by J. Darling
Snapping her head around, she looked at him like he’d lost his mind. “Hell no! Were you like, kicked in the head or something when you were little?”
She was pretty damn funny. Grinning, loving that sexy voice of hers and wanting to hear her talk, he ignored her question and asked, “Why not?”
She went back to looking at the road. “Because.”
“Because why?”
“Because I said no, that’s why.”
“You’re making this hard.”
“Mmhmm, exactly.”
*****
Sitting at the breakfast table the next morning, Nik started in. “I think she could take you in a fight.”
Kris shook his head, perplexed by the woman called Dani. “Yeah, you think?”
Nik nodded. “Yep, and I believe it when she says she can change you from a bull to a steer in under minute. One crack of that whip and your nuts are toast. She’s a handful, you may want to wear a cup, you know, protect the family jewels.”
There were chuckles all around.
“You gave up pretty damn quick,” Kris said snarling, narrowing his eyes on Nik.
“Hell yeah, it’ll be more fun watching you go down. You’re hooked, and damn near whipped already. You need a nut cup and a bib. Linnie give him one of the baby’s bibs.”
“Excuse me?” He was not whipped, he would never be whipped. They all ignored him.
“It’d be too small,” Linnie answered, laughing at his expense. “We could use a burping cloth though, that would work.”
“A bib? I don’t need no bib,” he responded firmly, annoyed with their ribbing.
“Ahh, yeah, you do,” Nik answered, nodding his head while exaggerating his words. “You’re slobbering like a baby and it’s embarrassing. Next you’ll be holding her purse while she shops the mall.”
More chuckles.
“Shut up, you’re an ass.”
“An ass with nuts, thank you very much.”
He ignored them. Taking his egg in one big bite, he chewed and swallowed as he sat thinking of things, the topic of her lingering in the air. “She’s a tough cookie. She won’t allow me to treat her like a lady, she won’t answer any personal questions, and she refused to go out to dinner or meet for drinks. And it’s abundantly clear, she’s the boss and means business, no messing around. It’s her way or no way, and I see no way out. My hands are tied, so I ain’t worried about holding her purse or going shopping as I’m going nowhere fast.”
“You’ve met your match,” Jake said, high fiving Nik. “I’m going to love watching this.”
“Yeah me too,” Nik added with a glimmer in his eye, happy to poke the rattlesnake. “You’ve always been domineering, but she’s the one with the whip. It’ll be entertaining watching her knock you on your ass.”
Pausing, he glared at his two smiling brothers. “You two are starting to piss me off with the less than flattering characterizations.”
“Awww, poor baby. Dad get your hanky, Kris’s feelings are hurt.”
“You need to find out where her interests lie, go from there,” Jules interrupted, stopping the fight that was sure to follow.
Looking at her perturbed, Kris replied with the obvious, “A little tough to do when she won’t answer personal questions.” Reaching for the rhubarb jam, he spread some on his toast.
Jake shook his head at his apparent ignorance. “Don’t ask, doofus, look around her. See what she’s involved in and take an interest, you’re bound to find common ground somewhere.”
Kris sat back in his chair and looked around the table in frustration. “Gosh, I thought flowers or candy maybe, tell her she looked pretty, or something else as equally nauseating.”
Everyone started shaking their heads, even his dad, and that was saying something.
“Umm, Kris, from the way things went yesterday, I don’t think she’d appreciate that,” Jules answered. “Plus it seems too soon. You’re going to have to take it real slow, it’s going to take some finesse, I think.”
“I don’t do slow,” he grumped, “and what the hell is finesse when it comes to a woman?”
Jules answered with a kind smile. “Use of skill and tact in dealing with a delicate situation.”
Nik laughed with glee, then said smugly. “Basically, your weakest area.”
The twerp was going to get it when the girls weren’t around.
“I’m with Jules,” Linnie added. “Think about it. I don’t think the tough girl thing’s an act, she was pretty quick and savvy with the responses yesterday, and as such, why would that be? I think she’s had to be tough, or risk being taken advantage of and maybe still was.”
