by Jill Lynn
The first day they’d hung out had stretched, morphing from shooting to riding the ranch and then dinner with the Wilder family.
Jace had fallen for all of it—her, her family, her world.
They’d quickly become inseparable.
Maybe they’d moved too quickly into a relationship for their young ages. But it hadn’t felt like it. It had felt like he’d found the one for him and age didn’t matter one hoot.
And kissing the woman? It was like watching a fireworks show from five feet away and somehow managing not to get burned. “She can kiss. I’ll give her that.” Those lips held just as much spark as the rest of her. There might be one thousand off-limits signs between him and Mackenzie, but Jace wouldn’t mind a quick refresher in that area. “Not that she wants a kiss from me these days. So I guess we don’t have to worry about that, do we, Sable-girl?”
“You’re not slipping the horses treats now, are you, Hawke?” Mackenzie startled him, and Jace jumped like he was guilty. Since he’d been thinking about kissing his boss, he supposed he sort of was.
“Of course not.” He turned and flashed an innocent grin. Mackenzie was about ten feet away and still approaching. Had she heard his earlier comments? Should he ask...or no? A glint registered in those storm-cloud eyes for just a second before it was gone.
Even in her Wilder Ranch gear—polo, jeans and boots—Mackenzie was the picture of summer. Her wavy hair shifted in the breeze, and Jace’s mouth turned to sand at the sight of her. He was once again the high school version of himself, smitten with the girl who’d breathed life into him after Evan’s accident.
“I see you’re playing favorites.” Mackenzie’s nod encompassed Sable, and Jace barely resisted snorting at where his mind had gone instead. He’d really never had another favorite—or another girlfriend—besides Mackenzie.
“Well, she’s hard to resist.” If Mackenzie had any inkling he was referring to her, she didn’t let on.
“Sorry I’m late. Mom’s here, as you know, and Emma had to talk to us. She’d decided that with the added stress of the twins still in the hospital, Luc and Cate going back and forth all of the time, and the strain that creates on the rest of us, she and Gage should postpone the wedding or just get married at the courthouse instead of having it here, at the end of July like they’d planned.”
“Sounds like Emma.”
“Doesn’t it? Mom talked her off the ledge. She reminded her that they’re planning to have a simple ceremony and reception, and that everything would calm down soon and work out like it’s supposed to. And that Luc and Cate would be incredibly upset if she changed her wedding because of them or the girls.”
“Sounds like Mama Wilder handled everything just fine.”
“Oh, man.” Mackenzie’s head shook. “I haven’t heard that name in so long. I forgot you used to call her that.”
He sure had. He’d practically been a Wilder family member those last couple of years. Another reason it had been so hard for him to leave. He hadn’t just torn himself away from Mackenzie; he’d ripped his heart out by leaving all of them.
“So, what’s up? Did you ask to meet me out here so you could fire me? Or kill me and hide the body?”
Her eyes crinkled at the corners, and her level of pretty about knocked him over. “No.” Her head tilted. “Though you are giving me ideas.”
“Very funny.”
“Honestly? I was desperate to get outside. I hate being in the office on a gorgeous day like this.”
Jace couldn’t agree more. “Luc’s work driving you crazy?”
She waved a hand. “Nah. It’s been all right.”
He raised questioning eyebrows and waited.
A reluctant shrug followed. “Okay, so it’s not my favorite. But after everything that happened with Cate and the babies, the last thing I’m going to do is complain. And in regard to your earlier remark, I’m pretty certain I’ve been on my best behavior around you. I haven’t said one unkind thing to you in the last week.”
“You been keeping track?”
“Maybe. Maybe I’m rather proud of myself.”
This woman. “You’re a piece of work—you know that?”
“I’ve heard that before, yes.” A smile. An actual full-fledged smile followed, along with a jolt of attraction from him. She’s your boss, not your girlfriend. Cool it, Hawke.
“Luc said that you could teach the wranglers some things, even if you can’t do them yourself because of your arm. Is that true?”
She was asking what he could add to the ranch, not pressuring him to leave yet again? Jace willed his jaw not to fall open in shock.
“Sure. We could do steer wrestling. Cattle roping. Not sure exactly how to teach those with the arm, but I’d figure it out.” Jace glanced at the intrusive cast. He’d been taking every supplement he could find that promoted faster healing. And something must be working, because when he’d checked in with Dr. Sanderson this week, he’d shown improvement in all areas.
Even his noggin had calmed down over the last few days, giving him hope his symptoms were finally subsiding.
“I should be able to talk some of the guys through it. Not like they’d be competing in a real rodeo. Just against each other.”
“As long as it’s something the wranglers can do without getting hurt, I think the guests would love it.”
“As for team penning...” Jace scanned the corral. “I’m not sure we can swing it. Usually it’s culling certain cattle from a herd. So we’d need livestock for that. But we could do a makeshift version where the wranglers just have to corral three cattle. Something simple like that. It would probably still be entertaining for the guests. We could have them compete against each other for fastest times.”
