“You sort it all out?” the man asked. Now this was the only Powell in her mind, and Skye stepped past Aaron as she reached her hand across his desk.
“Done and done,” Skye said. “Need a new ranch hand? You’re looking right at her.”
The old man looked up from his pen and his pages, and he barely stifled a laugh.
“And I thought that Jesse had a soft heart,” Powell said, looking to his oldest son. “I leave you to do one thing, and this is what you come back at me with?”
Aaron clenched his teeth, and his hand stated to curl into a fist when he released his fingers and sighed.
“She says that she knows the score,” Aaron offered.
“And what do you say?” Powell challenged. “Or are you looking at more than her hands?”
“My hands?” Skye asked.
“Either you really do know your way around a shovel, or you bite those nails into oblivion. So which is it, young lady?”
Skye lengthened up the back of her neck and cracked her knuckles in front of his eyes before she spoke.
“Can see my way around any pile of shit. Yours or your stock. All I ask is a chance to show you as much.”
Powell laughed as he shifted out of his chair and paced around to the front of his desk. Giving his son the side stare, he turned his total attention to Skye but stopped short of touching her as he looked to his son.
“You really think she can handle this?” he asked. “Or are you thinking of making another move?”
Aaron flinched as he took Skye under her arm. She had never pictured herself with someone like him. Sure she wanted someone without dirt under his nails or scruff on his face. And Aaron stood tall and seemed strong as he pressed her closer and stared his father down.
“I know what I’m doing, Dad,” he said. “And in a few days’ time, there will be no question.”
Powell started to speak when he swallowed his words back and lifted up his pen. Clicking it furiously, Skye saw the man’s face grow gray, and when the words left his lips on the back of a moan, he shrugged his shoulders and smiled.
“Fine then,” he said. “Give her chance. But when it goes to shit,.. don’t look to me to pick up the---”
“Won’t happen, Dad,” he interrupted. “She’ll be just fine.”
Believing in herself and what he said, Skye allowed Aaron to usher her back down the photo-lined hallway. She had no knowledge of what it was to grow up like that, and she started to speak her thoughts aloud when she suddenly slapped a firm hand over her mouth.
“I… I didn’t just say---”
“No need to be shy,” Aaron assured her. “We had to earn our keep to.”
“One way or the other?” she managed to ask. “Not sure what that means for me.”
Aaron pushed his fingers into her shoulders, turning her around to face him in the space of the open door. Skye parted her lips, and she nearly expected his mouth on hers when he simply kissed her hand and smiled, almost shyly.
“Means that I’m going to keep an eye on you,” he said. “See what makes you tick. Now let’s get you out in the fields.”
Chapter 3
Skye felt proud as he walked her towards the fence. Like all she had to do was show that she was pure of heart and even stronger in body and spirit. And then he would protect her at all costs. Maybe she wasn’t entirely smitten, but Aaron’s eyes glowed as he stopped her in her tracks and waved his hand across the large expanse looming in the distance.
“It’s all gonna be mine one day,” he said.
“Because you’re the oldest?” she asked. “Or because you’ve earned it?”
He arched his eyebrow at the sound of her question, and Skye lifted her body to the tip of her toes as she took his face in her hands. His skin was smooth and smelled of sandalwood. He really didn’t belong out on the range, but it was still part of his charm,
“No answer?” Skye said. “Part of the problem is that brush you failed to clear off to the west.”
“Is that right?” he asked. “And what are you going to do about it?”
Supposed chivalry demanded that he take the lead. But he didn’t have the hands for the move, and she wanted to spare him the embarrassment as she broke into a run and sighed heavily at the twigs and the bramble just blocking the sun. Of course the grass would grow if it wasn’t in the way, and without the benefit the gloves, Skye started to lift the twigs from the ground, pulling the scraggly shrub up by its roots. She barely broke a sweat before the job was done, and as she proudly wiped her hands together and turned back to face him, she saw the dark-haired boy striding forward atop a golden horse. The contrast was perfect in the sun, and Skye felt a light buzz blooming in her chest as he stared down at her.
