Her Renegade Rancher EPB

by Jennifer Ryan

  “Exactly. I picked them out based on their age and training. We’ll go look at them on Saturday and you can decide if you want to buy them.”

  “All of them?” She sorted through the ten or so pages.

  “However many you want for your program that turn out to suit your needs. They have to be gentle and not spook easily by sudden movements. We’ll test them out, talk to the owners, and see if we can’t find some therapy horses to start training.”

  “You’re serious?”

  “Uh, yeah.”

  “Okay.”

  “Good. I’ll pick you up at your ranch. We’ll take a look today at your horse trailers and see if you’ve got what we need, otherwise, I’ll bring one from my place.” Colt walked out with the rug, following Ford and Rory after they maneuvered the couch through the door and onto the small landing outside. She didn’t know how they managed it, but she left it to the strong men to get the job done.

  “He’s asked me a dozen times over the last few days if I’ve talked to you and if you were coming over to go over wedding stuff,” Sadie said.

  “I’m sorry I’ve been AWOL the last few days.”

  Sadie waved that away. “The point is, he couldn’t wait to see you again.”

  “All he had to do was call me.”

  “Things haven’t exactly been normal since Wayne died and turned your life upside down. He’s giving you time to settle.”

  “Maybe I don’t need time. Maybe all I need is a hug and an ‘Everything will be fine, so let’s move on.’ ”

  Strong arms wrapped around her middle and squeezed her tight to a long, lean body. The heat, the familiarity settled into her body, and she relaxed against Colt. He kissed her on the head. He released her and gave her a smack on the ass. “Everything will be fine. Get a move on, honey. You can’t expect me to do all the work.”

  She turned and stared at him.

  His open gaze locked with hers. “Want something?”

  “You to stop being so confusing.”

  “It’s simple, Luna. I’m here and not planning on going anywhere but out with you on Saturday.”

  “So we start there?”

  Colt glanced at Sadie, who pretended to be immensely interested in her tea. “We started with a kiss. Don’t you think it’s about time we see where that takes us?”

  Rory and Ford walked in and stopped short, feeling the gathering tension in the room.

  “Let’s get that big dresser thing next,” Colt said, breaking eye contact with her. He turned to get the job done, giving her a way out of answering the question after she’d hesitated a second too long because he’d stunned her with how boldly he’d put it. He’d laid it out right in front of Sadie like he didn’t care if she overheard what felt like a private conversation.

  But them seeing each other wasn’t private. She wanted everyone to know she and Colt were a . . . thing. More than that, it felt like.

  “Colt.” She waited for him to stop shimmying the huge piece of furniture away from the wall with Rory on the other side. “Thanks for the hug and telling me everything is going to be all right even though it all feels so out of sorts.”

  He held his hand up with his index finger pointed up and circled it to encompass the room. “You like things simple and orderly. I can see where all this would overwhelm you.”

  She had to admit he was right. Even with her place packed up and ready to move, she’d kept things organized. She liked her life that way, too.

  “You and me on Saturday.”

  “You and me, right here, right now.” He gripped the side of the cabinet and nodded to Rory to lift his side. Rory wiped the smile off his face right after throwing Ford an I told you so look.

  She changed the subject, hoping to get everyone to stop looking at her. “I like the palomino the best.” She held up the papers Colt gave her on the potential therapy horses.

  “I knew you would, that’s why I put her on top.”

  “You two done flirting?” Rory let out a huge sigh under the weight of the armoire. “This thing is heavy.”

  Colt pushed on his end, sending Rory stumbling backward toward the door.

  “Hey, you two be careful with that,” Sadie called, worried about her man.

  Luna set the horse papers on top of the files next to Sadie and grabbed a box off the stack against the wall. Ford followed her out the door with a load of her old lumber balanced on his shoulder.

  They spent the next two hours loading the trucks and tying everything down. When her tiny shoebox stood empty, she stood in the center, looking around, feeling a little nostalgic.

