by Camryn Rhys
“Okay, I’ll help.” Jamie pushed air through her nostrils. She was going to regret this. “Brady leaves the northwest cabin stocked for the guys when they’re up with the cows. There’s a key under the frog statue thingy that has the horse tie-up knobs on it.”
“Oh, Jamie, you are a life-saver.”
“Sure.” Some of the tension in her chest released, but this was only a temporary fix. “But you have to use as little of the supplies as possible. And tell me what you used so I can replace it. My brother will kill me.”
“He doesn’t ever go up there, does he?”
“No. And you have to return it exactly to the way you found it.”
“Oh, I love you, I love you.” Charity’s glee should have relaxed things inside Jamie’s stomach, but it didn’t.
Her friend wasn’t done asking for favors. She could just tell. There was a lead-off at the end of every sentence, like she hadn’t said what she really wanted to say yet.
The sound of a honking horn blasted through Jamie’s speaker and she had to pull her head away from the noise.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“I don’t know.” Charity’s tone was so matter-of-fact, and Jamie realized she hadn’t even asked where her friend was. Did she need a ride up to the cabin? How did she plan to get around? She didn’t have a car of her own.
“Look, I need to ask you one more favor,” Charity said.
Jamie sighed and glanced at the kitchen door, in case the new chef decided to be on his way up to the barn, like she’d asked. He wasn’t. Thankfully. Not to mention the fact that she was having a conversation about him, was the fact that if he realized she was talking to Charity, he might tell Brady, and her brother would not be happy about that.
He really had it out for Charity.
“Ask away, but I can’t make any promises. I’m about to start a week on the trail.”
“I need you to help me get my job back.”
Jamie exhaled hard. Shoulda known this was coming.
“I’m not gonna sleep with a married man, Charity.”
“Oh you don’t have to do that.” Her friend’s tone was so flippant, Jamie started to relax. That was a hard stop. No adultery.
“Good.”
“You only need to get caught, like, kissing him or whatever.”
Jamie shook her head, wordlessly. There was no way she was going to kiss a married man. His wife would find out why he got fired, she would divorce him… that was an absolute no. But saying no to Charity was not an easy thing.
“I’m not going to kiss him.”
“Oh, come on. You want to. I can hear it in your voice.”
“I do not want to kiss Kyle Harris.”
“Right.”
Jamie pushed off the tree and walked back to the trail. She wasn’t going to listen to any more of this nonsense. She had work to do.
“Look. I’ll let you stay in the cabin, but I’m not going to do something with consequences like that.” Jamie’s steps increased, along with her heartbeat.
“But you said he’d been ogling you all day.”
“That’s different. I can’t control what he does with his eyes. He initiates that. I’m not going to initiate anything.”
“Fine.” Charity’s pouty voice was extra-crispy. Jamie wasn’t falling for it this time. Her friend may have been sparky and fun and a thrill-a-minute, but she was an instigator, and Jamie wasn’t getting caught up in any more of Charity’s schemes.
Kyle kept a list of every item he put in the wagon. He wasn’t quite sure who this Charity was, or what her credentials were, but the woman had absolutely no idea how to order food. She shopped like a Real Housewife, not a trained chef.
But he’d whip this place into shape and make do with what he had. Proprietary spice blends and all. He’d gone through each one after Mattie left, and written down what he could taste in each blend. If he really planned to use them, he’d need to know how to pair them with Charity’s nightmare pantry.
Thankfully, the walk-in freezer had been absolutely packed. There was enough meat to feed an army for months. Someone obviously hunted, too, because it wasn’t just beef. There was almost a whole elk, from the looks of it. Buffalo and rabbit and deer meat, each wrapped in plain white butcher paper.
There was a decent size mini-freezer with a generator in the wagon. It was a little nuts how decked out this place was. The kind of person who could afford to vacation in a place like this was too rich for his blood.
The only thing that might’ve been better was his very own food truck. But for now, he’d take the tricked-out covered wagon.
