The Bet (Blazing Hearts, #1) (2 page)

Often, Jake and Tyson were required to travel for Mr. Garnes, their employer. More than once Tyson had caught Jake looking around the towns they’d land in. Tyson knew what he his friend was searching for, or rather who.

Jake burped again and then laughed. “If I was you I’d walk right up to Lexie, grab her, kiss her and tell her you’re gonna fuck her until she agrees to marry you.”

“Marry me?” he asked, his eyes widening. “I’m not really lookin’ for marriage.”

Jake rolled his eyes. “Right. Whatever. Boy, you’d run to the church with her if you thought you could. Don’t try to deny it.”

He opened his mouth to do just that but stopped. Shit. Jake had a point. If Tyson ever did settle down it would be with a gal like Lexie.

Jake laughed. “I’ll bet you the new gelding that came my way, that you been eyeing up, that you won’t do it.”

“Do what?” Tyson questioned. “Marry her?”

Jake pushed him slightly. “That you won’t get her to surrender to you in bed. Ty, you have women fawning all over you and you’ve no problem takin’ what you want from them. Why not Lexie Garnes?”

“Because she’s Luther’s daughter and if I know her at all, she’s still a virgin,” he replied. “She isn’t gonna hand it out to me if she’s been savin’ it for marriage all these years.”

“You really think she didn’t let any of those fancy city boys from up North into her panties? Hell, I bet she’s seen more dick than you can shake a stick at. Them boys up there wouldn’t let somethin’ as smokin’ hot as Lexie get by them. No way. No how.”

The thought enraged Tyson. “She better not have!”

“There’s the fighting spirit.” Jake pointed. “Now, get in that lake and rinse off. You stink. Then, get your shit together, you’ve got a bet on the table, my friend.”

“I’m not takin’ the bet,” he said. “It’s stupid.”

“Chicken shit.”

He lifted a brow. “Really? You’re gonna try to goad me into it? What are you, two?”

“What? You are chicken shit. Tell me I’m wrong. Dare ya.”

He had a point. He thought more on it. As much as he did like the new gelding Jake had gotten, he liked Lexie more. If he could get her into his bed it would be a win win. The problem would be letting her out of the bed.

He leaned past Jake and grabbed himself another beer. As he popped it open, he looked up at the darkening sky. “What do you get if I lose?”

“A shot at Lexie,” answered Jake without any sign of joking. Tyson waited, assuming a smile would be cracked. None was.

“What? You’re not interested in her.”

“She’s a looker.”

Tyson watched his friend with a cautious expression. “Stay away from her. She’s not the one for you and you damn well know it.”

“The way I see it, the one for me will never be. Might as well start shopping for a new one.”

Tyson narrowed his gaze on him. “Don’t even fuckin’ think of it.”

With a nonchalant shrug, Jake snorted. “I suggest you get to gettin’ or you’ll have me to deal with. When I set my mind to somethin’, I don’t back down.”

“You wouldn’t,” Tyson said, unable to believe what he was hearing.

“I’m ready to settle down.” Jake opened another beer. “Past ready. You lose the bet and Lexie is fair game. Deal?” Jake leaned in close. “If you don’t accept the bet I’ll assume she’s fair game anyways. Plus, I’ll be sure to drop the hint to Kaleb next time he’s out at the ranch that you’re not interested in Lexie, and he’s free to make a move on her.”

Livid, Tyson smashed his beer can sending beer exploding out the top, all over his hand and down his forearm and pant leg. His nostrils flared.

Jake hooted. “If you could see your face right now. I’m gonna say that is a ‘yes’ to the bet.”

“Fuck you.”

“Also translates to yes.” Jake reached up and grabbed Tyson’s discarded t-shirt. “Wipe off and then admit it. You want Lexie and it’s high time you made your move. We’re not gettin’ any younger, Ty.”

Tyson snatched his shirt from Jake and used it to clean off his hand and arm as best he could. Jake had a point and he realized what Jake was doing was baiting him into acting on his feelings. With a sigh he nodded. “You’re right. I accept.”

“Yeehaw!” exclaimed Jake as he handed Tyson another beer. “Don’t spill this one. Neither one of us will be able to drive for another beer run.”

Tyson paused. “Jake?”

“Yeah?”

“What if I scare her off?”

