Page 24 of That Kiss

“Have a good night, Juney.” I walk out, closing the door behind me and climbing into my truck.

Everything about this woman has me confused. She’s spent years pining for me, and once we finally connect, it’s a frenzied sexual electricity I’ve never experienced. And then this . . . I shake my head, running my hands through my hair as I let the crisp evening air blow through the cab of my truck.

Maybe it’s just the thrill of the chase for her—the forbidden. Maybe now that it’s happened, the fantasy is fulfilled, but something in the way she looks at me, the way she has to practically pull herself away from me . . . I know there’s so much more beneath the surface of Juniper Riley, and I’m determined to find it all.

“Hey, Pops, does Mom know you’re dicking around out here?” Ranger slaps our dad on the shoulder, giving him a hearty squeeze.

“Why, is she here?” He glances quickly over his shoulder.

“Damn,” I whistle, “didn’t realize Mom had gotten so strict since we moved out.”

“We both know your mother has always run the household.” He chuckles for a second. “Listen up, boys,” my dad grows serious, using that familiar tone he always used growing up when we were goofing off too much, “Drake and I are heading to Denver for a meeting with the governor. We need to make sure our interests stay protected in this upcoming election,” he grumbles. If there’s one thing my dad hates more than people (or the government) being in his business, it’s dealing with politicians. “And you boys are coming with us.”

“Whoa, whoa, since when did we get roped into the red tape? I thought Tyler was handling that?”

“He is, like usual, but that’s not how this family works and you know it. It was never just your Uncle Drake or me running things here; it’s always been all five of us brothers, and it’s going to be all of you. You need to learn how things are handled outside the walls of business. My assistant will send you both the details.”

He gives us each a single squeeze on the shoulder then walks back to his truck and drives off.

“All you had to do was stay in Texas and you’d have gotten out of it.”

“He’d have dragged my ass up from there too, and we both know it. Speaking of Texas, I talked to Aiden last night.” Our youngest cousin, Aiden, is one of a set of triplets, and he’s currently working at our Texas ranch. “He said he and Ethan,” another cousin, “are never moving back up here. They’re like full Texans now.”

“I could see that. Aiden always loved being with cowboys at the rodeo, plus with Ethan’s roping skills, you know they’re already training for tryouts.”

We both laugh at the thought of them in the rodeo. They’d be good at it, but they could also seriously get hurt as a couple of late 20-somethings who still have that insane, fearless mentality of a 15-year-old.

“Their moms would lose it,” Ranger laughs. “Shit, man, being a dad, it makes me nervous just thinking about stuff like that. It’s crazy how that just changes after kids: One minute, you don’t think twice about doing something stupid, and now, I’m always thinking about how this will impact my wife and daughter.”

“Yeah, I bet.” Before he takes this conversation where I already know it’s headed, I change the subject. “I’m going to the cowboy house. I’ll be working the pastures again with Carl and Teller,” our two head cowboys.

“Now, hang on,” Ranger pulls his hat off his head, the usual sign he’s about to get serious, “so what happened after Juney’s birthday party? I heard you stuck around.”

“Nothing,” I shrug, “just made sure she got home safely.”

“Yeah?” He laughs. “And did she get home . . . safely?”

“Of course.”

“Really? Nothing?” Ranger shakes his head. “You two are so full of shit, it’s ridiculous. Just admit you’re in love with each other already.”

“She’s a woman with a crush, Ranger. We aren’t talking about a love story here, so chill. Besides,” I tug on the brim of my hat, pulling it down a little tighter, “you told me she had a boyfriend.”

His face falls. “Shit, I forgot about that. Why wasn’t he there?”

“Dunno.” I turn toward the cowboy house and start walking. Yeah, I’m lying to my twin brother, but I have no idea what this situation even is between Juniper and me. I’m not about to drag a bunch of others into it, especially if it means screwing up my chances of having her again.

“Hey,” he says. I stop dead. He has that tone—the same one he used when we were teenagers and one of us already knew something.

“Yeah?” I turn around to look at him.

“If anything did or does happen between you two, you better not break her heart.”

I don’t respond this time—just give him a slight nod and walk away.

“Yo, Deck, when are you gonna settle down? Feels like there should be a Slade wedding sometime soon. Been at least a year since we had one.” Trevor, the newest cowboy hire, snickers at me, poking one of the other cowboys in the ribs.

“Listen up,” I ignore his comment and the other laughter, “we’ve got about 10 days’ worth of work on these pastures that we have to cram into three, so let’s cut some of the shit and focus this morning, hmm?” I spend the next 15 minutes going over responsibilities before exiting the cowboy house.

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