by Shayna Ryan
He tried to concentrate as he readied the horse for their ride, but all he could picture were her green eyes staring back at him. Getting ahold of himself, he vowed to try to find some other woman on the ranch to start something with. Melanie and young Cass certainly couldn’t be his only options.
“You ready yet, slowpoke?” Melanie called to him from the open barn door. She was already on top of her mount, waiting for him.
“Just about,” he replied as he slid the bit into Gobie’s mouth. He fastened the bridle and led the gelding out of the barn. Melanie watched him as he mounted his horse and settled into the saddle. “So where are we headed?”
“Just follow me. Let’s get these guys warmed up a bit first.” Without waiting for a reply, she turned her mare and set her walking down the barn drive. Billy followed suit, trying hard not to notice her cute behind rocking in the saddle.
He urged his horse to walk on a little bit faster, so that he was side by side with Melanie. They rode in amicable silence for a bit, and Billy found himself gradually relaxing. He hoped he’d eventually reach the point where he didn’t feel so unsettled around her all the time.
He let her choose their path as they rode, and he did his best to assess the mount he had chosen. Gobie was sure footed and responsive to gentle commands, making him an ideal partner for working around the ranch. He needed to test him out at faster gaits before he was secure in decision.
Gentle pressure to his flank told Gobie to speed it up to a good trot. Billy heard Melanie laughing behind him as she urged her mount to keep up with them.
“So you wanna go faster?” she teased, with a twinkle in her eye. “Race you to the frog pond!” She gave her horse a swift kick and took off down a side path.
Billy grinned and urged his horse on as well. He felt like a kid again, racing his friend to their beloved frog pond. Ahead of him, Melanie veered off the path and onto a smaller one that led across the lush meadows. She held onto her cowgirl hat with one hand as her hair billowed out behind her.
“Eat my dust, Billy!” she called over her shoulder, laughing at their old childhood joke. Billy grinned and urged Gobie to go faster, ever faster. The race was on.
He had caught up to her by the time they made it the half mile to the pond.
“I think we should declare it a draw,” he told her wryly.
“No way! I beat you fair and square!” she declared as she slid off her mount. Billy dismounted as well and let his horse drink from the pond. He surveyed the land around him as Gobie drank his fill. It was the same as ever, though the pond seemed smaller now that he was no longer a boy.
“Catch me a frog?” Melanie asked playfully.
“You want a frog?” He looked at her quizzically.
“Not really,” she shrugged with a grin. “I just wanted to see if you were still the frog catching champion you used to be.”
Billy flushed with pleasure at her teasing, and rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of how to respond. She was acting like he’d never left, joking and teasing him like they were still just two kids enjoying a pleasant spring day out on the trails.
Melanie led her horse to a nearby tree to tie her up. “C’mon, let’s sit on the bank like we used to.”
Billy’s heart beat a little faster in his chest. This was quickly shifting from a trip to try out his personal mount to something more. Nothing but friends, he reminded himself sternly. He tied up Gobie and left him to graze before joining Melanie on the grassy shore of the pond.
They sat in silence for a moment, and suddenly, Billy realized just how right it had been for him to return to the Haffner ranch. No matter that Melanie was spoken for; he had always known that was a possibility. This place was home, even if she was off limits.
She scooted closer to him so that they were almost touching, and cleared her throat. “So, did you ever wonder what might have happened if you stayed? I mean, between us, if you hadn’t moved away?”
Billy’s eyes widened as he considered how to answer her unexpected question. He decided the honest answer was the right one. “Every day. Not a day’s gone by that I haven’t thought about you.”
Melanie placed one slender hand on his bare wrist and his skin felt electrified under her touch. “You always were such a kidder.”
He stifled his protest with a reminder that she was the ranch manager’s woman, and he wasn’t there to stir up trouble. Still, he had to know. “So, you and Marty, huh?”
Melanie nodded as she watched a pair of ducks paddling across the pond.
“Have you guys been together long?”
