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Being in law enforcement, Reed was more of a stickler for seeking legal means of justice. Brett was all for allowing the courts to decide the penalties for law breakers but always kept an open mind to offering other solutions if it meant giving someone a second chance who was willing to turn themselves around. Slade preferred addressing any wrongdoing that hit close to home or anyone he cared about than forgetting about it altogether.
“If it was kids, they’ll screw up and get caught eventually.”
Brett sent Slade a sharp look as they strode up to the counter to pay their tab. Something on his face and in his tone hinted he didn’t believe the costly destruction to their property was a random teenage prank.
“Did you find out something this past week?” he asked him.
“Nope, just saying.” Slade paid his bill and walked out front without another word.
Reed handed his card to the young girl behind the register, his brows furrowed in thought, eyeing Slade’s hasty retreat. “I don’t believe him.”
“Me either, but he won’t say anything until he’s ready. Thanks, Marla.” Brett tipped his hat to Ina’s granddaughter, who had been helping in the diner for a few years.
“You’re welcome, Mr. Kincaid.”
She gave him a shy smile and, for some reason, Allie’s flirtatious grin popped into his head, the way she teased when she first came on to him at Casey’s. His brothers were right – he was drawn to her despite his claims otherwise. Though not his usual type, her straightforward brazenness and flamboyant flair were distracting alternatives to the more submissive women he had always preferred, and had kept him from bemoaning his ill-fated marriage.
Not once while spending time with Allie had she shown an interest in his wealth. At the ranch, her gaze had kept darting toward the horses instead of his large home. At no time when she’d teased him at Casey’s or last night had she seemed to care about his material worth or what his name and power could do for her, unlike Gina, once she discovered his family’s vast holdings here in Wyoming. After the way Allie sent him off this morning, as if happy to see the last of him, he could believe she had only been interested in sex.
Too bad getting what she wanted from him had come at such a price. He drove back to the ranch, bothered by the possible implications of that incident, admitting he was still worried. Now that she’d proven she would walk away from him without regrets and he didn’t have to worry about hurting her feelings, maybe he would invite her to their celebration on the Fourth. It would give him time to ensure she hadn’t caught a psycho’s attention, either from Casey’s or somewhere else.
Arriving back at the ranch, Brett went directly to the corral to saddle Shadow, his black stallion. They were in the middle of culling the herds for auction, a time-consuming chore of pulling out the cattle of optimum weight for getting the best price at market. With half of their inventory divided between the north and south pastures, Brett and Reed split up to oversee the hands at each site while Slade helped corral them upon their return. Shadow tossed his head as soon as they were out the gate, his much lighter mane flying around his sleek neck.
Chuckling, he leaned over, nudging his flanks with his heels, all Shadow needed to take off like a lightning bolt across the summer-green rangeland. Brett’s mood kicked up a notch with the physical exertion of the fast ride, the sun beating down on them as the ground under the stallion’s pounding hooves whizzed by. Having the option of trading his dress slacks for denim and sitting behind a desk for a vigorous ride gave him the opportunity to indulge both careers he loved. The long days had given Gina something else to gripe about, but both jobs were part of who he was, something he had discovered too late she wasn’t willing to accept. She wanted all of him at her beck and call and hated when he would suggest she could get a job or volunteer for something to do besides spend money. Somehow, he couldn’t picture Allie content to sit around all day doing nothing constructive, and he wondered what she did for a living. It shouldn’t bug him he didn’t know even that much about her, but it did.
Brett put both his ex and his conflicting feelings about Allie out of his mind and reined Shadow in as they neared the herd, lifting his hand to Jeff who rode to meet him.
“Hey, boss. We’ve gotten a good start.” He pointed to a group of black angus separated from the main herd. “Do you want to check them out?”
“I can tell from here you’ve got a good eye, Jeff.” One of the college new hires, Jeff, along with Keith, showed more of an interest in learning the workings of a large spread than Evan or Riley. They were still sowing their wild oats and testing their independence as young adults, though, something he remembered and understood all too well. “Come on. I’ll help you finish for today.”
They rode over to the herd, and Brett pointed to a steer close to Evan, indicating for him to separate that one. Evan nodded then came over after completing the task.
“How many are we doing today, Brett?” he asked, leaning over to spit a wad of tobacco on the ground.
Brett didn’t mind that as much as the kid’s continued failure to address him with more respect. “It’s Mr. Kincaid or boss, if you prefer,” he reminded him.
“Sure, just forgot...boss.”
Which didn’t explain why Evan didn’t appear too happy about such a simple request from his employer. Brett let it go – again. It seemed lately he was letting a lot of things go, finding that easier than coming down like a ton of bricks on those intent on giving him a hard time.
Maybe that was why he found himself drawn to Allie despite her unsuitability for his desires. She didn’t want anything from him except a good time, at least not until last night when she’d needed him to help her cope with the lingering fear from her ordeal. Was she still interested in that good time, or was she satisfied enough to set her sights on someone else now?
Brett supposed he would find out when he invited her out next weekend.
****
Allie cranked up herstereo as loud as she dared in the apartment, donned a pair of bike shorts and sports bra, and started her warm-up with slow undulations of her hips and shoulders, trying to empty her mind of everything but the music. Two years ago, she had taken up belly dancing for exercise, thinking it made the most logical choice because she loved all forms of dancing. The fun, full-body workout was also an effective escape from plaguing thoughts, a chance to close her mind until nothing existed but her and the music, her concentration focused on keeping the sinuous movements flowing and her body in continuous motion.
There were variations of the dance, and tonight she was in the mood for the faster, staccato movements of the percussion form. As much as she enjoyed her job, the first three days of this week had been fraught with solving one problem after another in putting a dent in her stack of property tax assessments. A headache had started to brew by the time she left work, and indulging in a decadent slice of marbled cheesecake from her favorite bakery after a salad for dinner did nothing to ease the slight discomfort.
A light sheen of perspiration coated her body by the time she’d worked up to the hip rocks and twists accentuated by dips and drops of her chest and shoulders. As she built up speed with her hips, she recalled Brett’s hold as he’d taken her on the sofa, the thrill of turning herself over to him with complete trust and abandonment, and the reward of those exalted, powerful orgasms. But, more than her inability to move on from that one night was her failure to stop thinking about him, stop pining for more of his attention, stop wishing she could explore more of his sexual lifestyle. Allie hadn’t counted on the luring effect of his protective nature or the concerned caring he revealed when he had temporarily dropped his resistance to getting involved on any level.
Cursing the interruption to her concentration, she focused on dancing, putting her all into the increased shimmying of her rocking hips and undulating upper body. Between the cranked-up music and her mental and physical exertion, she barely heard the rap on her door.
Huffing, Allie turned down the music then flung the door open without checking the peephole first. Her labored breath caught and a flutter of excitement tickled her belly seeing Brett staring down at her from under his lowered Stetson. From his black dress slacks and gray silk shirt, she guessed he was in Casper on legal business. Why he would bother stopping by here was beyond her, but her fired-up girly parts didn’t mind. She contributed her accelerated heartbeat to exercise exertion until she went warm hearing his voice again.
He spoke before she could get her wits about her, his words capturing her interest as much as his sudden appearance. “I picked up Chinese. If you’ve eaten, you can save yours for tomorrow.” He held up a large white bag.
