Opposites (Never) Attract (Calloways vs. McGraws Book 2), page 11
“The good stuff being older brothers who tease me?”
“Yeah, now you’re getting it,” Carter said, encouraging me like I was about to swing a bat to hit a ball. He, I thought, must be a good dad. “And frankly, me and Ethan.” Carter looked over at his brother. “We’re teasing training wheels. Once Seth and Eli get home…hold on to your hat.”
“Well,” Ethan said. “Maybe not Eli.”
“Right. maybe not Eli,” Carter agreed.
“Why? What’s the deal with Eli?”
Ethan pointed at Carter. “You teased him too much.”
“What? That’s a thing?” I cried, and they laughed.
“No. He’s just quiet, and you gotta look out for the quiet ones.”
“Something to look forward to, then,” I muttered.
By the time we got to the fence gate, Tag already had it opened and was waiting for us.
“Sunshine,” he said, with the tip of his hat.
I listened closely for some innuendo in his tone, but there was nothing. No smugness, no arrogance. No sign at all that we’d had the hottest sexual encounter of my life yesterday, and he was still holding onto my panties.
Good thing Harmony and I were mostly the same size, so I was able to steal a pair of hers.
“Tag,” I said, as crisply and firmly as I would to one of the partners in my firm. All business.
He winked at me and all my crispness wilted in the heat. The bastard.
“Okay, this is Shirley,” Carter brought a brown horse with a white star on her nose over to me. Shirley had the most amazing fuzzy ears and beautiful eyelashes.
“Hi Shirley. Pleasure to meet you,” I greeted her.
“She’s a horse, not a business acquaintance,” Carter said.
“Animals have souls and I’m connecting with hers,” I said. “Isn’t that right, Shirley? You’re very pretty, aren’t you? Yes. And smart. I can see that right away.”
“Oh my God, you’re more like your sister than I realized,” Carter groaned.
I could hear Ethan laughing behind me.
“I don’t know about her soul, but she’s old, slow, and she doesn’t spook easily. Still. Don’t spook her,” Carter said with a stern tone.
“How do you not spook a horse?” I asked the men.
“Loud noises and sudden movements,” Ethan said.
“And Shirley does not like singing,” Carter said, like it was life or death.
“Got it,” I said, in all seriousness. “No singing.” I was not a spontaneous singer, but now I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to help myself.
“I’m fucking with you,” Carter smiled. “You can sing if you want to.”
“I don’t want to sing,” I said. Did I?
We led our horses out of the stables and into the sunlight. I blinked and lifted a hand to shield my eyes. Barn swallows swooped and crickets buzzed in the high grass beside the barn. Beside me, Shirley twitched and flicked her tail.
“Here we go, Sunshine,” Carter bent down and clasped his hands together next to the horse. “You’re going to step with your right foot into my hands. Then you put your left hand on the horn, your left foot in the stirrup, then I’ll give you a push and just use your momentum to swing your right leg over the saddle. Got it?”
I looked down at my right and left hands and feet. Tried to visualize what he was saying and shook my head. “Is there a stool or something I could use?” Or maybe a presentation deck I could watch?
“Let’s make this easy, Sunshine,” Tag said, coming up behind me. He put his hands around my waist and lifted me nearly over his head. So I didn’t spook Shirley, I swallowed my squeal of alarm, and…okay, I could admit it, delight. What full grown woman didn’t have dreams of being lifted by big, strong men occasionally? At this height, I could just swing a leg over and grab onto the horn of the saddle with both hands.
“That’s cheating,” Carter said, with a frown at Tag.
“She’s on the horse,” Tag said. “You taking her down the west pasture toward the creek?”
He nodded.
“There was some hard rainfall early this morning. Don’t get too close. The ground will be saturated,” he told Carter.
“This isn’t early morning to you?” It was like…dawn.
Tag laughed. “Sunrise was almost an hour ago, Sunshine. Keep up.”
