Property Of The Mountain Man (Montana Mountain Men Book 1)
Property Of The Mountain Man: Chapter 18

Relief fills me when I stir awake and feel Bonnie’s naked body next to mine. Last night was an absolute shit show, culminating in my baby girl throwing up in the bathroom, while I held her hair back and she expelled about half a bottle of Patron.

She had shot glasses filled by the time I got back to the throwing booth last night. She didn’t make a scene, didn’t shout, or scream or cry, she just got ass faced drunk with my brothers. Being the only sober one, except for Granger, meant that I ended up with Bonnie over my shoulder while I tried to strong arm Bay and Penn out of the bar, and Granger herded Cody, Teddy, and Huck.

I almost wish she’d made a scene, at least then I could have carted her out of there and forced her to understand that she’s so much more than any other woman I’ve ever looked at. Instead she acted like nothing happened.

Sunlight is pouring through the drapes, so it’s late, but I don’t know what time it is, and I’m not sure where my cell ended up when I had to carry Bonnie to the bathroom so she could get sick last night. I can hear movement in the living room, it doesn’t surprise me that the guys were in no fit state to go to work today, but I’d rather we have the house to ourself so we can talk about everything that happened last night.

“Hey,” she croaks, stirring beside me.

“Morning, how’s your head?”

“Not too bad so far. Tequila doesn’t usually leave me with too much of a hangover,” she says, rolling onto her back and slowly opening her eyes.

“You want some coffee?” I ask.

“I need to brush my teeth first, my mouth tastes like ass,” she chuckles. “But yes, coffee and food, I’m starving.”

Nodding, I press a soft kiss to her forehead and climb out of bed, pulling some sweats on before I head out into the living room. Teddy is sitting at the breakfast bar, his head pressed against the counter as he nurses a steaming cup of coffee. Cody is passed out on the couch still fully dressed, and Bay is sitting in a chair clutching his head.

“How we all feeling?” I ask, shaking my head at the state of them.

“Like I’m too fucking old to be sucking down a bottle of tequila on a Tuesday night,” Bay groans.

“That’s because you are too old. The others gone to work?” I ask.

“Granger has, no one else I don’t think.”

Crossing to the coffee pot I grab two mugs and fill them, adding creamer to Bonnie’s and stirring.

My bedroom door opens and I glance up, worried for a minute that she might not realize that the others are still here and be out here naked, but she’s in long furry socks and one of my t-shirts that fits her like a dress. “Morning,” she chirps far too cheerfully.

“Urgh,” Teddy groans.

“You hungover?” she asks Teddy, giving him a quick hug as she passes.

“How are you not?” he rasps.

“I’m twenty-one,” she shrugs, then laughs, dancing over to me and taking the mug of coffee I’ve made for her.

“Urgh, fuck off with your youngness,” Bay hisses, then clutches his head again.

“Jesus, call yourself men,” she laughs, opening the refrigerator and pulling out a carton of eggs and some bacon. “Eggs and bacon will set you straight.”

I don’t get a moment alone with her for the rest of the day, she cooks for all of us, the smell of frying bacon tempting Huck and Penn from their bedrooms, both of them green and hungover. Then she cleans up and baits Bay into a deathmatch on Call of Duty, which descends into an all-day video game fest. Bonnie fits in with us all so well, but I don’t want to share her, I want to talk to her, make sure she knows that she’s not just another woman I’m fucking, that she’s mine, that she’s everything. I want to take her back to bed and show her with my body that she’s different, only she doesn’t give me the chance. In fact, she finds every excuse possible not to have the conversation that we really need to have, and before I know what’s happening it’s seven-thirty and Hal is knocking on the door.

“Hey Daddy,” she calls as soon as her dad walks into the house.

“Hi honey. Jesus it smells like a brewery in here,” Hal laughs.

“Yeah we hit the tequila pretty hard last night,” she giggles. “These guys are all showing their age, you should have seen the state of them all this morning.”

“Hey, you weren’t so pretty when you were throwing up last night,” Bay says, pointing at her with the spatula in his hand.

Shrugging, she jumps up from the couch and dances over to her dad, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “I’ll be back in five, I need to jump in the shower real quick.”

Contemplating following her, my eyes flit to Hal’s and I realize I can’t, no matter how much I want to. So instead I offer him a drink, grab a bottle of water for myself, and then sit down and make small talk with my girl’s dad.

Dinner is fun, Hal ends up telling us a story about the first time he ever drunk tequila, and the hours pass quick with us all reminiscing about drunken nights and crazy vacations until Hal says he needs to go home.

“I should probably stay at home tonight, I don’t have any work clothes here and I haven’t done any laundry in a week,” Bonnie says, jumping up from the table.

“What?” I cry.

