by S. E. Smith
“I haven’t had a chance to look at the wood stove yet. I don’t want to take a chance of burning the place down now that I have it cleaned,” she said with a wave of her hand at the old blackened potbelly stove. She paused a moment to look at the two men who were still staring at her as if they had never seen a girl before. “Coffee, tea, or me?” She asked with a humorous twist to her lips as she wondered if they even heard anything she was saying.
“You,” they both breathed at the same time in low gruff voices.
Indy chuckled and shook her head before turning back to the small propane stove she had. Well, that blew that theory out of the water. They were listening, at least to some of what she was saying.
“That was just a joke, I’m not on the menu. Do you want coffee or tea? If you want coffee, it will have to be the instant stuff,” Indy said pulling three old tin cups off a long shelf over the long wooden plank that acted as a countertop.
She normally didn’t drink the instant stuff as it was a little strong for her but she felt it might help her right about now. She glanced over her shoulder when neither one answered her right away. She waited patiently until Jonathan finally swallowed and answered her.
“Coffee would be nice,” Jonathan replied hoarsely still staring at Indy’s face.
In all his life he had never seen a woman as beautiful, or as different, as her. She had a coating of freckles across her delicate little nose. He decided he wanted to kiss every single one of them before he checked out the rest of her to see if she had any more.
Indy nodded once, turning back to focus on the little Sterno stove she was using to heat the water instead of the two men who continued to stare silently at her. When it was hot, she emptied the little packets of instant coffee into each cup and poured the hot water over it. She stirred it before turning back to hand a cup to each man. As she did, she studied each of them under her eyelashes for a moment trying to gauge what they were thinking. Both had a range of emotions crossing their faces. Jacob’s was speculative and curious while Jonathan’s face was dark and intense. A shiver passed through Indy as she flushed and looked away.
No, this does not bode well for my continued employment, she thought in despair.
“If you want any cream or sugar I have some packets,” Indy said waving the two men toward the rickety chairs next to the table.
She jumped up and sat on the wooden plank that acted as a countertop in the kitchen. The only other place to sit was on the bed and that was not the place she wanted to be sitting if the heated looks she was getting from Jonathan were anything to go by. She swore if his stare got any hotter she would catch fire. As it was, she could feel her skin flushing from the intensity and it took everything in her not to fan herself.
“Where in the hell are your clothes?” Jonathan finally choked out as his gaze was captured by something sparkling near Indy’s belly button which was peeking out from her unbuttoned shirt.
Indy looked down and frowned in confusion. “It was too hot to wear my jeans. Besides, it isn’t often we get a warm day like today and I wanted to work on my tan,” she added with a shrug.
“Tan?” Jacob whispered following Indy’s legs as they swung back and forth.
Indy shook her head in frustration. “Listen, I don’t think you came down here to discuss my attire. Do you need me to start back to work sooner?” She asked Jonathan before directing her next question to Jacob. “Mr. Turner, how many horses did you purchase? I heard you needed help with training them. How much time do we have before they need to be ready for resale?” She asked in a tone that she hoped was business-like.
Indy thought it would be better to direct the conversation back to the business at hand. What she chose to wear or not wear was insignificant compared to whether she still had a job or not as far as she was concerned. Besides, she still had a lot of work to do on the cabin. She was going to have to work even harder at getting it ready if they needed her to start back tomorrow instead of the day after.
“Work?” Jacob asked distractedly as Indy leaned back to pick up a little pack of cream and sugar to put in her coffee. The sun coming in behind her reflected off the sparkle at her waist again.
“What in the hell is that?” Jonathan finally asked standing up so fast he almost knocked the chair over.
Indy frowned down in confusion at the little white packets in her hand. “Cream and sugar. I don’t really care for black coffee,” she responded, looking up at Jonathan as he stood unexpectedly.
