Ava smiled as she looked back at the horse. “It’s good to see you again, Ava.”
Without so much as looking in my direction, she nodded. “You too, Ryder.”
My heart dropped as I looked down and kicked at some hay in the dirt. “I’ve got to take your dad and Layton on a little tour of the ranch.”
Ava had walked all the way around Trinity before stopping and looking up into my eyes. I wasn’t sure what I was seeing in those beautiful blue eyes. Whatever it was … I was captivated by them.
“Have fun with that. Nate offered to show me around.”
If felt as if someone had turned on an instant heat wave as my body became ridged. “That so?”
With a tilt of her head and a smile, Ava said, “Yep.”
I nodded and took a step back. “Enjoy your ride, Ava.”
Her smile faded as I tipped my head and started down to the other end of the barn.
“Hey, Ryder? May I ask you something?”
I stopped and turned back to her. “Of course.”
She licked lips and then bit down on her lower lip. “Are you … um … did I hear you say you were moving back up here to Montana?”
“At some point, yeah, I’ll be moving back to stay.”
Ava nodded slowly. With that, I turned and walked away from her. The further I walked away, the more I cussed at myself for not just pulling her into my arms and telling her I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her for the last two weeks.
Everyone was up and on their horses in no time as I watched Nate and Ava slowly walk off toward the west pasture. Jase and Courtney decided they were going to go with us on the ranch tour.
As I watched Ava ride off on Trinity, a sick feeling passed over me as I tried to push it away. I’d never had a girl affect me like Ava. It seemed my brother felt the same way. If he thought I was going to just roll over and let him take her away from me, he had another thing coming.
For once in my adult life, there was something worth fighting my brother over … and her name was Ava.
NATE FOR SURE wasn’t the type of guy who was at a loss for things to talk about. He talked about everything from growing up in Montana to the new loft apartment he was building in Austin.
“So, you’re not planning on moving back to Montana like Ryder?”
Nate let out a roar of laughter. “Hell no. I couldn’t wait to get out of here.”
With a slight smile, I looked around at the breathtaking views. Mountains were everywhere. “But it’s so beautiful here.”
“And out in the middle of nowhere. It’s different, Ava, if you haven’t grown up here. Sure, it’s beautiful and most people come up and they’re swept away by the views. Try living here.”
With a shrug, I let out a sigh. “I don’t know. Sometimes I miss living back in Llano.”
“You don’t like living in Austin?”
Glancing over to Nate, I was taken by how handsome he was. Not as handsome as Ryder, but for sure a turn your head and change your panties when he flashes you his smile, kind of handsome. His hair was much lighter than Ryder’s, more of a dark blond. He had the same green eyes that Ryder had, though.
Nate brought his horse to a stop and slid off as I followed. When I walked around the horse, I was met by a huge smile. I slowly searched his face until my eyes landed on his lips. All I could think about was Ryder. He was moving to Montana. When? Why? How could I possibly even think of starting something with someone who I knew would be moving?
“There is a beautiful overlook if you’re up for a small hike.”
With grin, I said, “Sure. Sounds like fun.”
Nate and I hiked up a pretty good size hill and the whole time I kept reassessing my workout regimen. Time to add more cardio, that was for sure. Once we made it to the top, I sucked in a breath and said, “Oh my word. It looks like a picture.”
“It’s probably one of my favorite places on the ranch. Ryder and I used to come here all the time.”
The mention of Ryder’s name had my chest dropping. For one brief moment, I had wished it was him who had brought me here and not Nate. But then Ryder had pretty much avoided me ever since I showed up.
“I can see why,” I whispered. “It’s beyond beautiful.”
Nate sat down and began asking me questions about what I did and if I enjoyed Paris and Italy. I was soon lost in an easy conversation with him as we laughed and talked about everything and anything.
Nate pushed out a breath of air and said, “Well, I should take you back. Dad’s got a huge dinner planned to welcome you guys. I’m sure you’ll want to doll yourself up.”
