Twenty-Two

"I'm tellin' you. She's done this before. I'd go so far as to say she's a pro."

Stone glanced over at Nico, fully expecting to see … well, to be honest, his mind had gone in a vastly different direction because what he expected to see was Stevie on her knees in front of Nico, giving him the blowjob of a lifetime. She wasn't on her knees. In fact, she was a few feet away from Nico, both of them on the couch in the living room.

"Hey. You still over there?"

Nico was now waving his hand, attempting to get Stone's attention.

"Yeah. Sorry."

"She can help you. All you've gotta do is ask. Who do you think did the business proposal for D and S?"

Stevie pointed at herself with both thumbs, then mouthed, "That was me."

Damn, she was cute.

"Or, you know, you could come cuddle up on the couch, and we can work on"—her arm shot straight up in the air, hand tilted, finger pointing as though she was aiming over his head—"that later."

She was sitting with her back to the corner of the couch, a blanket covering her from the neck down, while J?ger slept in her lap. Stone wasn't one to lay around the house and do nothing, but she made it look inviting.

She patted the cushion beside her. "I don't bite."

Stone sat up straight, planting both hands on his head so he could stretch. "But I do."

Even from where he sat on the stool in the kitchen, he could see her eyes glitter.

It had been two hours since their rendezvous in this kitchen—on this very stool, actually. The three of them had retreated to their separate corners, finishing their breakfast and keeping the conversation off the topic of their relationship. As far as Stone was concerned, there was no need to hash it out anymore. Stevie had promised to give them a chance, and he was going to hold her to it.

After breakfast, Stevie disappeared to take a shower, and Stone asked Nico if he could borrow the iPad that had been sitting on the counter. As soon as Nico gave him the go-ahead, Stone started researching business plans pertaining to farming and he hadn't left this stool since he started.

"Lorrie told me fourteen days," he said, forcing himself to his feet. "And I've got to talk to their boys to get their blessing."

"You think they'll give it to you?" Nico asked as Stone approached.

"Curtis said they have no desire to do anything with it. Plus, he's got more set aside to pass on to them when…" He waved his hand, not wanting to think about the day his uncle was no longer of this earth.

Stone flopped down on the couch between Nico and Stevie, stretching his legs out in front of him. He looked at the television but wasn't paying attention to what was on the screen. He had too much on his mind.

"When's the last time you talked to your cousins?" Nico asked.

"It's been a minute," he admitted. His trips to town generally didn't involve visiting anyone but his parents. And his brothers and sisters if they were around. He would see everyone else on holidays, mainly those who popped by his parents' house for something.

"Your family's close, though," Stevie acknowledged. "I'm sure they'll be happy to catch up."

Stone nodded, peering over at her. "How're your folks?"

Her expression shuttered. "They … uh … divorced. My mom's in New York with her new rich husband. My dad's taken up internet dating."

"Oh, shit." He twisted to face her more fully. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Her eyebrow quirked, and to his surprise, she didn't blast him with a remark meant to make him feel like shit. He would've deserved it, obviously.

Stevie waved a hand. "It's no big. I'm sure my dad won't get swept up in some catfishing scam where he gives what little money he has to some burly dude pretending to be Sally McBigBoobs."

Stone glanced at Nico to see what his reaction was. His response was a shrug.

Knowing he was only digging a deeper hole, Stone directed his next question at Nico. "And your mom?"

"Dead," he said without an ounce of emotion.

Way to go, Jameson. Sure know how to ruin the mood.

Fuck.

Stone sat up, planting his elbows on his knees. "I—"

Before he could make an excuse to go home, Stevie slipped out from under the blanket, carefully crawling over J?ger, who was far too comfortable to notice Stone was mastering the art of putting his foot in his mouth.

"I'm sorry," she said, urging him back so she could straddle his legs.

Stone relaxed, staring up at her as she planted her hands on his shoulders.

"I said I'd give this a chance, and I meant it. But I should warn you. Parents—mainly mine—are a sore topic in this house. But now you know."

His body warmed as she settled on his lap, her fingers trailing along the neck of his shirt.

