Ranch Daddy

by Shanna Handel

  “I don’t know if that’s possible,” she murmured. Was she petting the head of one of those unicorns with her fingertip?

  Clearing my throat, I continued my story. “So, it comes to the end of the meditation and he says, now choose, would you like to wake up refreshed, ready to start your day—”

  “But I thought it was a meditation for sleeping. Why would he say that?” she asked.

  “I know, right? Well, I have the free version, so he tries to hit two birds with one stone. The title of it is Peaceful Park Outing, Rest or Sleep. Rest or sleep. When he said, ‘do you want to wake up refreshed,’ my brain said, ‘of course!’” Finished sorting the good from the bad, I lay the necklaces out and began counting them as I spoke. “Then I really couldn’t go back to sleep. A few minutes later, he says, ‘or, you can choose to go into a deep, restful, sleep.’ Well, it was too late for that.”

  Sure as shit, she was petting the little buggers as she was counting them. Her manicured fingertip stroked a little head as she asked, “Why don’t you just buy the sleeping one? It can’t cost much.”

  I gave a shrug. “Because I have an irrational fear of making online purchases.” Reaching over the desk, I grabbed her inventory book.

  “What on Earth are you talking about?” she asked, handing me a pen that was not her favorite.

  Flipping through the book, I found the page marked Disco Theme. I wrote down seventy-five, next to Louanne’s neatly penned Disco Ball Necklaces. We had lost five to ketchup... or blood. I packed up the box and carried it over to the door, dropping it in the stack of boxes that had already been inventoried. Later, her husband, Hayes would come in, give my sister a kiss, and pick them up and take them to our storage barn on the back of the property. Colton would be with him to lend a hand. Colton would not be giving me a kiss.

  “Josie, what do you mean you have a fear of buying stuff online?” she asked.

  Leaning against the closed door, I heaved a sigh, thinking about the kiss I would not be getting. Colton had these gorgeous full lips and white, straight teeth. You just knew he had a delicious clean mouth your tongue could wander in for hours.

  Pushing aside the thought, I answered my sister’s question. “One thing leads to another. First, yes, you’re just spending two dollars on a sleep app, but the next thing you know your phone has your credit card memorized. Up pops an ad for a daily horoscope. You think to yourself, the security of knowing my future? That’s worth a dollar. Then, that app has advertisements for a website with adorable boots. So, you tap on it and seconds later you are down a hundred dollars on the turquoise riding boots you just ordered. And it’s all conveniently delivered right to your doorstep. It’s too easy. We live so far from good shopping, I’m afraid I’ll get hooked!”

  “But it takes things ages to get here and when the boxes arrive, they look like they’ve been through a meat packing plant,” she said.

  “Yes, but the labels on the clothing won’t be damaged. I’ll become a brand hog and spiral into a sea of debt. I’ll be buying those thousand-dollar high heels the celebrities wear. The ones with the red soles? What are they called?” I asked.

  “Christian Louboutin,” she said demurely, tucking her own suspiciously red-soled shoes beneath her and out of my sight. Looks like one of the Dixon sisters has already succumbed to love of fancy labels... only between being married to a Jenkins and having recently struck a book deal, she had the money to afford it.

  She laughed as I threw the back of my forearm dramatically over my eyes, crying, “I’ll be drowning in debt, have a closet full of shoes, and I don’t even wear heels! I’m a wedge girl. This is what keeps me up at night.”

  She opened her desk drawer, rummaging around within. Teasingly, she said, “Tell you what, I’ll buy the sleep meditation for you. Obviously, you need to relax. I’m sure I have enough spare change here to cover the cost.”

  “I’ll tell you the only thing that’s going to relax me,” I said.

  “What’s that?” she asked, closing the drawer.

  I stood up; putting my hand on my hip, I waggled my brows, stating, “A good hard ride on a ripped cowboy.” Louanne gasped as I crossed the room back to the file cabinet to find another box to inventory. Gazing over the labels, I picked my favorite—Equestrian Dreams. “What? It’s this damn sexual tension that I’m dealing with. It’s unbearable. I don’t know how much longer I can live with it.”

