Authors: Terry Bolryder
H
armony wondered
if it were possible to feel hung-over after sex. She was sitting on the porch outside the main lodge, enjoying the cool mountain breeze on her face as she rocked on the two-person swing.
Maverick had headed out earlier on horseback, and no one knew when he’d be back.
A small, sick feeling of guilt twisted through her when she thought about what she’d said.
Sure, he’d been a brute. And it’d been worse than caveman-esque to assume having sex without protection meant a woman was “yours.” But she’d been the one so caught up with how hot Mav looked with a haircut that she’d forgotten under the good looks, he was still the rough, ridiculous man that was more animal than human.
And it wasn’t good to expect more from him than that.
But damn, he’d been awesome in bed. Well, they’d never actually made it to the bed. He’d wanted her too much for that. Life with Maverick would never get boring. And honestly, she didn’t find his rustic little cabin too bad. It was more the man in it, the one insisting that was it; sex decided things for them.
He’d never talked about feelings or what she would do in the future. What was she supposed to do, sit in the cabin and rot while he led trail rides? She had a career and dreams.
Even if the thought of going back to her job in New York made her supremely unhappy.
She wished the McAllister brother who wanted her was half normal, like Shane or Jesse. The type she could imagine actually sitting down and talking to for long periods of time. The type who would make a companion and make it not feel lonely out here in this wide-open land.
Not just the type who was amazingly good at sex. Even now, her body was crawling with the knowledge that she wanted him again. That the next time she saw him, it would take all of her control not to jump on him and beg him to take her.
Harmony had met good-looking men before. But never any that made her feel like this. Magnetically drawn. That was new, and she had no idea why it had to be Maverick that had done so. She’d thought maybe after sex with the wild man, she’d have gotten it out of her system. Instead, all she wanted was to do it again.
Dammit.
Bonnie walked out into the sun and sat on the swing with her, setting a plate with a sandwich on it on Harmony’s lap. “Beautiful day, isn’t it?”
The swing swung lightly, and Harmony nodded, picking up the sandwich and taking a bite. It was nice to not have to worry about takeout or what to eat, to have food available all times of day. And not have to worry about shows or warm-ups. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” Bonnie said. “You wanna talk?”
Harmony shook her head. She didn’t even know what she’d say if she did talk. Bonnie had seen her earlier that morning, stomping by her and her mate as they stood outside the lodge, making plans for the day. No one had come after her, and that’s just how she’d preferred it. She didn’t want to talk about her feelings being hurt by a midday quickie.
She didn’t want to admit how caught up she’d been in the moment.
She’d just wanted to shower, put on new clothes, and get some fresh air. By the time she’d gotten ready and come down, Maverick had ridden out.
Which was good. They needed some space.
“I’m here if you do want to talk,” Bonnie said. “I promise not to be judgmental.” When Harmony raised an eyebrow, Bonnie laughed. “I promise to do my best. You know, I had a pretty wild go of it while I was out here before you came.”
“Yeah?”
“Oh yeah,” Bonnie said. “Cat fights, bar fights. Late-night hotness in a cabin with a man I had no intention of settling down with.”
Harmony turned to her friend, baffled. “Seriously?”
“Yup,” Bonnie said, taking a bite of her sandwich. “Totally lost control. I guess the right man can make you do that.”
Harmony tightened her lips. She had the feeling Bonnie (and probably everyone else) knew exactly what happened between her and Maverick, but at least she wasn’t saying it out loud.
Or judging her for it.
“You seem a lot more laidback, Bon. A lot happier,” Harmony said.
“That’s all Jesse,” Bonnie said warmly, looking out at the beautiful land in front of them. “He helped me bring everything out to the surface, and after that, I could calm down for real. Not that he doesn’t still get me riled up sometimes.” She grinned.
Harmony laughed, deep and throaty, and put the rest of her sandwich in her mouth. “Damn, the food out here is great. I’m going to miss it when I go back to New York.”
Bonnie went quiet at that for a moment. “So how’s the singing going?”
“Good,” Harmony said, oblivious to her friend’s discomfort. “I mean, you know, the usual. Gonna break out any day!” She laughed to herself. “Not.”
