Ropin' Hearts: The Boot Knockers Ranch, Book 4 (13 page)

Like they were for Bree.

Shit. No. I don’t need to love anybody. I need to do my job well and enjoy life.
He’d never answered Elliot’s question and it bugged him. He felt as if he needed to explain why he was playing with Bree, but the words were jumbled in his mind.

Riggs clapped him on the back, jarring him from his thoughts. “He’ll come around in time. You’ll have your friendship back.”

“I hope.” Ty wondered if Riggs had ever felt that way about Hugh—that in time he’d stop loving the man and resume their old camaraderie.

A few feet away Stowe stood with legs braced apart and whip in hand. The Dom went into the ring wearing a pair of assless chaps that always roused the ladies. Instead of taming women in chains and collars, he had a great routine with horses.

Ty nodded at Riggs and moved toward Stowe. They’d parted on very bad terms and he didn’t like having strife in the workplace. All over Bree.

Damn, why did she rile him so much?

Stowe’s gaze was steady. “Need something, Ty?”

“Yeah.” Never one to mince words, he just said it. “I need to apologize. I shouldn’t have thrown punches that day in the auditorium.”

Stowe’s mouth relaxed. “Me either. We don’t need to fight over women when there are so many to be shared.”

“True.”

“Except you weren’t sharing that day, Ty. What’s that about?”

Crap. He didn’t need Stowe filling Riggs’s shoes, bringing him up on charges of liking someone too much. Especially Bree. She didn’t belong here. Sleeping with Elliot was one thing—Bree was quite another.

“She’s young. She wasn’t ready.”

“She’s old enough and was quite ready. The young ones are easier to train. They slip into the life with little trouble.”

Ty’s shirt felt too tight. He shifted his shoulders. “She doesn’t belong here.”

“She was one of the first ones I’ve enjoyed since—” He broke off, staring at the far-off horizon. “Are you trying to protect her from us or us from her?”

Good question. “She’s better off staying away from the ranch. Once women get into that headspace with you, they crave more.”

“And you can’t have her wanting to return to me. Especially since
you
want to be doing the taming. Is Bree the brat you told me about?”

Ty nodded.

Stowe shot him a grin. When Ty had no reply, Stowe gave a practice flick of his whip. “No worries, mate. We’re square, you and I.”

Ty man-hugged him and walked away. As he strode across the patch of turf leading to the bunkhouse, he couldn’t think straight. What Stowe had said was like an asteroid headed straight to the earth. He had a life plan, good work. Bree had struck him, hollowed out a Bree-sized crater in his chest.

Son of a bitch.
What was he going to do about evicting her from his life? He could ignore her and hope she didn’t return to the ranch, but that wouldn’t happen. Soon he’d find her in the arms of another Boot Knocker. Hell, she’d be under Stowe’s whip in a heartbeat, knowing the way she needed dominance in a man. If Ty ever found her with another of his friends, he’d lose his shit even more than he had before.

He doffed his hat and raked his fingers through his hair. Thank goodness he’d done his clown bit early in the rodeo because he needed to get away. The ranch felt too close, too crowded. In the past, he’d go find someone—maybe even Elliot—and they’d have a quickie against the bunkhouse. But those days were over.

Bree had wormed her way between them too.

“Dammit.” He yanked his hat back on and pulled the brim low. His truck keys were in his pocket and he had a wallet full of cash. He’d leave for the day. Drive into the next county where nobody knew him. Maybe drink beer and watch the game on a big screen without thinking about sex and mouthy little vixens who drove him crazy.

When he got in his truck, he didn’t head out to the interstate, though. As he bumped up in front of the Roberts Ranch, irritation mingled with a touch of excitement. Bree was behind those doors. He’d bring her out and put her into his truck, listen to her sass while he drove her into the next county and plied her with a steak dinner and enough margaritas to soften her before he ever laid a hand on her round ass.

He got out of his truck and seconds later her father appeared. “What brings you up here?” Judging by his voice, he already suspected.

Ty tipped his hat out of respect. “Looking for your daughter, sir.”

“She isn’t here.”

“No?”

“She went to stay with family in Omaha for a spell.”

Of all the things Ty expected to hear, that wasn’t it. Dan’s words felt like a blow to the chest, leaving Ty leaking air. He ran a hand down his shirt buttons. “When do you expect her to return?”