Okay, so the thought of that helped to put the brakes on things. He couldn’t help but remember the scar on her cheek.
“Besides,” Nik spoke up, “you don’t tell a good looking woman they’re pretty, they hear that come on all the time. And in her case, I guarantee you she’d hate being valued for her looks. But if you decide to go for it, let me know first, I want to be there to see her take you down, maybe get some pictures.”
Why did he have to have brothers? “Very funny. Okay then, since you’re so smart, what do you say to a beautiful woman?”
Grabbing a hunk of meat, Nik answered, “Easy, you tell them how smart you find them, or how talented they are, and talk about the details like you mean it. She’s so smart, she’d see a con artist a mile away.”
“How would you know?”
Nik knocked on his head with his knuckles. “Learned the hard way on that one.”
Taking a drink of his coffee, Kris tried making things out like it was no big deal. “Yeah, I don’t know, I’m thinking it’s probably not worth the hassle.”
Jake and Nik fell back in their chairs laughing, knowing better. “Giving up already,” Jake asked, with a telltale grin. “I always knew you were a pansy.”
Giving him the bird, Kris looked across the table. “How about you Dad, what wealth of knowledge do you have to offer?”
Chewing on his toothpick, his dad sat contemplating, then answered, “Listen to Jules and Linnie. Some of the best times your mother and I ever had were spent just sitting together quietly or going for a walk. With Dani it would seem that less is better. I do wonder though, she’s pretty young to move away from everything and everyone she knows, and take on the responsibilities of a ranch all alone, albeit a small one. Seen a lot in my time, but something tells me there’s more to the story here, and given her behavior...” He shook his head a little and took a drink of his coffee. “I pretty much see red flags all over this one.”
Well, couple that with what Linnie had said, and Kris pretty much came to a complete stop. Could she be on the run? “I’ll finish up with the morning chores and head over there. We picked up supplies for a new fence yesterday and I’m sure she wants me to put it up.” Well, at least he thought she wanted his help.
“Head on over there now,” his dad answered. “Help her out, see if you can get a handle on what’s going on. I have a feeling in the pit of my stomach on this one, and when I get that, I never ignore it. It’ll take you most of the day, but you should be about done come sundown. We’ve got things here.”
CHAPTER 3
Driving to the end of the road and coming to the highway, Kris looked across the pavement to the ranch and sighed. He’d had a feeling. There she was, sledgehammer in hand, pounding sturdy metal posts into the ground. Of course she wouldn’t wait for him, now would she? Nope. She wasn’t acting like other women would. Wasn’t he supposed to like that? Isn’t that what he’d wanted in a woman? Yep, so why was he irritated that she hadn’t waited for him?
In the yard and through the gate, he drove across the pasture to her and stopped. Getting out, he knew better than to say anything other than a veiled compliment. Watching as she swung the sledgehammer, he waited. Her jeans were big and loose, her long sleeved chambray shirt even looser. She was sweaty from the exertion, and one shoulder length tendril of hair had escaped f
rom its hold. Looking at it, and then at her, he realized at that moment she had naturally curly hair. Well, he wasn’t so sure about curly, but from the looks of it, it was definitely wavy. She’d be a lot cooler if she wore a t-shirt, he thought. Finished, she turned to him, the hammer dropping to the ground with a thud.
“Got a head start,” she said breathlessly, her chest heaving as she took deep breaths. Reaching up, she captured the loose lock of hair and worked to tuck it back in with the rest.
Turning, he looked back at what she’d done, straight and even. She had to of started at the crack of dawn, so that meant four hours of hard labor. “You done good. Got some experience putting up fences, I see.”
“Yep. Put up my share of fences over the years.”
Glad he’d been thinking ahead, he said, “If you’re thirsty, I have a cooler in the truck.”
Taking a bandana out of her pocket, she wiped her face and made the dirt streaks worse. He had to work to hold back his smile. She was exhausted, he could tell, but he wouldn’t try and tell her that and expect to live to talk about it.