“That would work.”
“Does this conversation mean you’re accepting that Luc hired me and you’re going to stop trying to get rid of me?”
A dash of don’t push me too far mingled with a faint smile. “Seems like it.”
“Does this also mean we’re going to get along now instead of all of that angry sassiness and chilly ignoring me?”
Her thumb traced the scar on her arm that had come from attempting to sneak through a barbed-wire fence as a kid. “I haven’t done that in forever.” She paused. “At least not for over a week.”
“True.” A weak and yet somehow amusing defense.
“And my answer is maybe. If you’ll do one thing for me.”
Warning sirens blared. “And what’s that?”
“Teach me to ride a bull.”
“What?” No way, no how would Jace put the woman he’d once loved up on one of those bucking beasts. “You’re joking, right?”
“Nope. I don’t see why the boys get to have all the fun.”
“That’s what will help you get along with me?”
She huffed. “Luc already commanded me to do that. But let’s just say the bull riding lesson might bring to life my more...generous, patient, forgiving side.”
Jace hadn’t known she had one of those. Only Kenzie Rae. And despite understanding the appeal of riding a bull, he couldn’t do it. He’d never forgive himself if she got hurt. And she would. Everyone did eventually.
“I’ll teach you something else. What about cattle roping?”
“No. I want the real deal.”
“Ah, no. That’s way too dangerous.”
“You do it.”
“I’m a man.”
Fire lit her features, and Jace threw his head back and laughed deep and long. “I’m kidding.” He tried to catch his breath, slapping a hand against his sternum. “I’m joking.” His arms formed a protective barrier in case she attacked him for the chauvinistic reply. Of course he hadn’t meant it in the least. He’d just wanted to get a rise out of Mackenzie. “I knew your reaction to that would be hilarious.”
; “Har-har.” She was all annoyance, but he was positive her lips held the slightest curve.
“Kenzie Rae, I have no doubt you can do anything you put your mind to, and that being female doesn’t change what you can accomplish, but I’m not teaching you to ride a bull. I can’t. It’s too dangerous and I’d never forgive myself if you got hurt.”
“You’re hurt right now!” She motioned toward his arm.
“Exactly my point.”
A strangled argh came from her. “Fine. I’ll find someone else to help me.”
“No, you won’t. You certainly wouldn’t be asking me if you had any other options.”
That punch-him-in-the-gut mouth angled up at the corners. “True.”
“You already said we were going to get along now. You can’t take that back just because I refuse to get you injured on a bull.”
“Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do, Hawke.”
He groaned. She laughed—actually laughed. The sound was painful and delicious all at the same time.
“Come on.” Mackenzie strode toward the barn. “Let’s go see what supplies we have and what we’ll need to get.”
Jace jogged after her, and out of nowhere his head spun and reeled.
Seriously? He’d barely moved at all. How could something so simple cause such a reaction? Frustration choked him. Just when he’d thought the dizziness and headaches had packed up and left for good, the symptoms reared up again.
He hadn’t even put medicine in his pocket, because the last couple of days had been great.
He slowed to hopefully combat the vertigo, and Mackenzie paused to wait for him, confusion at his snail pace puckering her brow. “You okay?”
“Yep.” Nope. Not in the least.
Jace might have just made the slightest hint of progress with Mackenzie, but the rest of him was still barreling downhill.
* * *
Jace walked with Mackenzie as they entered the barn, but something about the last few seconds niggled and latched on. What had that been about? It had almost looked like Jace had swayed after he’d jogged in her direction.
But that was impossible. The man rode bulls for a living. He jumped to safety when his eight seconds were up—or got thrown before that, if the bull bested him. So the idea of him wobbling after a few steps didn’t make sense at all.
Maybe she’d imagined it.
Except...that wasn’t the first time Mackenzie had noticed him acting strange. There’d been the day they’d ridden the trails and he’d claimed he was overheated, out by the hot springs. And the day the twins were born...on the way out of the hospital, that night, Jace had tossed her his truck keys and told her to drive. Mackenzie had assumed he’d been offering her an olive branch—making up for his churlish behavior earlier in the day, when he’d insisted on driving her to the hospital. But then on the ride home, he’d let his head fall back, resting it against the seat. He’d claimed he was tired and closed his eyes, but Mackenzie had noticed him rubbing his temples...almost as if he were in pain. When she’d asked him about it, he’d said that he was “fine” and then grinned, a hint of teasing in his response because of all of her I’m-fine retorts earlier in the day.
Those instances, along with the one from a few seconds ago, made her think there was something going on with Jace. Something he wasn’t telling her. Maybe wasn’t telling anyone.
When they’d been young, he’d never hidden things from her...or at least that was what she’d thought. Until the day she’d found an envelope addressed to her and slipped in with the other ranch mail. One that detailed how Jace had to go. Had to choose the rodeo over her. One that told her he was sorry.
Not as sorry as she’d been.
She led Jace toward the storage area connected to the back of the barn that held all of the seasonal equipment. She wasn’t sure if they had anything usable or not, but it was worth checking before they spent money.