Ethan joined us on a sleek, black beauty with a white stripe down his nose. Carter mounted a massive brown horse that looked like he could take both Ethan’s horse and Shirley in a battle with one leg tied behind his back.
I leaned over and patted Shirley, assuring her she didn’t need to be worried about any bullies on my watch. “Don’t let that big horse intimidate you. Size doesn’t always matter.”
“You sure about that?” Tag asked, with a playful twist of his lips.
“Do not tease me. I’m sitting a thousand feet up in the air on a wild animal right now,” I scolded him. “Consider me out of my comfort zone.”
“This might not be your comfort zone, but you look good.” I could not even dream of stopping the blush on my cheeks. “It’s in your blood. I’m guessing you’ll take to it like riding a bike.”
“I’ve never ridden a bike either,” I admitted.
Tag gaped at me.
“I like to be in control,” I said, defensively. Then dropped my voice a little lower and admitted. “Accept when I don’t.”
Tag said nothing, but our eyes connected, and it was…electric. The sun shone hotter over us and everything else – the pasture, Ethan and Carter, the swallows and grasshoppers – retreated. It was just Tag and heat and me.
“You coming?” Carter asked, and I blinked, jerking my gaze away from Tag.
“Gently nudge her hind quarters with your heels and she’ll go, ” Tag said quietly, giving me the direction I needed. “Gently pull up on the reins and she’ll stop.”
“What if she starts galloping at full speed?” I asked.
“She won’t,” he said.
“You promise?”
“Who are you asking? Me or the horse?” he laughed.
“Both,” I said, but I rubbed Shirley’s neck to let her know I really meant her.
“She’ll naturally want to follow Gus, so just go with it.”
“Which one’s Gus?”
Tag pointed over toward Carter. “That big boy.”
“Does everyone have their own horse here?”
“Of course. Seth keeps Margaret with him in a trailer when he travels. But she’s a professional.”
“Professional horse?”
Tag shook his head. “I better take you to the rodeo while you’re in town.”
The blush came back and I turned my face away, feeling something I never felt. Or at least hadn’t felt in a very long time – bashful. He made me feel young, but in a good way. Not the way I’d been young. The way young looked in movies.
“You coming with us?” I asked Tag.
He shook his head. “Got work to do, darlin. It will give you time to bond with your brothers.”
I looked over at Carter, riding his giant beast of a horse down a dirt trail that led out to the open valley. Shirley twitched beneath me, wanting to follow Carter’s horse.
“They probably won’t like me,” I said, and was annoyed by the doubt in my voice. What did I care if they liked me or not? And why was I talking to Tag about it?
“Then fuck’em. I like you. Here, put this on.” He pulled a baseball cap with the ranch’s logo on it from his back pocket.
“I’m not wearing something that says Swinging D on my forehead,” I told him.
“It’s just the name of the ranch, sweetheart. And it will keep you from burning that pretty nose of yours.”
I took the hat and fit it on my head, pulling my short ponytail out the hole in the back, the way I saw women do all the time. He had a point. The sun was barely up and already it was hot.
“You have something of mine,” I reminded him, without having to state the obvious.
“Oh, I know. We’ll have to make arrangements for when you might earn them back.”
“Earn them back?”
“Everything comes with a price, Sunshine,” he said, with a wicked smile.
“Enough chatter. We’re wasting daylight. Let’s move out,” Carter announced, with a wave of his arm forward.
Ethan rode up beside me on the other side of Tag. “He likes to think he’s in charge.”
“He’s not?”
“No, he is, but we must resist all the time. Keeps him on his toes.”
Ethan made a clicking sound and his horse stepped forward, giant shoulders twitching and shifting. I didn’t try to replicate the sound, just did as Tag said and bumped my booted heels gently into Shirley’s hindquarters. Just like Tag said she would, she stepped forward at her own glacial pace until she got right up behind Gus’s big swooshing tail.
“Look at you,” Ethan said, as he rode next to me. “You’re a real cowgirl, now.”
