Branded (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Special Edition) (6 page)

“I have a business degree.” She swiped beneath her eyes. “I should know how to manage this place.”

He leaned against the bed post. “How much do you owe?”

“Two hundred thousand.”

Blaine’s eyes widened.

She chewed on her lower lip. “I didn’t know anything about them. Our financial advisor had been paying the loans in secret until we didn’t have enough money to keep him on the books. He gave me this news nearly three months ago, and I don’t have the money to pay them.”

“That’s a lot of money.”

“Hence, why I’ve been stressed.” She sniffled. “I also spoke to Dierks about it. He said I could get a loan to pay the debt off before the end of the month. I doubt my credit for the ranch is any good. My own personal credit is, but I don’t know if I want to risk my personal financial status for a failing ranch that I don’t even know how to run.”

God, why was this so hard? She’d lived here her entire life, minus the four years she went to college. She came back just before her father died and had to take over immediately without help. So much for that expensive piece of paper she called a college degree. Everything she learned had nothing to do with the business known as ranching.

She moved across the room to the bed. “Maybe I should just let the bank take it. But if that happens, I don’t know where I’m going to live.”

Blaine folded his arms over his chest as he looked at her. “We’re not going to let the bank take it.”

“I’m not taking your money.” She stood firm about that. None of the men were going to rescue her from this mess. Erin laid back and covered her eyes with her hands. She had to find another way.

“Why? Because you think I’m paying to have sex with you?”

She snorted. “Probably.”

“Erin, why do you think so little of me?”

She sat up. “Because you’ll do anything to get me back into your arms or into a bed somewhere. If I need money, ‘here’s the money, Erin’ like it’s no big freaking deal. This of course happens right after I pull away from you in the shower because I’m upset. I don’t even know if I can afford my fucking water bill, and you really don’t care. You pretend to care by throwing around nice words every now and then, but you don’t. A few more days and you’ll be out of here which would prove the two thousand dollars you’re willing to give me is expensive for a little bit of pussy while visiting.”

His eyes narrowed. He didn’t intimidate her. She laid back and pulled her blanket over her body. Talking to him stole all of her energy. The day had been rough enough with the crazy work schedules. She stared out her side window wondering how long it’d take him to walk away.

Blaine moved around the bed, climbing in the other side. “You’re wrong.”

She clutched her pillow. “No I’m not.”

He lay on his right side, head propped up on his fist. “Erin, I’m sorry I didn’t come back for your father’s funeral. You could have called me anytime if you needed me. I honestly don’t know what you expect of me. I’m here for you, but you don’t want me around. I stay away and you’re pissed off that I left. I do care, Erin. I want to help you, and it has nothing to do with getting pussy while I’m here. You were always more than that to me and you know it.”

She closed her eyes. He was easier to talk to if she didn’t have to stare into those intense, deep blue eyes. “I wanted you to ask me to go with you.”

“When?”

She opened her eyes. “That night—the last night we were together. I wanted you and Kade to ask me to go with you.”

He brushed his fingers along her arm. “You wouldn’t have gone. It would have been boring for you, and you would have hated every single moment of it.”

“I know that.” She stared at his finger as it lightly stroked her skin. “I wanted to go, though. You guys just left early in the morning with me still asleep. I woke up and it was like a dream. Both of you had vanished and I was all alone. I felt used.”

He leaned down and pressed a kiss against her cheek. He moved closer and wrapped his arm around her. “I’m sorry.”

She pulled back and sat up. “Yeah.”

Blaine blew out a breath. “Erin, you’ve got to know I care about you.”

“I don’t know that, Blaine.” She didn’t know much about anything anymore. “I’m done talking about this.”

She didn’t know what possessed Rory to allow them to stay at her house without so much as mentioning it to her, but she wanted to kill her brother for doing so. She combed her fingers through her hair.

“We’re nowhere near done talking about this.”

She glanced back at him. “I am tonight.”

“What the fuck do you expect for me to do, Erin?” Blaine slid from the bed and walked around the bed. “I’m sorry I left. I’m sorry I didn’t come back when you needed me. I’m so fucking sorry that I’m not a mind reader and cannot pick up on every little emotion you’re having.”

She shook her head. Blaine mad was a big deal. He had a bad temper and the obstinate desire to get what he wanted. She didn’t expect anything from him. Even with all the crap between them, she honestly wanted them to stay the three days and leave.

“Please get out of my room.”

His nostrils flared. Erin stared at him, waiting for him to say what was obviously on his mind. He didn’t. Blaine took the high road and grabbed his cell phone from the floor. Stomping out of the room, he slammed the door behind him.

Well that went well.

* * * *

Blaine sipped his beer in front of the TV, mad as a hornet. Erin’s little tantrum was warranted to some degree, but it fucking hurt to know she thought so little of him. He punched the buttons on the remote to change the channel.

The door to her bedroom opened and a few moments later Erin came around the corner. She’d dressed in flannel pajamas that hung on her body like a bag. Blaine watched as she grabbed a laundry basket from the breakfast table and carried it to the living room to be folded. He lifted his beer to his mouth.

“You left your condoms in my room.”

He put the footrest down and sat his beer to the side. Blaine didn’t know where the guys were, but he really wanted some reprieve. Scotty was best at handling her moods. Blaine preferred to stay away.

He picked up the boxes of condoms and lube from her floor and carried them back to the living room, tossing them to the coffee table. She stared at him for a moment, before continuing with her laundry.

He couldn’t stand the tension any longer. “How can you say I don’t care about you?”

“How can you say that you do?”

