Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 73664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
I nudge his lips apart gently. “Oh, yeah. Poor baby.”
“He does much better with the bottle. It’s best if you sit in that chair next to Duchess while you feed him. She doesn’t like him to be too far away from her.”
I take a seat and nudge the small nipple against his lips. He sucks eagerly at the formula.
“I’ll check out Duchess and the other pups. Give them a once-over and make sure everything’s good.”
I nod, the small pup so warm in my arms.
He finishes the formula in record time, and I place him back against Duchess.
Once Lexie finishes with her exams, she turns to me. “I think you can call it a day.”
I rise. “Okay. Are you sure? It’s only”—I glance at my watch—“oh! It’s five already.”
“I know. Days fly by around here. I need to get home and shower, I’m going out tonight.”
“Oh?” I glance at her left hand. No ring.
“Yeah, in fact…” She smiles. “Why don’t you come along? It’s ladies’ night at the Dusty Rose.”
God, the Dusty Rose.
I haven’t been there since…
Think the words, Carly.
I haven’t been there since before I was taken. Have they always had ladies’ night? I never went in the past.
“What exactly is ladies’ night?” I ask.
“Ladies get their first drink free and then half price after that,” Lexie says. “I’m going with two girlfriends.”
“What about…men?”
Will Austin be there?
“There will be men, of course. Ladies’ night also brings in men.” She bites her lip and casts her gaze downward. She remembers. “I’m sorry, Carly. I wasn’t thinking.”
The freaking elephant in the room rears its ugly head.
“No.” I shake my head. “It’s okay. In fact, I’d like to go.”
The words come to me quickly. Too quickly because now I have to go. I want to go. It’s time to…get laid. If I want to ask Austin to have sex with me, I need practice talking to men. Ladies night could help me make that happen.
“Good.” Lexie smiles. “You can leave at any time if you’re uncomfortable.”
Funny thing is…I’m not uncomfortable. At least not at the thought. Once I get there, it may be a whole different story. The idea of having sex—consensual, fun sex—is a lot different than actually doing the deed.
I want to take my life back, and today—my first day at work—helped a lot. Why not go a little further? Besides, Lexie will be there, and while we’re not friends—she’s my boss—she is a familiar face.
This is all part of healing.
Of becoming Carly again.
Mom and Dad will not like this. If Dad lost his shit over me working here at the Bridger Ranch, he’ll lose his shit at ladies’ night.
Which makes it official. I’m going. I’m going to get laid. Soon.
“What time?” I ask.
“I can drive you. I’ll swing by your parents’ place at eight. That work?”
I smile. “I can’t wait.”
5
AUSTIN
* * *
It’s going to be a fucking nightmare of a year.
“Stuck with two city slickers.” Chance, my youngest half brother, grumbles.
He drops his cowboy hat on an end table and goes to the bar—a full-fledged one probably salvaged from a vintage saloon—and grabs a bottle of beer, twists off the top and takes a big swig. He doesn’t offer us one. Only gives Miles and me a cursory glance before swearing under his breath.
“Thank you for joining us,” Shankle says, having popped to his feet when Chance stormed in. He’s holding his briefcase just like in Seattle—as if it’s glued to his hand. I wonder if he sleeps with the thing.
Miles just arrived from the airport, with Shankle as his chauffeur. I’ve spent two days here solo, bored out of my fucking mind. Besides the property being enormous, so is the house. And the stable. And the other outbuildings. Everything is big in Montana, it seems. The housekeeper told me Chance was in Livingston, wherever that is, at a horse auction, and Miles has only just been able to tear himself away from the Big Apple.
Miles leans against the back of a couch, arms crossed over his chest. He’s relaxed, but watchful. Does he feel as out of place as I do?
He and I may have inherited part of this ranch, but this is Chance’s home. He was raised here. He works the land. It’s his job. His life. Now he’s got two strangers he has to share it all with and a lawyer setting the rules from the will of a dead man.
A dead man none of us liked.
“I can’t believe he’s made you two come here. I mean, have either of you ever ridden a horse before?” Chance continues, ignoring Shankle. “Hell, do you know which end’s for eating and which is for shitting?” He takes another deep swig.
For brothers, we look nothing alike. I have dark hair, Miles is fair, and Chance somehow came out a ginger. The only thing we all have in common with our father is size. We’re all over six feet. Miles is the tallest. Chance is barrel-chested and has about twenty pounds of extra muscle, probably from tossing hay bales all day.