Shaking his head, Jonathan walked slowly towards the counter where Indy was sitting. “No, on your….” Jonathan swallowed past the sudden lump in his throat. “On your stomach,” he said, nodding to the glittering crystals.
Indy leaned back again so the sun could shine on her smooth, toned stomach. Stretching out, she looked at her belly button ring. Puzzled, she said, “It’s my belly button ring. It is one of the few concessions to my feminine side. I thought it would be nice to get my belly button pierced but wasn’t brave enough to do it at first. Sam’s son, Taylor, dared me to get it. You should have seen his eyes the time I wore my bathing suit. I thought I was going to have to give him mouth to mouth,” she responded with a chuckle. “It served him right,” she added looking up with a mischievous grin at remembering Taylor’s reaction to her in her two-piece at a barbecue Sam and Claire threw at the end of summer this past year.
“Ah, shit,” Jacob said looking at the glittering jewel hanging down. He had never seen anything so sexy in his life. He had never seen anything like it in his life. He pulled at the front of his pants trying to find a more comfortable position as his cock swelled at the glimmering jewel.
Jonathan didn’t even try to hide the bulge in the front of his pants. He was so turned on at that moment he was ready to take Indy right there on the counter. Moving to stand in front of her, he reached out a finger and touched the tiny jewel. His heart hammered as his finger brushed the soft, warm skin of her stomach. He drew in a swift breath as a wave of possessiveness surged through him with an unexpected ferocity that left him shaking.
Indy looked up startled as she felt the light touch of Jonathan’s finger as it slid along her skin. “Guess you guys have never seen a belly button ring before, huh?” She whispered out.
Pushing back against Jonathan, she jumped down off the counter. She moved toward the old black wood stove in an excuse to throw the papers from the packets into it. She didn’t understand what was happening to her, only that his touch left her feeling hot and - bothered. It felt like he had sent an electric jolt through her. His closeness was doing stuff to her insides she didn’t like and definitely wasn’t sure of how to handle. Distance was her best bet until she had time to analyze what was happening.
“So, do you need me to start tomorrow or do I still report the day after?” She asked breathlessly as she turned back around to stare at both men.
“You won’t be reporting for anything!” Jonathan responded as he turned to stare at her, suddenly furious.
Anger, sexual frustration, and an overwhelming feeling of possessiveness coursed through him in wave after wave of unfamiliar feelings. She had tricked them. She had tricked him! She knew he thought she was a ‘he’ and never said anything. Not only that, but she had been out on the range for the past four weeks with just about every cowpuncher on the ranch - all alone, damn it.
“You lead me to believe you were a boy,” Jonathan accused between clenched teeth.
“I never said I was a boy,” Indy clarified defensively. “I never lied to you or anyone else,” she added stubbornly.
“You said you were old enough to shave,” Jonathan pointed out looking at Indy’s smooth face.
“And I am. I shave my legs regularly as well as other places,” Indy replied calmly, lifting up her right leg to show him how smooth it was.
Her comment had both men’s eyes swiveling to her long, smooth leg with its toned muscles and light tan. Jacob choked back a deep groan. Jonathan didn’t bother to contain
the hiss that escaped his lips as the pressure in his pants increased tenfold. The image of those long, smooth legs, wrapped tightly around his waist, floated through his mind in vivid detail.
“Jacob, step outside,” Jonathan growled out in a low, dangerous voice.
“What?” Jacob looked up startled at Jonathan.
“Leave, now. Wait for me outside,” Jonathan said harshly. He turned a strained look toward his brother as he silently pleaded with him to understand. “Please.”
Jacob looked for a moment between Indy and Jonathan before a slow, small smile curved his lips. “Sure, I’ll be outside checking out the horses.” Tilting his hat to Indy, Jacob walked out of the cabin leaving his brother and Indy alone.
“Who sent you?” Jonathan asked quietly as he took a menacing step closer to where Indy stood next to the old black stove.
