Tyler (17 page)

Tyler held the passenger door open and Emily got up on her toes to brush her lips across his cheek. “Thanks.”

Tyler rounded the hood and opened the door. “What?” he asked when she grinned at him.

“You’ve got a slide-over-here-honey seat!”

His eyes crinkled with laughter. “Well, what are you doing all the way over there?”

She scooted over, snuggling against the solid warmth of his side and sighed. “I’ve always wanted a pickup truck with one of these seats.”

When he raised an eyebrow in silent question, she laughed. “So I could do this.” She slid her arm around his waist and laid her head on his shoulder. He turned the key in the ignition and in one smooth move wrapped his arm around her so they were hip-to-hip.

As they drove toward the edge of town, she sighed. “Isn’t this nice?”

He squeezed her hip but kept his eyes on the road, as if they’d done this a thousand times. She liked the way he answered her with a touch or a stroke; it was as if they’d been lovers for a long time instead of just one night. The feeling of forever was tantalizing, but she didn’t want to push too hard, too fast.

“Which direction are we headed?”

“East of town. Why?”

“Mmmm,” she murmured. “Just checking. I haven’t spent much time out of town and am sorry it’s dark and I’m missing the scenery.”

After driving for a while, Tyler slowed the truck to a crawl and made a right-hand turn. The headlights hit a sign on the gate, a G inside of a circle. “What does it stand for?”

“It’s our brand. My great-grandfather wanted to keep the name of the ranch simple and in the family. That’s why it’s the Circle G.”

Emily wondered if she should point out that he hadn’t been honest with her about the rancher he worked for. She knew the only way their budding relationship would have a chance was to be honest with one another. Beginning the way she planned to continue, she asked, “So when you were talking about your boss at the ranch working side-by-side with you, did you mean one of your brothers?”

He paused with his hand on the door handle and cleared his throat. “Not exactly.”

“So you were just being evasive?”

“Kind of?”

Irritation started to work its way beneath the happiness she’d been riding high on since he’d come to find her in the park. “Like now?”

He let go of the handle and pulled her to him. “I didn’t plan on getting involved with anyone at the club.”

“Why did you?”

His smile was slow and sweet. He shrugged. “I couldn’t seem to help myself.”

She relaxed and the irritation waned. “So you figured—”

He kissed her forehead, the tip of her nose, and her cheek. “If I wasn’t going to be getting close enough to be friends with anyone at the club, they didn’t need to know I owned a ranch with my brothers.”

“So you are the owners?”

He sighed. “For now.”

The tension radiating from the man beside her was palpable. Not sure if she should press him for details, she was smart enough to put what Mavis had told her and add two and two together and come up with a likely scenario. The ranch had fallen on hard times, and Tyler had had to find work to help make ends meet.

She reached for his hand and squeezed. “It must be hard for you.”

He nodded and reached for the door, opening it. “Sit tight.”

While she admired the fit of his jeans, he pushed open the big gate. He got back in the truck, drove through and put it in park again, got out, and shut the gate. The road leading toward the ranch was dark, and Tyler fell silent.

“Have you changed your mind?”

He snorted, swallowing his laughter. “Not hardly, Em. I’ve wanted you here… to see you at our ranch.”

She settled next to him again and noticed the tension leaving him by degrees.

“I wanted to bring you here, to the Circle G, the place that matters most in my life… my reason for living… for breathing… and the reason I had to take on a night job to help pay the mortgage and feed bill. We might be just scraping by, but someday this ranch’ll turn a profit.”

He shook his head as if to clear it. “Enough about me, Em. Tell me something about you.”

The gift of trust that he’d just given her, sharing what was important in his life, touched her. How could she not do the same?

“I grew up down South but didn’t have your typical happy family. My dad died when I was young and it changed my mom. She never was the same; she’d lash out at me for things that really weren’t my fault, until I started wondering if maybe it was.” She looked up at him and sighed. “Jolene’s mom ran off to be a buckle bunny. Her dad took it real hard. So she and I started spending more time with each other. We both had bad attitudes and smart mouths, so we usually ended up in trouble, having to defend ourselves.”

Tyler chuckled.

“You think that’s funny?”

“Just the part about the two redheads currently in my life having bad attitudes and smart mouths. You were saying?”

