Second Chance Ranch: a Hope Springs novel (Entangled Bliss) (11 page)

She nudged him. “Cory’s singing, and I’m singing. Stop being a fuddy-duddy and sing with us.”

He rested his wrist on the steering wheel and glanced at her. “Fuddy-duddy?”

She leaned in and sang, her face so close to his that he almost forgot to pay attention to the road. He shook his head. She poked a finger at his cheek. “I’m gonna do this the entire way unless you sing. Come on. Sing. I know you’ve got a perfectly good voice.”

“The voice is okay, it’s being on key that I’ve always had trouble with.”

“Whatever.” She poked his cheek again, so he sighed and then went ahead and sang a few lines. She looked so proud of herself that he couldn’t help returning her smile. Although he’d never admit it out loud—because he’d never hear the end of it if he did—he liked that she pushed him to remember how much fun the little things could be. For so long all he’d been focused on was work and fixing problems, and it was nice to relax a bit. Now that he thought about it, it was probably the other reason he’d asked her to come today.

After the song ended, Sadie turned to Cory. “So, let’s talk ladies, Cory. Where you at with them these days?”

“I’m a fan.”

She giggled. “But is there a special girl? You know, I could try to set you up.” Her eyebrows drew together. “If I knew any girls who lived here.”

“And therein lies the problem,” Cory said. “There aren’t a whole lot to choose from. Besides, the bachelor life suits me just fine. I’m looking for fun more than serious.”

“Lame!” Sadie crossed her arms. “I’m not setting you up with any of my nonexistent friends now.”

“Damn,” Cory said, snapping his fingers, and she laughed again, the sound echoing through Royce’s chest.

Then she turned to him, opening her mouth like she was going to ask him something—possibly the same thing—then thought better of it. Which was good. No way he was talking women or dating with her.

Especially not with that one line from the song repeating in his head over and over.
She’s just right for me.

He pulled up to the grounds where the horse sell was going on and got out of the truck. They got a pamphlet with all of the horses listed and walked through, checking them out in person as they read off their stats.

Cory split off to look at a dun mare, and Royce headed over to the stallions. When they got to a tall buckskin, he glanced at Sadie. “This was the one that caught my eye when I was scanning through the list.”

The horse ambled over and stuck his head over the gate, sniffing at Sadie. She patted his head. “Well, he’s definitely not shy.”

Royce knew there were people who were good with animals, but he couldn’t believe the way all of them seemed to automatically trust Sadie. She was already talking to the horse, her voice calm as she told him how pretty he was and that he was “Such a good horsey.”

She put her hands on either side of his face and peered into his big eyes. “I think I love him.”

“What about his build? He’s got good strong muscles in his legs, but sixteen hands? He’s a little on the tall side for roping. I also gotta think about the birthrates and if the height will cause a problem for my mares.”

Sadie jumped up on the gate and ran her hands down the horse’s neck as she studied him, her lips twitching one way and then the other. The horse kept bumping his nose into her, wanting more attention. Royce wasn’t sure he needed a horse that followed her around like a puppy, but it was pretty damn endearing.

“Tall and lean, but he’s still got the muscles for the quick start roping requires, so I think you’d be good. Just a sec.” She pulled out her phone and took a picture and then sent a text. “Now we’ll see if my lessons to my grandpa on how to text paid off.”

They were still standing in front of the pen when her phone rang.

“That’s him. Maybe I failed at the texting lesson.” She answered, and her face lit up as she talked to him. Her grandpa was one of the best guys Royce knew, not to mention he also had a sixth sense when it came to horses. Royce knew that in a lot of ways, Gene Manning was more Sadie’s dad than her actual dad. All in all, she and her father had a good relationship, but Gene was the man who’d really raised her.

She hung up and spun around. “He said he approves. You know I’m attached now, right? Me and”—she took the pamphlet out of Royce’s hand and read off the name—“Duke are destined to hang out more.”

“Destined, huh?”

A grin curved her lips, and she nodded enthusiastically. “Written in the stars and shit.”

Royce laughed and then held out a hand to her. “Looks like we gotta go see a man about a horse, then.”

She gave an adorable little squeal, slapped her hand in his, and jumped down. Her body bumped his, and for a moment they froze like that, the same way they’d done on the dance floor, and he was thinking about that kiss again.

Pushing her away the other night had taken all his strength, and right now he wasn’t sure why he was bothering to hold back, or if he even wanted to. This time around, there were no illusions of rodeo wins with Sadie by his side and a family in the future. He knew they had different goals that’d eventually take them down different paths.

