Page 30 of Tempting Wyatt (Triple Creek Ranch #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

wyatt

THE NEXT MORNING, AFTER LETTING Sutton off the hook after she’d mucked one stall and helped me tow the side-by-side out of the woods, I step onto the porch with my coffee, intending to clear my head before another long-ass day. Any hope of that vanishes the second I catch sight of Ivy.

Jesus Christ.

She’s on the grass near the stables, bathed in the soft morning light, stretching her body in ways that should be illegal this early in the day.

Tight little leggings hugging every curve paired with a sports bra that barely contains her lush tits, nearly separates me from my sanity.

Her hair is piled on top of her head in a messy knot with just enough pieces falling loose to make a man think about tugging it free.

I take a deliberate swallow of my coffee, pretending I’m not openly watching her.

But I am.

And I can’t fucking stop.

She moves smoothly from one stretch to another, bending, arching, her movements even and controlled, like it’s a dance she’s practiced many times. My gut tightens as she sinks into some deep backbend, her chest lifting, her throat exposed, the softest sound slipping from her lips as she exhales.

My grip on my mug turns bright white.

She has no idea what she’s doing to me. Or maybe she does. Maybe she knows damn well that a woman twisting herself into positions that belong in a bedroom is enough to drive a man straight to the edge.

Hell if I’m not already teetering.

My legs move in her direction without me having consciously decided to walk over to her.

Last night, I’d wondered if she’d blown me off for Isaac, but realizing she had gone to help my baby sister and was going to let her sleep over had me feeling too much at once.

Ivy isn’t at all like the spoiled Hollywood princess I thought she was when she first arrived.

She’s kind. Compassionate.

She’s whip-smart and sassy in the sexiest way I’ve ever seen, and she fits in here, even when she shouldn’t. Hell of a lot sturdier than she looks, and apparently flexible as fuck.

Great. Just great.

The woman of my dreams lives a world away.

I clear my throat, and she startles, twisting her head to look at me. A knowing smile spreads across her face, like she caught me with my hand in the cookie jar.

Or like she was twisting herself into a pretzel in full view of my cabin, and I took the bait.

What beautiful fucking bait it is.

“Didn’t take you for a yoga guy,” she muses, sitting back on her heels.

“I’m not.” I take another sip of coffee, carefully and measured, masking the heat crawling up my neck. “But maybe I should be if it means I’d be that flexible.”

Her laughter is low and warm, wrapping around me in a way that makes my blood run hot.

“Well,” she says, pushing to her feet and dusting off her hands, “yoga is great for stress relief. Might help with that ever-present tension of yours.”

I cock a brow, smirking. “Got other ways of relieving stress.”

Her lips part, and I swear, just for a second, she forgets how to breathe. Good. I want her to picture exactly what I mean. I want her mind in the gutter, right next to mine.

“Maybe you could demonstrate those for me sometime.”

My smirk deepens. “That right?”

She shrugs, but there’s nothing casual about the way she’s watching me. Her gaze has a death grip on mine. “Guess I’ll just have to wait and see.”

I’ve been thinking about that. She’s hardly left this ranch.

I could take her to dinner. Somewhere that’s away from the prying eyes of my nosy siblings.

I step forward until there’s barely a few inches between us.

I’m going to ask her on a date—I can’t remember that last time I asked anyone out.

Probably high school. But this woman deserves more than a hot fuck and tip of my hat.

Even if she’d settle for that, I want to give her more.

Though I’m going to let her know that afterward, if she’s a very good girl, maybe I’ll show her how I relieve my stress.

She tilts her chin up, meeting my stare head-on. There’s heat there, enough that makes me want to say to hell with work and spend the day buried inside her.

“Something you want to say, rancher?”

I’m about to ask her to dinner, when the walkie talkie I carry blares to life, interrupting us. Antonio’s voice comes through, but barely, so he must be far out in a pasture somewhere.

“You there, boss?”

I step back from Ivy, needing the space before I do something real fucking stupid—like pull her against me and show her exactly how I plan on relieving my stress right here in broad daylight.

“I’m here,” I bark back, wishing I could say no, I’m busy, dammit.

“We need to start this prescribed burn soon,” he comes back across the line. “Hands found more clover near the river bank. Doppler says we might get some rain in the next few days.”

“10-4. Heading your way,” I tell him.

When I return my attention to her, Ivy’s contorted herself into some strange bent backward pose. Looks a little painful but she appears to enjoy it.