“When Jolene called to say she was moving to Texas and had bought a bar sight unseen, I moved with her.”

“So you two have always had each other’s backs?”

She smiled. “Yep.”

“My brothers and I have too.”

“So you three raised a little Cain in your youth?”

His laughter made her smile widen. “Apparently not as much as you and your cousin. Here’s our turn.”

The road forked and he turned left, away from the two-story house she could see ahead of them. “Where are we going?”

“There’s a spot out by the pond where the night air is sweet as sugar and the grass is soft as air.”

Emily blinked back tears. Tyler’s love for his land was heartwarming.

As if he sensed her mood change, he brushed the tips of his fingers along the curve of her cheek. “It’s where I want to make love with you, to share a part of me that goes soul deep.” He pulled off the road and parked. Reaching behind the seat, he pulled out a worn quilt. “My great-grandmother stitched it together when she was a bride.”

“It’s a family heirloom. Won’t the damp grass ruin it?”

“It’s made of sturdy fiber, just like all the Garahan men.”

Emily wrapped his words around her like a hug. They’d learned more about one another in the last hour than she’d expected to find out in a month of Sundays. Each new discovery was as devastatingly intimate as each new spot Tyler had touched with his lips and tongue the night before.

“Come on, Em,” he said, opening her door and reaching for her hand. He spread the quilt on the grass as the cool night breeze rippled across the pond. Emily breathed deeply. “Is it the water or the grass that smells so sweet?”

Tyler shook his head. “I’m not sure, but it could be the damp Texas earth. I don’t rightly know. Smells good though, doesn’t it?”

His hesitation waiting for her response was one more gift to hold to her heart. “Mmmm.”

When he reached for her hand, she went willingly. He eased her down on the soft cotton bed he’d made for her. The beauty of each gentle touch combined with the magic of the night filled her heart to bursting. As if she were a present, he slowly undressed her, savoring each and every curve he uncovered. She was tingling with awareness, mindless with need, and ready to explode by the time he’d bared all of her to the cool night breeze.

When he started to unbutton his shirt, she shook her head to clear it. While she loved the way he worshipped her body, she wanted to show him the same tenderness, sharing the gift they were making together. She brushed his hands aside. “My turn.” Her hands stroked the long sinewy muscles, testing the tensile strength of muscle and bone that were part and parcel of the long, tall Texan she’d fallen in love with. She pressed her lips to his throat, his chest, his hip.

When nothing remained between them but the night and the thin layer of protection, Tyler whispered kisses across her heart and eased into her with a long, strong but loving stroke that made her feel as fragile as her grandma’s bone china.

She lifted her hips to welcome him and would swear she heard his control snap. “God, Em,” he rasped grabbing her hips, rearing back for a second before his nostrils flared and his eyes went dark with desire. “Now!” His fingers dug into her hips as he kicked it into overdrive, pounding into her with a speed that made her head light and her heart thunder.

“Come with me, Emily.”

His raspy plea sent her spiraling over the edge. As the night gave way to dawn, he emptied himself into her and groaned like a man dying of thirst scenting water.

Wrapped in each other’s arms, cocooned in his great-grandmother’s quilt, they drifted off to sleep.

Tyler woke slowly, savoring the feel of Emily in his arms, as the air warmed by degrees and the scent of sun-warmed grass wafted over them. He had a never-ending list of chores to tend to and a woman he didn’t want to leave long enough to do them.

Emily pressed her lips to his chin and stretched. “Have I told you how good you look in the morning, Tyler Garahan?”

He chuckled. “I’m sorry I missed my chance to say it first.” Pressing his lips to the sensitive bit of skin beneath her left ear, he nuzzled closer. “I’ve got chores that need tending to, but if we hurry, there’s a Texas-sized breakfast in your future before I have to get to work.”

“I guess I could call Jolene for a ride.”

He didn’t want her to leave… not when he’d been imagining her here at the Circle G and finally had her out by the pond. They’d loved each other like crazy, and his body strained to attention, hoping to do it all over again.

“Can’t you stay for a little while?”

“What will I do? Won’t I be in the way?”

He grinned. “You could ride out with me or hang out at the house. That is if Jolene could spare you for the day.”

