A Rancher's Love Read online

  On one level, watching Ginny Stone get naked did not suck.

  The fact that he was here and she was there though? Sucked was beyond an understatement.

  As she peeled back the sides of her blue flannel shirt, he could all but feel the soft texture under his fingertips.

  “What are you doing?” he demanded.

  The shirt slid from her shoulders and she backed her chair away from the table. Whatever she’d propped her phone against, the new position meant he got a front row view of her spectacular tits in a very sheer blue bra.

  He dropped a hand over his hardening cock and gripped it firmly.

  She nibbled innocently on her bottom lip. “Want to fool around?”

  Always. Forever. Neither of which were the correct answer.

  He went for casual and light, since that seemed more appropriate. “You’re going to break me, woman.”

  “Again with the ego.” She dropped her gaze over him. “Adjust your screen. I want to see.”

  He slid the heel of his hand over his length, emphasizing the arm movement, because while his groin was out of the picture, no way would she misunderstand what he was doing. “Maybe I’m comfy like this.”

  Her eyes flashed. “Fine. Then you won’t mind if I do this.”

  She leaned back in her chair, lifting a hand to her mouth. She slipped two fingers past those pouting lips, tongue extending as she licked. Swirling around until moisture shone in the light. The minx kept her gaze firmly on his as she slid her hand down her body. Past her breasts and over her belly—

  Out of sight.

  “Ginny.” A growl of protest escaped as her eyelids fluttered shut and her head drifted back. Her fingers must’ve hit their target.

  She played mean, which meant he needed to fight fire with fire.

  He stood, watching his phone to see exactly what the camera was aimed at. When he got a shot of crotch, he ignored his image and went back to watching her. “Want this?”

  She licked her lips again, gaze fixed on his hands as he stroked. “Hallelujah. You’re finally sending me a dick pic.”

  “Nothing as crass as that,” he returned. “Move your damn camera so I can see what you’re doing.”

  Both of them fumbled with their phones, stripping away clothes, and then he was staring at her clad in a pair of see-through panties that matched the sinfully sexy bra.

  Ginny sighed contentedly. “You have filled out in all the right ways,” she said.

  He slowed his motions, easing the pressure against his dick. Because the sight of her lush curves relaxing back in her chair, fingers diving under the pale fabric with her knuckles moving in an easy rhythm as she stroked herself—

  The visuals alone were going to set him off without any effort.

  “Put your fingers in your pretty cunt,” Tucker ordered.

  A shiver rolled over her. “Such language,” she scolded even as a sigh escaped her lips. She followed his command, and the sound turned into a breathless moan. “Show me your cock.”

  “Soon,” he promised. “If I’m doing this, I’m going to do it right.”

  Her lips curled in a smile. “I like your cock, Tucker. Show me.”

  “No way. There’s nothing pretty about male equipment. Not like how your pussy gets all swollen and wet for me. Opening up so I want to lick every soft fold with my tongue. I love tasting you bloom as I tease the little pebble of your clit out from the pretty little cave where it hides.”

  Her fingers moved faster under the fabric that was now noticeably wet. “Getting pretty poetic there, sweetheart.”

  “Sweet words for a sweet pussy. Pet her a little harder. That’s it. I want to see your legs quivering.” Tucker jammed a hand under his sweats, relief at pumping into his fist enough to make his muscles clench.

  Her eyelids dropped to half-mast as she fixated on the hand under his sweats. Then the hand drifting across his chest as he stroked a thumb over his nipple.

  “Never sent you something so ordinary as a dick pic. But I hear a dick drop is all the thing.” He shimmied the edge of his sweats over a hipbone, pressing the front fabric away with his pumping hand until the tip of his cock was exposed every time he stroked.

  “Tucker.” Ginny shoved aside the gusset of her underwear, propping her right foot up on the chair beside her and opening wide to his view.

  Christ, he was going to die right then and there. “Fuck.”

