15
Y
16
ou sure you know how to do this?” Paddy tried to keep
17
his expression grim, but Damien noted the smile at the
18
corner of his lips.
19
“I know how to ATV. How to ride a dirt bike too.” She was
20
so small Damien understood why Paddy was being so careful.
21
But she was strong. So much stronger than he’d suspected when
22
he fi rst met her.
23
Damien handed her a helmet and some goggles. “She’s a
24
tough cookie, Paddy.”
25
Vaughan loped up. “Been a while since we did this. Seems
26
like a good day for it.” He took the helmet down and put it on,
27
strapping the goggles on as well.
S28
Paddy took the lead, Vaughan followed, then Mary. Damien
N29
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01
brought up the rear. He wanted to keep an eye on her anyway.
02
Ezra met them at his place, and once they cleared all the houses,
03
they opened up and hit the sort of course they’d created over the
04
last several years.
05
She was fearless. A few times he’d nearly swallowed his tongue
06
at how fearless she was. Once she got the lay of the land, she
07
took hills quickly, bumping down the other side without hesita-
08
tion. She liked it fast, which made him grin. Inwardly of course;
09
he didn’t want bugs in his teeth after all.
10
It was rare that outsiders could keep up with the Hurley
11
brothers. But she did. She kept at it, never complaining that she
12
got muddy or that it was hot. She didn’t fall behind or signal
13
for a break. And when Paddy fi nally rolled to a stop at the over-
14
look, Damien pulled out the lunch she’d made earlier and they
15
all dusted themselves off enough to sit.
16
Of course, despite her game attitude with ATV’ing, she also
17
was clever. She’d brought some wet wipes to clean up with.
18
“What? I’m going to be touching food. Can’t do that with
19
dirty hands.” She handed the container to Ezra, who’d been
20
staring, but he took it with a nod.
21
“I like a woman who thinks ahead.”
22
“My ass is going to hurt big- time tomorrow though. It’s been
23
a while since I’ve done this.”
24
Paddy laughed. “You’ll have to come down more often so
25
you can keep in practice.”
26
She handed around the food and everyone was quiet for long
27
minutes as they scarfed it up.
28S
“It’s really a good thing I’m such a nice guy or I’d be trying
29N
so hard to steal her from you.” Paddy winked at her before look-
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ing back to Damien. “She can cook. She can handle Mom. Dad
01
thinks she’s awesome. The animals love her. And she’s not afraid
02
of getting dirty.”
03
Mary sent him a look from under her lashes and a bolt of
04
heat shot through him. No, Mary was not afraid of getting dirty.
05
Oh, he’d been with women. Lots of women who did lots of
06
sex things. But she truly enjoyed sex in a way he’d never really
07
experienced in a partner before. She didn’t just do stuff because
08
he liked it, or because she thought it seemed sexy. She was a dirty 09
girl who loved to fuck. She wanted to make him hot, wanted to
10
make him come, but she wanted to come too. She wasn’t shy
11
about it, didn’t pretend she didn’t want to get off. So totally sexy.
12
“I fi nd it hilarious that you even think you could steal her
13
from me.”
14
“I’m older and wiser, Damien. The ladies like that.”
15
Mary laughed, leaning back into Damien. “We do. But I’m
16
pretty happy with what I’ve got. He’s a year younger than I am.
17
I suppose there’s something to be said for younger men too.”
18
Vaughan laughed then. “Well, if you ever get tired of Damien,
19
keep in mind that I’m younger than he is.”
20
“Boy oh boy. You four are going to ruin me forever.”
21
Damien pulled a leaf from her hair, blowing it away with a
22
puff of breath.
23
It was a good day. One of the best he’d had in a very long
24
time. Funny how all his good days of late were because of her.
25
Ezra stood, stretching. “When you’re all ready, I think we
26
should take her by the stream. It’s pretty down that way. Plus I
27
want to check the fence. We did a fi x a few weeks ago but I want
S28
to be sure it’s still holding.”
N29
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01
“We have a problem?” Damien stood, brushing his ass off.
02
“I don’t think so. But I’d prefer to keep Haley’s cattle away
03
from our stream.” Haley was the cattle rancher who lived sev-
04
eral miles away. But the farthest edge of their land abutted the
05
farthest edge of Sweet Hollow Ranch, and their water could be
06
devastated if the cattle got into it. Vigilance was a good thing
07
because clean water was a necessity for their crops.
08
“I’m ready when you are.”
09
He held a hand out and pulled her to her feet, pausing to
10
brush a kiss over her lips. She smiled up at him.
11
“You having a good time?”
12
“I really am. Thanks for inviting me.”
13
“I wish it could be for longer. Gonna suck when you go back
14
home.”
15
“There’s time. I’m not going anywhere just now.”
16
He took her hand, squeezing it. “Good thing.”
