Propositioning Mr. Raine Read online

  “Why do you always close and lock the door?” She glanced at it and then him. “Does someone else live here? I thought you lived alone.”

  “At the moment I’m solo in the house but I have a few brothers who wander home sometimes. I’d rather not take any chances since it’s happened before.” He grinned. “Talk about embarrassing.”

  She laughed. “You got caught with your pants down, huh?”

  “And then some.” He winked. “I learned that women get kind of irate if one of my brothers stops in here to make comments about what they see.”

  “You’re kidding, right? Oh, you have to give details.”

  He grinned. “I was dating this woman a few years ago who was into being tied up, thinking the whole cowboy thing was hot. I tied her to my bed and was busy when my youngest brother, River, came home unannounced. One minute I’ve got a mouth full of breast and the next she’s screaming because River said I should have put cloth between the rope and her skin so it didn’t get scratched up or red.”

  “I can’t even imagine. Poor her and you.” She laughed though. “That would be embarrassing.”

  Navarro nodded, still grinning. “She dumped my ass and accused me of having a weird family, saying my brothers and I were perverts.”

  “I just thought you had the one brother.”

  “Nope. There are five of us in all. I’m the second to oldest.”

  “Wow. So where are the rest of them?”

  “Drake is the oldest and he’s an attorney who lives in Dallas. I would have hit him up for the money but he just went through a nasty divorce that left him broke so he didn’t need to worry about this on top of it. There’s Dusty. He’s the shit who put up the ranch for a loan because he’s got a lot of problems.” Navarro almost growled those words, looking pissed. “And last but not least, there are the twins, River and Ryder, but they are hardly ever home. Ryder is in a band—he sings and plays guitar, stays on the road more than not, and only shows up a few times a year to stay a day or two between gigs. River works the rodeo circuit, he used to be a bull rider but he got busted up so now he works with livestock. He’s living about fifty miles from here, the pay is shit but he loves his job.”

  “Wow. Is the brother in a band anyone I would have ever heard of?”

  He shook his head. “Not unless you have a thing for native music. He’s a full-blooded mix and his way of showing his heritage pride is playing guitar and a little singing. They aren’t really popular except to their followers, who are mostly other Native Americans.”

  Trina gave him a curious look, opened her mouth but then closed it. She was dying to ask but she didn’t want to be rude. Navarro hesitated and almost seemed to read her mind.

  “Drake, Dusty, and I have the same father and mother. My father was Apache and my mother was Dutch. We’re considered half-breeds in the sense we’re half Apache and half white. My mother died when we were really young and Dusty was only a few months old. Back then my dad had to travel far to sell horses and I guess she didn’t want to worry him when she cut her hand bad, not really thinking she needed a doctor but she got a blood infection. By the time she called for help she was too sick to fight it off. Dusty was a hard pregnancy for her so she was already weak. It about killed my father, losing her. He loved her that much, and was totally devastated when she was suddenly gone. That’s probably why he ended up bringing a hooker home to us for a year.”

  Trina was shocked but she tried to hide it, giving him her best sympathetic look. Navarro studied her with a grin, looking highly amused.

  “Yeah. I know. She really was a hooker that he picked up in a truck stop on one of his trips. She was a pretty thing and full-blooded Cherokee. He said he wanted to save her.” Navarro chuckled. “I was five and even I thought she was sexy, not even knowing what sex was. Anyway, he brought her home and she ended up getting pregnant with River and Ryder. They aren’t half-breeds like my other brothers and me. My dad offered to marry her but she wasn’t really happy here, it was too remote and my dad worked hard so he had to leave sometimes. He was getting the better deal, to be honest, paying her to sleep with him and to take us kids on while he was gone on the road. She was a bad cook but she watched us good. After the twins were born she wanted to leave even though dad tried to talk her into staying but her mind was made up. She left the twins here, knowing she couldn’t take care of them and they’d have a more stable life growing up on a ranch than her nomad way of living. My dad hired another woman to take care of all of us after she left and they were involved for a long time but he never remarried. He died four years ago, causing Dusty’s shit.”

  “I’m sorry for your loss. What does that have to do with Dusty? Is he still missing your father that bad?”

  Navarro sighed. “Dusty took Dad out for his birthday, they drank hard and met up with a few hookers over in River Bend. Dad insisted he was sober enough to drive them home instead of wanting to pay the women to stay in their rooms all night. Dusty was so shitfaced that Dad ended up dumping him in the back of the truck where Dusty passed out but it ended up saving his life. Dad was too drunk to drive and he ended up rolling the truck. Dad was killed when the truck hit and wrapped around a tree at the bottom of the hill but luckily Dusty was thrown clear since he was in the open truck bed. The truck was so totaled it was impossible to know what it was so Dad must have really been hauling ass. Dusty blames himself no matter how many times we’ve told him it wasn’t his fault. Hell, he was so drunk he was passed out and Dad was the one who loaded him up in the back and decided to drive that way. We’re just grateful Dusty survived and no one else was hurt.” He paused. “My dad drank often and had some DUI’s on his record so it wasn’t a shock.”

  “How did that get Dusty to take out a loan?” Trina blushed, realizing she was being nosey after she’d spoken. “Sorry. It’s none of my business.”

  An eyebrow arched. “Isn’t it? Your money is saving the ranch. Dusty gambles. He can’t hold down a job because of his drinking but this time he gambled with the wrong person and got in really deep. They were threatening to kill him from what he said so he took out the loan against the ranch. It wouldn’t have been so damn bad but he put off telling me until the bank was ready to foreclose. He had all the statements sent to some chick he hangs with instead of here. I had no damn idea or I would have made payments. By the time I found out, I was looking at having to pay it all off in one lump sum to stop the foreclosure and I just didn’t have that kind of money that fast. Ryder is impossible to track down since he lost his cell phone last month. River is easy to get hold of but he’s flat ass broke. Dusty offered to try to win the money to save the ranch and in return, I offered to shove both my boots up his ass if he did. I just made him take his name off the deed so he’d never get the chance to do this again.”

  “So you all own the ranch?”

  Navarro nodded. “Now only four of us do.” He let his gaze run down her body. “That’s enough talking, babe. Get out of those clothes. I’ve been thinking about what I want to do to you all damn day.”

  She laughed and reached for the waist of her shirt. “Great. You were thinking about sex with me while you were shoveling shit,” she teased. “How romantic.”

  “You’d be surprised at the things I was thinking.”

  “You could share with the class.” She stripped naked.

  Navarro let his heated gaze drift down her body as he gripped the waist of his sweat pants, just pushing them down to reveal that he wasn’t wearing anything under them. He was aroused and that sight took Trina’s breath away. He was gorgeous, all tan skin and muscles, with a major erection that was impressive. Her gaze rested there for a few seconds before she looked up at his face to find him grinning at her.

  “I hope you like what you see as much as I like what I see.”

  “Judging by the weapon at your hips, you’re as turned-on as I am.” She laughed. “So how do you want me?”

  “Are you into cowboys, darlin’?” He emphasized th