“Almost a year. He’s been here for a few years, but he didn’t ask me out for quite a while. I think he was worried about what my father would say, dating the boss’s daughter and all that. Daddy didn’t mind; Marty’s a good guy.”
Billy had mixed feelings, hearing this. He was jealous of Marty, but pleased that Melanie sounded happy. He just wished it was with him.
She flopped onto her back in the soft grass with a groan.
“So, I’m turning 30 in a few months,” she sighed. “I was feeling old enough already, and then you show up to show me just how old I’m getting.”
“Are you saying that I’m old?” he chuckled. After a moment’s hesitation, he joined her in reclining in the soft grass.
“No, not at all. You look fantastic. I bet you’re a big hit with all the cowgirls. I just meant that seeing you has reminded me of how quickly life can pass by.” She rolled up on one elbow to face him. “Enough about my dreaded upcoming birthday…how’s everything been going for you? Any special lady in your life?”
He turned onto his side to face, mirroring her pose. He was painfully aware of how close they were to each other. She wasn’t even a foot away from him, and he could see each and every one of the reddish lashes framing her emerald eyes.
“No, no special lady. Maybe that’s not in the cards for me.”
“I’m sure it will be, someday. Someone will snatch you up.”
“Melanie…” He wanted to tell her that he wanted her to be the special lady in his life, but the words faded on his lips just as quickly as they had formed in his head.
“What?”
“It’s good to be back.”
“It’s good to have you back, Billy.”
He longed to reach out to her. Here he was, back where he belonged, with the woman of his dreams right there, close enough to kiss. He rolled onto his back again before he could act on his impulses, and stared at the puffy white clouds drifting through the blue sky.
“You wanna head back, give another horse a go?” Melanie asked him, squinting her eyes against the sun.
Billy shook his head. “I think Gobie’s it. He seems like a solid horse. But I guess we probably should head back anyway. I’ve got a lot of unpacking to do today.” He hated to leave the quiet of the frog pond, with Melanie beside him, but to stay would just mean torturing himself further over the woman he couldn’t have.
He stood up, and offered his hand to her, to help her up off the ground. She accepted it, and Billy tried to ignore the sensation of her soft hand in his calloused one. Melanie seemed a bit unnerved by the contact between them as well. She hastily yanked her hand out of his as soon as she was back up on her feet and strode over to untie her ride. Billy did the same, and they both mounted their horses and made their way back to the barn. Neither was in a hurry to end their expedition, so they let the horses plod along at a moderate walk.
Billy studied the herd of cattle off in the distance. Mr. Haffner wanted him to spend tomorrow examining, and repairing if needed, the miles of fencing on the far side of the property. He would spend his first official day of work out in the fields in the fresh air, riding the fenced boundary. He looked forward to the solitude he would find out there, working alone, far from the bustle of the ranch.
He tore his eyes from the fields afar and turned his attention back to Melanie just in time to catch her staring at him. She averted her gaze quickly, bu
t he didn’t miss the blaze of color that rose to her cheeks when he caught her gaping at him.
A truck coming up the dirt road saved her from further embarrassment. It slid to a stop a few hundred yards away from them. Cass jumped out of the passenger’s side and gave a little wave to the man driving.
“Cass? What are you doing out here?” Melanie asked.
“I feel like riding today,” she shrugged as she approached Gobie. “Scoot back,” she commanded Billy, and before he could respond, she grasped the horse’s mane and used it to swing herself up into the saddle, so she was sitting right in front of him.
“Maybe you should have tacked up your own horse,” Melanie scolded her. Billy thought he detected a hint of jealousy in her voice.
“Nope, I’m good,” her sister shot back at her. She grabbed the reins from Billy and shot him an amused grin. “I suggest you hang on; I like to ride fast.” Without any further warning, she wheeled Gobie around towards the frog pond meadow and gave him a sharp kick. Billy steadied himself in the saddle and reached around Cass to grab the saddle horn. He didn’t want to put his hands on her, though it was tempting. He threw a quick look over his shoulder and saw Melanie sitting on her horse, watching them ride away. His heart sank when he realized she wasn’t following them, and part of him was angry at Cass for hijacking what had been a pleasant afternoon.
