AlexHe wiped his mouth before answering. “About thirteen years. I left the summer I graduated.”I quickly did the math and pegged him to be thirty, maybe thirty-one. “College, or did you just leave to leave?”He laughed. “Maybe a little of both. I was born and raised here. Any vacations we took were to local towns. The farm never allowed my grandfather the chance to really get away for a week. The day I graduated, I felt like I sprouted wings. I couldn’t wait to spread them.”“Did you immediately go to New York?” I pressed, realizing I was essentially interviewing him. I told myself it was all part of me assuring he was ready for the farm.“I did. I went to NYU. Took a while but landed the job at the magazine and that’s where I’ve been.”I had to laugh. “So, you flew one coop only to find yourself locked in another?”He grinned. “I suppose that’s accurate, although my coop in New York was a little bigger and a little more eventful. I was young. I needed excitement. I craved the big c
DamionI woke early, anxious for the day. I liked that Alex and I had been able to talk and iron out some of the wrinkles in the very brief relationship we had. She wasn’t quite the horrible person I first believed her to be. She was tough and I could tell she was no-nonsense, but I saw the softer side as well when she had talked with Oliver. I liked that side of her and was going to do everything I could to stay on her good side. I needed her help. I was way out of my league with the farm. I couldn’t walk in one day after thirteen years and expect to know what the hell I was doing.Alex was an invaluable resource and I planned on learning everything I could from her. I needed to learn everything all over again. It wasn’t enough to simply know how to take care of the horses and fix the fences. I would be stepping into my grandpa’s shoes. I didn’t realize it back when I was a kid, but I now knew he was doing a lot more work than it had appeared.I had been surly and pissed a lot, think
Damion“Alex!” he shouted, running toward her.She stopped and turned around, a bright smile on her face. “Hi, Oliver.”“I saved you some breakfast,” he announced.I stood on the porch, letting him do the talking. It was his idea. She looked up at me. “Breakfast?”I nodded, pointing at Oliver. “He’d like to know if you would like to eat breakfast.”“I would love some breakfast!” she exclaimed.Oliver looked back at me, a told-you-so look on his face. He grabbed her hand and led her up to the porch. “Better get her a plate, Dad.”I nodded. “Absolutely.”Oliver ushered her into the dining room, telling her where to sit. He poured her a glass of orange juice and delivered it to her while I dished up a plate with the leftovers in the oven. He was waiting on her like she was an honored guest. I was very proud of his manners.“Now, I can eat,” Oliver announced, taking his seat and pulling his plate back toward him.“Thank you for inviting me to breakfast,” Alex said to Oliver.“You’re welco
AlexI couldn’t stop smiling. I felt ridiculous. It wasn’t like I had never had two breakfasts in one morning before. It wasn’t the food. It was the company. I had enjoyed sitting at the kitchen table and talking with Oliver and Damion. I loved watching the two of them together. I could tell Damion was a good father. Maybe a little overprotective, but good nonetheless.It would be interesting to see how they did in the barn. We had stalls to clean and hay to haul. I had a busy day planned and hoped the boys were up to the task.“We’re here!” Oliver exclaimed as he walked into the barn.I smiled. “I see that. Are you ready to work?”He nodded. “Yep!”“All right, we need to bathe the horses first,” I told them.They both looked at me like I had grown a second head.“Bathe?” Damion questioned.“In the bathtub?” Oliver asked as he turned to look at the horses. “They are too big!”“Not in the tub. There’s a place out back we’ll use. Before we do that, we need to get all our supplies. Follo
Alex“If you’re up to it,” I said, looking over at Damion.“We’re good. We’re all in.”“Did you bathe the horses before?” I asked him.His eyes were on Oliver, who was running ahead once again. “I did,” he answered, turning his blue eyes on me.There was a gentle breeze coming across the field. It blew his hair up, showing off how soft and natural it was. I liked that it wasn’t slicked down with gallons of hair product. I wanted to know what it felt like. My eyes moved back to his. He had that same intense stare of his grandfather.“Your eyes,” I said the words on a breath.“My eyes?” he questioned.“They’re very much like Oliver’s, but I think yours are just a shade darker.”He smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “I have heard that a lot. My dad had the same eyes. They are definitely a dominant trait.”“They are very pretty,” I said, before remembering he was a guy and guys usually didn’t like to be referred to as pretty in any way. “Pretty in a manly sense.”He laughed. “Than
DamionI drove down the long driveway, my eyes popping up from time to time to look in the rearview mirror. Oliver had been smiling since he had awoken for the day. He was truly excited for school. It was a first. He had never been excited about going to his old school. Not even on the first day. This was going to be a good change for him.“This is a big day,” I told him.“Yep,” he agreed, his eyes out the window.“If you get nervous or have any problems, you can talk to Miss June.”“I know,” he answered without a care in the world.My pep talk wasn’t needed. I shut up and focused on driving and let him enjoy the ride. When we got to the school, I waited for him to tell me he was scared or changed his mind. He didn’t. He marched right up to the doors. I followed behind him as he led the way to the classroom.“All right, buddy, I’ll be here for a bit while you get settled,” I told him, helping him hang his backpack on the hook with his name above it.“I’m okay, Dad. You can go home.”