“You’ve had me here for two days straight, Beau, I need to go home and do some laundry. I need to whip up a batch of something for the ranch hands and go check on my horse,” she tells me, her tone perfectly calm and rational.

I don’t feel perfectly calm and rational. In fact, something inside of me is screaming that if I let her leave she’ll never come back again. I know it’s insane to think that, but I can’t help but feel like we’re in the middle of an argument, even though she doesn’t seem angry in the least.

Pulling her to me, I lean down and whisper against her ear. “Baby girl, stay with me, I’ll do a load of laundry for you, then we can get up early and make something for the ranch hands if you want to. I don’t want to sleep without you,” I try to coax.

“I’ll stay with you tomorrow night,” she placates me dismissively, pressing a kiss to my cheek as she darts into our room, coming back a minute later carrying a backpack, her feet already in her boots.

Hal’s eyes look from Bonnie to me and back again, his brow furrowing.

“Hal you coming for dinner tomorrow night? It’s my famous pot roast?” Cody asks.

Hal looks at Bonnie again, then shakes his head, “Thanks for the offer, but maybe another time.”

My heart starts to race, can he see it too? Can he see this thing between us that she won’t let me fix? Is that why he doesn’t want to come to dinner, because he doesn’t think Bonnie will come, that she won’t want to be here with me?

“Well thanks for dinner, I’ll be seeing you,” Hal says, turning and making his way for the front door.

As if my brothers can sense it too, they all look at me, and I just shake my head and follow Hal out.

“Night Beau,” he says, holding his hand out to shake mine.

I take his hand, hating that he seems like he’s saying a permanent goodbye. But instead of just a handshake, I feel the key in his palm. Looking up I see the knowing look in his eyes and I instantly relax. Unless I’m really fucking wrong, Hal just gave me a key to their house. He gave me the means to come to her, and with it he just gave me his complete seal of approval. No father would give their daughter’s boyfriend a key to the house knowing I was going to crawl into her bed tonight if he didn’t see exactly what I felt for her.

Bonnie might be blind to what’s in front of her, but her dad can read me clearly. Exhaling slowly I nod, flashing him a grateful smile. “See you soon, Hal.”

Bonnie steps past me, searching for her car and finding it missing still. “Where’s my car?”

“It’s still in the shop, Penn bought you the GMC Terrain for you to use till yours is fixed,” I tell her, grabbing the keys from the bowl by the door and handing them to her.

“Oh. Err okay, are you sure it’s okay for me to drive this? It’s a lot newer than my Toyota,” she laughs.

“It’s fine,” I assure her, reaching her and pulling her into me. What I don’t tell her is that the GMC isn’t a loaner, it’s the car I bought for her when Penn told me how much work the Toyota needs to be safe to drive up and down the mountain with my woman in it. But right now, when she’s leaving me probably isn’t the time to tell her this, so instead I kiss her.

Taking her lips with mine I devour her, telling her with this kiss all the things she hasn’t given me the chance to say to her today. I kiss her until her body melts against mine, her nipples pebbled and pressing into my chest, her hands clinging to me. “Don’t go,” I whisper.

“You coped all the other nights before we got together, you’ll cope again tonight,” she sighs, pulling away from me and moving to the car, climbing in, and leaving.

I watch as she drives away, not looking at the key in my hand until her tail lights are disappearing from sight. Hal Williams gave me a key to his home, because he knows there’s no way I can stay away from her tonight. I don’t know if he sees it in my eyes, or maybe he can just sense it from the way I am whenever Bonnie is near, but he gave me a key and his blessing all without saying a word.

Sighing, I slide the key into my pocket and walk back into the house, closing the door behind me.

“What’s going on? Why isn’t she staying?” Huck asks, a little accusatory.

“We’re in an argument.”

“Even more reason that you shouldn’t have let her go,” Teddy says, his voice more serious than I’m used to hearing from my baby brother.

“What would you have had me do? You want me to lock her in our room and refuse to let her out?” I snap.

“What are you arguing about?” Granger asks, always the most perceptive one of us.

“She had run ins with Amber and Linda last night,” I confess, sighing as I slump down into the couch.

“Amber who?” Penn asks.

My brothers all crowd around me, just like I knew they would. Maybe to other people it’s a little weird how close we are, but it’s just always been this way for us. Some people hate their siblings, but my brothers are my best friends, they’re my confidants, my cheering squad, and the ones to call me on my shit when I need it. They’re my family, and family is everything.

“Hammond. We hooked up a few weeks ago.”

Bay sucks in air through his teeth. “Bro, your last hook up confronted Bonnie. What happened?”

“I’m not sure exactly, all Bonnie told me is that Amber and Linda both let her know that they’d fucked me. She’s pissed, but she won’t talk to me. I tried last night, but she grabbed a bottle of tequila and well, we all know how the rest of the night went,” I sigh.