Smirking, I gave him a look. “Doll myself up? Really, did you just say that?”
“Isn’t that what girls do?”
The instant Nate reached down and took my hand in his, the moment turned. I wanted to pull it from his hand, yet at the same time, I didn’t mind that he had taken it. He was guiding me down the hill and I took it as a kind gesture to help me. He dropped it the moment we got to the flat surface.
“I don’t like the phrase dolled up.”
Nate laughed. “I see that. You about had steam coming from your ears, and I’m pretty sure you foamed at the mouth in your anger.”
I have him a quick push and said, “Shut up!”
“I’ll race you back.”
I turned and pushed Nate as hard as I could and watched him stumble as I took off and jumped up on Trinity. Before I knew it, we were back at the barn. Everyone else had already returned and was getting ready for dinner.
Monk took our horses as Nate and I headed out of the barn. Before I knew what was happening, Nate had me pressed up against the wall, his eyes burning as he searched my face.
“I’ve been fighting the urge to kiss you all afternoon, Ava.”
My eyes widened in horror. Oh. My. Gosh. What do I do? What do I say? Was I attracted to Nate? I mean sure, he was good looking and everything, but he didn’t affect me like Ryder did. No one had ever affected me like Ryder did.
But Ryder was going to be living in Montana, and I’d be in Texas. How would that work?
Nate moved a little closer as I placed my hands on his chest to stop from coming any closer.
“Um … Nate … I’ve had a lovely afternoon but—”
His eyebrows rose. “But you’re attracted to my brother.”
I bit down on my lip. There was no denying I was very attracted to Ryder. He had consumed my thoughts the last two weeks, almost to the point where I was about to ask my father for his number.
Before I had a chance to answer, I felt his presence. It was as if I could sense his eyes on me. Turning to the left, my breath caught as I looked at Ryder standing there with a stunned expression.
Nate followed my stare and moved when I pushed him away from me.
“Ryder,” was all I could say as he glared at his brother quickly before replacing his expression with a blank one.
“Mom was looking for you. She didn’t want the two of you being late for dinner.”
Nate smiled as he began walking toward Ryder. “We were just on our way up.”
I pushed off the wall and called out for Ryder as he turned and headed back out of the barn.
“Ryder! Wait!” I took off running, but by the time I rounded the corner, he had taken off on a four-wheeler and was headed back to the main house. Spinning around, I looked at Nate. “He thinks something happened between us.”
Nate laughed and shrugged. “He’ll get over it.”
I reached out and grabbed his arm. “No, you’ll tell him nothing happened.”
Nate’s smile turned wicked. “Sure I will. Let’s get to the house before my mother sends out another search party.”
My stomach felt sick as I followed Nate back up to the house. The entire time all I saw was the look on Ryder’s face as he stood at the end of the barn.
I STOOD IN the mirror and looked at myself as I took in my appearance. Dressed in black jeans, my trusty old cowboy boots
, and a white buttoned-down shirt, I looked every bit the part. The good son who still did what his parents asked him to do. Instead of me being the one to show Ava the ranch, I showed Layton and Reed, even though Nate should have been there right alongside me.
He knew I wouldn’t let my father down and he took full advantage of the situation.
Bastard.
I pushed my hand through my somewhat still wet hair, and headed down to the living room where everyone was meeting. My father should be making his grand appearance right about now.
With a frustrated sigh, I headed to the bedroom door and threw it open. The more I thought about Nate and Ava and what I walked in on, the more pissed off I got. I should have known she didn’t have any interest in me.
As I walked down the main stairwell, I glanced up and blue eyes caught mine. Ava looked beautiful dressed in tan pants and a white blouse. My eyes traveled her body and back up to her lips that I’d dreamt of kissing a hundred times.
