Taking Charge (Meet the McIntyres Book 1) Read online

  “He has three.”

  “Fuck me sideways!” she dramatized, flopping back with the back of her hand against her burning forehead.

  “Sorry, you’re not really my type.”

  “Damn! I can understand that though. Was it Beau?” I nodded my confirmation and let her continue. “He looks like a lot of hot, sweaty fun, Pay.”

  “Oh he is. Trust me.”

  After dodging a few more of Carly’s inappropriate questions, I managed to drag some blankets from the cupboard and throw together a hasty bed on the couch for her. We were both pretty well pissed, so she probably wouldn’t feel the bar in the middle. Tomorrow we’d figure something out. If she was staying longer, we’d find a more permanent solution.

  “You’re not letting me sleep in your bed with you?” she pouted, folding her arms over her chest. I half expected her to stomp her feet and poke her tongue out at me.

  “Uh, no.”

  “Don’t worry, I get it. You need your privacy to sext your cowboy.”

  “I-I’m not going to sext anyone,” I protested, perhaps a little too adamantly. I hadn’t intended to sext anyone, that much was true, but now the idea was in my head I was having a hard time ignoring it.

  “Sure. Go. Have fun with your battery-operated boyfriend and your sexting. I’ll just be out here. Suffering on my own on this lonely couch…”

  Knowing exactly what she was doing, I kissed her forehead good night and headed to my bedroom. “Have fun then,” I threw out over my shoulder as I killed the lights and stripped off down to my bra and panties before slipping between the sheets.

  It felt like forever that I lay in bed squirming back and forth. I’d cocooned myself with pillows, but still couldn’t get into that sweet spot. One minute I was too hot, the next I was shivering. With one foot poking out the bottom, I squeezed my eyes shut and willed sleep to take me. The problem was every time I closed my eyes, I tried to direct my thoughts in a million different directions, yet they each came back to Beau. Damn that beautiful hunk of man.

  Grabbing my phone, I did something I never thought I would.

  Payton: My bed’s lonely without u

  My phone beeped and I rolled over, picking it up. Usually I put the damn thing on silent so I could get some uninterrupted sleep. Since coming home, that had become more important than anything else. Uninterrupted slumber. It was my idea of heaven. Between the long days filled with moving shit, fixing crap, and dealing with more drama than a soap opera, I needed it. All this fresh air and manual labour knocked me on my ass every day.

  Payton: My bed’s lonely without u

  Well, fuck me sideways. I was not expecting that. After driving home with the hard on from hell, I’d jerked off twice in my childhood bedroom. I wish I knew what drove me to sleep in here tonight rather than on the cot in Connor’s corner of the world, but the way my cock responded to Payton’s simple text, I was grateful for the privacy.

  Staring at her message, I knew I had a few options. I could let her off easily and not respond. Pretend I didn’t see it and reply in a few hours. Or I could play along. See how far she’d go.

  Beau: Only your bed?

  I wasn’t the bigger man. I couldn’t let it slide. I knew she’d been drinking and her defences were down, so I wouldn’t let it go too far, I’d just have some good, clean, harmless fun with her. Her response came through quicker than I could have imagined.

  Payton: & my boobs

  That was it. I was done. The semi I’d been willing to go away since her name popped up on my phone had grown into a full on iron bar in my boxers.

  Beau: That’s not good

  Beau: What are you wearing?

  Screw it. If I was going to be uncomfortable and sporting one of the worst cases of blue balls known to man, then I was going to make sure she suffered too.

  My phone buzzed again and I opened the message, interested to see if she’d play along and fuck with me. She hadn’t replied in words. Instead there was a photo there of possibly the best set of tits I’d ever seen. Even covered by the incredibly thin layer of blue lace, I could see the outline of her dusty pink nipples as they stood to attention. My mouth watered at the sight and I had to brush away the excess drool that slipped from my mouth before sliding a hand into my boxers. After a bit of rearranging, I slipped them off. There wasn’t going to be enough room in them tonight.

  Beau: Are you trying to kill me?

  Payton: No?

  Beau: Your boobs are beautiful.

