Roped Tight by Kim Loraine

9

Sam

“Areyou really expecting me to believe you want to help with this reality show?" I asked, staring at Tucker with pure disbelief coursing through me.

Tucker sighed and rolled his eyes. "Contrary to what you think, not everything is about you. This ranch is my home. These people, the only family I've ever had. And I would do anything to help them. If that means I'm stuck with you while they’re shooting, then so be it. I'm an adult. Are you?"

Anger burned in my gut. I couldn't believe he was implying that I wasn't. That I didn't care about my family. "Well, if you're here with me, who’s out there doing your job? The job we pay you for?"

He crossed his arms over his broad chest and stared me down. "Not that you have any say over it, but we brought on your cousin Trent. He just got out of the military, needed a job, and he's always been a good wrangler."

That was news to me. Trent was my dad’s oldest brother’s son. My uncle Samuel, my namesake, had been the one who'd stood to inherit the ranch, but he let it go to my dad because he wanted to follow his path by joining the military. He married a few years after Mama and Dad, then he and his wife had three kids. A girl and two boys. The youngest being Trent. We lost Uncle Samuel when Trent was two years old. Of course, now he was Tristan's age, perfect for ranch work.

"Great, so we’ll pay two people to do the work of one." I knew I was being an asshole, but I didn't want to let him in. I did that once, and look where that got me. I was a fucking mess over him, but the last thing I wanted was for Tucker to see that.

He gave me an exasperated look. Then he blew out a long breath and turned away from me, leaning against the railing of the indoor arena. I couldn't keep my traitorous gaze from wandering across his firm ass. I remembered exactly what that ass looked like naked. Shit. I might hate him, but I really wanted him.

“Not that it’s your business, seein’ as how you don’t own the ranch, but the network’s payin’ me. This isn't hurting the ranch. Right now, the only person that's hurting is me. I don't want to be trapped with you, knowing you hate me."

"Neither do I." I started to walk away but then turned on my heel, desperate to know one thing. "Why didn’t you write me back?"

Guilt flashed across his face, and I knew then and there, beyond any doubt, that he'd gotten my letter, the one and only time I poured out my heart a year after I left, and he'd chosen to ignore me.

"Why bother? We said everything we needed to say. It didn't mean anything. I was just there to help you discover who you really were."

I let out a bitter laugh, shaking my head as I walked away. "You might've been my first, but you certainly weren't my last. Or my best."

Before I knew it, he was racing toward me, grabbing me by the shoulders and shoving me into the tack room, up against the wall. He knocked my hat off my head, bringing his face within a breath of mine. Fuck, he smelled good. Exactly the way I remembered him. A little leather, a little fresh, clean air, and the faint scent of sweat. He pressed his body against mine, the heat from his chest radiating against me. But that wasn't the most prominent part of this moment. His hard cock thickened down his thigh and pressed to my leg, insistent, and proof that hatred did nothing to douse the fire between us.

"I think that's a lie, Sammy. I think you've never had better, and that's why you hate me so much. Because all you can think about is our time at the cabin."

I leaned forward and put my lips to his ear, whispering, "I see I still make you hard."

"And I wonder if I can still make you come in your pants."

I shivered, remembering so vividly the night he'd gotten me so worked up that I came just from the friction of our hips rocking against each other. "I'd like to see you try."

His hands trailed down my torso, over the fronts of my thighs, and then back up until one palm rested on the aching hardness behind my fly. Even that felt so good.

"What are you doing?" I asked. This was a bad idea. Wasn't it? Or was this the road to closure for us? One last time, to work him out of my system.

The rumble of his soft laugh in my ear did nothing to ease the lust raging in my body. "Well, from the feel of things, I think I'm about to hate fuck you in the tack room."

Fuck. I needed it. The two of us had the same idea. This would be the only way we could work together. Give in to the lust, then we could move on.

I reached for his belt and started working it open as he did the same to mine, and even though our lips were close, we never closed that distance and brought them together. Kissing was different. Intimate. He didn't deserve intimate. Neither did I.

I sucked in a sharp breath when his fingertips brushed the head of my dick, and the wicked grin on his lips sent a rush of need through me all over again. But then, the unmistakable sound of spurs and boots stopped us. We froze, panic radiating into the air between us.

"Sam?" My sister-in-law Hazel’s warm voice usually made me smile. Not now. What was she doing here? "Sam, are you in here?"

"Motherfucker,” I muttered under my breath as Tucker backed away and began working on his belt while I did the same to mine. My balls were gonna be bluer than the goddamn sky on a summer day. I shot a look at Tucker, who had grabbed some tack and started working on cleaning it. "Not a word."

He snickered, then reached down and handed me my hat. I grabbed it from him and put it on, then stepped out of the tack room, turned off the light, and shut the door.

"Hey, Hazel. Sorry, I was just…uh, cleaning up the tack room."

She gave me a suspicious look, then grinned.

“Whatever you say. Tristan sent me to find you. He doesn't want me riding alone, but he's got baby duty right now. He told me to ask you to come with me since Sera is giving lessons and Mama isn’t cleared to ride yet."

I could tell she was annoyed that he didn't want her riding alone, but marriage and fatherhood had made my baby brother a little paranoid. I wondered if I'd ever find somebody I loved that much, somebody I worried about constantly, even when they were right next to me. Somebody I looked at the same way my parents looked at each other.