It didn’t long for me to catch a glimpse of Nate standing next to Ava. I looked away as I continued to make my way down the stairs. My father was standing next to my mother with his arm wrapped around her waist as they talked to Layton and Whitley. With a smile, I gave him a quick wave as he smiled back. He had been out of town for the last week, so this was the first time I’d seen him.
“There is the man who is going to be running this ranch someday.”
Nate huffed as I shot him a go to hell look. It wasn’t my fault he didn’t want anything to do with running the ranch. He enjoyed the traveling and consulting. I didn’t. I wanted to be on the back of a horse checking property lines, not sitting in some rancher’s living room dressed in a suit.
Layton and Reed both turned and gave me a grin. “Dad, it’s good to see you,” I said as I shook his hand. “You weren’t all waiting for me, were you?”
My mother smiled and gave me a wink. “Yes, but that’s okay; I have a surprise for you.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Really? What do you have up your sleeve?”
“Me.”
The voice sounded familiar as I looked over my mother’s shoulder to see my sister, Jennifer, standing there. I smiled from ear to ear.
“Well, if it isn’t my beautiful sister!”
Moving toward them, Dani popped out. “Surprise!”
“Oh my God. It’s both of them!” I said as I wrapped my sisters up in my arms. Each of them got a kiss on the cheek. “Dani, you’ve gotten so much bigger.”
Her lower lip jetted out as she nodded her head and rested her hands on her stomach. “I know. Just a few more months.”
“Hey there, Ryder.”
Turning to look over my shoulder, I saw Destiny. She was my sister Jennifer’s best friend, and my ex-girlfriend who cheated on me with my best friend, Roy.
With a quick nod, I gave her a halfhearted smile. “Destiny, how are you?”
Her mouth twitched as she gave me a smile. “I’m doing good. It’s good to see you.”
Trying to get out of this awkward moment, I caught a glimpse of Ava as she walked by. One quick look showed she was staring at Destiny.
With a bigger smile, I turned to my two sisters and slapped my hands. “Who is going to sandwich me?”
Nate walked up and pushed me to the side. “They want to sandwich me, not you.”
“Boys, stop fighting,” my mother said as she pointed her finger at me and then Nate.
Before I had a chance to react, Nate made a beeline and sat in between Jennifer and Dani. Destiny was on the other side of Jennifer, so I made my way to the opposite side of the table. Sitting down next to my father, who was at the end, and Jase, who was on my left.
“Jase, how are you liking Montana?” I asked.
“Love it. I was just telling Ava if I didn’t love Texas so much, I’d be packing my bags and moving here.”
With a laugh, I looked up to see Ava sitting across from Jase. “What about you, Ava? You seemed to be enjoying your afternoon with Nate from the looks of things.”
Her mouth opened slightly as her eyes darted down the table to Nate. She flashed him a dirty look and narrowed her eyes at him. Nate chuckled and then leaned over and began talking to Destiny.
Asshole.
Ava looked back to me and was about to say something when my father stood up. “Let me just say what a pleasure it is to have the Morris and Moore families with us here today. I’m excited to know that my sons are, hopefully, leading you down the road to becoming an organic cattle ranch like the one you see here at Montgomery Ranch. For the next three days, our ranch is your ranch.”
Holding his glass of wine up, he motioned for everyone to join him in toast. “To organic.”
“To organic!” everyone said as glasses clanked together.
Everyone settled into conversations as the food was served. Of course the main dish was steak and potatoes. My father wouldn’t have it any other way.
Every now and then I’d glance up and see Ava speaking with Liza, who was sitting next to her, or to my sister, Dani, across the table who was next to her husband, Rich.
Jase and I talked mostly about ranching and cattle. He had some great questions for the conversion and I was excited to answer them. My father chimed in every now and then before his attention would get drawn to another conversation going on.
“So, when are you moving back to Montana, Ryder?”
I glanced up to see Ava staring at me. Waiting for me to answer as if her life depended on it.
