Hott and Handled (The Hott Brothers Book 3) Read online

  “Nice song, isn’t it?” Nixx murmured, his chin sitting on my shoulder, his hands slowly moving forward until they were sitting on my lower belly, his back now pressed entirely against me.

  “Yep,” I choked out, totally out of my comfort zone, but loving the contact with the handsome cowboy.

  “Farron,” Noxx breathed, the peak of his cap coming down to rest on my collarbone, hiding his face, not that I could see it because my eyes were trained on the glass and lights of the jukebox. Hell, I don’t even think I was breathing at that point, as I waited for some kind of guidance from? Who me? Yeah, like I knew what to do in a situation like this. The last time Alec held me had been when the photographer hired to take our wedding photos kindly suggested it would be nicer if the groom put his arm around his bride, not look like he wanted to run from her.

  “Hmmm?”

  Oh, good one Farron, good use of your private education. One worded answers and hums.

  Strong hands turned me around and two beautiful, piercing blue eyes replaced the scenery. With one hand on one hip, Nixx reached up and slowly took the worn cap from his head, tucking it in his back pocket.

  “Dance with me?” Not waiting for me to comply or deny him, Nixx moved on the spot, his body slowly swaying both he and I to the soft beat. His hand went back to sit just below my waist, holding me on either side of my thighs.

  “Breathe Farron, we are just dancing, baby. You can put your arms around me, I won’t bite,” Nixx joked, breaking some of the tension and making me smile at him.

  “Oh, oh, right yes,” I stuttered foolishly, but quickly and rather awkwardly placed my hands on his upper arms, and trying not to moan at the definition I felt over the flannel of his work shirt.

  “There you go, see just dancing.” Nixx smiled back at me. The smile wasn’t cocky or conceited, nor was it condescending. Encouraging and happy.

  “Um, so you know Macy?” I asked, moving a little freer now. My hips swaying in time with his.

  “Yeah, just about everyone who was born here went to the same school.”

  I did a mental look over Macy’s resume and recalled where she wrote down her age. She was younger than Nixx, so they must not have been in school together at the same time, so maybe they dated at some point.

  “You and Macy?”

  “No, her older sister Katy. We had a thing for about five minutes back in high school, she was too scared of my mum for us to get off the ground. Mum has that effect on some women,” he said, laughing.

  “I understand that,” I muttered, thinking back to earlier when she invited me to call her mum. Something I was not going to share with her son. Ever.

  “I don’t want to know what she said to you, do I?” Nixx asked, smirking at me like he just read my mind.

  “Ah, no,” I agreed, feeling a little more comfortable being this close to him. So much so that my hands rubbed over his biceps and up to his shoulders and found purchase on the broad muscles there. Dancing involved touching, and we were dancing, so technically, I wasn’t breaking my rule of no relationship. At least that was what I was going with, the fact that my pulse sped up when he called me baby did not factor into it at all. Not a single bit.

  Damn, I am screwed.

  FENIXX

  I was in fucking heaven.

  Who knew all it would take was Garth singing about getting back into dating for Farron to be finally in my arms, albeit a little tense and stiff, but I was willing to take anything at this point. I had to think of Farron like a skittish colt. A gentle tone and constant soothing touch my only way to prove I was trustworthy and worthy of her.

  Slowly, I moved my hands around to her back and splayed them just above her jean covered butt, being sure to keep them appropriately away from where I really wanted them—clutching at her perfect arse.

  “So, can I ask what Hottie 3 is all about?” Farron asked as the song changed to a faster beat, but both of us stayed in a slow sway.

  “Argh, it’s a shitty nickname the three of us got saddled with while in our teens and sucks,” I grimaced, “small towns have a way of making their own amusement. Lenoxx, Drixx and I gave them plenty of fodder in our wilder days.”

  “So, you’re number three because you were born last?”

  “Yep, Drixx is 2 and obviously Noxx 1. It pisses us off like you wouldn’t believe, but there isn’t any stopping them, so we just roll with it.”

  “Wild days? You have a reputation with the ladies then?” Farron’s lip caught between her teeth, her eyes dropping to look at my throat, and that sexy, pink stain was back.

