Marry Me for Real, Cowboy - Valerie Comer Page 0,16
luck had run out.
Travis reined in beside Adam and set his cowboy hat more firmly on his head. “What’re you doing back here?”
“Now there’s a warm welcome if I ever heard one.”
Travis snorted. “No need to pretend. We know where we stand with each other.”
Yep, they did. Travis was Declan’s eldest, and he’d hated giving up the top spot to Adam when their parents married. Adam had never been able to convince the younger guy he wasn’t after anything. If Travis wanted his dad’s attention, he was welcome to it, but of course Declan never gave approval to any of the boys. Travis had decided it was Adam’s fault.
Adam knew better. Six sons were only a workforce to Declan Cavanagh. Strapping boys he could bend to his will and turn into likenesses of himself. The man’s firstborn was practically his clone, getting his way by asserting himself over the others.
“Well? Scotty sounded mighty surprised to hear of your engagement.”
Adam sucked in a long breath. “Since when do you care about anything Erickson says? The guy lies through his teeth more than he tells the truth.”
“Why would he lie about this? He said he gave Riley a ride clear from south of Casper, and she never said a thing about meeting up with you.”
“So?” Adam tilted his hat back and stared his stepbrother down. “Why would you take his word for anything?”
“Watch how you talk about Dakota’s brother.”
“Oh, you two are on again?” Adam couldn’t keep track. Dakota had given birth to Travis’s son — what was it, three years ago or so? — but they’d broken up a few months later. Between sharing custody of Toby, both of them dated other people. And by dated, Adam wouldn’t be surprised if another woman showed up claiming her kid was Travis’s.
He was pretty sure no woman could make a similar claim on him, but he wasn’t absolutely certain. After all, two of his rodeo buddies had recently been blindsided by the discovery of impending fatherhood.
Ace Desjardins would likely never meet his child. The former bronc rider had been in a coma since a few hours after Vanessa had dropped her verbal bomb on him. She’d rattled his focus, all but causing his freak accident in the arena, and now she was playing the grieving pregnant girlfriend.
And Sawyer Delgado’s summer affair had also resulted in a pregnancy. The cowboy was currently embroiled in a fight to keep his fling from giving the baby up for adoption.
“Is she pregnant?”
Adam blinked at Travis. Why did everyone go there? Even he had. “No. We haven’t slept together.”
“Oh, goody-boy. How nice and honorable of you.”
“Look, what’s your problem?” His composure was just about shot. “What’s it to you, anyway? You live your life, and I’ll live mine.”
“You’re back at Rockstead, and that makes you my business.”
“I told you when we were kids I don’t care about this ranch. As far as I’m concerned, it’s all yours.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because my mother lives here. My two brothers live here.” He leaned a little closer to Travis, their stirrups nearly touching. “And my two sisters live here.”
“Don’t even mess with their minds.”
“What, now they’re your property, too? Don’t think so, Trav. They’re my sisters just as much as they’re yours.”
“They sure don’t need you filling their heads with all your weird ideas.”
“My weird ideas? If you’re talking about me not sleeping with my fiancée, I gotta wonder how you’d feel if Alexia or Emma got pregnant anytime soon. There’s something to be said for not hopping in and out of the sack all the time.”
Travis’s face darkened. “Don’t start with me.”
“You’re the one who initiated this conversation, bro.”
“I’m not your bro.”
“You got that right. I’m also no threat to your little empire, so save your bluster for where it matters. Spend your time patching things up with Dakota. Do better than your father.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“That’s quite possible.” Adam shrugged. “How about we get the rest of these cows through the draw and into the valley? That’s all that’s on today’s agenda.” Much as he’d like to add punching his stepbrother to it.
Chapter Seven
“You said you can ride.” Adam snapped a piece of straw and stuck it between his teeth as he gave Riley a sidelong look. “Time to prove it.”
Riley took a long, deep breath. “It’s been a long time.”
“It’s like riding a bike.”
In his dreams. “I doubt that.”
She’d been leaning on the corral fence, watching the horses graze the yellowing grass in the