“Not bad,” he said.
“Thanks.”
“Seems about right for a girl.”
And just like that, she thought him no better than the men that she had surpassed for her brand new job. Even Aaron’s hand at her back did nothing to dissuade her, and she saw the skinny kid leading a horse to graze when she suddenly leapt into action and seized the reins from his hands.
“Skye! Hold up!”
She tuned Aaron out as she lifted off the grass and climbed onto the back of a palomino that could be a mirror image for the horse under the stranger’s thighs, under other parts of him…
“You Ben?” she asked as she grinned at him.
“Powell Junior tell you that much?” he asked as he rode after her and quickly came close to her side. His stubbled face and his bright green eyes brought a blush to her face, but in a strange way she felt as if she was already spoken for. And she kept up her pace, looking every few strides over her shoulders, her smile growing brighter as Ben chased after her.
Her grin fell when she suddenly realized that Aaron was nowhere to be found. She brought the horse to a stop at the edge of a clearing that loomed over the edge of a large ravine. The horse whinnied under her legs, and she lost the horse, thinking that she would fall when a strong arm reached around her waist.
“What are you up to?”
Ben pulled her from one saddle to another. The palomino raced back to the ranch, and Skye knew that she would have been ground into the dirt, her bones likely broken if it wasn’t for him.
“How did you know that I needed a helping hand?” she asked.
“Didn’t exactly think that,” he confessed. “But I’ll bet you’re still glad that I’m here.”
“I’d like you better if you didn’t think that you have to play the hero.”
“Relax, little girl,” he said. “It’s called doing the right thing.”
“Like you would have gone after one of your boys if the horse took off?” she asked.
“Maybe. Maybe not,” he a said. “But pretty sure that this was all you.”
Skye didn’t have a retort. She just rested in his arms as Ben eased the horse back. He reeked of sweat and shit, but she found the scent surprisingly sweet. Not that he was where she was meant to go. In her mind, it should be Aaron Powell, and she hoped that he would be there as soon as they turned around the corner.
But she saw something and someone else altogether.
“Lewis!” Ben cried out. “Don’t you have to get to the coops? Last I looked the roofs had almost caved in.”
Lewis’ face was a blank mask, but there was a quiet rage in his eyes that chilled Skye’s soul.
“Go with him, Charlie,” Ben ordered. “Not like you’re on a break right now. Take a walk. Both of you.”
Charlie seemed almost too fast to follow the order, but Lewis lingered and stared Skye down.
“And I won’t have to have that either!” Ben cried as he pushed off the horse and formed a tight fist. The threat of the blow sent Lewis back, and once he was gone, Skye finally relaxed as Ben took hold of her arms.
“You good?” he asked.
“I…”
His hold was strong, his breath sweeter than the rest of his scent, but Skye still pushed b
ack and fiercely shook her head over her shoulders.
“Where did he go?” she asked.
“Who?”
“You know,” she started. “Powell. Or Aaron.”
His lips stared to curl into a smirk that swiftly turned into a soft smile as he patted her cheek.
“Little girl, don’t buy into their shit.”
“What shouldn’t I---”
“Because they only think of getting one over on the other,” he said. “And I can see that you’re strong.”
Skye stood still as he leaned forward, meaning to kiss her, but she turned her head away and brushed her hands down the back of her jeans.
“That’s the long and short of me,” she said. “And I didn’t ask you to get in the way.”
Skye swirled away from him, and she still felt his touch as she looked to see nothing but the two jokers grinding rakes into the dirt. Charlie smirked at her; Lewis’ eyes stayed cold.
“You might need me.”
Ben’s whisper burrowed into her ear, and she moved to face him. His eyes were soft, but a man like this was far from unfamiliar. And as good as he looked, it in no way fit in with her master plan.
“I don’t think so,” she said.