  “Just focus on your work,” she said, going back to her counting.

  I gave a shrug, headed back for my seat. “Easy for you to say. You’re sleeping with the boss.”

  Her brows shot up. “Excuse me, I’m married to my boss. And I put in a decade of good, solid work here before Hayes even came back to the ranch,” she protested.

  I smiled, egging her on. “I’m just saying that at the end of the day after brushing elbows with gorgeous, muscular cowboys all day, you know you are going to get yours. Me? I go back to my lonely little condo and binge-watch thrillers. I mean, at this point, a psychopath is starting to look attractive to me.”

  She gave a sigh. “I don’t deny it was hard. All those years working beside Hayes, there was a... yearning. But I didn’t let it affect my job.”

  Opening the box, I took out one of the darling little horses that graced the tables for our Equestrian Tea. No better than my kooky sister, I pet it on its porcelain head. “Please, Louanne. I’m much more professional than you give me credit for. I would never let a little sexual tension affect my work performance.”

  Her brow shot up at me. “Eh-hem. I believe you blamed your tardiness on your need to get... serviced, just now? And it’s inventory day, no less. Let’s focus on the task ahead and get this done. I just lost count again.”

  “Okay, okay.” I held the black stallion in my hand, twirling him back and forth in my fingertips, admiring his beauty. His muscles rippled in his legs as he bucked defiantly, his long mane flying behind him. The stallion was powerful. Wild, yet in control. A symbol of pure masculine energy. It reminded me of... Colton. Okay, so what? Maybe I still had a little crush on the gorgeous cowboy.

  Was I opposed to a sexy little roll in the hay with him? Absolutely not. Would I enjoy a little spanky action in the bedroom with my dear friend Colton? Absolutely. But it would never go further than that. I was not his type—no delicate, submissive, perfect little flower. I was more of a blood-red rose with pin-sharp thorns. A beauty available only to those tough enough to get to me. Even if he would have been open to a little action with me, I suspected he had a girlfriend. Twisting the little horse in between my fingers, I heaved a sigh. “I just wish he liked me. Not her.”

  Louanne stopped counting and looked me over. Crossing the room toward me, she said, “Come here, sweetie.” Wrapping her arms around me, she held me like she had so many times before. My second mother.

  “Why her and not me? I mean, I know she’s pretty, and of course she’s a cool girl—I mean, she’s a DJ, for goodness’ sake—but what do those two even have in common?” I asked.

  She held me at arm’s length, smoothing my hair. “It all kind of happened so fast. I think when she traded her services for those private riding lessons with Colton, maybe she already had a crush? I guess the two of them hit it off during the lessons. And then, she was so good, I had to hire her as our regular DJ. So, she was on the ranch a lot and they ended up spending more time together. I’m sorry, Josie. I had no idea I was practically setting the two of them up—”

  “I might have had a chance at having a little fun with him before she showed up. You cock-blocked me,” I sniffed.

  Her nose wrinkled in distaste. “I what?”

  “You know—you blocked my opportunity to get cock. Or is it the other way around? You say ‘cock-block’ when you stop a guy from getting some. What’s the phrase for when your big sister throws your only potential piece of ass into the arms of another woman?” I asked.

  Her brow knitted for a moment. A small smile played at her lips as she
said, “Beaver blocked?”

  I fell over into a fit of giggles. “You put my pussy in prison.”

  She laughed. “I’m sorry I blocked your beaver, Josie. Truly, I am. But you know how these Jenkins men are. Colton is looking for something serious. I doubt he would have ‘had a little fun’ with you, anyway. He respects you too much. You’re like family to him.”

  I gave her the pout that usually could bring her over to see my side of things. It must have worked because she smiled, brushing my hair back with her soft hand, saying, “Who knows though? What’s meant to be will be. If you and Colton are meant to be together, fate will take its course and line you two up.” Taking the horse figurine from my hands, she said, “But for now, you need to get cowboy daddies out of your mind and focus on the task at hand—inventory.”

  Louanne was right. She was always right.

