by Lauren Wood
The air was much colder than the inside and it took my body a minute to acclimate to the change. It was a little warmer here in Nome then where I was from, but there was dampness in the air that I wasn’t used to. It somehow seemed to make it colder than home.
My mind went to Denise and I could see that I was going to be spending more time there. There were a couple other restaurants in the small, seaside town, but it was Molly’s that had the staff to take care of all of my needs.
Pushing those thoughts from my brain, I couldn’t help but find it straying there time and time again while I took the short walk to the harbor. It wasn’t that far from the restaurant and it gave me some time to appreciate the views. I loved Alaska and travelling to all parts of it had always been a fun pastime for me. I wanted to see what was out there and the more I tried to see it all, the more I realized that there was just so much more to see and I wanted someone to share it with. Travelling alone became old after a while. I wanted someone to see the sights with me.
“Hey Charlie, how’s it going?”
Charlie was a man I’d met earlier in the day when I’d first gotten here and I didn’t know him well, but he seemed the type that would be a good choice to drink a beer and shoot the shit with.
“Hey Ethan. Is it time for the meeting?”
“About time. I don’t even have a watch, so I don’t have fast and hard times. Everyone will get here soon. It looks like almost everyone is here, so we will get started soon.”
“Where you coming from?”
“Molly’s.”
“Good food. How was it? Is the special roast today?”
I didn’t have the answer. “Just got some coffee and took in the view. Didn’t get anything to eat this morning.”
“The view? Hell there is barely one window in that little shack. What view are you talking about?”
“Denise.”
Charlie chuckled and he agreed. “She sure is pretty to look at, isn’t she?”
“What’s that mean?”
“It means that no one has had very good luck with her. She is pretty picky from what I hear and doesn’t put out for anyone. I mean no one.”
He leaned in to say it and I didn’t believe him. I sort of thought that he was thinking of someone else, but I knew that he wasn’t. Was she really that way? She hadn’t given me that feeling at all. If anything else, she had seemed shy, but that was easily remedied. I figured then that she just hadn’t met the right man yet.
I was going to be that man.
“No one like me has tried Charlie. Wait and see. I will have her in my room before I leave here.”
“Do you want to make a wager on that?”
I didn’t like where it was going, but I was the one that had boasted. If I was going to be in for a penny, I might as well be in for a pound.
“Sure.”
Charlie practically giggled like a girl and that told me that maybe I was in over my head. I hadn’t ever had trouble before, so why would it be any different now? She was just a girl, like everyone else and no one yet had been able to resist my charm.
“So we need to have a deadline. You’re so sure that you can change her mind when no one else could, so how long do you need Ethan to do the impossible?”
The way he worded it made my anxiety level go up. Impossible huh? Nothing was impossible.
“A month.”
He whistled. “That’s a while, but even then I don’t think you will do it. A hundred bucks say that you won’t.”
We agreed with a handshake and I moved back to see more people flooding in. It was time to get started, now that I had agreed to such childish terms. I needed the help of the locals and Charlie was a pillar of the community. That’s how I rationalized it all anyways. It was all going to be fine. I didn’t care to lose that small of an amount of money and I knew that I was going to go after her whether or not the money was on the line.
I had decided before this that I was going to have Denise. She was ripe for the picking and the bet was just some fun between me and one of my new workers. It wasn’t like Denise was ever going to find out about it.
Chapter 4
Denise
“Why did you tell him about the hunting ground behind my house Molly? You know that I don’t like guys back here shooting up by the house and spooking them all over the place.”
I didn’t like the very idea of it and had gotten into a shouting match with a couple of guys because they wanted to do that very thing. I had refused and I was reminded that I was just an outsider. I’d been here five years and I hadn’t let anyone on the land since.
“Well you didn’t say much when I was talking about it, so I figured that you didn’t care about Ethan going.”
I closed my mouth to stop the obscenities that were about to come out of it. She knew that I was going to be mad, but it was hard to be mad at her when she was smiling in such a way. It was all part of her master plan and I knew that it was all going to be okay, even if at the moment I fantasized about ringing her neck.
“You like him and he likes you. You’re the one that was talking about having to find a man. Well, here’s one, so practice on him.”
“Ethan is better than just practice. He’s the type of guy that I’m looking for.”
She smiled with this look that told me that she knew she was right all along. I had felt an immediate draw to him, but I was still trying to be mad at her for embarrassing me like she did. Molly had never done that before and I didn’t want it to be repeated.
“There you go. Take the evening off and invite him over. You can romp around for the night and then let him go hunting in the morning. Then you can tell me all about it.”
I groaned loudly to let her know that her idea was pure make believe. I didn’t even know the guy. I wasn’t going to do any of that. I was shy when it came to a guy that I really liked and I wasn’t ready to be around him again. I needed more time.
