Chapter 5

LINCOLN

The knock on the window startled me, and I bent down and saw Ty and Blayze. I hopped off the stool and called out for Kaylee.

“Kaylee, Ty and Blayze are here.”

She didn’t answer, which meant she had her headphones on and was working.

“Come on in, y’all.”

The screen door opened, and they walked in.

“What are ya doing, Miss Lincoln?” Blayze asked, his big blue eyes gazing up at me. I smiled and dropped down to be at his eye level. I’d met Blayze the other day when I had stopped by the Shaws’ house to give them something I had found in a closet. Blayze had been a little charmer, even after falling out of the tree, and he’d put on a brave face when we all knew he was hurting.

The next day, when he and Stella stopped by to officially welcome me as a neighbor, and Blayze asked for a picture with me, my heart melted. Of course, it helped that he told me I was the prettiest girl he’d ever seen. My new little neighbor was charming his way right into my heart.

I was attempting to hang a curtain rod.”

Ty took a step forward. “How are you doing getting settled in?”

With a grin, I glanced around the house as I stood back up. We’d been in Hamilton a week, and I was already in love with it. “Slowly getting there. I’ve been able to get a lot done in the short amount of time I’ve been here.”

He nodded. “Why don’t you let me do that for you?”

I held up my handy-dandy electric drill. Ever since I could remember, my father had made it seem like I wasn’t capable of handling simple tasks like hanging up a curtain rod. That wasn’t the case anymore. “Nope, I’ve gone my whole life having someone try to help me with one thing or another. This house is different. Everything in this house will be because I did it.”

He frowned. “You won’t be admitting defeat if you let me hang a curtain rod, you know.”

I grinned. “I appreciate it, but I’ve got this.” Glancing between the older Shaw and the younger, I asked, “What brings you two here?”

Blayze proudly held up and displayed a pie. Of course I had noticed it the moment he’d walked in. “Grams said we needed to bring this to you. She sent my daddy a picture of you ’cause she said you were real pwetty and that he’d probably like to see a pwetty girl. He won on his bull the whole weekend. He’s number one!”

I looked back at Ty, confused.

“Brock is a professional bull rider. He was in Tacoma this past weekend. Blayze said he wanted to send him the picture you’d taken with him, so my mother texted it to him.”

My cheeks heated, and I hoped Ty wouldn’t notice. “Oh, I see. Your mother didn’t mention where Blayze’s father was. I just assumed he lived here.”

Ty’s brows pulled in tight, and something resembling anger moved over his face. It was so quick, I almost didn’t catch it.

“Yeah, well, that’s not the case.”

Okay then. I for sure detected a bit of anger there.

“You’re not happy with what he does for a living?” I asked.

“Uncle Ty used to bull ride before he got hurt,” Blayze interjected.

My eyes went from Blayze to Ty.

“Anyway, my mother wanted you to have this as a way of saying, ‘Welcome to your new home.’”

And that was a serious change of subject, I mused. Did Ty simply not like talking about his brother? Or maybe it was the injury Blayze had mentioned. My curiosity had certainly been piqued.

Right then, Kaylee came walking into the living room, her headphones still on, as evidenced by her shouting, “Where’s the ice cream?”

Ty’s face lit up, and so did Blayze’s. I had to chuckle at the way they both seemed to gleam at Kaylee. Of course, my best friend was a knockout and currently holding a hammer while asking for ice cream. Who wouldn’t think that was sexy?

Kaylee pulled her headphones off her ears. “Ty! Hi. Oh, wow, that rhymed. Not that I’d tried to make it rhyme or anything. It was just a simple hello that ended up being a hi and Ty. So, yeah, not really trying to be creative with my words.”

Ty laughed while I tilted my head at the woman standing before me. Cheeks red. Lust filling those blue eyes of hers. And she was babbling.

So. Very. Interesting.

“You often eat ice cream with a hammer?” Ty asked while Blayze cracked up laughing like that was the funniest thing he’d ever heard.

Kaylee held up the hammer. “What? Oh, no. I was going to try to hang up these blinds in the guest bedroom, but I sort of made a boo-boo.”

I turned to face her. “I thought you were working.”

“I was. Then, I got bored and decided to help you hang up the blinds, and I accidentally missed and hit the wall with the hammer.”

I looked down at the drill in my hand and held it up. “This is what I’m using to hang up the blinds and curtains. Not a hammer!”

Kaylee’s face turned red as she held up the screw. “Ohh . . . okay. I thought that little thing didn’t look like a nail.”

My eyes rolled as Ty attempted not to lose it, laughing. Kaylee had been raised in a very well-to-do family. Manual labor was still something new to her. She could help me move furniture around like no one’s business. Loved to help me shop for decorations, but when it came time for the nitty-gritty stuff, Kaylee always disappeared.

Except for now. She truly wanted to help me with this little house. I had a feeling it was growing on her like it had on me the moment I saw it for sale online.

“It’s called a screw, Kaylee.”

“Even I know what a screw is, Miss Kaylee.”

Moving her gaze from me down to Blayze, Kaylee smiled. “My goodness! Who is this handsome cowboy?”

Action and told Thunder what a good boy he was. I couldn’t help but smile as I watched him interact with the animal. It was clear he loved horses. And I loved having that in common with my new little neighbor.

