Buckle Down (Memory Grove) Read online

  Tucking her phone into her back pocket, she headed for Tippi’s stall. The horse poked her nose out as if she heard Tess approaching. Tess smiled and petted the mare’s head, rubbing the course hair between her ears. “Hey, girlfriend. Miss me?”

  She saddled the horse and led her out to the pasture. Climbing up, she held onto the reins and gave Tippi a gentle kick. The sun was warm on her back as she trotted around the grounds and along the path through the woods. Tess inhaled deeply, appreciating the scents of pine and cedar. An orange butterfly flitted beside her. She watched it for a moment before returning her attention to the path before her.

  Two squirrels ran up a tree, circling the trunk and jumping onto the limbs. She envied their freedom. If only her biggest worries involved finding pecans and avoiding cats.

  After an hour in the woods, Tess headed back to the stables. Once she entered the clearing, she saw Shane’s truck parked next to hers, and Phoebe’s car sat a couple spaces over. Great. She dismounted and walked Tippi back to her stall. She unbuckled the saddle and put it on its perch. She shook out the blanket and hung it over the stall gate. She brushed Tippi quickly with the intent of getting out of there before she ran into Phoebe or Shane. She kissed the horse on the face and walked out and right into Phoebe.

  They stared at each other. “Excuse me,” Tess said, breaking eye contact and attempting to move past Phoebe.

  Phoebe grabbed her arm. “He doesn’t love you.”

  Tess yanked her arm away. “Are you insane?”

  Phoebe put her hand on her hip. “I just want you to know that.”

  The nerve of this woman pushed Tess to the edge and she bit her tongue.

  Phoebe smiled. “You’re nothing special, sweetheart. Just another piece of ass looking for a rodeo ride. And, he’s a fun ride. I don’t blame you for wanting some of that. Just know he’ll never take you home to mama.”

  “There’s nothing between Shane and I. He’s all yours, ma’am.” Tess shouldered past Phoebe and jogged to her truck. She climbed inside and gunned the engine, kicking up a cloud of dust as she drove off.

  Tess hated that woman. How dare she talk to her that way? And Phoebe did not own Shane. Tess’ temper got the best of her and she skidded to a halt on the side of the road. She checked traffic and made a U-turn. As she pulled back into the ranch parking lot, she saw Phoebe and Shane. Based on the angry look on Shane’s face and the flailing of Phoebe’s arms, they were arguing. Shane stepped back, his fists clenched. Tess didn’t believe for a minute that he would hit Phoebe but she knew that woman was capable of pushing people beyond their breaking points.

  Tess jumped out of the truck and stormed over to the pair. Phoebe was screaming at Shane and he was standing there tight-lipped.

  Tess stepped in front of Phoebe. “Would you shut up for once in your life?”

  Shane touched her shoulder. “Come with me, Tess. I want to talk to you.”

  Phoebe started yelling again. “Tell her I’m the one you love.”

  Shane shook his head. “Phoebe. Not now.”

  Tess spun around and hitched her thumb toward Phoebe. “Do you love her? Is what she said true?”

  Shane exhaled and glared at Phoebe. “What did she say to you back in the stable?”

  Tess glared at Phoebe. “She said that I’m just a piece of ass. If that’s the case, tell me now and I’m gone. If she’s a liar, then we have something to talk about.”

  Phoebe huffed. “I’m not a liar.”

  Shane addressed Phoebe. “Since you’ve seen fit to discuss our personal business with Tess, let’s not keep any secrets. Is that fair, darlin’?”

  Phoebe pursed her lips.

  Shane took Tess’ hand. “Okay then. I’m not in love with Phoebe and I haven’t slept with her since I slept with you. And I have no intention of sleeping with her again. You’re not just a piece of ass as Phoebe so nicely put it. I care.”

  Tess fought the urge to stick her tongue out at Phoebe and call her a lying bitch, but the crestfallen look on Phoebe’s face gave her pause. She looked like she definitely had not anticipated what Shane just said to her.

