Chapter 12
WEST
With my arms folded over the top of a wooden corner post, I peered out over the land that had been our downfall.
Emerald meadows stretched to thick forests at the mountain foothills. The stream that cut through the grasses rushed with clear, cold water. Black cows grazed while calves danced at their feet.
It was breathtaking. No wonder Dad had been suckered. He’d coveted this land my whole life. It was paradise.
Indya’s paradise now.
How long until she asked for a ranch tour? She was preoccupied with the resort at the moment. She was focused on working out of that office. But sooner rather than later, she’d ask me to take her around the ranch so she could familiarize herself with the property as a whole.
She’d love it here. She’d love the abundance of white wildflowers.
Maybe she’d want to build a house out here.
Despite the reason we had this land, despite the taint of financial ruin, I’d build a house here too.
A rustic-style home with gleaming windows on every side to capture each facet of the view. A barn for a few horses that weren’t for the guests to ride. A dog that would love to race through the fields.
Children to take fishing in that stream and build forts in the trees.
A dream.
Why was I even out here? Punishment, maybe? To remind myself of everything we’d lost because I hadn’t stood up to Dad years ago.
This was his ranch. My grandparents had passed it to him. I’d been trying to respect their decision and his ownership, knowing that someday, it would go to Jax and me.
Then I could do whatever the hell I wanted.
But I should have pushed harder.
It wasn’t like Dad and I hadn’t had our fair share of arguments about how things should have been run. We’d fought countless times. I’d
just learned to pick my battles.
Clearly, I hadn’t picked enough.
Would Indya give me the freedom to make the changes that needed to be made? Or would she be another micromanager?
Probably a good thing she’d slammed that door in my face last night. It was good that she’d stopped that kiss before we’d crossed a line.
Story of our lives, taking one kiss too far.
As good as it was, I probably shouldn’t have been making out with
the boss.
My boss.
I barked a dry laugh.
I was an employee. A temporary employee.
Not a chance I’d be able to work for Indya, work on my ranch as a hired hand, for the rest of my life. But I needed time to figure out where to go from here. Maybe, given some time, she’d open up to the idea of selling me our land. I didn’t care what Dad said. He didn’t know Indya like I did.
And if she never agreed, well . . . maybe I’d go find a different place of my own.
That was a worry for another day. Dad was the king of impulsive decisions, not me. So I’d stay for a bit and care for the land and cattle
under my charge. Not forever.
For now.
Until it was time to move on.
With my eyes closed, I mentally sketched the house I would have built in this meadow. Dark wood siding. Wraparound porch with a few rocking chairs. Red tin roof. I gave it windows and doors. A chimney and two dormer windows. I drew that house with character and life.
When it was finished, I flipped my imaginary pencil around.
And I scratched its eraser over everything.
I erased the dream.
With a shove, I walked away from the fence and returned to my truck. Then I drove back to the resort to find my brother. His trail ride
should be over soon, and I needed to apologize for barking at him yesterday.
And I wanted to make sure he was all right.
This sale had blindsided us both. He was probably angry and embarrassed. Hurt and disappointed. Furious with Dad. We shared that litany of emotions. As I came to terms with this, I could lean on Mom.
When I was ready, she’d listen to me rant and rage. She’d be there as my confidante. She’d be there with a hug when Dad’s betrayal cut deep.
Jax didn’t have a mother.
And the only frustration I had with my own was that she hadn’t stepped up to fill that void.
I loved Mom. But too much of her anger at Dad had leaked to my brother.
Rather than cut him some slack yesterday, I’d come down hard when he’d called Indya a bitch. Or when he’d told me Deb had called
her a bitch.
Fucking Deb.
She was stirring up drama for the sake of holding the spoon.
My phone rang as I was driving, Jax’s name flashing on the console.
“Hey,” I answered. “I was just coming to find you.”
“I’m at the barn. With Zak.”
Oh, hell. “What’s Zak doing here?”
“Don’t know. He just pulled up.”
“Be there in five.” I ended the call and hit the gas, my truck bouncing hard as it flew down the rough road for the lodge.
Was it Mom? Had that asshole Jonathan Lee retaliated now that he’d gotten his ass fired? Or had something happened with Dad? Maybe he’d gone into town and tied one on at the bar since I’d taken his whiskey away.
Zak’s truck was impossible to miss. SHERIFF was emblazoned on each side, and the light bar on top shone blue and red beneath the late- afternoon sun.