Indy watched Jonathan, not understanding what was going on but feeling like she had suddenly jumped in the deep end of the pool only to discover she couldn’t swim. “No one sent me. I was passing through when I heard gunfire. Jake and Cal told you what happened,” she said, nervously pushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear as he took another step closer to her.
Jonathan’s mind was in a whirl. She had to be lying to him. There was no way someone hadn’t sent her. Every mother and father within a hundred mile range wanted their daughter married to one of the Tucker brothers. But how could she have tricked all of his men for so long out on the range? He remembered Jake telling him she had set her camp up away from the others. Someone must have brought her supplies or helped her survive. There was no way a woman could have traveled, must less survived, without help.
“Who are your parents? Where is your family?” Jonathan asked in a deceptively calm voice. “Where are you from?” He continued, firing off one question after another.
Indy looked at her boss with growing anger. She wasn’t going to tell him anything. If Hayden had put out a missing person’s poster with a hefty reward for information on her, she sure as hell wasn’t going to help her older brother by making it easy to find her. Besides, she didn’t owe anyone anything. It looked like she was going to have to be moving on whether she wanted to or not.
“I told you my parents were dead so there is no need to know who they were,” she stated coldly, clenching her hands by her side. “Where I am from is my own business. You hired me over four weeks ago to do a job and I proved I could do it. That is my reference,” she insisted passionately.
Jonathan took the last step bringing him within touching distance of the small, defiant figure standing proudly in front of him. “You’ll tell me who your parents are and where you are from so I can notify them to come get you immediately,” he demanded in the same calm, deadly voice he had been using since Jacob left them alone.
“I’ll tell you when hell freezes over,” Indy responded hotly. She would never go back. She would never let Hayden get his greedy hands on her. “Do I start tomorrow or the next day? If not, tell me now and I’ll be out of here first thing in the morning,” she said bitterly, tossing her head and tilting her chin in determination.
Jonathan stood looking down at Indy’s defiant face. He could tell from the way she was pursing her lips together she wasn’t going to tell him anything. Just the thought of those lush lips caused him to wonder what she would taste like. Hell, if her mother and father were so desperate as to send their daughter to his ranch without a chaperone, the least he could get from the aggravation was a kiss. Jonathan pulled Indy against his hard body, not giving her a chance to protest. He crushed her lips with his own in a passionate kiss that told her without a whisper of doubt just how much he wanted her. He would see just how she felt about that.
Chapter 6
Indy was shocked when Jonathan grabbed her, pulling her into his strong arms. She was even more astounded when he crushed his lips to hers in a kiss that left her head spinning. Moaning, she slowly raised her arms up to wrap them around his neck. It had been a long time since she had been kissed. Even then, it had been Sam’s boys just trying to teach her how it was done. She had never really had time to have a real boyfriend. Between her schooling, taking care of her grandfather and the work demanded by living on a working ranch, boys had been at the very bottom of her list of things to do. Indy opened her mouth when she felt the nip of his teeth along her bottom lip. When he slid his tongue into her mouth she gently closed her teeth down around it, sucking it in before pressing back with her own. God, he tasted so good.
Jonathan groaned at the response Indy was giving him. He had never wanted a woman as badly as he wanted the one he held possessively against him right now. His arms tightened around her soft curves, pulling her even closer against his hard body. He pressed his throbbing shaft against her wishing he could rip both their clothes off right then and there. When he had first crushed her lips to his, he half expected her to pull back and slap him. The last thing he expected was the passionate response he was getting. She met him head on, giving back as much as she was taking. When she sucked on his tongue he almost came right there in her arms like a young boy kissing his first girl.
Pressing Indy up against the counter, Jonathan finally pulled back just enough to look down into her flushed, dazed face. Both of them were breathing hard. He drew in a shuddering breath as he tried to clear his head enough to think.