  “There is the truth and then there is folklore. Ninety percent is embellishment and the rest is what really happened, trust me. Unless you are talking about the scraps with the local coppers we got ourselves in or the daredevil stunts, those are one hundred percent accurate,” I told her rather proudly. The Hott brother’s antics back in the day were still sitting at legendary status, one I gladly admitted to happily.

  “Oh, do tell,” Farron smirked, her body starting to relax against me. Whether she was aware of it or not, her fingers were making slow circles on the balls of my shoulders; the neat blunt ends of her nails felt wonderful over the thin, worn material of my work shirt. I was well aware of it, and fuck, I was loving it.

  Encouraged that Farron was asking questions and the fact that her body wasn’t a tightly coiled spring now, I was only too happy to give her some of the Hott brother’s history.

  I told her about the time when Hendrixx and I swapped places on a date, and when the three of us spent the night in the police station lock-up for indecent exposure after the rodeo Hendrixx had competed in. Too many drinks, too many people egging us on, and we found ourselves walking down main street stark naked, except our cowboy boots and lassos. By the end of the fifth story, Farron had tears in her eyes from laughing so hard. My heart about burst at the sight of seeing her so happy and relaxed with me. I knew she had this notion that nothing could happen between us, but I was hoping that spending time with me, and not me sitting in the corner staring creepily at her, she might see a different side of me.

  Maybe even see I was worth the risk.

  “What’s that look?” Farron suddenly asked, breaking me out of my thoughts.

  “Huh?”

  “Just now, your expression went from light and happy to dark and brooding,” she noted, quirking her pouty lips at me. Lips I couldn’t wait to taste.

  “Truthfully? I was thinking that hopefully, you will change your mind about what I said to you at the farm and again at your place today.” I wasn’t about to skirt around the issue or pussyfoot with my words. I wanted Farron, and I know she felt the same way about me.

  Her sassy smile slipped from her lips, and back was the worried expression from earlier.

  “Nixx—”

  “Fuck baby, I love how you say my name, so breathy like you love saying it,” I murmured, leaning my forehead on hers. Aware that people in the restaurant might be watching and that Dillion was in the kitchen, so this wasn’t the time to fuse my mouth to hers and kiss the shit out of her. Instead, I breathed in the scent that was purely Farron, a combination of peaches and woodsy from the wood-fired pizza ovens.

  “Please Nixx, don’t do this, don’t make it hard to say no to you.” Her voice was breaking like she didn’t mean a single word that was coming out, her grip on my biceps told me she didn’t mean it, and the fact that she was pressing her forehead tightly against mine, wanting to stay close. To stay with me.

  “Fuck that shit baby, I am not going to make this easy for you to walk away from this. I get that you had a shitty marriage, I understand you weren’t appreciated as a wife and as a woman, I do understand that. But that wasn’t me Farron, this is me.” Rubbing the tip of my nose down the bridge of hers, I stopped a breath over her lips, hoovering mouth-wateringly close.

  Brown eyes the colour of the richest coffee stared back at me, iris’ that speckled with gold and shining with something I believed was ho
pe.

  “Nixx, this is very new, this … chemistry between us. It’s hot and full of sparks, but how can I know it’s real? I think I need some time, and I have a son—”

  “No!” I growled, hating that she was trying to find an excuse to push me away and using her son? I don’t think so. Wanting time away from me? No fucking way.

  “Don’t use Dillion to hide behind Farron. I grew up with two brothers, I know teenage boys, I understand them.”

  “As for the time, well, that is a hard fuck no also. I am not giving you time to talk yourself out of getting to know me or letting me get to know you. But, I will give you space in the form of a compromise. I will back off with the asking, but that is it. I’m still coming in for dinner every night, only now it will be me at the bar and you on the other side talking to me when customers allow. You bring Dillion out to the Triple H during the week, give him some time on the bikes and paddock cars too.” Sucking in a deep breath, I attempted to refill my lungs with some much-needed oxygen. I couldn’t help the panic overtaking me, thinking she wanted to walk away, just the idea I couldn’t set my eyes on her hurt like hell. An ache settled on my chest, almost suffocating me.