Then, out of the blue, he brought up his mother. “I didn’t know my mommy. Do you know your mommy?”

My heart broke for the little guy.

I nodded. “Yes. My mommy was the one who taught me how to ride a horse.”

Blayze smiled. I couldn’t help but wonder how old he’d been when she’d . . . left. “I bet you miss your mommy,” I said, trying to picture what my life would have been like without my mother. I couldn’t even imagine.

“Blayze!”

I let out a scream that spooked Thunder, making him jerk back. Blayze didn’t seem fazed at all by Thunder reacting to my scream. I, on the other hand, jumped and tripped over God knows what. I landed right on my ***.

Before I could even comprehend what had happened, a hand reached down for me to take.

“My goodness, you scared me,” I said as the hand pulled me up like I weighed no more than a feather.

I stumbled, and he righted me. The moment I looked up into his sky-blue eyes, my stomach tumbled.

Then, my heart seized in my chest when I focused on the rest of the man.

He was tall, but not too tall. I was five three, so he had to be five ten, maybe? Built, but not so much that you imagined he lived in a gym half his life. Oh no . . . those muscles were earned with hard manual labor that he most likely did growing up on this ranch. His brown hair gave off that sexy look of a man who likes to run his hands through it.

But his eyes. I was drawn back up to them. They looked . . . confused, maybe even a little bit sad. The way he stared at me made me take a step back. Not because I was afraid of him; it was the intensity of his gaze that threw me off.

I swallowed hard and then shrugged. “I don’t know. You never even exchanged an email with me. It’s been your brother Ty or one of your parents handling everything. I don’t know why you sold the house, and I don’t care, Mr. Shaw. I just want to be a good neighbor, and since I live so close to your family, I was trying to be friendly. That’s all.”

Brock suddenly dropped his gaze to my mouth. I had to fight the urge to lick my now-dry-as-the-Sahara-Desert lips. When he licked his own, I swear I felt the ground shake.

One minute he looked at me like I was a bug to step on; the next he looked like he wanted to kiss me! The man made my head spin, and I’d only known him for less than five minutes.

“You want to be a good neighbor?” he asked in a low, sexy voice that almost had me wishing he would kiss me. Okay, maybe he wasn’t such an ***.

Wait. What in the hell am I saying?

“Yes,” I stated.

“Then stay out of my business and away from my son.”

And it appeared the jerk was back. “I beg your pardon?”

“Did I stutter . . . Miss Pratt?”

There was no way I was going to let him think he could intimidate me. I folded my arms and let myself give him a good once-over.

This time, I got an even better look than a few moments ago.

Oh yes, he was built indeed. Bigger than what I’d thought he would be for a bull rider. He had a broad chest and well-defined arms, and by the way his legs fit into those jeans, I would say the rest of his body was in top form as well.

Still, good looks aside, this man would not be allowed to speak to me like this on my own property.

“Listen here, Mister Shaw,” I retorted with my own sassy attitude, “I don’t know what crawled up that *** of yours and died, but I do not appreciate being spoken to that way. This is my property now, and you, sir, are not welcome on it if you’re going to be a cocksucker.”

His brow lifted, and I swore I saw the corners of his mouth rise slightly. “A cocksucker?” he repeated.

“Yes! A dirty, rotten asshole of a cocksucker. Oh! And let’s add rude in there while we’re at it.”

“Me, rude? You just uttered a laundry list of bad names to call me.”

I scoffed. “Oh, please. I’m positive I’m not the first person to call you an asshole.”

Then he looked like he wanted to kiss me again, with the way he was staring at my mouth—and, I hated to admit, I wanted him to.

How messed up am I that I actually want this man to kiss me?

Brock took a few steps back. It was as if he was finally noticing the heat our bodies had been creating by standing so close together.

“Does your mama know you’ve got a dirty mouth on you?”

Narrowing my eyes, I leaned forward some. “Does your mama know how you treat women?”

He flinched and took another step back.

Ha! That did it.

A guy didn’t have to be raised in the South to know that if his mama found out he was being a **** to a woman, she’d be pretty pissed about it.

“Well, looks like you met my brother Brock,” Ty said from the entry of the barn. “And, by the look on your face and the way you’re standing, he didn’t make a very good first impression.”

I lifted my chin higher. “No, he didn’t. Now, if you’ll excuse me, gentlemen”—I glared at Brock—“and I use that word loosely for one of you, I’ve got work to do.”

I walked past Brock but came to an abrupt halt when he reached for my arm and stopped me, whispering under his breath as I stared up at him with as much contempt as I could muster.

“I didn’t mean to be so . . . rude. It’s just . . . this place holds memories I’d like to forget, and I don’t want my son . . . well, anyway, I’m sorry.”

My eyes looked down to where his hand was holding my arm. He instantly dropped it and ran it through his hair.

“You know the way off of my property. Don’t let the barn door hit your *** on the way out.”

The good-looking jerk actually had the nerve to give me a crooked, sexy-as-sin grin. When I turned to leave, I could feel his eyes on me.

I didn’t want to do it, but I glanced over my shoulder, and he was watching me walk away. With that damn smirk still plastered across his face.

Ugh! Men!

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