  “Did you leave anything behind?” Colt asked from the doorway.

  “Back to not coming into my place.”

  He stepped in and closed the distance between them. Ford and Rory’s trucks started up outside and drove away.

  “This isn’t your place anymore.”

  “I know, but am I ready to take over that new place?”

  “Yes.”

  “You seem so sure about that.”

  “I am. You’re smart. You work hard. I have no doubt you’ll make your mark on Rambling Range. Wayne thought so, too, otherwise he wouldn’t have left it to you.”

  “I think he set me up as a babysitter to his two sons.”

  “They’ll never stick out eighteen months.”

  Luna tilted her head. “But you think I can hack it the rest of my life?”

  “I know you’ll make that place yours the way you made this place into the home you wanted to come back to each and every day.” Colt looked around at the patched-up holes in the walls she’d uncovered now that she’d taken down the barn boards. All her landlord had to do was paint and move in her next renter.

  “Still, it’s a lot to take on, especially when his family will be pressuring me to sell.”

  “It only takes one word to get them to back off. ‘No.’ ”

  “I can say that until I’m blue in the face, but they’re going to keep coming back at me to sell.”

  “They’ll get it once you settle into the house and start working on the ranch.”

  “We’ll see.”

  “Yes, we will. Don’t worry, honey, I’ll look out for you.”

  “Why would you do that?”

  He tilted his head and eyed her. “Why do you think?”

  “Because you’re my friend,” she guessed.

  He shrugged. “Sure. Let’s start there and see what happens.”

  “Is that what we’re doing?”

  “We gotta start somewhere, right?”

  She took the two steps toward him and stared up into his hazel eyes, filled with anticipation, need, and patience. The man had been driving her nuts the last couple of hours lifting all her heavy stuff, his muscles flexing beneath his tight black T-shirt.

  She shook her head and scanned his big body from head to foot. “You drive me crazy, you know that?”

  “You drive me crazy.”

  She didn’t even hide her smile. “Why?”

  “Because all I want to do is kiss you.”

  “More things we agree on.” She placed her hand on the back of his neck, went up on tiptoe, and brushed her lips over his. Like a match swiped across the rough edge of the box, a fire lit inside of them. Colt’s arms banded around her. One big hand held her lower back. He planted the other right on her ass, his long fingers laying over the curve, inches from the tingling heat building between her legs. He pulled her closer and took the kiss deeper. His tongue glided along hers. She moaned. He growled, tilted his head for a better angle, and kissed her socks off.

  Luna lost herself in Colt’s arms. The first kiss they shared rocked her world off center and left her wondering if what she felt that night in the parking lot was real or just her imagination. Now that she knew the passion and need were real, something opened inside her and everything within her settled. She let loose the tight hold she had around his neck and combed her fingers through his sun-kissed golden hair. His hand on her
ass contracted and squeezed, pulling her closer to him. He might have made everything inside her focus on him, but she still had enough wits to know they couldn’t take this any further here in her empty apartment. Plus, everyone was waiting for them at her new place.

  She hated to end the mind-blowing kiss. The man’s mouth was soft, supple, and he put just the right amount of pressure, demanding, but also giving. God, the man could kiss.

  Her hand settled on his cheek. She gave in to one more long kiss, her tongue sliding along his, exploring his mouth and the thrill that raced through her. She broke the kiss, leaned her forehead to his, and tried to catch her breath. To keep him from kissing her again, she pressed her thumb to his parted lips. He took it into his mouth and sucked softly, releasing her just as a wave of heat rocketed through her system and made her legs tremble. Good thing he kept a tight hold on her. His lips pressed to the pad of her thumb. She fell back on her heels and whispered, “Damn.”

  “I must be king of the idiots for letting you get away the last time we did that.”

  She smiled and laughed, and just like that she could look at him again, knowing he felt exactly what she felt when they lost themselves in each other.