  I watched intently as Farron bit her lip, her teeth grazing the plump morsel doing me in once and for all. Groaning an apology, sorry that I couldn’t wait, not for what I was about to do, I dropped my mouth at the same time, I dragged my thumb down her lips, releasing her teeth’s captive.

  The second my lips settled over Farron’s, the erratic beating in my chest settled also. Mentally, I chided myself to keep the kiss light, but the temptation to give her my tongue won out when Farron moaned into my mouth. The sexy sound ws hitting dead centre in my balls, my dick joining in with a spine-tingling jump in my jeans.

  Fucking hell, Farron was going to own me after just one kiss.

  Taking her face in my large work-roughened hands, I tilted her head to the side and opened my mouth wide and devoured her lips and her moans. Even though the restaurant wasn’t as full as a week day or Saturday night, there were enough people around to hear her noises, and that was not on. They belong to me as much as Farron did. Her reluctance I could live with, her disappearing on me definitely not.

  A part of me wanted to roar like a lion, throw her to the ground, and lay my claim, but somehow I didn’t think it would be appreciated and my getting locked up in the cop shop days were well and truly behind me. Forcing myself to slow down, I reluctantly peppered soft, wet kisses to the side of her mouth, one side then the other before giving her one last chaste kiss and pulled back, sighing as I did, missing the contact instantly.

  “Please Farron, give me this and I promise not to put pressure on you for anything else. For now.” I added that because as much as I understood her anxiety starting a new relationship with all she had on her plate with the restaurant and her son, there was also me in the equation to be considered. Her age didn’t matter shit to me, and I had to admit I was happy she didn’t bring that up again as an excuse. Thirty-four compared to thirty was absolutely nothing, no small town scandal in that for the people of Cattle Ridge to sink their teeth in.

  Farron fisted my shirt, the feel of her hands so small holding onto me with such desperation affirmed that this was the right woman for me. My forever.

  “One day at a time, Nixx. It has to be that way, I can’t and won’t jump into something that may hurt Dillion or myself,” she whispered, her shaky words only just reaching my ears. Had it not been for the fear shining at me in her brown eyes, I would have laughed at the preposterous idea that I could even be capable of hurting this gorgeous creature. I would rather pull my own heart out of my chest first before hurting Farron or her boy.

  “That is all I am asking for, baby,” I whispered back, letting out a small chuckle when her eyes rolled and her lips pursed.

  “Oh right, that’s all you are asking Hottie—”

  Reacting quickly, I cut off the rest of the ridiculous nickname with my mouth. No way was Farron going to start calling me that!

  “Don’t even think about it,” I warned her, mumbling against her lips, then enjoyed the giggling from the woman that was going to be my wife one day.

  ***

  “Yo Fenixx, Blake called and asked you to take Princess for a ride, then she wants you to exercise Hercules and told me to remind you that Lancelot needs to get his sugar or all hell will break loose,” Eddy yelled out to me as I crossed past the opening of the main stable’s door.

  “I am not the only one that works here, Eddy!” I yelled back, not stopping to talk to the farm’s second manager but still, I changed my direction from the main house to the arena ring where Hercules spent most of his day.

  “Lucky for Blake, I love her arse,” I muttered, walking over to snag a lunge rope off the hook on the gate to the arena while glancing at my watch at the same time.

  Farron and Dillion were due to arrive at any time now. Last night before I finally left the pizza joint, we exchanged numbers. She gave me her mobile, while I gave her my mobile, house phone, the main house, the stables and even the number at the Waterford farm. I wanted to make sure she would be able to contact me no matter where I happened to be. With me going between the Triple H and Makena’s, sometimes, it was hard to get hold of me. Mobile service wasn’t the best when riding the valley, or in the back fifty at Mack’s, it made me feel better knowing that Farron knew I was available to her whenever she needed.