“You need to fix this,” Cody says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“No shit, but she hasn’t given me chance and now she’s gone.”

“You just gonna let her go? Mom and Dad never went to bed angry, that was one of the rules they lived by, I remember Dad telling me that when I was just a kid,” Teddy says.

“Hal gave me this,” I smile, pulling the key from my pocket and showing them.

“Holy fuck, is that a key to their house?” Huck laughs.

“I certainly fucking hope so, ‘cause if not I’m gonna be making a whole heap of noise in a little while when I go over there,” I scoff.

A little over an hour later, I place my bag onto the passenger seat of my truck and drive the short distance between my house and Bonnie’s. Parking my truck behind the GMC, I grab my bag and the house key Hal gave me, and make my way over to the dark house. It’s a little after midnight and the ranch is dark and quiet except for the sound of horses in the corral and stables.

Quickly climbing the steps, I unlock the front door and step into the house, locking the door behind me and placing the key on the table by the door. Making my way upstairs, I listen for any sounds coming from Bonnie’s room, but it’s quiet, with no light coming from beneath her door. Turning her door handle I step into her room as silently as I can, the moonlight shining through her blinds illuminating her room enough for me to see her tiny body in the bed.

Normally she’s a peaceful sleeper, but tonight she’s unsettled, tossing and turning as she mumbles incoherently. Placing my bag on the dresser, I quickly undress, then lift her comforter and try to crawl into her tiny bed with her.

The moment I depress the mattress with my knee she jerks awake. “Beau?” she shrieks.

“Hey baby girl, shuffle over so I can get in.”

“What are you doing here?” she asks, her voice confused as she moves to make room for me.

“No space, no distance. Plus, you’re angry, and neither of us should go to bed angry.”

“I’m not angry,” she says, instantly denying it.

“I’m sorry about what happened last night. I can’t change the fact that I have a past, but I should have protected you from it, or at least made sure you understand who you are to me.”

She stiffens and I pause, confused about what I might have said to make her so tense.

“So who am I?” she asks coldly.

“You are everything.”

“I don’t understand.”

Rolling to my side so I can look her in the face, I cup her jaw with my palm. “I have never seen a couple as in love as my parents. They were each other’s worlds; they were the happiest people you’ve ever seen, and they loved each other just as much when they were finally parted as they did the day they got married. I decided a long time ago that if I couldn’t have a relationship like my mom and dad did, then there was no point having one at all. I grew up surrounded by love, they taught me what it meant to be married, what it meant to be in love and infatuated, and when you’ve seen that kind of once in a lifetime love, you realize that if you can’t have the real thing it’s better not to have anything at all.”

“I—” she starts.

“I’m forty-three years old, I’d given up on finding something like they had, until I saw you all alone in that coffee shop. You were so beautiful, but so young. Too young. I’ve fucked other women, Bonnie, but you are the only woman I have ever seen myself falling in love with. You are the only woman I have ever wanted forever with. The others got sex, an hour of meaninglessness, but I want to give you everything,” I confess, my voice ragged.

“Everything?” she questions, the word shaky.

“Everything,” I repeat. “No space, no distance, nothing between us, forever.”

I wait for her to speak, to say something, but instead she kisses me and I can feel the understanding in her touch. I don’t know if she’s on the same page as me just yet, but my cards are on the table and she’s not running in the opposite direction.

Her hands explore my face, my shoulders, my chest, until she reaches for my dick. Small hands tentatively grip me as she slowly starts to work me. I let her play, enjoying the feeling of her hands on me, but it’s not enough. Grabbing her wrist, I stop her, lifting her arms into the air as I peel her nightshirt up her body and over her head, dropping it to the floor as I pin her beneath me, my fingers finding her core and sliding inside of her.

Gasping, her head falls back as her lips part, and a garbled moan falls from her. She’s so wet that my fingers fill her with ease, her cunt clenching around me as I rub at her clit, swallowing the sounds she makes.

“I’m sorry, baby girl, I need my dick in you, I can’t wait,” I growl, pulling my fingers free and replacing them with my cock, feeling her muscles stretch around me as I fill her.

“Oh god,” she moans, her hands finding my hair and pulling me down for a kiss as I slowly start to fuck her.

Kissing her, I fill her pussy again and again, until she starts to tremor beneath me, her fingernails scoring my skin as her body is wracked with an orgasm that triggers my own. It’s not loud, sweaty, dirty sex, but it’s by far one of the most intense sexual experiences I’ve ever had. Her eyes are wide and bright even in the darkness as she looks up at me.

“You’re giving me everything I never dreamed I’d get,” I whisper.

Tears fill her eyes as she smiles.

“Don’t cry,” I whisper, wiping the tears from her eyes.