  As if he couldn’t bear to stop touching her, his hands smoothed up her hips and back before they slid along her sides and he released her.

  “We need to get going. We pull in more than fifteen minutes behind the others and they’ll be thinking we . . .”

  “Yeah. You’re right.” All of a sudden, she didn’t know what to do with her hands. She smoothed one down her still-fluttering stomach. She used the other to brush the hair from her eyes. Nervous and off balance, she looked everywhere but at him.

  “Luna.”

  “Yeah,” she said to his chest.

  “You ever going to look at me again?”

  She tried to fight the smile but failed miserably.

  “What is it?” he asked, his voice filled with patience and concern.

  She managed to look up and sighed when his hazel gaze met hers. “You are so much. I don’t know what to do with it all. Does that make sense?”

  “If you’re feeling half as much as what I’m feeling, then yeah, that makes perfect sense.” His fingers caressed her arm down to her hand. He linked his fingers with hers. “Ready to move into your new place?”

  “Ready to move into a house where my bedroom isn’t also my living room and kitchen? Uh, yeah.”

  Colt smiled and melted her insides again. “Let’s go, honey. I can’t wait to see the house.”

  “You mean you’re actually going to go inside?”

  “Yes, because I won’t be sitting on your bed, fighting tooth and nail not to strip you naked and have my way with you.”

  The laugh burst out of her gut. “Is that why you didn’t come in?”

  “Damn straight.”

  “And you think I would have just fallen into bed with you?”

  He tugged on her hand and she fell into his chest. His mouth claimed hers in another searing kiss. His big hand brushed down her hair and settled on her jaw. His thumb swept over her chin as he broke the kiss and held her away. He squeezed their joined hands and stared down at her. She’d never seen anyone look at her with that much hunger and need in their eyes. All of that for her.

  “Damn straight.”

  It took her a minute to figure out what he meant. Oh yeah, she’d have fallen into bed with him without a thought to consequences or the outcome. When Colt touched her, she wanted him. She’d never felt this way about anyone. Not even her ex, who she once-upon-a-time thought she could love.

  What she felt for Colt went beyond simple lust. He truly had opened something inside of her. A dream. A hope that what they shared could be real and true and lasting.

  Chapter 13

  Colt drove down the long driveway behind Luna’s Jeep, passing under the Rambling Range sign. Fence lines spread out. A herd of horses grazed to his right. On the left he spotted the brand-new covered arena. Everything, from the land, the animals, the house that loomed large in front of them, to the massive stables and barns on the property, belonged to Luna. A spread this size was worth more than he could possibly imagine.

  The spread he shared with his brothers was only half the size of this place. While he’d been thinking of building his own house, he could never afford something this massive. Luna owned all this, had more money than she’d likely spend in a lifetime, and the possibility to do anything she wanted now. What the hell could he offer her? All of a sudden, she didn’t seem like the woman he used to know. Who she was and what she had took on a whole new meaning in his mind.

  He thought of the kiss they shared back at her old place. Now that was the woman he remembered. The one who lit him up and made him burn. The same woman who stopped her car in front of him, stepped out, and stared at everything in front of her with a look of wonder on her face. He caught the flash of fear and hesitation in her eyes. She’d talked about how this place intimidated and overwhelmed her. She’d barely spoken of the money. She’d lived with only what she’d truly needed in her tiny little space. Sentimental, she’d torn the boards she’d salvaged from her family’s place and brought them with her here. Luna cared, but not about the money. Not in a way that made her greedy or look down on those who didn’t have what she had. He hoped that never changed about her.

  Sadie approached Luna, pointing up to the house, and hugged Luna close. They had a deep friendship. If he messed this up with Luna, he’d have hell to pay with Sadie. Rory would be pissed if he upset his soon-to-be-wife, especially in her delicate condition. Hell, he’d be pissed at himself if this thing with Luna went south. He liked her. They had a connection he’d never felt with any other woman. If kissing her sent his system into overdrive, sleeping with her just might kill him. He’d die happy though, because being with a woman like Luna was worth it.

