Montana Bred: Montana Cowboys

by Hildie McQueen

  Montana Bred

  Hildie McQueen

  Pink Door Publishing, Augusta, Georgia 2016

  Montana Bred

  Bestselling Author

  Hildie McQueen

  Pink Door Publishing

  Cover Artist: Robin Ludwig Design Inc.

  Editor: Scott Moreland

  Copyright Hildie McQueen 2016

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without written permission. This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it to your retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Other Works by Hildie McQueen

  (In reading order)

  Contemporary Western Romance

  Montana Bachelor

  Montana Boss

  Montana Sully

  Montana Born (Love & Grace Anthology)

  Montana Bred

  Fords of Nashville

  Even Heroes Cry

  The Last Hero

  Contemporary Romantic Comedy

  Taming Lisa

  Chapter One

  Cows stunk. They were smelly, dirty and didn't listen well. Bennett Cole's head pounded, which made every attempt to bring the damn animals under control even worse. His horse had long given up trying to understand what he tried to convey it to do and the cows were scattered all over the open field.

  "Damn it, Harvey," Bennett screamed while squeezing his thighs and pulling on the right rein. "Work with me."

  The horse bucked and, for a second, Bennett hung on. Unfortunately, his years of not being on a horse, much less attempting ranching, meant the flight to the ground was not at all unexpected. He landed on his ass, the air knocked out of his lungs.

  Between gasps for air, he rolled to his side just as Harvey disappeared over a hill.

  It took a few moments to stand. But when he did, he noted the cows were congregated under the shade of a cusp of trees, eyeing him with bored expressions.

  He yanked his hat off and slammed it on his thigh. "Shit. I hate horses and cows. I hate alcohol and, right now, I hate this damn place."

  Hobbling to the nearby creek on the land he’d fought his cousin over, Bennett kneeled and splashed water on his face.

  The cool water proved to be the perfect balm for his headache. So he decided perhaps a quick dip would make the annoyances of this afternoon ebb.

  Jenna Stevens glanced at her worn portfolio bag and let out a sigh. Her car barely made it out to where the ranch owner’s cousin directed her to go. The small engine would’ve been better suited for a lawnmower than a car by the ridiculous noises it was making as it strained over a small incline.

  Gas efficient, what a joke. The damn car was useless and would be traded in for a sturdy truck as soon as she had a free moment.

  Finally deciding it was best not to kill the hateful thing, she stopped and put it in park.

  It was a pretty day, anyway. She may as well walk to where she’d noticed a horse grazing. The saddled animal seemed unperturbed by her presence, but as a seasoned ranch hand she was instantly alarmed by the missing rider.

  “Come on, boy,” she whispered to the horse, taking its reins. “Where’s your owner?”

  Tugging the reluctant horse, she walked toward where cows meandered in the shade. Perhaps the rider had walked over there.

  Other than the cows, there was no one about.

  “Damn it!” A man’s voice sounded and Jenna dropped the horse’s reins and hurried toward the sound. Hopefully the guy wasn’t too injured, since it would be a bit of a walk to get back to her car.

  Beside the water stood a naked man. Jenna blinked several times to be sure, but he remained in plain sight.

  Hands on his hips he blew out a frustrated breath and looked down to the water. “Where the fuck are my pants?”

  He leaned forward and looked past low branches. She had to press her lips together to keep from laughing.

  Truth be told, he was quite a sight. Lean but well formed, it was obvious he took care of his body. When he righted, her eyebrows rose at the well-formed bottom.

  It had to be Bennett Cole, the owner and the man she hoped would be her boss. He’d yet to notice her. So, although watching him a bit longer would have been wonderful, Jenna backtracked to behind a tree and let out a breath.

  Somehow, she had to let him know she was there. Unfortunately, it would not help with the dilemma of his missing pants. Obviously, he’d left them too close to the water and the current had dragged them off, so he’d not recover them anytime soon.

  She looked down to her outfit considering if there was something she could afford to give up. Wearing a checkered shirt, jeans and boots, there wasn’t anything she could remove without it being embarrassing.

  “I have some sweatpants in my car,” Jenna called out from behind the tree.

  “What?”

  “I’m here about the ranch hand position. Jenna Stevens,” she screamed louder. “I said I have some sweatpants in my car. I think your pants were carried off downstream.”

  “Nah. If you don’t mind, just give me a lift to the house.” His voice made her jump as he’d walked to the tree and had to be standing just on the other side.

  “Oh...okay...well...” The thought of driving with a nude man in the passenger seat robbed her of the ability to formulate sentences.

  He appeared next to her wearing only boxer briefs and holding his shirt. “This has not been a good day. I forgot you were coming.”

  Without another word, he stalked off in the direction where she’d come from.

  It could be the situation at finding himself without pants but, so far, he’d not given her a fuzzy feeling about the job situation. The only positive thing at the moment was she could follow him with an impeded view of his wide back and very yummy butt.