“You think it’s him?” he asked.
Ben tried to swallow the words back as soon as they left his lips, but when his face morphed into a mask to rival Lewis’, he backed off.
“You just going to wait for him to come back and see what he does next?”
Skye couldn’t help but like the look of his eyes. The way he talked was another matter altogether.
“I don’t play the field,” she said. “And when Aaron comes back---”
“If and when.”
Ben seemed to want to say so much more, but he held back as he glared at the men still smirking just a few feet away.
“Don’t even think of messing around with her,” Ben warned.
Charlie swore that they would leave her be, and Ben left her alone with a sly smile. Skye started to rush after him, her body warm when Lewis snapped his fingers and pointed towards the barn.
“Think you can muck the stalls?” he asked.
“I could,” she said. “But I don’t think----”
“I do,” he said. “You look like a dog. Get your nose down in the dirt and clean it all up.”
Skye wanted to scream, but she held back and started to rake the stalls. Aaron was a memory; maybe Ben had just been a vision. Still Skye did the work that she had only hoped that she would still be paid for, and when the job was well done she looked up into the night sky. Tired and wondering how she would manage to make her way back home, her plans had to shift in the span of an instant when two shadows crept over her weary form.
Chapter 4
Skye swallowed hard as felt her body backed into the corner of the barn. Just above her head looked an open window promising the way out. Maybe if she were taller or suddenly blessed with the gift of flight, Skye could disentangle herself from the situation and make her way to the other side. As she was, she could only scan the faces of the two men, the hot feel of their rank breath washing over her. Charlie licked his lips and cracked his knuckles, and she imagined what he wanted to do with his mouth or his hands if given the chance. But his stance was nothing compared to Lewis staring hard at her, his face a blank mask. Did he want to rip the flannel from her shoulders or snap her neck with a single push? Not wanting either fate to come to pass, Skye carefully scanned the small space between the men’s arms. If she ran fast and took off from the corner kicking and clawing, could she get past them and scream at the top of her lungs while breaking into a sprint? Maybe, it was a small chance at best, a suicide move at worst, but there was no way that she was just going to stand there, slack-jawed, and let them.
“Get away from me!”
Bolting fast, Skye could hardly believe her luck as she ran at a brisk pace and didn’t dare to look back. The door was still bolted a few feet ahead, but if she swung her arms fast enough, hard enough, Skye could lift the latch up and keep making her way out.
“Not so fast, you fucking tease!”
A pair of hard arms surrounded her frame, and Skye felt her body being dragged back into the barn, the heels of her boots scraping against the hay as she was dumped into the stall, the men stepping in to join her as they slammed the door shut.
“We just want to unwind after a long days’ hard work,” Charlie said with a smirk. “Ain’t that right, Lew?”
The other man’s lips just curled into a snarl, and as his tongue stayed tied, his fingers moved below his waist. He started to undo his belt, and Skye’s boot took aim at his groin. Hoping that she could hit him where it hurt and find another way to escape, she cried out in pain when Charlie wrestled her leg back to the ground.
“Ain’t you feisty!” he said. “But we have other ways to play. Best you lay back and let us take the lead.”
He forced a slimy kiss to her lips, and Skye bit down on his tongue causing him to cry out.
“That hurt!” he said. “Lew, why don’t she know the rules?”
Lewis stayed silent as he tugged at her rumpled hair and crushed his palm into her flushed cheek.
“She will,” he said in a thick voice. “Like any filly, we just got to break her in.”
The men exchanged a quick wink, and Skye tried to scream again when Lewis hit her again, and he started to work his hands under her shirt when a loud crack from just outside the stall startled the men in their pursuit.
“What the hell?” Charlie asked with a slight quiver in his voice. “Thought everyone else was like long gone.”
Lewis held his hand over Skye’s mouth and cocked his head back to the open barn door.
“Check it out,” he whispered. “And as for you…”
Lewis lowered his lips to Skye’s ear, and his free hand applied pressure to the nape of her neck.