  Payton: They hurt. ☹

  Beau: Play with them for me.

  Beau: Squeeze them hard.

  Beau: Pinch those nipples.

  I don’t know what made me say those things. Actually, I knew exactly what it was. It was the fact there was no blood left in my brain. It’d all taken a one-way trip to my dick. Looks like I wasn’t getting any sleep anytime soon. Stroking up and down my shaft, I couldn’t help the moan. Spreading the bead of pre-cum around the head, I pictured Payton’s tiny little hand wrapped around me, her wide eyes glued to my cock as she licked her swollen lips.

  I was getting worked up way too fast. As much as it pained me to do so, I let go and focused on my phone. I had the sadistic need to see how far I could push her.

  Beau: You still there, sweetheart?

  Fuck! Maybe I’d gone too fast. Taken it too far. I watched my phone as the three little dots danced across the screen.

  Payton: Why do you like me?

  Holy fuck! Again, Payton managed to completely knock me over. This girl spun my head so fast I could barely see straight. Every time she did I found myself wanting to know more about her. What made her tick? What made her laugh? Who the douche was that broke her heart. I wanted to know it all. A thought that should have scared the shit out of me, yet strangely enough, cloaked me in an eerie sense of calm.

  Beau: Umm…

  Payton: I like u cause u r cute

  Payton: & funny

  Payton: & make me scream

  Payton: & make me feel good

  Beau: that’s a good reason

  Payton: Yep

  Beau: You’re beautiful and you don’t know it.

  Payton: I’m not.

  Payton: I’m a mess.

  Beau: I like your mess.

  Payton: :P

  Beau: Why aren’t you sleeping, pretty girl?

  Payton: Cause ur not here.

  Beau: I want to be.

  Payton: What’s stopping u???

  Beau: You’re drunk, Payton.

  Payton: Nup

  Beau: Yes you are. Will you even remember this conversation in the morning?

  Payton: Yep

  Beau: You should get some sleep.

  Payton: But I’m horny.

  “Fuck!” I growled. I couldn’t catch a break. Just when I thought I’d talked her down off the ledge and tucked her in safely for the night, she comes out with three little words that are more effective than Viagra.

  Payton: U should take care of me

  What the fuck was I supposed to say to that? Hey, hold on, I’m jumping in my car right now. Don’t fall asleep I’ll see you in twenty minutes? Not happening. I wasn’t driving back into town. Not tonight anyway.

  Beau: Payton

  Payton: Please Beau

  That did it. I could picture her wide eyes as she begged for what she really wanted and I’d be full of shit if I said that didn’t make my dick harden painfully.

  Payton: My BOB isn’t as good as you.

  Beau: Who the fuck is BOB?

  I shouldn’t have asked. When the photo popped up, I wish I hadn’t. That damn woman, the one who was turning my head to mush, sent me a photo of a pink dildo. She was trying to kill me. Slowly. Painfully. Very fucking painfully.

  Beau: Pls tell me you’re not using it.

  Payton: Yep

  Beau: Fuck me!

  Payton: I would but ur not here.

  That did it. This ended now. Grabbing my phone, I stomped back into the bathroom, sl
amming the door behind me. I should have been worried about waking Dad with all the banging, but I wasn’t. I didn’t give a fuck about anyone or anything other than getting little miss pink dildo on the phone and listening to her as she fell apart.

  Turning on the hot water, I waited ’til the shower steamed up before stepping inside. Careful to keep my phone dry, I set it in the wire basket hanging on the door and dialled her number. I wasn’t doing this by text. If she wanted me to make her scream, then I was going to hear every single one of her breathy little moans.

  “He-hello?” she stuttered.

  I could picture her flushed cheeks and her warm skin. “Don’t be shy with me now, sweetheart. You wanted me, here I am.”

  “Beau…” she whispered my name and I couldn’t hold on a second longer. Filling my palm with body wash, I stroked my cock, desperate to ease the pressure.

  “Yeah, sweetheart, it’s me. Now, do you mind telling me what the fuck that pink thing is and what you’re doing with it?” I pushed. I’d give anything to be there in person to watch her, but tonight this was as good as it was going to get.

