Before the guy knew what hit him, Carson’s fists connected several times in a row. The last crack to the jaw rocked him back and Carson charged him, knocking him to the floor.
He pummeled the guy, but not without consequence. Timmons got in a couple of good shots. Which only served to infuriate Carson more.
As she watched fists fly and blood spurt and heard the dull thud of flesh smacking into flesh, it seemed ten minutes passed before a bouncer intervened, when in reality it’d only been a few minutes.
The bouncer shoved Carson back. “For Christsake, McKay, ain’t you old enough to know better by now?”
Carolyn tried to hand Carson a stack of bar napkins to mop up the blood and sweat dripping down his face, but he angrily smeared his face across his shirt sleeve.
“You keep letting ass**les like him in here and I’ll keep wiping the floor with them.”
“What the hell did he do to you anyway?”
Carson glared at the man wheezing and bleeding on the floor. “The dumb f**ker insulted my wife. That ain’t ever gonna go well for any man, no matter how old I get.”
Carolyn wanted to blow him a kiss but she refrained.
“Evidently he’s still got a beef about something that happened nearly two decades ago.”
“Damn right we do. You McKay f**kers took advantage of my grandpa and bought his land right out from under us. That parcel should’ve been passed down to his family. But no. You dangled a fat check in front of him and he sold to you without discussing it with any of us. That’s sneaky shit.”
“You’re just pissed off that your granddaddy sold his land and pocketed the money to enjoy his retirement rather than pass down a heritage none of you gave a damn about. He was happy to sell to us because he knew we’d take care of it and keep it productive. That’s what burns your ass. Your granddaddy preferred sellin’ to strangers rather than entrusting it to his own family.”
Timmons huffed and puffed as he maneuvered himself upright. “No one around here trusts any of you McKays and we’re all laughing that Jed finally kicked it. Good riddance to that manipulative bastard. We’re all hoping the rumors are true—rumors comin’ from your own brother—that you’re all about to get your comeuppance and be forced to sell everything.”
The next thing happened in slow motion.
Cord stepped forward, hitting Timmons with such force in the sternum that the man dropped back to his knees. Then he clocked him in the ear and the guy was back on the floor, writhing in pain. Cord stood over him, vibrating with rage. “Shut your f**kin’ mouth about my grandpop. You ain’t fit to speak his name. And I can guarantee you the McKays are gonna be around for a long goddamned time, so get used to it.”
“Out,” the bouncer said to Carson and Carolyn. Then he pointed to Cord. “You ain’t old enough to be in here anyway, pup, so beat it.”
None of them said a word until they were in the parking lot.
Cord spoke first. “Dad. It’s not true, is it? That we stand to lose the ranch?”
“No, son, it’s not true. Your Uncle Casper is tryin’ to pull some shit, but that’s all it is: a big pile of horseshit ’cause he’s got no other play. Makes me sick that my own brother is running his big mouth all over the place because he can. Puts all the McKays in a bad light.”
“Pissed me off what that guy said about us.”
“I noticed that,” Carson said dryly.
“This happened a lot to you, didn’t it? Havin’ to fight when some ass**le started talkin’ shit about the McKays.”
Carson wiped his bloodied mouth on his other sleeve. “It’s still goin’ on. I expect it always will. The bouncer was right about one thing. I’m getting too damn old to fight.”
“Not from where I was standing.”
A beat passed and then Carson grinned at Cord. “Your old man’s still got it, eh?”
“Looks like. Lucky thing you’ve got five sons, one daughter and five nephews to set folks straight on what it means to mess with the McKays.”
Carolyn frowned. Why hadn’t Cord included Casper’s four sons in that tally?
Because he sees them as part of the problem, not the solution.
Those kids couldn’t help their parentage, and they were only little boys. But guaranteed they’d turn out bitter like their father if they didn’t have a better influence. In that moment she knew she’d try to foster a relationship between the cousins—even if she had to fight her husband to make it happen.
She tuned back in to hear Carson say to Cord, “Nah, we’re good. Your Ma is gonna take care of me, right, sugar?”
Her eyes met her husband’s. The lust glittering in those blue depths liquefied her bones. As soon as they were alone the man would have her pushed up against the side of his truck pounding into her, or he’d have her bent over the tailgate slamming into her.
And she couldn’t wait.
She rested her hand on Carson’s chest. “Let me grab my purse from Cord’s truck and then we’re good to go.”
Carson didn’t respond, but the sexual heat and urgency rolled off him.
Carolyn grabbed Cord’s sleeve. “Come on.”
After she’d shouldered her purse, her oldest son got right in her face. “Ma. Dad is scaring me with the way he’s actin’. There’s a look in his eye I’ve never seen before so I think it’d be better if he rode home with me.”
Cord was on the cusp of manhood; she suspected he already had experienced the pleasure found in a woman’s body. And even if it might embarrass them both, he needed to understand the full spectrum of the night’s events. “Your father would never hurt me. Fighting revs him up. I know how to handle him and what he needs.”
His eyes widened and then he blushed. Embarrassed by his blush, he retorted, “I don’t know why I’m standin’ here feelin’ shocked about you and Dad getting…” He shook his head as if to clear the mental image. “It ain’t like the walls upstairs are that thick between the bedrooms. Just drive safe.”
“I will. Don’t wait up.”
After she’d become her grieving husband’s refuge, letting him lose himself in the potency of their physical connection, welcoming his body powering into hers, she soothed him, bringing him to the calm after the storm.
Whether it was the booze or crashing from the post-fight and post-sex adrenaline high, Carson finally opened up about his father’s passing. The man’s tears were rare and that much more heartbreaking when he sobbed in her arms.