A Cowboy's Claim, page 9
Silence.
The usual cacophony of barking from his three dogs was noticeably absent. Her frown deepened as she nudged the door open further. Inside, the house was a mess. Half-eaten plates of food, spilled drinks, clutter strewn across the living room—an unsettling contrast to the man’s normally meticulous habits.
No sign of Rodney inside.
She made her way toward the barn, circling around the side where the firewood was stacked. A faint rustling drew her attention. In the distance, she caught the crunch of tires on gravel—someone else pulling in—but her focus locked on the source of the sound ahead.
Another rustle was followed by a low mutter. She slowed, instincts prickling.
“Mr. Greenlee? Hello? You’ve got a visitor.” She rounded the corner and froze.
Rodney stood ten feet away, shotgun raised, hands shaking as badly as his voice. “You can’t have it.”
Sydney instinctively stepped back, her voice calm but firm. “Mr. Greenlee—it’s Dr. Sydney Jeremiah. We’ve met before, remember? I’m not here to take anything from you.”
“Stop. Stop right now.” His grip tightened, the muzzle of the shotgun dipping and lifting erratically.
Her brain raced. Drop to the ground or throw herself around the edge of the building? If she had a couple more inches, she could—
“Hey there.” Declan’s voice rolled in like gravel and thunder.
He stepped calmly into view behind her, hands loose at his sides, body angled just enough to draw Rodney’s attention. “Declan Skye. Remember me? I run the animal shelter in town.”
As Rodney turned slightly, tracking Declan, Sydney didn’t wait. She ducked backward, darting around the side of the barn, breath shallow, heart pounding.
“That’s a fine piece you’ve got there, Rodney. You use that for elk hunting?” Declan kept talking behind her, his voice fading as she ran. “That’s a beauty. But I don’t think you need it right now. It’s only me. Just wanted to check in.”
Sydney raced around the barn, praying that whatever was wrong with Rodney he didn’t shoot Declan outright before she could act.
She fumbled in her pocket, fingers closing around the emergency syringe she always carried but hoped never to use. It wasn’t standard issue, but some of the situations she stepped in were dangerous. A girl had to have a backup plan.
When she crept around the far edge of the barn, Declan and Rodney remained in a standoff. Rodney’s back now faced her, and the gun had dropped slightly but was still in his hands.
Declan glanced at her so briefly it was a blink. He lifted a finger subtly. Wait.
She held up the auto-injector, thumbed off the safety cover, and let Declan see it before she inched closer.
“That sounds frightening,” Declan continued to Rodney soothingly. “Sometimes a man’s got to protect what’s his. But you know, since it’s just you and me here, you can probably put that away.”
“Don’t know.” Rodney’s gaze darted to the side. The gun lifted again.
Sydney launched forward. She plunged the syringe into Rodney’s shoulder, and he jerked.
A wild scream rang as the gun fired, dirt spraying upward—but the sedative worked fast, and Rodney was close to collapsing even as Declan tackled him to the ground.
“Jesus,” Sydney gasped.
Declan rolled to his knees, breath tight. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. I’ve never seen him like this before.”
Rodney was well and truly out, the sedative having done its work. Declan hauled him into a fireman’s carry and brought him inside, settling him on the bed.
He stepped away for the few minutes it took for Sydney to check Rodney over. “High fever. That’s the cause of the delirium. We need to get him to town, stat.”
“Edison’s on his way.” Declan shoved his phone into his pocket.
She paused in the middle of straightening the bedsheets. “What? Why?”
Declan folded his arms over his chest, tension radiating from his big frame. “Because when I saw where you were headed, I decided I should have a little more information. I called the clinic. Edison told me about your emergency knockout trick to use if things go south. And then Edison told me that if you did have to use your syringe, the last place you want to end up is explaining it down at the hospital.”
It wouldn’t be pleasant to explain, but Sydney considered the risk worth the increase in safety.
