Cocky: A Cowboy Stepbrother Romance (5 page)

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The smell of bacon wafting underneath the door was what woke me. I could hear the bustle of people in the kitchen through the floorboards, the clatter of cast-iron skillets on the stove and the creaking of the oven door. The clock on the bedside table read 7:05. By farm standards, I had slept in late, even though I’d only slept about four hours altogether.

There was a grogginess in my bones, and I wanted nothing more than to pull that heavy quilt up around my shoulders and go back to sleep. But the last thing I needed for was Caroline to have another reason to pick at me. All I had to do was make it until lunchtime. Then I could beg off and hit the road. Then I could put the farm, Caroline and this whole mess with Jay in the rearview.

I pushed out from under the blanket, letting my bare feet hit wooden floorboards that were already starting to warm beneath the sun that shone through the thin curtains. There was gunk in my eyelashes, and I took a moment to stand in the middle of the room and stretch before I scrubbed at my eyes and cleared my vision. A long stretch that pulled wonderfully along my spine awoke the twinge of sore muscles in my thighs.

Just like that, the thought of Jay’s bruising grip against my skin was swimming to the forefront of my consciousness. Standing in front of the mirror, I lifted up the long t-shirt I’d slept in. Sure enough, right along the backs of my thighs were little black bruises blooming to life.

With a sigh, I went straight to my bag. At this hour, all the hot water in the tank would be used up, and I wasn’t too keen on the idea of taking a cold shower. Plus, I’d showered the night before. I could make it until tonight when I got back to my apartment before I showered again.

I pulled on a pair of cutoff jean shorts and a t-shirt. Gone was the girl with curls in her hair and mascara on her lashes, and back was the tomboy with her hair in a ponytail and sneakers on her feet. It felt like putting on my armor again. I could do this.

The sound of conversation made its way to me before I made it down the stairs. I stood at the top of the stairwell, straining to hear what was being said. I wanted to know the temperature of the room, so to speak, before I waded into it. Was Caroline in a bad mood because the house was trashed after the party? How many people had slept over and were waiting for breakfast?

But to my surprise, all I heard was a few words and then laughter. Jay’s laughter. Butterflies took flight in my chest. I didn’t know how he would react when he saw me. All I could do was hope that he wouldn’t be angry with me. Or at least that if he was angry at me, he wouldn’t make a scene in front of everyone.

I took a deep breath and offered up a prayer as I stepped into the kitchen, summoning up a smile. As much as I didn’t really care for Caroline, I loved her kitchen. It was beautiful and cozy, the cabinets done in rich, dark woods that seemed to soak up the sunlight and glow with warmth. The curtains were white-and-yellow checkerboard and they were blowing gently in the early morning breeze. I could just see the edges of the field outside of the window, riding a gentle swell of a hill up against the skyline.

“Morning.” All I had to do was play it cool. I moved to sit down at an empty stool at the breakfast nook, hands clasped on the pristine white countertop. I didn’t know how Caroline kept it so clean. The tile of the countertop was practically sparkling.

Caroline looked up from where she was pushing bacon around in the cast-iron skillet and gave me a grimace that might pass for a smile if you were farsighted. It was better than a snide remark. I was going to take it, and appreciate it. And absolutely make sure not to push my luck any.

Jay was standing at the far end of the counter, leaning his elbows on it. He was the very picture of nonchalance, tossing a smile my way before he went back to talking to his mother.

Gone were the soft, comfortable shorts from the night before, the ones I could still almost feel against my fingertips. In their place was a snug pair of jeans, washed and worn to downy softness. They hugged his every curve and I couldn’t help the way my eyes lingered. His tanned arms were bare, the sleeves cut off of the old Formula One racing t-shirt he was wearing. With a blue bandanna tugged low over his eyes, he was everything I’d ever wanted in a man.

It was a thought that shook me, this idea that Jay had built so much of my opinion when it came to men. It was like he had gone into my mind’s dictionary and rewritten the definition of a man until it fit him to a T. And I don’t even think he knew he’d done it. Jay was a confident guy, but I had always worn my heart close to my chest. There was no way he knew how much of an effect he’d had on me.

No sooner had the thought crossed my mind than I felt his eyes on me. Jay smirked, and I felt my cheeks heat up. I had been staring, and there was no denying it. He gave a little waggle of his eyebrows and I forced my eyes away, down to the counter in front of me.

Luckily, it wasn’t more than a minute or two before Caroline was sliding a plate in front of me. Two eggs, sunny side up, a few pieces of bacon that were crispy to the point of being burnt, and a triangle of buttered white toast. It looked delicious. My stomach gave an almighty rumble, reminding me that I hadn’t had more than a handful of trail mix at the party the night before, and no dinner.

