Big Stud (Big Rock Ranch Book 2) Read online

  Big Stud

  Big Rock Ranch #2

  Kasey Krane

  Copyright © 2021 by Kasey Krane

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  1. Amanda

  2. Tate

  3. Amanda

  4. Tate

  5. Amanda

  6. Tate

  7. Amanda

  8. Tate

  9. Amanda

  10. Tate

  11. Amanda

  12. Tate

  13. Amanda

  14. Tate

  15. Amanda

  16. Tate

  17. Amanda

  18. Tate

  19. Amanda

  20. Tate

  21. Amanda

  22. Tate

  23. Amanda

  24. Tate

  25. Amanda

  26. Tate

  27. Amanda

  28. Tate

  29. Amanda

  30. Tate

  Sneak Peak at Tough Stud

  About Kasey Krane

  More Books by Kasey Krane

  One

  Amanda

  I was running late and I really wished I wasn’t. I didn’t want to disappoint Daisy once again. This was already the third time I’ve been late picking Daisy up from daycare this week and I knew she deserved better.

  All the other mothers and fathers were always on time, bright and happy, with big exciting plans for the evening. I was hardly ever on time, I couldn’t be bright even though I was always happy to see my little girl—I was just exhausted from working long shifts all day and most nights. And we couldn’t afford movie tickets or pizza parties, so Daisy didn’t usually have much to look forward to when we went home.

  And yet, my shining little girl always came running into my arms, even this evening when I was almost forty-five minutes late.

  “I’m sorry baby, I know I’m late. I know you’ve been waiting,” I said, holding her close to me. Tears sprang up in my eyes as she snuggled me and threw her arms around my neck.

  The two daycare employees who had to watch her threw me looks. I was afraid one of these days they’d tell me they couldn’t keep doing this. That I’d have to make other arrangements.

  “It’s okay Mommy, can we go home now?” Daisy asked, resting her head on my shoulder.

  I knew exactly how lucky I was to have been blessed with a daughter like her. I didn’t know how I’d make it through this life without her in it.

  I stroked her hair and carried her in my arms as we walked back home. She was getting very big and too heavy for me to carry all the way. Daisy was already four. But I didn’t want to let her go. I kept her on my hip as much as my muscles burned and ached.

  “Did you have a good day?”

  “Yes, Mommy.”

  “I missed you. I was thinking about you.”

  “I missed you too, Mommy.”

  Daisy wasn’t smiling as much as she usually did. Instead, her little pink mouth turned down in a grimace. At first I thought it was just because I was late picking her up.

  “I’m sorry baby, I promise I’ll try and be better with time. I’ll try not to keep you waiting.”

  “Why do all my friends have daddies and I don’t?” she blurted out.

  I stopped in my tracks and we looked at each other. Daisy searched my eyes for an answer and I wished there was somewhere I could hide my face.

  I didn’t know how to answer that question. I was lucky she’d never asked this question before, but I wasn’t prepared for it now.

  Daisy waited for a response while I blinked away my tears furiously. How was I supposed to explain to my four year old daughter that her daddy never wanted her?

  I had to put her down to compose myself and maybe she sensed something was wrong.

  As sweet as ever, she weaved her fingers with mine as we continued walking.

  “Are you sad you don’t have a daddy?” I managed to ask. I couldn’t just shut her out. However, I was determined to keep her from the truth. I’d never let her know she was unwanted by the man who was supposed to love her unconditionally.

  “Yes Mommy, a little. Suzy’s daddy is going to take her camping this weekend and Natalia’s daddy built her a treehouse. Isn’t that cool?”

  “It’s very cool, baby. If you want, maybe we can go camping together sometime.”

  I regretted it almost as soon as I said it because not only did I not know the first thing about camping, but I didn’t have the time. I worked two jobs and tried to get in as many hours of work I could manage in the day. It was the only way to make ends meet and still try and give Daisy a comfortable life.

  I wanted her to have everything she needed, with some room for the things she wanted. Thankfully, Franklin wasn’t an expensive town to live in, but the older Daisy got, the more expensive our life did too.

  “But I want to go camping with my daddy. Why don’t I have a daddy to build me a treehouse?”

  I stroked her beautiful blond hair. I wished she knew how much I wanted to make her happy. How much I wished I could give her a normal life. But that ship had sailed a long time ago.

  The man who helped me create this beautiful person, wasn’t the man I thought he was.

  He was the man my mother had warned me against. The man all my friends told me to stay away from.

  I should’ve listened to them. I shouldn't have foolishly followed my heart. I shouldn’t have fallen so hard for his good looks and charm. I wished I’d known better.

  But I was only twenty years old. Practically a teenager still. I didn’t know what I was doing. I thought I’d met my Prince Charming, until the universe gave me a rude awakening.

