Roped Tight (Ryker Ranch #4) - Kim Loraine Page 0,56

door. “Hey, Ser?”

“Yeah?”

“Come riding with me tomorrow?”

Her entire face lit up. “Okay. See you later.” Then she glanced to Tucker. “Night, Tucker.”

Tucker tipped his hat and pushed off his truck, sauntering over to me now that my sister wasn’t commanding my focus.

“One down,” he murmured.

I glanced to the house, where I saw Clint and Mama talking with Tristan through the kitchen window. “One to go.”

He took my hand, squeezing lightly before locking gazes with me. “I love you. I’m not going anywhere, even if I have to find another job.”

“You’re not leaving. Not me. Not the ranch. No matter what.” Standing at the door, I turned toward him, needing more of him because I could feel the anxious energy he was putting out. “Tucker. I promise. It’s you and me, forever.”

I cupped the back of his head, pulling him into me, and kissed him hard. This man had owned every part of me for so long. I couldn’t let him feel this way if I could help it.

The door opened before we broke the kiss, and Mama stood with a grin on her face. “You two boys know we can hear y’all, right?”

Tucker backed away, blushing. “Sorry, Mama.”

“Don’t apologize for lovin’ my son. Or for knocking that city boy on his behind. He had it comin’.”

I loved this woman. She was the biggest warrior for all of us. I don’t think we realized it as kids, but now? She was the one who’d drop everything when I needed her, when any of us needed her.

“I’m real sorry if I caused a problem for you.” Tucker’s voice was tight with emotion.

Her expression softened, the warm smile I always pictured when I thought of her brightening her face. “Come on in, you two. We all should talk about how this is gonna work.”

He’d released my hand when Mama opened the door, so I reached out and reclaimed his. Sure, they knew about us, they supported us, but the two of us had lived lives under the veil of privacy. I wasn’t going to be private about him anymore.

Tristan passed a beer Tucker’s way as soon as we got through the door, his expression serious, but not dire.

“He deserved more than what you did, Tuck,” Tristan said. “Asshole should know better than to treat people that way.” Then he tipped his head at Mama. “Sorry, Mama.”

She didn’t correct his language this time. Damn, she was really pissed at Greg.

“We knew opening our ranch to something like Saddle Up was gonna result in things like this. That was a risk we all agreed to take.” Clint leaned against the archway between the dining room and the kitchen. “Ever says he could still make a fuss, but Greg’s off the show. He’s not coming back here. We’ll get a restraining order if we have to. No one harasses my family and gets away with it.”

Hazel walked through the door with baby George in her arms and a worried look on her face. “He posted the video.”

Dread curled in my gut. What was on there? What had he seen? Pulling out my phone, I searched my name, and it was the first thing to show up. “Shit,” I whispered.

Muffled noises, low murmured words, the visual of nothing but the barely open tack room door, and then my voice.

"Did I say I like it?"

Tucker’s answer rolled through my memory first, but hearing the words again sent tension coiling inside me. "What do you like?"

"I like a man who knows how to sit in the saddle and ride his horse for hours on end without complaining. I like someone whose body shows that he works hard, but who’s also not afraid of hard work. Someone who doesn't have to spend his time in the gym because he spends it all doing something meaningful.”

“That's good."

Then a rustling sound and the video cut off, but the caption the gossip site posted was clear as day. Sam Ryker’s Secret Life.

The article was full of nothing but rumors and grainy photos of men in cowboy hats cozying up to each other. The only concrete thing was my voice saying exactly what I wanted. Tucker.

“You’d think in this day and age there would be more interesting news than who people like to fu—sleep with,” Tristan said.

“It’s honestly not as bad as I thought it would be,” I admitted.

“Do you want me to have the network lawyers get it taken down?” Clint asked. “I’m sure they’ll do it.”

I shook my head. “It’s already out