This would a fun summer. With or without Jamie.
The boss’s sister didn’t seem to like him very much. He would resign himself to a civil working relationship with the most beautiful woman he’d ever met. It could be worse.
Either way, it didn’t matter, because there’d be a bunch of tourists with the them for the next week, and he’d learned enough from Jamie to know that every sexual position currently floating through his mind was off-limits.
Would be fun. But off-limits.
He could only hope that Mattie Banfield wouldn’t say anything to her son about the was-married thing. That was the kind of comment women had radar for. And what the hell, with the spontaneous utterances… Time to put a lid on the talking for awhile. This job was everything.
By the time he finished loading the food, he’d convinced himself to keep Jamie firmly in the spank bank. He’d had a long drought, with an estranged wife who wanted to jump on every dick in the world except his. Maybe he could keep himself warm in the long, cold nights on the mountain, and keep Jamie in his thoughts only. Not in his bed, where she belonged.
The walk to the barn seemed so much longer than it had on the way up. Granted, he’d had Jamie’s ass wiggling in front of him on the way to the house. That had been nice incentive.
No. Not an incentive. Gotta stop thinking of her that way.
One thing was for certain, firing Charity had been smart. She’d kept the kitchen in an awful state, and the first thing he’d do when he got back was give the whole place a good, thorough cleaning. And then start making his lists for their next food order. No more freaking canned caviar. Even if these people were super rich, they’d get a better eating experience by having fresh, unique local ingredients than they would from the most expensive packaged shit in the grocery store. If she’d been working in his kitchen, he would’ve fired her, too.
A sharp whinny from the barn perked Kyle’s ears. He wasn’t much of a horseman, but he knew enough to recognize the sound of a horse in distress.
He picked up his pace and jogged for the barn. In the corral, Brady sat atop a beautiful golden horse, pulling tight at the reins and steering the uppity filly in a gradual loop. Mattie and Jamie leaned against the far side, watching him guide the horse around.
Jamie’s eyes were so solidly fixed on Brady, Kyle wondered if it was the horse or the rider she worried about more. But her whole body was on alert—muscles coiled, limbs still, ready to pounce. Warmth stole through Kyle’s body as he watched her.
One thing he couldn’t ignore. He wanted her. His groin tightened as he let his imagination roam free. Not smart, these free-range wild-sex-thoughts. The pressure in his pants seemed to tighten as he bent toward the roughhewn wood.
“I told you, you have to let up on your right heel,” Jamie called.
The filly bucked, and Brady pulled the reins. At the sharp tug, the horse slammed into the side of the corral not far from where Kyle leaned through the rails.
“Dammit, Jamie.” In a fluid movement, his new boss dismounted and hit the ground running. The golden filly settled right down and looked almost content to have the man off her back. She nickered, low, and pranced in place.
Brady jogged to his sister and threw his hat on the ground at her feet. “This is the last horse I’m gonna let her ruin.” He turned back to the center of the corral and stared at the palomino
. “I’m going over there tomorrow, and she’s gonna give us our money back, or I’m calling the Sheriff.”
Jamie stretched to meet her brother’s anger head-on. “None of those horses were ruined. You just overreact because you don’t like Kira. If you leave that right side alone for a few days, it’ll be fine like all the rest.”
“Well, I shouldn’t have to not-ride a horse for a week after Kira breaks her.” Brady bent to retrieve his hat, and Jamie brushed past him.
With her shoulders set and her jaw working, she looked every bit the rough and tumble cowgirl Kyle had known was in there. He climbed inside the corral and rested on the edge of a rail to watch the show.
“You can ride her now.” Jamie grabbed the filly’s reins and hoisted herself into the saddle from the left side without using the stirrup. “You just have to let up on your right heel.”
