The Outlaw Biker's Betrayal: A Bad Boy MC Romance
Page 16
The Rancher’s Touch
By: Evelyn Stone
The Rancher’s Touch
© Evelyn Stone, December 2015 – All rights reserved
Published by Steamy Reads Publishing
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events are purely coincidental. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.
This book may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please return it to the seller and purchase a copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.
Warning
This book contains graphic content intended for readers 18+ years old.
If you are under 18 years old, or are not comfortable with adult content, please close this book now.
Chapter 1
Wyatt sat in the office, his laptop precariously balanced on his thighs and his cowboy boots propped up on the desk. He’d had every intention of getting started on the invoices that he had been putting off for three weeks now, but something else caught his eye. As he’d been scouring his email for the cattle feed invoice another email had begged for his attention instead.
Find Yourself a Beautiful Girl Today!
The title had all but forced him to open the email. Finding a beautiful girl when you worked all hours that God sends on a cattle ranch wasn’t easy. Not many girls ever swung by the ranch, and the ones that did usually had an attitude as big as their largest bull.
The link inside the email had redirected Wyatt to a website named “Country Hearts” that touted “Mail Order Brides for the Discerning Man.” Wyatt Bolton was certainly a discerning man. In fact, Wyatt Bolton was such a discerning man that he hadn’t had a date in going on two years. It was time, he decided, that that changed.
Wyatt, standing at 6’2 and having the physique of a professional athlete more than that of a professional cattle rancher, wasn’t a bad looking man. He had been blessed with his father’s good looks and there had yet to be a single woman who didn’t do a double take when he walked in to the room. Unlike his equally handsome brother however, Wyatt didn’t nod his head to every woman that asked for a date. Despite missing the company, he knew that he wasn’t going to find what he was looking for in any of the women who had come in to his life so far.
Disregarding his skepticism, Wyatt set up a profile on “Country Hearts,” and began clicking around. There were plenty of profiles to look through, but as he suspected, many of them looked like fakes. There were plenty of model pictures and even more women claiming to be the ultimate woman. If they were the ultimate woman, Wyatt thought, they surely wouldn’t be spending their time searching for love on a mail order bride website.
“What a waste of time!” He said. Just as he closed the browser, the door to his office flung open and Colby stood in the doorway.
“Well, good mornin’ big brother.” He tipped his cowboy hat and nodded his head.
“Mornin’ Colby.” Wyatt didn’t look up from the laptop, he already knew why his brother was there.
“You get any of those invoices paid? I’ve had the feed company on my ass again this mornin’” Wyatt shook his head.
“I’m doin’ it now.” Colby sat down in the chair on the other side of Wyatt’s desk and propped his cowboy boots up on the desk.
“You can’t push it off this long, Wyatt. I get more backtalk from those guys looking for their money than I’d get from a teenage girl. Lord knows you need a woman to keep you on top of things.” Colby smirked.
“We need a damn accountant, that’s what we need.” Wyatt snapped back. He had never asked to be put in charge of the ranch’s financial accounts but as the older of the two brothers, the role had fallen in his lap after their father had passed away. The brothers had wound up running the ranch at the tender ages of 22 and 23 when their father died suddenly of a heart attack. Neither one had been prepared for the responsibility, but neither one had the heart to let the family business go down the drain.
“Welp, I’m all for it if it’ll stop these guys from callin’ me all the damn time.” Colby took off his hat and set it on his lap as he scratched his head through his ruffled brown hair. “If I remember rightly, Hank’s wife is an accountant or somethin’ like that.” Colby reached down and picked up his hat. “I’ll give him a call and see if she can’t work out a deal for us.” Colby put his hat back on and stood up. “I reckon’ she’ll say yes just on account of it bein’ me doin’ the askin’.” Wyatt shrugged.
“Whatever it takes. All I know is that I’m sick to death of tryin’ to make head or tail of these invoices.” Colby chuckled as he walked towards the door.
“Math never was your strongpoint.” As he got to the door Wyatt’s laptop dinged and Colby turned around. “You remember when ma used to have to rope you to the danged chair to get you to sit down and do your homework?” Wyatt nodded, distracted by the new window that had popped up on his laptop.
“What can I say, I’m more of an outdoors kinda guy. Give me cattle and a horse to ride and I’m happier than any accountant.” Colby laughed, a loud echoing laugh.
“I know that’s right! Well, I’ll go see if I can’t get hold of Hank and I’ll fill you in later.” As Colby walked away leaving the office door open behind him, Wyatt clicked on the small window that had opened up on his laptop screen.
How exciting! You’ve received your first wink!
Wyatt clicked the link below the announcement and was taken back to his profile on “Country Hearts.” There he saw one smiling winking smiley face looking back at him. He attempted to click it, but nothing happened. Just then there was another ding and the small email notification on the website flashed at him.
