Authors: Lara Valentine
Tags: #Romance
She smiled in contentment as Cam shook his head at her statement. They were discussing politics, and so far they hadn’t agreed on a thing. It was okay, though. They’d both agreed on their love for their careers and a preference for dogs over cats.
“People need to stand on their own two feet. Be independent. A society of dependence can never be truly free.”
He took a sip from his beer and crossed his long legs in front of him. His shirt was unbuttoned halfway, and she could see the sprinkling of dark hair that covered his muscular chest. She wondered if it continued down those flat abs and to his cock. The bulge in his pants was impressive, and she found herself glancing at it way too often.
“I agree, Cam. But sometimes people need a hand up.”
“A hand up, not a handout.”
“How do you define a handout? If a mother and her children are homeless is it a handout or a hand up to give them food and shelter?”
“Why can’t she get a job?”
“Because people who don’t have addresses can’t get jobs. Also, how is she going to find a job? She has no way to get cleaned up for an interview or get a phone call or e-mail from a prospective employer.”
“She shouldn’t have had kids she couldn’t support.”
“Okay, let’s say she made bad choices. She didn’t take proper precautions and had kids she couldn’t support well. Then she lost her job and then her home. Maybe she got sick or one of her kids did. Should the kids suffer for her choices? Starve? Never be warm? You don’t really believe that, do you?”
Cam’s mouth twisted. “Of course not. Fuck, I’m not some heartless asshole. Listen, I’m not against homeless shelters or free clinics. I’m against a society that wants everything to be easy. Life isn’t easy, for fuck’s sake. It’s hard damn work.”
Noelle smiled at Cam’s vehemence. “On this we can agree. I think people do want things to be easy. So many aren’t willing to put in the hard work.”
“Are you?”
She laughed at the question. If only he knew just how hard she’d had to work. “Yes. Believe me, I couldn’t have built my business without a lot of hard work. I suspect you work pretty hard, too.”
Cam nodded grimly. “Long, hard days. The SEALs have a saying, ‘The only easy day was yesterday.’ That’s how it is on a ranch. Dirty, physical, sweaty work during the day and a pile of paperwork in the evenings.”
“But you love it?”
Cam nodded. “I do. I thought about being a doctor for a while, but ranching is in my blood. It’s my heritage. I look over the land and think about how generations of my family built this with grit and determination. It isn’t easy. It’s worth it.”
She liked the way he respected the past. As an artist, she respected those who came before her. She liked his no-nonsense attitude and his passion for his work. She liked Cam Hunter way too much.
Cam held up his empty beer bottle with a smile.
“Another beer?”
Noelle shook her head. She was already sleepy enough. And maybe a little tipsy. Or perhaps it was the company of the handsomest man she’d ever met that made her light-headed?
Cam poked at the fire.
“You should head to bed. You look tuckered out.”
Noelle yawned at the mere mention of sleep.
“I’ve had a big day. It’s not every day I’m rescued from a storm and fed biscuits and beef stew by firelight.”
Cam laughed and got to his feet, holding out his hand to help her.
“Never let it be said I don’t know how to sweep a lady off her feet. The beer was imported.”
She joined in the laughter and let him pull her to her feet. She hated for the evening to end. He was smart, funny, and charming. She could have talked to him for hours. A swift glance at the clock told her she practically had. It was well past midnight.
She stood close to him, his scent filling her nostrils and arousing senses that had lain dormant for quite a while. She hadn’t met a man in a long time who affected her so strongly. In fact, she couldn’t ever remember feeling this so quickly. A little voice in her head told her to play it cool and cautious, but it just wasn’t in her nature.
“Well, good night. Thank you again for rescuing me and the dinner and the dry clothes.”
Cam gave her a wry smile. “Such as they are. I’m glad I was able to rescue you. Get some sleep. You’ll see Abby in the morning.”
He pushed her long hair off her shoulder, and she froze as his fingers brushed her cheek, sending a streak of pleasure straight to her pussy. The skin burned where his fingers had touched her. He dropped his hand quickly.
