by Raeann Blake
“Who said he did anything?”
“You won’t say his name. You always call him by his name. I’ll be around,” Laine said quietly and then rose and went through the door, closing it softly behind him.
She sat where she was, drawing in deep breaths and blowing them back out again. She had cried a good part of the night and dreamed about him the rest of it. What he had said, accused her of had hurt. She admitted that of course he didn’t know her. She had to keep reminding herself that she’d only been there a few days. But she thought that surely he knew at least that much about her. And he had touched her first. She hadn’t meant to pull his hand back. And he probably hadn’t meant to touch her. No matter what happened or didn’t happen, what he said hurt.
It was well into the night before she admitted that she had let herself get swept away by the sexy guy that was always in her path. And the transformation in him since she’d been there had pulled her in deeper. Well, she wasn’t in deeper now. She was going to take the night off. And she was going to have a good time. And tomorrow, hangover or not, she’d get on a horse and she’d be out on the range. That’s what she needed.
She shook off the lethargy and started entering the information for the checks then printed out an itemized list of the items ordered for each check and clipped them together. She took one deep breath and rose then walked steadily to the door and opened it. She didn’t let herself hesitate as she walked across the room and stopped in his doorway.
He glanced up at her then back down. “Yeah?”
“I’ve got the checks for the supplies. There’s a list of the items for each one if you want to look over those. I’m going to get a cup of coffee and then I’ll come back,” she said quietly. She laid them on the desk and started to turn but gritted her teeth and picked up his cup and carried it with her.
He sat where he was for a few seconds. He didn’t like the way this felt. He had spent most of the night being angry and the rest of it wondering if he’d misunderstood. If he had…well, there probably wasn’t much of anything he could have said that would have been worse.
He was still signing when she came back and set the cup on his desk without saying anything.
“Thanks,” he said then signed the last one and held them out to her. “Do you want somebody to go with you?’
“No, I can handle it. I’ve got a couple of personal things to do as well, so I’m going to go ahead and head out. They should have these ready by the time I get to them,” she said quietly.
“Hailey…if I was wrong last night…I’m sorry.”
She stopped for just one second without turning around. “If you were wrong?” She blew out a short laugh and shook her head then started walking without saying anything else.
He probably should have called her back, followed her, or something. But he didn’t know what to say. Even if he’d known what, he didn’t know how. And he still wasn’t sure whether he was wrong or not.
She went back to the office to turn the light off then stopped by her room to get her bag. She thought briefly about her license inside. She wanted to get it changed to a Montana license today. If it turned out she didn’t get to stay she’d just have to get it changed again. She went through the front door without looking back and crossed the yard quickly. As soon as she stepped inside the stable doors, she saw Laine stand up from behind his desk.
“I’m going with you.”
“You don’t have to do that. I can take care of this. Besides, I have some personal errands to run. I’m sure you’ve got better things to do.”
“Are you saying you don’t want me to go?”
“I didn’t say that. I’m going by to get my license changed if they’re not too busy. And I’m shopping for a new top to wear tonight. If you don’t mind hanging around waiting on me, feel free.”
Laine nodded and jingled the keys in his hand. “Let’s go.”
“So what kind of top is this you’re buying?” he asked as they went through the door.
“Something pretty. Something slinky and sexy and pretty. Something expensive.”
“Hmmm. Do I get to see it before you leave?”
“Sure. If you want.”
“Of course I want. So you’re changing your license. That means you don’t have any immediate plans to leave?”
“Laine, I don’t have any plans to ever leave. That doesn’t mean it will work out that way. If it doesn’t, I’ll cross that bridge when I get there,” she said quietly.
He pulled her to a stop and looked down at her with a little grin. “That’s a start. I can live with that. Come on. I can’t wait to see this top. But I don’t know. You’re gonna have to find something really special to be better than a western shirt and a pair of jeans.”
She finally smiled slightly and shoved his shoulder. “That’s because you’re a cowboy. Get in the truck.”
“Oh, here,” he said as he pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to her. “I know you have the main ranch number. More often than not Isobell answers it, but it rings in my office, too. But that top number is a direct line into my office, next number is my cell, and the bottom one is Clay’s. Like I told you, if we’re not in the yard or close by, the cells don’t work too much, but you should have the numbers.
“Thanks. I’ll enter them on the way.”
She was already inside and Laine was just getting in on the driver’s side when Clay stepped out on the porch and watched them back out and drive away.
“Didn’t want anybody to go with you, huh?” he muttered then went to the stables. He heard more than one man ask him where he was headed as he saddled up, and he ignored each one of them. Just as he led the horse outside and mounted, one more man asked the same question. He waited until he was in the saddle before he shot him a hard glare then kicked the horse into a quick canter without saying a word.