“Tell me who sent you. I’ll let them know their ruse worked. Do they want money or just the honor of saying their daughter belongs to one of the Tucker men? Tell me who I need to contact,” Jonathan demanded tersely. He wanted Indy and if it meant marrying her to get her, he would.
It took a moment for Indy to understand what he was demanding. Anger burned at the thought that he was willing to use any underhanded method he could to get information from her. The passion-filled cloud surrounding her brain suddenly cleared as anger took over where uncontrollable desire had been only seconds before.
Well, two could play this game, she thought savagely as self-preservation returned with a vengeance to her lust-filled body.
Leaning up and pressing her breasts against his chest, Indy ran her tongue over his bottom lip seductively before replying in a cold voice. “You can take your demand and shove it up your ass before I tell you anything,” she bit out softly before pushing him out of the way and walking over to the door. She looked at him over her shoulder as she lifted the latch on the thin wooden door. “Now if you don’t mind, I have work to finish before it gets dark,” she added coldly as she yanked the door open.
She stepped outside onto the small covered porch and grabbed her work pouch and hammer off the small shelf near the door. She tossed her head in challenge to Jacob as she walked past him toward the lean-to that desperately needed attention. She ignored his startled look, refusing to show him how embarrassed she was at responding to his brother’s underhanded methods of trying to get information out of her. As far as she was concerned, Jonathan, Jacob, Hayden, and every other controlling, conniving, deceitful male could go to hell. She was better off on her own.
Jonathan stormed out of the cabin after her, his long legs eating up the distance between them as he came up behind her in determination. He grabbed her arm as she stepped toward the sagging horse stall. Swinging her around, he clenched his teeth trying to hold back his temper.
“Tell me who sent you, damn it. I said I would let them know I would marry you,” he snarled in frustration.
“Marry?” Indy repeated in confusion until his words sunk in. “Marry you!” Indy screeched the second time in disbelief as his words finally penetrated the red haze of rage swirling through her brain. “Who the hell said I wanted to get married? I just hired on as a cowpuncher, not a whore. I wouldn’t marry you if you were the last man on earth!” She snapped heatedly looking at him as if he was insane.
“Your days as a cowpuncher on this ranch are through,” Jonathan growled deeply, cutting the air with a wave of his hand to emphasize his point.
“Are you firi
ng me, then?” Indy asked glaring up at Jonathan.
“You’re damn right I’m firing you. I’m also going to haul your ass back to Meeteetse and find out who sent you in the first place,” Jonathan replied hotly glaring down into Indy’s green eyes that had darkened with emotion as his words cut through her.
“Fine! You don’t have to fire me. I quit! I never wanted to work for this two-bit dump anyway. But, for your information I am staying at least one more night in that damn cabin since I spent so much time cleaning and fixing it up. Now get the hell out of my sight before I sic the boys on you,” Indy yelled, furious he had the nerve to fire her. She was so mad she was ready to scream. Of all the arrogant jerks! To think she wanted to marry him after one little kiss. If she had married every guy she had ever kissed she would have been married at least three or four times by now!
*.*.*
Jacob came up behind Jonathan and laid a calming hand on his brother’s shoulder. He was warily watching Indy. Fear, defeat, and resignation crossed her face before her lips tightened in determination. He watched her hand tremble slightly before her fingers tightened around the hammer she was holding. From the look on her face, he had no doubt she would either follow through with sic’ing the dogs on them or using the hammer to knock some sense into his stubborn-headed brother.
“Come on, Jonathan. We need to talk,” Jacob said softly, pulling his brother back a step.
Jonathan stared at Indy a moment before turning sharply on his heel and striding over to the buckboard with a curse. He was still reeling from the kiss they had exchanged in the cabin. Hell, he felt like someone had cold-cocked him in the head. He didn’t know if he wanted to kiss her senseless or throttle her for being so damn hard-headed. Climbing up next to Jacob, he picked up the reins before looking down at Indy who was standing by the leaning horse stall, defiantly glaring back at him.