“You’re moving back home?” Destiny called out as she jumped up and headed over to me.
She leaned down and placed her lips to my ear as I continued to watch Ava. For a moment I thought I saw jealousy cross over her face.
“We need to talk in private.”
“Later,” I said as I glared at her.
“Fine.” With a turn on her heels, Destiny headed back to her seat.
“Lovely girl,” Ava whispered.
“She has her moments,” I said as I smiled and took a bite of steak. I couldn’t deny I liked seeing Ava get bent out of shape a little bit over Destiny. Why she did, I have no clue. She seemed to be pretty happy with Nate pressed up against her.
Shaking the image from my head, I tried to drag in a breath. For some reason, the room felt as if it was closing in on me and I couldn’t breathe. Leaning over to my father, I softly said, “Dad, I’ll be right back.”
A look of concern crossed over his face as he said, “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, I just need a minute.”
Standing quickly, I glanced down to Ava. Her mouth opened as if she was about to say something, but Liza tapped her shoulder and asked her a question. I walked as fast as I could and dragged in a deep breath of air as I stood on the front porch. The evening temperature was quickly dropping as a chill rushed through my body.
I jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder. “Not now, Destiny. I’m not in the mood to talk to you.”
“How about me then?”
The sound of Ava’s voice traveled through my body, warming it instantly.
“We should probably make it a new rule not to get up and leave the table to talk,” Ava said with a slight chuckle.
I turned and leaned against the porch rail as Ava barely bit down on her lip as she smiled bigger.
“I didn’t ask you to come out here, though.”
Her smile faded. “No, you didn’t. Did Nate talk to you about earlier?”
I tried to swallow the lump in my throat as I looked away. “No. Honestly, Ava, you don’t owe me any explanation at all. If you and my brother have hit it off then—” I shook my head and let out a gruff laugh. “Then so be it.”
“So that’s it? You’re just going to go with what you thought you saw and not even give me a chance to explain.”
My head jerked back as I stared at her. “Explain what? My brother had you pushed against a wall and I’m pretty sure if I’d have walked in thirty seconds later you would have been kissing h
im.”
Anger flashed across her face as she shook her head. “No, what you would have seen was me pushing your brother away and telling him I was attracted to you … not him. My hands were on his chest, keeping him from getting closer. I asked him to talk to you about it because I knew that’s what you thought.”
I let her words sit in my head for a few moments. “You told Nate you’re attracted to me?”
Ava pressed her lips together as she lowered her head some and gazed up at me through those long beautiful eyelashes. Her blue eyes were sparkling. “I did tell him that, yes. I also wanted to tell you that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you for the last two weeks. And that I had a stupid count down on my phone, counting the days until I got to see you … even though I told everyone it was for the trip.”
My smile grew bigger as my heartbeat began speeding up. I’d never had a woman make me feel the way Ava made me feel. I wanted her like no one else, yet I wanted to move slowly with her. Savor each and every moment.
“I thought about you too. I dreamt about you, thought about you in the shower, at the gym, while trying to work. Your face and those beautiful blue eyes haunted my every moment.”
Ava’s mouth parted open as she sucked in a breath ever so slightly. Her chest began to heave a bit more as her breathing picked up. “I’ve never had anyone say anything like that to me before. My panties are soaking wet now.”
My eyes closed as my dick jumped and I let out a soft moan. “I just died.”
With a snap of my eyes, my body trembled when Ava’s hands touched my chest. Her smile was beyond breathtaking. “There’s only one way to make sure you haven’t died.”
I licked my lips in anticipation of her next words. “W-what’s that?”
“Kiss me.”
My hands cupped Ava’s face as I brought her lips to mine and kissed her. Our tongues moved together in perfect harmony as we both let out a soft moan.
Heaven.
I was in heaven and I never wanted the moment to end.
Pulling my lips back, Ava slowly smiled as she shook her head ever so slightly. “I think I’m going to need more convincing.”