“Hey, you want some grub?”
“Do I ever,” I say with a huff. “Do you mind if I shower first though? I am covered in horse crap and disgusting.”
“Sure thing. You remember where it is? Up the stairs, take a left, first door on the right.”
Reagan and Cassidy Mae had gone into the house to wash up and grab some lunch. I had just finished Apache’s stall and was planning on following them when I noticed a black SUV that I didn’t recognize sitting in the parking lot. He must have been watching the girls head into the house which made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
The last thing I wanted was someone watching the girls. This was my farm and they were my responsibility to protect.
I started to walk towards the SUV, but before I got halfway there it turned and sped away. I managed to get the first four of the license plate, SCOT, but doubted in this small town I could ask the sheriff to look into it. Crime didn’t happen here. People didn’t follow other people around here. The most action you ever saw was Jim Brown down the street getting pulled over on his tractor while intoxicated.
I shook it off and decided to join the girls inside. I wouldn’t get answers today, but I may stop by and see Sheriff Tom later on tomorrow. Just to let him know to keep an eye out for any suspicious out of towners. I’d have to let the guys on the farm know too.
I found Reagan in the kitchen when I walked through the front door.
“Hey Rea, you notice any weird black SUV’s hanging around lately?”
She quirked an eyebrow. “No, why?”
“There was one in the drive just now. He sped off when I started walking over though.”
“Huh…” She said at first and then her eyes grew to the size of saucers.
My heart rate jumped and I immediately wondered if this had to do with my girl. “What? What aren’t you tellin’ me, Reagan Harper? I saw your eyes get big as saucers just now, spill, now.”
She shook her head. “I can’t, Beau. It isn’t my story to be tellin’.”
“Cassidy Mae?” She nodded.
“Is she in trouble, Rea? Just tell me that at least.”
“Ok… I can’t tell you the whole story. Like I said, it ain’t mine to tell. But what happened to her, Beau. No one should have to go through what she did and the fact that she’s standing here today is testament to her strength in the face of hell.”
“He did this to her, didn’t he?”
She nodded slowly and anger seized through my core. I would hunt him down and skin him alive if I could. For every single hand he laid on her body.
I shook my head, trying to clear my mind. “I knew something happened to my sweet Cass. This woman… she just isn’t the same. I can promise you something, though. Ain’t nothing else is gonna happen to her. Not while she’s here. Not if I have anything to say about it.”
“I asked her if she wanted to stay here in addition to the job and she turned me down. She said she had to do this on her own and her speed, and I get it.”
“Yeah, well that’s fine and dandy, but the second things start seeming off I’m going to demand she does just that. If she’s here I can watch out for her. Not that I don’t trust her daddy to pull out his shotgun…”
Reagan laughed at me.
“What?”
“You’re in trouble, aren’t you brother?”
“What do ya mean by that?”
“Oh nothing. Cassidy Mae came back to town and you’ve been captain agreeable. You wanna try and tell me you aren’t crushing on her again just like high school?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about…”
“Uh huh. Well, if your plan is to get her to fall in love with you… I’d say a fresh set of clothes and a shower will do ya good, brother. You smell like shit.”
“Alrighty, hint taken.”
As I climbed the stairs, I heard the running water of the shower and realized I never asked Rea where Cassidy Mae had run off to.
I’d found her.
Cassidy Mae was naked in my shower. As I stood outside the bathroom door, vivid images passed through my brain, unbidden, but definitely not unwelcomed. I thought about the water cascading down every curve and dip of her body. How her nipples would pebble up in the cold water. I bit back a groan as I thought about her running her soap laden hands up and down her body soaking every inch. Running those hands down her belly and lower into the paradise between her thighs. I wondered if I’d ever get that pleasure.
It wasn’t the first time I’d imagined it, but now she was actually naked inside my house and I couldn’t help my feelings. I also couldn’t help the way my Levi’s tightened against the growing bulge in my pants at the thoughts pounding my brain. I was fantasizing so hard that I never heard the water turn off.
The door on the bathroom opened and brought me back to reality, face to face with a towel clad Cassidy Mae. I was frozen in place. Breath halted in my throat as I stood and stared slack jawed at the beauty in front of me.
“Cass… I didn’t know you were showering. I’m sorry… It’s just… wow… you’re gorgeous.”
A blush smattered her creamy white skin, leaving behind a beautiful pink flush. Her cheeks flushing with a deeper color that had nothing to do with the warm shower she just completed. Her eyes landed everywhere but on me. I couldn’t help but see her wandering eyes as they landed on my pants. Specifically, the bulge I had
