Chapter Ten—Swayze

Swayze stared down at the second electric bill that read Disconnect Notice and sighed. She’d spent her check last week from the Kings on rent and food for the two of them. She’d bought Ryker pull-ups and a new suit of clothes because he could hardly fit into the ones he had.

She wouldn’t get paid until Friday, and she only had until Wednesday before they would shut them off. Fear of them sleeping in her hot house during the night strangled her.

Her first instinct was to cry, but she remembered how strong her mother had been for the two of them and clamped her teeth down on her tongue to stop the burn in her throat.

She’d make it somehow.

Ryker jumped onto the couch and spilled his juice. Swayze sat her bill to the side so she could clean up his mess. Cleaning was one of the only ways she could relieve her stress. Ryker raced toward the door when Mont knocked, opening it wide to show her cleaning up the mess. “Sorry, we’re ready; I just need to clean up this juice.”

“It’s fine,” he said, walking inside. “I actually have some things I need you to help me with at my house today, if that’s okay.”

Swayze shrugged. “You’re the boss.”

Even though she was curious to see what his home looked like. According to Abigail, Kaden had stayed in their childhood home and hadn’t changed anything about it. His home would show more about Mont. Not that she cared, but she was a little curious.

Swayze stood. “Let me go throw this in the dirty clothes, and we’ll be set.”

Speaking of clothes, she’d have to make a trip to the laundromat soon; their clothes were getting out of control. “Okay, we’ll be in the truck.”

She dropped off the dirty towel, passing by the notice on her table to Mont’s truck, leaving behind her worries for the day. Unfortunately, they’d still be there when she got back.

Mont dropped Ryker off with Abigail, who had coloring books and crayons waiting for him and Kathryn on the porch. “We’re gonna head down to my house. I need Swayze to do some bookkeeping for me, and then we’ll be back.”

Abigail welcomed Ryker with a hug, waving them off as Mont backed out of the driveway and started toward his house.

He hadn’t said much to her since they left. She assumed it was because of their faceoff yesterday about her scar, but she didn’t care. He could pout all he wanted to because she wasn’t going to tell him.

The scar was a reminder of how unwell her brother had become after their mother’s death.

“Well, we’re here,” Mont said.

Swayze snapped out of it, turning to look at the cabin in front of them. Cabin was an understatement because it was huge, but simple. The yard had green grass that Swayze wanted to feel with her feet. Her gravel driveway wasn’t cutting it.

“Wow,” she whispered. “You built this?”

Mont stepped out of his truck, meeting her at the hood, staring at his house like it wasn’t something magnificent that he had built alone. “Yeah, I did.”

Was there a look of sadness on his face? If so, it’d been the first time Mont had ever looked sad since she met him. “You okay?”

He turned to look at her. “Yeah, come on inside. I’ll show you around.”

She followed him up the path toward his home. A wide wraparound porch held a swing and a few pairs of his boots. The welcome mat looked new, which told her that not too much traffic came through.

Not that she cared, of course.

The space was open like Kaden’s house, but with wide windows that brought in a lot of natural light. His house was manly, not that she expected differently, with brown leather furniture, wood tables, and tan walls. It suited him.

“It’s beautiful,” she said.

He glanced over his shoulder at her, nodding his head toward the kitchen. “You thirsty? Want some breakfast?”

She lifted a brow at him. “Was this a slick try at getting me in your house to cook me breakfast?”

Mont grinned, opening the fridge to bring out eggs, sausage, and milk. “Will it work?”

Swayze couldn’t help but smile. “Maybe. You want me to do it?”

He held his arms out to the side. “You have no faith in me, woman. Here, let me show you my den so you can catch me up on my bills, and I’ll cook for you. I think you do enough for you and Ryker. Someone needs to feed you every once in a while.”

Swayze let her hair fall around her face, hiding the heat she knew had turned her cheeks red. The thought of being taken care of was far-fetched, but part of her wanted it from someone again someday.

“Okay,” she whispered.

She followed him back down a narrow hallway with several doors on each side, looking in each one when his back was to her. His bedroom door was cracked, his bed huge with a wood frame and down, gray comforter. It looked comfortable, and she felt a pang of jealously. She hadn’t had a good mattress in over two years.

“Swayze.”

She turned toward Mont, who had stopped at the end of the hallway, one hand on the door and his eyes fixed on her. “That’s my bedroom.” He grinned. “Want to see it?”

She blushed. “Jackass.”

He pushed the door inward to his den, gesturing for her to follow him. The similarities from Kaden’s den and his were close to identical, minus the turkey feathers. “Not a turkey hunter?”

“What?”

“I see deer horns but no turkeys. Kaden has turkeys.”

Mont sat down at his desk, bringing his desktop to life. “What, you only have a thing for turkey hunters?”

“I think it’s because you have to be quiet during turkey hunting, and I haven’t been around you once where you were quiet.”

The side of Mont’s mouth turned up into a smile. “You may be onto something there.”

Swayze walked around to stand beside him.

“Here are my bills for the month,” he said, slapping down a manila folder. “My passwords are on this Excel sheet. If you have any questions, let me know. My card information is on there too, but most of them are saved on the site.”

“I got it, Hoss.”

Mont stood beside her, his smell overwhelming. To scoot by, his chest brushed against her upper arm, causing heat to skate across her shoulders and down to her belly. Would his touch ever stop doing that?

Mont stopped at the door. “You like pancakes too?”