  “Harvey,” the man neared his horse and petted its head. “I’m dropping you off at a home for mean horses.” By the soft tone in his voice, she could tell he was kidding. Stormy gray eyes met hers. “If you could ride him back, I can drive your car to the house.”

  The house, it turned out, was an old cabin. Jenna could tell by the updated windows and the pristine condition that it had been remodeled. Jenna couldn’t help but walk around the structure in awe of the workmanship.

  Upon her arrival, Bennett emerged wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Although he looked hot in the attire, she preferred him bereft of clothing.

  Not a good way to start a relationship with the new boss. Hopefully, if he offered her the job, she’d find a way to keep from ever discussing her first impression of him.

  “Come on, Harvey,” Bennett said, taking the horse’s reins. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

  The man left to take the horse to the stables. He had explained the stables were shared between him and his brother, Sully. Although he’d invited her to go inside and wait for him, she preferred to walk about the area to familiarize herself with the location of the buildings and animal enclosures.

  The small herd, which she’d seen earlier, seemed to be the only animals on the land. At no more than twenty head of cattle, she wondered how Bennett Cole made his money. There w
asn’t any indication of a milking facility, nor were the cattle any special breed that she could tell.

  Puzzled at the small ranch, she wondered why, exactly, he’d advertised for someone to help administer it.

  At the sound of footsteps, she turned to an approaching Bennett. His swagger told of self-assurance. With one thumb hooked on a belt loop, he portrayed the easy grace of a man without much to worry about. There was a natural flirty lift to the corner of his lips that took a person’s notice. However, it was his eyes that took all the attention.

  Bennett’s eyes were a dark bluish-gray framed with heavy lashes. The depth of the pools would be hard to describe without sounding poetic.

  She looked away from him to clear her mind and concentrated on the questions she had. From her observations, Bennett wasn’t much of a rancher at all.

  If he was hiring for the salary stated by the agent she’d spoken to, she was all for it. However, she’d be stealing. There was simply no way, from what she saw, there was enough work to warrant the large amount.

  Jenna needed the job, but something about the current situation seemed strange.

  Chapter Two

  Bennett did his best to maintain his cool. Although the headache from drinking too much whiskey the night before with his band had ebbed, now he faced the most beautiful woman he’d ever met in his life.

  That was saying a lot since he toured nine months out of the year. And as Country Music’s Entertainer of the Year, he was regularly approached and surrounded by women vying for his attention.

  Somehow, he knew Jenna Stevens was not the country music singer fan girl type. Although her gaze lingered on his face, it seemed more to familiarize herself with his features. There didn’t seem to be any type of recognition in her countenance, nor did she do any of the flirty moves he’d grown accustomed to.

  Instead, her expression remained serious as she stood with both feet planted firmly. Yet, she seemed at ease in the surroundings.

  There was nothing unremarkable about Jenna Stevens. By her caramel-colored skin and hazel eyes, she was obviously of mixed nationality. Her hair was cut short. The riot of multi-colored curls, from golden brown to a darker, richer tone, framed her face. When the wind blew through the curls he wondered what it would be like to rake his fingers through them.

  The way she’d reacted to his earlier, unfortunate situation, he knew it was not easy to rattle her. And boy could the woman ride a horse. He’d never seen Harvey controlled the way she’d kept the unruly horse on a tight rein.

  The damned horse had actually seemed happy with her treatment, which meant she instinctively knew the limits of the animal she rode.

  Standing next to her car, she watched him with the wariness of a woman who didn’t trust easily. In her left hand, she held a beaten leather portfolio and in her right, her cell phone.

  The vehicle, a hybrid foreign number, didn’t fit her in the least. She should be driving a large truck that would easily cover the uneven terrain of a ranch. The car was the only hint that she had not been in the area long. No one in Alder Gulch drove hybrids.

  “Miss Stevens, I’m Bennett Cole.” He held out his hand and she shook it. “Thought I should introduce myself properly since now you know me more personally than most people.”

  Her chuckle was husky and damn if he didn’t want to hear it more. “Things happen.”

  “Would you like to sit out here?” Bennett figured she’d be more comfortable outside on the rockers than inside the cabin with a total stranger. Although his cousin, Regina, lived just a couple miles away and was always snooping about, it was not something she’d know.

  They settled into the chairs. He looked at her for a moment. “I assume you met Regina. She lives up there in the fancy house.”

  “Yes, she was walking around here and told me where you’d gone.”

  Bennett laughed. “She’s nosy, always hanging around. I think she needs a hobby.”

  “She seemed very nice.”

  “Yeah, I love her. But we fight like cats and dogs. Grew up together, so she’s more like a sister. Gotta love family.”

  There was a flicker of sadness in Jenna’s eyes but it was gone when she met his gaze. “It’s beautiful out here. Are you from here? How long have you had the ranch?”

