by Becca Van
“Yes?”
“Don’t go wandering off and getting lost. If you go out to any of the back pastures alone, take a walkie talkie with you, but let one of us know where you’ll be and for the approximate length of time.”
“Sure, no problem.”
Heath smiled again. This little filly was definitely in the know about working with animals and the rules of being out on the land. He knew she had a good head on her shoulders and wouldn’t do anything to jeopardise her own safety or theirs. He had a good feeling about Jewel Ellesworth and hoped she would end up feeling the same way about him and his brothers.
After showing her which mounts he and his siblings usually rode and which ones needed to be exercised, they tacked up and headed out to the back pasture. Finch was running behind or still talking to their brothers, but he wouldn’t miss an opportunity to have some quiet time with Jewel or see her in action.
He’d watched her check over the horses and wasn’t surprised when she’d chosen their best cutting mount, and she’d saddled up without any difficulty even though the horse was a lot bigger than her. The small but strong muscles in her arms as she lifted the saddle had caught his eye, and it had taken everything in him not to groan out loud as her tanned, smooth skin had rippled and flexed.
They rode out in silence, but he couldn’t stop watching her. She sat her mount like she’d been born in the saddle and he wondered if she grown up on a farm, too. Heath decided now was as good a time as any to ask her a little about herself.
“Did you grow up on a farm or cattle station?”
He cursed under his breath when he saw the muscles in her shoulders tense and her lips pull tight, and wondered why she was upset over such a harmless question.
“No.” Her answer was succinct, but she’d spoken in such a soft voice he only just caught her answer. Sasha, the horse she was on, sidestepped skittishly as the animal picked up on her anxiety.
Heath was about to ask why his question upset her so much, but she squeezed her legs tighter around its belly and the horse began to trot and then canter away. He nudged his own mount to catch up with her, but when he heard the sound of thundering hooves from behind him, he turned to look over his shoulder and saw Finch galloping toward them.
Finch slowed his horse until he was level with Heath. “What’s up?”
“I don’t really know, other than I upset her when I asked if she’d grown up on a farm.”
“Shit!”
“Exactly.” Heath sighed and then he nudged his mount into a gallop, Finch following, so they could catch up to Jewel. He was amazed by her sense of direction, because a few of the women he knew didn’t know where north was as soon as they turned around, but figured she’d have to have learned how to read where each compass point was from the sun while working on the land.
He and Finch moved up on either side of her and although she knew they were there, she kept her face straight and didn’t acknowledge them. When the cattle came into view, she turned and glanced at him before pointing her chin toward the paddock.
“Is that the herd we’re moving?”
“Sure is.” Heath smiled at her as he stared at her beautiful profile, but she wasn’t looking at him. And then he realised that wasn’t true. He watched in fascination as a blush rose up over her neck and face and she lowered her head slightly as if she wasn’t used to being looked at. She could obviously see him from her periphery. He met Finch’s gaze over her head and saw that his brother was watching her intently, too, before meeting his eyes for a moment.
That was a good sign as far as Heath was concerned. She was aware of them even if she was uncomfortable with the attention.
“Let me get the gate,” Finch said, and urged his horse forward. By the time the gate was open, Heath and Jewel were ready to go through without stopping their horses, and did so. Finch joined them after leaving the gate wide.
“I’ll take the back right side,” Jewel said, and then she and her horse were off. It was like watching poetry in motion. She barely moved in the saddle as she cantered toward the back of the pasture.
“You take the left, Finch, and I’ll take the middle,” Heath said, and Finch nodded as he took off.
It only took them two hours to move the cattle from the west pasture to the southern one, and even though he and his brother were in awe of Jewel’s skill and the affinity she had with a horse she’d never ridden before, it took all of his concentration to keep his mind on the job, since he was continually distracted by the competent woman.
Finch closed the gate when the last of the cattle went through, and wiped his forearm over his sweaty brow before meeting Jewel’s eyes. “You were absolutely amazing, girl.”
Jewel shrugged her shoulder as she glanced away before saying, “Thanks.”
She looked at Heath and then turned her horse around. “I’ll see you back at the house. I’m going to get back and start on exercising the other horses.”
“We can help you with that,” Heath said as he and Finch followed. “We took way less time doing this job, thanks to you.”
Jewel half-turned but didn’t meet his eyes this time. “You don’t have to do that. I’m sure you have other things that need to be done.”
“There’s always stuff that needs doing,” Finch said. “We like working with you.”
Heath had just caught up with her again, and watched as red once more tinged her neck and cheeks. He began to wonder if she’d never received a compliment for hard work, and what sort of people she’d been working and socialising with, if that was the case. He was going to have to get Ash to look into it. Maybe Ash or Cal could contact her previous employer to find out a few things about their new employee. But what he wanted to know more than anything was how the hell she got the bruises on her face. He wasn’t about to be blunt and come straight out and ask her, especially after the way she’d clammed up about the question of her childhood.
He had a feeling there was a lot of stuff he wasn’t going to like about what Jewel had been through. He just hoped they could gain her trust and get her more comfortable around him and his brothers, because he had a feeling this small, wary woman was one very special lady.