Sighing sweetly, she swallows. “I dreamed about you too you know. I just need to get used to it being real.”

The shrill chirping of an alarm clock wakes me and I try to stretch, only to realize Bonnie is asleep on top of me, her body draped over mine in her tiny little bed. It’s still dark out, too early to be awake, but as I run my finger up and down the length of her naked back, she starts to stir.

“Sorry sweetheart, we’ve got to get up,” I rasp, my voice full of sleep.

“No, comfy,” she sleepily replies, burying her face against my chest.

Chuckling lightly, I pull her hair away from her face and just stare at her for a minute. I’m so fucking glad I came last night, her bed is far too small for us both, but I needed to make her understand what she is to me, and I think now she does, or at least I think she’s starting to see.

“Urgh,” she groans, her limbs slowly moving as she realizes that she’s using me for a mattress and pillow.

“Did we sleep like this all night?”

Shrugging, I smile. “Better than being alone, I’ll let you lay on me all night, every night if it means we’re in the same bed.”

“Hmm,” she breaths, not even attempting to move.

“We got to get up, don’t shower this morning, I want you to smell like me all day,” I rasp, dragging her up my body and kissing her.

“Caveman.”

“Your caveman,” I laugh, palming her ass and squeezing. “Up,” I say, landing a sharp slap on her ass cheek.

“Hey,” she shrieks.

“You love it,” I wink, lifting her up and following her, until we’re sitting side by side on the edge of the bed.

Standing up, I grab my bag and quickly get dressed, grabbing my toothbrush and heading for the bathroom as she slowly pulls on underwear. “How did you get in last night?” she calls from her bedroom.

“Your dad gave me a key,” I confess.

“He did not,” she laughs.

“He did, he knew I was coming one way or another, and at least with a key I didn’t have to wake up the whole house.” Washing my face, I smile when Bonnie walks straight into the bathroom, grabs her toothbrush, and starts to brush her teeth beside me. I follow suit, and for a moment we’re just next to each other, getting ready side by side. This is what I want every day, only not here, I want her in my home, my bed, my bathroom.

“Move in with me.”

Her toothbrush pauses an inch from her mouth and she turns to look at me, her eyes wide. “What?”

“I want you to move in with me. If you don’t want to live with my brothers, I’ll build us a house that connects to the main house, or one next door, so we have our own space. You’re right next door to your dad and he can come eat with us every night, or every other night and we’ll come here on the other days.”

She quickly finishes her teeth, wiping her mouth while her eyes stay on me, still wide and shocked. “It’s been a week, Beau, it’s too soon.”

“Who says it’s too soon? Maybe for other people it would be, but maybe for us it’s perfect. I already missed out on a year of falling asleep with you and waking up with you, I don’t want to miss anymore. Our lives are already intertwined, what difference will it make if you move all of your stuff in with me?”

Sighing, she shakes her head. “Ask me again in three months.”

“Three months,” I exclaim. “How about three days?”

Her laugh is sweet and soft. “I’ve never done this.”

“Neither have I,” I tell her.

“So, let me have some time to get used to all this, I’m a newbie. It’s gonna take me a little longer than you.”

The urge to touch her is almost overwhelming, but she must read my mind, because she darts for the door to the bedroom laughing. “Oh no, I recognize that look already, you’re not gonna fuck a yes out of me,” she giggles.

Smiling, I follow her back into her room, lunging for her and throwing her onto the bed, kissing and nipping at her neck as she giggles and playfully pushes me away.

“Beau,” she shrieks, when I tickle her.

Flipping her onto her stomach I sit on her legs, keeping her in place as I pull down her jeans and bite her ass cheek. “I don’t need to fuck a yes out of you, I could spank one from you instead.”

“Don’t you dare,” she laughs, trying to buck me off as she giggles loudly.

I smack my palm against her ass cheek, groaning a little when her creamy skin turns instantly pink. “Fuck, baby girl, I have no idea why that’s so sexy.”

Her alarm blares to life and we both groan in unison. “To be continued,” I warn, pressing a kiss over the red patch of skin, before I pull her jeans back into place.

“Promise?” she asks coyly, staring at me intently over her shoulder.

“Promise,” I say thickly, climbing off her, adjusting my now hard cock in my pants.

My dick is almost under control by the time we head into the kitchen and Bonnie sets the coffee machine to brew.

“Pancakes and eggs?” I ask.

“Oooh pancakes,” she coos enthusiastically.

“That’s a yes then?”

“Definitely a yes. I need to find something for dinner,” she says, opening the refrigerator.

“It’s pot roast, Cody’s cooking tonight.”

“I should—”

“Nope, we’re going home tonight and we’ll convince your dad to eat with us too.”

“I have plans,” Hal says, shuffling into the kitchen a little stiffly.