“Maybe soon.”
Molly looked disappointed and I didn’t know what to tell her.
“Don’t wait too long. Someone else around here will snatch him up if you do. He is a good looking man. I’m with someone I love and I can still see that.”
She had a point, even if I didn’t like it. I didn’t know about tonight, but I was going to try to make it soon for Ethan’s invite. Hopefully I wouldn’t be too late when I finally got the nerve up to invite him.
***
I made it about a week and I saw Ethan every day. He was fast getting to be known around town and it was only a couple of days in that he was sitting with some of the locals. He was taken in quickly and I liked that he was so well adapted to here. Everyone liked him and since he was now the boss to many of them that had picked up some temporary work in construction, there was no one in the restaurant that had a problem with him. Since the town of Nome was notoriously unwelcoming to most newcomers, I was happy to see that the transition had gone so well. Maybe I wanted him to stay around a while if he liked the place and this was just another clue that maybe we were supposed to meet and be together. Or I was just looking into it too much. All of which were a possibility.
Ethan wasn’t the only one that was new to Nome. Every day there were more and more new faces. Most of them were men. A few brought girlfriends, but mainly it was tough and rugged men from all around the state and beyond. Many of them were quite easy on the eyes, but it was Ethan that I was drawn to, no one else in that same way.
Ethan had a smile that made me melt inside and our eyes would meet from across the room several times a day. We were having a conversation without words and he finally came up to me and asked if I was busy this weekend.
“I would like to get some hunting in and I hear that your place is the best place because you won’t let anyone hunt on it.”
He knew that he was special and I didn’t like the smug look on his face. I wish he wouldn’t have asked around and found that out. I didn’t like him thinking he had some sort of upper hand over me.
“Yes, I will be. It has been a while since I’ve hunted back there. I think I will join you.”
Somewhere along the line, it had become a competition. It hadn’t taken long to talk him into and Ethan seemed to be prone to gambling. I wasn’t one to shirk a challenge, so I agreed and we shook hands. I wasn’t sure what the winner got, but I was sure that I was going to win.
It also occurred to me suddenly that he was coming by tomorrow and we were going to be alone. Molly had set it up and now it was coming to fruition. I could barely speak around him and now I was going to be out in the woods, alone with him. I could only see it ending one way and that way made me a little nervous because it had been a long time. A really long time.
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RODEO RANCHER: SNEAK PEAK
PREVIEWS
A BAD BOY ROMANCE
Chapter 1
Cecelia
“How is hiring going?”
I shrugged and made a face at my friend. It had been one of those days and the more I thought about the line of people I had to interview most of the day, it would have just made my head hurt more.
“I still haven’t found some regular hands. I am short four at the moment and I wish I could find a couple real quick. I am sick of trying to cover everything with less people than I need. It never used to be this hard to keep people. I guess the work is too hard or something.”
“I don’t know how you do it. I work as a secretary sitting on my butt all day. I get tired just watching you run around here.”
Karen took another drink of her cold coffee and I just shook my head again. I had tried before to get her to work with me on my family’s ranch, but she wasn’t going for it. There were a lot of reasons why not, even though I would pay double what she makes now. Karen just didn’t want to do this kind of work and some days I can honestly say that I don’t blame her. There were days that I didn’t even want to get up, but I loved my job, no matter how difficult it was or how sore my muscles were at the end of the day.
“I think a lot of people are on the same page Karen. You would think that I was suggesting that they eat a rat. I had a guy today that told me there was no way that one person could do everything I wanted. I think I am just going to have to give up on it all. I wish I could find more people like Dante and Carl. If I had a couple more of them, I wouldn’t have to look anymore.”
“How is Dante?”
I sighed and just shrugged a little, not wanting to have this conversation again with her. “The same as always. I don’t know why you bother worrying about him. He is bad news and a heartbreaker.”
“No he isn’t. He is just looking for one thing and there is nothing wrong with that. Sometimes a girl isn’t looking for a happily ever after, just a good night.”
I rolled my eyes and tried to ignore her implication. Dante was handsome, very much so, but he knew it and that was always a problem. He had hit on me a couple of times when he first started last year, but I wasn’t biting. I knew all about men like him and though Karen thought she just wanted a good night, it would be painful in the end. She would fall, like a woman always does for that type and then be crushed when he doesn’t change his ways. It’s madness.
“Well, don’t hold back on my account.”
She crinkled her nose. “No, I don’t think I am his type. You are more the kind of girl I see him at the bar with, then me.”
“You never know. But I am not getting into it between you two. He is a good employee and I don’t want it getting complicated. He is a wonder with the horses.”
Karen pouted for a moment and then brightened back up. “If you aren’t going to hook me up, you could at least find out if he has a girlfriend or anything.”
