Shared By the Cowboys by Cassie Cole

16

Rebecca

I thought about Mason all day. Now that we had slept together, and now that I knew he wanted more, I was excited to find out where things went. It was like having a new boyfriend who I couldn’t wait to see again.

That night was my turn to make dinner. I grilled the chicken breasts in a pan, then sliced them up and simmered them in pasta sauce. When they were juicy and cooked perfectly I dumped them over pasta, with garlic bread as a side.

“It’s about time we had some new meals,” Cody said while chowing down. “I’ve only got a few recipes up my sleeve—same for Mason—and we were gettin’ real sick of them. Glad to have you at the ranch, Becca.”

“Thank you,” I said while beaming back at him.

Blake was eating at the table with us for once. “Not bad,” he grumbled. But I knew he loved it because he wolfed his food down as fast as any of us. He hunched over his plate, a hulking, muscular man. I eyed all the tattoos covering his arm while he ate.

“There’s a big storm rolling in later this week,” Mason said. “We finished the leaks in the roof, but there’s some other chores that need doing. There’s no ground drainage around the chicken coop, so I want to use the spare PVC pipe in the barn to dig a drainage ditch. Something to carry the water off to the area behind the barn, where it starts sloping off.”

“Don’t look at me,” Blake said. “I’m on fence duty.”

“The fence can wait.”

“River will be more dangerous after the rain,” Blake argued. “Fence is more important than ever.”

“Oh, so now you’re on board and want to think long-term?”

“I can help with the ditch,” I said to defuse the growing argument. “Just show me where you want it.”

“Ditch digging is back-breaking work,” Mason said.

“Work which I’ve done before,” I replied smoothly. “Dug a French drain around my family’s property when water kept pooling underneath the crawl space.”

Cody pointed at me with his fork. “Told you Becca was a good hire. More useful than a Swiss army knife.”

“Prettier, too,” Mason said. I blushed at their dual-compliments.

“Barn roof has some leaks,” Cody said. “I can work on those if you want.”

Mason shook his head. “Focus on the stable. Those leaks are worse, and they’ll affect the horses.”

“Good idea.”

Since I cooked, the boys cleaned the dishes—at least, Mason and Cody did. Blake put on his duster and went for a walk around the property.

Back home in Great Falls, I usually spent a couple of hours after dinner watching TV and unwinding. But after working on the ranch all day, my bed was calling for me. I took a shower, changed into my pajamas, and curled up under the covers.

My mind was still racing with ideas for my book, though. I turned the light on, pulled out my laptop, and wrote a few pages while they were fresh in my head. I could tell this book was going to do well. I just had a feeling.

I heard footsteps on the stairs. Mason and Cody were coming to bed. Cody said goodnight, then a door closed. After that was silence.

I thought about how Mason and I had kissed in the kitchen earlier that day. We had been about to do more when Cody interrupted us. I was still a little randy from the near-miss, and was eager for a sequel to our barn encounter. I wanted to feel Mason’s body on top of mine in a bed, warm underneath the sheets while making love slowly, like we had all the time in the world.

But was it okay to get up and go to his bedroom? I wasn’t sure how this worked. Would it be weird to blatantly walk down the hall and join him? Footsteps echoed in this old Craftsman house. Cody would hear us. Even though he was on board with everything, he would still know what we were doing.

A few minutes later, Blake came home from his walk. He climbed the stairs, walked down the hall in my direction, and went into his room. The door closed, and then I heard him thumping around inside.

I sat in bed agonizing over what to do with Mason. He was down the hall right now, alone in his bedroom. I could go see him if I wanted.

In the end, I didn’t need to make a decision because Mason made it for me.

The door opened down the hall and heavy footsteps echoed on the hardwood floor. Mason knocked gently on my open door, then stepped inside.

“I saw your light was still on,” he said.

I nodded at my laptop. “I was just surfing the internet. Catching up on news.”

Mason crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the frame. “That’s what we love about being way out here. We feel disconnected from all the craziness of the real world. Social media, politics, the hustle of big cities…” He sighed happily. “Out here, there’s just the open land of our ranch.”

“It’s a simpler life.” I leaned forward on the bed, rolling my shoulders forward because it pressed my breasts together in my thin night shirt. “I’ve enjoyed my first two days. Being away from it all.”

“What’ll you do after the contract is over?” Mason asked.

“Oh, I don’t really know,” I said.

He frowned at me, then walked into the room and sat on the edge of the bed. “You said you had plans for the winter.”

Shit, I thought. This was why I hated dishonesty: it was difficult to keep all the lies straight.

“I’ve got a rough idea of what I want to do. Working at, um, a shop in Great Falls. But nothing set in stone yet.”

He looked like he believed my story. He nodded along, and said, “Thanks for offering to help with the ditch tomorrow.”

“Like I said, I’m good for more than just gardening. You can throw anything at me.”

“I plan to.” He rubbed my knee through the comforter, then said, “Blake’s been such a pain. He fights me on every single thing. So your willingness to help is a relief. Makes it easier for everyone.”

“That’s why I’m here,” I said softly. “To work.” It wasn’t precisely a lie, but it still felt bitter on my tongue.

“You know what they say. All work and no play…”

“I like to play, too,” I said with a grin.

“I know. Learned that in the barn.”

“We’re not in the barn,” I pointed out. “We’re in my bedroom. What kind of playing can we do in here?”

Mason brushed a lock of hair away from my face, then cupped my cheek. His hands were rough and calloused, but his touch was gentle. Loving.

“Here’s what I want to do…”

Suddenly another bedroom door opened down the hall. Seconds later, Blake appeared in my doorway. He was wearing a black tank top, which gave me a glimpse of even more tattoos on his chest and shoulders. Underneath, his muscles bulged with strength. He locked eyes with me for a second, thinking about something, before turning to Mason.

“Got a second to talk?” he asked his brother. “I’ve been thinking about the fence. That part where the land slopes up? Got an idea about it.”

“Sure, let’s talk about it.” Mason rose from the bed and followed him. He paused at the door, looking back at me with a regretful expression, before disappearing down the hall.

“Cock-blocked twice in one day,” I muttered to myself. “You have got to be kidding me.”