-3-
Cass urged the horse on, faster and faster, and her blonde locks blew back into Billy’s face. She smelled of fresh hay and newly turned soil, and he inhaled deeply before feeling a pang of shame for having lustful thoughts for her. But then he realized there was nothing to be ashamed about. She had been little pesky Cass when he was a boy, but now they were both adults, and everything had changed.
He acted on his urge before he could chicken out and removed his hand from the saddle horn. He wrapped his arm around her waist, resting his palm against the soft, warm skin of her abdomen. She smirked at him over her shoulder and slowed Gobie down to a fast walk. For a moment Billy worried she had slowed down to tell him to take his hands off of her, but to his surprise, she pushed back further in the saddle so that her bottom was flush against his crotch. He inhaled sharply as he scrambled to think about something else, anything else besides the feel of her against his most intimate parts.
She directed Gobie to the small stream that cut through the meadow and carefully dismounted.
“Enjoy the ride?” she asked him with a devilish grin. From his vantage point atop the horse, Billy had a clear view of the top of her creamy breasts, and the red paisley bra holding them. He cleared his throat and forced his eyes elsewhere, to a tree in the distance.
“I suppose.” No, this was not the pesky Cass he grew up with. This Cass was all woman, and bold in a way he found disarming. She knew what she wanted and she no longer had to whine to try to get it.
“Relax, Billy, I won’t bite,” she joked. He stared at her dumbly. “Aren’t you coming down off of there?”
“Oh. Yeah, sure.” He slid off Gobie and stood awkwardly beside her in the grass.
“So,” she twirled a strand of her hair around her finger as she spoke, “I hope Melanie didn’t bore you to death today. I swear, she’s worse than my mother sometimes!”
Billy’s mouth fell open in surprise and he rushed to defend her. “She wasn’t boring at all; we had a nice ride, actually.”
Cass just shrugged. “I heard you two had gone out riding, and I decided to come recue you. Aren’t you glad I did?” She winked at him boldly.
Billy considered his options quickly. Any other time, in any other place, a hot young thing like her coming onto him would have been well received. He’d wine and dine her, sleep with her, then toss her to the side. It wouldn’t be his original intention, but once he conquered her and realized she had little going for her to keep him interested besides her looks, his attention would wane quickly. But that wasn’t an option here. This was Cass, and this was the Haffner ranch.
“I’m not a little girl anymore, Billy.” She pouted prettily and he cursed himself for noticing how good her plump lips looked when she did it. “I turned twenty a few months back.”
He nodded but didn’t answer her. What was he supposed to say to that? This blonde bombshell was making it very hard to resist her. She was sex in a pair of cowboy boots, and now she had announced that she was old enough for him to sleep with. He shifted nervously from foot to foot, his eyes downcast as his heart hammered in his chest. It was a horrible thing, being torn between his growing lust for Cass, and his desire to respect the Haffner family.
“Cass, I…”
“What? Do you have a girlfriend you left behind or something?” She narrowed her eyes at him as she waited for his reply.
“No, it’s not that. I…I just don’t think we should get involved with each other like that. I’m not looking for a relationship right now.” He tried to let her down gently, and prayed his expression didn’t reflect how conflicted he felt inside about it.
She laughed at his awkwardness, though not unkindly. “Who said anything about a relationship? Why, Billy Forester, you’re not a fourteen-year-old boy anymore, and I’m not a seven-year-old-girl. We’re both adults here. There’s nothing wrong with a little tryst between two consulting adults, now is there?”
“Cass,” he sighed as he removed his hat and ran his fingers through his hair with frustration. “You’re a beautiful woman; you really are. I’m pretty sure you already know that already! But your father is my boss! We can’t just sleep together like a one-night stand; it’ll get too messy. We have to see each other all the time, and that could get awkward fast.”