“You know, you can have a beautiful gift even if you never make an album,” Bonnie said.
“I know.” Harmony agreed. “But that’s what I’ve wanted. It doesn’t even have to do well. But my mom always wanted to see one. Even a demo would be fine. If someone would just give me a chance.”
“You could make one yourself,” Bonnie suggested.
“Right, because I have the money for studio time.” Harmony looked out in the distance wearily. “Honestly, Bon, for the first time, I’m just not feeling into it all. I lost my agent, and the restaurant stuff isn’t going anywhere. I just feel… lost.”
Bonnie threw an arm around her friend. “Well, this is a great place to be when you’re lost. And Ruby and I are here for you. We miss you. If Maverick wasn’t such a renegade, we’d want you to just be with him and stay out here with us. It’s beautiful.”
“And what would I do out here?” Harmony asked. “Sit in the cabin all day?”
“You could try doing trail rides with Mav. Or you could work at the lodge. Or do booking. Or help with financials. Lots of things to do around here.”
“But not singing,” Harmony said.
“Yeah,” Bonnie said. “But you could sing for us. We always like hearing it.”
Harmony grinned. “Anytime, girl.”
Bonnie sighed as she finished her sandwich. “I think Ruby went into town with Shane this morning to pick up some stuff for the ranch. You want to go on a hike or a ride or something?”
“Girl, you know I don’t know anything about horses,” Harmony said with a snort. “Yeah, right.”
“Maverick could show you,” Bonnie suggested. “He’s the horse guy around here.”
“Makes sense, since he could be one of them,” Harmony grumbled.
“What was that?” Bonnie asked innocently.
“Nothing,” Harmony muttered, standing and stretching, happy and clean and full of food. And well sexed. Things could be worse.
She heard a truck approaching and looked around the corner to see who was coming.
“That’s probably Jesse. He went down the canyon to pick up some guests. Big New Yorker guys, from what I hear.”
“Oh?” Harmony asked, her ears perking. That sounded like just what she needed to distract herself from the mountain man bent on ruining her life.
The truck stopped and Jesse got out to open the cab door for two other men. Both tall, handsome, and leanly muscled in the way that was popular for businessmen.
Enough to look fit but not beastly.
Somehow, she liked the bulgy look of Maverick better.
Jesse strode ahead of them, blond hair whipping around his face as he ran to Bonnie and pulled her into his arms, lifting her into the air as she giggled and hugging her before putting her down and facing the other men with his arms around her.
“Arnold, Richie, this is my mate, um, fiancé, Bonnie.” He nodded to Harmony, who was standing next to them. “And that’s Harmony Smith. She’s here visiting from New York as well. Friends with Bonnie.”
The two men gave Bonnie a quick look and seemed to quickly realize she wasn’t available, then turned their eyes on Harmony.
They looked like typical slick city guys. Wearing fitted khakis with a sweater over a white button-up shirt. Their ties were loosened, probably from the flight. And they had that smug, sneery look she’d forgotten how much she hated in the time she’d been here.
The look they gave when she was performing in her form-fitting dress and they thought she was good enough to leer at, but never good enough to ask out.
One had reddish-brown hair, slightly thinning, and a handsome, if normal, face. The other was taller, with gaunt features that stopped just short of handsome and dark-black hair that contrasted his pale skin.
That one stepped forward around Bonnie and Jesse to take Harmony’s hand. “Pleased to meet you,” he said. “Looks like this vacation’s going to be less boring after all.”
His redheaded friend pulled him back. “I’m sorry for my friend. The company sent us on a retreat out here as a prize, and he’s not that happy about it.”
The dark-haired one loosened his tie further and shrugged at the land around him. “What’s to be happy about? No bars or strip clubs for hours. This is going to suck.”
Harmony shared a sympathetic look with his friend, who just shrugged.
“I’m Arnie, by the way,” he said. “And that’s Rich.”
Harmony nodded. “Good to meet you too.” She looked back to Bonnie with a telling gaze. “I guess I’m going to go take a quick nap.”
“We’d better see our rooms,” Arnie said, putting an arm around Rich, who shook him off. “We have some kind of trail ride this evening with someone called Maverick.”
