Page 99 of Then You Happened
Will’s grin adds fuel to the hope beginning to bubble up inside me. “Jack’s a hard man to please,” he says, and I bark out a laugh.
Pleasing Jack—pleasuring him—doesn’t seem very hard from where I stand. His groans from last night as I took him into my mouth and sucked him off while his hands fisted in my hair and my name on repeat on his lips are proof enough of that.
“Tate?” It’s Jack’s voice this time. It’s his excitement that carries across the ranch.
It’s my fingers crossed for luck as my hands hang by my side.
“At the house . . .” But my words fade as he closes the distance in a few strides, his face void of all emotion.
And just when my heart falls—when I think we’ve lost Steely and the contract that will keep Knox Ranch afloat—Jack lets out a riotous whoop before picking me up and spinning me in circles.
Gracie lets out a bark from where she’s lying in the shade on the verandah as I shriek. “Really? We got it?”
“We got it, baby!” he says and then plants a kiss squarely on my lips.
And then we both jump back, more than aware that Will is standing there staring at us. We are both shocked but excitement is brimming beneath the surface.
Will emits the loudest laugh, which I swear echoes across the ranch. “Don’t stop on my account. It isn’t as if I don’t already know you two are a thing.”
I stare at him, shocked that he knows when we’ve done everything to act as if we aren’t sleeping together. “Will,” I say like a mom scolding her child.
He snorts and rolls his eyes before heading toward the stables. “Your secret is safe with me,”
he tosses over his shoulder.
“Good to know,” Jack says as he steps up to me again. This time, he frames my face with both hands. “Now, where were we?” he asks and gives me a proper kiss, loaded with every ounce of violent-edged desire that I feel in return.
When my senses are thoroughly put through every pleasurable wringer imaginable, he steps back and looks at me. His grin is wide, his eyes are alive, and every part of him vibrates with pride.
“We got the contract, Tate.” He shakes his head as if he can’t believe it. “It’s on a probationary status, but we got it.”
“I don’t even know what to say.” Emotions I can’t describe hum through my blood. My head spins and heart races. “I—”
“Don’t say anything yet,” he says and runs a thumb up and down my cheek, “because you’re going to hate me for the next forty-eight hours.”
“What? Why?”
“They’ll be here on Wednesday. Four men. Twelve stallions ready to stud.”
“But I thought they wanted to wait till the next crop of foals were born before they made their decision.”
He winks. “I talk a good game, baby.”
“I know, but—”
“Are you saying you doubt me?” Another kiss pressed to my lips in the most casual of ways. It feels as if standing here and kissing in broad daylight is something we always do instead of our nighttime rendezvous behind closed doors.
“I don’t doubt you. I just don’t understand why an outfit like Steely would choose us over Hickman. I mean . . . I know that was the plan but now that it’s a reality . . . I just—”
“Take a deep breath.” He puts his hands on my shoulders and exhales loudly as if to show me. “This is what you hired me for, remember? To run the ranch and bring on a steady clientele. Yes, I oversold us a bit, but that’s why we’re going to work our asses off for the next two days so that we deliver.”
“Jack . . .”
My excitement has slowly morphed into panic as my mind grasps everything that’s about to happen.
Getting the contract is overwhelming, but Steely coming here brings a whole new set of problems, like four men living in the bunkhouse for the next month, a dozen more horses to board and feed.
“Don’t do that. Don’t start overthinking this. We’ll figure it out. We’ll make this work,” Jack says, voice encouraging, eyes clear.