Stone couldn't explain the sense of calm that settled over him when he was around Stevie. It had always been the case. She had a way about her that made people comfortable. Even when she was ratcheting up the temperature on his internal thermometer.

Her eyes trailed the path of her fingers. "Let me see if I can get you caught up."

He smiled. This was the Stevie he remembered. She'd always been quick to defuse a situation.

"After you left, we all graduated high school. Me, Nico. Your sister."—she lifted her hands, balling them into fists, and cheered—"Class of 2009. Yay!"

Stone laughed, content to listen and watch.

"Then, Nico went off to college." She flashed a grin. "Landscape architect, which, if I recall correctly, was an idea he came up with after he learned that Donovan and Brady had gone the traditional architect route."

Stone glanced at Nico. He laughed when Nico both shrugged and rolled his eyes.

"Don't deny it," Stevie told him. "I started community college and lived at home. I worked in the diner for about a week. Hated it. Luckily, my dad told me I should focus all my efforts on school and not try to do more than I could handle. I didn't argue, filling my class schedule. I got my associate degree in business management. My dad was proud of me, so he urged me to apply to a big university because he knew business was not where I wanted to focus my life. Since Niyah was going to UT, I figured it was worth a shot. I got in. Plant biology is my jam. It was awesome. Meanwhile, Nico was still learning to rake dirt and make it look pretty."

Nico snorted.

Stone huffed a laugh. The tension had faded completely, and it was all due to Stevie's efforts. But he wanted to know more.

"Keep goin'," he urged.

"Okay." She sat back on his thighs, forehead creased in thought. "I finished my bachelor's degree, but unlike the overachievers I associate with, I stopped there. Niyah and Nico, not so much. They like to shine. Nico got his master's degree. Niyah, the real overachiever, went for her doctorate. That's how she met Adam. He's cool. A nerd like her. They make a good pair."

She took a breath. "Niyah and I rented a house here in town, and that's where we were when Nico finally came home. I think he slept on our couch for about a week. Maybe a month."

Nico was shaking his head. "I did not."

"But you could have." She flashed another grin. "Shortly after that, my grandpa died."

Her gaze shifted back to Stone, and he could see the echo of sadness still there.

"Long battle with cancer. I spent a lot of time with him after I graduated high school because my parents were always fighting. We were close. Me and Grandpa. I figure that's why he left me money. He wanted me to be independent of my parents. I used it to bribe Nico into startin' a business."

Nico laughed. "Bribe? Is that what you're callin' it?"

"Works." Her grin grew wider. "We started the business. It was slow at first. Real slow. But we were both determined. That's how he met Melanie. Her parents are clients of ours. Were, I guess, is the better word. They don't like him much anymore since he broke up with her."

"They like me just fine."

Stevie giggled. "I know. Which is weird. He broke their little girl's heart, but they still like him." She shrugged. "Anyway. Before he broke her heart, he planned to live happily ever after with her in this great big house. They were gonna have a horde of kids and at least three house servants." Stevie canted her head. "After all, Glamour-life Barbie didn't intend to pay for anything or, God forbid, get her hands dirty with kid slobber. She preferred to spend her days at the hair salon getting ready to have tea with her bitchy ass friends."

Nico snorted. "She's not too far off on that."

"I take it you didn't like her?" Stone asked Stevie.

"I liked her just fine—right up until she decided she'd fill Nico's schedule so he didn't have time to spend with his sister. That lasted a while. And then, as a shock to everyone who knew them, Nico proposed." She gasped dramatically, pressing her hand to her chest. "With wedding bells as the soundtrack to her new future, Glam Barbie morphed into Psycho Barbie and became downright mean."

Stone looked at Nico again, trying to gauge whether there was any truth to this story. He was surprised when Nico nodded, his gaze shifting to his lap.

"But thankfully, he came to his senses and realized good ol' Mel couldn't give him what he needed."

"Which was?"

"Penis," Stevie answered, her expression serious.

Stone barked a laugh.

"What? It's true. Don't believe me?"

He planted his hands on her thighs. "I believe you."