  Zero finesse left, he shoved aside his sweats and jacked hard. Watching her fingers tunneling into the wet perfection of her sex. Her other hand cupping her breasts, one and then the other.

  He rubbed his thumb over the perfect spot, wishing they weren’t in separate rooms, separate spaces, wishing he was there to drop to his knees and put his tongue—

  “If I was there, I’d lick you right now. Push your hands away and suck your clit into my mouth. I’d fuck you with my tongue until—”

  Ginny choked out a sob, fingers faltering as she gasped in release.

  Her pleasure was the trigger he needed. His hips pulsed forward helplessly, the pressure of his hand a pale exchange for the pleasure of her body.

  Mindless of everything except watching her come and feeling the release from his own body, Tucker collapsed onto the couch before he realized she had laughed softly. “What evil thing are you thinking now?”

  “That was pretty good, wasn’t it?” She flicked a finger in the air. “Although I think you failed at target practice.”

  Shit. He focused forward and realized he’d been so caught up in the moment, he’d simply shot his load everywhere. He cursed softly. “Crap, what a mess.”

  Her giggle increased in volume. “Sorry?”

  He frowned. “You should be. You should come and clean up this mess.”

  “Me?” she asked, utter innocence on her face. “I had nothing to do with you getting into a…sticky situation.”

  Damn, this woman. He grabbed his T-shirt and tossed it at the floor. Cleanup he would deal with in a while. First, he wanted to make something clear. “That was fun, but this isn’t a long-term solution,” he warned her.

  “I know.” She pulled herself upright, adjusting back to a normal face-to-face position. “Only it’s right for right now.”

  That was something to be debated, but he’d respect her wishes for now.

  Truth was, after having given Luke, Caleb, and Ashton a heads-up reminder to figure out what it was they truly wanted, the wisdom of keeping his and Ginny’s relationship on ice grew less and less logical.

  “I want to see you sometime in person this week,” Tucker told her.

  Ginny nodded slowly. “We’ll figure something out. I don’t know my schedule yet, because I need to get in touch with a few more people, but yes. I want to see you too.”

  His phone went off. Alex Thorne, one of the lead hands for the ranch. “I’ve got to take this,” he told Ginny.

  She blew a quick kiss and disconnected.

  He opened the connection to Alex, thankful it was a phone line, not video. “Tucker here.”

  “You have time to come to the mess hall?” Alex jumped in, but Tucker was already moving to pull his clothes back in place. The shouts and banging in the background didn’t sound very orderly.

  “I’ll be there in under five,” Tucker promised.

  By the time he hit the mess hall, whatever tempers had temporarily flared had cooled enough that Alex had it under control.

  He was, however, standing in the middle of the hall between two full tables of ranch hands who were lingering after dinner for far too long.

  Tucker joined him, marching across the room with his stride firm and his expression as disapproving as possible. “Alex.”

  The other man grinned. “Sorry to pull you back to work, but Ashton said that you got all the bullshit calls from here on out.”

  Tucker snorted. “Of course he did.”

  “Can’t blame the man. Seems as if it’s the perfect decision while training your replacement.” Alex
tilted his head the slightest bit to the right. “Jeffrey and Jim. I reminded them they can talk politics all they want elsewhere.”

  Jeez. Some things never changed. “Religion, politics, money—there’s always something to fight about.”

  “Women. You forgot that one,” Alex offered softly. “Table to the left are a little less conservative in their views and a whole lot more willing to ignore the no bullshit in the mess hall rule.”

  “Anyone I need to talk to?” Tucker asked, trusting Alex’s opinion.

  Not only was Alex one of the lead ranch hands, he was an active coordinator with the Heart Falls firefighting team, which made the man a little more balanced when it came to relationships in the community. He hung out with people other than just his fellow ranch hands, and he seemed solid to the core.

  Alex shook his head. “Seems the threat of you or Ashton showing up was enough to calm them down this time.”

  Or was it only Ashton’s displeasure?

  One step at a time. Tucker looped an arm around Alex’s shoulder and guided him toward the drink station. “Can I buy you a coffee?”