“So, you used the drugs, and I called the office. Edison offered to babysit your pin cushion until he recovers. Which means if Rodney is running a fever, he’ll have a nurse. And if he’s sick enough to need the hospital, Edison will haul his ass down there tomorrow.”
She couldn’t argue from a medical point of view, but the fact Declan had made those decisions without asking her—
None of it made sense. Inside, an uncomfortable sensation tangled her guts. The echo of past decisions made on her behalf for her “own good.”
First, though, how had he known to show up when he did? Suspicion rose.
“What are you doing here?” Sydney demanded.
“Saving your ass,” Declan snapped. “I’m gonna go clean up that disaster zone I just saw so Edison doesn’t have to deal with it.”
He walked out before she could say another word.
Edison showed up so soon afterward, he had either left the instant Declan talked to him or had driven like a mad man. Probably both.
He paused in the doorway, clicking his tongue as he examined the shivering body in the bed. “Please tell me Mr. Greenlee was talking about little blue men or something equally outrageous before you took him down like a rabid animal.”
“He pulled a gun,” she admitted with a sigh.
“Oh, sweetie. No.” Edison winced. “Well, that would explain the very rigid shoulders on Mr. Big and Broody out there. Just remember, you’re safe, he’s safe, and after you two work out whatever is messing with your brains, I really want that still to be true.”
A little of her fury faded. “You okay here by yourself?”
“Kevin is joining me,” Edison assured her. “From the looks of Mr. Greenlee, I think the fever will knock him out of commission for a little while longer. He won’t be doing any more Elmer Fudd imitations today.”
“Thanks for this.” Sydney accepted the hug Edison offered.
“You bet. Now go home.”
She paced into the main cabin slowly, but there was no sign of Declan. Clean dishes were stacked in the drying rack, and the living room had been put back to rights.
His truck was gone. Asshole. Just like him to leave when she wanted to give him a piece of her mind.
She drove home feeling equal parts guilty and angry, which meant when she discovered Declan parked outside her house, she had a fine head of steam built up.
Time for a reckoning. There was only one way he could have shown up at Greenlee’s the way he had.
She stomped up the walkway to where he sat in the porch swing as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “You’re tracking me.”
“Of course I’m fucking tracking you. I told you I would. So are Petra and Tansy. Hell, for all I know, Aiden and Jake have your location on GPS as well.”
She didn’t like being tracked. Didn’t like being handled.
But damn if part of her didn’t feel safer knowing someone had her back.
Still, he should have asked. “But they didn’t show up, again, somewhere I’m trying to hold a professional visit.”
“Nope. You’re right. So how was that visit going, darling?”
She paused, knowing the situation could have ended badly. “Thank you for helping today.”
His eyes flashed. “You need to stop putting yourself in danger.”
All her positive thoughts vanished as he hit a hot button. “You need to rethink telling me what to do.”
“Yeah, that’s not happening. You can’t see straight, but I’ll help you figure it out.”
“You think I’m reckless and foolish.”
“I think you’re a fucking force of nature.”
The words came out like a cannon shot across her bow.
Declan’s voice quivered, the intensity turned up to eleven. “I’m so turned on right now I can barely breathe. But I’m also so pissed that I can’t see straight.” He sucked in a big breath of air as he rose to his feet. “You make my chest hurt with how bold you are. I admire the crap out of you even as you scare me to death. You are reckless. You’re willing to dive into the most dangerous situations and it usually means you end up a goddamn hero. But that doesn’t change the fact that I want to tie you up and hide you away so that you can’t stick your damn neck out every fucking day. And the things that I want to do to you while I’ve got you tied up…”
Before she could answer or make any kind of excuse, he caught her to his body and slammed their lips together. A hard kiss, demanding and controlling. She was being consumed like wood being fed into the flames.
He pushed her back to the wall, and she clung to him, the fear and the frustration of the day sweeping away as everything narrowed to the pinpoint focus of being in his arms.
