by Em Petrova
He dropped his bag by the bed he planned to share with her again. “We’ll see how easily you get rid of me, sweet thing. We both know it’s not over.”
* * * * *
After a long day of hard work, Brielle was more than ready to sink into a hot bath. But tomorrow would be a tougher day. They needed to vaccinate the herd of cows, and that meant she needed to make some preparations in order to make her job easier.
Earlier she made a run to the Crossroads Trading Post, which sold everything from gardening tools to gumdrops. She picked up enough supplies to vaccinate their small herd and grabbed some of those gumdrops on the way out too. The bag still sat on the floor of her truck. If she spent a few minutes readying everything, the hardest part of administering vaccinations would be wrangling the cattle.
She finished brushing the horse and put away the brush. A glance at the wooden shelf told her Beau had been in here moving things around. Irritation rolled over her—she liked things in their place. When Beau used something, he didn’t always return it to its rightful spot, since he was always strapped for time.
Aren’t I strapped for time too?
She couldn’t remember a day when she didn’t have some chore to fill each and every minute. After returning from the trading post, she spent a while grooming the horse and checking her hooves—the field sometimes grew soggy in one corner. They really needed to make that a priority, but with a barn to build fast…
She shook herself. Next she’d organize the vaccines and then she supposed dinner completed the to-do list.
Heaving a sigh, she took a moment to rearrange the shelf to her liking and then stepped outside. The late afternoon sun burned gold on the fields, setting the world on fire. She raised a hand to shield her eyes—and saw it.
Across the field, parked next to the gate.
Kaoz’s truck.
Her heart gave a hard jolt that knocked the air from her lungs. Immediately, the emotion she felt at first seeing the familiar truck—and knowing he’d come with it—vanished, replaced with anger.
Sure didn’t take him long to track her down and butt into her life, did it? A life he hadn’t wanted much part of over the past four months.
She stomped out to the field. Kaoz stood next to Beau, his back to her.
God, that back. Every muscle rippling under his dark blue T-shirt. She didn’t need to look to see that the front sported a graphic of last year’s rodeo. They’d bought matching ones. Her heart felt as if someone had snared it with a lasso and lodged it in her throat.
When she got a good look at what Kaoz and her brother were doing, though, that lump burned off with fury.
“You’re vaccinating without me?” She rounded the truck and leveled a glare at her brother. She couldn’t quite find the guts to meet Kaoz’s stare yet.
“Yeah, Kaoz had some supplies on hand, and we figured while we had the daylight, we’d use it.” Beau’s expression revealed that he wasn’t as stupid as she guessed him to be—he knew she didn’t want her ex here.
Taking a deep breath, she turned her attention to Kaoz.
Dammit, those blue eyes. Icy blue, in sharp contrast to his dark hair, tanned skin and the black stubble on his jaw. He looked rougher, more rugged and as damn hot as she remembered, only somehow all his traits, right down to the size of his biceps inked in tattoos and the width of his chest seemed to be amplified.
Or on steroids.
She knew better—four months of hard work had filled him out even more, and now her body was catching up to her mind and waking up. She would not—under any circumstance—look at his strong forearms and those veins she loved snaking up them. If she did—
Too late. Dammit.
She gulped down a muffled cry and glared at the cowboy. “What are you doing here?”
Very slowly, as if he had all the time in the world and a massive heifer didn’t stand there waiting to be vaccinated, Kaoz nudged his hat up to look at her.
Having his intense, undivided attention on her set her heart racing again. He dropped his gaze to her lips for a long minute. Her insides coiled.
When he dipped his attention to her throat, breasts, belly, the crux of her thighs, over her hips to her boots and up once more, the man might as well have stripped her down, thrown her thighs apart and speared her on his cock.
She folded her arms over her chest and pointed to her eyes. “I’m up here.”
A twinge of that crooked smile all Bellamy men could perform in their sleep plucked at the corner of his mouth. A glow stood in his eyes, too bright and direct more than she could handle right now. Or maybe ever.