  “Big spender,” Alex joked. “Sure.”

  By the time they got themselves drinks and settled at a table near the exit door, most of the men contemplating trouble had slunk out of sight as quickly as they could. Only Jim met Tucker’s gaze head on, disapproval written all over him.

  Tucker didn’t bother to change his expression. He didn’t need the man to suck up. He needed him to do his job.

  Alex stirred his coffee and chuckled. “Damn. That glare you and Ashton have. Is it genetic, or is it something I can learn?”

  “What are you talking about?” Tucker asked with amusement.

  “That thing you do. That Ashton does, where you look as if you could zap lasers out of your eyeballs, and woe to the man who triggers the beast.”

  A snort escaped him. “Are you sure you’re a ranch hand? You’ve got a bit of—”

  “—literary genius?” Alex offered.

  “—bullshit in you,” Tucker finished.

  An outright burst of laughter escaped Alex. “You’re going to do just fine,” he assured Tucker. “While I’m here, if you ever need an extra hand, let me know.”

  “Going somewhere?”

  Alex dipped his head. “Ashton must’ve forgotten to tell you. Yeah, he’s letting me go on short warning. My parents are back in Manitoba, and they’re both on waiting lists for major surgery. Hip and knee replacements. My sister fosters high-needs kids, so she can’t drop everything.”

  That made sense. “You’re going home to help them until they recover? I hope you’re coming back,” Tucker said honestly.

  Something a little more unreadable crossed Alex’s face. “Hell, yeah, I’m coming back. All sorts of things waiting here for me. Just postponing some of it until the right time, you know?”

  The right time. Tucker was beginning to hate that phrase. It represented too much of his life that had been put on hold, waiting for the right moment.

  He had to find a way to make the right moment arrive sooner than later…

  13

  While it was pretty clear both she and Tucker had hoped for more interaction on a regular basis, the next days flowed into a week, which flowed into time passing all too rapidly without getting the chance to talk with the man.

  She’d tracked him down a few times, but every time she closed her approach, a ranch hand, or Ashton, or one of her brothers would show up, so she’d casually keep walking and pretend that everything was business as usual.

  Diane and Jack were at the end of their visit, so Kelli and Luke set up a final evening together where laughter and outrageous stories were standard fare. Tucker was there for about half the time before he had to respond to a summons from his uncle. Which meant while Ginny saw him briefly, they weren’t together.

  She distracted herself by sharing a couple of the funnier moments from her time away, saving her favourite for last.

  “Going to the spa was an absolute splurge after being in the French countryside with nothing but lukewarm water in the workers’ quarters for a month. So I’m in Paris, all comfy in this robe that’s like a heavenly cotton ball. I’ve had a pedicure and manicure, and I’m so relaxed I’m fuzzy-brained when they send me into a teeny sauna room that’s like five feet by five feet. The woman helping me takes my robe and closes the door. I figure it’s a small enough space, it must be a private sauna.”

  “Oh, oh,” Diane’s eyes were wide. “No?”

  “No,” Ginny said dryly. “About two minutes later, just when I’m starting to sweat, the door opens and in comes person number two. A guy, who also loses his robe. Followed seconds later by guy number two.”

  Kelli glanced at Luke, then slapped a hand over her mouth as if trapping some truly dirty comment.

  Ginny snickered. “I know what you’re thinking, and no. They were not remotely within my ‘suitable to date’ age range. This was not a fun opportunity waiting to happen.”

  “You’re lucky they didn’t have heart attacks seeing you there. Good looking woman, that’s all I’m saying.” Jack ducked from Diane’s mock-fist swing.

  “So if you’re looking for a sauna in Paris, I have one on the no list,” Ginny said firmly.

  “Unless you’re into that sort of thing,” Kelli said, waggling her brows. “I’m shocked naked surprises aren’t right up your alley.”

  “Naked with the right people, fine. Naked with those people, not so much.”

  “Do we really need to listen to you talk about being naked?” Luke asked, looking away from her and shaking his head.