  He was no Prince Charming. He was the worst thing that's happened to me.

  “Not all children have daddies who live with them, baby. I’m sorry you feel sad about it.” I tried to be as kind to Daisy as I could, but I knew she was too young to be able to cope well with the emotions she was experiencing.

  “So where does my daddy live?”

  “Very far away,” I lied.

  “When will he come see me?”

  “I don’t know, baby.”

  “Can you ask him?”

  I nearly choked on my own tears but I smiled at her nevertheless.

  “Okay, I’ll ask him. But I don’t want you to worry, okay? You’ll meet him some day, but it may not be soon. In the meantime, you have to grow up and become strong and smart and beautiful so when you do finally meet him, he’ll wish he met you sooner. Do you understand, baby?”

  I was down on one knee in front of her, brushing her hair and cheek as I spoke. I didn’t expect her to understand but Daisy nodded. Then she threw her arms around my neck again and I pressed my wet cheeks to hers.

  By the time we got back to our little apartment, it seemed like Daisy had thankfully forgotten about the heart wrenching conversation we just had.

  “What’s for dinner, Mommy?” she asked excitedly.

  It was going to be pasta in store-bought tomato sauce, as it always was. I’d have to hurry through dinner and bath time before getting ready for my night shift at the club.

  Even though Sara, our babysitter, usually put Daisy to bed most nights, I still wanted to do bath time with her. The reality was I got to spend very little time with my daughter because I had jobs to hold down. However, I wanted to make the most of the time we did spend together.

  “You can pick the vegetables to add to our pasta tonight,” I said.

  Daisy smiled, almost like she tried to pretend to be excited about it.

  “Onions, tomatoes and string beans.”

  I laughed at that and together we arranged the kitchen tops to prepare dinner.

  The pasta boiled and she told me all about her day. I was relieved she wasn’t asking about her father anymore. I still needed some time to recover from the shock of that.

  I hadn’t allowed myself to think about him in a long time. I didn’t let my mind go there. He was in my past. I left Austin because I wanted to get away from him. And even though Franklin wasn’t ideal, and it’d actually feel like home, at least I didn’t have to see his smug face everywhere I went.

  My phone rang in the middle of one of Daisy’s stories. I rushed to answer it and saw it was my mom calling.

  “Hi, Mom,” I said with a smile. She visited us every few months and I couldn’t wait to see her again.

  “Amanda!” she screamed into the phone.

  “Mom?” I panicked because I heard the pain in her voice. Something had happened. Something was wrong.

  “Amanda. I fell down the stairs. Oh my God. Everything hurts. I think I’ve broken…”

  “Mom! Did you call nine-one-one? You need an ambulance.”

  “Oh God!” She screamed in pain. I wanted to scream too. Why wasn’t I there to help her? She needed me and I was miles away.

  “Mom, please. Just hold on, okay? I’m going to call nine-one-one. I’ll get someone over to you.”

  “Amanda, please, honey, I need you,” she cried just before I hung up.

  Two

  Tate

  I sat at the desk in my new swanky office, looking out.

  This wasn’t the place I’d expected to be, ev
en though the whole building bore my last name.

  It was The Baker House. The main headquarters of the Baker corporation which was the second largest retail and hypermarket business in the country.

  But the thing was—I hadn’t helped build it.

  It was established a long time ago by my grandfather who was a door-to-door salesman. One day he got tired of living on the road away from his family. Also, he got tired of working for other people. However, he had acquired a pretty strong skill set for what would eventually help him thrive. In the years he’d spent on the road, he figured out exactly what people wanted.

  And he gave it to them.

  My father was his protege and together they brought the company forward to the place it now was. The benefits of which my brothers and I reaped.

  We grew up in luxury. Some would say we were Austin royalty.

  However, the success of our company had nothing to do with my contribution and now I sat in this office, in this chair, I felt like an outsider.

  My father hadn’t expected us to help him run the company. My brothers and I had grown up with varied interests. I studied architecture in college. I didn’t think I had any interest in being involved in the family business. We were lucky our father didn’t push us towards it either. We had the freedom to decide what path we wanted our lives to take.

  But then everything changed when two months ago, our parents died in a plane crash that was bringing them back to Austin.

  Just like that, in one poof, it was like our parents had disappeared into thin air. We’d never see them again.

  Even though my brothers and I had never had any interest in the business, suddenly with our father gone, we were filled with a sense of responsibility. He hadn’t finished his life’s work. This company was the epicenter of his life and we knew he’d want us to see it through.

  We had to do something. We had to take over.

  Our oldest brother, Everett, took the lead. Once he was able to get past the grief of losing our parents, and that wasn’t a pain that’d gone away soon for any of us, Everett was able to take control.