1 New Message
Wyatt clicked the notification and the site took him to a message inbox.
Hi MontanaRancher, I just ran across your profile and Thought you sounded like my kind of guy! I was beginning to think that no one but me used this website! My name is Ruth. You can find out more about me on my profile, but I’m actually coming to Montana tomorrow for a work thing and thought it might be fun to meet up? I know it sounds sorta crazy, but hey, you only live once, right? Hope to hear back from you soon!
Ruth
Wyatt clicked the picture beside Ruth’s name and was taken to her “Country Hearts” profile.
Wyatt had never particularly had a ‘type,’ it was more that he knew what he liked when he saw it. There was something about Ruth that he liked. She was a big girl judging from her pictures. She had a more than ample bosom and long dark hair that curled around her face and fell past her shoulders. She wore a red checkered shirt in her profile picture and enough makeup to look pretty without looking like she was trying to hide something. Wyatt stared at her broad smile and her big hazel eyes. It didn’t take him more than a second to know that he was going to have to meet up with her.
Ruth, I don’t normally agree to this type of thing but after looking at your profile I just can’t say no. I’m out in Bigfork, not sure where you are traveling to, but I’d be happy to meet you somewhere. Call me (406) 555 – 5765.
Wyatt.
After hitting ‘Send,’ Wyatt set his laptop on the desk and headed out to oversee the morning deliveries with his phone clutched tightly in his hand.
Chapter 2
Colby had managed to convince Hank’s wife to act as the Bolton Brothers Ranch accountant for much less than he had been prepared to pay. She had tried to negotiate but when Colby agreed to ta
ke her as a date to the next cattle auction, she had agreed to the discount salary.
There was nothing that Colby Bolton couldn’t get by using a little charm and he knew it. He wasn’t entirely thrilled about the idea of taking Mary to the auction with him, but it wouldn’t do any harm. Despite her flirtation with Colby, Mary was very much married to Hank.
“Hey bro!” Colby stuck his head in to the office looking for Wyatt. When he found the room empty he decided to check up on his big brother. He had no intention of snooping, per se, rather, he just wanted to see if he was going to be fielding more calls from the feed company. Sitting down in Wyatt’s chair, Colby rubbed his finger across the touchpad and brought the screen to life. As he did, the first thing to pop up on the screen was a picture of Ruth. “Well hello there…” Colby glanced towards the door and when he saw no one coming he took a snapshot of her profile with his phone. He didn’t want Wyatt to know that he’d unintentionally been snooping around but he did want to know a little more about RamblinRose69.
Ensuring that he left the laptop exactly the way that he had found it, Colby slipped out of Wyatt’s office. As he headed back to his own office, Colby glanced at the picture he had taken of Ruth’s profile. Beside her picture was a list of her basic information:
Age: 25
Build: Curvy
Smoker: No
Drinker: No
But underneath all of that was her little blurb. As Colby slipped in to his office he shut the door behind him and sat down to read it.
My name is Ruth and I’m looking to lasso myself a real life cowboy – preferably the tall, dark and handsome type. I enjoy outdoor activities and have a passion for the country air. You can probably tell from my username that I can be a bit of a wild spark, but I always bring the fun to the party!
Colby read over it twice, a huge grin plastered across his face. He had to know more about her. With no other contact information listed for her on her profile however, the only option he had was to find her on the website in the picture.
As Colby set up his profile on “Country Hearts” using his laptop, he wondered why Wyatt had had Ruth’s picture pulled up. She definitely wasn’t his type of girl. While Colby wasn’t exactly sure what Wyatt’s type of girl was, he did know that he had never seen him with a chubbier girl. Perhaps, he rationalized, she had sent him a message and Wyatt had clicked her profile to find out who she was. There was no way that she was Wyatt’s type.
Once his profile was set up, Colby typed in the URL from the picture and was redirected to Ruth’s profile page. He clicked on the small winking icon and then the email icon.
Ruth, I ran across your profile and I have to tell you that while I’ve never been with a larger woman before, you are incredibly gorgeous. Would you be interested in hooking up some time? Colby
P.S. Call me (406) 555 – 5989
Colby sat staring at the picture of Ruth in her red plaid shirt. The way she smiled out from the screen made him automatically smile right back at her. As he stared at her, he wondered what it would be like to be with a chubby woman. Sure, he’d been with his fair share of women, but they had all been the slender built women that he seemed to attract. Never in his life had a larger woman approached him for a date. Now that he was staring at one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen, he couldn’t help but feel as though he’d been missing out. As he thought about the potential of hooking up with Ruth, Colby could feel his body responding. Just as he was about to do something to release the tension that he had built up however, his cell phone rang. The 307 area code wasn’t one that he recognized and for a moment he considered not answering in case it was another vendor in search of their payment.
“Hello?” He answered as soon as he remembered that he had given Ruth his number.