“Who doesn’t?” she asked, sitting down.

He winked before disappearing down the hallway.

Swayze started in on his bills, hiding the jealously crawling up her spine because she couldn’t pay her own. She’d figure some way to keep their electricity on…

She shook her head, trying to shake away the negative, soul-eating thoughts. Lingering on the negative wouldn’t make anything better. And jealousy never looked good on anyone.

Once she finished paying his bills, she closed his door and walked toward the kitchen. The smell of sausage filled his house, making her stomach rumble. Mont stood next to his island, pouring two glasses of orange juice.

“It smells good, thank you,” she said.

“See,” he said, pointing toward their plates. “A little faith goes a long way.”

It looked and smelled wonderful. She didn’t doubt he was good at everything, but thinking about all the things he was good at wouldn’t help her fight her attraction to him.

“We can eat out on the back porch; I have a table out there.”

He guided her toward the door, holding both plates while she followed with their drinks. A table sat underneath a large canopy next to a grill and steps that led down to a fenced in backyard. The woods around them were thick, and she was sure he owned all of it.

“This is pretty.”

Mont sat down with a grunt. “Thanks. I like the solitude. Dig in, I’m starving.”

She started on her eggs, which were good, watching the butterflies fly around them, and the birds sing in the distance. “Kaden ever come down here?”

Mont snorted. “Hell, no. Kaden will probably always stay in Momma and Daddy’s house. He’ll never get over their deaths, but you can’t get anything through his thick skull.”

She knew about hardheaded brothers because she’d lived with one, but if he hadn’t been so strong-willed, then they wouldn’t have made it. Memories of them flooded her brain, forcing their way in…

***

“Where is Momma?”

Luke, my older brother, looked out of the front windowpane to the empty driveway. It was nine o’clock at night, and both of us had school the next morning, but neither of us had eaten. “I’m hungry, Luke,” I whined.

I couldn’t remember the exact age then, but judging by the height of him, he had to be eight or nine, which made me around six. “Okay, I’ll fix us something. Momma must have had to work a double shift.”

I frowned. There wasn’t anything to eat in the cabinets, and my stomach had been grumbling since I got home from school. Luke went into the kitchen and found a couple pieces of bread and a little bit of peanut butter and jelly. He fixed me a sandwich and told me to sit down at the table to eat.

“What are you gonna eat?” I asked.

Luke’s face never faltered. “I’m not hungry. I ate some kid’s chips after last period.”

For some reason I knew it was a lie, but being so small, I didn’t question it. I ate my sandwich, happy there was anything for me to eat at all.

Luke made sure I took my bath in the old, claw foot tub and tucked me into my twin size bed. He’d been my caregiver far before his time and missed out on most of his childhood, taking care of me.

When he snuggled in behind me, I didn’t think twice about it, even when we were thirteen and sixteen during the time my mother had an abusive boyfriend. Luke was my protector—until he wasn’t well enough to do so anymore.

That’s when everything changed, and my entire life would be turned upside down.

***

“You there, Hoss?”

Swayze blinked several times, casting out all of the demons that tried to claw their way inside. “Yeah, just daydreaming.”

“About what?”

She shrugged. “Nothing important. Thank you for this,” she said, gesturing toward her empty plate. “I didn’t realize I was that hungry.”

Mont slid his plate away from him, rubbing his stomach in a slow circle. “I still have it in me.”

Swayze grabbed their plates.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said.

“I’ll clean them since you cooked. You can just relax.”

Mont watched her walk inside to the kitchen, seeing the dishwasher, but going to the sink instead. He walked through the back door a few moments later, leaning against the island, watching her. “You not a fan of dishwashers?”

Swayze shrugged. “I can get them cleaner, and I don’t mind. Cleaning takes my mind off of things.”

“I understand,” he said. “That’s how riding is for me.”

Swayze finished the dishes and turned around to face Mont. His gaze lifted from her bottom to her eyes. “Maybe I can watch you ride one day.”

Mont, never ashamed of ogling her, grinned at her being uncomfortable. “Anytime,” he said.

The space between them might have been several feet, but it felt like inches. His heavy-lidded eyes and tightened fist had her wanting to diminish the space and let him have his way with her. She could imagine fifty things they could do on the counter behind him.

“Is there anything else you want me to do while I’m here?” she asked.

Montgomery closed his eyes, chuckling softly beneath his breath. He pushed off the counter, taking one, two, steps toward her, but stopped before he could touch her. “Nothing that should be done on the job. Let’s get back to the ranch.”

He never moved from his spot, his eyes wandering her face down to her parted lips, to her rising chest. Would she give in and let him kiss her like she wanted? Oh, how she wanted…

No, she couldn’t. But why did moving seem so far away?

“You’ve never looked at me like that before,” Mont said softly. “And it’s making me want to do ungodly things to you, girl. We better leave before I get us into trouble, which includes taking all those clothes off and—”

He didn’t have to finish because she knew and believed him.

He did want those things, and she’d be damned if she’d admit it, but deep down, she wanted it too.

“Okay,” she whispered.

Mont nodded while scratching his jaw, sliding his tongue along his bottom lip. He turned abruptly on his heel, the only sound in his house were the heavy footsteps of his boots against the hardwood.

She waited until he’d made it to the door to follow behind him. If she didn’t get her hormones in check, she’d be underneath him in that big, comfortable bed, screaming his name.

And that would only lead to a hell of a lot of trouble.