“You roll up and find my brother needs his cows vaccinated, and you happened to have supplies on hand?” she shot out.
He tipped his head in a nod. “I brought some o’ the good stuff from out West. To use on my own cattle.”
Her brows shot up. Cattle they planned to share ownership of—a dream stomped into the dirt.
Kaoz didn’t look away from her, and under his stare, she felt too hot and sweaty.
“Beau, a word please.”
He glanced up. “Indisposed at the minute, sis.”
“Right. Now.” She didn’t add or I walk off the job. She didn’t like throwing out ultimatums, especially to loved ones. But Beau didn’t move from his position.
Seeing she would get nowhere with her brother, she whirled on her boots. She didn’t make it three steps before Kaoz caught her, pressing her spine against the fence and trapping her with his big body.
She tried to duck under his arm, and he caught hold of hers, his fingers wrapping so perfect around her skin, burning it almost. A half-scream erupted from her throat, and he hovered over her.
“Why did you move out? Why didn’t you wait?”
“You knew when you walked out that I never promised to wait. You knew my position on the subject.”
His eyes flickered with some emotion she didn’t want to see there. She wouldn’t allow him to break her down.
She pulled free of his grip. “This is for the best, Kaoz. We dodged a bullet with you leaving. We found out that you weren’t all that serious—”
“All that serious? Brielle, I put a ring on your finger. If that isn’t serious, I don’t know what is!” Danger sparked in his eyes, leaving her shocked and breathless and more than a little turned on. Damn her body for responding to him.
“You haven’t told me you loved me in three out of four months you were gone.” She planted her hand on her hip.
He dropped his stare to her movement and then zeroed in on her face again. “I’m not good with words, sweet thing. I love you—always have.”
The tiny hairs on her nape stood straight up at the grating sound of his voice. Between his tone and his words, she almost believed him—or her body wanted to. She was smarter than her body, however. Stronger, too.
“Kaoz, we’re done. I don’t know what sort of super-rancher shit you and my brother are up to, but leave me out of it.” She ducked under his arm and bolted away before he could snatch her back, by the arm or with more words that threatened to tear down every last shred of her self-control she used to walk away from him before.
She took off across the field to the house, alternately fuming and fanning herself after being in such close proximity of the only man ever capable of giving her an orgasm.
Not thinking about that. No way.
“Dammit!” The shout came from the pasture.
She whirled to see a cow escaped from the fence, having plowed through the weak gate latch that she’d fixed herself at least twice. Beau ran after the cow to get in front of it and chase it inside, while Kaoz jumped into his truck.
Brielle stopped in her tracks to watch the scene unfold. Man versus beast. Beau waved his arms and shouted at the cow. When he got within lasso distance, he grabbed his rope and made the toss. To her surprise, he set the rope down right where he wanted it.
After he led the cow through the gate, Kaoz climbed out of the truck and closed
it. Then got behind the wheel once more and drove the truck right up against the gate, barring any other animals from escape.
She rubbed a hand over her face. What…on earth…is happening here? She had a feeling she wouldn’t like what Beau had to tell her. But the pair who never really liked each other working together? Couldn’t be good. They were up to something, a pact had been made or some other male bullshit.
“Brielle!” the call came from Kaoz. He waved at her. “We need ya!”
An unladylike word burst from her, and she fought to decide whether or not to answer his summons. The last thing she wanted to do was please her ex in any way. She wanted him out of her life for good.
Beau waved at her too. “We need your help!”
Grumbling all the way across the field, she thought of a dozen ways to tell them both to get lost, but in the end, she stepped up to the fence and waited to hear what they needed from her.
Kaoz flicked his head. “We need to create a chute. The rope and jab route isn’t workin’ on this bunch. They’re not as tame as some cows.”
She raised her brows. “You don’t say.” Since she helped to feed and water the beasts, she knew their temperament better than anybody.
He shot her another of those almost-crooked smiles. She twisted her stare away and focused on Beau.
“Kaoz has the idea of using the fence to keep them in. We’ll use these boards in the bed of his truck for the other side.”