Jake surveyed him slowly. “Because of the way you like your sex all hard and dirty?”

That was putting it mildly. “Yeah.”

Jake shrugged. “Maybe she’ll like it. Heard about you tying up that one girl from El Paso. It was all she could talk about. She liked it. A hell of a lot if I recall.”

Tyson lowered his gaze. He’d tied up too many women to count. Hell, he’d done things to some of them that ought to have him locked up and his head examined. He needed the feeling of power he got from it all. He needed them at his mercy, listening to his every word, obeying his commands. The women he chose to bed loved it. They begged him for more and wanted to be submissive to him. Too many times he’d nearly taken the lifestyle too far and had to pull back. He wasn’t sure why, but if he had to toss a guess at it, he’d bet Ms. Simmons, the damn shrink Luther befriended years back, would put her money on his childhood.

It hadn’t been a good one. None of the guys who grew up on Garnes Ranch had a rosy past. Some were worse than others. Tyson suspected his baggage caused his need to make women submit to him. The idea of spanking an orgasm out of Lexie never held as much appeal as it did with other women. He wasn’t sure why. He wanted to take Lexie and fuck her hard, ride her hot little body until she screamed his name and then keep on ridin’ it some more. Normally a stickler for condoms, he didn’t want anything between him and Lexie. He wanted skin on skin with her.

“And maybe she’ll run screamin’ from me,” he said, barely above a whisper. 

Jake had sexual tastes that ran similar to Tyson. He knew, they’d discussed them enough. “Go in vanilla and see what happens from there.”

His friend was right. There wasn’t much else he could do. He just hoped his reputation didn’t damage his chances with Lexie.

L
exie glanced out the kitchen window and spotted her father in the side yard. Always an early riser, he was busy with the running of the ranch. He’d hired others to do that for him, but he always kept his finger on the pulse of things. It was just the way of it when it came to her father. The man with her father made her breath catch. Tyson Morrows had the most unbelievably sexy body and eyes to die for. His eyes were a mix of blue and green that left them looking turquoise. Combined with his tawny skin from working outside and his sandy blond hair, he was one hell of a sight to behold.

He’d come to live on the ranch when he was barely sixteen. Like many of the ranch hands and men working the place, they’d arrived when they were young, in need of a foster home of sorts, and in need of working out their issues and aggressions. Her father, having only had her, had a big heart and an even bigger working ranch. He needed the help, and he figured he could lend a hand on setting the boys straight. He worked hard with them, getting them to open up the best way they could, all while teaching them skills they’d need to make a living later. He hired them on and kept them on long past them reaching adulthood.

She knew many of the men who had come to call Garnes Ranch home saw her father as a father figure. Tyson especially.

She bit her lower lip as she continued to stare out the window at Tyson. She didn’t know all the details of his past, but she knew enough to know it wasn’t pretty. His mother had run off when he was just a baby and his father drank himself into fits of rage. She’d been young when Tyson first arrived, but she could still remember the state he’d been in. It had looked like he’d been in an automobile wreck. There wasn’t a part of him untouched. He’d been on crutches, barely able to get around on them because of how badly his arm was hurt. That didn’t stop him. He came at the crack of dawn one morning and by afternoon was insisting he pull his weight.

Her father had paused that day and then nodded. She knew her father well and knew he’d wanted to tell Tyson to go up to the main house and rest and recover. Tyson would have refused and everyone knew it.

She pushed the white curtain to the side more, giving her a better view of Tyson. As her father’s foreman, he was around the house often. She’d thought she’d been prepared to see him again. Oh, how wrong she’d been. He’d somehow gotten even more handsome while she was away at school.

She tugged at the top of her lightweight cotton, pale green dress, suddenly feeling very warm even though the air was on in the house. She couldn’t look away from him as he turned. The black t-shirt he wore was snug fitting, pulling at his toned upper body. She was sure it was the same one he’d been in the day before. And the jeans were fitted just right. She nearly moaned. Men in Boston lacked the appeal Tyson had. They weren’t tanned from working outside, and their muscles weren’t honed from bailing hay and manual labor. That type of work produced a certain type of body. One she found irresistible.

He laughed at something her father said and then nodded. He put a black cowboy hat on. Her father patted his shoulder and then turned back towards the house. She waited as her father made his way through the kitchen door.