  He wanted to laugh, but managed to keep from doing it. It was refreshing to hang out with someone who didn’t know who he was. “My family, the Coles, have owned this land since the eighteen hundreds. Although I didn’t start this ranch until recently, I came here every summer. My uncle, who owned the house Regina and her teenager live in, always had us out here for family picnics and such.”

  She pulled out a pad and pen and looked over. “What are your plans for the ranch?”

  “Raise and breed cows.”

  “For butchering or selling?”

  “Selling.”

  “How many head do you have now?”

  “Twenty-five.”

  “Not much of a start.”

  “Yeah, it’s best to start small when in unfamiliar territory.”

  “I see.” She wrote something down and he leaned forward to see that she’d written three words.

  Breeding. Sales. Twenty-five.

  Feeling like he was being interviewed, Bennett cleared his throat. “Why are you looking for a job out here in Alder Gulch?”

  Her gaze did not move from the pad of paper. “I want a fresh start. I love it out here I grew up not too far away in Missoula.”

  “Is that right?” He couldn’t picture her growing up in Missoula or Montana for that matter. “Your family is from there?”

  She shrugged. “My birth mother and father are in Trinidad. The Stevens’ adopted me when I was an infant. They are from these parts.”

  “I’ve heard the name, I think. Is it from your adoptive parents that you learned ranching?”

  Finally her face brightened and a sparkle in her eyes shined. “Yes, my father, Andrew Stevens. He’s a wonderful rider and taught me all about herding and such. We have a pretty good sized farm.” Jenna stopped talking and tapped the pen onto the paper.

  Why did she not work at her parents’ farm? Whatever had happened in her recent past had something to do with someone there. “How about your mother? Is she as good a rider?”

  Once again, she smiled. “Of course. She is great.”

  So the problem was not her adoptive parents. By the way she glowed when speaking of them, they maintained a good relationship. Bennett loved a good puzzle and it would be a challenge to decipher the truth in why Jenna was here in Alder Gulch seeking a job way below her capabilities. However, he could use her experience. If only to prove to Regina he could grow a prosperous ranching business. Yes, he hated the idea of killing any animal and although he enjoyed a good steak, he doubted any cow he owned would ever be slaughtered.

  In all honesty, he’d not decided yet what to do with the cattle. One of the cows was about to give birth, which excited and scared him. Those two would be the animals he’d probably keep forever.

  “I don’t know what I’m doing to be honest,” he blurted. “I made the mistake of getting to know each of the cows and now they’re like pets or something.” He laughed when she chuckled.

  “Yeah, I’m an idiot. Go ahead and laugh.”

  “It’s going to be interesting ranching with a man who can’t give his cows away. I suggest you neuter any males if you don’t want to end up with a hundred pets.”

  She let out a sigh. “I don’t think you need me, Mr. Cole. If you are not getting rid of the cows, then there isn’t a job for me here.” She stood and Bennett scrambled to think of something to get her attention.

  “What do you know about horse training?”

  Chapter Three

  Jenna pulled up to her rent-by-the-week hotel and parked. With a takeout meal in one hand, she tugged a rolling suitcase with the other. She went to the stairwell and climbed up to the second floor.

  The studio-sized apartment suited her for t
he moment. She’d have to get something larger, maybe with a yard for when her dog arrived. Anything could happen during this transition period in her life. So she’d put off permanent plans for a couple of weeks at least.

  After some back and forth, she’d finally talked Bennett Cole into horse boarding with a smaller side business of training.

  She wasn’t sure what he’d done up until lately, but the man had no clue about ranches, horse training, cows or the like. At least in boarding and preparing horses for riding, it would keep her employed.

  Once settled with the laptop on the coffee table and her food on a plate, Jenna set about looking up Elle Cole, Bennett’s sister-in-law, who thankfully was an architect and designer. She’d call up the woman and set up a meeting to discuss the design for a state of the art horse boarding facility along with corrals for the animals to have free roam in a large area.

  Her new boss had given her a staggering budget with instructions to tell him if more was needed for the project. The idea of starting a business from the ground up both excited and frightened her. This was exactly what she needed; a challenge along with goals and projections for more.

  Along with the stables and corrals, he’d asked her to look into purchasing several horses and, of all things, to get two dogs. Jenna laughed and shook her head. The man was as clueless as he was handsome.

  “Hi, Jenna.” Elle Cole, a pretty, petite brown-haired woman approached. She walked up to Jenna with a hand outstretched and a wide smile.

  They’d agreed to meet back on Cole lands at Elle’s home, a newly built, large log cabin home. Jenna couldn't stop looking around the beautiful cabin’s interior. “This is an amazing home. So beautiful.”

  “I know, right?” Elle looked every bit a relaxed woman, unaware of how pretty she was settling cross-legged on a couch. “I drooled the first time I walked in.”