The look on Kaylee’s face nearly destroyed me. She looked from the girl to me. Then that blank face appeared. The one I had seen a time or two after she’d allowed herself to get too vulnerable.
Pulling her arm from my grip, Kaylee glared at me. “Enjoy your evening, Ty.”
“Kaylee. Kaylee, wait!” I called out as I started to go after her.
The brunette stepped in front of me, her hands on my chest. “Ty, I’m horny, and you’ve been staring at me the last thirty minutes, not her. Let her go.”
My eyes dropped down to meet hers. “What did you just say?”
“I said, I’m horny.”
Looking once more at the door Kaylee had just walked out of, I knew I had a decision to make. Let Kaylee go and move on, or go after her.
Light shone through the window and caused me to groan when I attempted to pry open my eyes. I scrubbed my hands down my face and slowly dared to give it a try. Instant panic set in.
This isn’t my bedroom.
A feeling of dread and regret quickly rolled through me. What in the hell had I done?
Shit.
I looked to my left to see the brunette from last night, sound asleep next to me.
Fuck.
Another look back toward the window and I winced. My head was pounding.
How many shots did I have after Kaylee left?
“Son of a bitch,” I mumbled as I tossed the sheet off of me and climbed out of the bed. It was then I noticed I still had my jeans on. I looked back at the brunette and saw she was dressed in yoga pants and a T-shirt.
I closed my eyes and whispered, “Please don’t let anything have happened.”
Quickly, I set off to find my shirt and boots. I needed to get the hell out of here.
The nameless woman stirred in the bed, and I picked up the pace. I couldn’t find my socks, and in that moment I couldn’t have cared less. I slipped on my boots, sans socks, grabbed my wallet, and then looked at the unused condom on the side table.
Rubbing the back of my neck, I let my gaze move back to the woman.
She was awake and looking at me.
“You may not know this, or maybe you don’t want to admit it, but you’re in love with her.”
I frowned and tried to cover up her truth by laughing as I asked, “What are you talking about?”
She sat up and looked directly at me as she rested her chin on her knees. “Ty, the blonde from last night. The one talking to you at the bar. You’re in love with her.”
I scoffed. “You’re crazy, and I need to leave.”
“Why do you think I’m dressed, and so were you? You couldn’t sleep with me last night. You said you couldn’t do that to her. So either you’re with her and you were about to cheat, or you’re in love with her and won’t admit it to yourself, or to her, for whatever reason.”
“Remind me again, who in the hell are you?” I asked as I took a quick look around her bedroom before focusing back on her.
Her head tilted, and she flashed me a cute smile. “Lisa Waters.”
Lisa Waters. Why does that name sound so familiar?
Then it hit me. Lord Almighty . . . it hit me like a freight truck. “Oh, holy fuck. You’re Maria Waters’s kid. I knew you looked familiar.”
She laughed and crawled out of bed. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m far from being a kid. I’m thinking the next time you meet with Mom for a therapy session, you need to tell her about these little hidden feelings you got going on.”
“You don’t know anything about it,” I said. I picked up my phone and saw I had three missed calls. One from Brock, one from my mother, and one from an unknown number. I also had two voice mails.
“Maybe not, but I do know that you had a warm and willing body last night that was ready to do all sorts of naughty things with you, and you weren’t the least bit interested in me.” She gave me a wink. “I couldn’t get your cock to harden no matter what dirty thing I whispered into your ear.”
“I was drunk, and please tell me you’re over twenty-one.”
She flashed me a smile. “I’m twenty-two. How old are you?”
“Twenty-nine.”
“I always did love an older man. Listen, I’ve got to go get ready—I’m having lunch with my parents. Show yourself out, will you?”
Groaning internally, I couldn’t believe I had almost slept with my therapist’s daughter. Thank God my wits, and not my dick, had showed up last night. “Yeah, sure thing.”
As I walked past her, she reached for my arm, pulling me to a stop. “I won’t mention this to my mother, but honestly, Ty, you need to talk to someone. You talk in your sleep—and believe me when I say I know what it’s like to hold in the demons. You can only do it for so long before they start coming out any way they can. Your nightmares . . . they were intense.”
I stared at her for the longest time. In all the times I’d hooked up with women, I’d never stayed with them all night. Not once. So knowing she had seen that side of me bothered the hell out of me, more than I cared to admit.
“I appreciate it, but you don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not in love with anyone, let alone Kaylee Holden. And as far as any nightmares go, I was drunk and probably just dreaming weird shit.”
She shrugged, then gave me another wink. “Good luck with all that, dude. I just know I wouldn’t want to fight the battles your mind is waging with you.”
The entire drive back to the ranch, I tried to figure out what in the hell I had been thinking last night, leaving with Lisa. And fuck me . . . she was Maria’s kid. Just my damn luck.
After parking my truck, I decided to head to the barn and get a bit of work in before going back to my place. I lived in the foreman’s house, which was about a mile or so from my folks’ place and on the opposite side of the ranch from Brock. Once I was forced out of bull riding and worked the ranch full time, I spent a year adding on to the cabin that my granddaddy had built for the foreman and making it into a three-bedroom ranch-style house. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it was home. And it was renovated by my own two hands, so that counted for something. Especially since I hated shit like that. But it had been good therapy at the time.
The moment I walked into the barn, I came to a stop. Brock and Tanner were in a stall, and both turned to look at me.
Tanner grinned, and Brock shot me a suspicious glare as he looked me up and down.
“Didn’t even go home last night?” he asked.
“You keeping up with what I wear now, Brock?” I spat back.
He folded his arms over his chest and stared at me as I walked by. I looked into the stall to see that our horse Star was about to foal.
“She’s ready? I figured it would be a few more days,” I said.
Blayze popped up and gave me a wide toothless grin. “Hey, Uncle Ty! Star’s gonna have her a baby, and Daddy said I can help deliver it and name him or her.”
I reached over and rustled the brown hair on my nephew’s head. “I like the sound of that plan, buddy.”
“Who did you shack up with last night?” Tanner asked.
“Nice,” I said, jerking my head in the direction of Blayze. “Remember, little ears.”
Brock leaned over and smacked our younger brother. “Think before you speak, Tanner.”