  Our chatting died down and we worked together in peaceful quiet. While I mindlessly counted away, I thought of Colton. I couldn’t help but wonder if Lady DJ was his girlfriend.

  During my snooping, I had established Colton liked the blondie bag of bones. I had seen them at events, flirting. Sometimes, they even left the ranch together in his truck. Watching him pull away with her in the passenger seat felt like a punch to my gut. But he never talked about her when she wasn’t around. And he ate every lunch right next to me in the Mess Hall. No one dared to sit beside me because they knew that spot was reserved for Colton.

  If I broke it down by the hour, he probably spent the same amount of time with me as he did with her. Hell, we worked together every day so I actually saw him more. And though we were only friends, there was playful, flirty banter between us that we had established as teens.

  He liked both of us. But if he liked her, liked her...

  I just wanted to know how much.

  My crush must have been a little stronger than I initially thought because halfway into the fourth box of plastic themed décor, I was hatching a plan to take a tiny peek at Colton’s personal email and see if he was in touch with Lady DJ. Sure, they texted. But email, that was a whole ‘nother level. Emails were like electronic love letters, flying through the clouds and landing on the screen of your laptop.

  The plan would alleviate my curiosity, confirm my suspicions—that he had a girlfriend and it was time for me to stop crushing on him—and hell, why not have a little adventure? Any excuse to take away some of the boredom I had been feeling on my lonely evenings.

  Getting access to his email would be easy. All I would have to do was wait for everyone to leave the offices for the day and go back to their cute little happily married homes on the ranch. I would sneak into the programming building where Colton kept his supplies... and his computer.

  His password would be easy enough to guess. I doubted it would take me more than ten tries. And knowing Colton, once I was on the computer, his email account would already be open in the browser. He, unlike me, was not technologically savvy. While other guys were hooked to their screens all day, Colton spent about fifteen minutes a day clicking away on his laptop. He used his computer for only two things. One, to send an email. Two, to order equipment for his outdoor sports programs.

  I would scan through his inbox, careful to read only the already opened mail. Lady DJ’s email address was simple—I knew it from booking her for the weddings—LDJspins@musictrax.com. Scan through the most recent ones and see if they were really a ‘thing.’

  It was a brilliant plan and I would pull it off effortlessly. Raising my forearm to my lips, I gave my lucky four-leaf clover tattoo a kiss.

  Louanne gave me a weird look. The one that made me feel like she was wondering if I was really her sister. “What was that for?”

  Before I could come up with a reason for my silly gesture, I was saved by a knock at the door. “Hayes must be here to get the crates,” I said brightly.

  The door opened, revealing Hayes, but no Colton. Did my heart really just drop? Pathetic Josie. But not half as pathetic as Louanne. Just at the sight of her handsome husband, my sister’s cheeks turned pink and she got this glassy gaze in her eyes. But I knew it was more than his looks that had her blushing. It was that take-charge way he grabbed her around the waist, pulled her into his broad chest, and kissed her lips like he was marking her as his own.

  Damn. It was hot.

  Embarrassed, I looked in the other direction as they kissed. My eyes rested on the cat poster Louanne must have purchased in her days as a singleton. An orange tabby hung from a tree branch. The words ‘Hang In There!’ were written across the top.

  Where their little smoochy smacking lovefest was over, Hayes politely greeted me with a, “Hey there, Josie,” but his blue eyes never left Louanne’s face. “You want me to start moving these boxes, baby?”

  Her hands wound around his neck, her fingers running through the short hairs on the back of his head. “No, let’s do it tomorrow,” she said dreamily. The little minx obviously couldn’t wait another minute to jump his bones.

  “Why don’t you two get out of here? I can finish this up,” I said with a discreet roll of my eyes.

  “You sure, Josie?” Louanne asked, not even casting me a glance.

  “Yeah, why not. You lovebirds have some necking to do and as a frighteningly single woman with absolutely no romantic prospect whatsoever I really have nothing better to do than to count out hundreds of pieces of décor that will inevitably be used for the most romantic day of someone else’s life,” I said.

  “Okay, if you’re sure,” my sister sighed, her mind obviously not on my witty banter, but the hard waist of her husband that her arm was currently snaking around.