The ranch did well, but they were all frugal and careful to keep it that way.
She stepped into the storage room, and two figures in the corner jumped apart as if they’d been Tasered. Nick and Trista. The young couple had come on staff this summer, already dating, and had obviously just been caught, attached at the lips.
Certainly it was a kiss that no one was meant to see.
But at a guest ranch, there was no privacy.
Emma had warned Mackenzie before she’d hired the wrangler that he was already dating Trista, one of the Kids’ Club staffers. So before offering him a position, she’d talked to the two of them about exactly what kind of protocol would be expected from them. What behavior was not acceptable.
They’d just blown through the details of that conversation.
“You guys.” Disappointment sucked the oxygen from the room. “We talked about this when I hired Nick. You knew the rules when you came on staff.”
Nick and Trista shared an embarrassed glance.
Jace stiffened at the encounter, his shoulder brushing Mackenzie’s. Was he biting his tongue? Or staying out of it? Either way she felt strangely supported having him stand next to her. Having him be a witness to the situation. At least then it wouldn’t be Nick and Trista’s word against hers if things went further south.
Nick squared his shoulders, regret evident. “It was my fault. I’ll take the blame.”
“I’m so sorry.” Trista teared up. “We didn’t mean to. I was just putting some things away and we ran into each other in here. It wasn’t calculated. I promise.”
“If you give us another chance, it won’t happen again.” Nick added. “I love working here. Trista does, too. We both need to make money to cover our college expenses.”
Mackenzie was torn between sympathy for the couple and concern for the ranch, for the livelihood of her family. If a guest had run into these two...that would have been a whole different scenario. So unprofessional. “We can’t have you meeting up, accidentally or on purpose, during work. And we definitely can’t have a guest—adult or child—running into you like this. Personal time should be spent together outside the ranch. Not here.”
Trista covered her face with her hands. “I’m mortified.”
“Keep her and let me go if you have to. I don’t want Trista losing her job because of me.”
Well. Mackenzie’s heated upset notched down. They were just young and in love. And it wasn’t like she’d caught them doing anything more...thankfully.
Normally Mackenzie would talk to Luc and Emma before making a decision about what to do in a situation like this, but things were too busy this summer. She’d have to go with her gut. And her instincts said they were just kids who’d made a mistake.
“I’m going to write this up in your employee files, and then I’m going to give you another chance. But if this happens again, you’ll both be let go. Okay?”
Nods answered her, their fearful expressions subsiding.
“All right. Please go back to whatever you’re supposed to be doing.”
They scampered off after expressing their thanks for the second chance.
“Well, well, well.” Twinkling eyes accompanied Jace’s teasing. “Look who has a big ole softy heart.”
“I do not.”
He let loose with a deep laugh, just like he had outside, when he’d told her she couldn’t ride a bull because she was a girl.
Of course he’d been joking. Jace had never been the type to say anything derogatory about women. Quite the opposite. He’d thought his mama was strong for overcoming all she had, and Mackenzie had always considered that one of his attractive qualities.
Not that she needed to dwell on any of those.
“We have to write them up. If we don’t, and there’s a next time, I won’t have any proof. Though hopefully it won’t be needed.”
“Sounds good, boss.”
“You can quit with the bo
ss stuff now.”
“Oh, Kenzie Rae.” His scratchy drawl lowered and strung out like honey. “I’m just getting started.”
Her sigh expanded to fill the room. “That’s exactly what I feared.”
Chapter Seven
“We keep the employee files in Luc’s office,” Mackenzie explained to Jace as they entered the room. She unlocked the file cabinet and removed the two folders she needed. “We use a standard form. It’s on the computer.” She was about to drop into Luc’s chair behind the desk when she realized there wasn’t a second seat. And she had promised Luc that she’d actually train Jace. “Hang on.”
She went down the hall and stole a chair from the front office. When she finagled it through Luc’s doorway, Jace strode over. “Let me.”
“I’ve got it. It makes no sense for you to take the chair with only one arm. Now, scoot so I can get this thing in here.”
Jace moved out of her way, grumbling under his breath. She only caught confounded and stubborn.
Her lips pressed and bowed. Fine. Mackenzie would take those descriptions any day. She maneuvered around Jace and situated the second chair so that it was squeezed behind the desk, with hers.
After she took a seat in the rolling chair, Jace dropped into the one next to it with an agitated—and rather pouty—huff.
“I don’t like being useless.”
Mackenzie understood that. She’d been a much-bigger baby about a broken leg when she was a kid and had hated every cooped-up moment. “You’re not. You just need a little time...to come to terms with the fact that a girl is stronger than you.” She flashed him a victorious smirk. It was nice to have something up on the man—at least more than that quarter of an inch that shrank down to nothing when she went toe-to-toe with him.
“I’ve never doubted your toughness, Kenzie Rae. You are most certainly a force to be reckoned with.”
She wrinkled her nose and rocked back in surprise.
“You don’t like it when I agree with you, do you?”