“I don’t rightly know. She wanted to learn about ranching, and I thought she’d have new experiences with her relatives. She’s always been close with a cousin out there too.”

“I see. That’s good.”

“Good for her but not for you, I suspect.” Dan’s eagle eyes glued Ty to the ground.

He waved a hand. “I…was just coming to ask her something. Nothing important. I’ll catch up with her later.”

He could text her. Or call. But having her out of reach while she mouthed off wouldn’t do—he couldn’t take control the way she wanted.

And
he
needed.

Hell, what a mess. She had him knotted up.

Ty thumbed his hat brim again. “Thank you for your time. I’d best get back to the ranch.”

He didn’t drive to the ranch, though. He headed down the gravel lane and out to the main road. The gray ribbon of asphalt took him as far as the next town before he stopped and warmed a barstool long into the night. And when he was unable to drive home, he slept in his truck.

And dreamed of Bree.

Chapter Eleven

Two weeks in Omaha and Bree still hadn’t gotten over the fact her daddy had shipped her off there like a little kid or a head of cattle. He hadn’t even
asked
her—just handed her a slip of paper with a flight number.

“What’s this?” she’d asked.

“Your aunt and uncle have agreed to let you come see how they do things on their ranch for a couple weeks.”

“I already know what goes on. I grew up on a ranch, remember?” Irritation webbed inside her brain, catching any sane thought she may have before it reached her lips.

“You came to me and said you want to work. Since then, you’ve put in maybe three days of work before going back to your old ways. You won’t get away with being lax up in Omaha, Bree. It will do you some good. Especially if you’re interested in really pulling your weight around here. Or have you changed your mind?”

She felt like stomping her foot then thought better of it. Ty would paddle her behind. She pressed her lips together and stifled a scream. “No, I haven’t changed my mind.” Her words came out like bullets. Heat infused her face and she tried not to crumple the paper in her fist.

Her father nodded and went back to his paperwork. “Good to hear. You’ll enjoy your time with family, and they can teach you things.”

She’d seethed all the way there, angry that her father had picked a damn poor time to decide she needed to learn the ropes of ranching with her aunt and uncle. She didn’t want to be away from the Boot Knockers Ranch.

God, she was a mess. She wanted to be there—she didn’t. Which was it? Maybe going to Omaha would help organize her thoughts. She’d believed putting some distance between her and Ty would help her immensely.

She’d been wrong.

And that was the last damn time her daddy treated her like a kid. She was an adult and could make her own damn decisions. Her first decision had been to come home from Omaha early. After being away, she felt more attuned to the things she needed to do to prove herself on the ranch. She intended to start today.

With a sigh she smoothed her hands over her shirt. It had taken her two tries to get it buttoned right while half-asleep. But she was here, gathered outside with the other ranch hands getting the day’s orders as dawn lightened the sky. Usually she was awake at this time but lounged in bed until she felt like getting up. But for the past two weeks when she’d stayed with her family, she’d been awake before sunup. Her cousin was a year younger than Bree but she had her sights set on ranching and had teased her mercilessly about not getting out of bed.

Her family’s spread outside of Omaha wasn’t as big as the Robertses’, but Bree got a chance to work alongside them and learn things. Yeah, she had a degree in agriculture and business but her hands-on experience had been lacking—because she hadn’t bothered.

Daddy’s right.

She listened to her father dole out duties. Three men were sent to do a daily check for injured or sick animals. Two to the ridge to fix some leaning fence.

Bree’s chest squeezed as she thought about that ridge, and what lay beyond—the Boot Knockers Ranch.

Ty.

Running to Omaha hadn’t helped her escape that man. He’d possessed her even from hundreds of miles away. She’d thought about texting him a hundred times, but he hadn’t gotten in touch with her. Besides, it wasn’t any fun to tease him when she couldn’t relieve the ache of being away from him.

Had he thought about her at all? He’d probably been relieved not to have to drag her off their ranch.

She hooked her thumbs in her back pockets and waited for Daddy to give her a job. But he didn’t. When the men dispersed and she still stood there, hurt and confusion hit her senses. She turned to her father. “What about me?”

His brows rose. “I’m glad to see you have your drive back.”

“More so.”

“Good. C’mon then. I’ve got a job for you.”

Once she was seated in the office with a stack of auction papers before her, she felt slightly better. At least her father hadn’t blown her off. She took up a calculator and began logging the cattle prices into the ledger.