DamionI laughed, shaking my head. “No, but my job wasn’t happy to see me go and agreed to give me the six months I needed to make a decision. They have an interim editor running things. If I stay here, the guy gets the job. If I go back, he’ll move to another department.”“So, you have one foot out the door. This farm is going to require your full commitment. It might not have a great harvest in the fall. I don’t know if you remember much, but farming is a crapshoot. Your yields are dependent on the weather and good luck. If you throw in the towel after one shitty crop, you’re not meant for this life.”“I know that and you’re right, it’s all based on luck and timing. I might not be cut out for this.”She sighed. “I was with your grandfather up until the very end,” she said in a quiet voice. She was looking at her feet before she looked up and met my eyes. “Oliver made me promise to make sure the farm was in good shape. He didn’t want it to be auctioned off, bit by bit and all his har
AlexI checked the address again to make sure I had it right. The perfectly straight vinyl fencing lining on either side of the paved driveway didn’t seem right. I had worked on countless farms and I couldn’t remember any of them having paved driveways. Few had expensive vinyl fencing. The fencing was pretty, but it wasn’t practical.I added it to my list of things that could be cut back on to get the farm in the black. Spending thousands of dollars for pretty and easy was not the way a farm operated. I parked my truck alongside a fleet of brand-new Chevy Silverado trucks. Each of them had small logos on the door. I groaned, shaking my head at the waste of money. Farm trucks weren’t meant to be pretty.I jumped out of my own truck, covered with a thick layer of dust that clung to the mud clinging to the sides. My truck wasn’t old, but it wasn’t new. It had seen some work, like a truck was meant to do. I looked up at the massive house with what appeared to be a fresh coat of pristine w
AlexHe winked at me. “I was thinking I might get me a little place in Montana.”I felt tears well in my eyes. I fanned my face. “Wayne, that would be amazing.”“Yes, it would,” Damion chimed in. “We’ll have a house built for you on the farm.”“Damion!” I blurted out.“Oh no, I can’t ask you to do that,” Wayne said.“You didn’t ask. I offered. We would love to have you around. We’ll need a guest house eventually anyway.”I could see the emotion in Wayne’s eyes. “That’s a very kind offer. I’ll think on it. I don’t want to put anyone out.”“Wayne,” I said, reaching across the table and grabbing his hand. “It would be an honor to have you around.”He smiled. “You drive a hard bargain, missy,” he teased.“I certainly do.”“Montana is a great place to live,” Damion said. “I wish I would have realized it earlier. I wasted a lot of time. I don’t intend to do it again.”“Good, because I won’t let you get away from me quite so easily.”“I’m not going anywhere,” he said with a grin. “Montana is
AlexThree months laterI carried the big bowl of homemade potato salad to the back patio and placed it on the table. Betty popped her head up from where she was curled up on her bed in the corner and out of the way. She would get her leftover treats after the dinner, even though I told Wayne he shouldn’t feed her people food. My favorite men in the world were sitting around the table, chatting and talking about the early fall. I smiled at each of them before going back into the kitchen of Wayne’s house to grab the tray of burger toppings.We had driven down to spend the weekend with him before school started and our schedule got a lot less flexible. Damion had offered to buy plane tickets, but I couldn’t do it. I actually liked the drive. We all got to hang out and just talk. There was no escape when you were locked in a car with someone.My life was good. Better than good. The final puzzle pieces of my life had slid into place. I felt settled. I didn’t feel the need to run. I hadn’t
AlexI opened eyes I didn’t realize had been closed. I stared into his light blue gaze as he rose over me. My hands slid up his forearms and over his biceps, rubbing over the skin that was hot under my touch. He was just as affected as I was.His cock slid over my slick pussy before he carefully nudged forward, breaking through the folds and finding home. He pushed once, and our eyes locked as he joined his body with mine. I felt a tear slide down the side of my face as he pushed himself all the way inside my welcoming body.“Oh, Damion,” I breathed his name before my eyes slid closed and my body finally gave in to the need that had been holding me in a firm grip since his kisses started.“That’s it,” he coaxed, kissing the tip of my nose as my body arched and bucked under his. “That’s my girl. All mine. You’re mine.”I opened my eyes and found him staring at me from just a few inches away. He lowered his mouth to mine and kissed me until I could no longer think at all. I only felt. I