“Thanks.” Caroline grunted in response, turning back to place a plate in front of Jay. Where my plate was plentiful, his was nearly overflowing. A handful of bacon strips along with four eggs and four pieces of toast, all of them slathered with grape jelly.

I had to force myself to suppress a snort. Gee, Caroline wasn’t the type to play favorites or anything, was she? Work done, she dropped the cast-iron skillet into the sink with a clatter, running cold water over it for a moment before she grabbed her cigarettes off the counter and headed for the back door.

My dad didn’t like the fact that Caroline smoked, but he put up with it. They had come to an agreement that she wouldn’t smoke in the house and they wouldn’t argue about her habit anymore. I don’t know how long that lasted, because Caroline was now posted up against the door, blowing smoke out through the screen without even bothering to unlatch it.

I turned back to my food, hunching over it like I might be able to protect those delectable smells from the acrid cigarette smoke. “You need any help with any chores, Caroline? I don’t have to get back until this evening.” It was the polite thing to do, even though all I wanted was to grab my things and head for the car.

“No—”

Just as Caroline was waving me off, Jay started to speak, cutting her off. “Actually, I was going to go ride the farm and check out the fence lines. I bet it’s been a while since Randy has been out there to do it.” I wasn’t sure if that was some veiled jab at my dad, but Caroline’s snort made me believe that it was. “And I could use some help. Just in case I have to pick up posts and get them back in the ground again. We don’t want any of the mules wandering off.”

Jay smiled at me again, and I had just a moment to think
oh no
before he spoke.

“What do you always say, Mama? Callie’s like having a little brother. So I figure I might as well put my little brother to work.”

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That son of a bitch. I gritted my teeth, stabbing my eggs with the fork with more force than was absolutely necessary. The yolk ran out, spilling across the middle of the plate. How dare he call me his little brother, after everything we’d done. After the way he had practically begged me last night to suck him off.

That’s when it hit me. That was what this was about. Jay wasn’t the type to hold a grudge. Oh no, he was the type of guy who liked to get even. And this was going to be his way of getting even. Getting me out in the dirt and the mud, making me sweat and break my back just to prove a point. I wasn’t the only one with power around here.

I knew that if I argued or tried to get out of it, I would be at the mercy of Caroline’s ire. And that was the last thing I wanted.

“Sure.”

Caroline waved me off, grinding out the butt of her cigarette against the inside of the screen door. I knew my dad would have a fit if he saw that. She tossed the butt in the trash, making her way through the kitchen. She stopped long enough to pat Jay on the arm in passing, but didn’t so much as spare me another glance.

My stomach was roiling with how angry I was, but I knew I needed to eat. It would be far worse to get out of the far side of the property and have a grumbling, hungry belly than it would be to sit here and let my emotions control my appetite.

“Hurry up and get done eating, girl. We got work to do.” It was like a magic trick, watching the way Jay made food disappear. But I guess it made sense for a guy as muscular as him to need a lot of protein to keep him going through the day.

Jay dropped his plate into the sink, giving it a perfunctory rinse before he turned back to face me, lips twisted up into a smug smirk. He leaned across the counter until he was only inches from me, until I was the only one who could possibly hear his words.

“Because I got plans for you today, Callie. Big plans.” He slapped a hand down against the counter, and it startled me badly enough that I flinched, my fork dropping to clatter loudly against my plate. Jay just laughed, moving away from the counter and back through the kitchen so that he could swing open the back door and step out into the morning sun.

I could feel fear and excitement fighting for dominance in my heart. A whole day out on the far outskirts of the farm, where no one would be near us. No one could hear us. Oh, what kind of trouble had I gotten myself into?

I lingered over my breakfast for as long as I could, but I knew I could only stare down at the crumbs of my toast and the sheen of dried egg on my plate for so long. My nerves were on edge, and it felt like my chest was tight with fear and anticipation.

I stood from the stool, wincing at the way it squealed against the tile floor as I pushed it back into place. The water from the sink was hot enough to elicit another wince, but it gave me something to focus on as I used the little yellow-and-green sponge to wash up both my plate and the cast-iron skillet still in the sink. I was running out of ways to stall.

Almost as if on cue, I heard the revving of an engine outside. I wiped my hands dry on the dish towel hanging from the stove, pushing up onto the tips of my toes so that I could look out the window over the sink.

There was Jay sitting behind the wheel of the UTV. It was a sturdy little vehicle, a cross between a pickup truck and an ATV. They were made for hauling, and in the bed of the vehicle, Jay had thrown a large black duffel bag in there, as well as a couple of yards of rope and what looked like some gloves.

There were no roads that would take us to the edge of the property. At best we would have some narrow, overgrown hunting trails to follow. There was no way we could take the pickup out there. The UTV was practical, it was fast, and for the first time I found myself starting to look forward to this trip of ours.