Actually, he was sure that what he wanted to do was take her to bed and work out the tension between them. He’d sworn he’d never let his life get so wrapped up in another person again, and he was planning on sticking to that. But he could keep his feelings in check, just like he’d done for years.

“Did you de— Never mind.” Cory turned to go in the other direction, and Royce let go of Sadie.

“We’re gonna go make an offer, actually,” Royce said. “Sadie claims she and Duke are destined to be friends, and I don’t know how to argue with that kind of logic.”

“The answer is simple. You can’t.” Sadie gripped his hand and headed toward the entrance. He pulled against her a little—just so she didn’t go thinking she was in charge. Plus, there was the added benefit of the view of her butt in the tight jeans she had on.

Cory raised his eyebrows in a silent question as they passed him. Royce shrugged, and then he went to buy a horse for a girl who might not even stick around long enough to help take care of it.

Chapter Ten

When Royce got done loading Duke into the trailer, he went to find Sadie. He found her tossing horseshoes with a boy who couldn’t be more than five or six. She was also laughing, that loud, infectious, head-turning laugh that drew people to her wherever she went.

She glanced up as he approached. “This kid’s a horseshoe hustler! I just lost five bucks!”

The kid grinned up at her. His white hat was big enough it wobbled on his head. He gathered up the horseshoes and looked at Royce. “Would you like to play, sir?”

He was going to say that was okay, but Sadie grabbed his arm and yanked him closer. “You’ve got to see this. It’s like that trick-shot kid who beats all the celebrities at making baskets. Deacon makes amazing tosses instead. He’s like a machine. A pint-sized, accurate machine.”

Royce took the horseshoes from the kid—Deacon, apparently.

“One point for close, two for a leaner, three for a ringer.” Deacon gestured for Royce to go first.

His toss was a little too far.

Deacon grinned and threw. The horseshoe clanged against the spike—a ringer. His grin widened.

Sadie placed her hand on Royce’s shoulder and leaned in so her body was against his back, and tucked her chin on her hand. “Isn’t he the cutest?”

Royce glanced over his shoulder at her. “He’s pretty damn cute.”

She shoved him forward. “Okay, go again.”

He got one leaner, one point for coming close, and—finally—a ringer. But the kid had thrown all ringers, and as the last one fell over Royce’s, he glanced up and said, “Mister, that means my ringer cancels yers. But good try.”

Patronized by a grade-school cowboy. Royce laughed and handed over five dollars. Deacon shoved it into his pocket. “Why don’t you two play? You could use the practice.”

“No, I—”

“Good idea,” Sadie said over the top of him, gathering up the horseshoes. “Royce is much closer to my level, and I could use a win after you wiped the floor with me.” Her eyebrows scrunched up, her tongue came out, and she kept swinging her arm backward and forward over and over, before finally letting the first one loose.

Her tosses were all over the place. Close and then way over. Short and long. As usual, though, she just grinned or laughed her way through each success and failure, bouncing on the balls of her feet, energy radiating off her. Her last toss hit and leaned against the spike. She pumped her fist and then turned and high-fived the kid.

Royce didn’t bother pointing out that he was already so far ahead that it didn’t matter. He swung back to throw, and as his arm came forward, Sadie pinched his butt. The throw went wild, not even in the pit, and her laughter bordered on maniacal.

“You cheater!”

Instead of responding to the accusation, she said, “I’m starving, and there are hamburgers over there. And since my ethics were a little blurry there at the end, I’ll buy.”

“Pretty sure food is provided.”

She innocently batted her eyes at him, told Deacon that he was awesome, and then walked over to the table with the food. Royce headed to the truck to see if Cory was back—he’d texted a bit ago to say he was gonna check out a few more horses.

While Royce was next to the trailer, he peeked in on Duke.
He does look like a good roping horse, and with his long legs, he can eat up that space fast.
Chevy was always his go-to, but she was getting older, and he might want to get another colt out of her in a few years.

Balancing a stack of hamburgers in one hand, Sadie lowered the three pops she had under her other arm into the back of the truck. She set one off to the side—for Cory, he assumed—and then extended a hamburger to Royce as he neared. “Mustard only, though I still think it’s suspect to not like ketchup.”

She sat on the open tailgate, her legs swinging through the air within seconds—she never could sit still.