He went back over every word, every pitch and inflection of her voice. Excitement always showed up in her voice and her face, even when she was trying to be innocent. If she couldn’t fake an innocent look, could she fake the hurt he’d seen there the night before? Maybe. If it was important to her. He’d never met a woman who couldn’t. They were masters at making a man feel like a heel. Still, it didn’t change that she was playing games this morning. Specifically saying she was going alone and then leaving with Laine. What was that if it wasn’t a game?
He sighed as he remembered how it had felt, being there with her in the kitchen. Out on the porch. It felt good. He’d give anything if he’d at least waited until she got back from town to talk to her about the horse. Then she wouldn’t have gotten upset. And maybe he wouldn’t have shot his mouth off. They could have stayed out there longer and…
“And what? What do I want from her? Nothing. It just felt good, that’s all. It was nice to have somebody to sit beside and talk to. Somebody to make me laugh. Somebody to make me feel like laughing. That’s all,” he said then looked down at the horse under him.
“You know, if you’d answer me once in a while, I wouldn’t have to answer myself. What’s the matter? You winded after that long run? I guess you’ve been locked up in that stall too much and…”
He drifted off when he heard those very words come back to him. He’s locked up out there in that stall and never gets a chance to do the one thing that he was put on this earth to do.
“I guess you think I’m wrong about that, too?” he asked the horse then went silent like he was waiting for an answer.
Chapter Nine
Laine whistled softly and shook his head. “Sugar, that’ll turn some heads. You would anyway, but…damn.”
“You think?” Hailey asked as she turned to the mirror and eyed the top critically. It was exactly what she said she was looking for. The material was a soft, shiny knit that reflected the light subtly. The pure white set off her skin and hair well. The halter neckline fell into a deep Vee in the front with a bare back, fastened by three buttons along the band at her waist. It was pretty.
And very expensive.
“Hmmm. It’s pretty, but way more skin than I think I’d be comfortable showing in a place I don’t know. Maybe another time. I think something a little more conservative might be better.”
“Darlin’, you’ll be gorgeous in anything. And, as good as it looks…I’m not sure I want you to leave the ranch in it,” Laine said lowly.
Hailey frowned and turned to look at him to find the wide, teasing smile on his face and smiled back. “Yes, Daddy,” she said then laughed when he slapped a hand over his chest.
“Now that hurts. Okay. Which one are you buying then?”
“The navy one I think. Yeah, the navy one. Be right back,” she said then went back to the dressing room. She slipped off the white top and pulled the navy one back on again and poked it into the waistband of her jeans before she turned around in a circle, eyeing it one last time from all directions. She finally nodded. This was much more her style. She had intended to buy something like the white one, something different than anything she had ever bought before. But it was just a little more inviting than she was comfortable with. She wanted something that looked good, but not something that stood up on the table and shouted ‘look at me’.
This one was much better. It was one piece made to look like two pieces. A white tank top under a deep navy blue button up shirt. Certainly not as provocative as the other one, but she liked it. Once her mind was finally made up, she changed and carried all of the ones back out that she had tried on. When a saleslady met her, she indicated which one she would be taking and then followed her to the counter.
“That’s it? You’re done?” Laine asked in surprise.
“Yeah. You thought it would take longer?”
“Well, yeah. I thought once women got in a store they spent all day in there,” he said then dodged the mock swing she took at him.
“What a sexist thing to say. Shame on you,” she said but laughed with him as they went through the door and started to the truck.
“Aw, hell,” Laine muttered and tilted his head slightly when she looked at him. She turned to look in the direction he indicated then pulled her chin up a notch and kept a straight face as she watched Yates coming towards them with a friendly smile.
“Ah, Ms. Lambert. I’m glad I ran into you. I tried to call you earlier but his girl he’s got out there said you’d already left for town.”
“That girl’s name is Ms. Garcia. It’s degrading to be referred to as somebody’s girl,” Hailey said evenly. She had to clamp her back teeth together to keep from saying anything else when the condescending smile spread across the man’s face.
“I meant no disrespect. I wanted to tell you that I took some time to look over Cardell’s bills for the last few months, and unfortunately I found that you were correct. I’ll be glad to credit his account for the amount of overcharges.”
“I’d prefer cash, Mr. Yates. We paid you in cash. I would hope that you would pay us in kind,” Hailey said quietly.
“I’m sure. But it would make it much simpler if he had a credit on the books that he could use for supplies, don’t you think?”