But within minutes her mind wandered back to Ty. Her cousin had asked about her habit of daydreaming. When Bree had refused to say a word, her cousin had guessed it was a man Bree was thinking about.

She had to get Ty out of her system. That was a dead end with a capital
D
. He didn’t want her; she didn’t want him. They’d had fun and he’d given her some mind-blowing sex, but…

Not seeing him again made her heart spasm. She shoved the feeling away and worked till noon.

Her father came in and out of the office. Finally he clamped a hand on her shoulder. “You don’t need to do a year’s worth of work to make up for lost time, Bree. Break for lunch.”

“Okay.” She shoved the papers away and dug her thumbs into her eyes, rubbing.

She stopped and lowered her hands. She’d seen Ty rub his eyes that way. Had she picked up the habit?

“Oh. I almost forgot,” her father said.

She pivoted to stare up at him. He looked better than he had since Mom had died—stronger. Thank goodness. Seeing him bearing that much grief had hurt Bree almost as bad as losing her mother.

“A man was here looking for you.”

She stopped breathing.

“Wh-who?”

“A cowboy. A Boot Knocker.”

Her heart did a wild tumble. “Why?” That couldn’t be her voice. She’d never sounded that way in her life. “Oh, he must have been here about the cattle they bought?” Whoever
he
was.

“No. We drove those cattle across the border last week.”

Damn, she’d missed it. She’d wanted to show up on the ranch and actually have a good reason to be there. Who was she kidding? She’d wanted to flaunt herself in front of Ty until he got that burning look in his eyes.

Daddy scratched his chin. “It was that fella Ty came looking for you.”

She wanted to stand but her knees were weak. “When?”

“Day or two after you left. He hasn’t been back. Not sure what he needed.” Her father’s gaze bore into her. He knew damn well what Ty wanted.

Bree found the strength to get to her feet. She felt the need to explain Ty to her father, but what could she say?
I sneaked onto the ranch and he did things to me no man has ever done. Or probably will again.

Emptiness hollowed her stomach. Crap.

Wait—he came looking for me. Left the ranch and his job and came to find me.

Excitement made her feel giddy, like a little kid on Christmas Day. It took all her willpower not to bounce up and down.

Some hard truths sobered her. Until that minute she’d been lying to herself. She didn’t want any old Boot Knocker. She wanted Ty to pursue her and to affect him as much as he affected her.

She left the office and ate lunch with her ranch family. Listening to their stories and watching their antics didn’t make her feel any lighter. Neither did her father’s solemn gaze.

As she toyed with one of her favorite dishes, chicken and biscuits, her mind tried to unknot the mystery of Ty’s visit. He hadn’t texted her or attempted to call her. Why would he? But he’d come to the ranch looking for her. That had to mean something.

Avoiding her father’s stare, Bree got up and gathered her plate. “I’ll be taking Royal out for the afternoon. Been too long since she’s been exercised.”

“Okay, daughter.” He looked at her for another heartbeat before the foreman commanded his attention.

Bree slipped away to the kitchen and took care of her plate. Then she fluffed her hair before heading out to the barn. Royal did need a good, hard gallop. That was no lie. But Bree had failed to say where they were going.

She was going to ride right onto the Boot Knockers Ranch and demand to see Ty.

Royal was finicky today. She didn’t want to wear the bit and she kept dancing sideways, shoving Bree against the wall of the barn.

“Are you mad at me, girl?” Bree looked her in the eye. “I was gone and no one loved you enough? I’m sorry.” She stroked the horse’s mane and rested her forehead against her neck. “I know the feeling. I missed…”

She swallowed that sentence, tried to forget the man it was about and saddled Royal. Slipping into the saddle felt good, and galloping, better. She raced across the field, hunched small in her saddle to get more speed. She was feeling a little reckless and giddy.

Ty was within reach.

When she got to the ridge, the fence was in perfect repair and not a Roberts man was in sight. She led Royal in a wide circle, getting up speed for a jump. They’d made higher leaps but never had one felt so important. It was as if she were crossing a bridge. From youth to adulthood. From her old life to a new one.

No matter what happened with Ty, she would come back changed because she planned to tell him how she couldn’t get him out of her head.

She spurred her horse and they sailed over the barbed wire. When they hit the ground, Royal shot downward, racing toward the valley and the buildings with red roofs.

The wind teased Bree’s hair off her hot face and slithered into her neckline against her hot skin.