“Who with?” Bonnie asks.

“Clem and Brian, we’re eating at the bar and watching the game,” he tells her, pulling three mugs from the shelf as I add eggs to the pancake batter in the mixing bowl and stir.

“Oh, okay,” Bonnie says, I’m gonna stay at Beau’s tonight then, I put the batch of cookies I made last night in the freezer, so you can just pull them out before you go to bed tonight for the guys for tomorrow.

“Sure thing,” Hal says, smiling at me and winking briefly before he pushes a coffee mug across the table toward me.

After breakfast I help Bonnie clean up, say goodbye to Hal, thanking him for the key, then trail her out of the house. She pauses in front of the shiny black SUV and spins around to look at me. “You coming to the shop?”

Rolling my eyes, I sigh. “What do you think?”

Smiling, she pushes up onto her tiptoes and kisses me quickly. “See you down there.”

“Drive careful,” I warn her, turning and climbing into my truck as she pulls away in the new car she doesn’t know is hers yet.

Twenty minutes later I pull my truck in beside the GMC and climb out. “How’s the car?” I ask innocently.

“It’s so nice,” she gushes. “It has heated seats and it drives like a dream, I can’t believe Bay and Penn loan out a car like this to their customers.”

“Your car’s a junker, you should scrap it,” I tell her, wondering how mad she’s going to get at me when I tell her the GMC’s already registered in her name.

“I can’t afford something nice yet. My car’s okay for the minute until I save a little more cash,” she says, smiling wistfully at the SUV as she presses the button and it beeps and locks.

Biting my lip to stop myself from blurting out that I bought her a car, I silently follow her into the shop, moving to take the chairs off the tables as she bustles about turning on the coffee machine and doing the other little tasks she does every other morning she’s here.

“A car like the GMC is so much safer than your Toyota,” I mention as she refills the beans in the grinder and sets out milk jugs and cups.

“I’ll definitely look at them once I’ve saved enough money,” she says dismissively.

“Winter’s coming, I really don’t think your Toyota’s safe to be driving the mountain roads in the snow.”

“I have chains to put on when it snows, plus I can always use one of the ranch trucks if the weather’s really bad.”

“The Toyota’s not safe, I told Bay to scrap it and I bought the GMC for you.” The words are out before I can swallow them back down.

“You did what?” she shouts, glaring at me, anger pouring from her in waves.

“I bought the GMC for you; it’s already registered in your name. Your car was dangerous.”

“You bought me a car?” she asks, slowly, like she’s trying to understand the words. “And where’s my car?”

“It’s at the shop waiting to be collected for crushing.”

“Tell Bay I want my car back,” she hisses.

“No.” I shake my head, crossing my arms over my chest and staring her down.

“Beau.”

“No, baby girl, you can shout and hiss like an angry fucking kitten all you want, but when Bay and Penn looked your car over they found a load of stuff wrong with it. Bottom line, it was dangerous. The GMC is safer, it gets better mileage and you like it.”

“I’m saving for a new car. Tell Bay to make the Toyota safe and it’ll do until I have enough money for something better.”

“No,” I say, shaking my head again.

“No?” she accuses.

“No,” I say again. “I’m never going to be okay with you driving a death trap up and down this mountain every day. It’s dangerous, end of story. You’re my woman and I take that responsibility seriously. Would your daddy have let your mama drive a car that wasn’t safe?”

“No of course not, but they were married and had been for thirty years.”

“Then you should get why I’m not prepared to let you drive a car that’s dangerous. I’m not willing to risk your life just so you can be stubborn. The GMC’s yours, it’s all registered in your name, the paperwork is in the glove compartment.”

“Beau you can’t just buy me a car,” she hisses, stomping her foot for impact.

“Sure I can, I just did,” I shrug.

“How much was it? I have five thousand dollars in my savings, I can give you that as a down payment and we’ll have to set up a payment plan for the rest.”

I laugh so loudly and for so long that tears fill my eyes. “I’m not taking a fucking penny from you,” I exhale on an amused breath.

“You can’t buy me a car after we’ve been dating for a week,” she cries, her hands on her hips.

“I didn’t buy a fucking car for the woman I’ve been dating for a week; I bought a car for the woman who my entire world revolves around. I bought a car to protect the person who is everything to me. I bought a car for the woman I’m planning forever with. Your car was old and dangerous, I did what I had to do so that you can get to work safely and so I haven’t got to spend all day worried that you’re stranded or hurt. Now stop being a pain in the ass and just say thank you,” I snap.

“Thank you,” she says, her eyes filled with earnest confusion. There’s so much more I could say. I could tell her that I’m in love with her, that I’m unhealthily obsessed with her, that I’m upset that she’s on contraception and not pregnant with my baby. Hell, I could tell her that I plan to marry her just as soon as I can get a ring on her finger.