  “You…you weren’t here. And I needed…I just needed…”

  “You needed to come?”

  “Mmm.”

  “Don’t be embarrassed, sweetheart. You left my balls looking like a smurf and so fucking heavy that I had to come home and rub one out.”

  “You didn’t?” The shock in her voice was adorable.

  “Yeah, sweetheart. I did. Twice.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah, oh. Now, it’s late, so let’s take care of you so we can get some sleep.”

  “It’s okay—” she started to protest but I wasn’t having any of that bullshit. Not now. Not when my dick was hard enough to pound nails and I could hear every single one of her breathy sighs.

  For the next four and a half minutes, I said some shit I never thought I’d hear come out of my mouth. Everything I said though, no matter how crude and downright dirty, was obviously exactly what Payton needed to hear. She panted and puffed and sighed, and when she moaned my name, I exploded all over the tiles. For a moment afterwards, I leaned back against the cool glass door, trying to regain my strength. I was completely drained. My earlier two attempts to take care of business had nothing on this. Hearing my name fall from Payton’s lips as she cried out through her own orgasm was the most powerful aphrodisiac I’d ever encountered.

  “You still with me, sweetheart?” I asked, shutting off the water and wrapping a towel around my waist.

  “Mmm.”

  My girl was done. I mightn’t have spent much time with Payton, but I didn’t need to, to know the low, soft murmurs she was making was her fighting to stay awake. “Sleep now, gorgeous. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “G-night, Beau.”

  “Good night, beautiful.”

  The phone went silent and I was left staring at my reflection in the mirror, completely done for the night. After towelling off quickly, I slipped back into my room, yanked on my boxers, and slid into my single bed. I had only one thought as my heavy eyes fell shut and sleep claimed me. Payton was going to change everything I knew, and I, for one, couldn’t wait to see what that looked like.

  ***

  With a thump I fell face first on the floor. The wafting smell of bacon drifted up the stairs, rousing me from the best dream anyone could wish for. Pushing up onto my hands and knees, I cursed the stupid, narrow single bed as I raked my hands over the stubble on my chin. After pulling on a pair of jeans, I grabbed the t-shirt from the floor. Passing the sniff test, I followed my nose, heading downstairs towards the bacon.

  Rounding the corner, I couldn’t believe my eyes. It’s probably why I had to blink a couple of times, then rub my eyes so hard they actually hurt. My brothers were all dressed, awake, and sitting around the dining table acting almost civilised. But it wasn’t them that had me checking twice. My mother stood in the kitchen, flipping pancakes in a frying pan, wearing an apron. A fucking apron. I’d entered the twilight zone. The whole apron situation was damn hilarious. It wasn’t a designer apron or even cute. It had a damn chicken on it. It was definitely not something that would ever be seen gracing the cover of a magazine, so why it was tied around my mother’s waist was as confusing as hell. You’d think that was enough to confuse and baffle me. And it was. It really was. Yet there was more.

  It wasn’t just Gage, Connor, and Ryan sitting their stuffing their faces on scrambled eggs and pancakes. Dad was there too. And there was peace. My whole family except for Holly, seemed to be enjoying breakfast. It was just strange. Too fucking strange for this early in the morning.

  “Morning, Beau. Did you want some coffee?” Mum moved towards me carrying a fresh pot. Ushering me into a spare seat at the table, she filled the mug, splashing some on the apricot tablecloth. Before it had a chance to soak in, she swooped in with a tea towel and mopped up the mess.

  I felt like I’d entered an alternate universe. This was not normal. Not for my family, anyway.

  Sitting there stunned, I listened while my brothers chatted about various things around the farm and their lives. I caught Dad watching Mum from the corner of his eye and recognised the look of longing there. She might have left him, she might have broken his heart, but deep down, or perhaps not that deep at all, he still loved her. Angry words and bitter tears couldn’t erase all those years of love and companionship. Fuck it! I was getting sentimental in my old age.

  Helping myself to a pancake, I smothered it in butter before dripping lemon juice all over it. I didn’t miss the odd looks Gage tossed in my direction as I bit into the fluffy delight.