Once they hit flat turf, she slowed Royal. Two cowboys watched her ride in, tipping their hats in greeting. As she passed, she heard one say “Roberts girl”.

Nobody stopped her. Not even when she rode into the middle of the buildings and dismounted.

“Hey.”

She turned to see a woman with short, blue hair walking toward her. Bree sucked in a breath. Crap, she was about to be kicked off again.

“You’re one of this week’s vacationers, aren’t you? They’re all in the auditorium. You’d better get in there if you want to get your cowboy.”

“Oh. Okay. Thanks.” Bree tethered Royal to a post outside the barn with a trough filled with oats and water nearby.

Heart thumping, she went toward the auditorium. She’d heard rumors of how the women were selected by the Boot Knockers, but she’d never asked Ty.

She jerked to a stop. Ty was in there choosing another woman. A woman who would rake her nails over his hard, chiseled buns.

Oh hell no.
Those buns were hers. Bree hurried forward and wrenched open the heavy door. Shadows swallowed her.

The cowboys were lined up in the leather chairs at the front of the building, the stage lit. As she moved down the center aisle, Bree kept her gaze on the woman in the spotlight. She was tall and had an earthy quality—she oozed sex appeal with her big hips and breasts and curly, long hair.

The woman’s voice projected through the speakers as she spoke into the microphone. “I’m here because I want to find out how to make a body match.”

“Can you explain what you mean by ‘body match’, Miss Rowena?” someone drawled.

Bree’s lungs burned. That was Ty. Ty was asking this woman questions. Did that mean he was interested in her? That he’d have her in his bed all week, screaming for release the way he’d made Bree scream?

“In old times, people looked at each other and lusted. They fell into the weeds and got pleasure from each other without constraints of dating or marriage. They liked what they saw so they took it. That’s a body match,” Rowena explained.

Several cowboys bobbed their heads.

“Sounds mighty fine to me,” Ty drawled.

Not. Happening.

Bree took off running. She sprinted past the line of cowboys and several women who stood along the sides in the shadows. Planting her hands on the stage, she vaulted and scrambled to her feet.

“What the—?” someone said.

“Where’d she come from?”

“She’s not on my list,” a woman said, rustling papers.

Bree stormed up to Rowena and shoved her aside. “I’m Bree and I’m looking for a body match too.”

“Fuck,” she heard Ty grate out. She squinted against the beam of lights and caught movement on the edge of the stage. Then she zeroed in on the big cowboy.

No, the big
angry
cowboy.
Ty’s body rolled with muscle as he leaped up and crossed the stage, head lowered like a bull prepared to charge.

Bree’s fingers tingled. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.

She backed up.

“Don’t you dare try to run from me, woman.”

Heat wove low through her pussy and made her nipples bunch. She couldn’t draw enough air.

God, it was so good.

His boots thudded on the wooden floor. She took another step backward. And another. When she came up against a wall of curtain, she swallowed a squeak.

With a growl, Ty was on her. He caught her around the thighs and hoisted her over his shoulder. She grunted as his steely shoulder met her soft stomach. He brought his hand down on her ass cheek—hard.

“Ow!”

His stinging slap and her scream resounded through the big space as Ty carried her offstage, her legs dangling and her ass hoisted into the air for all to see.

Shameful.

And exciting.

He was steaming mad. She could feel it scorching her. For once she worried she’d pushed him too far. He could throw her off the ranch and never speak to her again. His indifference would kill her.

They broke into the open air and he swung her down. Her feet went out from under her and her backside crashed into the turf. She glared up at him. “Damn you!”

“No,” he said in a deadly calm tone that worried her more than the fury in his eyes, “damn
you
, Bree. You don’t belong here. And you sure as hell don’t belong in that auditorium.”

“You were going to pick that woman with the big tits,” she spat, shoving to her feet. She felt hot and disheveled and uncertain. He wasn’t giving her that I’m-going-to-spank-you-then-eat-you-up stare. It was more like a you’ve-fucked-up-my-life stare.

She swallowed as his eyes darkened another shade. “I was
supposed
to pick that woman with the big tits. It’s my job, Bree.”

“A sick job. I bet your parents are so proud.”

“It’s none of your business what I choose to do. This is my life and I won’t have a spoiled little girl fucking it up.”

“That’s me? A spoiled little girl?”

He crowded close enough that his hard chest brushed the peaks of her aching breasts. Brackets were carved around his mouth and fire lit his eyes. “You know you are.”