“God help me,” I muttered.
Two Hours Later
“Hold up,” Carter said. I didn’t even have to tug on Shirley’s reins. She stopped as soon as Gus stopped. My girl was clearly smitten. “Tag was right about the creek. She’s moving pretty fast.”
“Is there a way around it?” I asked.
I was actually enjoying the morning. Like…really enjoying it. It was uncomfortable, my ass hurt and my fingers stung from holding onto the reins as tightly as I was. Every time sweet Shirley stopped to eat grass, or have an enormous pee, I was scared she was about to go rogue. But she never did. The sunshine felt good and the company was…fun. I mean, fun if you liked conversations on herd growth and profits per acre.
Which, come to find out, I did.
Mostly, what I learned was how much they loved the Swinging D. How important every bit of this land was to them. To the animals they raised and the men they employed. This land was as much a part of the McGraws as their hair color and their stubborn jaw lines.
I understood better why they didn’t want to sell an inch of it.
I got it. I did. The land was amazing. I wouldn’t want to sell it either.
About twenty minutes into the ride, it occurred to me I hadn’t brought my phone. I couldn’t check emails. I couldn’t see any texts from my colleagues. It was possible the partners were blowing up my phone right now, looking for answers, and I was completely and utterly unreachable.
It was…freeing. Terrifying, but freeing.
“No,” Carter said. “Creek goes for miles in either direction. It’s a great water source, but when it’s this high, it’s uncrossable. We’ve been riding for a while, you must be ready to head back and stop listening to us blabbing at you.”
“It’s been…informative,” I said. “And nice.”
Ethan chuckled. “Nice? Don’t think I’ve ever heard the SD described as nice.”
“I think she was talking about the company, brother” Carter said, with a smile. “And she’s right. It’s been a real pleasure getting to know you, Sunshine. You’ve been a good sport. You didn’t have to come home. None of this,” Carter said, gesturing out onto the endless pastures coming to life with grass and wildflowers, birds and insects, “would have been your problem. But we made it your problem, and it’s real kind of you to try and help us.”
“Speaking of,” Ethan said, as we ambled back around in the direction of the Lodge. “What is this crazy idea you had last night? You haven’t given us any details.”
They both pulled their horses up alongside Shirley, so I was flanked by the two men. I felt significantly smaller, but also strangely protected. They would never hurt me, they wouldn’t let me get hurt, either.
I’d never felt that before.
What if I’d known who all of them were in high school? What would it have been like to be the McGraw brothers’ sister?
I would not have gotten picked on as much. I probably would have even made a few friends. Who knows?
Of course, they probably wouldn’t have let me date Tag…
“Earth to Sunshine,” Carter said, snapping his fingers close to my face. “Hello? Fate of everything rests with your answer.”
“Don’t make her nervous,” Ethan admonished him.
“Gentlemen, I’ve dealt with billion-dollar transactions before. Trust me when I tell you I’m not nervous. When I tell you it’s a risk, it is, so you’ll have to trust me.”
“Trust you with what?” Carter asked.
“Everything,” I told them. “Tell me you trust me and I’ll tell you the plan.”
Their eyes met over me and I knew a silent sibling conversation when I saw one.
Bliss and Amity could communicate for hours without speaking a word.
“Harmony trusts her,” Ethan finally said.
“Harmony trusts everyone,” Carter frowned. “But it’s not like we have a choice. You and Harm. Me and the kids. Mac. Every last citizen of Last Hope Gulch, we all have to trust her. Okay, we’re in. Now, what’s this big idea?”
“I’m going to take a significant chunk of value out of the property in a short term loan and I’m going to invest it in crypto.”
The expected explosion, exploded.
“Fuck no.”
“Crypto? No.”
“Are you out of your mind?”
“What even is crypto?”
“A mistake, is what it is.”
I smiled and gave Shirley a gentle tap with my heels to get her to move ahead of the boys, back to the paddock.