I’d always enjoyed taking the UTV out when we would go fishing or hunting. There was something freeing about going off road, about taking yourself wherever you wanted to go. There were no roads to be confined to, no pressure and no destination, other than the vague need to check the fence lines. We could start anywhere, and go in any direction we wanted.

Jay beeped the UTV’s horn and I dropped the dish towel onto the counter. Let Caroline get mad about me not putting it back where it went. Right now, I had the wide-open world calling to me. I couldn’t be worried about dish towels.

I couldn’t help it. I was beaming by the time I pushed the screen door open and barreled out into the morning sun. It was on track to be a beautiful day, though I could already tell it was going to be a hot one. There was a heaviness to the air that only humidity could bring, sticking to my skin and making me wish briefly for the cool breeze of air conditioning back inside.

We would be sweating in no time. And honestly? I was looking forward to seeing Jay shiny with sweat, and the way his cutoff t-shirt would cling in all the right places.

“Let’s go, woman, time’s a-wasting.” Jay laughed, patting the cracked leather passenger seat of the UTV. That laughter put me at ease. Maybe he didn’t have anything planned for me at all. Maybe Jay was just trying to mess with my head. He knew better than anyone else how easy it was to get me caught up in my own thoughts.

I was my own worst enemy, a lot of the time. I just needed to stay in the moment and enjoy a beautiful day. Who knew the next time I would have this opportunity to be out here with Jay, just the two of us.

Thankfully, the leather of the seat wasn’t too hot yet. It was pleasantly warm against the backs of my thighs where my shorts rode up, but not uncomfortable. I reached out, elbow bumping into Jay’s side as I grabbed the seat belt and locked it into place. You didn’t get into the UTV with putting on your seat belt.

My dad had always been one of those guys who would leave the key dangling in the ignition expectantly until he heard the click of the seat belt. Jay, however, hadn’t even turned the thing off while he was waiting for me to sit down. He was taking off before my seat belt was locked in.

The UTV moved forward with a lurch, the motor rumbling beneath my feet. Jay turned the wheel hard, aiming us towards the heavy cluster of trees that led out of the farmland and to the wilderness beyond. I could feel my shoulders relaxing, the knot in my stomach starting to loosen. There was nowhere else on Earth I would rather be than out here in the middle of nowhere with Jay.

He slowed just enough to make it safely into the trees, leaning forward in his seat so that he could keep an eye out for any large rocks or thick logs that would hold us up. The UTV was a sturdy little vehicle, but it couldn’t climb mountains or trees. We had to be careful.

Leaves whipped by the sides of the vehicle, occasionally catching me hard enough to sting. It was like being very, very lightly whipped. At least, it was if you kept yourself safe and far enough inside the UTV on your seat. I’d caught a branch or two when I was younger and dumber, leaning out of the side panel that acted as a door. It had left me with a couple of welts and a hell of a lesson learned.

Sunlight dappled the ground beneath us and the pillars of trees around us. The world was alive, bursting with green in all directions. I could see ivy curling around the trunk of a tree, moss sitting softly at the base. The grass was almost waist high out here, starting to yellow at the tips from the unforgiving heat of the summer sun.

The smell of growth and green filled my nose, and I had to take a moment to close my eyes and breathe it in, even as we jostled and tumbled over small hills.
This
was why I loved to come out and see my dad. This was why I braved Caroline’s ire. To be out here in the middle of all of this, to feel like a tiny little seed amid a growing forest.

There was a touch, soft as a feather, against my leg. For a moment, I thought a bug had landed on me. But when I opened my eyes and looked down, it was Jay’s tanned hand, the one not on the wheel, and it was settled warmly over my knee.

Jay gave my knee a squeeze, looking away from where he was going long enough to flash me a smile. He was gorgeous. The touch was enough to make the seed that I felt like begin to crack and blossom, heat curling like vines around the backs of my knees.

We began to slow, and I could just hear the rush of water beneath the growling of the UTV’s engine. When I was a little girl, I used to call it ‘The River’. But it was really just a small, muddy creek that wound its way through the middle of the property, a ribbon of red dirt and milky water that wasn’t more than waist deep on me at its deepest.

In most places, it wasn’t more than ankle deep. My dad had always warned me about water moccasins and other snakes, but in all my years of exploring, I’d never seen anything more than a bullfrog sitting fat on the bank, croaking incessantly.

If we were near the creek, then there was no way we were anywhere near the fence line. I knew that much for certain. Maybe there was a downed tree up ahead or something. It had been a long time since I was out here in these woods. Jay had been here often, and he would know better than I did where to watch out for slick mud or downed trees clawing at the sunlight.