But the truth is that just because I’m ready to confess all of that, doesn’t mean she’s ready to hear it. So instead I stay quiet, cross the room to where she’s standing, and kiss her, telling her all my secrets in the silent way that all men in love do when they can’t use words.

“Do you think Owen will show up today?” I rasp against her lips when I reluctantly pull away from her.

“I doubt it, he’s on the rota to work this weekend, so it’s unlikely he’ll be here today or tomorrow,” she says breathily. Sᴇaʀ*ᴄh the ꜰindNʘvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“Okay, I’ll be in at the normal time to help you close up.”

“I have to go home and grab all my stuff for tomorrow night.”

“What stuff?”

“A dress and makeup, I can’t go out with Cora in work clothes,” she laughs.

I stiffen. “Can’t you cancel?” I ask, nuzzling my nose against her neck, inhaling her soft, fruity fragrance.

“No, why would I cancel?” she asks, her tone confused as she pushes up onto her tiptoes and kisses me again.

“Because I want you all to myself,” I growl playfully.

“I want doesn’t get, and don’t think this whole car issue is settled, it isn’t.”

“Baby girl, you have a great new car and I get to know that my woman is safe, that sounds pretty settled to me.”

“Beau,” she snaps, her tone becoming impatient again.

“I better get to work. Kiss me and tell me you’ll miss me,” I demand, smiling widely.

“You are a pain in my ass,” she says, shaking her head a moment before she kisses me.

“I can be a real pain in your ass,” I taunt, smacking her butt.

“See you later.”

“The service in this place is terrible, I got put to work, got shouted at for giving you a nice gift, and I didn’t even get a cup of coffee,” I drawl, pursing my lips in mock annoyance.

“Maybe you should find somewhere else for your coffee then, now go to work.”

“Tell me you’ll miss me,” I order.

“I’ll miss you,” she confesses sweetly.

Her smile gets soft, and I can’t help gathering her in my arms and kissing her again. “Bye, baby girl. Text me if you get to finish early.”

“Bye Beau.”

The shop is quiet with only one group of customers gathered around a small table in the window when I push through the door and make my way up to the counter. Bonnie smiles widely when she sees me and I stride straight up to her, cup her face, and kiss her. “Hey baby girl,” I rasp.

“Hi.”

“How’s your day been.”

“Long and boring,” she says, wrapping her arms around my waist and resting her cheek against my chest. “How was yours?”

“Busy, we started a new slice today, so we spent half the morning transporting all of the equipment up to the top of the hill, then the moment we started cutting, the grab blew two tires so we had to go back down to the yard and drag out spares and run them back up again. I haven’t stopped since I left here this morning,” I tell her, exhaling slowly as I enjoy the way she feels in my arms.

“I’m sorry your day sucked, what can I do to make it better?” she asks sweetly.

“You’re doing it right now. I can’t wait to get home, two full days with you and I hated not seeing you all day,” I confess, not caring how pathetic I sound. If I could I’d keep her with me all day. “Wanna come work for me?” I ask hopefully.

“I’m not sure I’d be that good at cutting down trees,” she giggles.

“So come work in the offices, or drive a grab, or something. Hell, you can give up work all together and just come keep me company all day,” I say, meaning every word.

“And how exactly would I pay my bills?” she asks amused.

“What bills? Your car is paid for, the house is paid for, we have a kitty for the utilities and food, and my company would pay for your cell phone,” I tell her seriously.

“Beau, don’t be absurd; I have to have a job.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s the twenty-first century and women look after themselves now,” she says sarcastically.

“Women can rule the entire fucking planet for all I care. But me and you, we do what works best for us. I don’t want to not see you for twelve hours a day, I fucking miss you. I make enough money to look after us both, so quit your job and let me indulge in you with no space and no distance. You get bored, or we run out of money, then you can go get a job,” I say with a shrug.

Stiffly she looks away from me, inhales sharply, then shakes her head. “I’m just going to pretend that we stopped talking after you said you hated not seeing me all day, because we’re at my job, and you’re obviously crazy,” she laughs coldly.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want to argue with you when you’re saying stupid things. You missed me, and I missed you, let’s leave it at that,” she says, her lips tensed into a firm line.

“It’s the perfect solution—” I start.

“Beau, enough. This morning you tell me you bought me a car; this afternoon you’re telling me you want me to give up my job so I can be with you twenty-four hours a day. This is all just too much, and to be honest you’re starting to freak me out. So enough, okay? Enough. Let’s just go back to being people who’ve been dating for a week. Two people who are getting to know each other with all the normal boundaries that new couples have.”

Pulling out of my arms she turns to walk away, but I curve my arm around her stomach and pull her back into my chest. “I’ll drop it for now, baby girl,” I whisper, pressing my lips to the pulse point in her neck, feeling it race beneath my skin.

