"Can't they wait another hour or two?"
"No, they can't." She tried to move around him, but he stepped in her path, refusing to let her by. "Everyone has work to do back at the ranch. We're driving home tonight."
"Why the hurry?"
"Like I said, we all have work to do."
"If I didn't know better, I'd suspect you were avoiding me."
"Arrogant much? I didn't even know you'd be here."
"But I am here."
He brushed his hand over the side of her face, taking liberties he had no right to take. But, again, she didn't pull away. And when he came in for a kiss, she didn't turn her head. It was a moment she knew she would analyze a lot in the coming days, but in the moment, it simply didn't occur to her to turn away. She wanted his kiss, fantasized about his kiss, and she was too weak to remind herself that she had too much on her plate to play femme fatal to his Hollywood hero persona.
Not to mention the fact that she was sure he was behind ninety percent of the things that had been going wrong on her ranch in an attempt to undercut her business so he could force her out.
And then there was her daughter, with her poster of Bodhi Archer on her wall.
But none of that matter in the moment. All that mattered was the warm pressure of his lips against hers, the heat of his hand against the side of her face, the length of his tall body making her feel small and feminine and vulnerable...in a good way. It'd been forever since she'd been able to be vulnerable with anyone. It felt so much better than she ever imagined it would.
For a long moment, she was lost in him. The masculine scent of his cologne washed over her, the taste of his lips, his tongue, filling all her senses. And when his hand slipped around her waist, pulling her closer against the length of his body, she would have been willing to do just about anything his touch asked of her.
He pulled back.
"You should go now," he said, his voice deepened just slightly with desire. "When I make you mine, I want to take my time. A quickie in a horse stall—"
She slapped him, a sound smack open handed right against his cheek.
Surprise widened his eyes, but then he laughed. And that was all she heard as she walked away, fuming that he would assume one kiss meant what he thought it meant. But fuming more at herself for allowing him that one kiss in the first place.
That man was spelled trouble for her. She really had to be more careful around him.
Or simply avoid him altogether from now on.
Chapter 2
Becky
"You were pretty awesome this weekend," I said, running the heavy brush over the horse's neck. "Winning first place. No one in your line has ever placed quite that high. Not even the racers."
The horse whinnied, turning to rub his nose against my shoulder.
"You like when Grainger rides you, don't you? Well, he said he'd come by and ride you tomorrow afternoon. He's on a case right now."
The horse nodded his head like he truly understood what I was saying.
Sometimes I believed horses could understand what I was saying.
It feels like I've spent my entire life taking care of horses. When I was a child, my family owned a stable of race horses not unlike the ones Sutherland had here. My first memories were of sitting on the top rail of a fence, my father's arms around my waist, both of us watching my mother exercising one of her prize horses. I think I probably feel in love with the animals then. I couldn't have been much older than three.
I was glad I could raise my daughter on this ranch, but it saddened me a little that she wasn't as fascinated by the beasts as I was at her age. She was more interested in British boy bands and the Kardashians than she was horses. But I had hope that that was only a phase and she'd get over it soon enough.
I finished brushing down Trouble, slapping his hindquarters as I walked around him to put the brush up. I saw him as I came out of the tack room, walking carefully through the open corridor, staring at the ground as he took each cautious step in his expensive loafers. I would have laughed, but I knew it would break his heart. Instead, I bit back a smile before calling out to him.
"It's safe to walk through there. Bobby cleaned up the horse shit this morning."
He looked up, his dark eyes moving over me with skepticism and trust. Lance Griffin. He was a new operative Sutherland hired for the Gray Wolf thing she had going on in the new bunkhouse, the only new hire she'd made who didn't have some sort of background in agriculture or animal husbandry. The others—Hank, Grainger, and the other new one, Ryan—they all either grew up on a farm, a ranch, or some sort of rural setting except for Lance. And he made his discomfort very clear every time he wandered out here. Made me wonder why Sutherland hired him. But, again, that wasn't really my business.
He wasn't too bad to look at. Tall, slender, dark. He must have had some Italian in his background, if his Mediterranean coloring meant anything. Or Greek, maybe. I'd never asked. Not that I hadn't had the opportunity. He was always coming around, always asking me a million questions.
The thing was, I was sure he had a crush on me. I didn't know why. It wasn't like I'd encouraged him in any way. I was a single mom working my way through school. I didn't have time for romance—as much as I missed it—or the complications that came along with it.
But it was fun watching him pick his way through the barn. And it was nice just looking at him... he was handsome.
"Slow day for Gray Wolf?"
"Not really."
He stopped against the far wall, leaving plenty of room between him and Trouble. I bit back another smile as I walked up to the massive horse and ran my hand over his nose, allowing him to nudge at my hand almost affectionally.
"A new case?"
Lance shrugged. "We're providing backup on a drug bust that's going down south of here in a few days. I was helping plan the logistics."
"Sounds interesting."
"More interesting than the cheating husband racket I was working in Cheyenne."
"I suppose so."
