Espino, Stacey - Midlife Ménage [Ride 'em Hard 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) by Stacey Espino Read Free Book Online

did crave her fiery nature.
    All week she’d kept aloof, feeding and caring for him, but not getting too friendly. A woman living alone could never be too safe, especially with a strange man living under her roof, so he could understand her guarded nature. But her caution went to the extreme—if they shared a laugh, she quickly stifled it. When any intimacy formed mutually between them, she suddenly remembered something she had to do at the other side of the ranch. The more he watched her, the more he became infatuated. Little things, like the way she tucked her hair behind her ear when she did her mending in the evenings. He’d watch her work, her little pixy nose and full lips downright adorable. She would get so focused on her task that she didn’t even realize he would be staring like a lovesick fool. He didn’t care that she was a good many years older. Jackson had never been a ladies’ man, always a degree more responsible than his friends. He could appreciate the value of a good woman. Mrs. McCay had experience, confidence, and mature beauty—things the young cowgirls didn’t possess. He wanted her even more knowing he could never have her.
    Christine came rushing from the house. He butted his cigarette out in the ashtray and rolled the window all the way down. “Have you seen my mother?”
    “No. Just pulled up myself.”
    “Well, her truck’s here. She left me some chickens for plucking, but I can’t find her.”
    It was unusual that Mrs. McCay wouldn’t be around at this hour. She rarely left the ranch, and worked herself to the bone maintaining the place until the last shred of daylight. When Jackson offered to help, it was like pulling teeth. She was overly obsessed with her independence, refusing to allow others to assist her. The fact she was gone without her truck worried him. An unsettled feeling formed inside him, as if something was terribly wrong.
    “Let’s go take a look.” He got out of his truck and began his investigation. If she wasn’t in the house, she could be in the barn, the fields, or the orchard. He started with the barn. The heat was nearly unbearable, so he couldn’t imagine she’d be foolish enough to work the land at this hour. Christine followed along behind him.
    The heavy equipment was where he expected it to be, the horses in the small, shaded paddock, and the dogs loose. He stopped near the back of the house, frowning as he tried to figure out where she’d go.
    “I’m worried,” said her daughter. Christine’s face was marked with concern. Where the fuck could she be? His worries grew the longer he couldn’t find her. He began to run around the outside perimeter of the fields behind the house, calling her name. That woman didn’t seem to have a friend in the world, so she had to be here.
    “Goddamn it,” he cursed after an extensive search.
    “Maybe she went into town with Kylie.”
    “Without the truck?”
    “They could have drove with Kylie’s boyfriend. He has a car.”
    He shook his head. “There’s no way she’d have anything to do with Jason. She bad-mouths him every chance she gets.”
    As they stood there together, staring out into the open fields, the muffled sound of the telephone sparked both of their attention. Christine ran back to the house, whipping open the screen and bounding inside. Jackson hoped to God it wasn’t a phone call saying Mrs. McCay had been taken to the hospital or worse.
    By the time he reached the house, afraid of what news Christine may tell him, she was out of breath, leaning against the kitchen counter.
    “Was it her?”
    “No. It was a neighbor. My mom’s at the next ranch over. Apparently she suffered heatstroke trying to water the orchard by hand.”
    This day was bound to come. She had no sense, refusing the help others offered. A working farm was too much work for one woman. “I’ll go get her,” he said, already digging in his pocket for his truck keys. “Which ranch?”
    Christine sat on one of the