"Sure. I’ve just got a couple things to finish up. Let me get Shadow ready, and I'll meet you out by the barn. Should only take me about fifteen minutes."

She beamed, clearly excited. "Great, then we can talk all about what you and Tucker were doing in the tack room." The sassy little woman tossed me a wink and then practically skipped out of the stables.

The tack room door opened, Tucker standing there with a frown on his face. "You just had to turn the light off and shut me in there, didn't you?"

"Oh, forgive me. I didn't realize you were a five-year-old girl, afraid of the dark."

"I'm not afraid of the dark. What I am is claustrophobic, and the dark only adds to it."

How did I not know that?

"Sorry. But we've got bigger things to deal with."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. We need to be more careful. Someone's gonna see us and then we will have a lot of explaining to do."

The look in his eyes made something deep in my belly twist with need. "So you think this is gonna be a thing? Enemies with benefits?"

"Looks like it. I’ve got a lot of tension. What better way to work it off than with the person who's causing it?"

He shook his head. "Sorry, Sammy. That's not how I operate. You might have used me once, but you don't get to do it again. My advice? Get yourself some Vaseline, some tissues, and a private browser on your phone. I hear there's some pretty good cowboy porn out there, if that's what does it for you."

And already, my deflated erection was back with a vengeance. Tucker walked away, his swagger seeming even more pronounced now that he'd had me in his hand. So, maybe working him out of my system was gonna be a solo effort. It was a good thing I had a lot of memories I could use.

Hazel and I rode slowly,easing into her being on horseback. I knew she was a grown woman who could make her own decisions, but I had been on the other side of serious trauma to my body, and it had taken me a lot longer than three months to feel comfortable riding again. I imagined after birthing an entire human, especially with one who took after his daddy in the broad shoulders and large head department, she'd need things to go slow and gentle for a while yet. Maybe I was wrong. I'd let things go at her pace.

As we rode out toward the hills, we passed a few ranch hands who were hard at work, getting the land ready for the controlled burn we had scheduled. I waved at the guys, and Hazel offered them a slight smile.

"You're not quite settled in here, are you?" I asked her.

"I just don't know them that well. I will. Everything's been so crazy for us since I first came here. And Georgie doesn't sleep much, so Tristan and I kinda take shifts. It'll settle down soon enough."

She turned her inquisitive gaze to me, a knowing smile on her lips. "You got a little beard burn on your neck there, Sam."

The back of my neck heated, and I had to force myself not to touch my throat where Tucker had rubbed his lips along my skin. "What I do on my own time is nobody's business."

Maybe I was a little harsh. But she didn’t back down. That woman was fierce, and I had a feeling she took no prisoners.

"Sure, but if you're trying to be secretive about it, you probably shouldn't be making out in the tack room. There are so many people on this ranch, I'd hate for you to be outed before you’re ready."

We rode in silence as I mulled over her words. Outed. I never really thought about making a statement, truly coming out for the world to know. Why did it matter who I was with? Wasn't it more important that I be happy?

"How did you know? About me, I mean."

She smiled. "I'm good at reading people. And the way you and Tucker look at each other, I'm surprised everyone doesn't know. I didn't realize you were trying to hide it until I heard you guys in the tack room. This doesn't seem like the kind of family who wouldn’t be supportive of you. I'm sorry if you feel like they won't."

I shrugged. That wasn't it. But how did I explain everything? "I've never thought they wouldn't support me. My parents love us. My dad loved us, hard, even when we didn't want him to. I just, I won't be able to give my mom the traditional wife and grandbabies thing she'd set her hopes on for us all."

Now it was her turn to shrug. "Well, you don't want a wife. It looks like you want a husband. You can still get married. You can still have babies. There are so many options. Surrogacy, adoption, foster care. The world has changed since we were growing up."

Something about what she was saying sent a stab of longing through my chest. She was right. Where I'd only seen obstacles, she showed me the future. "Tucker and me, we're not made for picket fences and Christmas mornings. We're wrong for each other in every way that counts. We only work together in one way."

Her musical laugh made me smile despite myself. "Men are so blind. You only see what's right in front of you. I think you need to learn to read people a little better. And maybe you should listen, rather than talk."

"We said plenty when we ended things the first time."

"Okay, but I'm just telling you, it's risky to keep sneaking around like that. Someone else is gonna find you. And I can tell you from experience, even though this isn't about other people, it hurts when people you love don't feel like they can be their true selves around you."

A horse and rider approached us, and I immediately recognized it as Tristan, my baby brother, all grown up. He slowed his horse to a stop right next to Hazel and gave her a rakish grin. “Hey there, darlin', I set Georgie up with a date with his Grammy. How about I take over and escort you around, and we get in a nice sunset ride?"

They looked to me and I just nodded. I wasn’t getting in the middle of those two. As they rode off, I let her words sink into my head. I didn't know what to do about Tucker. Maybe I needed to find someone else, someone who would take my mind off of him. Didn't they say the best way to get over someone was to find someone new? I was sure I heard that somewhere.

Maybe tonight. I’d go to The Silver Spur and wait for someone to show some interest. But I knew the truth. I spent ten years trying to forget Tucker Weston. Used plenty of willing participants in my search for closure. No one had ever made me feel the way he did. And dammit, did I hate him for it.