“One sound, and you won’t have to worry about getting up for the morning rush.”
Closing her eyes as hate filled her heart, Skye struggled to breathe through his fingers. One wrong move now, and Lewis would make good on his threat. Better to wait it out and hope to find another way out. Or that something, someone might be on the verge of lending her a helping hand.
“What do you want?”
She registered the sound of Charlie’s voice, strong and sure, followed by what had to be something hard slamming into his chest. Now she heard nothing but his body falling to the ground, his light whimpers flooding the barn as Lewis grunted angrily and brought her face closer to his.
“Stay still,” he ordered. “If you know what’s good for you.”
Lewis tightened his belt, and as soon as he exited the stall, the man was pulled farther away from her side. Skye struggled to her elbows as she heard what had to be fists smacking into flesh as Lewis let loose a wave of obscenities until even his voice went silent. She painfully crawled away from the narrow space, brushing the hair from her eyes as she narrowed her gaze and saw a most welcome sight in tight black jeans and an even tighter tee.
“Ben?” she whispered. “How are… why are you here?”
His green eyes grew wide with worry as soon as he saw her. Skye felt the hay caught in her hair, and when she moved her hand to her mouth, the soreness and a slight burst of blood made her wince. The last thing that she wanted was to appear weak to any man. Especially him. But she still extended her arms as he drew closer to her side and picked her up gently. Skye sighed into his shoulder, and she let her arms fall around him as he carried her away from the fallen ranch hands. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the men groaning and clutching at their injured faces and sides. A small smile formed across her lips at the idea that Ben had smoked them in record time with the benefit of nothing but his bare hands, and she wanted to praise his efforts when her head grew heavy, and she fell into his chest.
“Easy,” he soothed as he brushed his fingers through her hair, down her braid. “They’re not going to bother
you anymore tonight.”
She hit the moonlight in his arms, and Ben gently placed her in the cab of his truck. He disappeared for all of a second before returning with a wool blanket. Pressing the coarse fabric around her body, he buckled her in and rushed to the other side of the truck. As soon as he turned the key in the ignition, Skye reached out from under the blanket and tried to take hold of his hand.
“How did you know?” she asked.
“As a matter of fact, I didn’t” he confessed.
“Then why did you---?”
“Honestly I just wanted to see you again,” as he pulled the truck away from the barn, one hand still in hers as he steered into the night and fixed his gaze on the way ahead.
“Why is that?” Skye muttered. “After all, I’m just a girl.”
Ben grunted softly at the sound of her words, and he turned the wheel under his hand as he muttered something that she couldn’t quite make out.
“Come again,” she asked. “I… my head’s kind of hurting here. Can you speak up?”
His eyes drifted towards hers, and Skye basked in the light of his smile mingling with the moon. She would take his kiss now if he offered as much, and Skye started to cuddle closer to his side when he wrapped his free arm firmly around her shoulders, laughing as he shook his head.
“Think it would be best to get you someplace warm first,” he said. “And then… then we can talk.”
Too tired to argue even as her heart felt as if it was slamming to the point where it would burst through her skin, Skye lowered her lids and rested her ear to his chest. Ben’s heart thrummed at an even keel, just matching the rhythm of his wheels as they turned off the main road, and the truck came to rest beside a small cottage. He parked and hurried around to her side.
“I’m going to get you up now,” he said. “Okay with you?”
More than okay, but Skye said nothing as she fell into his arms. His hold was strong as he carried her to a small door. Kicking it open with the heel of his boot, he brought her into a dark room and lowered her body to a battered couch. As he moved from one corner to the other, the space filled with light courtesy of matches striking and lanterns beginning to glow from every angle. As soon as she could focus, Skye took in the sight of the room growing warmer, feeling more so. A small table with one chair rested off to the side, and as soon as Ben built the fire, Skye pushed past the blanket and leaned forward as her head began to clear.
Blind Date with the President Page 11