  The company needed us and we were here to deliver in honor of the memory of our father.

  In just two hours, I had a video meeting with some suppliers in Hong Kong and I was supposed to look through my notes and research. I knew I was underprepared.

  But even though I should’ve felt nervous, I didn’t. I knew I’d make my father proud.

  “I thought I should come in and congratulate you!” It was Serena King breezing in through my office door in one of those tight dresses she liked wearing.

  I just had to check out her ass, and she caught me looking and grinned.

  Sometimes I wondered if she always dressed this way around the office or if it was only since I started showing up here.

  “Congratulate me for what?”

  “For the great success with your first solo meeting. You did it,” she said, coming over to stand next to me. She held her hand up for a high-five, but I didn’t bother because I didn’t think I needed it.

  “I’m still getting the hang of things,” I argued.

  “Apparently they commented on how good it was to speak to a fresh new face from the company. Guess they were tired of seeing your dad on every call,” she said with a giggle.

  I clenched my palms into fists. Serena didn’t know how to be sensitive. Didn’t it occur to her the reason my father wasn’t showing his face on these calls—was because he was dead?

  “I should get back to work,” I said and Serena frowned, turning down her lips.

  “No, you don’t. Come on Tate, let’s go out and celebrate.”

  “It’s the middle of the day.”

  “So what? You’re the boss.”

  “I have a business to run.”

  “Exactly, just get other people to do it for you. We haven’t had drinks alone in a while.”

  Now that I thought about it, I couldn’t exactly remember why I hadn’t banged Serena yet. I’d known her all my life.

  She was Lee King’s daughter. My dad and Lee had been the closest of friends and Serena spent a lot of time in our house as a child. I suspected it was the reason why she got a job at our company so easily too. Our families had always intended on her marrying one of us. That was always the plan.

  She was the one who’d set her sights on me, picking me over my other brothers. We were all close in age, so she could’ve literally picked any of us. But Serena wanted me.

  So technically, I could have her any time I wanted. She was sexy. She had a big ass in a tight dress that I always liked. And yet somehow, I’d never slept with her. Maybe it was out of respect for her dad, for our family connection. But also maybe it was because I knew if we did it once, there was no coming back from it.

  “I have some reports to get through, not something someone else can do for me,” I replied.

  “Tate, come on, don’t be such a bore!”

  I shrugged, hoping she’d take the hint and leave soon, but she didn’t. Instead, she leaned in closer to me, making her lips brush my cheek.

  “You know this is what your mom would have wanted, right? She would’ve wanted you to come out and have a drink with me,” she said.

  She knew she hit me in the spot that really counted.

  There was a part of me that wanted to tell her to get out.

  I wanted to be left alone, and Serena wasn’t anything more than an annoying distraction.

  On the other hand, there was also a part of me that agreed with her.

  Mom liked Serena. If she had her way, she would’ve gotten us married in a heartbeat. She thought our marriage would make me happy. Hadn’t Mom always known what was best for me?

  She was a good mother.

  “I know you know I’m right,” Serena smiled seductively as she leaned towards me.

  She had one hand on the table and another on the arm of my swivel chair. She was close enough that I saw the way her lips quivered a little. Her cleavage was deep and firm. I’d never touched those breasts and now I kinda wanted to.

  “You don’t seriously believe in an arranged marriage, Serena,” I growled at her.

  She rolled her eyes. “It wouldn’t be an arranged marriage between us, Tate. You and I have known each other all our lives. And I know you like me, you know I like you…”

  She leaned in even closer and her lips grazed my chin and then she planted a fluttering kiss on my neck. I couldn’t deny the fact I wanted to pull her down on my lap and push my cock inside her. I wanted to feel her shapely body, but something held me back again.

  I didn’t want to take it too far with her. Not until I made my ultimate decision.

  She chewed on her bottom lip while she looked expectantly at me. She knew her seductive powers worked. She had me in her reach.

  “Why are you denying yourself the inevitable, Tate? You and I are meant to be together. It’s written in our stars.” She giggled and I pushed my chair away from the table.

  It sounded like a load of bullshit. I didn’t believe in fate or destiny. Just like I didn't believe it was my parents’ destiny to die in that plane crash. It was nothing more than a freak accident.

  Serena straightened up but continued to smile.

  “Come on, Tate, what are you so afraid of? If I was to take a guess, it’d be you’re afraid of falling for me hard if you allowed yourself to.”

  She didn’t know what she was talking about.

  I wasn’t afraid of that feeling. I’d already experienced it before. Once before and never again.

  If I had that with someone else, I’d never let it go this time.

  That wasn’t how I felt about Serena.

  “I’ll pick you up for dinner at eight. We can talk about it then. You should get back to work now and so should I,” I snapped.