  He tugged on Tess’ hand. “Come on. We need to talk.”

  Phoebe didn’t say a word and got into her car as Shane and Tess walked toward his apartment.

  He opened the door and stepped aside to let her enter first.

  A burst of cool air hit her face and she realized she’d been sweating.

  Shane pointed to the sofa. “Have a seat. You want a beer?”

  “Yeah, I guess so.” She sat on the couch and rolled her head to stretch her neck muscles. The intensity of her anger made itself known through the trembling of her hands. That always gave her away when she pretended not to be upset.

  Shane handed her the bottle of beer and sat down beside her like that first night she had visited. “First, I want to say I’m sorry about Phoebe and this whole mess. I don’t love her. Not like she wants me to. That’s part of the problem we had. She needs a level of attention and adoration that I couldn’t give her. And, realistically, there was no future with her. It was just supposed to be a fun fling type thing.”

  He paused and knitted his brows. “I never meant to hurt her feelings. And I never lied to her. I never made promises. I mean, she’s in her forties. I’m twenty-five. I want a family someday. She’s past that already. She wants to play and travel and hang on my arm in front of her friends. If I could go back, I never would have done anything with her. She turned into this big bitchy nightmare and pretty much pissed on my leg whenever I talked to other girls. She definitely didn’t want me hanging around you, pretty young blonde. And she knew I was interested in you. She kept trying to stake a claim with me even though I had ended it with her already.”

  “We all make mistakes.” Tess sympathized with his situation and Phoebe was beautiful and had money and her type was probably hard for a young guy to resist.

  “I don’t want you to be another mistake. I have a proposal.”

  She took a pull on beer. “I’m listening.”

  “I was thinking about how this has all played out. We skipped some steps in the process. So, let me start over. Let me court you.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Are you serious?”

  He tilted his head. “Yes. I am. I think we need to back up a little and get to know each other better. That means no sex, no matter how much you beg for it.”

  She almost spit her drink out and managed to swallow it before bursting into laughter. “I don’t beg for sex.”

  He leaned in closer and kissed her on the nose. “We’ll see about that, sweetheart.” He drained the last of his beer. “Are you okay to drive?”

  Tess held up her half empty bottle. “Yeah, takes more than half of a light beer to tank me.”

  He took the bottle from her hand. “Good. Go home. Get ready. I’ll pick you up at seven tonight.”

  “What makes you think I’m going to go out with you.”

  He squeezed her thigh and smiled. “Because I’m irresistible.”

  She tried not to laugh. “I hate you. I’ll see you at seven.”

  The hot air blasted in her face as he held her hand and walked her out.

  Tess was relieved that Phoebe’s car was gone. Shane kissed her on the cheek and patted her on the ass. “Drive safe.”

  She drove like a maniac to get back home. It was already four. She had to shower and figure out what to wear and she had no idea where he was taking her, but she was excited. She liked the idea of being courted. Oddly, things felt all right again. Shane had a way of making her feel okay. That both intrigued and scared the daylights out of her. This guy could sell her rainwater.

  Tess was grimy from sweat and dirt at the ranch and relished the cool shower spray. She took her time and shaved her legs and washed her hair. She dried off and smoothed sweet smelling lotion over her skin.

  Gypsy was curled on the foot of Tess’ bed as she danced around her bedroom trying to figure out which shirt to w
ear with the denim skirt she picked out. She hoped Shane wasn’t planning on going anywhere fancy because she was dressing casual. She decided on a red and white striped shirt that fit snug around her chest. It gave the illusion her boobs were bigger than they actually were. She grinned at her reflection and slipped into her black sandals.

  She still had half an hour before he was due to pick her up so she went downstairs and flipped on the television in the den. There was nothing interesting on and she channel surfed the three hundred plus stations until the doorbell rang.

  Chapter 5

  Shane stood on the porch with his hand behind his back. “Hey, beautiful.”

  She smiled. “Hey, yourself. Come in.” She was relieved to see he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Not dressy at all.

  He stepped into the foyer and whistled. “Nice place.”