I could feel his eyes on me as I released Trouble's lead and tugged him toward his stall. I knew he was frightened of the horse, I could see the tension in his shoulders every time he stood anywhere within sight of a horse. It made me feel kind of powerful having control over this thing that could frighten such a masculine man. He was clearly more comfortable with a gun in his hand than he was in my domain.
Incredibly powerful.
I locked the horse in his stall and hung the halter I'd taken off him in the tack room before closing and locking it for the night. It was late and I was ready to call it a day. I turned and crossed my arms over my chest, wanting to tell Lance to go away but this other part of me wanted to stay there in his presence just a little longer. It was stupid. I had no time for this sort of thing, but...
"Where's Cassidy?"
"She'd better be up in our apartment working on her homework."
Lance smiled as he drew his bottom lip between his teeth for a second, a move that was so erotic... what the hell was wrong with me?
Keep it together, Becks!
"My mom worked late in the evening. If she came home and we were sitting in front of the television without our homework done, she'd skin our hide. Needless to say, I was a star pupil."
"You were raised by a single mom?"
"No, but my dad was a truck driver. He was on the road more often than not, so she might as well have been."
"How many siblings?"
"Two older brothers. Three younger sisters."
"Wow! Six kids?"
"Yeah, well, that Irish Catholic thing, you know?"
"You're Irish."
Funny. I would have bet Greek.
"Big Irish family."
I sort of nodded, noting again his dark skin, his dark hair, and dark, walnut colored eyes. He watched me watching him, a slow smile spreading those thin, well-sculpted lips.
"Almost all my siblings have the classic red hair and green eyes. My mom says I
get my coloring from her grandmother's side of the family. They call them Black Irish here in America."
I'd heard the term, but I'd never actually met anyone who represented it so clearly.
"Did you ever feel different, looking dissimilar to your siblings?"
"Sometimes. A bully in middle school claimed that my mother must have cheated on my father. My older brother set him straight."
"Must be nice having siblings who care enough to defend you."
"I think he was defending my mother more than me, but, yeah, having siblings was pretty cool." His eyes moved slowly over my face. "Do you have brothers or sisters?"
And that's why I didn't like getting into conversations like this. Too much give and take expected. Too many lies that needed to be told. I shook my head, almost laughing in relief when Sutherland suddenly made an appearance around the corner.
"Becky," she said, clearly relieved to see me still there, "I need to ask a huge favor."
"Okay."
She came to stand in front of me, her slender form as comfortable here as she was in a business office. I admired Sutherland to no end. She was everything I aspired to be someday: professional, strong, independent.
"I completely forgot that I agreed to take a tour group on a weekend camping trip into the north pasture. Gray Wolf has the thing this weekend—Ash Grayson is bringing a team up to help out—I have to be here for it. Do you think you could handle the tour group?"
"Sure."
"You could take Cassidy with you, or, better yet, she could stay at the main house with Elizabeth."
"I'm sure Cassidy would much rather spend the weekend in a warm bed at your place."
Sutherland smiled. "Yeah, I think you're right."
"It's not a problem. Might actually be nice to get out of here for the weekend."
Sutherland took my hands and squeezed them. "Thank you, Becky. I owe you big for this one."
"Not a problem."
"I could ask Hank to go with you."
I started to shake my head, but before I could speak again, Lance cut in.
"I could go. I'm not working the operation this weekend."
We both looked at him. I bit my lip to keep from laughing and I was pretty sure Sutherland was fighting her own fit of giggles. Then she turned back to me and we continued our conversation like he hadn't spoken.
"I'll talk to Hank if you like," I said. "I'm pretty sure he's upstairs."
"Great," Sutherland said. "Thank you so much."
Lance just shook his head as he watched her go. I touched his arm as I passed him.
"It was a gracious thought."
I headed upstairs, exhaustion settling in my bones, but it was a good sort of exhaustion. It was the sort of tired that came after a productive day. That was the way I felt at the end of most days here at MidKnight Ranch. I'd been lucky to get this job here, lucky to find such a good group of people to work beside. Sutherland was a generous employer, kind and compassionate. Shelby, the foreman, kept mostly to himself, but our occasional interactions were often cordial. Hank was the big brother I'd never had, the kind of guy who looked out for everyone even when it wasn't requested. The Gray Wolf people were new, but most of them were good people. I could get used to having most of them around.
Even Lance.
Maybe especially Lance.
Getting involved with a man could be too dangerous a distraction for me, but it felt good having such a good-looking guy paying attention to me. Part of me wanted to tell him to back off, to keep things from getting too complicated. But another part... I really liked the attention. I think I would miss it when it went away.
I knocked on Hank's door when I reached the landing that divided our two apartments. His was more of a large room with a kitchen and a small bathroom. Mine was an actual apartment with two bedrooms—one for me, one for Cassidy. They'd offered Hank a larger room in the new bunkhouse because he was not only the assistant foreman here on the ranch, but he also worked as an operative for Gray Wolf. But he said he liked his place, and I was grateful he'd stayed. I liked the security of having a big, strong man across the landing.