“I’ll follow you back,” I say as I stand on the sidewalk behind her while she locks the coffeeshop door.

“Just go on home, I need to go home and grab my stuff for tomorrow night, I’m going straight to Cora’s after I finish work.”

“Can’t you get ready at home? I can drive you back down the mountain, then come pick you up once you’re done?” I ask.

“No, it’s fine, I’m gonna stay at Cora’s.”

“Fuck no, I’ll come pick you up.”

“No, you won’t, I’m staying at my friends.”

Biting my tongue, I wait for her to get into the GMC before I climb into my truck and follow her back to her dad’s, pulling up behind her.

“I thought you were going home, I’m just getting my stuff and I’ll come over,” she says a little tersely.

“It’s fine, I’ll help you pack up some more of your stuff. Since you took your laundry last night there’s hardly anything left.” Following her inside and up to her bedroom, I grab the big case I spotted at the back of her closet and throw more of her things in there, starting with her underwear.

“I need some pajamas too, I can’t keep being around your brothers in just your shirts, I need clothes that cover me.”

“Fine,” I say on a huff, throwing a couple of pairs of soft flannel pajamas into the case. “But you’re not wearing this shit to bed.”

“At your age I’d have thought you’d appreciate a comfy pair of pajamas,” she laughs, disappearing into the bathroom and returning a few minutes later with a vanity bag and hair straighteners which she drops into the case, rolling her eyes at the pile of her clothes I’ve packed. “I’m not moving in,” she tells me.

“Course not,” I say sardonically.

Crossing to her closet she leans in, sliding the hangers across until she pulls out a tiny black dress. Lifting it up, she holds it in front of herself, glancing down, her eyes narrowing slightly as she assesses herself.

“You’re not wearing that,” I snap.

“What’s wrong with this dress? It’s cute,” she scowls.

“It’s fucking tiny, your ass is going to be hanging out,” I growl.

“It’s not that short, it’s past mid-thigh, plus I wasn’t asking for your opinion anyway.”

“Baby girl, I’m fucking warning you, you are not leaving the house in that dress.”

Inhaling slowly, she turns to look at me, her eyes glacial, warning me that she is not a happy fucking bunny right now. “Beau, I’ll wear whatever the fuck I want, and you better get that into your thick caveman skull right now.”

“Bonnie you can wear this dress for me anytime you want,” I hiss. “But I don’t want any other assholes getting to see you in it.”

Shaking her head, she hangs the dress over the closet door and leans down, pulling out a pair of sky-high black shoes and a tiny leather jacket.

“Bonnie I’m serious,” I snap, thoughts of every guy in town seeing her in that dress and imagining what she’d look like naked filling my mind.

“Fine,” she says sweetly. “I won’t wear the black dress.”

Tension leaches from my shoulders and I open my mouth to thank her, when she reaches back into the closet and pulls out a bright red dress. This one is shorter and probably tighter, with cut out panels on the sides. “I’ll wear this one instead.”

When she turns to look at me, the red dress held aloft in her hand, her eyes sparkling with unrestrained mirth, I have to inhale sharply to stop myself from ripping the dress from her hands and setting it on fire.

“Bonnie.” Her name comes out like an animalistic sound, but she doesn’t heed the warning, closing the closet door and grabbing the shoes in her other hand. Waiting by the door, she arches her eyebrow, daring me to challenge her again.

“Are we going to your place, or would you rather I slept here tonight?”

Closing the case, I lift it from the bed and stalk towards her. “You’re not wearing that dress.”

“My next option is those shorts you weren’t a fan of the other day,” she retorts, stepping out of her bedroom and sashaying down the stairs, out the front door, and to her new car.

I follow her back to my house, scowling the entire time as I imagine how she’ll look in that fucking red dress. I don’t want her to go out at all, but I hate the thought of her being out without me, wearing something so tempting. Before, she was sweet little Bonnie Williams the virgin. But she’s not a virgin anymore and it’s impossible to ignore the sexy allure she exudes.

Opening her car door for her when we arrive, I help her out the car, glaring poisonously at that fucking dress.

Her laugh only angers me further. “You wishing you hadn’t commented about the black dress now?”

“I’ll lose my fucking head if you go out in that. I don’t want you to go out at all. Ask Cora to come here, we can get take out, Granger makes a mean cocktail, you girls can hang out and she can stay over in the guest room.”

“You sound like you’re trying to arrange a play date,” she hisses. “What is the problem? I’m going out with my girlfriend to a bar for a few drinks and some dancing. You’re making this an issue when it isn’t one.”

“How would you feel if I was going out?”

