LOGINBen gave her a look she’d never seen before. “Ainsley. I never meant—”“Found them.” Rielle waved a stack of paper bags. “I also grabbed the herbs. They should be refrigerated.”Grateful for the interruption, she practically ran to Rielle. “Thanks. How much do I owe you?”“Twenty bucks oughta cover it.”Ainsley figured that was a low amount after she loaded the four heavy bags into her trunk. She ignored Bennett’s hard, hot stare that seemed to liquefy her bones as she chatted with Rielle.She didn’t look his way when she climbed in her car. She hesitated at the end of the driveway.A right turn led back into town. A left turn led to Ben’s house.She knew his eyes were on her vehicle as she turned left.Ainsley wasn’t naked when Ben walked in the door. Something smelled good, and while the thought of a homemade meal awaiting him stirred a weird longing, she hadn’t followed his instructions.And she didn’t seem particularly perplexed about that.She sliced cubed potatoes and dropped th
“True. But I always wondered why your mom went out of her way to check on me when Rory was a baby.”That surprised Ben enough he stopped digging. “Really? Vi did that? Without preaching about the high price of sin?”“Jerk.” Rielle whipped a clump of dirt at him. “Vi never was like that toward me. Or Rory. And you don’t give your mom enough credit, Ben. She might’ve made some mistakes in her life, but she’s owned up to them. She’s changed a lot.”“I didn’t realize you were so buddy-buddy with my mom.”Rielle shrugged. “Vi’s a damn sight more interesting than Joan McKay, who was the only other woman close by besides Libby.”As Ainsley shifted her stance, feeling woefully out of place, three dogs came bounding out of the treeline. Ace and Deuce made a beeline for her, barking happily, no doubt remembering her last doggie bribe. There went this brand new pair of pantyhose.“Ace! Deuce! Sit. Stay,” Ben commanded.The dogs obeyed. Heck, she had the urge to obey.Rielle’s dog cowered by her
“Yes.” The firm set to her jaw meant this was nonnegotiable. “Even if we were in a normal dating situation, I’d end it the instant business entered the equation. You have the choice to keep our original agreement intact.”“By askin’ Settler’s First to lend me the money.”She nodded.He stretched across the table, and reached for her hand, hoping charm would have some effect on her. “I need the loan. I want you. I want you like f**kin’ crazy. I can’t have it both ways. For a man used to havin’ his way in all things? This absolutely sucks balls. Why can’t we—”“Sneak around more than we already are?” she supplied coolly. “We both knew this would end. You’re just choosing to end it sooner.”And with that comment, she’d put the ball squarely in his court. Ainsley could chalk up their time together as an experiment. She wouldn’t have to consider going into a long term Dom/sub relationship with him. Goddammit, this wasn’t fair. The first time he’d found a woman who could—“Ben?”Fuck. Not a
Ease into it? Or just say it. “I need a loan.”Any warmth in her eyes evaporated.“Look, it’s a…delicate situation so let me explain before your eyes slice me to ribbons.”“I’m listening.”Rather than admitting the truth—he had his eye on a piece of land about to be repossessed—Ben did something he rarely did: he flat-out lied. Not only had he promised Rielle discretion, he’d promised his cousins that same discretion. Ainsley wouldn’t question this reason for needing the money since it was personal. Given all he’d told her about McKay ranching practices, she’d know something was off that he wasn’t including his entire family on the possible land deal. “You know I dabble in carpentry. I’ve built custom furniture for different places. Some previous customers have contacted me, wanting other pieces. Seems I have a chance to expand and get the challenge of creating something new. To do that I’ll need more equipment and keep a wider variety of building materials on hand. And that is expens
So he chewed on it for a day and came up with a solution. Not ideal, but workable. Okay, it sucked ass, and it crossed another line, but he had no choice.Late Tuesday morning Ben ironed his plain white shirt, slipped on a bolo tie embellished with the McKay brand and donned his tan suit coat. He added a western belt, centering it between his jean-clad hips. He settled the black Stetson on his head, grabbed his duster and headed to town.He hadn’t set up an appointment with Ainsley at the bank, too many snoopy people would report back to his that family Ben McKay had applied for a loan. So he was planning to take her to lunch and spring his loan request over a good steak.Ben strode into National West Bank. He tipped his hat to the teller and made tracks straight for Ainsley’s office—only to get intercepted by Jenny.“Ben McKay. Fancy seeing you here again. Is there something I can help you with?”“Yes. I need to speak with Miz Hamilton.”Jenny sauntered to her desk and tapped her fin
“You are hilarious.”Ainsley moved close enough to brush woodchips from his shirt. “I am sorry I assumed it was okay to barge in here.”“Ainsley—”“Let me finish. The last thing I intended was to add more stress to your day.” Her fingertips whisked away more shavings. “Here’s the truth, Ben. I missed you. Not Bennett. Not who you are as a Dom, but you.” She nuzzled the side of his face. “Thank you for stopping by last night. It was totally unexpected. Completely amazing. And exactly what I…needed. I never understood how much I need to access that submissive part of myself until you showed me how good it could be.”The red splotches on her cheeks indicated how hard that’d been for her to admit. It touched him. And flustered him because she was beginning to mean a whole lot more to him than he’d ever imagined. “I don’t know what to say to that.”“Say, I’m happy to see you too, angel.”Ben tugged her between his knees and reached up to frame her face in his hands. “I’m happy to see you t
Do you want me to touch you like that? “I’m…” India blew out a frustrated breath. “Dammit, Colt. I’m sorry. So freakin’ sorry. I’m such a klutz. I didn’t mean to shoot you in the butt.”He merely stared at her.“What?”“You could kiss it and make it better.”“Funny. Does it hurt?”“Like you wouldn’t beli
Quinn dipped his head and kissed her. For a good long time.When they broke apart, she murmured, “My roommate is in a class right now. Wouldn’t it be fun to mess around? Especially when there’s a chance we’ll get caught?”“Sounds like my kinda fun.” Fun. That reminded him. “What did you mean when you
“I didn’t care. I just wanted to be with you.” A wistful look crossed her face. “Sometimes I think we’ve come so far…and then I look at you and still feel like that unsure sixteen-year-old girl.”That jarred him. “Unsure about me?”“No, unsure on why you picked me.”“Why?”“The McKay boys’ reputation fo
“You wanna shower?“Now?”“Yep.” Trevor grinned and pointed at the interest stirring in Edgard’s cock. “After we have another round of monkey sex, we’ll talk more about all this. In detail. I wanna make it work this time, Ed. Don’t know how we’re gonna go about it, but I figure we can come up with som