“Don’t mind if I do,” she answered, turning for the truck. “If you pound the posts, I’ll string the line.”
Nodding, he picked up the hammer. “I got it, go take a load off.”
Several hours later, Linnie and Jules arrived. Stopping partway down the drive and along the pasture, they got out of the car.
“Hey you two, you’re really coming along,” Linnie said, as she carefully stepped along the fence. “You’re way over half done.”
“We brought you some lunch,” Jules added, as she held up a bag and shook it.
Thank God, he was starving. “Sounds good, what are we having?” He gave Jules a grateful look as he took the bag.
Smiling, she responded with a small nod and pat on the hand as she looked over to Dani trying to measure the situation. “Italian roast beef hoagies with smoked Havarti and all the fixings, chips, pop, and a little something sweet. The sandwich is a trial recipe, let me know what you think.”
“Now you’re talking, bring it on,” he answered, damn near ready to faint from hunger.
“Dani, how you doing?” Linnie asked. “You find everything you’re looking for yesterday?”
Dani nodded. “Yeah, except for western and horse stuff, need to find a place for that. Thanks for lunch, you didn’t have to do that.”
Yes, they did, Kris thought, feeling kind of shaky. He was certain she would’ve worked till the job was done with nothing more than drinking water.
Linnie nodded. “Not sure what you need, but there is Luck Saddlery and Outfitters on Main Street.”
“Really?” Dani answered, surprised. “Guess I missed that yesterday on the tour. Thanks, that helps.”
“Maybe you two should take a break and finish tomorrow,” Jules suggested, looking at Dani, then added quickly, “You both look a bit tired.”
“Kris can stop if he wants,” Dani answered, “but I need to keep going. I have a couple horses arriving anytime now.”
Laughing to himself, he turned to her and said, “Let’s take a small break and eat, then we’ll keep going. We’ll be done in a few more hours. I won’t leave till the fence is up.”
She stopped and stared at him, then looked away as she gave a small nod of her head. The tension was palpable.
“Well, we have to get going,” Linnie said, with a smile. “We’re heading to Bella’s to get our hair cut, and then on to St. Croix. If you need anything, give us a call, we can pick it up.”
“Thanks, will do,” he hollered back, as he pulled down the tailgate of his truck. Opening the bag, he unloaded its contents. Grabbing the cooler, he went to her. “Hold out your hands.” Doing as he asked, he poured water over them, callouses and all, watched as she rubbed them around, then added more water, before doing his own. “Let’s eat.”
Grabbing some jalapeño peppers slices, she popped them in her mouth. Then she grabbed some more and put them on a sandwich with a boat load of onions and green peppers. So, she likes spicy vegetables, he thought. He sat on the tailgate, while she stood. “Why not sit down?” he suggested more than asked.
“Because, I want to stand.”
“We’ve worked the last several hours without so much as a word. Can we talk?”
“I don’t want to keep you from your chores,” she snipped.
Definitely not like other women, they always wanted to keep a man around while they did a bunch of nothing. “You aren’t.”
Now she snapped, “I find that hard to believe, I’m not ignorant.”
“No one said you were.”
Silence.
He tried again. “I’m in charge of land and crops, so I have a little time right now as I just got the crops in the ground, and it’s not haying time yet, so yeah... Dad, Jake, and Nik have milking covered. You’ve been working hard. Please sit.”
She sat.
“What kind of horses do you train?”
“You don’t have to do this,” she responded looking off in the distance.
“No, I don’t,” he answered calmly, “but I want to. Now, what kind of horses do you train?”
“Any kind,” she answered briskly.
“What kind do you have arriving?”
“I don’t know.”
“How long have you been training horses?”
“Most of my life.”
“Who’d you learn from?”
“Anyone, everyone, but mostly I learned from the horses themselves.”
“Do you have family?”
She hopped off the tailgate, shoved the last bite of her sandwich in her mouth, then walked over to the sledgehammer and picked it up. Moving to the next fence post lying on the ground, she stood it on end and lined it up. He watched as she started pounding it into the ground. He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination or not, but he could swear she was using a little extra force with each blow.