She sighed. "Anyway, last year, Niyah and Adam got engaged, and they borrowed the wedding bell soundtrack for themselves, so I knew it was only a matter of time before I would be lookin' for a new place to live, and I mentioned as much to Tara. She's the receptionist at the office. Nico, who likes to eavesdrop, overheard us, and the next thing I know, he's offerin' to let me rent a room in this great big mansion."

"I didn't eavesdrop," Nico told her. "Niyah told me."

Stevie rolled her eyes, smiling at Stone. "So he says. And somewhere in there, my mom decided that Texas was much too small to contain all her big dreams, so she got on the internet and started searchin' for the Barbie life that Mel had tried to design for herself—I think they drank from the same well or somethin'. Anyway, my mom found some rich dude who would give her not just the Barbie dream house, but the Barbie sports car, the Barbie swimmin' pool, the—" She waved a hand and exhaled heavily. "You get the picture."

"You have somethin' against Barbie?"

She laughed and rubbed his chest. "A little bit, yeah."

He'd missed this woman so damn much.

Stone tapped her thigh to get her attention. "While Nico was shackin' up with Glamour Barbie and Niyah was datin' her future husband, who was keepin' you company?"

Stevie snorted. "Oscar. And no, it was never serious. He entertained me—in bed and out—but he was not boyfriend material. The guy still sleeps on his mom's couch from time to time. I ended it a few months before I moved in here."

Good to know.

Still watching her, Stone asked, "At what point in this story did you and Nico start doin' the nasty?"

She laughed, the sound so beautiful, he couldn't resist reaching for her.

"That wasn't planned," she said cautiously, glancing at Nico.

Stone looked, too, and saw Nico nod as though giving her permission to reveal their secret.

"We … uh … we found ourselves alone last Valentine's Day. We might've sucked down a little too much rum and Coke and ended up horizontal."

"I'm pretty sure we were vertical that first time," Nico supplied.

Her eyes lit with amusement. "Maybe."

"And since then?" Stone probed, wanting desperately for these two to finally admit that what was happening between them was far more than mere sex.

***

"Since then, what?" Stevie asked, playing dumb.

She knew exactly what Stone was getting at, but she wasn't ready to go there yet. It was one thing to agree to this orgasm-producing triangle thing they had going on, but something else entirely to start putting names to the feelings that came with it.

"How often do you sleep in your own beds?"

"Every night." That much was true.

Although they'd had sex a few times over the past year, Stevie made a point to walk away after. She knew what would happen if she stuck around, and she refused to make things awkward for Nico.

"What about you?" she asked Stone. "Give us the CliffsNotes of your life in the past fifteen years."

His eyes glittered. He obviously knew a redirect when he heard one. Question was, would he fall for it?

Finally, Stone nodded his head slowly, his hands once again moving leisurely over her thighs. His gaze lowered as though he was interested in where his fingers were, but Stevie got the feeling he couldn't look her in the eye when he shared his story. Regardless of whether they were moving forward, there was still a lot of residual pain there.

"I hopped around from a few ranches after I left here. Worked as a temporary hand where I was needed. About a year in, I landed a more permanent gig. Stuck around for a while, worked my way up to foreman." His gaze lifted slowly. "Got fired, moved on."

Stevie probably didn't want to know, but she asked anyway. "Why'd you get fired?"

"I was … uh … fuckin' the owner's wife."

She did her best not to react, but since she was sitting on his lap, she knew he felt the tension that took up residence in her muscles.

"It was stupid," he said, his hands resting more firmly on her thighs as though he feared she would move. "But I was reckless back then. I didn't give a shit about anything but makin' a name for myself. I did what I needed to do to numb myself."

"And sex with a married woman was your drug of choice?"

"I didn't want strings," he said, his gaze lifting. "And I knew she'd married him for the money—something I didn't have—so I wasn't worried she'd get attached."

"That's one way to do it," Nico said flippantly.

"Yeah." Stone cleared his throat. "After that, I went to work at another ranch. Started from the bottom again. Worked my way up as far as the owner was willin' to let me go. Ended up gettin' a job offer from the owner of the Double J. Didn't have to work my way up that time. That's where I was before I came back here."