“Starting work early today,” she said, shuffling her sandal covered feet back and forth.

“Darlin’, we’ve been up for hours.” He winked then motioned with his head to the window. “Look your fill?”

“What?” she asked, blushing.

“Tyson.” A smug look moved over her father’s face. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you in here
noticing
him.”

“Daddy, no.” She fidgeted with the front of her dress. “I was just admiring the beautiful morning.”

He laughed long and deep. “Right. Had nothin’ at all to do with my foreman?”

She eyed her father and continued to flush. At forty-five he didn’t look old enough to have fathered her. His black hair had the faintest hints of white starting at the sides, the only indication of his age. She often refused to have friends over because they’d go on and on about how attractive her father was, making her gag.

“Daddy, I understand Tyson is your foreman and is totally off limits. Just like all guys are in your opinion.”

He’d always been very strict about her dating. He used to tell her he’d rather she ran off and joined a convent than announce she was ever getting married. She’d always respected his rules. But truth be told, they were becoming harder and harder to abide by.

“Lexie,” he said slowly. “Tyson still hasn’t settled down.”

She sighed. “I get he’s a ladies’ man, Daddy. He’s just like his group of buddies. They’re always parading around town with new women of the week. I don’t need you to warn me.”

Her father moved past her to the refrigerator. He pulled out the pitcher of iced tea. He poured himself a glass and then set the pitcher on the counter. “I wasn’t warnin’ you, darlin’.”

She tipped her head. “Then why tell me?”

“To point out he’s not taken,” he said flatly. “Why don’t you take him out some tea and say your hellos?”

She swallowed hard. “I said hi to him yesterday. I was going to lay out by the pool and walked out to find him there by the fence, mending it.”

“How did that go?”

She leaned against the counter. “I don’t know. I guess the fence is fine.”

Her father snorted. “That wasn’t what I meant and you full well know it. How did seeing Tyson again go? I know the two of you had a thing before you left.”

She gasped. “Daddy, Tyson and I have never had a thing.”

“I saw him kissing you back behind the stables.”

Her hand went instantly to her lower lip as she remembered the goodbye kiss he’d given her the day before she’d left for Boston. It had been a total surprise to her and the only kiss they’d ever shared. “It’s not like what you’re thinking. He was just saying goodbye.”

“That was some goodbye,” her father said with a wink. “I honestly thought you’d come tell me you didn’t want to go to school.”

She’d nearly done just that. “I needed to go away to realize how much I love it here.”

Her father inclined his head. “Figured as much. Your momma wasn’t from here.”

“I know,” she said. “I looked up my grandparents when I was in Boston.”

Her father stilled, his hand wrapped tightly around his glass of iced tea. “You didn’t mention that in any of your calls or letters.”

“I didn’t actually go and visit them,” she confessed. “I just looked them up to learn more about them. What I found, I didn’t much care for. And I know from your sister that none of them came in for Mom’s funeral.”

She’d been three when her mother passed and had no memories of it herself.

Her father sipped his tea and seemed far off in thought. It was a bit before he spoke. “They weren’t too happy with her settling in these parts and marryin’ a rancher.”

“Daddy, you’re worth millions.”

He shrugged. “Not the point. They had someone in mind for her and I wasn’t him. It broke her heart when they wouldn’t come in for our weddin’. Hurt her worse when they didn’t come when you born.”

Lexie moved closer to her father. “It had to take all of you to let me go off to Boston.”

“It’s in your blood. You needed to see if you’d land there for good or not. I couldn’t make that choice for you,” said her father. “I’m glad you’re home and I hope it’s for good.”

She smiled. “I’m home for now.”

“You could marry Tyson and then stay for good,” he said. “It would be perfect. When I’m gone he’ll run things here anyways.”

She stared wide-eyed at him. “Daddy, did you just suggest I marry your foreman?”

“I did. What of it?”

“You hate the idea of me dating and wanted me to join a convent rather than get married.”

He laughed. “Well, that didn’t happen so Tyson is my backup plan. Get to gettin’ that boy some tea.”

She yelped as her father stuck his fingers in his tea and flicked some at her. She grabbed a glass from the cupboard and the pitcher of tea. Laughing, she hurried out the back door. Turning, she sloshed the tea in an unladylike fashion and hiccupped with more laughter. She paused and looked up. Tyson was there watching her with a raised brow.