“I’ve done nothing but help you since I got here.” He propped his hand on his hip. “What’s it going to fucking take?”

She sat the laundry basket aside. “I can’t handle this right now. I have enough trouble as it is trying to manage this place. I don’t know what I’m doing…”

“Then let me fucking help you!” He sat in the recliner. “We’ve known each other a long time. I’ve got money. I know how to run a ranch—this ranch—the way it should be run. You don’t, and that’s fine. Let me help you.”

She chewed on her lower lip. “So what? You’re just going to give me the money and walk away? It could take years before I can pay it back and that’s not even my biggest issue. I don’t have all the ranch hands I need. Many of them quit on me because they wanted more money—money that my father promised and didn’t deliver.”

Blaine blew out a breath. “Erin, your father didn’t promise them anything. Those men are scamming you because they know they can take advantage. I’ll give you the money. Not as a loan, but a partnership. I’ll take over running the place while you go back to sitting next to the pool looking pretty.”

For whatever reason, his words had made her mad. She grabbed the laundry basket and stomped out of the room, heading toward the hall on the first floor. Blaine closed his eyes and dropped his head back against the headrest on the chair. If he could win for losing, he’d be a lucky man.

Erin tossed and turned all night until she simply couldn’t stand it anymore. She threw her blankets back and sat up, cursing Blaine with every name in the book. His offer sounded too good to be true. He would buy into the ranch as a partnership. She’d have him around all the time to run the everyday things, leaving her time free to do whatever she wanted.

If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

She went to the door and glanced out into the dark hallways. The boys came back late, most of them drunk from what she could tell. They had one hell of a time without her. Same old, same old. She crept down the hallway, heading toward the kitchen. Whatever her problem was, it could usually be contemplated over a nice bowl of ice cream. Maybe the whole tub, considering what she’d been through lately. She flipped the light on in the kitchen and headed to the large, stainless steel refrigerator.

“If you want ice cream, you’re going to have to fight me for it.”

She jumped and turned toward the sound of the voice. Blaine sat at the bar, hair rumpled, as he leaned over the tub of ice cream with a spoon. Erin sighed and reached for the handle on the flatware drawer.

“So you’re stealing my ice cream now?” She leaned across the bar and dipped her spoon in the container.

“I didn’t eat dinner.”

She licked the creamy dessert off the spoon. “The only time you eat ice cream is when you’re sexually frustrated.”

“That, too.” He pushed the carton away.

She watched him a moment. He propped his head on his fist and stared at the countertop as if it were the most interesting thing on earth. Blaine never acted this way. She dipped the ice cream in the container and took another bite.

“Blaine, how are you going to stay here when you’ve got the rodeo?”

“I’m retiring. Austin is my last stop. I planned that before I even got here.”

Erin blinked a few times. “You’re retiring?”

He didn’t say anything. She watched him as she ate her ice cream, wondering why this suddenly came about. He loved the rodeo. Lived for it. She’d seen him on TV a few times and knew he was pretty good. His scores put him at the top of the board and the endorsements came soon after.

“Why are you giving up the rodeo?” She sat the ice cream carton aside and tossed her spoon in the sink.

“Too old.”

She frowned. “We’re the same age, buddy. Don’t say you’re old.”

He grinned and sat up. “I hurt my back in Cheyenne about five months ago. My team of doctors suggested I take a break from riding, but I think it’s time to call it quits.”

“And ranching is what you want to do?”

He nodded. “It sounded like a good idea to me. I don’t really have another place to go. My house in Austin is more for show than living and my parents died years ago.” He shrugged. “You’re all I’ve got.”

Well, when he put it that way…Erin met his eyes. Blaine may be stubborn, but he was a sweet teddy bear underneath the rigid exterior. Well, most of the time.

She considered his plan. It really was the best option. She needed someone that knew how to run the place, and he knew more than she ever would. He also pulled at her heartstrings when he pointed out his parents had passed away. Maybe she had gotten it all wrong before. Maybe Blaine really did want to help and she overreacted.

“Fine. You’re hired, partner.” She leaned against the counter. “I’m sorry I overreacted earlier.”

He ran his fingers through his hair. “You’re forgiven. I’ll stop by the bank tomorrow to pay off the debt.”

She walked around the bar and wrapped her arms around him. “Now that that’s settled, carry me to bed.”

Blaine smiled. He looked like a movie star when his smile went all the way to his eyes. He swiveled around and lifted her into his arms. He walked to the living room and laid her on the couch. She shook her head as he leaned over her, knowing full and well this time they’d actually wind up sticky and sweaty from an intense round of make-up sex.

He lifted her shirt over her head and slipped his fingers in her waistband, tugging her pants off her legs. She lay topless in front of him, his eyes taking in every inch of her skin.

He reached to the side for an unopened box of condoms. “Take off your panties.”

Erin stared at him. He had a wild look in his eyes, one that turned her on. “I thought you were undressing me?”

He tore open a condom and pulled the thin rubber out. “Take your panties off.”

She didn’t move. The other men may be on the third floor, but nothing stopped them from coming downstairs for some reason. Blaine stood and shoved his boxers to the floor, kneeling on the couch, waiting.

He motioned to her before rolling on the condom. “Panties. Off. Now.”

She gave up protesting and lifted her hips to tug the thin cotton off her body. She watched as Blaine pushed her legs apart.

“Wait.” Erin grabbed his hand, but Blaine didn’t seem to care. “The money has nothing to do with sex, right?”

Blaine pushed her hand away. “You’re not that cheap.” He touched her slick folds, rimming her entrance with his finger. “Are you this wet because I’m moving in?”

“I’m this wet because I want you inside me.”