  Thankfully I had pre-empted Blake’s first demand before her telling me this morning, taking Princess to check the water troughs and feed bins around the property, then did a quick ride to the valley to see if the mob were okay. They returned to their favourite grazing area a month after the calamity of the rough-riders. And while I hadn’t see them, I did notice evidence that they had been there in the last few days. Fresh horse manure and multiple hoof marks were on the ground, proving that they were happy and comfortable again.

  Letting myself into the large arena, Hercules heard my entry and turned his big head to look at me, his loud whinny letting me know he wasn’t happy he’d had to wait so long for attention.

  “Sorry bud, I only have two hands mate, and can only be in one place at a time,” I crooned, walking up to him, clipping the hinged clip to his head halter and giving him a hearty rub under his mane.

  Hercules was a trick horse, Blake worked him in a specific way, and I usually followed the same routine she set down for him. Still, with Farron hopefully arriving soon, I was almost tempted to give the big horse a shortened version of his exercise time. However, the horse lover in me couldn’t be that selfish. Hercules had a problem with other horses, much like Lancelot, which meant he spent most of his time in the arena or in a small fenced off grassed paddock behind the stables. He looked forward to his human time, and it wasn’t in me to short change him.

  “Okay big fella, let’s get you moving, shall we?” Clicking my tongue, I urged him into a slow trot, using the same noises Blake used. Giving him a longer length of the lunge line, I moved into the middle of the circle and let Hercules do what came naturally to him—intermittently changing the clicks with whistles to speed him up or make him turn around and change his direction. If I had more time, I would go saddle him up and perform some tricks, but as it was, I was running a race against the clock. Not that I thought Farron wouldn’t be interested, it was more Dillion that worried me.

  Teenage boys I knew well, after all, I used to be one. But being from the city for most of his life, Dillion might not be as enthralled with watching a horse run around in a circle like me. Farron mentioned he loved to ride dirt bikes, which was a good thing considering the farm owned a dozen of them. We wouldn’t be riding them anywhere near the horses, but I was pretty sure Dillion would enjoy the homemade track and jumps my brothers and I carved out in a paddock not far from where my house stood.

  With my attention on Hercules and my ears perked for any sound of a car, I lost myself in the beauty of watching the horse exercise. There
was something magical about the equine breed: their powerful flanks, the rippling muscles with each movement of their deceiving spindly legs. Growing up on the Triple H, I learned to respect all animals, no matter if it is equine or bovine. My speciality laid with the cattle, but my love of the horse was deep and pure.

  My first horse, my beloved Camelot, had been mine when he was just a colt. Blake’s dad broke him for me and for years he was the only horse I rode. He saw me through my darkest, loneliest and sickest days, understanding when I had not been able to ride him and happy to be lead around instead. We took a lot of walks together during those times, just he and I walking the valley for hours silently. Camelot passed away a few years ago, and I was yet to replace him. It didn’t feel right taking on another horse as just mine, so I chose to rotate the horses I rode each day. Sometimes taking Princess, Herc or one of the many other stock horses on the property. Maybe one day, I would be ready, just not yet.

  The squealing sound of a fan belt on its way out had me looking over my shoulder to see Farron’s double cab pulling up to the stables. Mentally I noted the repair and was already making arrangements in my head for one of the mechanics to see to it.

  “Come on, big man, let’s go meet the lady you are going to see a lot of around here from now on,” I encouraged Hercules to follow me out of the arena. A swarm of butterflies had taken up residence inside me as I walked the horse towards the ute. Last night exceeded my expectations as far as Farron letting me in went. Dancing with her had been a miracle, her relaxing into me, a dream come true, but that kiss? Mind-blowing!

  I never meant to go that far, kissing her in front of her staff and the patrons, but fuck me. The way she clung to me while we swayed to the music, the way her fingernails dug into my flesh. Whether she knew it or not at the time, Farron had been claiming me too, she just didn’t recognise the action. I swallowed her moans like I had every right, and by god, I did. Keeping my promise to her and keeping it slow was going to be hard, but I was determined to keep my word to her. Farron had not had a good time being on the receiving end of someone who wasn’t good to her, from the little that I knew already about her marriage. We were yet to have that conversation, but I intended to learn everything about her, and that meant I was going to have to find a way to handle hearing her talking about another man.