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MJ giggles. “Whatever. I left you a message, but I’ll tell you anyway. I’m making dinner tonight, and you’re going to pop by around six and magically join us. Got it?”
“You act like that wasn’t going to happen anyway,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“Just get your butt over here and thank me later. I’ve got to get back out there before Ty comes looking for me.”
“Over and out,” I say, hanging up.
My mama always said the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. But I like to think she left off the part about short skirts and cleavage because I was too young to hear it. A plan forms in my head, and I know exactly where to start.
I go back to my room and open my closet, digging into the back. I said I won’t do the chasing, and I’m not. But I sure as hell can give him something to look at while he’s making up his mind. I think it’s time I turn up the torture a notch and see just how far I can push him before I finally get a reaction.
I strip out of my work clothes, toss them in the hamper, and head to the shower. I’m going to shave, buff, and polish every inch of myself before I head out to Ty’s place. If Brandon wants to move on, that’s fine. But I’ll show him exactly what he’s going to be missing.
5
Brandon
“How long you staying?” Ty ask, taking a drink of his beer.
“Trying to get rid of me already?” I lean back in my chair, kicking my feet out.
“Fuck no. I’ve been trying to think of a way to get you to stay on here.”
“You already have a head foreman,” I remind him, taking a sip of my drink, enjoying the cold burn of the beer after a long day of work. I didn’t work for Ty, but while I’m staying here, I’ll help and I had all day. I couldn’t help myself. It was that or pace my room thinking about Dolly. It was easier to just exhaust myself and fall into bed at the end of the day than think of all the ways I was fucking up with her. Or how I was going to fix it. I couldn’t keep going on like this.
“I can always use more hands, and I know yours are good,” he says, and I know he’s right.
There’s always more than enough work, but that’s not why I’m here. I’m not real sure what I'm going to do for work, but I’ve got over ten years’ worth of savings, so I’m not worrying about that at the moment. There’s something more important to handle right now, and it’s the reason I’d come to Ty’s to begin with. Why shortly after I left Dolly’s place I quit my job. That and the fact that he’d offered me a place when he found out I quit the Johnson farm and was staying in the only motel in town. It wouldn’t have been too bad if June hadn’t found out I was staying there. I thought when I left the Johnson farm, I’d be done with having to deal with her, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
“Or did you have another kind of job in mind?” Ty leans up in his chair, and we both know he isn’t talking about a job. He levels me with a hard stare. “I’m not sure I’m so inclined to let you have a go at my sister.”
“A go?” I growl. I don’t like how he put that. Not one fucking bit.
He shrugs, clearly not caring that he’s pissing me of. “That’s what I call it. Lots of men try to get her attention, but they all fail.”
Now Ty’s got my full attention. I sit up. “Who’s been trying to get her fucking attention?”
I’m on my feet before I know it. I’ve never heard a word of Dolly dating, and I’m not sure what I would have done if I had. That shit would have probably killed me, which makes no sense whatsoever because I’ve been telling myself over the years I wasn’t good enough for her and that she should find someone worthy of her. But here I am, mad as a copperhead just thinking about the possibility of someone trying to date her.
“Hell, I take it back. Have a go. I’ve got a real good feeling she’s not going to just fall into your lap. Not anymore, at least. Might be fun to watch.”
I stop pacing the porch and look at him. Then it hits me like a ton of fucking bricks.
“Yeah, now you’re getting it,” he says, taking another pull from his beer.
I drop back down in my chair. I want her to have the world, but I’m the one keeping her from it.
“I’m a bastard,” I mumble, more to myself than to him.
Ty lets out a deep breath. “She’s been too young for a long time, so don’t go beating yourself up about it. You two have been dancing around each other for a while, but you waited. That makes you not a bastard in my book. That makes you what I call alive, because I would have put you six feet under if you’d have gone after her sooner. But she’s not a teenager anymore.”
No, she’s not. But just barely. “She’s too good for me.”
“She is,” Ty agrees.
“But no one will treat her better than me. I’ll spend my whole life proving that to her if she’ll let me,” I tell him. Because I will. I’d already made that promise to myself when I turned in my resignation to Cash at the Johnson farm. I couldn’t stay there any longer, just moving through the motions. It was slowly eating me alive. It felt like I couldn’t breathe there, and since I’ve gotten on Ty’s land I’ve felt some oxygen finally enter my lungs. I’m closer to her, and I can feel it. I also knew I was on the path to having her.
“I figured you would. Hell, I do the same damn thing every day. I’ll never be good enough for my MJ, but no fucking way am I ever letting her cute little ass go. And I’ll make damn sure she never has a reason to want to go.”
“I can more than do that,” I vow.
The sound of a vehicle coming up the drive has us both turning to look.
“Looks like you’ll be trying sooner rather than later. I think I'm gonna need another beer to enjoy this show.”
6
Dolly
I hop out of my truck and straighten my skirt before I shut the door. I’ve got on a pair of cute dark gray ankle boots that make me feel sexy, so I feel pretty confident as I strut across the gravel and onto my brother’s porch, pretending I don’t even see Brandon. If he can pretend nothing is happening with us, then I’ll do the same.
I feel Brandon next to me, his eyes burning up my body with his stares. But I don’t glance at him as I see my brother Ty lean to get up from his rocking chair and shake his head. He clearly knows what’s going on. I’ve never been quiet about wanting Brandon. Partly because, well, I talk a lot and partly because I wanted everyone to know he’s mine.
“You want a beer, Dolly?” Ty asks, and I follow him in the house.
If Brandon wants to pretend like nothing is happening between us, then by God, I’ll do the same and do it better. But as I take a step through the doorway, I hear him say my name.
“Dolly.” His voice is somewhere between shock and aggravation. Good, he can feel aggravation, because I’ve been feeling it for months.
“Oh, hey, Brandon,” I toss over my shoulder, looking him up and down as quickly as I can.
He’s dressed in faded jeans and a white V-neck shirt. His cowboy hat is on the chair next to him, and his shaggy blond locks are pushed back from his eyes. His chocolate eyes look me over, appraising my outfit.
I decided to keep it simple but a lot sexier than I normally wear in front of anyone. I had a few things stuck in the back of my closet that I hadn’t had much use for, and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to pull them out. I’m wearing a black tank top that’s cut low in the front and laces up in the back. The crisscrossing thin strings show off everything from my shoulders to the top of my ass.
My boobs decided to show up when I was in ninth grade and haven’t stopped turning heads since. When you work on farms, you’re around men all the time. Women are few and far between. For the most part I keep them caged with good bras and tops with inbuilt support. So tonight I thought I’d let the girls have a little fun and went braless. The shirt really called for it, with the open back and all. The deep plunge of my top and the loose material around my breasts has Brandon taking his time as his eyes linger on them.
