Authors: Alycia Taylor
“Why the hell isn’t this paved?” I snapped at him.
It was a stupid question for the ranch hand, but I was annoyed and he was the
only one around to take it out on.
He laughed out loud then and said, “You
ain’t
from around here, are you, ma’am?”
Ma’am?
Really?
Jeez, I hate this place already. I hate that
the hot guy is making fun of me. I hate that I loved the hearty sound of his
laugh. I ignored his question, rolled my eyes, and started forward again.
“Would you like some help?” he asked politely and to
his credit without too much amusement at my misery in his voice. I really did
not want his help though. I did not want this cowboy thinking I was some
helpless female just because I happened to live in this century. As I had that
thought, my new boots slipped, and I felt my body lurch backwards. The ranch
hand grabbed my arm and stopped me from falling. His hands were big and strong
and hot…my heart actually skipped a beat, there was a tickle in my belly, and I
felt the slightest little twitch down south. Quickly reminding myself where I
was and that hot or not, this guy wasn’t my type, I thanked him and pulled my
hand back, telling him I had this. The last thing I wanted or needed was a
country bumpkin. I would shrivel up and die out here. I need the hustle and
bustle of the city. I need my
venti
caramel latte
with an extra shot, too. I had to wonder how long it would be before the new, or
whatever it was that attracted Mom here, wore off. Maybe it would last long
enough for me to get me through this summer without losing my mind.
CHAPTER
FOUR
MARK
I knew when she jerked her arm away with that curt,
“I got it, thanks,” she was going to be trouble. I was only trying to be polite
and help. Maybe her father should have told her to be nice and use her manners.
I was annoyed with her, but watching her make her way through the mud and up
onto the front porch in her designer jeans and fancy boots was definitely a
treat. She wore those jeans better than she had a right to, and I was really,
really hoping that I was wrong and this wasn’t Lydia’s daughter. I could
overlook her bad manners – and then I could do lots of other things to her, as
well. As long as she wasn’t my stepsister….I followed her up onto the porch and
opened the door. She didn’t say anything, but she gave me a strange look
like
she thought I was being overly forward or something.
Maybe she was one of those feminist types. I stood just inside the foyer and
held it until she finally stepped inside. She passed me closely and damn if she
didn’t smell as good as she looked. As I closed the door behind us, she reached
up and took off those ridiculous sunglasses. I almost wished that she would put
them back on now because if she was my stepsister, this feeling in the front of
my jeans was getting out of control. Her eyes were as pretty as the rest of her
and they were huge and kind of almond shaped. I guess most people would call
them hazel, but instead of the brown and green being mixed together, they were
a smooth chocolate brown color with flecks of green in them and a dark green
rim around the outside. They were framed with eyelashes that must have been an
inch long and didn’t look like they had any of that mascara on them that women
were so fond
of
. Her lips were full and glossy and, God
help me, but I was already imagining what it would be like to kiss them. Her skin
was all smooth and soft looking. It didn’t look like she had any make-up on her
face, either, and I wanted to touch it and see if it was as soft as it looked.
Her hair was dark and long and curled to her shoulders. The body that went with
all of that was spectacular. I felt incestuous just looking at her, and I
didn’t even know for sure who she was. I guess I had a good idea, but for now,
I wanted to remain in denial.
I could feel the sweat beading on my forehead as I
yelled, “Hey Dad! We have a guest.”
She gave me a wide-eyed look when I said, “Dad.”
Strangely, I liked that. It made me think that she’d been hoping the same thing
I was – that we weren’t related in any way. Maybe we could still make this
work. I shut that down quickly. If this was Lydia’s
daughter,
that
would just be too weird.
“I’m so glad you made it. How was the drive out?”
Dad knew who she was, and he was expecting her. That wasn’t a good sign, either
– at least, not good for me. It had to be her. Dad didn’t receive many
visitors. She smiled and she went from a ten to an eleven. She was off the
charts. Her being my stepsister would be like the worst cosmic joke ever.
“It was good, thank you, Rob. It’s good to be here.”