He lifted her off the ground, and she wrapped her legs around him as he pressed his hips against her intimately. The fear that had wrapped itself around her ribs hadn’t fully let go—but Declan’s kiss stripped her bare. Demanding. Fierce. Freeing.
She clung to his neck and kissed him back, groaning as he rocked, the thick length of his erection hitting every sensitive spot between her legs.
They needed to move this inside. She needed to rip his clothes off and lose her frustrations in his touch. In his taking.
She dragged her fingernails over his shoulders, just about to make that suggestion when the door swung open beside them, and Dixie rushed out with a friendly woof.
“Sydney? You home? I came over and was working on my 4-H essay using the articles you gave me— Oh, God, I’m sorry.”
Jinx’s voice cut off as she darted away, and the door beside them slammed shut.
8
It wasn’t his proudest thought, but Declan really wished Jinx hadn’t been there. Not because of the embarrassment factor, although that was through the roof, but because he and Sydney both had fire left to burn.
He lowered her feet to the porch. “Sorry. Lost my head,” he said quietly.
“Me, too.” She looked up at him. “Not sorry about the kissing, but the thoughtlessly stepping into danger. You’re right.”
They stared at each other for a minute before Declan took a deep breath. “Guess I get to give Jinx a ride home.”
“Have fun with that.” Sydney remained slightly breathless but more than a hint of teasing coloured her words.
Amusement chased away some of his frustration and the flames still licking over his skin. “You sound so sympathetic.”
“Glad it’s you and not me, that’s all I’m saying,” Sydney offered before clearing her throat and speaking louder. “Hey, Jinx, don’t worry. We’re decent and about to come into the house.”
Dixie met them with great enthusiasm, licking Declan’s hand and bumping into Sydney’s knees as Declan followed into the foyer off the small kitchen. Jinx was entirely too focused on putting her notebooks into her backpack and refused to look at either of them.
“Did you find what you needed for today?” Sydney asked.
“Yup.”
“Good. Then maybe tomorrow, or whenever you feel up to it, you can call me and we’ll finish the interview portion of your project.”
“Sure.” Jinx cleared her throat, tossing her bag over one shoulder. “You’ve done some cool stuff.”
“I have. Now, remember my pet peeve?”
“Put my bag on properly,” Jinx said immediately, slipping on both straps. “Fine. I should go.”
“I’ll give you a ride,” Declan said.
“You don’t need—”
“Jinx. Please get in the truck.” He kept his gaze steady until she flounced out the door. “Syd, I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay. Thanks again for your help today.” Her lips quirked. “Have a nice trip home.”
“Remember that Tansy isn’t the only one good at revenge,” he muttered softly as Sydney stuck out her tongue then winked.
Jinx moved like the wind. She popped Dixie into the backseat of the crew cab and settled in the front passenger seat before Declan made it off the porch. He took a deep, deep breath, then headed into a small and intense hell.
He got onto the highway before breaking the silence. “Awkward?”
“So much,” Jinx said, teenage angst in every syllable.
Dixie whined and shoved her head over the backrest until her nose hit Jinx’s cheek as if checking to see what was wrong.
“It’s okay,” Jinx told her quietly. “I’m just being silly. Lay down.”
Dixie obeyed, and suddenly the entire thing tilted toward the funny side of the equation.
The fact Jinx was icked-out by what she’d seen and not terrified the way she would have been last September when she arrived? Declan could get up on the stage at Rough Cut and dance a jig in front of everyone to celebrate.
They still needed to have a chat.
He cleared his throat.
“You’re going to make us talk about this? Really?” Jinx whined.
“I really am,” he returned. “You’ve seen Petra and Aiden kiss before.”
“And Tansy and Jake, yes. Plus I know how sex works, so don’t, for God’s sake, think you need to have that talk with me.”
“You don’t think I should be kissing Sydney?”
“I already knew you guys were kissing,” Jinx confessed.