  Hayes gave me a glance over his shoulder. “Catch you later, little sis.”

  “Yeah, more like see ya, wouldn’t want to be ya,” I mumbled as I watched the gorgeous, happy couple leave the office. The door shut with a lonely click. I looked over the rest of the crates, telling myself, “You got this, girl.” Besides, it would give me more time to wait out the clock for Colton to depart for the day so I could check his email.

  Two hours and fifteen crates later, I was done. Grabbing my bag, I headed out the door.

  It was still light outside, so I wasn’t in danger of a lurking Colton making sure I made it to my car safely. My hand grasped the buckle, a sad little ting pricking my chest as I buckled myself in. It wasn’t the same as when he had done it.

  Chapter Two

  After a quick shower and gourmet dinner of scrambled eggs and toast for one, I prepared for my return to the ranch to carry out my devious plan. This time, I was dressed in black sweats and a black hoodie. I figured if I was going to participate in criminal activity at night I might as well be dressed for the occasion. As I stepped out into the dark, cold evening, a thrill ran through me. Taking a night off from stuffing my face with junk food and watching TV would do me good. A little excitement was just what I needed.

  Florence roared to life, and I was off. A few minutes later, I turned up the long gravel road that led to CLAS ranch. Hundreds of acres of beautiful rolling landscape stretched out under a midnight blue blanket of twinkling stars. Nearing the dark buildings, I cut my headlights, finding that driving at night without them was trickier than I had imagined. Steering the red truck around the gravel ranch roads, I went slowly, hoping to keep the noise minimal. The last thing I needed was Hayes or Brody coming down from their house to check on the mysterious vehicle prowling around.

  Finally, I saw the outline of the program building. Focusing my eyes on my destination, I murmured to myself, “Here we go.”

  Pulling around the building, I parked the car with an unexpected bump. I had run into a signpost, luckily only slightly. After allowing a whispered string of curse words to leave my lips, I hopped down from the truck, rushing over to the front bumper. Holding up my phone with the flashlight pointed toward the place of impact, I studied the metal. No damage. That thing was a tank. I breathed, “Whew—not a scratch.”

  I quietly shu
t the door to the truck and crept to the building. My fingers wrapped around the back door knob. A bad feeling washed over me, guilt pooling in my stomach. This was wrong. Breaking into his office? Reading his personal emails? It was an utter and total violation. And yet... I couldn’t stop myself. I was having way too much fun. There was a quiet clink as I opened the unlocked door.

  Using the light from my phone again, I made my way through the office to the counter in the back. There was his laptop. Sitting in plain sight on the smooth countertop, just waiting for me to open it. I tiptoed over to the counter. A little green light blinked on and off in the dark, signaling the computer had been left on. Even better—I wouldn’t have to wait for it to boot up. I opened the top of the computer.

  A picture of Abraham, Colton’s favorite horse, popped up on the screen. I smiled. Drumming my fingertips on the keyboard, I mused, “What can it be? What can it be?” I started with the worst one possible... LadyDJ. Just typing her name made a sick feeling sink to the pit of my stomach. I hit enter.

  Error message.

  I breathed a happy sigh of relief, moving onto the names of CLAS’ horses. I went through the first three stalls of the barn before I gave up. The password was not equestrian-themed.

  Just for shits and giggles, I tried ‘Daddy.’ Nope. Not it either.

  I sighed. I had been so sure Colton’s password would have been a horsey—I mean look at his screen saver, for goodness’ sake! This was going to be harder than I thought. This could take all night.

  If not an animal, it was probably a person’s name. I started with his brothers going down in age order. No such luck. Not his mom, Alice, not his grandmother, Memaw. Tapping my fingertips on the keyboard, I bit my bottom lip as the next name entered my mind.

  My own.

  Was I really going to sink that low?

  It was pointless. It was stupid. It was what a silly, lovesick girl did. But I couldn’t help it. I was a silly girl, though not lovesick, just nurturing a very small, very natural crush. I mean come on—what straight woman wouldn’t get a little damp in the panties working side by side with their very own Aquaman?