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“You didn’t use to be so callous or disregarding of others’ troubles,” Grayson pointed out, taking the glass and bringing it to his mouth for a hefty, throat burning swallow.
“I’m just not interested in prying into the personal lives of others. Nothing wrong with that.”
“Nope, there’s not, but it hasn’t been that long since you jumped right in to push Caden toward Sydney and helped him get answers from her about her plight.” Grayson could tell the reminder didn’t sit well with his friend. Connor’s usual, light-hearted, easy going manner had taken a turn since his break-up with Annie and he’d been keeping to himself when not rebuffing friendly overtures from friends and subs alike.
“That was different. She was stuck on the ranch and needed a friend, and big brother was too pig-headed to see it. It’s your turn to monitor upstairs,” he reminded him with a deft change of subject.
“Okay, I’m headed that way.” Downing the drink, Grayson lifted the glass and then set it down with a click. “Thanks.”
Skirting around the dance floor, he glanced out the back windows and spotted Caden and Sydney enjoying the hot tub. With her slim legs draped over Caden’s shoulders, water sluicing off her bowed body, he fucked her with slow, measured strokes that brought a look of frustrated arousal to Sydney’s face. Grayson paused, waiting until his friend rewarded his soon-to-be-wife with an orgasm that transformed her face to one of tormented ecstasy and then sated bliss as he brought her down by slow, measured degrees. He admired Caden’s restraint in holding back until he’d brought Sydney to the pinnacle. Grayson pivoted toward the stairs, yearning to see those same expressions cross Avery’s face.
Grayson awoke the next morning out of sorts after being plagued all night by dreams of that misdialed phone call and the mystery woman who had pulled at his conscience with her shy hesitations and soft, desperate voice. He couldn’t fathom why he couldn’t forget her, or that call and why thinking about Avery seemed to conjure up the memory. Maybe Avery’s insecurities and the obvious fact she carried trouble with her reminded him of the nameless, faceless woman’s plight. Avery had responded to his minor examples of the lifestyle with as much surprised interest as he’d heard over the phone from the other woman, so the two bore that in common as well.
Padding into the kitchen, he checked the time and winced. For the first time since he could remember, a woman had consumed his thoughts enough to put him behind schedule. Or, in this case, women, as it wasn’t just Avery he couldn’t get a handle on or put out of his mind when he wasn’t around her. Since he was only thirty-eight, he couldn’t blame this uncharacteristic obsession on a mid-life crisis, as much as he’d like to. That left placing the blame on Caden’s shoulders.
The rancher’s fast and relatively easy capitulation to Sydney’s charming ways had spelled doom for the man he’d grown up with and had sent up red flags of warning for both Grayson and Connor. If it could happen to a confirmed bachelor like Caden, it could happen to anyone. Pouring a steaming cup of coffee, he carried it back to his bedroom, vowing he wouldn’t let a pair of expressive whiskey eyes filled with a yearning for what he could give her tempt him beyond a few nights of introduction into kink and discovering her secrets.
Two hours later, Grayson sat astride his bay, Thunder, huddled in his overcoat against the biting north breeze and gazing down on the recent tire impressions marring one of the Dunbar’s fields. “Fresh,” he commented even though vocalizing his observation wasn’t necessary. Caden, Conner and Dan could all see the proof of trespassing from an unauthorized vehicle.
“I checked my place before joining you. Looks like the same bastards who tried to snatch from my herd,” Dan said. “My foreman just got lucky and happened to be driving by that pasture at the time. That was enough to send them running.” The lawyer owned a much smaller spread, but still valued his stock as much as the Dunbars. Looking over at Caden, his Appaloosa shifted under him as he asked, “Your guy didn’t see anything besides the taillights either?”
“No, and not because he was slacking. These guys are good and were on the lookout for a sentry.” Caden shook his head, his voice laced with anger and disgust. “It’s a good thing we moved our cattle from this field last week.”
“Yeah, but now we’re overcrowded in the southeast pasture. We’ll need to do more shifting around in the next few days.” Connor didn’t sound happy about the extra work the rustlers were causing everyone.