“Good,” I said over my shoulder. “I’m glad you trust me.”
ELEVEN
TAG
I left the barn in a piss all mood. Fucking Donald was drunk again.
Seasonally, we picked up a lot of extra laborers and Donald knew his shit. But knowing your shit when you were drunk before noon didn’t do me any good. I had to fire him, watch him get his gear out of the bunkhouse, and then go back and do his job for him.
The good news was, calving season was coming to an end. We had a few hundred late cows who would give birth any minute, but the rest of the herd had yielded a high, successful birthrate. And given that we moved part of the herd to be solely grass fed, those late births would work in our favor as we could begin to advertise a boutique line of grass-fed beef.
I would be happy to let the extra staff go and all the headaches that came with them, and just focus on the day-to-day operations of the ranch.
The paddock door closed behind two cows and their calves who needed to be watched because they weren’t latching on properly, and I glanced up just as Sunshine and the boys, which sounded like a retro hippy band, broke through the tree line into the east meadow. From this distance, Sunshine looked like she was still sitting loose and happy in the saddle, so that was good news.
Must be all those core exercises she was so fond of.
My mind went back to the spa day in New York and I had to work to push the taste of her skin out of my head. The sight of her nipples, the sound of her low moan of need. I didn’t need to be greeting Sunshine with a hard on in front of her brothers.
Shit. If the McGraw boys had an inkling about the things running through my mind when it came to Sunshine, I’d hear about it.
I took my time making my way to the south gate to let them back in. Didn’t want to seem too eager.
The sound of their voices drifted over the wind and Ethan laughed, something he’d been doing a lot of since he and Harmony got married. In response to whatever was so funny, Sunshine smiled. Really smiled.
Unguarded. Warm. She fucking killed me when I could see the happiness shining from the inside out. This woman was miles away from the rigid woman I’d met in a New York City conference room. Tense and reserved. Guarded.
Ethan and Carter were saying something that had her laughing, and it hit me in the chest that she could be happy here. Just because she’d had a hard time growing up, didn’t mean that this place wasn’t her home and couldn’t be again.
But better.
“I’m not telling you where I keep my bras,” she told Carter.
“But we have to freeze them,” Ethan explained. “Basic sister pranks 101.”
“For a girl with her first bra. You’re not taking my La Perla and putting it in the freezer.”
“Are there any boys you like that we could embarrass you in front of?” Carter asked her.
“Yes, I’ll write up a list for you,” she said, dryly.
“We need to get the guys home,” Ethan said. “Eli is always super creative when it comes to this shit. Remember how bad he pranked Seth that Christmas?”
“What did he do?” Sunshine asked.
“It involved cow shit, toothpaste and a homemade catapult.”
“You’re making that up,” she said.
“Seth wishes it was made up, he flinched for years every time he saw Eli.”
“They treating you right, Sunshine?” I called out to her, wanting to be a part of what was making her smile. “Do I need to step in and put them in their place?”
“Apparently, now that they’re my brothers, they have to tease me,” she explained, and gently pulled up on the reins. Shirley, like a good girl, came to a halt and shook out her mane, looking for love. Sunshine patted her neck, scratched her behind the ears. “They’ve been threatening me with pranks the whole ride back.”
“Black snake under the bedsheets should do the trick,” I offered. A classic for a reason.
She glared at me and then at Carter and Ethan. “A snake makes its way into my bed and I’m taking the next jet back to New York.”
“Noted,” Carter said. “But they are harmless.”
“How do I get off Shirley?” she asked.
“See?” Carter said to me, as he dismounted. “You should have let her get up on her own. Now she doesn’t know how to get off.”
“Come here, darlin,” I said, and reached my arms up to her. “Just fall into me and I’ll catch you.”
“Sounds a lot like one of their pranks,” she insisted, jerking her thumb back at her brothers.
“It’s not. I swear. Take your feet out of the stirrups and just pretend like you’re falling.”