I skidded to a stop, my heart racing as I shut off the engine and hopped out. “Zak.”
“West.” He shook my hand. “Got some news.”
“Is it Mom?”
“No, it’s, uh, Courtney.”
Fuck. The air rushed out of my lungs. Not that news of Courtney was good, but at least my mother was fine.
“What about Courtney?” Jax crossed his arms over his chest. He hated her for what she’d done to me. Jax didn’t even hate his own mother for abandoning him, but for me, he’d hate Courtney.
“Got word she’s back in town,” Zak said. “I haven’t run into her
yet. But thought you’d want to know.”
“Sunny too?” I asked.
Zak shook his head. “Heard it was just her.”
Well, that was something. “Appreciate the heads-up.”
“Welcome. I know I could have called, but I was out this direction today. Thought it would be better delivered in person.” He opened his truck’s door. “Coming to poker next week?”
“I don’t know. We’ve got a lot happening around here.” It was rare that I missed the monthly hold ’em night with Zak and my high school buddies. It was usually a way for me to make some money off my friends to pour into the Beartooth Chalet.
Except I didn’t need that money now, did I?
“Heard about the changes around here,” Zak said, his gaze drifting
to the lodge. “You okay?”
“It’s been . . . interesting.”
“Sorry.”
“Me too.” I waited beside my brother as Zak drove off. The moment his taillights were out of sight, I pulled off my baseball hat to drag a hand through my hair. “Son of a bitch. I do not need trouble with Courtney on top of all this other shit.”
“Maybe she’ll go away.”
That earned Jax a flat look.
“Wishful thinking,” he muttered.
Courtney would find out about Indya. She’d do something to insert herself and be a pain in my ass.
“I’ll deal with her later,” I said, putting my hat on again. “You doing okay?”
Jax shrugged. “Spent the day on a trail ride with a rich guy from Salt Lake and his smoking-hot daughters.”
I arched my eyebrows.
“Don’t worry. It’s against the employee code of conduct to fraternize with guests.”
That wouldn’t stop Jax. He was a good-looking kid and too much like me at that age, charming women and flashing that handsome smile too often. Though the only guest I’d ever slept with was Indya.
“Just . . . tread lightly,” I said. “Until we figure out what is going to happen. And about yesterday. Sorry I was a prick.”
“It’s all good. You were right. Have you, uh, talked to Dad?”
“Stopped by yesterday after I left your place.”
“Did he say anything? Explain?”
I shook my head. “Not really. He told me to trust him.”
“Trust him. That’s it?”
“Yep. You know Dad.”
Jax’s jaw ticked. “Yeah. I do.”
Unless he felt he owed us, we wouldn’t get much more than the flimsy explanation he’d shared the day Indya had arrived at the ranch.
“I’m not talking to him,” Jax declared. “Not yet.”
“That’s okay.”
In time, he’d go visit our father, but it had to be on his own terms. If he needed space, I wasn’t going to push it.
“Heard about the Jonathan Lee situation,” he said.
“From?”
“Tara.”
I sighed. “Indya fired him.”
“She shouldn’t have hired him in the first place.”
“She didn’t know, Jax.”
“You’re defending her again.”
“Hey.” What the hell was his problem? “Be fair.”
“Fair? It’s true, then. You are screwing her already.”
My brain screeched to a halt. “Say that again.”
“That’s the rumor going around.”
What the hell? All because of last night’s kiss? For fuck’s sake.
“I’m not. And if I was, that’s no one’s goddamn business. Including yours.” I pointed at his nose. And like yesterday, I was yelling at my brother again. “Don’t forget who you’re talking to, Jax. You can buy into rumors, or you can come and discuss your concerns with me, man to man.”
Without another word, I brushed past him and stalked to the lodge.
“West,” he called. “Shit. I’m sorry, okay?”
I slowed enough to speak over my shoulder. “Prove you’re sorry.
Go clean the barn.”
“Damn it.” A rock skipped across the lot from where he’d kicked it.
I left him to sulk while I jogged up the lodge stairs and blew into the lobby for the second time today, passing Marie with a wave on my way to Indya’s dark office.
Where was she? I retreated to the front desk, stopping this time.
“Hey, Marie. Is Indya here?”
“She left a while ago. She said she was coming back, but I haven’t seen her.”
“All right. Thanks.” When I walked out of the lodge, Jax was just heading through the barn’s open door.
Two days in a row I’d come down hard on him. But damn it, he knew better than to get in the middle of resort gossip. And he knew better than to listen to Deb.