Really? “Yeah? That’s not common knowledge,” he admitted.
“I kind of spotted you one day just after Christmas. Sneaking into the barn.”
“Sorry. We were usually more discreet.”
“Ha,” she laughed. “Today was discreet?”
“We were outside her house, which is in a pretty remote location.” Such a strange conversation, but as long as Jinx kept talking, so would he.
“It’s just…that was a little more…heated than most people do in public.”
“Sex can get that way.”
“Ugh, please.” She gave a full body quiver that was clearly at least eighty percent dramatic effect.
Declan snorted. “You know this is a really awkward conversation for both of us.”
“I know.” Jinx stared at his face. “I thought maybe you weren’t getting together with Sydney because of me.”
“The hell?” He shook his head. “Not true.”
“Because you had to be careful around me and that sort of thing. And I appreciate it, but I feel so much safer now. I don’t want you to avoid being together if you want to.”
“It wasn’t you. It isn’t you. Sometimes—” He was going to get revenge on Sydney for making him have to do this, whatever else he did. “Back to awkward conversation territory.”
Jinx sighed. “Just say it.”
“Sometimes adults get together for fun and not forever.”
She made a gagging noise.
“You asked,” he offered dryly.
“Not asking anything else.” Jinx stared out the window, probably because it was safer. “Just so you know, I think you two would be good together.”
“Maybe. But that’s a thing for us to figure out. So, sorry for surprising you, but I expect you’ll keep what you saw to yourself. It’s not really anyone else’s business, and I don’t think Sydney would like everyone talking about her.”
“Agreed.”
He parked outside the house and they both headed for the porch. Dixie pranced in wide zigzags, sniffing happily now that she was home. Jinx hesitated for two seconds before giving him a quick hug then vanishing into the house with the dog.
Twists and turns. The upside was confirming that Jinx was well on the way to being over parts of the abuse she’d suffered before coming to High Water. That was a thing to be very grateful for.
The instant he stepped inside, his brothers hit him with synchronized rebukes.
“Deck. Answer your damn texts.”
“Where the hell have you been?”
“Everything okay? Declan demanded. “What happened?”
“Shit, nothing,” Aiden admitted, slowing down and looking slightly guilty. “Just couldn’t get a hold of you.”
“I was busy, and since you didn’t actually call me or hit the panic button…” Declan shrugged. “What’s up?”
“Invite from Caleb Stone,” Jake said. “We’re headed to Silver Stone in fifteen minutes for supper and poker.”
“Okay.” Declan frowned. “Good thing I’m home.”
“I got the call and accepted for us all,” Jake admitted. “You’re always around.”
Not really, but… Declan eyed his brothers and spoke softer. “Think it’s safe for all three of us to head out and leave the ranch?” Since Kevin would also be away. Not that they knew that yet.
Aiden nodded. “The ladies, including Jinx, are headed over to Petra’s brother’s place. They’re doing some prep for the we got married celebration for me and Petra next week.” His grin flashed bright. “Glad to have a party to look forward to.”
“Even gladder that you’re already married,” Jake quipped.
“Amen to that,” Aiden agreed.
Twenty minutes later, Declan was freshly scrubbed and shaking hands with his neighbour. “Good to see you again with no emergency in the background.”
“Agreed.” Caleb gestured them all toward the side of the house where two large barbecues were sending delicious smoke signals into the air. “Nearly ready, and the beer is waiting and ice cold.”
“How’s Tyler doing?” Declan asked.
“Great.” Caleb shook his head. “He’s already tired of the sling and nearly broke his leg falling off the ridge pole of the goat pen roof.”
“Damn.”
“Right? Tamara gave me hell because I’m the one who told him, when he was higher than a kite on painkillers, mind you, that he’d be leaping around like a goat before he knew it, and the kid took me literally.”
Declan outright laughed even as he patted Caleb on the shoulder. “Glad he didn’t come to any harm.”
