Wrangled (Steele Ranch 2)

“If I did what I wanted,” I admitted.

“What do you want to do, join the circus?”

I smiled, the idea ridiculous, yet it would be so much fun to tell my mother that. “Of course not.”

“Did you want to study about oil and gas?”

I shook my head. I couldn’t believe the way they were digging deep, getting past all the fake smiles and stories I had in place for, well, everyone. I’d learned from the expert on how to converse without really saying anything important. But Boone and Jamison? I couldn’t give false answers. If they could read me so well, could see me so well, they’d see my lies, too. I didn’t want to be fake with them. Didn’t want to have lies between us. I wanted them to know the truth. The real me.

“You spent years studying a major you didn’t want,” Jamison said. “And you’re planning to continue on, get your PhD just so…what? Your mother can keep up appearances?”

I fiddled with my coffee cup and Jamison took it from me, put his hand on top of mine. I glanced at it, so big, mine was lost beneath. Hard tabletop against my palm, a warm, yet calloused hand gently offering reassurance above.

“I didn’t have a choice,” I admitted.

“Why not?”

I licked my lips, met Jamison’s eyes. “Because they would have cut me off.”

Boone leaned back in the booth, laughed and slowly shook his head. “You don’t need their money, sweetheart.” The term of endearment was laced with sarcasm and immediately put me on edge. There wasn’t any warmth to it like when they called me Kitten. “With your degree, you should do just fine on your own. Like you said, you’ve had job offers. You won’t starve, although you might not get the Jag right away.”

I jerked my hand out from under Jamison’s and slid across the booth, stood. I suddenly felt cold and very alone. “We’re done here.”

5

PENNY

Jamison’s arm hooked about my waist before I took a step, pulled me back so I was tucked into his side. With him sitting, his eyes were right in line with my breasts. His arm was strong, yet his hold was relaxed.

“Easy, Kitten. Tell us what’s got your claws out.”

I narrowed my eyes at Boone, angry that he’d jumped to assumptions. Especially since he was just like all the others, thinking I was spoiled. Coddled. Given everything I could ever want. How little they knew.

“Yes, my family is rich,” I told them, my voice tart. But, I kept it low. Not that the guy behind the counter cared if I shouted or not. With the number of customers coming in and out, any kind of outburst would probably be excitement for him. “It paid for seven years of boarding school. Ivy League college. I didn’t ask for any of it. I don’t care about the money. If I don’t do what’s expected, they’ll cut me off. Entirely.”

Jamison stood, spun his chair about, sat back down and pulled me onto his lap between one heartbeat and the next. His tug had been gentle, yet he’d moved me so easily, reminding me of the differences in our size, our strengths. He maneuvered me right where he wanted me, and that was tucked in close. My hands went to his shoulders for balance at the surprise shift, although his arm w

as still banded about my waist. I couldn’t miss the hard expanse of his thighs beneath me, the heat of his body or his clean scent. Not cologne, something subtler, like soap and rugged man. “Jamison!” I cried, trying to get up, to at least shimmy my jean skirt back down a little, but he only tightened his hold, securing me in place.

I felt tiny in his lap, my head tucked beneath his chin, my feet nowhere near the linoleum floor.

Boone reached out, tipped up my chin, his dark eyes meeting mine, pinning me in place. The heated stare made me forget all about being in Jamison’s lap. “I didn’t mean to hurt you with my words. But sometimes pulling out a splinter requires a little pain. You mean they’d cut you from the family.”

I nodded. Admitting it was painful, and the truth had been festering. It wasn’t as if I ever really had their love to begin with, but I’d hoped. Always hoped that I’d get some scraps of affection from them, even from seven states away at boarding school or another country doing my thesis.

“That’s why—” I cleared my throat, forced the tears away. I had no idea why it always upset me, perhaps because while my family wasn’t anything like the one I wanted—one where there was no question as to the love that was shared, the laughter, the connection—it was the only one I had. “That’s why the inheritance from Aiden Steele, from my…father was perfect timing. I’d finished my Masters and am not eager to continue to get my doctorate. I learned the truth, confronted my mother. She couldn’t deny it, not with the legal documents Riley sent. Even my sister, the lawyer, was impressed. I always wondered why I wasn’t like them. So focused. Driven to be the best.”

“To get a Masters by twenty-two in that specialized field is driven,” Jamison pointed out.

“I’m also indifferent, which is a waste. I could handle the study load, but I didn’t really care about it. I didn’t feel passionate about what I was doing. And that’s why I just never fit in. Why my mother was always cool toward me, why the others never liked me. Now I have the answer. I was never really part of the family.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t know.”

I shook my head and Boone dropped his hand. “My mother is a politician. You think having a baby out of wedlock, even years before she took office, is good for her image? My mother and father—stepfather—aren’t the close, loving couple. They don’t even live in the same state most of the year. I have no idea why they married. Well, I know why my mother married. She was pregnant with me. She wasn’t in politics then, but still, she had the mindset. Of course, her affair, fling, whatever it was, with Aiden Steele, was a secret. Still is. At least until now, until he died and made me heir. That’s why I’m in Montana on vacation.”

Boone’s gaze narrowed as I spoke and I saw the tension building in him. “Vacation?”

“Mmm hmm, a quiet place where I can get my dissertation outline pulled together for my advisor and the review board. That’s what we agreed on. That I’d take this time to figure out the inheritance without giving away the truth. And get the outline done, of course.”