Indya’s car wasn’t outside her cabin, but I took the path to the chalet anyway and knocked on the door. No answer.
We needed to talk. About the rumors. About my conversation with Vanessa this morning. Not wanting to drive home just to turn back, I walked to the barn, where I found Jax in a stall with a shovel.
“I can do it,” he said when I grabbed my own shovel.
“Faster with two of us.”
We worked in silence for a few minutes, finishing the first stall and moving to the second.
“Did you go to the campfire last night?” he asked.
“No.” After that kiss with Indya, I’d gone home for a cold shower.
“Me neither.”
The Saturday-night campfire behind the lodge was a tradition. One started by my grandparents years ago. For two weekends in a row, there hadn’t been a Haven in attendance. That hadn’t happened in decades.
“Next week,” I said. “We’ll go together. Maybe the property isn’t ours. But the traditions are. No one can take those from us. Let’s hold on to them for as long as we can.”
“Okay,” he said quietly. “It should be yours, West. It’s not right that he sold it. What are we going to do?”
“I don’t know. But we’ll figure it out together.”
He nodded and went back to work.
By the time we were done in the barn, we both needed a shower and fresh clothes. I needed to track down Indya.
“Want to have a beer?” I asked Jax.
“Definitely.”
So my brother and I grabbed a couple of beers from the lodge; then we brought them back to the barn to drink in peace.
He told me about his latest adventures at the Big Timber bars.
About the projects he wanted to tackle next at his house. About the horse that was becoming his favorite.
We talked about anything and everything that had nothing to do with the ranch sale or Indya Keller. And long after our beers were gone, when the stars had begun popping in the darkening blue sky, we left the
barn to go home.
“Thanks, West.”
I put my hand on Jax’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “Heading to
town? Or are you going home?”
“Tonight, I think home.”
“See you tomorrow?”
“Yeah.” He headed to his truck as I walked to mine.
Golden light spilled from the guest room windows at the lodge.
The Beartooth Chalet was pitch black. Indya’s car was still missing.
Where was she? A knot formed in my gut. If she was in trouble, if she’d gotten a flat tire or something, she would have called me, right?
I pulled out my phone and hit her number. A number I hadn’t called in years. Hopefully, it hadn’t changed.
“This is Indya Keller. Please leave a message.”
“It’s West. Call me. I, uh . . . just call me.” I ended the call and took another look at the Beartooth. The knot in my stomach doubled on the drive down the private road that led to my place.
If she wasn’t here, where was she? Why wasn’t she answering her phone?
Damn it. Indya could take care of herself. She was an adult who’d lived significantly more days outside Montana than in it. But she was here now.
And when she was here, we were tethered. It had been that way since I was a kid and Dad had ordered me to play with her. Since the days I’d introduced her to Chief and shown her my fort and taught her to play poker.
When Indya Keller was in Montana, she was mine.
Even when she wasn’t.
Why wasn’t she home tonight? It was getting darker by the minute.
I rounded the bend that led to my place, and the moment I spotted a vehicle in front of my house, the air rushed from my lungs. The knot in
my gut vanished.
“That fucking woman.”
God, she was infuriating. She’d made me worry.
It had been a long time since I’d worried.
Four years, to be exact.
I parked beside her Defender and hopped out, slamming the door to my truck too hard. Mouth open, a lecture about to pour off my tongue, I stopped myself when I took one look at her face.
She was sitting on the top stair of my porch. Her face was splotchy.
Her eyes red.
I’d had my heart stomped on a time or two. But there was nothing quite so heartbreaking as seeing Indya cry.
I walked to the steps, stopping before the bottom stair.
“Why are you crying, Indy?”
She lifted her chin. “I’m not crying.”
“Of course you’re not.” I huffed a laugh. This woman. She never admitted to crying. Not even when we were kids. “Are you okay?”
“Great,” she lied as she looked up to the overhang of the roof. “I
like your house.”
“My grandparents used to live here.”
It was one of the original homes on the ranch. The wood siding had grayed over the years. The green roof had faded. The boards on the small porch creaked in the winter.
I’d moved in after college. It was small, but I didn’t need much.
This place was more than enough.
Except for the first time in my life, it looked too old and too tiny.
It wasn’t enough for a woman like Indya.
“How long have you been here?” I asked.
“A while.” She lifted a shoulder. “I need to talk to you, and I didn’t want to do it at the lodge.”