I could have reminded her that he didn’t date, he brought back random women to the hand house all of the time. They were always different, never introduced and never brought to the main house for dinner. It was rather clear to me what Dante was looking for. Instead of arguing, I just went with it though. She didn’t want to hear my real opinion.
“I will see what I can do. I don’t know if he is seeing anyone right now, but next time I see Dante around I will ask him.” I just didn’t want him to think that it was because of me and some interest that I had in him. I would have to be clear that I was asking for Karen.
She thanked me and had this beaming smile on her face. I didn’t get it with Dante. The man was sexy, sure, but how did he get grown women to lose their minds a little bit. It just didn’t make sense and though it was entertaining to see, I didn’t want Karen to go down the same path. She had a tender heart and didn’t need to get it broken because of some pheromone that Dante was letting off. I knew better myself than to get involved with it.
Karen left a little while later, complaining about the lack of air conditioning in the office. My father never liked A/C, so when the house was modernized, he had worried very little about upgrading the heating and cooling. Over the years I had gotten used to it and rather enjoyed the slight breeze on another hot day in Texas.
I sat back in my chair and tried to figure out what I was going to do for next week’s schedule. It was one of those weeks where I was already short, something that was normal at the Barclay’s Horse Ranch, but now there was another rodeo in town and several of the horses were going to have to be transported to the location. That meant I was going to lose Dante on the ranch, which meant chaos. He did a lot when he wasn’t a womanizer and I was going to miss him. I knew I was going to be the one that picked up the slack if I didn’t get in gear and hire someone else immediately.
“Speaking of the devil.”
“Huh?”
“I was just thinking about you. What are you doing this Friday night?”
“Seeing if you had any hires for me to train before I leave for Houston.”
“Not at the moment. You have any friends that I can hire on?”
Dante sat down on the other side of the desk and smiled at me with that boyish look. “What are you looking for?”
“Hands mainly.”
“I know a few people. I will make some calls. Those flyers didn’t work?”
I sighed and blew out a deep breath. “No, they didn’t. I wanted to go to the rodeo next weekend, but I don’t know if I am going to be able to. Hell, I don’t know what I am going to do when you are gone Dante.”
“Aww, are you going to miss me?”
He was up again and walking behind me. He was being patronizing, but I didn’t care. I knew what he was going to do next and usually I would shrug him off, but right now I needed it. Dante was always on and the charm was something that he couldn’t turn off or he just refused to. It was hard to deny what Karen and many others seen in him, but I knew him too well to ever consider him a romantic option.
But his hands were amazing and I was going to allow it. “You have a lot of tension in your neck Cece.”
I agreed but didn’t say anything. It was best just to let him work. Dante had first rubbed my shoulders after a long ride where it was killing me. I had learned then that he had magic fingers, but I also learned quickly that his tongue was too honeyed for me. I had to be careful to not get sucked into his vortex.
“Does that feel good Cece?”
“You know it does Dante.”
He bent down and moved close to my ear. “You should imagine what I could do if you would let me rub on more than just your shoulders.”
His hands were moving down my arms and I felt one of his fingers lightly touch the underside of my left boob. That pulled me from it and I shrugged off the hands that drove me crazy.
“That’s enough. I am feeling better, thank you.”
Dante grinned and leaned on the desk in front of me. “I will wear you down one day Cecelia.”
“Doub
t it. You know how I feel about it. But seriously, get that wolf look off your face and tell me who it is that you know that can start immediately. They have to know a little something and be able to learn, that’s it.”
“You had a lot of people in and out of this office today.”
I just gave him a look. “I know.”
“So the bar is that low now?”
“Ever since hiring you Dante.”
He grinned again and I just shook my head. “So?”
“Well I was seeing this chick that worked at Billy’s. She doesn’t like it over there, pay is crap. She knows her stuff, knows the animals, so she would be a good fit.”
“Are you still seeing here?”
“Jealous?”
I returned that grin he always had on his face with one of my own. “Not at all. Don’t let it get in the way of your work and I don’t care. But my friend wanted to know if you were seeing anyone.”
“That curvy blonde with the huge rack?”
Shaking my head, I nodded in agreement. That was Karen in a nutshell, according to a man. It was the first thing that entered the room and the part of her that everyone seemed to remember more than anything else. But it also proved my point about the depravity of the man.
“Yes, that’s the one. But I would rather you just say you are taken.”
His smile faded and he got serious.
“Why did you ask then?”
“I said I would. I don’t go back on my word. So forget Karen. What is this girls’ name you were running around with?”
“Barb.”
“Give me her number and I will give her a call. Or if you want to do it yourself, I am sure she would be happy to reward you for such good news.”
“Well do I get a reward for bringing in some help?”
Dante leaned in like he wanted a kiss, pursing his lips up.