The usual cacophony of barking from his three dogs was noticeably absent. Her frown deepened as she nudged the door open further. Inside, the house was a mess. Half-eaten plates of food, spilled drinks, clutter strewn across the living room—an unsettling contrast to the man’s normally meticulous habits.
No sign of Rodney inside.
She made her way toward the barn, circling around the side where the firewood was stacked. A faint rustling drew her attention. In the distance, she caught the crunch of tires on gravel—someone else pulling in—but her focus locked on the source of the sound ahead.
Another rustle was followed by a low mutter. She slowed, instincts prickling.
“Mr. Greenlee? Hello? You’ve got a visitor.” She rounded the corner and froze.
Rodney stood ten feet away, shotgun raised, hands shaking as badly as his voice. “You can’t have it.”
Sydney instinctively stepped back, her voice calm but firm. “Mr. Greenlee—it’s Dr. Sydney Jeremiah. We’ve met before, remember? I’m not here to take anything from you.”
“Stop. Stop right now.” His grip tightened, the muzzle of the shotgun dipping and lifting erratically.
Her brain raced. Drop to the ground or throw herself around the edge of the building? If she had a couple more inches, she could—
“Hey there.” Declan’s voice rolled in like gravel and thunder.
He stepped calmly into view behind her, hands loose at his sides, body angled just enough to draw Rodney’s attention. “Declan Skye. Remember me? I run the animal shelter in town.”
As Rodney turned slightly, tracking Declan, Sydney didn’t wait. She ducked backward, darting around the side of the barn, breath shallow, heart pounding.
“That’s a fine piece you’ve got there, Rodney. You use that for elk hunting?” Declan kept talking behind her, his voice fading as she ran. “That’s a beauty. But I don’t think you need it right now. It’s only me. Just wanted to check in.”
Sydney raced around the barn, praying that whatever was wrong with Rodney he didn’t shoot Declan outright before she could act.
She fumbled in her pocket, fingers closing around the emergency syringe she always carried but hoped never to use. It wasn’t standard issue, but some of the situations she stepped in were dangerous. A girl had to have a backup plan.
When she crept around the far edge of the barn, Declan and Rodney remained in a standoff. Rodney’s back now faced her, and the gun had dropped slightly but was still in his hands.
Declan glanced at her so briefly it was a blink. He lifted a finger subtly. Wait.
She held up the auto-injector, thumbed off the safety cover, and let Declan see it before she inched closer.
“That sounds frightening,” Declan continued to Rodney soothingly. “Sometimes a man’s got to protect what’s his. But you know, since it’s just you and me here, you can probably put that away.”
“Don’t know.” Rodney’s gaze darted to the side. The gun lifted again.
Sydney launched forward. She plunged the syringe into Rodney’s shoulder, and he jerked.
A wild scream rang as the gun fired, dirt spraying upward—but the sedative worked fast, and Rodney was close to collapsing even as Declan tackled him to the ground.
“Jesus,” Sydney gasped.
Declan rolled to his knees, breath tight. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. I’ve never seen him like this before.”
Rodney was well and truly out, the sedative having done its work. Declan hauled him into a fireman’s carry and brought him inside, settling him on the bed.
He stepped away for the few minutes it took for Sydney to check Rodney over. “High fever. That’s the cause of the delirium. We need to get him to town, stat.”
“Edison’s on his way.” Declan shoved his phone into his pocket.
She paused in the middle of straightening the bedsheets. “What? Why?”
Declan folded his arms over his chest, tension radiating from his big frame. “Because when I saw where you were headed, I decided I should have a little more information. I called the clinic. Edison told me about your emergency knockout trick to use if things go south. And then Edison told me that if you did have to use your syringe, the last place you want to end up is explaining it down at the hospital.”
It wouldn’t be pleasant to explain, but Sydney considered the risk worth the increase in safety.