So she’d probably heard the rumors about us already too.
“All right.” I kept my boots on the dirt, not trusting myself to get any closer.
She scooted to the edge of the stair, sitting tall with her hands primly resting in her lap. “I saw you with that woman earlier.”
“Vanessa.”
“Yes.” Indya nodded. “You kissed me.”
“I did.”
“So?”
“So.” I fought a smirk. She was worried I was with Vanessa. That’s what this was about.
“West.” She rolled her eyes. “You know what I’m getting after.”
“What’s that?”
“You’re such a pain in the ass.” She stood in a flash, then marched down the stairs, her eyes blazing gold.
But before she could storm past me for her vehicle, I caught her elbow. “Vanessa and I dated for about a minute in high school. It didn’t go much beyond some making out in the barn. She married my best friend after graduation. They’ve got two kids, who call me Uncle West.
And her husband happens to be your new contractor. He’s starting work tomorrow.”
“Oh.” The tension in her arm melted away beneath my grip. “Thank
you.”
“Jealous?”
It took her a heartbeat to whisper, “Yes.”
She could admit to the jealousy but not the tears. It shouldn’t have made sense, but it did.
That was how it had always been between us. We belonged to each
other.
Even when we didn’t.
The kiss happened exactly the same way it had last night.
One moment we were locked in a stare. The next, we collided.
My mouth crushed hers, and she parted instantly so I could sweep inside.
Her arms looped around my shoulders as I hauled her off her feet.
Then I kissed her with everything I had. Tongues tangling. Hands roaming. There was no door for her to slam in my face tonight.
As I carried her toward the house, her legs wrapped around my waist. She clung to me as I kept a fierce hold on her lithe body.
I’d learned a long time ago how quickly she could slip away.
Not tonight. Not this time.
The screen door flung on its hinges as I yanked it open, and we were halfway to the bedroom when it slammed closed.
Indya’s legs squeezed around my hips, her mouth never breaking from mine as she ground against me. Shifting my grip, I palmed her ass as my arm snaked beneath her for support. Then my other hand slid up her spine and into those curls.
This hair. I’d missed her hair. I tugged at the roots, pulling hard enough that Indya’s mouth broke from mine.
She hissed as her arms tightened around my shoulders. She rocked her center against my arousal as she bent to latch her lips around my pulse. Her tongue drew a long wet line against my Adam’s apple as I crossed into the bedroom.
“Fuck,” I groaned. With a smack on her ass, her legs unwound so I could set her down.
Her fingers immediately went to work on the buttons of my shirt as I took her lips again, plundering until my tongue had caressed every corner of her mouth.
She jerked the tails of my shirt from my jeans and fumbled with my belt buckle until it was hanging loose.
But before she could undo the zipper of my jeans, I took her shoulders and spun her around to face the bed. “Shirt off, baby.”
She obeyed immediately.
It was only in these moments, when our clothes were strewed and our breaths ragged, that she ever seemed to follow orders.
While she stripped, I reached behind my head and yanked off my T- shirt. Then with a flick, the clasp of her bra broke free, the straps draping down her arms.
Her hair cascaded over her shoulders, the riot of blonde spirals wild and tousled. She glanced up and over her shoulder to meet my gaze.
This was reckless. This wasn’t like a hookup on her summer vacations. This wasn’t a fling with a random woman I’d picked up at the bar. But I shut those thoughts down, not giving a damn.
Indya was standing at the foot of my bed. Only a fool would send her away.
I gave myself a moment to drown in those caramel eyes, letting the blood pound in my veins.
How I wanted her. How I’d always wanted her.
Indya’s hand reached back for my arm, her fingertips skimming my skin.
One touch, and my body lit up in sparks. Head to toe. One touch.
And I was on fire.
I fitted my chest against her back. My hands came to her front, flicking that bra away. Then I floated my fingers across her ribs to her breasts. They filled my hands like they’d been made for my palms.
Her head lolled against my shoulder as I pinched her nipples, rolling them into pebbles between my index fingers and thumbs. “Oh,
God.”
“You still like your nipples pinched.”
“Yes.”
I thrust forward, pressing the erection behind my jeans into the crack of her ass, and earned a moan.
That sound. It filled the room for a perfect moment.
Then it was gone too soon. That just wouldn’t do.
So I thrust my hips forward again, keeping a hold of her perfect
breasts so she wouldn’t topple forward.
Her moan was louder. Breathier. Hotter.