She started heading for the bedroom. She needed some space between them. Suddenly, the air had been filled with…desire and anticipation. She liked to grab at life, but she wasn’t going to sleep with this man only hours after meeting him. That wasn’t in her nature either.
She paused at the hallway to glance back at him. His expression was intense, his features grim. He felt it, too.
“Good night, Cam. See you in the morning.”
She climbed into bed, but it was a long time until she slept.
Just when you least expect your life to take a turn, it does.
Her thoughts were filled with the man in the next room. Her time in Montana would be interesting, no doubt. She just needed to try and not lose her head. Or her panties.
The sun was shining, and Noelle craned her neck to get a better look at the massive ranch house up ahead, as they drove up the long driveway. She was sorry her time with Cam was coming to an end.
She was also very attracted to him. Very. By the time she had headed off to bed last night, her whole body had ached with desire. She wondered if he had felt the same pull toward her as she did him. She would never have slept with him last night, but her body had put up a good fight. Several times she had woken and thought about joining him on the fold-out couch.
“Abby’s going to be real happy to see you. You’ll get to meet most of the family, too. Don’t let them overwhelm you. If they start making you crazy, you just come to me. I’ll protect you.”
Noelle smiled. She knew Cam was only joking, but she liked his protective manner. In any other man, it would have been annoying, but with this man, it fit.
“I’m sure they’ll be fine. Was Abby overwhelmed?”
She and her sister didn’t come from a large family.
“No, but she had Brody there to run interference.”
The Land Rover pulled up to the front of the house, and Noelle pushed the car door open as a stream of people rushed out of the front door. Noelle immediately recognized Abby running straight for her. She held out her arms for her baby sister.
“Abby, I made it!”
Abby grabbed and hugged her tightly. No one would know they were sisters by looking at them. Abby was tall, willowy, and blonde. The only thing they had in common was the unusual color of their eyes. Not quite brown, not quite gold, they had inherited their mother’s amber eyes. It was those amber eyes that were bright with unshed tears.
“Elle, I’m so glad you’re here! I was so worried about you and Cam in the storm.”
Noelle hugged her sister one more time before giving her a wry smile.
“I know, and I’m sorry. Thank you for sending him, by the way. I’d probably be coyote chow by now if you hadn’t.”
“No way we’d let you get eaten by coyotes, Noelle. Can I call you Noelle? I’m Brody Hunter, your soon-to-be brother-in-law.”
An extremely handsome young man held out his hand with a big smile. He had brown hair, blue eyes, and dimples. Abby was a lucky woman. He was a real cutie, and looked a lot like Cam. She shook his hand with a smile.
“Yes, please call me Noelle. It’s very nice to meet you finally. I’ve heard so much about you. About you and your family.”
The family appeared to be lined up on the steps of the wraparound porch. The two handsome men giving her flirtatious smiles looked just enough like Brody to be his brothers. There was also an older woman and an older man with silver just touching the wings of his closely cropped hair. Both man and woman were handsome and had welcoming smiles on their faces. Brody waved to the young men first.
“These are my twin older brothers, Caden and Lucas. That’s my Uncle Colt and his wife, Julie. They live in the house just a couple of miles from here on the ranch. They’ve got three sons and a daughter, but they weren’t able to greet you this morning.”
Noelle began shaking hands but wondered if Cam wasn’t a brother, was he a cousin of some sort?
“And of course, you’ve met my dad, Cameron Hunter. We hope you enjoy your stay here, Noelle.”
The air sucked from her lungs, and the world tilted sideways. Cam Hunter was Brody’s dad.
Outstanding. I want to fuck the brains out of Abby’s future father-in-law.
* * * *
Cam held the mug of steaming coffee between his hands and stared unseeingly at the back pasture. After Noelle had been introduced to his family, he had taken her suitcases to her room and headed out here to the barn to lick his wounds.