“Did you introduce yourself to your stepsister, Lexi?”
Dad asked me. There it was the kick in the nuts. The news I was most hoping not
to hear.
“Not exactly,” I said, trying not to look as
disappointed as I felt. I put out my hand and said, “It’s really nice to meet
you, Lexi. I’m Mark. Welcome.”
She looked at me again with those wide eyes, and for
just a second I saw a flash of something that told me I was right. She had been
hoping for family friend or employee. She wanted me. Hot damn! I let myself
have that moment, and then once again, thoroughly disgusted with my incestuous
self, I forced myself to put those thoughts back away. She’s my stepsister and
this might be the country, but were not mountain folk and we don’t do our
sisters.
“Hi Mark,” she said. The smile I got was not as
bright as the one she’d given Dad. She took my hand and I held onto hers firmly
for a few seconds while we made eye contact. It was literally only seconds, but
it was intense. I could feel the sparks flying. I was more than reluctant to
let go, but again, major creepiness holding onto her hand and gazing into her
eyes. I could attest to the fact that her skin was as soft as it looked now, at
least on her hands. I had to force myself to break the eye contact, too. When I
did, she turned back to Dad and said, “It’s really nice of you to have me here
for the summer. The ranch is lovely and so is your home.”
And so are you. Damn, I might have to think about
staying somewhere else for the summer. I’m just not sure I trust myself not to
do something stupid around this woman. God I hope all of these incestuous
thoughts were not splashed across my face.
“Thank you,” Dad said. “Your Mom actually has more
to do with the inside being nice than I do. The land is my forte.” That was
true. Lydia had redecorated, but she’d done a really nice job of keeping with
the ranch theme. It was a lot more comfortable now for us all than it used to
be. I looked back at Lexi. She was still smiling, but now it was beginning to
look
forced
. She was nervous. I guess I couldn’t blame
her.
“Where’s my mom?”
“Here I am!” Lydia was coming down the stairs. Lexi
didn’t look too relieved; she was probably hoping that she was in the kitchen
or something so she could escape her new “family.” When Lydia reached the
bottom step, she wrapped her daughter up in her arms. They looked really happy
to see each other. I compared them now as they stood side by side and decided
that Lexi must have gotten most of her father’s DNA. Lydia is a nice-looking
lady for her age, but they didn’t even have any of the same features. Lydia was
fair skinned and hair and Lexi had dark, almost raven black hair. While Lydia
was a subtle short, maybe on five-three or four, Lexi was tall, five seven or
eight with legs that went on and on. I could just imagine what they would feel
like wrapped around my waist…Damn!
Lydia held Lexi back after a minute and said, “You
are so pretty. Didn’t I make a beautiful girl?” Of course every fiber in my
body agreed, but I didn’t want to look that enthusiastic and be outed as a
perv
right then and there.
I smiled and nodded as Dad said, “You sure did.
She’s as pretty as her Mama.”
Lexi gave her mom a “stop it” look and then she
actually blushed. You would think a woman who was as gorgeous as she is would
be used to it. I found the fact that she didn’t seem arrogant about it sexy,
though. Shit! Lexi looked at Dad and smiled and then back at Lydia. Her eyes
looked sad suddenly, or maybe nervous, and she said, “I’m so sorry that I
didn’t make it to the wedding.”
The wedding! That’s right, she wasn’t at the
wedding. I definitely would have remembered that. Everyone in this county was
there and a lot of Lydia’s friends from the city. It had been a really lavish
affair on the green of the golf course in town. The reception was in the club
house and there had been lots of food and champagne, and I danced with twenty
different pretty girls…I definitely would have remembered her. I do vaguely
remember Lydia talking about her before that and saying that she wouldn’t be
able to make it. Why was it that Lydia said she wasn’t there? I wasn’t overly
concerned with her absence at the time. I probably would have been if I had
already met her before that. Not probably – definitely. What that hell was I
going to do with all of this lust for two months? Jeez!