  Luna turned and stared at him, her eyes filled with anger.

  Great, what did I do now?

  He opened his truck door and slipped out, calling, “What’s wrong?”

  Luna swept her arm out to indicate the front of the house. He looked past her, spotted Rory and Ford walking over with a wheelbarrow and shovels, and followed the path up to the front door and a huge pile of manure.

  Luna quirked up one side of her mouth, but it didn’t hold any humor. “So what the family is trying to say is that my moving in here is a pile of horse shit.”

  He couldn’t help himself; he laughed. “I guess so.” He liked that she had a sense of humor about this stupid prank, but it pissed him off that someone in the family did this to her. They had to know she understood their upset. Nothing would change the fact that Wayne, not Luna, set all this in motion, but they still believed she’d manipulated Wayne—and slept her way into all that money and this ranch.

  Bullshit. He didn’t believe that for a second. Luna was kind. Generous to a fault sometimes. Look how long she’d put up with Billy.

  Sadie let loose a giggle, too, at Luna’s sarcastic comment, pulling him from his thoughts about punching whoever pulled this prank. He might have laughed, but he didn’t think it was all that funny. “We’ll get this cleaned up and hose down the porch before we start moving things in.”

  “I wonder what we’ll find inside.” The worry in Luna’s eyes bothered Colt.

  He began to wonder if she’d be safe here alone. Would the family’s resentment turn from a stupid prank to something much more direct and threatening? They wanted her to sell. How hard would they push to persuade her to do it?

  “That’s a very dark look.” Luna touched his arm to get his attention. “What are you thinking?”

  “Nothing.” He traced his fingers over her soft cheek. “I don’t like they’ve upset and worried you.”

  “I kind of expected worse.”

  Her admission didn’t ease his mind or the knot in his gut.

  “Let’s hope we don’t find worse inside.”

  Sadie shoved his shoulder.
“Go help your brothers clean up so we can get in and help Luna put her things away.”

  Colt touched his finger to his forehead in a salute. “Yes, ma’am.”

  Sadie smacked him again, sending him off to help Rory and Ford shovel shit. Just another day on a ranch.

  Ford kept shoveling when he approached.

  Rory stopped and propped his arm on top of the shovel, wiping his brow with the back of his hand. “I don’t like this shit.”

  “Literal or figurative?” Colt’s smart-ass remark earned him a glare from both his big brothers. “I don’t like it either. Once this is cleaned up and we can get inside, we go in first. They had five days to clear out the house. Let’s make sure they didn’t leave any other surprises.”

  “Worse than this?” Ford asked, pulling his T-shirt up and over his nose and mouth to help minimize the stench.

  “I hope not, but I’m not taking any chances with her.”

  Rory and Ford smiled, eyeing him.

  “Shut the fuck up and get to work.”

  “We didn’t say anything.” Rory took on the look of an innocent child, but he couldn’t quite hide the smile that came much easier now that Sadie had come into his life.

  “Yes. You did. With one look. Now come on. Let’s get this done.”

  “Touchy, touchy, little brother.” Ford smacked the back of his hand on Colt’s shoulder.

  “Can we not do this now.” He cocked his head toward Luna and Sadie, who were leaning against the front of the Jeep. “In front of them.”

  “You mean in front of her,” Rory pointed out. “How serious is this thing with her?”

  “Look, man, I know your girl is her best friend and fucking this up will affect Sadie and you.”

  Rory held up his hand to stop him. “Don’t do that. Don’t add Sadie and me to whatever relationship you have with Luna. If it works, great. I’m happy for you. If it turns out you two split down the road, that’s your business. Sadie and I want you both to be happy. Together or apart.”

  “Me, too,” Ford added. “You seem to have gotten past what happened with her ex. You’re friends again. If it’s more than that, or that’s what you hope it will be, then good for you.”