“Hidin’ out here, Cam?”
Cam’s brother, Colt, was heading right for him. No way could he avoid this conversation. He fought his irritation at the interruption and set the coffee down with a sigh. Except for his bedroom and man cave, which everyone knew was sacred, he was never really alone here at the ranch. It didn’t bother him most of the time, but right now he could do without his brother’s company.
“Or are you pouting?”
Cam gave his brother a scathing look. “Pouting? Are you fucking kidding me? Why would I be pouting?”
Colt chuckled and went to pour himself a cup of coffee from the coffeemaker they kept running all day long in the barn. Ranching was a twenty-four-hour-a-day business.
“Because that pretty little filly abandoned you and headed to spend time with her sister instead. She’s a looker, Cam. You always did have good taste.”
“I hardly see how my taste in women comes into this, Colt. If she had been a dog, I wouldn’t have left her to freeze and starve in her car last night.”
Colt sat down on a bale of hay and stretched out his long legs with a chuckle, sipping his coffee. “No, but you wouldn’t have been so territorial this morning when you brought her home. You damn near peed on her in front of your sons to mark your ownership.”
Cam was not amused. His brother could be a real asshole sometimes.
“I was not territorial. She doesn’t belong to me.”
Colt laughed. “Yet. You had your arm around her like she was a prize and a furious scowl for Caden and Lucas when they were giving her the eye. You want her. Admit it. You want to put a collar around her neck. Damn, big brother, it’s about time.”
Cam opened his mouth to argue, but snapped it shut. His asshole of a brother was right. He did want Noelle. Badly. One night and morning with her hadn’t been nearly enough. She was smart, funny, sexy, and Cam wanted to explore the simmering heat he knew he hadn’t imagined between the two of them. She might be the woman he had been waiting for. A woman he could love.
Cam sat down on the hay bale next to Colt and sighed. He really hated when his brother had that smug, satisfied look on his face.
“Yes, I do want her. She’s the kind of woman I’ve wanted to meet. I thought I was doing my duty going out to help her last night. I never expected to enjoy the time with her. I thought I would just have to deal with it. But, she’s amazing. She’s not only beautiful. She’s the whole package. I thought she was attracted to me, too, until this morning. Did you see her face when she found out I was Brody’s dad? Dear God, she looked at me like I had one foot in the grave and another on a banana peel. It never for a minute occurred to me our age difference might be a problem. Shit, I’m only forty-nine. That’s not old. Didn’t Abby say Noelle was going to be thirty in a few weeks?”
Colt barked in laughter. “She did say that. And Noelle didn’t look at you in horror over your age. She just looked surprised. I’m guessing she thought you were Brody’s older brother, not his father. You should feel complimented.” Colt slapped Cam on the back. “And when you say she’s the whole package, does that mean she’s submissive, too, you lucky son of a bitch?”
Cam stood up and started pacing the hay-strewn floor. “I don’t know. I get a vibe from her that she likes it when I take control and get protective. I also get a vibe that she’s never submitted to anyone or anything her entire life. Her submission won’t be easily won. She doesn’t like to obey from what I’ve experienced.” He stopped in front of his brother. “Do you really think she wasn’t turned off by my age? She looked gob-smacked by the news.”
“Shit, yes, she was surprised, but you could feel the sexual tension between you two. It was thick and it didn’t dissipate when she found out you’re as old as Methuselah. As for her submission, no submission worth winning comes easily. You know as well as I do.”
Colt certainly did know it. Julie had led his brother on a merry chase almost thirty years ago before she had agreed to wear his collar. They were proof a lifelong Dominant-submissive relationship was not only possible, but could bring both parties happiness and fulfillment. Cam had always wanted what Colt had with Julie. His own marriage had crashed and burned fifteen years ago. He had learned a great deal from his marriage and divorce, and one of those things was that good women were hard to find. This woman had literally driven herself to his remote ranch. He wasn’t going to let this chance pass him by.