“I’d tell you to have a good night and to drink water before you go to sleep so you didn’t have a hangover the next morning. Because I’m not crazy,” she says pointedly.

“I’m pretty sure I warned you I was crazy. You’re mine, Bonnie, and I won’t fucking share.”

“Jesus, Beau, I’m not going out to find someone to hook up with,” she says rolling her eyes dramatically.

“The fuck!” I yell, grabbing her and dragging her to me. “You think that’s fucking funny?”

“You’re being an asshole,” she shouts, shoving at my chest in an attempt to free herself from my hold.

“I know,” I shout back, closing my eyes and pulling in a deep breath.

Sighing, she places her hand on my cheek, stroking softly. “Calm down and stop being crazy. I get that you’re this big, bad caveman, but it’s only a night out with my friend. If I wanted to hook up with other guys, I’d have been doing it for a while now and I wouldn’t be here with you. Whatever you’re thinking that’s got you all riled up, it’s in your head. Let’s go eat, because I’m starving, then you can make me scream your name as many times as you want until you feel better,” she winks, kissing me quickly.

Slightly mollified, I turn her in my arms, and smack her butt, encouraging her to walk ahead of me. She pushes through the front door and into the house, that godforsaken dress hanging over her shoulder.

“Hey guys,” she calls in greeting.

“Hey,” Cody says from the kitchen, where the smells of roasting beef is fragrancing the air.

“Well damn,” Huck says from behind us. “That’s one hell of a dress. You guys going on a date?”

“No,” Bonnie laughs. “I’m going out tomorrow night with my friend Cora.”

“In that?” Bay asks, his head popping up from the couch.

“Yes. It’s called a dress; I think you might have seen one or two before. This one is red and pretty, but you can get them in all sorts of colors and fabrics,” she replies sarcastically.

Bay’s gaze lifts to me and he arches his brow in question. “You’re letting her wear that?”

Bonnie’s huff is so loud I bet you could hear it over at her dad’s house. “He isn’t letting me do anything, because I’m an adult and I don’t have to ask permission to choose my own clothes.”

“Sorry, honey, but if you were my girl I wouldn’t let you out in a dress like that,” Teddy says with a shrug.

“Are you all serious?” she asks incredulous, looking around at my brothers.

All of them nod, agreeing that no way in hell would they be happy with that dress if she was theirs.

“You’re all cavemen,” she shrieks, throwing her hands up into the air.

“No, baby girl, we’re Barnett men. Po—”

“Possessive, jealous, assholes,” she interrupts. “Yeah I’ve heard that one before. Gotta say, I’m starting to understand why you’re all single.”

Chuckling, I reach out and take the fucking nightmare of a dress from her and head for our room. When I’ve unpacked her stuff, I find her in the doorway watching me. “I think I have more stuff here than at home now,” she says.

“Good.” I laugh.

Rolling her eyes, she shakes her head. “I’m gonna take a shower, Cody says dinner will be about fifteen minutes, he told me off when I offered to help.”

“They like you,” I tell her.

“I like them.”

“Want me to scrub your back?”

“No, I’m hungry and If you come help me shower, dinner will be cold by the time you let me go.”

“Spoil sport,” I tease.

Walking past me, she disappears into the bathroom and I hear the water being turned on a moment later. She hasn’t closed the door fully, so I follow her in, boosting myself up onto the counter and watching as her head tips forward and the water douses her naked skin.

“I can feel you watching me,” she calls.

“I can come touch if you want.”

“Hungry.”

“Me too, but I could have you for dinner.”

“Stay out there,” she warns, pointing at me.

“Tell me about Cora, have you been friends for a long time?”

“Since middle school, she’s flaky and crazy. I love her.”

“Has she got a boyfriend?”

“No, she has a toxic on again, off again thing with her ex. I actually hope she meets someone new, then she’ll finally get away from Mitchell. He doesn’t care about her enough to commit, but he doesn’t want to let go either.”

Her arms lift as she rubs shampoo into her hair, her tiny pink nipples dripping with soap suds as the water washes her hair clean. My clothes are off and I’m stepping into the shower with her before she has a chance to protest. I suck her nipple into my mouth as I part her folds and push two fingers into her all the way to the knuckle.

A startled cry of pleasure falls from her lips and I fuck her with my fingers, relentlessly chasing down the orgasm I need to give her. When she comes, loud and quick, I pull my fingers out of her cunt and lick them clean, grabbing the back of her head and kissing her, letting her taste herself on my tongue.

“So fucking sweet and all mine, I couldn’t resist,” I smile, grabbing the shampoo and lathering it into my hair, then I clean my body with soap, letting the water wash the suds away while Bonnie pants, her eyes still wide with arousal.

We eat with my brothers, then I spend the rest of the night making her scream with pleasure as I show her again and again why she should stay home with me, instead of going out.

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