  “You’re such a prude,” Ginny teased. “Get over it.”

  “You’re my sister,” he repeated, like there was no other answer ever needed.

  Ginny found herself being pulled into a hug when it was time to say goodnight, since Jack and Diane were leaving early the next morning.

  “You take care of my girl, now,” Diane said as she squeezed Ginny tight. She leaned in close. “You’re a shiny star waiting to light up the world. I’m glad you’re here. I hope Kelli gets to enjoy as much of that brightness as you can share.”

  Ginny warmed inside at the compliment. “Kelli is awesome, and it’s been good getting to know you.”

  “You too, girlfriend.” Diane winked. “We’ll be back.”

  Ashton’s birthday came and went, but even that ended up not being an opportunity to see Tucker as the guys vanished for a men’s only celebration at Josiah’s house.

  It sucked. Big-time. Hugely, enormously, and only the fact that Ginny was busier than she’d ever thought possible made the days roll by.

  But the guys’ only party brought to mind the idea Ginny had shelved a few weeks ago. An idea that was also poked back to life as she spent time reading through her mom’s journal and tentatively starting to write in the new one she’d been given.

  Ginny asked the other day if we could go out for breakfast to Connie’s. When I asked what we were celebrating, she told me Caleb and Walter went out to Connie’s for breakfast every couple of weeks, and there’s no way some other woman could make breakfast as good as I could, so there had to be something special about the place.

  * * *

  Humbled by my child yet again. We now have a girls only date on the agenda, because she’s right. I can cook far better than the line cooks at Connie’s, but going there together makes it special.

  Then there’d been the single-line prompt in Ginny’s new journal that asked, What am I doing to pay it forward?

  Which could mean any manner of things, but in light of her niece’s recent comment, this one made sense.

  Ginny stopped in to run the idea by Tamara before she said anything to the girls.

  “What do you think of having a girls’ night out type thing for the kiddos?” Ginny asked.

  Tamara blinked. “Go on.”

  “Sasha said something about our girls’ night out being just for grown-ups, and rightly
so. It’s good they know there are some things they need to work up to.” Ginny winked.

  “Oh. So you’re thinking more than a playdate gathering with their friends?” Tamara considered. “They’re usually pretty happy with that.”

  Ginny wanted to tread carefully, because the last thing she wanted to do was imply that Tamara wasn’t doing a fantastic job. Because she totally was, and the girls were thriving.

  Still, the words itched to escape. “I thought more like a mother-daughter thing, but since you’ve got two, I could stand in this time with one of them. Something a little more focused than just general play-time for them to enjoy.”

  Understanding slid in, and Tamara smiled. “That’s a good idea, especially right now. I know Hanna would love to do it with Crissy, and Talia’s got a new mother figure in her life. Let’s make it happen.”

  Which was how a few days later they ended up with four little girls nearly vibrating out of their skin as they gathered in the kitchen at the Silver Stone ranch house.

  Petite Hanna Ford was there with her daughter Crissy. Tamara had both Sasha and Emma leaning against her sides as they welcome Madison Joy and Talia Zhao into the house.

  Madison wore a very bemused but happy expression. As if she couldn’t believe she was actually there.

  Talia wrapped her arms around Madison’s neck and laid her cheek against hers. “Auntie Ginny, this is my new Mommy.”

  “Hello, new Mommy,” Ginny said as Madison blinked hard, obviously fighting back emotion. “I hear you recently made my kid brother wear pixie wings. You’re already one of my favourite people.”

  Madison laughed, and the afternoon flowed easily from there. Cookies were made, stories shared. When Sasha insisted, Tamara taught them all how to do a wrestling move that could pull a bigger, larger person off balance. While it was fun, it was also important. Planting seeds, making a difference.

  The fact that Emma planned to take Dustin down the first chance she got was funny as hell to boot.

  Part of the joy of the afternoon was telling Dare about it later. Ginny’s sister was mostly amused by the entire idea, but also slightly horrified.