"Why?"

Stone met her gaze. "Why what?"

"Why'd you leave to come back here?"

He held her stare for what felt like years before he finally said, "Boss found out I was screwin' his daughter."

If it weren't for the shame she saw on his face, Stevie would've hurried off of him. Instead, she forced herself to remain still, wanting him to elaborate.

"Was it serious?" Nico asked.

"Not at all." Stone's eyes swam with regret. "Not on my part, at least. I didn't even like her. She was a grade-A bitch, and she wanted everyone to know it. I looked past that, and we became friends."

"With benefits," Stevie noted.

Stone shrugged. "I didn't realize she wanted more. Or that her dad would expect more. He gave me an ultimatum: marry her or move on. I opted for the latter."

Stevie hated herself for asking, but… "So you didn't love her?"

Stone was still looking at her, his hazel eyes intent. "No. I've never loved anyone else." His voice dropped an octave. "Only you."

Stone wasn't proud of what he'd done; that was clear. It was then she realized she wasn't the only one who'd been hurt by his actions. Walking away hadn't been easy for him, either. Whether she should or not, Stevie believed him.

Not that it solved all her issues, but it helped. She still harbored a lot of hurt from him leaving her with promises he never intended to keep.

"Are you stickin' around this time?" She needed to hear him say the words. She needed to see the truth in his eyes.

"Yes." His hands stilled on her legs. "That's about the only thing I'm certain of right now. I'm not leavin' again."

"Okay."

As soon as the word was out of her mouth, Stone exhaled heavily. Had he been worried she'd think he was lying? She'd never seen this vulnerable side of him before. Back when they'd been together, he'd been the larger-than-life, cocky man who knew what he wanted and didn't take no for an answer.

"I'm startin' over," Stone said, glancing between them. "And I'm hopin' to do it with y'all in my life."

Stevie looked at Nico. He was watching her, not Stone. She wasn't sure what he was thinking because he had a way of masking his expression, making him impossible to read.

J?ger stirred on the couch and a second later, he was crawling into Stone's lap, his tail wagging as he sniffed and snorted.

"I should take him out," Nico said, getting to his feet.

Stone shifted back when Nico reached for J?ger, picking him up and carrying him toward the back door.

When it was just the two of them, Stone looked at her. "I should probably head home. The roads should be fine now."

She knew he was right. The sun was out, and the temperature was above freezing. The remnants of yesterday's mild storm would be gone completely by nightfall. It was one of the benefits of living this far south.

Stevie nodded. "Maybe we can meet up to go over your business plan. You know, once you put it together."

Stone's hands slid over her hips, cupping her butt as he pulled her closer. "How about dinner? Tomorrow night. My place."

"Maybe."

He flashed a grin, urging her closer with his hands on her back. Stevie leaned in, unable to resist him despite knowing this was moving too fast. She already wished he wouldn't leave, but she knew it was the best for all of them. They needed some space, some time to process what happened last night.

"You think one day you might forgive me?" Stone whispered, his breath fanning her lips.

"There's a good possibility."

"That's all I need to hear." He cupped her face, his thumb brushing along her cheek. "The one thing I've learned over the years is to never take anything for granted. I did it once, and I've been unhappy ever since. I don't intend to do it again."

Warmth curled like smoke ribbons in her chest. She wanted to believe him. Right now, she actually did. And that scared her because she was nothing if not pragmatic. She tried to see the best in people, but she was quick to dismiss them when they hurt her. Stevie had convinced herself that life was too short to dwell on the hurt and anger. Sure, it'd taken years for her to believe that, and this man was the reason.

"I won't let you break my heart again," she whispered.

Stone's eyes turned glassy. "I'll do my damnedest not to."

"And I'll never forgive you if you break Nico's."

His gaze bounced over her face. "I don't intend to."

"Good."

Stevie started to get up, but Stone pulled her in, pressing his mouth to hers. She surrendered to the kiss, leaning into him, teasing his silky hair as their tongues did a slow waltz.

When they finally separated a few minutes later, Stevie knew he'd successfully burrowed right back into her heart. Almost as though he'd never left.