Blaire looked relieved. “Good.”

I slipped my hand into Mase’s and stood up. “I enjoyed talking with you,” I said to Blaire, while avoiding eye contact with Captain.

I thought I heard a low chuckle at my obvious slight of him, but I ignored it.

“I’ll be by the ranch next week with Hawkins to see the cattle operation,” Captain said to Mase.

Mase nodded his head. “See you then.”

I could tell I wasn’t the only one who didn’t like Captain River Kipling.

We walked across the yard, and Mase got me another drink. As he turned to hand it to me, his eyes focused on something, or someone, behind me.

“Kiro,” he said simply.

Kiro. As in Kiro Manning. I’d watched Dean Finlay jump off a rock with his grandson into the water, and now Kiro Manning was standing behind me.

“Glad you made it. Harlow wanted you here,” a deep voice replied.

Mase glared at him. “I’ve never let my sister down.”

The man behind me made a hmph sound, and Mase’s back went rigid. I reached over and ran a hand up his arm to try to calm him.

“You going to introduce me to your friend?” Kiro asked. I still hadn’t turned to look back at him.

Mase gazed down at me, and I moved to face Kiro. He was just like all the photos I’d seen of him and moved the same way he did in the music videos. But he’d also abandoned his son for years. I couldn’t forgive him for that.

“Kiro, this is my girlfriend, Reese. Reese, this is my father, Kiro Manning.”

Kiro grinned at me and shook his head. “This boy doesn’t introduce any girls as his girlfriend. You must be something else.”

“Uh, it’s, um . . . nice to meet you.” Kiro smirked. It looked so much like Mase’s smirk that I stared for a moment in fascination.

“I got to go find my granddaughter and see if I can’t get her from Grant long enough to take her inside to see Emmy,” he said, then walked off.

Mase didn’t seem surprised by his father’s abrupt departure at all. Instead, he touched my lower back and led me away. “Let’s find something to eat.”

Mase

Spending time with my sister and niece was nice, and I had missed them, but I was more than ready to get back to Texas with Reese. Having sex hadn’t been easy in my sister’s house, and I wanted Reese all to myself; Harlow kept taking her away from me. I knew Reese needed girlfriends—she had never really had any, and I wanted that for her—but I missed having her close.

Once we got back to our own house, I breathed a sigh of relief. I grabbed the bag out of Reese’s hand and set it down before pulling her hard against me. I’d been tempted to do this on the plane, but I figured she’d be embarrassed that the attendant could hear us in the back, so I’d let her curl up on me and go to sleep.

But we were in the privacy of our home now, and I wanted her naked.

“Strip,” I said, and I jerked my shirt over my head.

Reese laughed as she stood there and watched me unbuckle my jeans.

“Not kidding, baby. I need in you now.”

She didn’t laugh this time. Instead, she pulled off the shirt she was wearing and slipped out of her skirt. Just what I needed.

“I’m not letting you out of that bedroom until tomorrow at the earliest,” I warned.

She bit her bottom lip and finished slipping out of her panties. That sight never got old. “Prove it,” she taunted me.

I picked her up and threw her over my shoulder. I slapped her bare ass, making her squeal. Once we were in the bedroom, I put her in the middle of the bed. “We fuck first, then I’ll play,” I promised her.

Reese flashed me a teasing grin and rolled over, sticking her bottom in the air as she got onto her hands and knees. I ran both hands over her plump bottom and down the backs of her thighs. “You wanted to fuck. So fuck me,” she said, glancing back at me.

She was being brave. Making the first move. My sweet girl was being naughty. I fucking loved it. I bent over her and kissed her shoulder. “How do you want to be fucked, baby? Easy?”

Reese shook her head. “No. I want you to fuck me the way you want to.”

That was a loaded answer. But the first thing I did was kiss my freckle. Reese giggled as I paid that spot extra attention before moving a hand up between the silkiness of her inner thighs.

“OK to fuck first? You sure?” I asked her as I ran my lips up where my hands had just been.

“Yes, Mase. Fuck first,” she said, with a soft moan.

Her wish was my command.

I came up behind her, grabbing her hips and easing in, slowly at first, until she had taken all of me. Then I took what she wanted me to, but it wasn’t until I heard her scream my name over and over as her body trembled that I let out my own shout of pleasure.

Arthur Stout was meeting me at the barn today. He had called yesterday, saying he wanted to talk to me about purchasing one of my older, well-broken quarters for his wife to use for the riding school she ran on their ranch. Normally, I only dealt with cattle when it came to the Stouts, but every once in a while, his wife needed a dependable horse for her classes. Arthur always came to me, and I had two for him to look at that I thought would fit Mrs. Stout’s needs.

I had kissed Reese good-bye and left her in bed before the sun came up. It bothered me to know she would be there most of the day unless she came down to see me. She didn’t need that seclusion. Aida had gone to visit Grandma Colt for a few days with my mother, and it had been a relief to know I wouldn’t have to deal with her drama while I figured out how to make life fuller for Reese.