Kyle leaned forward when it seemed like she might topple right over the other side, but she caught her seat and gripped the horse with her thighs, clicked at her, and took off around the corral. It was a thing of beauty to watch. Her long, graceful body with muscled, blue-jeaned legs wrapped around a big…
Hot fuckin’ damn. Cool it, man.
“You just have to keep easy on her right side.” Jamie rode past her brother and mother, keeping eye contact with Brady. As she rounded, she kept her right foot high up on the filly’s stomach, avoiding a red spot near where Jamie’s heel would’ve been if she’d been in-stirrup.
Brady walked toward her, his face dark. “Jamie, you get off that horse.”
Her eyes grazed over Kyle’s and locked there as she started a second sweep around the corral. Her features knotted in surprise when she caught herself, and she yanked at the reins. Her foot slipped down too low on the right side, and the filly neighed. The horse reared on her hind legs and sent Jamie sailing through the air.
Kyle found himself lunging forward before he could think. He hit the ground first, curling his body as she smashed into him in what seemed like a slow motion movie stunt.
He wrapped his arms around her and rolled onto his side, winding his body around hers on impact. When they came to a resting spot, he couldn’t tell which legs were his and which were Jamie’s, but he felt the weight of her chest and the pressure of her breath pushing back against him.
They lay in the dust for a moment, and Kyle touched the side of her face.
Those brilliant green of her eyes lit up under the shadow of her brim. Oh shit. Between the way she felt in his arms and the way his heart leapt when her eyes opened, he had it bad.
Even if it was only lust, he had it bad.
Brady clomped over to them and had Jamie up and out of Kyle’s arms before she really knew what’d happened. Her brother checked all her bones and put a finger under her chin. His dark frown returned.
“Damn it, Jamie. Will you ever just do what I ask?”
He held her while she listened to her own heart beat and recalled the moment she’d first opened her eyes.
She’d seen Kyle dive and had felt him under her when she hit. It’d been forceful enough that if she hit the ground instead of his arms, she might’ve broken something. He had surprised her. Standing there on the corral edge, watching her ride their newly broken horse as though he was part of the family or something.
His response had been too fast. Her stomach was still dropping.
The thought of him belonging there had startled her enough, she’d hit Megan’s sore right side and gone sailing. And if Kyle hadn’t been there, she might not be going on the trail at all.
As it stood, she’d have a sore ankle from getting wrenched in that stupid stirrup, and maybe some wounded pride.
“Oh, Jamie!” Mom pulled her away from Brady and hugged her so tight her breath couldn’t move at all. “You know you can’t just jump on a skittish horse like that.”
Brady must’ve helped Kyle to his feet because the two tall men hovered over her—Kyle behind her, and Brady behind her mother.
Kyle rested his hand on her back and she shuddered. He was being too…considerate.
“I just wanted to prove to Brady that he could still ride her so he wouldn’t go to jail or something, chasing down Kira to take his pound of flesh.”
He shook his head and his jaw set forward. “You’re not going to ride her again. And neither am I, or Mom, or anyone else.”
Jamie pouted. “You can’t just lock her in the barn.”
“I’ll dress the wound. And I’ll worry about the horses. This is my ranch.” He took a deep breath, as though he leashed his anger too tightly to speak.
“Kyle, are you okay?” Mom touched his shoulder.
“I’ve been hurt worse.” Kyle’s fingertips brushed along Jamie’s back again. “Just in the right place at the right time.”
Somehow, the guy managed to look happy, even with dirt all over his face and with an obvious injury to either his right arm or his back or ribs. She’d really clocked him, and he favored his right side.
A rumble sounded behind them, and the big silver ranch bus thundered around the bend.
Jamie jumped away from the group toward the roundabout. Kyle’s fingers unnerved her in a way she hadn’t expected, and didn’t like. Maybe getting caught in his lap—fully clothed and praying for forgiveness every single second—was a better alternative to being actively attracted to a married man.
She certainly didn’t want to spend twelve weeks with Kyle.