  “Thank you.”

  He brought his hand around and held out a box of candy. “Brought you some sweets.”

  It was one of those yellow boxes she’d seen at the drugstore, a sampler. She took it from him. “Thank you. Let me put this in the kitchen.”

  He followed her through the dining room. “My mom would love this kitchen.” He ran his hand over the granite. “I hope I can buy her something like this someday.”

  “Luke had this built for my parents a few years back. This is my mom’s favorite room. She loves to cook. He made sure it had everything she could dream of.”

  “Does your dad live here, too?”

  “Yes. And I live here during the summer. I still haven’t decided if I want to move back after graduation. There’s so much I love about Memory Grove, but the opportunities in California are better.”

  “I bet they are. Big city living out there.”

  “It’s definitely a different world.” She put the candy on the counter. “If you’re ready, we can go. I’ll give you a tour when we get back.”

  He smiled and reached for her hand. “Sounds good.”

  He completely surprised her with his choice of music. Nearly everyone she knew listened to country music, but Shane was into hard rock or heavy metal or whatever it was called.

  “Who is this?” she asked, pointing toward the stereo.

  “Slipknot.”

  “Oh.” She laughed.

  “You don’t like it?”

  “It’s different.”

  He turned the volume down. “What do you like? What’s your favorite band?”

  “I don’t think we have the same taste.”

  “Try me. I like different kinds of music.”

  “Okay. I like The Band Perry.”

  “They’re good. Their singer kinda looks like you. But you’re prettier.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Such a charmer. So, where are we going anyway?”

  “I’m taking you to dinner and then a movie, if you behave yourself.” He smirked.

  “If I behave myself?” She grinned. “I always behave myself.”

  He took her to an old-fashioned drive-thru burger joint where the girls wore roller skates and short skirts to deliver the food.

  “My name is Darla. I’ll be your car hop. Can I take your order?” She chewed her gum exaggeratedly, smacking her lips.

  Shane laughed. “You go first.”

  Tess leaned over him to look at the billboard-style menu. “Umm, I’ll have a cheeseburger, no onions, tater tots and a root beer float.” She smiled at Shane.

  “I love a girl with a healthy appetite.” He winked and turned to the waitress. “Double cheeseburger, fries and a Dr. Pepper.”

  “Be back in a jiff.” The girl flipped her hair and skated off.

  Tess’ eyes were bigger than her belly and she was only able to finish half of her burger and a couple of tater tots. She did eat all of the ice cream out of her float though. Wasting ice cream was a cardinal sin in her book.

  The movie was a sappy Julia Roberts’ romance that neither of them particularly liked but they held hands throughout and shared a big tub of popcorn. It was close to midnight by the time he pulled into her parents’ driveway.

  “I had a nice time. Thanks, Shane.”

  He leaned over and kissed her softly, touching his tongue to her lips. “You’re welcome. Thanks for giving me the pleasure of your company.”

  She smiled against his lips. “Do you want to come inside?”

  “Sure, just for a few minutes.”

  She led him into the living room and tossed her purse on the couch. “Did you want a tour?”

  He nodded. “That’d be cool.”

  “Well, you’ve seen the living room and kitchen.” Taking his hand, she pulled him to the den at the rear of the bottom floor. She pulled aside the curtains covering the sliding glass door, revealing the backyard. “This is where my family spends most of their time.” The lights inside the swimming pool illuminated the patio just enough to see the layout. To the right were chairs, a table and a fire pit and on the other side of the pool was her dad’s super fabulous manly grill.

  Shane peered through the glass. “Damn. This is a really nice set up.”

  “Maybe you can come over for a barbecue sometime. Meet the folks.”

  “Yeah, that would be nice, but I’d rather not have to endure your brothers’ wrath. I know they don’t think much of me right now.”

  “They don’t know you.” She let the curtain go and turned around. “This is the TV room. Game room. Whatever you want to call it.” A big screen television was mounted on the wall and a folded card table rested against the mantle. “We watch movies, play cards and stuff in here.”

