“I didn’t scare him away.”
“Keep telling yourself that.”
I didn’t want to let Trevor know how much Fred had taken. It wasn’t small change. It was thousands of dollars. When I told my father Fred had taken close to three hundred thousand, I thought he was going to have a heart attack. After he let out a string of curses, some I’d never heard of before, he got up, went to his gun safe and said he would be back later. I didn’t even bother trying to stop him. I knew he wouldn’t do something stupid, but he sure as shit would scare the piss out of good ole Fred.
“Was it a lot of money?”
Glancing over to him, I nodded. “Yeah. It was a lot of money.”
“Fucker. I hope Dad puts his ass in jail.”
“Let’s hope.”
We checked one of the fence lines and started back for the main barn when we found it still in good shape.
“You still roping?” I asked.
He looked at me like I was crazy. “I’m a rancher, asshat. I rope shit all the time.”
My brow lifted. “So, what? You just ride around roping calves or something?”
“Why? You afraid you’ve lost your touch living as a city boy all those years?”
“Don’t you wish. I can probably still rope circles around you.”
“Prove it then.”
I was the one who taught this little shit how to rope in the first place. If he thought he was better than me I was going to have to show his ass up.
“First one back to the barn,” I said as I kicked my horse. She took off like a bolt of damn lightening.
Holy shit. This horse is fast.
There was no way I could help the smile on my face. Running through an open field on horseback was the best feeling in the world. Nothing was more beautiful. More calming.
As we approached the barn, I saw her. Sitting on top of the fence while Cord worked a horse in the corral. My heart stopped, and I brought Lady to a stop. Trevor raced by and headed to the barn, winning our bet. I didn’t care, though. The only thing I cared about was the beautiful sight before me. I was wrong earlier; there was something more beautiful than running through a field on horseback.
Paxton Monroe.
Her hair was pulled up in a sloppy bun with half of it sticking out wild and untamed. She had on jeans, a T-shirt, and boots. A far cry from the sweet, innocent look she had on earlier today when she picked up Chloe for the mommy daughter spa day.
Slipping off Lady, I walked us over to the pen. Paxton looked at me over her shoulder. Her smile about knocked me off my feet.
“Hey,” she said with a low sexy voice. “Cord said you and Trevor were out checking the fence lines.”
“We finished up. I was about to show Trevor how one ropes.”
She shot me a confused expression. “Doesn’t he already know how to?”
“Fuck yes, he does,” Trevor said from behind me. I grinned as he walked by, stopping long enough to hit me in the stomach with rope. “Let’s do this shit. Paxton get in the middle of the pen. We’re roping you.”
Paxton looked frantically between Trevor and me. “Huh? You’re not treating me like a damn animal!”
“I’m kidding, Paxton. Jesus, take it easy,” Trevor said with a crooked grin on his face.
Cord laughed. “Let me get out of here before the two of you end up rolling around kicking each other’s asses.”
“Wait, what’s going on?” Paxton asked worriedly. I walked to her and dropped the rope at my feet. Placing my hands on her hips, I pulled her body to mine and kissed her.
It didn’t take her long to wrap her arms around my neck. A small moan slipped from her lips. It traveled straight to my dick.
Paxton broke our kiss, and I instantly missed her sweet honey taste. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing. I need to prove Trevor wrong on something.”
She shook her head. “Some things never change no matter how old you are.”
I winked and slapped her ass. “Hey, when did you change your clothes from spa day?”
Trevor yelled, “Let’s get this show on the road! I need to ride to the south pasture to check on a few pregnant mares.”
We both ignored Trevor as Paxton answered me. “Figured maybe we could go for a ride later, so I brought a change of clothes.”
My brow lifted. “You and me? Or we as in Chloe as well?”
She dug her teeth into her lip. “You and me. Your mom wanted to spend some time with Chloe.”
Those words went straight to my dick as well. “One second, baby. Let me set Trevor straight.”
I walked to the dummy calf. Trevor smirked and stood back. He started to spin the rope over his head and tossed it, ringing the dummy bull with ease.