When the Sun Comes Out

Chapter 11 ~ Rhett

     As Rhett walked across the lot to the barn, he thought about what had happened that morning. It had felt natural to be with Tae. Waking up to pester her was a dream. When she'd finally pushed him off to get in the shower, instead of sleeping, he sat there to think.

He'd tried to make himself abide by the rules that he'd set, but it was turning out to be a pain. Taylor was meant for him, and he knew it. He'd finally decided to give up on his plan and just live.

He hadn't known what was going to happen after he kissed her, but he'd known that it would change their relationship. He didn't expect Taylor to react the way she had though. He had been ready to argue with her into a relationship, but she had happily agreed without any pushing.

What was to come, he didn't know, but he was ready to find out. They hadn't agreed on anything more this morning other than the fact that it was starting to feel real. Not defining their relationship was bugging Rhett, but he would wait until Taylor was comfortable.

As he stepped into the barn, he saw a couple of guys standing to the side talking. They'd all taken to Tae like bees to honey. He was glad he didn't have to deal with the men hating on Tae, but he did have one thing to take care of.

He'd watched at breakfast as Creek had glared at Tae the entire meal. He wasn't taking to the idea that she was taken very well. Rhett decided he'd have to make sure he got the point across.

He'd kissed the bejeezus out of her this morning to make sure that he'd staked his claim, but he felt that Creek needed to be told verbally to stay away.

He grabbed the vet bag out of the refrigerator and headed toward his truck. He was meeting Max in the North Pasture to vaccinate the first round of mares.

While Max was home, he was going to be putting him and his veterinarian degree to good use. He walked back out to his truck and jumped in. Pulling out, he turned north and headed towards the pasture.

He drove over the entry cattle guard twenty minutes later. He chuckled when he didn't see Max's truck. Max was normally the one brother that was on time for everything. Rhett had expected a call ten minutes ago from Max informing him that he was late. He'd taken up a little extra time with Taylor, and now he really was fifteen minutes late.

He hopped out of the cab and went to the bed of the truck where he'd put all of the supplies they would need for the day. He started organizing what they needed while he waited for Max.

Finally, ten minutes later, Max pulled into the pasture, and Rhett shook his head as his brother crawled out of his truck. He looked like he'd just crawled out of bed.

"You're late, little brother," he called to him. Rhett looked him over and noticed the lipstick on Max's collar. "Rough night?" he asked.

Max blushed, and Rhett's suspicions were confirmed. He chuckled to himself. Max was the only brother that it surprised him to see with a woman. He was the one, out of the four of them, who couldn't care less about the girls of their town.

"Who was the lucky lady?" he asked his brother.

Max looked at him shocked and embarrassed.

"What are you talking about," he croaked.

Rhett let out a laugh and shook his head.

"I'm talking about the bright pink lipstick on your neck there, dude," he said reaching out and smearing it.

Max smacked his hand away and blushed deeper.

"There was no woman," he said simply. The deflated look he wore as he said it encouraged Rhett to drop the subject.