River's End (River's End Series, #1) (32 page)

“He’s not harmless.”

She shook her head. He was so odd. She couldn’t begin to comprehend what he thought about anything, but this was the most he’d said to her in a month. What the hell? She snapped her spine up. “I wasn’t in the mood right now. I might be next time.”

Ian shook his head and pursed his lips, still avoiding eye contact. “And next time, he might not take no for an answer.”

“What’s it to you?”

“I don’t relish having to kill him.”

She stepped back and Ian didn’t turn his head. His gaze was still casually scanning the dark around them and his shoulders were slouched and relaxed. Her mouth popped open. Where did that come from? “Did you say kill him?” Her voice went high with surprised shock.

“If he refuses to take no for an answer.”

“You don’t even like me.” She clapped a hand over her mouth. She didn’t mean to let that out. But to discuss Ian killing her boyfriend? It was the weirdest, strangest conversation she’d ever engaged in.

His gaze traveled over her and settled on her face. “I like you just fine.”

She scoffed. “Yeah, as your housekeeper.”

“Fine. Then as my housekeeper, I won’t let you be treated like that. So stay away from Drew and spare us all the ordeal. He will try again.”

“Maybe I’ll want to.”

“Then do so. But make sure you already have that decided before you get into his car. Because after that, he won’t take no next time.”

“How would you know that?”

“Because I know him. I don’t like him.”

She shook her head. “Who do you like, Ian? I’m sure I don’t know anyone you even associate with.”

He held her stare and was silent for a long moment. His silence made the air feel heavy. It was abnormal to not try and fill the uncomfortable pauses. What was wrong with him?

“You.”

She stepped back. “Me? What?”

“Don’t be reckless. Goodnight.”

He spun on his heel, lightly taking the steps before swinging his legs over his four-wheeler. The Rydells often rode up on the ATVs or their horses to hang out here. He gunned the motor, switched the headlight on, and started down the track that crisscrossed up the hill and separated their place from the Rydells. Her mouth was still open. Hanging. She was what? Totally shocked and freaked out. She must have misheard him. Or misunderstood him. She, well, she didn’t even really follow their conversation. His apathetic conversational skills didn’t leave much too clear. He could not have meant he liked her. So what then?

She shook her head, literally trying to shake off his intense, strange, but almost flattering concern for her. It was concern, wasn’t it? What he’d been trying completely, albeit inadequately, to convey. She stepped into the front room. The light, aluminum door opened into the worn vinyl of three-foot entryway, which led into the box-like kitchen, or the small living room. She started to enter and immediately drew up to her full height. Shane was there. Ian had come with Shane. A sigh escaped her lips.

Shane had his arm loosely draped over Lauren Townsend. She lived up the valley about twenty miles. She was older than Kailynn, and nice enough, but Kailynn had to grit her teeth to keep from frowning in agony. Why did Shane always have a girl?

“Hey, Melon head, lucky date?” her brother, Caleb, asked, his speech slurred. He lay across the couch, with a hand over his forehead. Jordan sat on the floor, playing a video game. He didn’t look up or bother to notice her. Another girl, whom she didn’t know, sat rubbing Caleb’s leg, way too close to his crotch.
Gross.
As if she needed a visual demonstration of her brother’s sex life. She spun into the kitchen to grab a diet pop. “It was fine.”

Shane raised a hand up. “Beer me, Lynnie.”

Heat filled her cheeks. He didn’t raise his head to look her way, but just asked her. She quickly grabbed a can out of the new twelve-pack. No doubt, Shane brought it there. He often supplied it for her brothers. They couldn’t afford it most of the time, and Shane could. She walked over to him, trying to strut, while concentrating on not falling. Shane didn’t look up, and was actively watching Jordan’s video game as he hooted and groaned over its progress. He didn’t even pause when she handed him the can, but cracked it open and started chugging. He strained his neck, making his message clear: she was standing in his way.