“The sounds you make.” Abandoning one of her nipples, I pushed her hair off her shoulder and latched on to the side of her neck.
As I licked and sucked, she rocked against me. “West.”
“I want inside, Indy.” My cock ached behind my zipper, throbbing
and desperate.
“Fuck me,” she panted.
I flicked open the button on her jeans and slipped my free hand into her panties. The moment my hand cupped her mound, she bucked against my touch. “Like this?”
She shook her head, riding my fingers as I slicked through her wet
center. “No.”
“You want my tongue?”
“No.”
“What do you want?” I whispered.
She reached backward, fitting her hand between us. And as I slipped a finger into her pussy, she dragged her hand over my cock.
“West. Fuck me. Please.”
“You’re the boss.”
That got her attention. The glare she sent me would have flayed a weaker man. I simply smirked and took a step away to toe off my boots.
She was still glaring as she shimmied out of her own jeans and panties. But the scowl on her beautiful face faded as I shoved out of my jeans and boxer briefs, my cock springing free.
I gave myself a few hard strokes as she watched, her eyes wide and unblinking. It wasn’t like she hadn’t seen me before, but I fucking loved the bit of apprehension in her gaze. I was big, but she could take me.
With a single step I closed the distance between us. Then I took her hand, bringing it to my shaft so she could feel how much I wanted her.
Our gazes clashed as she tightened her grip, her hand smooth but firm over my flesh. Our breaths mingled. Our chests heaved with
thundering hearts.
Time vanished.
The years between us melted away. The mistakes, the regrets, turned to ash.
A century wouldn’t dull this fire. Not with Indya.
My hand lifted to her temple, pushing an errant strand away from her face. She leaned into the touch, turning to kiss the inside of my wrist.
A gentle kiss.
It was too tender. It meant too much.
That was not the road we were taking tonight. I couldn’t, not yet. So I slammed my mouth on hers in a punishing kiss.
Indya met my intensity with her own, nipping at my bottom lip as I tumbled us into the bed.
I fell into the cradle of her hips, lining up at her entrance, and, with a single thrust, slid deep.
“Oh, God,” she cried as her body stretched around mine.
I sucked in a sharp breath, gritting my teeth as the pleasure zinged through my veins. I was deep. So, so deep.
“Move. God, West. Move.”
I savored her tight, wet heat for a long moment, then eased out before another thrust, driving all the way to the root.
“Yes.” Indya gripped my shoulders, holding on as I set a fast pace, fucking in and out with long, deliberate strokes.
“You feel so fucking good.” I took her mouth, kissing her as I drove us higher and higher.
It wasn’t enough. I moved faster, harder, memorizing the feel of her pussy and the way her inner walls fluttered around my length.
She rocked in rhythm with my strokes, exactly the way I liked. The way I’d taught her.
It was perfect. It was erotic. It was fucking bliss.
It wasn’t enough. It was never enough.
“West.” Her breath hitched in my ear as her nails dug deeper,
leaving crescents in my skin.
“Come, Indy.”
She detonated on a cry, writhing beneath me. Pulse after pulse, she shattered.
Heat swept through my veins, my limbs shaking. Fire raced down my spine, building hotter and hotter, until I couldn’t hold back.
“Indya.” I roared her name, pouring inside her as every one of my muscles tensed and trembled.
White spots stole my vision. My heartbeat dulled any other sound.
And I let myself drown in the waves of my release, rolling and tumbling, until I finally surfaced for air.
Fuck, it was good. So damn good. It had always been good.
I collapsed on top of her, our bodies slick with sweat. It was an effort to pull away and roll onto my back. I reached for her, about to drape her across my chest and keep her there all night.
But the moment her breathing had returned to normal, Indya flew from the bed, scrambling to collect her clothes.
Well, damn. So that’s how it would be, then. Casual wasn’t new for us, so why did it piss me off? Did she really have to be in such a goddamn hurry to leave my room? She didn’t even bother getting dressed.
Without a word, she walked for the door, still naked, shirt and jeans and shoes clutched to her heart.
“Indy.” I stopped her before she could disappear. “Why were you
crying?”
She swallowed hard. “I wasn’t.”
Of course not. Those chains she kept around her heart had to be so heavy. Didn’t she get sick of carrying them all the damn time?
I stared at the ceiling as the rustle of her clothes sounded from the living room. As the screen door slammed. As the sound of her car disappeared outside.
I stared at the ceiling until long after she was gone, listening for the
echoes of her moans.
But they were gone too.