Back to the wedding…Focus, Mark! I think I remember
Lydia saying something about school. She’s in college, first year, which I
remember thinking was weird since she’s already twenty-one. But even at that,
unless it was mid-term week or finals week, I have a hard time imagining why
she couldn’t take just one day off for her mother’s wedding. Dad’s not even my
favorite person and I wouldn’t have missed it. I found that strange, especially
since Lydia goes on about her all the time and acts
like
they’re really close. They seemed genuinely happy to see each other today.
Relationships in general are strange, though. I guess anyone who
knows my Dad and me would have the
idea that we’re really close, too. He spends a lot of his time bragging about
me…yet he’s not really proud in the least. He’s just really good at slinging
whatever B.S. he thinks people want or expect to hear. I know I’m a
disappointment to him. He’s never said it out loud to my face, but I just know.
The way he looks at me sometimes with so many regrets says it all. He always
wanted me to take over the ranch. He said it was supposed to be in my blood. I do
feel the land in my blood and it calls me back here sometimes. But I don’t feel
it enough that I want to put roots down on it. I feel bull riding in my blood.
I feel the rodeo and traveling. I like being in a different town every week and
meeting and seeing different people. I’m good at riding bulls, and everyone
needs something they’re good
at
. Aren’t parents
supposed to want that for you, too? Maybe when I’m Dad’s age I might be ready
to settle down and run a ranch, but I couldn’t promise him
that, and I knew that I wasn’t ready to do it now. Dad’s never
really been anywhere but here for more than a day or two of his life. Just the
thought of that made me feel like my oxygen tube was being stepped on.
I suddenly caught myself checking out my stepsister
again. It was so hard not to look at her. It would be like sitting a plate of prime
rib down in front of the cow dogs and telling them not only could they not
touch it,
but
they couldn’t look at it, either. Damn!
I have to stop. I’m looking at her
like
she’s someone
I want to take to a motel and have hot, sweaty sex with. She is, but it’s
wrong. It’s creepy and it’s wrong…But she is oh so freaking hot! Damn!
The ladies were talking about Lexi’s drive out from
the city and she was telling her mom how she’d gotten lost trying to find the
road.
“You’re not the first one,” I told her. “I’ve told
Dad a hundred times we need a bigger sign at the end of the road.”
She smiled tightly and said, “I wasn’t even sure
that it was a road.”
“I guess it should be paved, huh?” I asked her with
a grin. She narrowed her eyes and me and then went back to her conversation
with her mother. I shouldn’t be so hard on her about that. She didn’t
understand that paving or not paving had nothing to do with the money it would
cost or us being uncivilized and everything to do with how hot it got around
here during the summer and how much harder driving cattle would be on the hot
asphalt as compared to the dirt. Maybe if she sticks around for a while, I can
teach her a few things about the country.
“Does your cell phone work here?” she asked her
mother.
“Yes,” Lydia told her. “Don’t worry. There’s a dead
spot out there close to the main road, but here on the ranch the phones and
internet all work.”
She looked relieved. I suppose she didn’t want to
imagine that she was completely isolated away from her city. I was staring at
her jean clad butt again when my Dad clapped me on the shoulder. I jumped. I
was afraid he saw the way I was looking at my “sister.”
“Mark, join me in the kitchen, will you? I could use
some help.” Please God tell me he didn’t see me checking her out.
“Sure,” I said. Lexi and I locked eyes for a half a
second then and all sorts of my body parts twitched. God, I’m a pervert…a
sexual deviant…fuck she’s hot!
CHAPTER
FIVE
LEXI
I took a deep breath when Rob led Mark out of the
room and into the kitchen. I think I’d been holding my breath the entire time.
It was really good to see Mom, and she looked great and happy. She deserved to
be happy. I wasn’t going to ruin this for her with my ridiculous lust towards
her stepson. God, if only I’d met him before my mind went to that dark place, I
think it would have been better. I would have had “brother” in my head ahead of
“hottest guy I’ve ever seen.” I thought about those eyes again and wondered if
that would have made any difference. I really had to doubt it.