17
18
19
She handled things in Vaughan’s kitchen like a boss. She cur-
20
rently wore a bathing suit cover-up as she moved effi ciently
21
around the room. Damien was her appointed assistant that day.
22
His mother had checked in, edged into the kitchen, but she’d
23
been pretty respectful. He was glad Vaughan had suggested she
24
cook there instead of their parents’ place or even Damien’s.
25
Paddy and their dad were in the pool. Ezra sunned himself
26
and Vaughan split his time between the kitchen and his backyard.
27
He’d wanted this for his family. A gesture to say thank you
28S
for the way they always supported him. He was out on tour for
29N
months at a time, but when he got back his parents had dealt
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with his mail and his mom kept his place aired out. They’d loved
01
him through a lot of fuckups, a lot of changes. That support had
02
meant everything to him. And now Mary was making them a
03
feast and it meant even more than having a random caterer do
04
it, or to take them to a restaurant.
05
“This kitchen is pretty fabulous too.” She checked on the
06
chicken, apparently satisfi ed. “I could have made something way
07
more complicated than fried chicken, you know.”
08
“I do know. But your fried chicken is ridiculously good and
09
I wanted my family to know that too.” And his mother would
10
approve of something simple versus something really compli-
11
cated. Oh sure, she’d appreciate the skill, but a good fried
12
chicken would be something she could admire. Practical as well
13
as tasty.
14
“Oooh, potato salad too?”
15
She grinned at him. “Vaughan mentioned that he loved it.”
16
His mother liked that answer; he could tell by the way she
17
stood up a little straighter.
18
“You need another root beer?” she asked Mary.
19
“That’d hit the spot. Thank you.”
20
It wasn’t that no one ever drank around Ezra. They did from
21
time to time. But drinking in the middle of the day wasn’t some-
22
thing he engaged in usually. Maybe at lunch he’d have some
23
wine or whatever. But this was family time and root beer would
24
be just fi ne with fried chicken.
25
“Damien, can you take the tomatoes out of the fridge please?”
26
He did, placing the platter next to her. He watched as she
27
cut mozzarella into discs and slid them between the tomato
S28
slices. “Now I can use that balsamic you gave me.”
N29
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01
The smile she gave him shot straight to his toes. Weird that
02
a gift of some old vinegar would do that, but when he’d given it
03
to her she’d teared up a little. And that had meant he needed to
04
kiss her a few times. And that had led to a fast, hard fuck on his
05
kitchen table.
06
He caught her eye and knew she’d been thinking of that too.
07
She drizzled the balsamic and olive oil over the tomatoes and
08
cheese. “Thanks for the tomatoes, Sharon. They’re really lovely.
09
Perfect for this cheese.”
10
“Glad they could be of use. I’ve canned a million of them
11
this year it seems. But this last crop I fi gured could be put to
12
good use.”
13
Mary dished some up. “Damien, can you hand this to
14
your mom?”
15
His mother took a few bites. “I admit to you now that I was
16
not convinced such a thing would taste good. I fi gured I’d take
17
a bite and then fi nd a way to dump the rest. But damn if I wasn’t
18
wrong. This is delicious.”
19
Mary beamed at his mom. “Thank you. That’s a wonderful
20
compliment. When the tomatoes are fresh it’s a million times
21
better. I don’t make this during the rest of the year, only when
22
I can get local tomatoes that are fresh off the vine. Once you
23
taste them this way, you’re spoiled for life.”
24
Mary checked on the corn. “Nearly done. The salad is ready
25
too.” She peeked in the oven. “Give the biscuits another two
26
minutes. We’re nearly fi nished.”
27
“I’ll get everyone out of the pool and have Ezra and Vaughan
28S
set the table as they’re dry anyway.” His mother headed out.
29N
Damien got close enough to risk a kiss. “Thank you for doing
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this. By the way, I think you’ve totally won my family over. They
01
like you better than me.”
02
She laughed, her eyes dancing. “Yeah? I like them a lot too.”
03
“Let’s eat, Curly.”
04
“Sounds good.”
05
06
07
She paused in the doorway of his practice room at his house. He
08
went inside, a sweet pride on his face. “Just a place to play. I have 09
a studio space where we practice as a band up in the barn.”
10
Ha, the
barn
. The barn was a sophisticated, fully kitted- out 11
studio and rehearsal space. The barn had been fi lled with Hur-
12
leys. Here? Well it was just the two of them. At last.
13
All day they’d been out with his brothers, riding ATVs. Vis-
14
iting the orchards and the horses. They’d even taken a dip in
15
Vaughan’s pool and had a barbecue. She’d wanted him a little
16
bit more with each passing moment.
17
He was so . . . hot. He stood there in low slung jeans and a
18
T-shirt, his tats showing. No shoes. Every inch the rock star. It
19
made her sweat.
20
“I think you should play for me.”
21
He turned back, startled. “Me?’
22