I wasn't too much of a feminist to admit it, either.
"Hey, Becks," he said when he opened the door, leaning down a little so we were almost eye level. "What can I do for you?"
"Sutherland just asked me if I'd lead a tour group up into the north pasture this weekend for a camping trip and I was wondering if you up to going with me."
"A winter camping trip? Awesome! I'm in."
"It's twenty degrees outside!" Jonnie, a local high school teacher and Hank's girl, called from inside his rooms.
"Perfect," he responded.
I laughed at her groan of outrage.
Hank cracked a grin, dropping a wink meant only for me.
"We leave from the main driveway mid-morning on Friday."
"No problem. I'll be there with bells on."
"Thanks."
I reached up and kissed his cheek, then yelled over his shoulder. "Thanks, Jonnie!"
"Like I have a say in anything he does!"
I was laughing again as I walked into my own apartment. Cassidy was sprawled on the floor, her school books open and spread out around her. But it was her phone that held her attention until she heard the door slam behind me. She quickly slid it under her chest and pulled her literature book closer to her, grabbing a pen to pretend that she was writing out her vocabulary words.
I bit back a groan, deciding I was too tired for this particular fight tonight.
"Can we go into town for dinner tonight, Mom?" she asked as I headed for the kitchen.
"We do Dairy Queen on Fridays. This is Wednesday."
"We didn't go last Friday."
True. I was gone with Trouble, Sutherland, and the others last Friday.
"But you ate with Elizabeth. And you'll be eating with Elizabeth this Friday, too."
"Really? Why?"
"I'm taking some tourists on a camping trip. I thought you'd rather stay with Elizabeth than go with me."
"Definitely."
I tossed a balled-up napkin at her. "You don't have to sound so happy about it."
"It's cold out there!"
I just shook my head, digging through the fridge for something halfway healthy I could throw together for our dinner. As I searched, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I glanced at it, noting an unknown number. It was like the third I'd gotten today, but whoever it was never bothered to leave a message.
I hated that. Why call if you don't leave a message?
"Since you won't be here Friday, can we go out to dinner tonight?"
Stubborn child!
I stared into the near empty depths of our fridge and sighed.
"Alright. Get your jacket."
Why fight the inevitable?
Chapter 3
Lance
I was a complete fool. And the thing was, I knew I was a fool, knew I was making an ass out of myself, but I couldn't help it. From the moment I saw her on my first day here at MidKnight Ranch a little over a month ago, I knew I wanted to get to know Becky Kay better. The fact that she was making it particularly difficult only made me more determined.
That was why I was hanging around a barn full of huge horses that scared me more than a ISIS terrorist holding a machine gun. And that's why I was getting dust all over my Italian leather loafers outside that same barn, watching the shadows move in the windows of Becky's upstairs apartment, wondering who was up there with her and what she did to unwind at night.
I'd asked around about her, but either people around here were too polite to tell stories on each other, or they really didn't know much about her. No one seemed to know where Becky grew up, where she got her love of large animals, or how she came to settle here in Wyoming. It was like she'd just walked out of the air five years ago, a mystery to be unraveled.
I was determined to be the one to unravel that mystery.
I was about to head back to my rooms in the b
unkhouse when the lights in Becky's apartment suddenly went out. A minute later, Cassidy, her towheaded little girl, came running out of the barn.
"Lance!" she cried when she spotted me. "We're going to the Dairy Queen. You want to come?"
I saw the weariness on Becky's face, the plea in her eyes to say no. But what fun would that be?
"Sure. You want to ride in my truck?"
"Yeah!"
Cassidy took off before Becky could respond. I had a brand-new Ford F150 that Cassidy fell in love with the first time she saw it. And she knew right where I parked it.
"She's going to be a truck girl when she grows up."
"She's going to be a sucker for guys with big engines and big charm."
"Is that such a bad thing?"
Becky looked as though she wanted to smack me, but she simply walked past me, following her daughters blazed trail. I moved up beside her, tempted to snag her hand in mine, but aware that it would not be a welcomed move at this point. Someday, though.
"She's a good kid. She deserves a little fun."
Becky didn’t respond. She walked quickly, almost as if she was hoping to lose me between the barn and my truck. Her movements seemed to sum up our entire relationship to this point. She was always trying to rid herself of me while walking toward me. Contradictions. That just made her even more fascinating.
"So, I thought the two of you only went to town for dinner on Fridays."
"Cassidy reasoned that since I won't be here on Friday, we should go tonight."
"Smart kid."
Becky actually smiled at that. "She is."
"You must be proud."
She nodded, her gaze fixed on the back of her child's head.
"It must not be easy, being a single mom."
"It has its challenges."
"Does she ever see her father?"
Becky's step faltered slightly. She glanced at me, but she didn't seem to be struggling for an answer. It was more like she was wondering why I would ask such a question in the first place. That made me wonder about the man she'd left behind in her past. Was it grief I saw in her eyes? Had he died? Or was it something more sinister. Was he abusive?
I wanted to know almost as much as I needed to breathe.
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