“Everything okay?”

I nod. “Will be.”

Ask her out, you fucking pussy. Why Isaac is always the voice is my head is beyond me. Clearly we’ve been spending too much time together.

“You looked like you were going to say something just now.” She stands, coming closer. “Before you got interrupted.”

The interruption was a reminder. I don’t have time to date. Even if I did, she lives a thousand miles away. And I’m tied to this ranch. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking. She must’ve altered my brain chemistry and killed my common sense with that damn yoga nonsense.

“I was just going to ask if you had any big plans today. You haven’t left the ranch much, done any sightseeing.”

Excitement brightens her features. “Actually Willow invited me to the equestrian center, so I was going to do my rounds and head over there this afternoon.”

“Your rounds?”

She beams up at me. “I feed the hens with your mom, then read Jasper the latest celebrity headlines, and visit the horses.”

“Busy girl.” I finish my coffee and nod. “I think you’ll enjoy the equestrian center. And hey, thanks for driving Sutton home last night, by the way.”

Her expression softens. “Of course. I love your sister. She’s sweet.”

I huff out a laugh. “She’s a handful.”

Ivy grins. “So is her brother.”

“You must be referring to Caleb,” I tease. I shake my head, turning back toward my place.

Her laughter follows me as I walk away, but even as I head toward the responsibilities I know I can never escape, the image of her contorting her delectable body beneath the morning sun is seared into my mind.

I have no doubt I’m going to spend the rest of the damn day thinking about all the positions I’d like to put her in.

“HAVEN’T SEEN MUCH OF YOU LATELY,” Isaac greets me as he climbs off Champ and takes the lead line. “It’s a whole thing among the female population about why you haven’t been at dinner.”

“Been busy,” is all I say, unable to take my eyes from the woman roughly twenty feet from us.

Apparently Ivy’s “rounds” include visiting Lucifer.

While Antonio and I mapped out the area for the controlled burn, she fed the beast peppermint puck treats.

I’ve never seen anyone other than my father get that close to the enormous Arabian.

Lucifer lives up to his name in that he’s an asshole to everyone indiscriminately.

“I see.”

I blink at my brother. I damn near forgot he was here.

“What?”

He should head straight for the barn, but he waits.

Watches Ivy for a solid minute while she brushes Lucifer.

He raises his dark head affectionately. Ivy pats him, hands him off to an amused looking Antonio, then steps away to hose the dirt and mud off herself in a scene that becomes borderline pornographic.

Isaac whistles low under his breath. “Damn, brother. Now I know why I haven’t seen you lately. Can’t say I blame you.”

I frown, then glance over at him. I don’t need him knowing my personal business or giving me endless shit about it.

“It’s not like that.”

Though I have felt her precious pussy clenching and coming on my fingers. The sounds she made will haunt me for the rest of my life.

His eyebrows rise in disbelief as he glances from her to me. “Really? Then what is it like? Because from where I’m standing, looks like you’re picturing her naked in your bed before dinner. She’s definitely sweet enough to be dessert.”

My fists clench and I huff out a loud breath. “Just making sure she’s okay with Lucifer, is all. Old bastard still has some fight in him.”

We watch Ivy step over to feed Lucifer apple slices out of her hand. “Looks like she tamed the devil.”

“Apparently.” I force myself to look away from her. “I’ve worked with that horse for years, and he still hates my guts. She had him eating out of her hand within a week.”

Isaac grins his shit-eating grin. “I wasn’t talking about the horse, brother.”

It takes me a second to clear the Ivy-induced fog from my brain. “You done, funny guy?”

“Almost. She’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about. Got a sec?”

“That’s about all I got.” I’m going to get as much work done as I can on the broken down ranch truck so we can sell it.

He jerks his head, and I follow him, leaning on the doorway of the barn while he lets Champ get some water.

“Let me ask you this.” He pauses, clearing his throat so loudly that it startles Buckeye in the next stall. “You sure you’re not interested in something serious with the pretty city girl? I mean, one hundred percent sure, as in never going to go there?”

I’m already there.

Tension in my chest has me inhaling deeply. Him calling her pretty chafes for reasons I can’t even explain to myself.

“Go where?”

Isaac gives me a pointed look of annoyance, like I’m playing dumb on purpose. I honestly can’t focus with Ivy so close. And I don’t trust Lucifer. He adores Willow and still bucked her off when she tried to ride him last month.