“Isn’t that convenient. You have boards in the bed of your truck and vaccines.” She opened her eyes wide.
A low chuckle sounded, but luckily she looked away before she got a good look at Kaoz’s face and allowed herself to get caught up in those crinkles around his eyes when he smiled or laughed.
“Help me grab the boards, Brielle,” Beau said.
She started around Kaoz’s truck, but he stepped in front of her, blocking her way. “I got it,” he said.
She shoved past him. “I’m capable of carrying boards. I’ve been doing everything on this ranch long before you showed up!” She grabbed the end of a board. A sliver of wood stabbed deep into her palm, and she let go with a cry.
Kaoz caught her shoulder and whirled her to face him. Concern creased his face as he took her by the wrist and turned her palm up to inspect. “Oh damn, that’s a deep one. Big too.”
“No kidding. Thanks for pointing that out.” She tugged her hand free, and he grabbed her again.
“Let me get it out.” He stuck his middle finger in his mouth, biting down and ripping off his glove with his teeth. A tingle of awareness spread through her lower belly, too low to be the tuna sandwich she ate for lunch.
“Kaoz—” she started to warn him.
He stared down into her eyes, holding her more prisoner than ever before. “Let me get the splinter out, Brielle.”
She bit into her lip and nodded.
He pinched the tip sticking out of her flesh. In one swift yank, he had the wood out. Blood welled on her palm. Next, he reached into his back pocket and came out with a clean handkerchief.
“Since when did you start carrying that?” she asked before she could suck it in.
“Since I learned how handy it is to carry one.” He gently dabbed at her small, inconsequential wound with all the tenderness she had fallen for him over and didn’t want to feel right this minute. Or ever again, for that matter.
She pulled her hand away from his ministrations. “That’s good. Thanks.” Before she reached for the board again, she pulled her leather gloves from her pocket and slipped them on…trying not to notice how close Kaoz stood or how damn good he smelled.
Chapter Three
Hell, just seeing Brielle again had Kaoz’s heart wrapped up in barbed wire. The woman owned him—didn’t she know that?
No, she didn’t. It was her reason behind breaking up with him and moving out without telling him.
Being this close but not touching her felt like a dagger to his heart. Along with not seeing his engagement ring on her finger.
One thing he loved most about her were her eyes. Deep, soft doe eyes in chocolate brown with long lashes. Her light brown hair streaked with honey from the sun. And she had a way of lifting her jaw in a stubborn but cute fashion that nabbed him from the start.
As they worked alongside each other, he grew plenty aware of how much distance she put between them. And she refused to look him directly in the eyes each time he tried to catch her gaze.
Once they positioned the boards, the next plan of action would be to enclose the herd into a smaller space.
“That horse of yours any good at working a herd?” he asked.
Brielle snapped her head up and looked at him and then to her brother. They exchanged some silent message, and she nodded. “I think so,” she said.
“Good. You can circle the herd and drive them into the chute.”
She hesitated.
“Can you handle it?”
She lifted her chin. “Of course.”
He watched her whirl and head to the pasture. Every sway of her hips enticed him. Their reunion shouldn’t be this way. He should have swept her up and kept her beneath him all…night…long. Instead, they were broken up, and at odds.
He passed a hand over his face. Had he really only driven into Crossroads earlier that morning? It seemed he’d lived a dozen days since then. He had a feeling the ups and downs were only getting started.
Minutes later, Brielle returned in the saddle. The mare she rode seemed to be a feisty one. He hoped she didn’t spook the herd more than help direct them.
Kaoz nudged his hat on his head to peer up at her. Stare, more like. The woman punched a hole in his gut every time he set eyes on her.
“What are you lookin’ at?” she sassed him.
“I’m lookin’ at the most beautiful woman in the world.”
Her brows drew downward over her narrowed eyes. She directed the horse around and slowly started to circle the herd, pushing them into a smaller area instead of dotted across the pasture. None of this setup looked ideal, but they’d have to make do. If they had a barn to erect in a week, they needed to check this task off their list.