“So, you used the drugs, and I called the office. Edison offered to babysit your pin cushion until he recovers. Which means if Rodney is running a fever, he’ll have a nurse. And if he’s sick enough to need the hospital, Edison will haul his ass down there tomorrow.”
She couldn’t argue from a medical point of view, but the fact Declan had made those decisions without asking her—
None of it made sense. Inside, an uncomfortable sensation tangled her guts. The echo of past decisions made on her behalf for her “own good.”
First, though, how had he known to show up when he did? Suspicion rose.
“What are you doing here?” Sydney demanded.
“Saving your ass,” Declan snapped. “I’m gonna go clean up that disaster zone I just saw so Edison doesn’t have to deal with it.”
He walked out before she could say another word.
Edison showed up so soon afterward, he had either left the instant Declan talked to him or had driven like a mad man. Probably both.
He paused in the doorway, clicking his tongue as he examined the shivering body in the bed. “Please tell me Mr. Greenlee was talking about little blue men or something equally outrageous before you took him down like a rabid animal.”
“He pulled a gun,” she admitted with a sigh.
“Oh, sweetie. No.” Edison winced. “Well, that would explain the very rigid shoulders on Mr. Big and Broody out there. Just remember, you’re safe, he’s safe, and after you two work out whatever is messing with your brains, I really want that still to be true.”
A little of her fury faded. “You okay here by yourself?”
“Kevin is joining me,” Edison assured her. “From the looks of Mr. Greenlee, I think the fever will knock him out of commission for a little while longer. He won’t be doing any more Elmer Fudd imitations today.”
“Thanks for this.” Sydney accepted the hug Edison offered.
“You bet. Now go home.”
She paced into the main cabin slowly, but there was no sign of Declan. Clean dishes were stacked in the drying rack, and the living room had been put back to rights.
His truck was gone. Asshole. Just like him to leave when she wanted to give him a piece of her mind.
She drove home feeling equal parts guilty and angry, which meant when she discovered Declan parked outside her house, she had a fine head of steam built up.
Time for a reckoning. There was only one way he could have shown up at Greenlee’s the way he had.
She stomped up the walkway to where he sat in the porch swing as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “You’re tracking me.”
“Of course I’m fucking tracking you. I told you I would. So are Petra and Tansy. Hell, for all I know, Aiden and Jake have your location on GPS as well.”
She didn’t like being tracked. Didn’t like being handled.
But damn if part of her didn’t feel safer knowing someone had her back.
Still, he should have asked. “But they didn’t show up, again, somewhere I’m trying to hold a professional visit.”
“Nope. You’re right. So how was that visit going, darling?”
She paused, knowing the situation could have ended badly. “Thank you for helping today.”
His eyes flashed. “You need to stop putting yourself in danger.”
All her positive thoughts vanished as he hit a hot button. “You need to rethink telling me what to do.”
“Yeah, that’s not happening. You can’t see straight, but I’ll help you figure it out.”
“You think I’m reckless and foolish.”
“I think you’re a fucking force of nature.”
The words came out like a cannon shot across her bow.
Declan’s voice quivered, the intensity turned up to eleven. “I’m so turned on right now I can barely breathe. But I’m also so pissed that I can’t see straight.” He sucked in a big breath of air as he rose to his feet. “You make my chest hurt with how bold you are. I admire the crap out of you even as you scare me to death. You are reckless. You’re willing to dive into the most dangerous situations and it usually means you end up a goddamn hero. But that doesn’t change the fact that I want to tie you up and hide you away so that you can’t stick your damn neck out every fucking day. And the things that I want to do to you while I’ve got you tied up…”
Before she could answer or make any kind of excuse, he caught her to his body and slammed their lips together. A hard kiss, demanding and controlling. She was being consumed like wood being fed into the flames.
He pushed her back to the wall, and she clung to him, the fear and the frustration of the day sweeping away as everything narrowed to the pinpoint focus of being in his arms.