* * * *
Jewel sighed with relief when the house and yard came into view. No matter how hard she tried to focus on her work and keep her eyes off of Heath and Finch, it was becoming almost impossible. But she was also aware of every time their eyes touched on her and cursed the fact that her face heated each time.
The rest of the day passed quickly and she was glad that Heath and Finch hadn’t come to help her with the horses or cleaning out the stable. As they’d neared the yard, Ash had called out to his brother and told them about a section of fence that needed to be fixed on the eastern border of their property. But she was also good to her word and had finished the assigned chores she’d been given with a couple of daylight hours to spare. As she finished filling the last water bucket and food bag with feed, she sighed with weariness.
Although she had slept in a very comfortable bed the previous night, it was emotionally exhausting to meet new people. She was always scared that she would somehow say the wrong thing and end up insulting someone, so she usually kept conversation with others to a minimum. However, she had a feeling her four new bosses were going to be persistent and ask her everything they could about her life.
After double-checking each stall again, she headed out to the corral where Ash and Cal were working. Her breath hitched in her throat and her heart rate sped up when she saw that both men were shirtless. She couldn’t seem to tear her eyes away from their sweat-glistening, tanned skin or the way their muscles bunched and moved as they worked. They were the epitome of hard-muscled bodies and manliness and her body immediately started to respond to their masculinity. She actually felt her areolae tighten and her nipples harden. But that wasn’t all. Her clit began to throb, her pussy moistened and clenched, and moisture dripped out onto her panties.
Jewel looked away tow
ard the house and drew a deep breath before releasing it as she tried to get her libidinous reaction back under control. She hadn’t even noticed that she’d stopped walking until she lifted her foot to take another step toward them.
Ash and Cal straightened and turned when they heard her coming and both of the handsome men smiled at her. They are so damn gorgeous. I don’t want to stop looking.
Shit, Jewel. Get a grip.
She picked a spot on the fence near where the men were standing to focus so she wouldn’t give away that she was reacting to their toned bodies. “Is there anything else that needs to be done?”
“You’ve finished already?” Cal asked.
Jewel nodded and swallowed when she saw him smiling at her from the corner of her eye. Damn it! Why am I having so much trouble keeping my gaze off of all of them? First it was Heath and Finch, and now Cal and Ash.
“You can finish for the day,” Ash said. “I’m sure you’re tired.”
“I have plenty of energy left in the tank.” Jewel lifted her chin and finally met Ash’s eyes and then wished she hadn’t. Once their gazes were locked, she couldn’t manage to break the visual connection, and for a moment she felt like she’d swayed toward him. Finally, she was able to shift her gaze down and she gripped the top rail of the corral tightly until her hands and knuckles began to ache.
“I’m sure you do, sweetheart, but as far as we’re concerned, you’ve already put in a full day’s work,” Cal said.
“Cal is right, Jewel. Why don’t you go up to the house, take a shower and rest before dinner?” Ash suggested.
She was actually glad at that suggestion, because although she was stubborn and would have continued working until there was no light left, she was very tired. So much had happened over the last couple of weeks and it was all catching up with her. She nodded and turned away. Her body was sore and stiff since she was still recovering from the beating and not working for so long, and she hoped that they couldn’t tell that she was in pain.
As she entered the house, some of the tension she was carrying released and she drew in a ragged breath and exhaled slowly. She was a little concerned about sleeping tonight, too. In fact, she had hardly slept a night through since Reilly had attacked her, because every time she managed to fall asleep, she relived that horrible day each and every night.
After closing her bedroom door, she stripped off and headed to the bathroom and prayed that she wouldn’t scream her head off tonight like she had every other one. She’d been lucky last night. Although she’d woken up covered in sweat after another nightmare, Tiffany, Todd and Matt hadn’t come running and she figured she hadn’t been screaming the house down. She was fairly certain Tiff would have come and woken her if she had, and none of them had looked at her strangely this morning. Thank God.
Jewel was so tired she felt like she was running on empty, but no matter how weary she felt she ignored it, and today was no exception. She reached in and turned the shower taps on. While she waited for the water to heat up, she studied the bruises along her ribs in the mirror over the vanity. They were still pretty dark but were fading slowly. The only consolation was that her face was nowhere near as bad as her ribs. She’d caught all four of her bosses studying those bruises, and her, at regular intervals throughout the day, but she decided if she could ignore the bruises, then so could they.
She’d never talked to anyone about her upbringing except for the last graziers she’d worked for. Jim and Gary Hench had been older than her and had treated her like a little sister or a niece, and she’d spent more time than she normally would working on their cattle station. One year was the longest she spent anywhere before moving on. At first she’d kept to herself, like usual, but they had a way about them and had managed to draw her out of her shell. They were like father figures and had treated her so well, she hadn’t wanted to leave, but after the incident with Reilly she’d had a hard time looking into their eyes.
She knew she wasn’t to blame for Reilly’s actions, and neither were the Henches, but she couldn’t stand seeing the pity in their eyes when they’d come to visit her at the hospital. She was very grateful to them for their concern and support through Reilly’s trial and sentencing, but her first instinct had been to run, especially after that arsehole threatened her.