Brady chased after the horse, but Kyle followed Jamie across the corral toward the bus. She could sense him behind her, the heat of him. He touched her back again once they’d both crawled through the rails.
“You sure you’re okay?” His voice was so low, it was almost a whisper, and his breath tickled the sensitive spot behind her ear.
Something melted inside when he hit that spot. Between the life-saving and the good-smelling and the low-talking, she was confused as hell and way too interested in holding this exact position for about the next hundred years.
“I’m fine.” She waved him off. “Don’t worry about me. We’ve got people here, and I still have to get that team hooked up.”
Kyle slipped his hand around her waist and pulled her just a bit closer. It didn’t seem like much, except that it put every feasible part of their bodies in contact.
Lord. She hoped Brady was watching. Even as a part of her hoped he would keep inching her into his arms. Just get this overwith.
“I can’t help worrying about you after taking a fall like that.”
She took a tiny step away from him and whirled her head to plant a glare on him like he’d probably never seen. “You mean, I’m a frail little woman who needs protecting.”
“That’s not what I said.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry about me.”
“I can’t explain why, Jamie.” His eyes met hers, and those blue depths threatened to open a cavern with her on the precipice. “But something about you makes me want to worry.”
“Then you’ll never survive around here.” She tried to ignore the little part of her that started to freefall when he said those words.
“Trying to get rid of me already, are you?”
Something tightened inside, and she laughed a little too quickly. “Why would I want to do that?”
“That’s funny, because—” Kyle’s whole body froze, and he stopped even breathing.
Jamie whipped around and looked at the bus. Her brother Paul stood just outside the big silver door, looking way too comfortable, all blonde good looks and easy smiles. He needed to remember that his girlfriend was waiting in a cabin up in the woods, because he had broken the rules. Next to him was a gorgeous, tall blonde woman who stared in their direction.
Kyle’s fingers closed around Jamie’s arm tighter and tighter. She couldn’t tell if he recognized the blonde or just wanted her. Or something else entirely.
But something about the way they stared at each other unnerved Jamie enough that she stepped backward and pres
sed her back against his chest, as though something about her touch could ground him.
Or just remind him she was there.
But he didn’t stop looking at the blonde. And he didn’t start breathing again until the woman started walking toward them, her smile big and her eyes wide.
“Holy fuck,” Kyle whispered.
In that moment, something pinched at Jamie’s heart. She was no longer the center of Kyle’s attention, and that bothered her more than she liked.
Chapter Four
Kyle held his breath, hoping no one had heard his whispered surprise. He tried not to watch Jamie’s profile, but couldn’t tell if she’d picked up his shock or not. But holy fuck…what in the hell is Lana doing here?
His ex-wife obviously saw him, too, because her big blue eyes almost doubled in size. With her arm around the blond guy in a green t-shirt, she couldn’t have more closely approximated a headlight-caught deer if she’d been auditioning for a commercial. If she still did that.
Lana’s blonde hair was now stick-straight, and reached down past the middle of her back. She’d lost weight, but her breasts hadn’t downsized. Had she gotten a boob job? Good God. Every man in a mile radius would salivate.
He gave her a nearly imperceptible shake of his head. He’d have to find some moment before they took off to pull her aside.
“She’s hot, right?” Jamie’s voice broke his concentration on Lana and he ruffled the hair at the base of his neck, trying to look nonchalant.
“Who’s hot?”
“Right. You didn’t notice the tall, skinny, blue-eyed blonde with the massive rack that just stepped off the bus. And all the men who went silent in remembrance of their collective lost testicles.” She scuffed her boot and stretched her neck.
Kyle tried to ignore the little stab inside. She’d seen him staring, all right. But ignoring Lana too much wouldn’t be wise. She had a radar for shit like that. He didn’t envy whomever she snared on this little trail ride. She might look like a prize, but she had a roving eye, unreasonable financial expectations, and a surprisingly lackluster marital sex drive—because she certainly liked sex, according to her Tinder account history. Just not according to his marriage bed.