AlexI didn’t think I had ever been carried. Not like that anyway. I felt like a precious gift with the way he was looking at me. His gentleness was so much different than our usual way. It was strange and sweet at the same time.I watched as he pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it to the floor before stepping out of the shorts he was wearing. I could truly look at the man’s body all day. His thick cock stood loud and proud, promising great things.He was perfect in my eyes. Tall and now very tanned after all our long days working together at the farm. His muscles were more defined than what they were when he first showed up in Geraldine. He had changed. I had changed.“Looking at something?” he asked with a soft smile.“Just admiring the view from down here,” I answered.He reached down, not getting on the bed as he undid the button on my shorts. He pulled them and my panties down my legs before reaching for my arms and pulling me to a sitting position. My shirt was lifted o
DamionI smiled. “I don’t think the money will change me. At least, I hope it doesn’t. It hasn’t so far.”“What do you mean?”“I mean I had the money before I came back.”Her mouth dropped open. “What? You have it? I thought you said you had to wait six months.”I nodded. “I did. Or so I was told. When I went to Harvey to ask about the will and where the farm would go if I turned it down, he told me you and he had talked. He said you told him you were impressed with what I had done and that I was taking it seriously. I told him it didn’t matter and had him draw up the documents to give you the farm. I told him to give the money to charity or whatever. I was in New York when I got the documents in the mail saying the accounts had been transferred to my name. A rather large check was included.”She shook her head. “You turned down the money?”I nodded. “I did.”“But you have it now?”“I do. I’ll admit I bought the SUV with cash. It didn’t make sense to carry a loan and pay interest.”Sh
DamionI heard the knock on the door and walked out of my bedroom to answer it. Sadie was standing on the other side, a soft smile on her face.“Hi,” she greeted.“Hi,” I answered, pulling the door open for her. “I was just folding the last bit of laundry.”“You’re folding your own laundry?” she asked.I groaned. “She told you.”“She did. Of course, she did. There’s a reason I offered to babysit Oliver without you asking. You two need to talk and I’m here to make sure that happens.”“I appreciate it. And yes, I do my own laundry. I also clean toilets and sweep the floors. I’m still the same man I’ve always been.”“I believe you. Now you need to convince her of that.”I shook my head. “You make it sound like it’s easy.”“I think I smoothed the way for you, but if you screw it up, that’s on you.”I laughed. “Good to know. Oliver is in his room. I’m going to toss a load in the washer and then I’ll head out.”“Take your time. My schedule is clear. This could take a while. Don’t give up to
Alex“Sadie, this is real. I’m not kidding. He inherited a fortune. The only reason he is here is to get that fortune.”“Did he say he wanted to leave?”“No, but—”She held up a hand. “Exactly. He came back for you.”I slapped a hand on the table. “This is what I’m trying to explain to you. He didn’t come back for me. He came back for the money.”“Do you honestly think he would jerk his kid back and forth across the country for the money? I don’t know him half as well as you do, but even I know he lives and breathes for that boy. He isn’t going to do anything that would hurt Oliver. He knows Oliver likes it here. Oliver couldn’t stop talking about how much he missed you when they were gone. How much Damion missed you. It’s real, Alex. Very real. Before you push him away, ask yourself if you’re really being rational.”I leaned back in my seat. “You’re being harsh.”“I’m sorry, but I have to be. I can’t let you ruin this. He’s so good for you. You don’t see how different you are with hi
AlexI glanced in the bathroom mirror as I washed my hands and face. I looked like hell. I wasn’t interested in showering. Not yet. I piled my hair on top of my head in a messy bun. Not cute messy but legit messy. I slid my slippered feet along the floor as I made my way to the kitchen. I needed coffee. A lot of coffee. I hadn’t slept much at all. Two nights of no sleep was wreaking havoc on me.There was a knock on my door just as I was starting my coffee. I slowly walked over to see who it was.“I see you,” Sadie called.“You can’t see through wood,” I told her.“Open the door.”“I’m not decent,” I retorted.“No shit. Open it anyway.”I sighed, unlocking the door and pulling it open, expecting the comments about the state of my appearance. “What are you doing here?” I asked.“Wow. This is a bad one. Have you showered this week?” She curled her lip. “I can flip you on your head and mop the floor with all that oil in your hair.”“That’s really not very nice,” I retorted.“You don’t lo
Damion“With that kind of money, I think you can certainly buy love.”“Not real love. I didn’t want some woman faking it.”“Do you think Alex is like that?” he asked, his tone slightly accusing.“Not at all,” I answered. “She’s the real deal. I know she loves Oliver and he loves her.”He was quiet for a few seconds. “Does she know you already have the money?”I shrugged. “I’m not sure. It seemed like she thought I had it or was going to be getting it soon.”“You didn’t tell her you had it before you came back the second time?”I slowly shook my head. “No. It seemed pointless. Alex is stubborn. When she gets something in her head, there’s no dislodging it. I didn’t see any point in arguing. She wasn’t going to believe a word I said. She’s convinced I’ve been lying to her from day one. Anything I said was going to be rejected. I didn’t want to stick around and listen to her insult me or what we had. I didn’t want to get mad and say something I would regret. I left.”“You do that a lot,”