Caden nodded. “I’ve got Jim transferring about fifty head farther east, but they can’t go too far, else we’ll never be able to get feed to them when the snow hits.”
Grayson didn’t envy his friends the burdensome winter chores of moving livestock closer to the barns before the worst of winter each year. He’d chosen the military and then law enforcement over following in his family’s footsteps working with his two brothers on the Monroe ranch and had never regretted his choice. He boarded Thunder at the local stables; his ten-acre plot where he’d built his house too wooded to leave enough grazing room for the stallion.
As the four of them followed the tracks all the way back to the highway, he said, “My damn computer was down again this morning, so I couldn’t check for any other early reports, but I’m betting they made off with someone’s cattle before the
night was over.”
“Well, I for one have had enough of the fuckers,” Connor growled. “If I have to, I’ll keep watch with my Winchester.”
Caden’s eyes snapped to his younger brother, as did Grayson’s. “Who are you, and what have you done with my easy-going brother?”
“There’s a time to remain calm and friendly, and a time to get down and dirty, and fight back,” he returned, nonplussed by Caden’s frown.
“Chill, both of you. I’ve got backup coming from Billings. We’ll get them, legally,” Grayson emphasized for Connor’s sake.
“I sure as hell don’t want to have to defend you in court, buddy.” Dan squinted his dark eyes against the glare of the mid-afternoon sun. “Let’s head back. There’s nothing more we can do today, and that stew Sydney had bubbling smelled damn good.”
Caden turned his horse and led the way, tossing to Grayson, “Talk to Avery about your computer. According to Sydney, she’s a whiz.”
“Good to know.”
Grayson pondered on that revelation on the ride back to Caden’s sprawling ranch home. Since it seemed waitressing wasn’t Avery’s only job skill, he speculated on other positions she might have held before coming to Willow Springs, and reasons why she would lie low at the diner instead of pursuing a job better suited to her skills. All scenarios came back to someone who was trying to keep off someone else’s radar. The Dom in him was drawn to the challenge of uncovering her full potential as a submissive while the man who couldn’t keep from worrying was intrigued by the evasive, wary woman—a heady combination he couldn’t resist.
Chapter 6
After spending several, nerve-racking hours at a library in Billings, Avery drove back to Willow Springs Saturday afternoon maintaining a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel. I did it again. That admission drew a frisson of alarm that sent her pulse spiking. What started as a simple search through Chicago news looking for any word of an investigation into Darren and Chad’s illegal evidence thefts, had ended up with her turning desperate enough to hack into other interrogation reports of suspects from raids they had led. The discovery of two more cases where the defendant’s accounting of either money or drugs didn’t match the items Darren and Chad had turned in to the evidence room sent her fleeing back to the small town where she’d felt safer than anywhere else since overhearing her ex-boyfriend and his partner’s confession.
A quick glance at the speedometer had her swearing and easing up on the gas. She’d been careful when driving so as not to risk getting pulled over. It wouldn’t do to take that risk now, her lack of insurance just one of the things that could land her in trouble. The flash drive zipped into an inside pocket of her purse taunted her with the evidence of two dirty cops she carried around with her, her palms going damp as she weighed her limited options on where to go from here.
By the time Avery pulled behind the diner with only ten minutes to spare before reporting for her shift, she’d decided Grayson Monroe remained her best choice. If only she could get up the nerve to come clean with the sheriff, to work up enough trust to believe he would help. Now that she’d committed another crime, her task to do either of those things had become harder. She was still a newcomer in town, a woman he barely knew, and Darren’s deceit was a hard-learned lesson that continued to haunt and scare her. She couldn’t afford to misjudge another man, especially another one in law enforcement.
Speak of the devil. Avery paused in the doorway between the kitchen and the diner counter as soon as she spotted Grayson seated in her section along with the dark blond, Master Dan she’d met at The Barn last night. The two men were drawing every female eye in the place, the striking contrast between Grayson’s midnight hair and Dan’s much lighter coloring enough to catch their attention without adding in their rugged good looks and broad shoulders.