Tyler could tell from the way she was frowning that she was giving it serious thought. She probably had a hundred things to do herself. Then it hit him: maybe she didn’t know how to ride a horse. “Do you know how to ride?”

She smiled. “I’ve ridden a couple of times back home. I can keep up. Besides, Jolene probably won’t worry about where I am ’til noon.”

“I’ve got so much to do; I’m not sure where we’ll start today.”

Emily bit her bottom lip, trying to hide the fact that she was disappointed. “Do you have to leave right now?”

He nodded. “Normally, I’m already up and in the saddle by now.”

Her wicked smile did things to him that could not be legal. He clenched his jaw. “I guess I have a few minutes to spare.” He reached for the edge of the quilt and unwrapped Emily flushed with morning. Their passion rose like a tidal wave and they willingly went under.

Energized from tangling with her cowboy, Emily smiled. “Good morning, Tyler.”

He squeezed her beautiful backside and grinned. “Back at you, Em. Time to get dressed.”

By the time they arrived at the ranch house, there was no one in sight.

“You’ve got a porch swing!” Emily ran up the steps and sat down, pushing off with her feet and looked up at Tyler like he’d just given her a gift.

“You can sit here while I rustle up breakfast.”

She pushed off a couple more times, closed her eyes, and sighed. “Lord, I love it here. Pretty land, sexy, gorgeous man, and a porch swing.”

“I like it here,” he said, holding out his hand. “Come on, you need to eat if you’re going riding with me.”

While she set the table, Tyler whipped up steak, eggs, bacon, and home fries, unwrapping and nuking a plate of biscuits. “Lori made them yesterday; she said all I had to do was warm them up.”

“Lori?”

He turned and smiled, pleased at the hint of jealousy in her amber eyes. “Our cook.”

“Why do you need a cook if you can cook?”

“Time’s precious, and we’re so far behind, we might never catch up without her help. She’s a special friend of Jesse’s.”

“Oh. That’s all right then.” She reached for one of the warmed flaky confections. “Got any honey?”

Tyler set it out along with the butter dish. “Help yourself, darlin’.”

By the time they’d finished eating and he’d gone over his list of chores for the day, Emily was exhausted just listening to the number of jobs to be finished by sundown. As agreed, she rode out with him to the south end of the ranch. The air was clear and the sun was hot, with no cooling breezes off the pond to refresh them. Up ahead she could hear the sounds of bawling steer and men yelling.

“What are they doing?”

Tyler squinted and answered, “Rounding up the half a dozen or so steer that got through the breach in the fence. Come on, they won’t bite.”

“The steers or your brothers?”

He laughed, “It’s steer… singular or plural, and don’t worry, I won’t let either one bite you, darlin’.” Tyler took off his glove and put two fingers in his mouth and whistled.

His brothers turned and stared as if they were seeing a ghost. Emily wasn’t sure what that was all about, but she’d ask Tyler later.

“Dylan, Jesse,” he said when they rode close enough to hear, “I’d like you to meet Emily Langley.”

Jesse pushed his Stetson back off his forehead and asked, “The boss?”

Dylan surprised her by answering, “The cousin.” He tipped his hat. “Pleasure, ma’am.”

Jesse did the same, and she knew that they’d paid attention when their mother had taught them to be gentlemen. They might lead a rough life and work endless hours, but they were gentlemen to the core.

“Tyler’s letting me tag along today to lend a hand.”

Dylan’s grin was every bit as devastating as his older brother’s. “Is that a fact?”

“Yeah,” Tyler said. “Let’s get started.”

“We ain’t never had one of Tyler’s women ride out with us to work the ranch,” Jesse said, riding alongside Emily.

“His women?” Wondering how many there had been would kill her, but one look at the man and she had to admit, in all fairness, he probably spent most of his spare time beating them off with a stick.

“Shut up, Jess.”

His little brother just laughed. “Come on, Emily,” Jesse urged. “If we get there before Tyler, you get to hold the post.”

It wasn’t quite as easy as she thought it’d be, but she was game and wouldn’t admit that the damned thing was heavy. Bracing her feet apart, she held the post and her ground. Tyler’s slow sweet smile was all the encouragement she needed to keep going. Lord, the things his eyes said; when he looked at her made her head spin.