As the first cow was directed into the makeshift chute, Kaoz scrambled up on the fence, a syringe in hand. He plunged the needle into the cow’s hide and administered the vaccine.
Beau let out a hoot of victory, and Kaoz grinned. He glanced up and caught Brielle looking at him. She quickly darted her glance away.
“One down, how many to go?” Kaoz drawled.
“Thirty-nine.”
“Let’s make quick work o’ it.”
The next few cows weren’t so easy to stick, but in the end, Kaoz came out on top. A couple more broke away from the gathered herd, sending Brielle galloping after them. The mare she rode had some command issues, but he felt after a few weeks, he could straighten it out too.
The good feeling of a job finished washed over him as the final cow received the vaccine. He jumped down from the fence and offered a hand to Beau. He gripped it hard. “Thanks, man. Couldn’t have done it without you.”
A low noise like a scream echoed across the field. Brielle rode over to them. “Pretty sure you couldn’t have done it without me either.”
“Of course not, Brielle.” Kaoz gave her a smile that faltered the longer her glare burned into him.
This might be harder than he thought.
They made quick work of tearing down their makeshift operation. Brielle dismounted and walked the horse over to where he and Beau worked. Kaoz sent her a long glance and saw the same frown tightening her brows.
“We better fix this gate if we want to find cattle here in the morning.” Kaoz moved toward it. “Can’t leave my truck parked here indefinitely to hold the gate closed.”
“No, you can’t, because you’re leaving.” Brielle’s high voice held a note of anger.
They locked eyes.
“It’s not enough, Kaoz. You coming here to help on the ranch for a day won’
t win my heart back.”
“Guess you better take that up with your brother.” Looking down, he fiddled with the gate hook, a U-shaped piece of metal that seemed too bent to be useful anymore.
“Beau? What do you have to say about this?” She planted her hand on her hip, which only thrust her breasts forward more. Kaoz’s body stirred.
“Brielle, he’s only helpin’ out. I know you don’t want him here, but—”
“Damn right I don’t. He’s my ex-boyfriend, Beau. Do you realize what that means? It means we don’t hang around each other anymore.”
Kaoz listened to them bicker, his heart sinking more by the moment. Maybe he really should go. Let her get on with her life.
But he’d felt that dark attraction that always led them down the path to rolling in the sheets, their mouths moving together…their bodies moving together. Lust didn’t fuel these fires—love did. And loving her with his body only sealed the deal.
He didn’t for a minute believe she’d fallen out of love with him. If so, she would have moved out the minute he left town. Instead, she lingered in their house until recently. She waited for him, and he was a damn fool for not coming sooner, if not for going at all. But too late to remedy that—he could only look to the present.
“He can’t stay, Beau. That’s final.”
Kaoz stepped away from the gate. “Look, this place is a dump. It needs help, and Beau doesn’t know what to do fix it. He’s grinding wheels—”
A fist slammed into Kaoz’s face for the second time that day. Pain slashed through his mouth where his teeth cut into flesh. A growl escaped him, and Brielle screamed.
Kaoz leveled his attention on her brother. “That’s the second time you hit me today. There won’t be a third.”
Beau shook out his fist. Good—he hoped he’d busted a finger or two on his hard head. “Last time I punched you for my sister. This time it was for my ranch.”
Kaoz spit out a glob of blood, and Brielle turned away. “The truth’s hard to hear sometimes. The worst mistake you can make is telling me to get off this land. If I go, there’s no way you’ll get that barn raised before the horses come. You mentioned you’ve got a contract for boarding? Usually terms are set in about care. Your horses will be left to the elements. They could get sick, have injuries. You can’t afford the vet bills, believe me. And the rest of this place”—he waved an arm—“needs a helluva lot of work. All three of us know it. I don’t give a rat’s ass if you lose the place, Beau, but I do care about Brielle. She’s put in a lot of hard work I can see already, and she’s sticking by your side to help you realize your dream. The least you can do is offer her the best chance of a return of profits for her hard work.”