“My brother,” Jesse said, keeping his arm around Bonnie’s waist as he led the way into the lodge. “One of the best horsemen around here. You’ll enjoy it for sure.”
“If one of them doesn’t step on my head or something,” Richie muttered darkly. “Huge animals.”
Harmony laughed out loud at that, and Richie shared a grin with her. Harmony could kind of relate to him, at least in the fear of horses thing.
“You’re scheduled on that ride too,” Jesse quipped at Harmony casually. “Remember?”
Harmony gaped. She didn’t remember signing up for any such thing.
“I signed you up,” Bonnie said, winking. “As a gift.”
Harmony gaped after her friend as she walked inside with her man and the two guests.
A gift? Seriously? More time with Maverick?
She shook her head and went back to her swing. She slumped there, wondering what the hell was going on with the world when Bonnie would send Harmony into the woods with a wild man and call it a gift.
She checked the time on her phone. If she was going to go riding, she for damn sure was going to go take a nap first.
M
averick checked
himself out in the mirror, remembering the advice Wyatt had given him as he’d helped him pick out clothes.
“Be a gentleman. Don’t be too pushy. Don’t be overly jealous. It looks insecure to human women. Women like confidence. Which means you have to look like you don’t mind, even if she’s paying attention to another man.”
“So I’m not supposed to protect her?” Mav had asked. “Impossible.”
“No, if she doesn’t like it, protect her. But if she’s interacting with a man and enjoying it, you need to stay back.”
Maverick shook his head at his own reflection. That sounded impossible. But if that was how men courted out in the real world, the human world, he would try to follow the rules. He would have to show Harmony there was more to him than the animal lust he felt for her.
He’d have to try to access his human side.
“Human women don’t like to just be chased down and dominated. They like to be wooed, and they like a man who seems hard to get. In control of his own life, not theirs.”
Maverick shook his head. Harmony had liked being dominated just fine.
He was wearing a cotton button-up shirt in blue plaid, with a shirt underneath, and jeans that were stiff and fit oddly, too tight on the butt and thighs. Wyatt had given him some kind of fancy shoes, but he was going to wear good old riding boots because that was safest.
He was taking two city jerks on the trail, and he’d need to be capable and aware, even if he took them on the easiest trail and the easiest horses.
When he was ready, he threw on a cowboy hat and walked out to the barn where his schedule was hanging on a hook. He took it off, flipped a sheet over to see what Jesse had added as far as notes, and frowned.
Harmony had been added to the ride? Mav licked his thumb and read through the schedule again. He’d rather take her on a solo ride, not with new riders.
But there was her name. Had she added it? Did she want to see him after all?
A little thrill went through him, and the bear in him wanted to go on the chase. But he reminded himself he was human Mav today. Calm, cool, collected.
An in-control male, not an out-of-control bear.
He went in to saddle up the horses and was leading them out of the barn when he heard two men talking.
“How about the brown one?” one said. “She’s super hot and doesn’t seem to be taken.”
Maverick’s jaw twitched, but he forced himself to focus on readying the horses.
“Yeah, she’s hot in a curvy way. I mean, not someone I’d take out back in New York, but definitely doable.”
Maverick let out a growl before he could help it, and the men turned in his direction. He pinned them with an intense glare. The urge to challenge them for insulting his mate was nearly overpowering.
But Hazelnut, the mare he was saddling, nickered at him, seeming to sense his distress. He stroked her neck and forced himself to calm. He wasn’t going to let anything happen to Harmony, and the last thing he needed was to get in a fight and ruin the outfit he’d put on just for her.
The men came over and introduced themselves, and Maverick did his usual strong and silent routine, speaking minimally and letting them have the whole cowboy experience. Plus, he never had anything to say to these businessman types anyway.
He’d already gone over safety procedures with the men and gotten them mounted up on their horses when he heard footsteps running toward them and turned to see Harmony, breasts bouncing as she sprinted toward them.
She was wearing a leather jacket over a red tee and tight jeans, but at least she was wearing closed-toed tennis shoes for riding.
He flicked his gaze at the men on the horses, noting with anger that their eyes had been on her breasts.