Jewel stepped under the water and started to wash. The automatic chore let her mind wander, and the more she thought, the more she realised she’d been running her whole life and just how damn lonely she really was. She’d been travelling from place to place, never really connecting with anyone, not letting anyone get close and see who she really was.
And that was the crux of her wanderlust. She had no idea who she really was herself. Yes, she loved working on the land and with animals, but she never stopped to listen to her inner voice. Not really. She always managed to push her feelings and insecurities down deep where she could ignore them, but the moment she’d gotten out of the truck this morning and saw the four Handley men, her inner voice hadn’t shut up. And she didn’t like what it was telling her.
Even though she’d continually been moving, it wasn’t that she was running from anything. She’d been meandering because she realised she was searching for something or someone, and she had a very bad feeling she’d found what she’d been looking for.
She’d never needed anyone before, but the more time she’d spent with the Handley men today, the more connected she felt to them, which didn’t really make sense to her since she’d hardly said a word. And that wasn’t all. Tiffany and her husbands had managed to chip away a little of the wall around her heart with their friendly, caring attitudes. But so had the Handley men and that scared her more than anything else ever had.
Even Reilly’s attack.
Chapter Four
“She’s hurting,” Ash whispered so that Jewel didn’t hear him. He hated seeing how stiff and sore she was as she walked toward the house.
“Yeah, but from the stubborn tilt of her chin before, there is no way in hell she’d ever admit it,” Cal replied.
“Did you see the wariness in her eyes?”
“Yep, but that wasn’t all I saw.” Ash leaned his hip against the upright post. “Did you watch her as she moved toward us?”
“Yes.” Cal swallowed audibly. “And the way she froze as she took in our bodies.”
“She was affected, wasn’t she?”
“She definitely was. She wouldn’t look at us when she got closer.”
“I noticed.” Ash ran his fingers through his hair. “Do you think Heath and Finch got her to talk any?”
“I wouldn’t bet on it,” Cal answered.
“Damn. I really want to know who hurt her.”
“I do, too.”
“I don’t think we’ll get any answers by asking outright. Do you?” Ash asked.
“Doubt it. Have you thought of contacting her last employer?”
“Yeah, but if we manage to get her to accept having a relationship with us and she finds out…Well, I’m sure you can imagine.”
“Only too well, but we need to know if she’s in trouble. For all we know she could have an ex-boyfriend gunning for her.” Cal paused as he screwed the last rail he’d replaced into the post. “We need to know so we can be vigilant if necessary.”
“Okay.” Ash sighed. “I guess we’ll just have to hope she never finds out that we’ve been checking up on her, and if she does, that we’ve established enough of a relationship with her so it doesn’t send her running.”
“You don’t think she could be on the run from the law?” Cal asked, and then shook his head. “Nah. Don’t bother answering that. I know in my gut that that’s not the case.”
“Let’s get this stuff put away, wash up and start on dinner,” Ash said as he lifted the box of screws and the small saw they’d used to cut the rails to size. Cal nodded before retrieving the spare drill battery and followed him to the storage room in the back of the stables.
He nearly bumped into his brother when
Ash stopped in front of him, and then looked around when his brother let out a low whistle. “Shit. This place is cleaner than I’ve ever seen it before.”
“Yeah, and look at the horses and the stalls. She cleaned them all out, laid fresh straw as well as brushed them down, plus watered and fed them.”
“She’s dynamite, that’s for sure.”
“Let’s make sure we try not to burn dinner. Our new jillaroo is going to need a decent meal before she goes to bed.”
Ash groaned and shifted on his feet. “Thanks a lot, mate. I definitely didn’t need to have that image in my head.”
“Sorry.” Cal winced and adjusted the fit of his jeans.
Ash slapped him on the back and chuckled. “One day at a time, brother. One day at a time.”
“You’d better tell Heath and Finch that. You know those two are likely to barge in where angels fear to tread.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll talk to them after Jewel heads to her room. There is no way in hell I’m letting our younger brothers fuck this up,” Ash said, and frowned. He loved all of his brothers, but Heath and Finch had a habit of acting before thinking things through, and he knew they couldn’t afford to stuff up in anyway where Jewel was concerned.
“So, are you going to contact her last employers?” Cal asked.
“I have to, Cal. I need to know what we’re up against, if anything.”
“Yeah, I agree. We need to be prepared in case someone’s looking for her.”
“Do you or the others have any idea what we’re having for dinner?” Ash asked as they headed inside to clean up.
“I don’t, and I’m pretty sure Heath and Finch were too intent on spending some time with Jewel to even think about food.”
“Fuck!” Ash halted. He continued on when Cal raised an eyebrow in question. “We didn’t stop for lunch and never once thought to tell Jewel to make herself something if she was hungry.”
“Shit!” Cal sighed and they both started walking again. “We’re used to missing meals, but from now on, we make sure all of us stop for three square every day. I don’t want her skipping out on eating. She already looks like she’s lost weight recently.”