He lifted her off the ground, and she wrapped her legs around him as he pressed his hips against her intimately. The fear that had wrapped itself around her ribs hadn’t fully let go—but Declan’s kiss stripped her bare. Demanding. Fierce. Freeing.
She clung to his neck and kissed him back, groaning as he rocked, the thick length of his erection hitting every sensitive spot between her legs.
They needed to move this inside. She needed to rip his clothes off and lose her frustrations in his touch. In his taking.
She dragged her fingernails over his shoulders, just about to make that suggestion when the door swung open beside them, and Dixie rushed out with a friendly woof.
“Sydney? You home? I came over and was working on my 4-H essay using the articles you gave me— Oh, God, I’m sorry.”
Jinx’s voice cut off as she darted away, and the door beside them slammed shut.
8
It wasn’t his proudest thought, but Declan really wished Jinx hadn’t been there. Not because of the embarrassment factor, although that was through the roof, but because he and Sydney both had fire left to burn.
He lowered her feet to the porch. “Sorry. Lost my head,” he said quietly.
“Me, too.” She looked up at him. “Not sorry about the kissing, but the thoughtlessly stepping into danger. You’re right.”
They stared at each other for a minute before Declan took a deep breath. “Guess I get to give Jinx a ride home.”
“Have fun with that.” Sydney remained slightly breathless but more than a hint of teasing coloured her words.
Amusement chased away some of his frustration and the flames still licking over his skin. “You sound so sympathetic.”
“Glad it’s you and not me, that’s all I’m saying,” Sydney offered before clearing her throat and speaking louder. “Hey, Jinx, don’t worry. We’re decent and about to come into the house.”
Dixie met them with great enthusiasm, licking Declan’s hand and bumping into Sydney’s knees as Declan followed into the foyer off the small kitchen. Jinx was entirely too focused on putting her notebooks into her backpack and refused to look at either of them.
“Did you find what you needed for today?” Sydney asked.
“Yup.”
“Good. Then maybe tomorrow, or whenever you feel up to it, you can call me and we’ll finish the interview portion of your project.”
“Sure.” Jinx cleared her throat, tossing her bag over one shoulder. “You’ve done some cool stuff.”
“I have. Now, remember my pet peeve?”
“Put my bag on properly,” Jinx said immediately, slipping on both straps. “Fine. I should go.”
“I’ll give you a ride,” Declan said.
“You don’t need—”
“Jinx. Please get in the truck.” He kept his gaze steady until she flounced out the door. “Syd, I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay. Thanks again for your help today.” Her lips quirked. “Have a nice trip home.”
“Remember that Tansy isn’t the only one good at revenge,” he muttered softly as Sydney stuck out her tongue then winked.
Jinx moved like the wind. She popped Dixie into the backseat of the crew cab and settled in the front passenger seat before Declan made it off the porch. He took a deep, deep breath, then headed into a small and intense hell.
He got onto the highway before breaking the silence. “Awkward?”
“So much,” Jinx said, teenage angst in every syllable.
Dixie whined and shoved her head over the backrest until her nose hit Jinx’s cheek as if checking to see what was wrong.
“It’s okay,” Jinx told her quietly. “I’m just being silly. Lay down.”
Dixie obeyed, and suddenly the entire thing tilted toward the funny side of the equation.
The fact Jinx was icked-out by what she’d seen and not terrified the way she would have been last September when she arrived? Declan could get up on the stage at Rough Cut and dance a jig in front of everyone to celebrate.
They still needed to have a chat.
He cleared his throat.
“You’re going to make us talk about this? Really?” Jinx whined.
“I really am,” he returned. “You’ve seen Petra and Aiden kiss before.”
“And Tansy and Jake, yes. Plus I know how sex works, so don’t, for God’s sake, think you need to have that talk with me.”
“You don’t think I should be kissing Sydney?”
“I already knew you guys were kissing,” Jinx confessed.