“Hello?” The woman on the other end of the phone had a soft voice and a definitive drawl. “Is this Colby?” Colby found himself smiling.
“Yes, this is me.” He heard her giggle.
“Hi Colby, this is Ruth…you emailed me on Country Hearts?” Colby spun his chair around, turning his back to the office door.
“You’re a fast mover!” Colby chuckled.
“Well, like my profile says – I can be a bit of a wild spark!” Colby licked his lips and leaned back in his chair.
“Is that so? Well, wild spark, how would you like to come pay me a visit and show me just how wild you can be?” Ruth giggled again.
“Are you in Montana?” She asked.
“Yup, Bigfork, Montana.” There was a pause.
“That’s strange.” She said quietly.
“What’s that?” Colby asked.
“Oh, nothing. I’m actually headed in to Evergreen tomorrow for a work thing.” She left the suggestion open.
“That’s not that far from here…how about you give ol’ Colby a call when you’re ready to get out of that ‘work thing’ and I’ll come meet you there?”
“That sounds like a great plan.” Ruth said, an obvious smile in her voice. “I should be finished around 3, but I’ll see if I can’t get out of there sooner.”
“Then I’ll see you then.”
Chapter 3
Wyatt had just finished helping the ranch hand unload the hay delivery for the horses when his cell phone rang. Wiping his sleeve across his sweaty brow he nodded at the ranch hand and walked around to the side of the stable.
“Hello?”
“Hello?” The female voice was soft and Wyatt couldn’t help but smile when he heard her. “Is this Wyatt?” She asked.
“Yes, ma’am, this is Wyatt. Is this Ruth?” He asked hopefully. She giggled.
“Yes, sir, this is Ruth.” Wyatt leaned up against the side of the stable.
“I’m glad you called me.”
“Well, I couldn’t resist a real live cowboy!” She giggled again and Wyatt laughed quietly.
“I don’t know that I’d call myself a real live cowboy…I’m more of a rancher.”
“Hmmm, well in my mind you’re a cowboy.” Wyatt sat down on a bale of hay.
“You said you were coming to Montana tomorrow?” He asked.
“Uh huh. I have a work thing in Evergreen but it should be over by late afternoon.” Ruth didn’t give him a time, she wanted to make sure that she had enough time to meet with Colby as well.
“Well, you wanna give me a call when you’re through? I can come get you?” Ruth contemplated this for a second.
“How about I’ll give you a call when I’m through and then I’ll come to you. I’m kind of curious to see where my cowboy lives.” Wyatt laughed and shook his head.
“Sure, that’ll work. There isn’t much to see once it gets dark though.” Ruth smiled broadly.
“Oh, I’m pretty sure that I can think of something to look at.” Wyatt smirked, Ruth was going to be a handful in more than one way.
“Well then, that sounds mighty fine.” Ruth bit down on her lip. She hated to take advantage of a guy like Wyatt, he sounded so nice. She couldn’t help herself though, she had a hankering for a cowboy of her own and setting up dates with Colby and Wyatt meant twice the chance of finding the right one. She had always wanted to be a cowboy’s wife.
“Will you do me a favor, Wyatt?”
“What’s that?” He asked as he looked out over the pasture.
“Would you wear a cowboy hat?” Wyatt laughed.
“Sure thing.”
After he hung up the phone, Wyatt sat on the bale of hay staring out over the pasture for a while longer. He couldn’t help thinking about the way that Ruth had said ‘my cowboy.’ She certainly seemed to know what she wanted and Wyatt hoped that he could be it. With as fast as things had moved though, he felt himself getting a little anxious that it would all end up fizzling out in no time. The more he thought about Ruth, the more he didn’t want things to fizzle out, he could see himself next to a pretty girl like that for the rest of his life.
“Hey, there you are!” Colby rounded the corner of the stable. “I’v
e been lookin’ all over the place for you!” Wyatt stood up.
“What is it?” He asked. Colby shook his head innocently.
“Nothin’. Just wanted to let you know that Hank’s wife agreed to do the accounts. We’re gonna bring her on part time.” Wyatt felt a weight lift off his shoulders.
“Is it gonna cost us a fortune?” Colby shook his head.
“Nope. I do, however, have to take her to the next cattle auction as my date…” Wyatt laughed.
“Oh geez, what about Hank? What did he have to say about that?” Colby shrugged.
“I didn’t ask him. He’s not my husband.” Wyatt didn’t know how Colby could get away with half of the things that he did without ending up being shot behind a barn somewhere.
“When does she start?” Colby hadn’t actually asked her when she could start.
“Umm, probably Monday but I’ll call and check on Friday. Right now I need to head in to town and pick up a new shirt, I got me a date tomorrow!” Wyatt shook his head.
“When don’t you have a date? What’s so special about this one that you need a new shirt anyway?” Colby shrugged.