Espino, Stacey - Hardcore Cowboys [Ride 'em Hard 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) by Stacey Espino Page B

was spinning from all the mixed signals and her muddled emotions.
    “It can be.”

Chapter Eleven

    Val flicked on the light to the rarely used lower level of the house. Samantha followed along behind him. Although she continually insisted she had to return home to her real life, his brother, Cord, wouldn’t hear of it. It was one excuse after the other—she wasn’t fully recovered, the roads weren’t clear, or he couldn’t get hold of a tow truck. Val understood well, but they couldn’t keep delaying the inevitable. Why couldn’t Cord come right out and say that they’d never been happier since Samantha showed up at the ranch? That he didn’t want to see her leave?
    She was the sign from above that they needed, the woman to turn their miserable lives around. But day after day, they continued to live in that ghost of a ranch with no move to adapt or incorporate a woman into their masculine world. How long did his brothers expect her to put up with them?
    Val and his brothers had shown Samantha the grounds on ATVs, toured the barns, visited the animals, and she’d seen every room in the house. Today he felt confident enough to bring her to the cellar, the place they kept their most prized possessions.
    “Sorry, darlin’, it’s a bit musty down here.” The walls on either side of the open staircase were natural rock. Only a lone lightbulb hanging from the ceiling provided illumination.
    “It’s kind of spooky.”
    “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you,” he teased. Damn, but he loved having a woman on the ranch. This particular woman.
    He began to rummage through the assortment of boxes lined up along the far wall. Samantha strolled around, running her finger along the thick dust as she explored the small space. It was only a partial basement and not worthy of being finished, not that the three of them needed any more room.
    She came over to look in the box he’d opened. “What’s all that stuff?”
    “These are some of our awards from the department. It’s nothing compared to Wyatt’s.” He nodded to three boxes in the corner. “Those hold trophies from over a decade of riding in the rodeo.”
    “Why didn't you ride?”
    He brushed his hands together to loosen the dust. “We’re cattle farmers, always have been. Wyatt left for his own reasons.”
    She tilted her head and began to trace the patterns on the front of his T-shirt. “What reasons?”
    “Wyatt went through a stage in his teens, like many young men do. He got so caught up in the lure of traveling with the rodeo that he didn’t realize how bad things had gotten on the farm one year. Our dad went to work in the mines to earn money until things picked up…but things don’t always turn out as we plan, do they?” It surprised him that just thinking of his father’s sacrifice could bring his emotions to the surface even now. They’d been without him for over a decade.
    “So he blames himself?”
    “Foolish really. Nothing would have changed whether he was on the farm or not. Crops were bad, beef prices dropped, and the weather was a devil that year. But that’s why he stayed in the rodeo, even as an adult. I don’t think he could face coming home. Too much guilt.”
    As Samantha picked up one of his plaques he held her around the waist from behind and nuzzled her neck. It felt good to have someone to talk to. His twin wasn’t one to share his feelings and he wasn’t willing to talk to the wall.
    “I hope he doesn’t go back to riding.”
    He spun her around and held her shoulders in his hands. “Why do you care so much, Samantha? You barely know us.”
    “You three are everything to me. Where would I be if I wasn’t rescued and brought back to life?”
    The new voice came from the top of the stairwell. “That’s not enough reason.” Wyatt took measured steps down into the basement. He only wore his jeans, no shirt. With a hand to the ledge of the lower ceiling, he leaned into the room. The muscles in his arm and shoulder