Really? “Yeah? That’s not common knowledge,” he admitted.
“I kind of spotted you one day just after Christmas. Sneaking into the barn.”
“Sorry. We were usually more discreet.”
“Ha,” she laughed. “Today was discreet?”
“We were outside her house, which is in a pretty remote location.” Such a strange conversation, but as long as Jinx kept talking, so would he.
“It’s just…that was a little more…heated than most people do in public.”
“Sex can get that way.”
“Ugh, please.” She gave a full body quiver that was clearly at least eighty percent dramatic effect.
Declan snorted. “You know this is a really awkward conversation for both of us.”
“I know.” Jinx stared at his face. “I thought maybe you weren’t getting together with Sydney because of me.”
“The hell?” He shook his head. “Not true.”
“Because you had to be careful around me and that sort of thing. And I appreciate it, but I feel so much safer now. I don’t want you to avoid being together if you want to.”
“It wasn’t you. It isn’t you. Sometimes—” He was going to get revenge on Sydney for making him have to do this, whatever else he did. “Back to awkward conversation territory.”
Jinx sighed. “Just say it.”
“Sometimes adults get together for fun and not forever.”
She made a gagging noise.
“You asked,” he offered dryly.
“Not asking anything else.” Jinx stared out the window, probably because it was safer. “Just so you know, I think you two would be good together.”
“Maybe. But that’s a thing for us to figure out. So, sorry for surprising you, but I expect you’ll keep what you saw to yourself. It’s not really anyone else’s business, and I don’t think Sydney would like everyone talking about her.”
“Agreed.”
He parked outside the house and they both headed for the porch. Dixie pranced in wide zigzags, sniffing happily now that she was home. Jinx hesitated for two seconds before giving him a quick hug then vanishing into the house with the dog.
Twists and turns. The upside was confirming that Jinx was well on the way to being over parts of the abuse she’d suffered before coming to High Water. That was a thing to be very grateful for.
The instant he stepped inside, his brothers hit him with synchronized rebukes.
“Deck. Answer your damn texts.”
“Where the hell have you been?”
“Everything okay? Declan demanded. “What happened?”
“Shit, nothing,” Aiden admitted, slowing down and looking slightly guilty. “Just couldn’t get a hold of you.”
“I was busy, and since you didn’t actually call me or hit the panic button…” Declan shrugged. “What’s up?”
“Invite from Caleb Stone,” Jake said. “We’re headed to Silver Stone in fifteen minutes for supper and poker.”
“Okay.” Declan frowned. “Good thing I’m home.”
“I got the call and accepted for us all,” Jake admitted. “You’re always around.”
Not really, but… Declan eyed his brothers and spoke softer. “Think it’s safe for all three of us to head out and leave the ranch?” Since Kevin would also be away. Not that they knew that yet.
Aiden nodded. “The ladies, including Jinx, are headed over to Petra’s brother’s place. They’re doing some prep for the we got married celebration for me and Petra next week.” His grin flashed bright. “Glad to have a party to look forward to.”
“Even gladder that you’re already married,” Jake quipped.
“Amen to that,” Aiden agreed.
Twenty minutes later, Declan was freshly scrubbed and shaking hands with his neighbour. “Good to see you again with no emergency in the background.”
“Agreed.” Caleb gestured them all toward the side of the house where two large barbecues were sending delicious smoke signals into the air. “Nearly ready, and the beer is waiting and ice cold.”
“How’s Tyler doing?” Declan asked.
“Great.” Caleb shook his head. “He’s already tired of the sling and nearly broke his leg falling off the ridge pole of the goat pen roof.”
“Damn.”
“Right? Tamara gave me hell because I’m the one who told him, when he was higher than a kite on painkillers, mind you, that he’d be leaping around like a goat before he knew it, and the kid took me literally.”
Declan outright laughed even as he patted Caleb on the shoulder. “Glad he didn’t come to any harm.”