“No, I don’t think. I have no intention of putting anything on a credit account in the future. All future transactions will be paid in full at the time of purchase.”
Yates’ eyes grew cold as he flicked them once at Laine then back to Hailey, but he kept his tone friendly. “That’s certainly your choice. I’m afraid I don’t have the capital on hand to repay the amount right away. I’ll put it on the books and if you don’t see fit to use it, then…” He stopped and shrugged his shoulders.
“You do that, Mr. Yates,” she said as she started past him then stopped when he spoke again.
“You do know you won’t last out there, don’t you? He can’t keep anybody on that place…least ways not a woman who’s not tryin’ to be a man,” he said lowly.
She looked up at him and smiled sweetly. “Really? See I don’t think he’s had anybody with brains enough to do that job. The ones he’s had weren’t worth keeping. Are you saying that you would have kept someone who performed her duties the way Pepper did? Because I can tell you…I’ve been looking over the records and not a one of them was worth wiping off the soles of my boots. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you might have sent them out there. A little sabotage going on maybe?”
“Are you accusing me of something, Ms. Lambert?” Yates snapped.
“Absolutely. You just have the best day now. Bye-bye,” she said with as much sugary sweetness as she could muster then walked past him and glanced up at Laine when he fell in beside her only to find him with a wide smile on his face. One that collapsed when Yates spoke again.
“You’re a smart-mouthed little thing, aren’t you? You come to work with me. I can teach you some manners, among other things. Like better uses for that mouth of yours.”
When Laine spun around and started back Hailey grabbed his arm then stepped in front of him and pushed him back with a hand on his chest before she turned back to Yates with a cold gaze.
“Better men than you have tried, sir.”
“Don’t like men, huh? You’re into women?”
“No. I like men just fine. But if my choice is between women and you, the women have a definite edge,” she said then turned back to Laine and shoved him backwards again.
“Go,” she said quietly.
He kept a steady stare at Yates for several seconds as she kept pushing him backwards before he finally glanced down at her then turned and walked beside her.
“You tell Cardell we’re not done,” Yates called after them.
Hailey kept a hand wrapped around Laine’s arm and they kept walking without replying or even acknowledging that they heard him.
Laine slammed the door once he was inside then finally exploded. “That arrogant, snide, slimy bastard. Who the fuck does he think he is? You should have slapped his damn face.”
“Calm down, Laine. I’ve dealt with men like him my whole life. Any woman who works on a ranch does.”
“What the hell does that mean? You’re saying it’s okay?” he snapped at her.
“No, I’m not saying it’s okay. I’m saying it’s a fact of life. You can scream equal rights from the top of every rooftop in town. But when it comes down to a woman doing a job that a huge majority of this world still at least secretly believes is a man’s job, then that’s the attitude you get. You either take it and let it roll off, or you’ll spend so much of your time fighting somebody about it that you won’t have time to do anything else. Start the truck. Let’s go.”
“Not everybody’s like that, Hailey. We don’t treat the women at the ranch that way.”
“No, not everybody is. But you have to know that you’re the exception, not the rule. How many of those women tried to get hired at other places and got turned down? Most places won’t hire them. Some because they don’t think they can handle the job. Others because they’re certain that having a woman on the ranch or in the bunkhouse can’t lead to anything but trouble. And God forbid that they should have an opinion about something or be strong-minded. That just re-enforces their stupid, insipid, bigoted beliefs that any woman who wants to work on a ranch, or drive a truck, or be a cop, or a pilot, or any of those other male dominated fields has to be a lesbian. Now, please. Start the truck and let’s go,” she said lowly.
He shook his head and started the truck. He waited until he backed out of the parking space before he spoke again.
“Clay’s not gonna be happy when he finds out what he said to you,” he said lowly.
“He’s already not happy. There’s no point in him knowing about it.”
“The hell there’s not. If you think he’s not happy now, you just don’t tell him and let him find out from somebody else.”
“The only other person he would find out from is you. And you’re not going to tell him.”
“I’m…goddammit,” he muttered then blew out a long breath.
“Fine. I won’t volun
teer anything. But I’m warning you, Hailey. If Yates runs into him somewhere, he will tell him that he saw you. And if he asks me straight out, I’m not gonna lie to him. It would be better if you tell him first,” he said quietly.
“Do you know Kathy well?” she asked in an abrupt change of subject.
“Some, not a lot. She was already gone by the time I came to the ranch. She’s been out a few times but I don’t really know her. Why?”
“No reason. I just wondered. She’s nice. I like her,” she said as she kept her gaze turned to look out the window.