  “Y’all do a lot of stuff together, huh?” He asked, running his fingers over the back of the brown couch.

  “Yes. We always have. Family is important in this house.” She grabbed his hand again to take him upstairs.

  He walked behind her to the top. “How many bedrooms in this place?” He stopped to look at some framed pictures on the wall beside the staircase.

  “Six. Which is ridiculous.” Tess laughed. “My parents have a room and I have a room. Then my dad uses one as an office. My mom uses another for crafts. The other two rooms are guest rooms that nobody uses. We all live so close that Luke and Cade never stay here and nobody really visits from anywhere else.” She showed him the other rooms with the exception of the one belonging to her parents. That was their private area. She turned the knob and opened the door to her bedroom.

  Sometimes stepping inside made her feel sixteen again and she’d long for those simpler times. Back when her biggest concern was which flavor of lip gloss to use before going to school. Now she was a year away from finishing her bachelor’s degree and real life would start. She’d have to find a job and support herself. She lived very comfortably right now and she had Luke to thank for that. He was paying for her school and her apartment and gave her an allowance. She felt guilty relying on her brother for everything. But she also had a part-time job in a department store to pay for extras and to keep herself on task, and luckily they held her spot over the summer while she was away.

  Shane followed her into her bedroom and walked over to her dresser. A picture of Tess when she was twelve and had won her first barrel racing competition was tucked into the edge of the mirror. Talk about country bumpkin. She wore a white cowboy hat and her hair was in two braids with big, blue ribbons securing the ends . Her grandmother had made the shirt she wore, which was hideous with blue and white fringe down the arms and the dorkiest jeans anyone had ever seen. Shane leaned forward. “Is that you?”

  “Yeah.” She walked up beside him. “I did competitive barrel racing when I was a kid and was a miserable fashion failure.”

  He smiled. “You were a cute kid. And the clothes aren’t that bad.”

  “You’re being nice. That shirt is horrid and those jeans came up to my neck practically.”

  “I like the braids and the braces are a shiny touch.”

  She punched him in the shoulder playfully. “We all had our awkward phases.”


  He feigned injury and rubbed his arm. “You hurt me.”

  “Please.” She rolled her eyes. “So, this is my room.” She spread her arms out in a welcome motion.

  Gypsy slinked out of the closet and curled around her feet.

  Tess bent over to pet the cat’s head. “And this is Gypsy.”

  Shane bent beside her to stroke Gypsy’s fur. “She’s pretty.”

  The cat circled his legs once and sauntered out of the room.

  “Cats have more confidence than any other creature. They don’t seem to care if you like them or not.” Shane turned to Tess, his gray eyes burned into her.

  She forgot what he had just said and stared at his face. She touched his cheek and moved closer. There was no explanation for how or why he affected her like he did. Why did she throw caution to the wind whenever he smiled? She backed him up to her bed and pushed him back on it.

  He laughed. “Whoa. What are you doing, babe?”

  Hiking up her skirt, she smiled and climbed on top of him. “Nothing.” She smirked at him.

  Shane held her hips and his breathing sped up. “You’re breaking the rules.”

  “I don’t care about rules. They were made to be broken.” She leaned forward and kissed him hard on the lips while grinding her pussy against his crotch.

  He groaned and his erection pressed against her. “You’re making this harder than I thought.”

  Tess laughed again. “Was that pun intended?”

  “Maybe.” He kissed her and bit her bottom lip gently. “This wasn’t supposed to be part of tonight. I don’t put out on the first date.”

  “Not even if I beg?” She rubbed the fly of his jeans and gripped his cock through his pants.

  “You’re not playing fair, Miss Reilly.”

  “All is fair in love and war, honey.” She inched down his body and knelt between his legs. Her fingers worked the buckle of his belt and pulled at the buttons. She could smell him, a sweet musky scent that accelerated her heartbeat and made her mouth water. She freed his thick cock and stroked it slowly.

  He folded his arms behind his head and watched her, his lips parted and his eyes hung at half-mast.