Royce bumped her over with his hip and settled next to her. “Tomatoes are disgusting, no matter what else you add to them.”

“They’re good for the prostate—people are always talking about it on the news.”

“My prostate’s just fine, thanks.”

Her gaze dipped down, focused right on the zipper to his pants. Her legs stopped swinging and she sank her teeth into her bottom lip.

Liquid hot lust swirled through him, and he gripped the edge of the tailgate with his free hand, working to calm it down—they were in public, after all. “Eyes are up here, darlin’.”

Pink spread across her cheeks, but she shrugged and laughed it off. Too bad he couldn’t do the same thing, especially when she leaned her head on his shoulder—the girl had serious boundary issues. Not that he bothered putting more space between them.

They finished their food and cracked open the cold Cokes to wash it down.

“This makes me think of all the rodeos we went to,” Sadie said. “Chevy in the trailer, picking
up
food whenever we could.” She turned her face
up
, and the sun highlighted the freckles on the bridge of her nose—he was glad she’d stopped covering them with so much makeup. “Whenever I used to get to missing home real bad, I’d go to YouTube and watch rodeo clips. It was like comfort and torture, all at the same time.”

Her voice caught, and he reached over and threaded his fingers through hers. She squeezed his hand as if she were afraid it’d float away—or maybe that she would—if she didn’t hang onto it. “I don’t want to ruin this…awesomeness we’ve got going on today, but I don’t want to repeat past mistakes, either.” She let out a long exhale. “The truth is, I have no idea how long I’ll be in Hope Springs.”

“I figured as much. It’s not really like you to give up on somethin’ you’ve set your mind to.” Knowing it and having her tell him were two different things, but it was a good reminder that this was all temporary. Now he was the one squeezing her hand like it’d disappear any moment.

“My manager told me he’d call if he got any interest, and in theory he’s still looking for opportunities for me to perform, but I’m not holding my breath. That’s why I’ll need to head back eventually—my odds go way up when I’m constantly performing where the right person might hear me. I just needed some time off, and I’m not sure how long it’ll take until I feel ready and have enough money saved to return to Nashville.”

Tucking a leg under her, she turned to face him. “I’ll admit I took the job on the ranch because I was desperate, but like I told you before, I love it there, and I’ll try to give you as much notice as I can.”

“I understand.”

She nodded, dropping her chin for a moment before slowly looking back up at him. “You know, now that I’ve seen what you’ve done with the ranch and the camp…well, it was already hard enough not to compare every other guy to you. I always did, and they always came up short.” She ran her hand down the side of his face. “You’re one of a kind, Royce Dixon.”

He nearly groaned at the brush of her fingertips across his lips. “There’s no one quite like you, either.”

She tilted her head, one corner of her mouth turning up. “That explains why we were so awesome together.” She brushed her fingers across his bottom lip again, grinning when he gently nipped at them. “I might not be staying in Hope Springs forever, but I think it’s a damn shame to not have some fun while we can.”

“Is that right?” He’d been thinking the same thing, but if she was going to keep trying to convince him, he wasn’t going to stop her.

She leaned closer, her breasts pushing against his arm, her warm breath on his neck. “We could go out under the stars, just like old times…”

He tried to swallow.

Her hand moved over his heart, which was now steadily picking up speed, and then she curled his shirt into her fist and gave a light tug. “Come on, cowboy, don’t say it hasn’t crossed your mind.”

He kept trying to come up with words to say, but his brain and mouth were having a disconnect. So he crashed his mouth down over hers. She made a little gasp noise, and he took advantage, deepening the kiss, taking her stolen breath in and letting himself get lost in the feel of her soft lips, the familiar taste of her tongue.

He was half tempted to take her right here in the back of the truck, despite all the people nearby—the horse trailer mostly hid them, after all.

There was a small whispering in the back of his mind that they were gonna make a mess of things, but with her draping her legs across his lap and her nails running over his back, he couldn’t help thinking that— Well, actually it was more like he couldn’t actually think at all.

…

As they headed back to Hope Springs, Duke and a sorrel quarter horse named Flint that Cory had bought in the trailer behind them, the radio played in the background, and Royce’s hand remained firmly wrapped around Sadie’s thigh. She leaned her head on his shoulder, soaking in how amazing it felt for him to not fight her anymore.

Grandma did say I could get anything I set my mind on.
She probably hadn’t meant seducing her ex, but the entire afternoon, all Sadie could think about was how much she wanted him, and she’d be lying if she said it wasn’t empowering.