  “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Nah uh. Got something to say, come on then. Spit it out.”

  “Boys…”

  I hadn’t heard that in years. Mum’s warning. Usually that was all it took. One simple word said with enough caution generally put us in our place. We mightn’t exactly be ‘boys’ anymore, but it still worked. Much to my annoyance.

  “Come on, Mum. We know why you’re here. Why we’re all here. We all want to know. So Beau, time’s up. Spit it out.”

  Connor remained silent, offering me a half-hearted shrug. Dad dropped his cup back on the table before rocking back on his chair, pushing his glasses up the ridge of his nose. Ryan fidgeted, taking the opportunity to snag the last piece of bacon. The really good bit. The crispy, crunchy one. Shit head. I’d been eyeing that. Mum stopped what she was doing, setting the oven mitts on the bench and slipping into a chair. Then there was Gage. He was the one baiting me. He was the one making all the fuss. I didn’t want to do this. I would have given my right testicle to not have this conversation. Gage wasn’t going to let me off that easy.

  “Might as well just tell them, Beau,” Connor sighed with a shrug.

  “What did the solicitor say?” It was the first time Dad had asked. I’d expected it sooner, but when it never came, I found myself wondering if he even cared. He didn’t seem to. He hadn’t said a word. Not one. Even though I thought it was incredibly strange, I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. How the hell was I supposed to tell my own father that the farm he’d run for as long as I could remember, the one his father owned before him, wasn’t his? That his own father hadn’t willed it to him. Instead he’d skipped a generation and left it all to me. And I had no idea what the hell I wanted to do with any of it.

  I looked at Dad, really looked at him. He met my eye and nodded. I wish I could put my finger on it, but I couldn’t. There was something about that simple nod that gave me the strength I needed.

  “The-farms-in-my-name.” I rushed out the words in one go. It was hard to say, and even harder to read the faces staring back at me. At least I had Connor on my side. He understood, or at least I thought he did. Since I’d told him that day in the paddock, he hadn’t said a word. Whether that meant he knew it wasn’t my fault or he was incredibly pissed, I had no idea. Guess I was about to find out. />
  “Come again?” Ryan invited, leaning forward, his elbows on the table.

  “Pop left this place to me. He named me on the title.”

  Risking a look at Dad, I couldn’t believe what I saw. He was smiling. Like a damn Cheshire cat. He was grinning. Fucked if I knew what that meant.

  “So Dad…”

  “I don’t own a damn thing.”

  “That’s not true!” I protested quickly. I hated this.

  “You’re right, Beau. I own my ute.”

  Then I caught a glimpse of Mum. She looked like she was going to throw up. She was as pale as a ghost, and sweat was beading on her forehead. Obviously the happy family moment had been shattered. Now the truth was out, all the pretence and bullshit was gone.

  “Adrian?”

  “Yes, dear?”

  I heard the words roll off Dad’s tongue and cringed. They were so sickeningly sweet I knew exactly what the old bastard was doing. Rubbing salt in the wound. As much as I thought it was a prick move, I couldn’t find it in my heart to blame him.

  “None of this is…none of it?” It was like she couldn’t bring herself to say the words. Almost as if the moment she did, it was real. Something she wasn’t ready for. I doubted she ever would be.

  “Nope. The whole thing is Beau’s. Every acre. Every tractor. Every cow and every single bale of hay.”

  “You knew?” I didn’t realise the words slipped out until I heard them. Five pairs of eyes turned and settled on me, causing me to squirm in my seat. I’d never been this uncomfortable in my life.

  Dad nodded.

  Ryan rose from the table, grabbing plates and heading for the kitchen. Gage and Connor quickly followed. I knew exactly what they were doing. They weren’t being generous and helping with the clean-up. They were getting the hell out of the way of World War Three, which was on the verge of imploding. And assholes that they were, they had left me there alone. Standing right in the damn middle.

  “Why?”

  When I’d first found out I owned everything, well, after the shock wore off, I found myself wondering why. Why would Pop put me in that position? Surely he knew one day the truth would come out. Why leave it all to me? Why not share it around between the five of us kids? Or easier still, give it all to his own son!