She rested her hands on her hips and studied him. He met her gaze and tried to push out of his mind how much her green eyes resembled Melanie’s.
“It’s her, isn’t it?”
“What?”
“You’ve got a thing for Melanie. I didn’t get it when we were young, but looking back now, you were crushing on her baaaaad. And you still are, after all this time.” Her eyes danced with anger. “I got some news for you, Billy-boy…your precious Melanie’s seeing the ranch manager, Marty.”
“I know,” he answered quietly. He didn’t even try to deny what she said. She was too sharp a girl to buy his lies, so he didn’t even bother.
“Oh, so you know already? How much time do you plan to spend mooning over her, then?”
He had no reply to that, but in his own mind, he knew she was right. He had to let go of Melanie.
“Well. If you come to your senses, you let me know. You and I,” she leaned closer, placed one graceful hand against his chest, and dropped her voice to a whisper, “could have a lot of fun together.”
He had come to the ranch prepared to accept it if Melanie wasn’t there anymore, or if she had married, but never had it crossed it mind that he’d have to resist Cass. She had barely crossed his mind, and now here she was, throwing herself at him.
“We have to get back,” he mumbled, gently removing her hand from his chest. The primal man inside of him wanted to lay her down in the grass and rip those pesky buttons off her shirt one by one with his teeth before he moved onto other things. But luckily, his civilized side won out.
“Fine,” she answered curtly, and she hopped back in the saddle without further comment. Billy climbed carefully up behind her, careful to leave an appropriate amount of space between them. It was hard to avoid contact with her, when they were sharing a saddle built for one.
Silently, Cass turned Gobie back towards the ranch. They didn’t speak as the horse ambled back the way they had come. He couldn’t see her face, but Billy could feel the anger and hurt radiating off of her. He bit his lip with frustration. He hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings, but messing around with each other could lead to so many complications between them. He hadn’t worried about it with Melanie, because in his heart, he knew she was the one for him. It turned out it was all a moot point anyway; no need to worry about complicating his work life by
dating Melanie, since she was already spoken for. But Cass was a different story. Her sexy demeanor and interest in him had blindsided him.
He tried to smooth thing over with her when they arrived back at the barn, but Cass would have none of it. She slid off the horse and tossed the reins to him before stomping off to her truck. She slammed the door, started it up and peeled out. Billy watched her speeding down the drive back towards the ranch house with great concern.
A man chuckled from the barn doorway. “I’d stay away from that one, if I were you,” he cautioned Billy.
“What do you mean?”
“That Cassandra’s a hellcat, I tell you. I’ve seen enough good ranch hands fired after tangling with her. She’s all woman, ‘til she’s done with you, then she turns into your executioner.”
“Cass?” Billy asked as he dismounted.
“Yup, Cass. She’s used her feminine wiles more than once to take down the men around here, and I’m betting you’re next on her list. I’m just saying, man… keep your pants on around that one!”
Billy’s heart hurt for her. She clearly had a reputation for sleeping around with the staff, then causing them trouble afterwards. He thanked his lucky stars he hadn’t allowed anything to happen between them, out in the meadow.
“I’m Ramiro, by the way.” The man extended his hand and Billy shook it.
“Billy Forester.”
“I heard. New assistant manager here. Congratulations! Let me tell you a few things about this place: Mr. Haffner’s a fair guy, just don’t screw with him and he’ll treat you straight. Marty gives as good as he gets, so put in an honest day’s work and he’ll treat you right, but slack off and there’ll be hell to pay.” Billy decided that he liked Ramiro immediately. His assessment of Mr. Haffner was spot on, and he respected that the man had offered up no complaints about his workplace. In the past, he had come across too many other ranch hands eager to fill him in on the faults and weaknesses of an employer, and he discovered with time that people like that weren’t ones he cared to develop a friendship with. Best to stick with the straight shooters, and Ramiro struck him as such.