” Clint asked with a frown.

Zoey giggled, “I’m pretty sure it happens the way all relationships happen. They fell in love. Actually, I think they fell in lust first. They invited her to have a weekend fling with them one Friday night, and by Sunday, the guys were pledging their undying love. Rachel took a bit more convincing, but once she accepted her own feelings, it was like they were always meant to be together. Those four guys make great dads too.”

“I never pictured Parker Brooks cooing at a baby, but trust me, he does,” Tanner said, with a wry grin on his face.

“He’s not the only one,” Zoey said, and when Dalton and Clint looked at her in question she gestured to Tanner with her fork, “Your big brother is wrapped around that baby girl’s finger too, trust me, I’ve seen it in person.”

“Things sure have changed around here,” Clint said, shaking his head.

The conversation turned to less personal questions. Everyone seemed to avoid talking about the past and the future. Preferring to stay on fluff topics like town gossip and the tasks that had to be done over the next week on the ranch.

By the end of dinner the three brothers seemed to have made a silent agreement to ignore the past between them, and start fresh. Zoey was the only outsider.

As usual, she was the one with no links to the past, and no solid leads to her future. The three brothers continued their easy conversation and insisted on cleaning up the kitchen since she cooked, so she silently slipped away leaving them to it.

Her legs carried her outside and down the road a ways before she stopped and took a seat on a tree stump to stare up at the sky. Worries bounced in her brain making her stomach tight and her heart heavy.

She still had no idea where her mother was, or if she was okay. Eve’s cell phone number had been disconnected, so even if she wanted to leave a message she couldn’t. Tomorrow she had to return to work and admit that she was at the bottom of the dung heap, and she still had absolutely no idea where she was going to live permanently.

How had things spiraled out of control so quickly in her life? It seemed like just days ago she was graduating, celebrating the successful completion of her life’s goal, and planning a brilliant entry into the career world. The reality sure paled in comparison to the fantasy she’d had in her mind back then.

Staring up into the inky black sky, she searched instinctively for specific constellations. There was Orion, and the big dipper, Cassiopeia, and Andromeda. It was a soothing ritual she had when she needed to think, and she was thankful the night was clear and warm.

When movement drew her attention and she turned to find Dalton standing a few feet away, he held two beer bottles in his hand. “Are you alright?”

Forcing a smile she nodded, “Sure. Just enjoying the stars.”

He moved closer, handing her a beer and then taking a seat on the ground so his back rested against the stump she sat on and his shoulder pressed against her leg. “Enjoying the stars, or escaping the testosterone?”

She snorted, and then giggled, “Maybe a little of both.”

“I can’t believe Clint came back. I know he promised mom, but I was stunned to see him today.” Dalton’s words were quiet, and Zoey had to strain to hear him.

“You? I was the one he scared half to death. He’s lucky I had a bowl of icing and not the bread knife in my hands, or you would have been planning a funeral,” she said sarcastically. He turned to look up at her, his gorgeous smile lit by the moonlight, and she sighed with longing. Her hand itched to run through his blonde hair, loosening if from where his cowboy hat had pressed it down. Instead, she began picking at the sticker on her beer bottle.

“That’s just it, huh?”

“What do you mean?”

“The planning. We’re all at a stage where we’re supposed to be planning our futures. Laying out a course for ourselves, a flawless path to happiness if you will. We should be capable of overcoming the skeletons in our closets and forgiving all of the hurts from the past, so we can have a bright future. Instead, you and I are drinking beer in the moonlight in the middle of a Texas ranch, and neither of us knows what the fuck tomorrow will hold.”

“Amen,” she said, laughing just a little. They sat in silence for a while, enjoying the quiet and their own thoughts. “So what kind of plan have you come up with, Doctor?”

“Hmm…I still think my first step should be seducing you into my bed, because then it will be much easier to convince you to spend the rest of your life cooking your delicious food for me, and driving my brothers crazy that they don’t have you.” He responded to her glare of disapproval with a wink, and then shrugged, “Or, I can head back inside to obtain more beer and we can sit here until morning watching the moon move across the sky.”

She couldn’t help but laugh. He was as big of a flirt as the other two, but there seemed to be something deeper in him tonight. There was a missing piece to the puzzle that was Dalton Keegan, and she grew more intrigued every minute she spent with him.

“I could spend hours staring at the sky searching for answers and still have no idea what’s next.” She could hear the wistful sadness in her own voice, so she knew Dalton could too.

“What’s holding you back?” he asked, without moving a muscle to look away from the sky.

She sighed, “My past I suppose. Or maybe my fear of the past repeating itself. I wanted my degree so badly because I wanted to be able to help other kids. I need to make sure they know that it gets better, and that their circumstances when they are young don’t define them when they are adults.”

“A lofty goal. I know you and I haven’t spent a lot of time together, and we weren’t close before I left, but somehow I just know you can achieve that if you are determined to. Skeletons can be pretty motivating.”

The fact that he understood what she was saying without her having to explain it made her relax her guard a little more. It was as sure sign she should stand up and walk back into the house as quickly as possible but instead, she heard words coming out of her mouth. “So what skeletons are you trying to overcome?”

“Do you really want to know?” he asked, tipping his head and looking at her thoughtfully. When she nodded, he slowly rose to his feet, and held out his hand. “Come on, I think better when I’m moving.”

She let him help her up, and they left their half empty bottles on the stump to retrieve later, before slowly walking down the road away from the house. It was several moments before he spoke, but when he did the sadness in his voice strangled her heart.

“I know you didn’t have a great childhood here. It’s a small town, so I heard the rumors, and after your mom’s recent stunt, I have a pretty good idea of what life has been like for you. For me though, Stone River was a great place to grow up. I was lucky enough to have a great family, and a lot of freedom. Part of that freedom was that I could run wild with my best friend, Ben White. We were double trouble, believe me. I can’t even tell you how many times the Sherriff picked us up causing problems for one of the local businesses and took us home. One of our favorite things to do during the summer was to go swimming at Devil’s Drop.”

“Devil’s Drop? That place is a national park or something, isn’t it?” Zoey frowned at him, and tucked her hair behind her ear.