Tie Me Down by Katie Douglas

Author:Katie Douglas [Douglas, Katie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Katie Douglas
Published: 2019-03-15T04:00:00+00:00

* * *

Alana

Walking downstairs behind Lawson, ready to meet the guys, I was trying not to shake with nerves. It didn’t help that Lawson had just dropped a fifty megaton nuke on my sense of wellbeing by pointing out what I’d been too stupid or scared to think about.

Jimbo had handed me over to his friends occasionally, when he was pissed off with me and wanted to teach me a lesson, or when he wanted to reward someone for a heist gone well or a big drug territory acquisition. I’d hated every moment of it. Filthy, degrading bastards doing whatever they wanted to me while there was nothing I could do to stop them. I didn’t even like thinking about it. But it was all my own fault.

As my mother had said, the day I switched majors from accounting to fine art, “You made your bed, now you lie in it.” That was the last time she would ever take my calls and I’d given up trying a couple of years ago.

I’d been stupid enough to take up with Jimbo and let him control my life. Now, here were the consequences. I just hated the fact I’d dragged Lawson into this. He didn’t deserve any part in my fucked up life riddled with bad choices.

But somehow, he kept insisting on keeping me by my side. I didn’t understand what he saw in me. As we walked into the kitchen, I tried to put the STD question out of my mind so I could meet everyone.

“Lawson! We were starting to think you were touching up your make-up—you brought a girl home!” Clay stood up from the kitchen chair and punched his brother on the shoulder. He was wearing a Stetson just like Lawson’s.

“Alana, this is my brother, Clay. Clay, this is Alana.” Lawson gestured between us in case it wasn’t completely obvious who he was talking to or about. The two brothers were so similar it was obvious they were related, from their dark brown hair to their piercing brown eyes and there was something about the shape of their faces that implied a family resemblance.

“Pleased to meet you,” Clay said, taking his hat off.

“Likewise.” Did I shake his hand, or curtsy or something? What was polite down here?

Clay pulled me into a bear hug for two seconds and patted me on the back when he was done. Well, that answered that question.

“Over here is Barrett. He’s our cow guy,” Lawson said. A tall, well-muscled man in jeans and a cowboy hat stood up looking like he belonged in a western. His hair was very short and his eyes were steely blue.

“Is that the official job title?” I quipped, grinning as my courage rose again.

“Yep. They wanted a cow guy. I’m a cow guy. So they hired me to take care of the cattle.”

“We only got fifty of them, but it’s good to have someone on hand who knows everything about all of them,” Clay explained.

“Plus, it means we don’t usually need to get up to deal with them at five in the morning,” Lawson added.

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