She stepped back and turned around before retreating to her room. She didn’t want to watch Shane with Lauren. Her dad’s door was shut, as always. He was usually asleep at seven, and never worried about her. There was no curfew, and never had been. There was no one who noticed when or if she even came home.

Except Ian. He most definitely noticed. She threw her sweatshirt on the bed and kicked her shoes off. What was that about? Her own brothers even assumed she was off getting laid. Had Ian noticed the headlights coming into the driveway? Was it an accident or was he deliberately out on the porch?

She shook her head. It was just too weird to contemplate. Ian would not purposely check on her. There would be no reason to. She never expressed any concerns over Drew or any other man she dated, for that matter. She always had dates. They weren’t new or exciting or interesting. Why would Ian have noticed this one?

She stared at her small room and her twin bed that took up most of the floor space. A nightstand held a tall stack of books and her small closet could barely shut with all her clothes and goods. She was too old to still live at home. Yet neither she nor her brothers had any plans to move out. She doubted if her brothers ever would. Rats showed more ambition than her brothers. They sometimes worked temporarily for ranchers or orchard owners in the surrounding areas. Sometimes, they worked for Shane. And sometimes, they just didn’t work.

She slipped into her bed and a heavy sigh escaped her. It wasn’t like her life was bad. It just wasn’t… good. There wasn’t much to look forward to, or anything she loved. There was working at the café, and at the Rydells, and her free time, which she spent with other loser men like Drew Nichols. Ian was probably right, but what other choices were there? Except for Shane, there wasn’t much. And Shane wasn’t ready for her… yet. So, for now, she could fill the time with Drew. They had been dating for a couple of months. It was fun. He was handsome and funny. And a good kisser.

He just thought it was high time they had sex.

She should have done it. What exactly was she waiting for? Shane? He would probably avoid sleeping with a virgin at all costs. He sure didn’t gravitate towards them. It would be good for her to get some experience before she was with him. So why not Drew Nichols? Only… something kept her from doing it. She watched it all through high school and after, as each of her friends and acquaintances started having sex. It was a big deal at first, knowing who did it. Eventually, however, everyone did it and no one talked about it very much. No one thought of it as a big deal to the relationship. Not like she did. She had to get over that.

There was nothing special in her life, and for some reason, she decided she wanted that to be special. And the only special man she knew was Shane. But he didn’t yet see her as anything more than his friend’s little sister. He didn’t even know she was in the room most of the time.

She slammed a fist into her mattress. He was most likely making out on her couch with Lauren Townsend right now. He would sometimes saunter off into her one of her brothers’ rooms to have sex with whoever he was hanging out with. She had even heard him before and it stabbed her heart as if someone were punching her chest.

Why couldn’t Shane see her? What did she have to do to get his attention? And how long was she going to waste her time on losers like Drew? When the man she most wanted was, no doubt, about to have sex in her house. With someone else. Someone who didn’t love him, not like she did. He had to discover eventually that she was the one for him, didn’t he?

Release Date: February 16, 2015.

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River’s Return Book #3 Release: TBD for Spring of 2015

Shane Rydell is better fit to ride his Harley than any of his family’s horses. He has spent his life trying to find a road that can travel between the family he loves and the open road he is pulled towards. He often leaves River’s End, but eventually, he always comes back as he can’t quite sever the connection to a place he doesn’t want to be from, but which, he always seems destined to return to.

Allison Gray has been burned deep enough she will never risk her heart again after a failed marriage that has left her devastated. A rare teaching opportunity brings her to the small town of River’s End where she is tapped to expand the curriculum of this rural school district; work that invigorates and inspires her, and helps her forget the devastation in her past.

When Shane Rydell walks in to attend his nephew’s conference, and once again, doesn’t recognize her, she decides then and there, he will never be a man she can trust or understand. But soon she is routinely drawn to the Rydell River Ranch to do work that only she can provide. This brings her in constant contact with Shane, and she finally begins to know the real man inside the hardened, charming shell Shane projects. But it will not deter her determination that she can never trust him to be part of her life, no matter how much he happens to be in it.

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