Espino, Stacey - Her Cowboy Triple Team [Ride 'em Hard 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) by Stacey Espino Page B

independence.”
    She didn’t want her brother spending undue money on her but also realized she must be becoming a burden now that he’d started a life of his own with Angel and Landon. They had a busy cattle ranch, plus Clay owned the feed distribution center, which was a huge responsibility. Chauffeuring her around wasn’t his responsibility.
    “I’ll buy my own soon enough. But thank you.”
    “Buy it with what? There’s nothing wrong with letting me buy you a car. We’ll call it a birthday present.”
    “No, Clay. I have a good job now. I’ll be able to take care of myself. I’m not your little sister anymore. I’ll be okay.”
    “Wrong, Kayla. You’ll always be my baby sister, and I’ll always be there for you.” She felt tears prick at the back of her eyes. Clay had always been her rock, and she was ever thankful for him. But she needed to get a life of her own now. She needed a man besides her brother to say those same words to her. “Now what job are you talking about?”
    “I’m the new bookkeeper at the Richmond Ranch.”
    “ Richmond ? You can do the same thing right in town at the feed store. Why you want another job?”
    She knew it was his masculine pride being wounded. He didn’t like the idea of his sister working for another man, or living in a shitty apartment, or being seen in any form of negative light. “Because I can’t rely on you forever, Clay. As tempting as it may be some days to let you take care of everything, I need to be independent.”
    “Again with the independent talk. For as long as I can remember you’ve wanted to do things your way.”
    “And I couldn’t until now.”
    Clay sighed into the phone. “Okay, I’ll pick you up at four o’clock. I love you, baby girl.”
    “Love you, too, big brother.”
    She hung up the phone and dropped back on her bed. The ceiling had some slight water damage. She followed the yellowing trail of stained paint along the line of the rafters. It reflected her life line. It started out pristine, not a care in the world, her parents alive and well. Then tragedy struck, putting a black mark on her life that could never be erased. It began the train of events, her life a mess of insecurity and misadventures. She’d never known the love of a good man, only heartache and insults.
    Her vision reached the end of the yellowing trail on the ceiling, the paint once again white. What did that mean for her life line? Was it a beautiful façade, but underneath lacked stability and structure, leaving just a diseased mess? Or was it really on the road to recovery with good things in store for her? Kayla’s future was yet to be seen.
    She rolled out of bed, her body pleasantly sore. A smile came out of nowhere as she reflected on some of the X-rated things they’d participated in last night. Daylight filtered in through her blinds as she studied herself in her full-length mirror. What had Grant and Ben seen in her? She had stretch marks on her thighs, and she didn’t even have children. Her belly was an untoned disaster. Even when she sucked it in tight, it didn’t look close to the women on the magazine covers. It would take her a lifetime in the gym to look even a fraction as good as them.
    The way they looked at her, devoured her with their eyes, made her truly believe she was desirable. Ben ate her cunt like a famished man, and Grant worshiped her oversized breasts. After being knocked down almost every notch of confidence by past boyfriends, it felt heavenly to be appreciated. She needed the emotional buildup like a drug now that she’d had a taste.
    She tidied up her room a bit, the scent of sex and masculine cologne still lingering on the linens. As she passed her wall calendar on her way to the bathroom for a hot shower, the date stared back at her tauntingly . Thirty. She told herself it was stupid to get upset about her age. Thirty wasn’t even that old these days. Clay was four years older and built like a brick house, no signs of