They hadn’t made a big announcement to Cory or anything, but the second he’d seen them sitting in the back of the truck, talking with their faces close together, he’d raised an eyebrow that said he knew.

The nearer they got to the ranch, the hotter the desire pumping through her body became. After weeks of longing, her anticipation was a living, breathing thing, taking over every inch of her body.

They’d sneaked off together countless times in high school, but it’d been so long, and she was definitely out of practice.
Crap, does my underwear even match?

Royce tapped his fingers to the beat, each hit causing her pulse to scatter in a dozen different directions. As he turned in to the ranch, though, his fingers stilled and he swore under his breath.

Sadie straightened and peered out the windshield. “What’s wrong?”

Royce pointed his chin toward the girls’ cabin. The porch light was weak, but now she could make out Caroline standing with her hands on her hips. Eli and Addison stood across from her. “That doesn’t look good.”

The truck lurched to a stop, and Royce was out the door in seconds, long strides eating up the space between the truck and the kids.

“I’m gonna get the horses situated,” Cory said.

Sadie climbed down from the truck, the pins-and-needles sensation in her butt and thighs slowing her steps. By the time she got close enough to hear, Royce’s voice was raised—firm yet deadly calm—kind of like a great white shark swimming by. No need to attack when all those teeth were on display.

“…know the rules! You’ll both be missing the rodeo.”

“What? No!” The words were out of her mouth, so loud in the air, and the opposite of calm, before she could stop them.

Royce whipped his head toward her, jaw clenched, and she froze. Now he was a shark sensing blood in the water. “Sadie, go help Cory with the horses while I take care of this.”

She stepped forward, placing her hand on his arm. “But—”

“Now.”

Normally she’d scowl and tell him not to boss her around, but she could tell she’d crossed a line, and honestly, she was terrified he’d go back to pushing her away if she fought him on this. So she cast Addison and Eli a last look—her heart ached when she saw the sorrow on their faces. Even Addison, whom she’d never thought she’d be defending. Then she turned and headed toward the stalls.

As she was walking away, she heard Eli saying it was his idea, so to just punish him. Her feet revolted at taking her farther, but she forced them to go anyway.

She and Cory were just finished getting the new horses hay when Royce came in. His super-serious and super-grouchy expression was still in place.

“Need me to stay in the cabin?” Cory asked.

Royce took off his hat, stuck it on a post, and sighed. The band had left a slight indentation, and his hair was adorably crumpled, though she knew better than to say so. “No, I’ll do it—you go on home and rest up so one of us can be awake tomorrow. My mom’s watching both doors right now so that I can shower and grab some bedding, and then she’ll stay with the girls tonight.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow bright and early, then.” Cory clapped Royce on the back. “Best of luck.”

As soon as Cory was gone, Royce turned to Sadie. She flinched, already knowing she was about to get into trouble. “You can’t undermine me like that in front of them.”

“I’m sorry,” Sadie said. “But they’re just a couple of kids with crushes on each other, and they were both so excited about the rodeo.” Eli had even sketched pictures with a rodeo theme, asking her if he’d gotten them right. “Seems too harsh to take that away from them.”

Royce took a step toward her, and she crossed her arms in front of herself as she brought up her shoulders.

“Jeez, you think I’m gonna attack you or something?”

“I’ve never seen you look so scary before.”

He put his hands on her hips, and her muscles slowly relaxed. “When it comes to the rules, I have to be harsh. Do you know how hard it’d be to get credibility back if those kids got their hands on drugs or had sex? Or even tripped and hurt themselves this late at night while they were unsupervised? Mom and I have to
constantly
do paperwork and reports and fight to keep all the checks and balances taken care of.”

“I get it, I do, but…think of us back in high school. We were always sneaking out late, going for walks, looking at the stars…”

“Getting naked in the back of my truck.” He ran his gaze down her and heat pooled low in her stomach. “I
am
thinking about that. And that’s the problem. I know all too well what happens when two teens wander off alone.”

“What
can
happen. We dated for a long time before we had sex. And I know not everyone waits, but—”

Royce kissed her softly, a gentle, way-too-short press of his lips, gone before she could fully catch hold. “You’re clearly too soft for this side of things. I love that you care so much, but I’m doing it because I care, too, and it means I’m spending at least tonight in the cabin with the guys to make sure no one sneaks out again. In other words, it’s gonna be a long night, and I’m already exhausted.”