Later that evening, the fence up and back home, Kris showered and headed for town. Stopping at the Bottleshop on Main and the Flying Pie, he picked up beer and pizza for what he hoped would be an evening together. Other than when they’d eaten, they hadn’t talked all day. So, he pretty much decided against asking her if she wanted to get together or not, because he knew she’d just say no. Instead, he just went ahead and did it, hoping like hell she didn’t throw his ass out.
He didn’t know a damn thing about horses, or horse related stuff, so he had no clue as to what to talk to her about and she’d given him nothing to go on. Why did women have to be so difficult, he wondered. Hell if he knew, but he wasn’t about to quit yet, there was something about her that told him to keep going. She was the antithesis of what he’d become accustomed to in a woman, and yet to him, she was just that, a woman, more so than all the rest. Don’t tell her that, he thought shaking his head. The more she wasn’t like other women, the more woman she was. His mind spun circles, baffled at the conundrum,
She’d worked as hard as him without complaining, surprise. She didn’t like to talk, shocker. She was fiercely independent, not clingy, double shocker. No girly, frilly, giggly shit for her, big bonus and huge relief for him. No dinner dates, which meant no dancing, hallelujah! No bullshit, no pretenses, ding, ding, score. In fact, she struck him as the kind that would help a guy pack his bags if he threatened to leave, and then would kindly remind him to not let the door strike him in the ass as she kicked him out. He really needed to watch it with her, or he may find himself sitting in a pile of horseshit.
Pulling up in front of her house, he headed into the porch and knocked, wondering if he should’ve listened to Nik and worn his nut cup just in case. Waiting, he soon heard her come to the door. Moving the curtain on the little window, she looked and saw him. Opening the door a crack, she gave him a plain and profound, “What?”
“I brought pizza.”
“I’m not hungry.” Her stomach growled and they both heard it.
Smiling, because he’d expected as much,
he said, “It’s got everything on it, and it’s an extra-large.”
“Not hungry.” Her stomach growled even louder.
Now what? “I brought beer.”
“Well why didn’t you say so?” she snapped.
The door fell open and he carefully looked inside. She’d already turned and walked away. Stepping into the house and closing the door, he took a few steps in and stopped, staring at her. “Ahhh, what are you wearing?”
“Don’t tell me you’ve never seen hip waders before,” she responded coolly to the inquiry.
Man, she was bitter. “Well yes, but why are you wearing them?”
“Because.”
Alright, he refused to give up. “Because why?”
“Because I found them in the closet and wanted to see if they fit.” Annoyed, she turned and went through a doorway to the next room.
Setting his load on the counter, he stepped to the oven and turned it on. “It’s a take and bake pizza, you want a beer while we wait?” he asked loudly, as he went to the fridge. He would see this through, he would.
“Sure, why not.”
Opening the fridge door, he stood staring at its contents, a gallon of milk, some carrots, some apples. That was it, and he’d bet the carrots and apples were for the horses. Grabbing two beers, he shut the fridge door. Walking into the dining room, he stopped again and couldn’t help but stare. Wearing nothing more than shorts and a white tank that detailed her figure beautifully, she stood in front of the table. She was shapely, nicely muscled in a natural, healthy way, and a lot thinner than her men’s clothes made her out to be. Her hair was wet, and long, and yes, it was very wavy. He definitely liked what he saw and had to swallow a time or two.
Leaning, she reached, picked something up from a chair, and put it on the table. His heart started pounding and he held his breath as she opened the box. Feeling a catch deep inside when he saw the contents, he knew something momentous had just happened within him and he was hooked. His breath left him and time slowed.
She must have sensed it, because he watched as she turned her head and stared at him over her shoulder, those stormy, steely blue eyes of hers warning him. He knew that look, he’d worn it himself, she was hurting and in pain. She’s been hurt, bad, and she was the one for him, he knew it. Damn it.