Marry Me for Real, Cowboy - Valerie Comer Page 0,27
far worse shape.
“Dad even fired the cowboys that weren’t our brothers. And they were so cute.”
“How did you know it was the real thing?” Emma begged. “Were you ever in love before Adam?”
Neither were questions Riley wanted to answer. The first, she couldn’t, and the second, she wouldn’t. She forced a laugh. “Honestly, girls, I have work to do.”
Alexia batted her eyelashes. “What does falling in love feel like? Does it make your heart skip a beat for real, or is that just in books?”
“Having butterflies in my stomach sounds like I’d need to puke. Kind of disgusting,” the other twin added.
Riley forked soiled bedding into the wheelbarrow. Maybe the girls could entertain themselves with questions for an hour or two. Maybe she wouldn’t even need to reply.
Alexia tapped Riley’s shoulder as she went by. “Do you stick your tongues in each other’s mouths? Is it fun? Because it sounds gross.”
Emma reddened and shuddered.
“Why are you asking me all this stuff? Go ask one of your brothers.” Seriously. Anyone but Riley.
Alexia crossed her arms, scowling. “Travis smacked the back of my head so hard I saw stars.”
“That was because you asked him if he liked sex.”
“Well, I wanted to know! No one tells us anything if we don’t pester them. And I know he’s done it because he has a kid.” Alexia eyed Riley. “Are you pregnant? Is that why you’re marrying Adam?”
Riley choked on her own saliva. “No.”
“Do you do sex with him?” Alexia continued. “Maybe you’re pregnant and don’t know it yet. How soon do you know? Like, right away?”
How had this conversation — if such it could be called — gotten so far out of hand in two minutes flat? She might not condone Travis’s violent reaction, but she could understand it.
Alexia tapped on the top of the gate. “We don’t know all the details, but we’ve figured out some things. Like—”
“Stop!” Riley held up her free hand. “That is completely enough.”
“I told you,” muttered Emma.
“Aw, Riley, please...” Alexia batted her eyelashes.
“No. You know what? Mothers are for answering questions like yours.”
Emma sighed. “Ours won’t talk about anything.”
“But she’s done it at least three times.” Alexia leaned closer, fixing her gaze on Riley. “Twice with her first husband, and at least once with our dad.”
Riley choked back an undignified giggle. Letting it out would only encourage the incorrigible twosome. What would they say if they knew most married couples had sex considerably oftener than when they wanted to conceive? Maybe looking at their parents’ strained relationship had fostered their misperception. Understandable, but Riley wasn’t going to be the one to set them straight on that or dozens of other related subjects.
“There you are, girls.” Kathryn made her way toward them, dressed in jeans and riding boots.
Riley had never been so glad to see someone in her life... with the possible exception of Adam that night at the Golden Grill. “Hi, Kathryn.”
A warm smile crossed Kathryn’s face but didn’t erase the lines around her eyes. “Riley, would you like to go riding with the twins and me?”
Emma clasped her hands together and fluttered her eyelashes. “Please say yes.”
She’d been riding with Adam several times now, so she wouldn’t look too green. But she’d been assigned a row of stalls to clean this afternoon, and no doubt Declan’s orders superseded Kathryn’s. “Sorry, I can’t.” Riley gave Adam’s mom a regretful smile. “I’ve got work to do.”
“Dad wouldn’t mind,” suggested Emma hopefully.
Daddy’s little princess could probably do no wrong, but that wasn’t Riley’s title. “In the daytime, I’m just another Rockstead employee with a to-do list.”
“And in the evenings, you and Adam smooch,” mumbled the other twin.
“Alexia.”
“It’s true, Mom! You should see them.”
“You shouldn’t snoop.”
Excellent point taken, though. Perhaps Adam was right when he said there were eyes everywhere. He might not have meant his twin sisters... but maybe he had.
Kathryn tuned to the stall across the alley. “Saddle up, girls. We’ll invite Riley to ride with us another time, after clearing it with your father. It looks like we’ll have rain for a few days after this, so we should get going while the weather holds.”
The twins jumped off the gate and raced each other to the tack room.
“I’m sorry if they were bothering you.”
Their mother had no idea... unless she’d been listening for a few minutes, and Riley didn’t want to think about that possibility. “It’s all right. They’re just curious teens who don’t get out much.”
Oops. Hopefully that hadn’t sounded like censure.
Kathryn grimaced. “This ranch is so