Tyler had always considered himself one tough mother.
Focused. Relentless. Game face firmly in place.
Nothing rattled him. Not now when he drew the worst of the worst thousand-pound monster for his next ride. Or way back when his most admired teacher had told him that he was just poor white trash who would never amount to anything.
Tyler didn’t stumble when life tossed something unexpected his way. He held his ground and kept his cool. He sure as hell didn’t stand there speechless, his heart pounding, the air lodged in his throat, and all because … damn, but it was her.
Her.
He stared into eyes as rich and fertile as freshly mowed grass and saw the flash of shock that mirrored his own. Her full mouth parted on a startled gasp and he noted the slight tremble of her bottom lip. “Tyler?” she managed after a few frantic seconds. “Tyler McCall?”
“Brandy.” He didn’t need to say her last name. There was only one Brandy in Rebel. Only one Brandy that stood out in his memory and crept into his thoughts when he least suspected it. When he held on for dear life and busted out of the chute or the moment he slammed into the ground after a grueling ride.
He wasn’t sure why he saw her face. If anything, she was the last woman he should have thought of, particularly since she never spared him a second thought. Hell, she’d barely noticed him at all back in high school. She’d been too good for the likes of him and she’d made certain that he knew it.
She’d ignored every smile. Every tip of his hat. Every lustful glance.
Until that night, that is.
She’d been more than responsive to him for those few hours, but then she’d morphed back into the same uppity-up. He’d known then that no matter how good the sex—then and now—it didn’t make up for the fact that she was a Tucker and he was a Sawyer, and no way was she going to buck tradition and get mixed up with the likes of him.
Not in public.
But behind closed doors?
He was more than good enough for that.
A fact that stuck in his craw even though the last thing he’d ever wanted was a relationship outside the bedroom. He liked his freedom even more than he liked sex and so he’d always kept things easy and uncomplicated.
That hadn’t kept the women from trying, however. He’d had more than one chase after him over the years.
But not Brandy.
Never Brandy.
That’s why he saw her at the craziest moments. She stood out because she was the only one who managed to keep things in perspective whenever they were together, to give him a dose of his own medicine, to keep it strictly sex.
And while he sure as hell didn’t want her falling head over heels, the fact that she never had sort of bothered him. Enough to implant her firmly in his brain.
Crazy, but there it was.
“Is it Cooper?” Duff’s voice drew Tyler’s attention and he became acutely aware of the strange tingle in his gut and the all-important fact that he had a hard-on for a woman who probably wouldn’t piss on him if he were to catch fire right in front of her. Not in front of God and the good citizens of Rebel, that is.
In private? Well, that was a different matter altogether.
He stiffened, shifting his stance and letting the it’s all good grin he’d become famous for slide firmly into place.
Because it was all good.
It didn’t matter what Brandy Tucker thought of him. What anyone thought. All that mattered was that Tyler McCall was on his way to the top and nobody was going to pull him back down.
“I didn’t know you were in town?” Her soft voice slid into his ears and sent a whisper along the length of his spine.
“It was a spur-of-the-moment thing.” He shrugged. “I just got back today.” He arched an eyebrow at her. “Don’t tell me you’re here to score a little smoke off Kenny Roy?”
Her shock eased into a distinctive frown, as if she’d just remembered why she’d never really liked him all that much in the first place. “Of course not. I don’t smoke.”
He gave her a once-over that went from her head to toes and back up again. Nice and slow. The way he did with every woman. “You want to put twenty on the domino tournament over at the VFW Hall?”
Her expression hardened. “I don’t gamble, either.”
“So what do you want with Kenny Roy?”
“That’s my business, not yours.” She glanced past him. “So? Are you going to let me see him?”
“He’s not here.”
Disappointment furrowed her brow and he had the insane urge to reach out and ease the worry lines with the pad of his finger. She seemed to think. “Any idea when he’ll be back?”
He shrugged. “I wish to hell I knew.”
“Since when did you start hanging out with Kenny Roy?”
“Since I heard that he’s been hanging with my brother.” He ran a hand through his hair. “What about you?”
“I’ve just got a few questions for him. Nothing big.” She glanced behind her toward her car as if trying to decide something. “I’ll just come back later.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. You’d do best to steer clear of Kenny Roy.”
“Since when do you tell me what to do?” She planted her hands on her hips. “I don’t need your permission. I’m a grown woman, in case you haven’t noticed.”
Oh, he’d noticed, all right.
Even if he hadn’t seen her in over two years.
She was all woman. Lush. Sultry. Beautiful when she was stretched out on a set of flower-print sheets, her skin covered in a slick sheen of sweat, her body open and waiting.
Two years, he reminded himself.
While they might have hooked up from time to time whenever he made it back to town, he hadn’t been home since Cooper had gotten his driver’s license and started to fend for himself. Plenty of time for things to have changed. A woman like Brandy wasn’t meant to keep her sexuality bottled up. And while she’d always done her best to do just that, he couldn’t imagine her not going back for more with somebody.
His gut tightened and he eyed her. “Does your boyfriend know you’re out slumming without him?”
“Does your girlfriend know you’re out harassing women without her?” She stared him down as bold as ever.
As sexy as ever.
The seconds ticked off until a grin finally got the best of him. She’d never had a problem standing up to him. No matter how much of a bastard he was being.
He shook his head. “I don’t have a girlfriend.”
She nodded. “Well, I don’t have a boyfriend.”
The words stirred a rush of relief and he felt his body relax considerably.
A crazy reaction for a man who prided himself on keeping things loose and easy with all women.
Even this one.
Especially this one.
“I figured you might have settled down by now,” he murmured.
“You figured wrong. I’m still flying solo. Not even a dog. Unless you count the strays that Jenna keeps bringing home. She landed an internship with the Rebel veterinary clinic.”
“She always did like animals.”
“Um, yeah. So I guess I’d better get going. I’m giving Ellie a ride home.” She motioned behind her toward the old car parked in the gravel drive and the shadow of a woman sitting in the passenger seat. “She’s my baking assistant. At my bakery.” She pushed a strand of blond hair behind one delicate ear as she turned back toward him. “I, um, have a bakery now. I opened up about six months ago.”
“I heard. Congratulations. You finally got what you always wanted.”
“I did.” She stared him square in the eye and he saw the shimmer in her pupils. “I got exactly what I wanted.”
Silence stretched between them for several long moments, as if she couldn’t decide what to say next. The moment awkward. The way it always was when they weren’t humping each other’s brains out.
“Well, I guess I’ll come back later,” she finally murmured.
“Again, I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
Her gaze narrowed ever so slightly. “Again, I don’t think it’s any of your business.” She turned then and started back down the porch steps. “If you see Kenny Roy, tell him I’m looking for him.”
“Not gonna happen, sweetheart.” Her shapely butt swayed with each step. His gut tightened, and the words were out before he could think better of them. “But maybe I’ll stop by the bakery before I leave. I’ve got a sudden hankering for a good brownie,” he added, not that he was remembering the decadent bite of chocolate she’d given him as a parting gift after their last encounter.
No, he was thinking about the sweet, mesmerizing taste of her. The way she’d squirmed against his mouth. And clawed at his shoulders. And begged for more.
For him.
“You’d better make it early then,” she tossed over her shoulder. “I’m usually sold out by noon.”
“I’ll bet you are,” he murmured, his gaze hooked on the voluptuous side-to-side of her denim-clad ass. “I’ll just bet.”