To the Studs

by Roxanne Smith

  Neve pursed her lips and took the last stride to stand next to him. A soft breeze blew through the trees and made the tips of his loose hair dance around his toned arms. Usually, she relished the part of the job where she put people in their place, but it seemed a shame since they’d been getting along lately. Still, if pulling rank was how to get his respect, so be it. “Don’t forget which one of us took this job in earnest, Duke. You’re a consultant, here to offer your opinion when I ask for it and act as a go-between for me and my client. You’re not running things, you’re not making any decisions, and you’re not to treat me like anything less than King Shit.”

  He bowed deep, bending at the waist. “Your Majesty.”

  “If you’re not in too much of a hurry, do you think you’d like to be brought up to speed?”

  “I was on my way to see for myself.”

  “I don’t have time for the tour, even if you don’t have anything better to do.”

  The line of his mouth went flat. He was listening now, reminded of whom he was dealing with.

  Mission accomplished, albeit joylessly. “First of all, what do you think of installing a back door? The cabin’s in desperate need of natural light. Instead of ripping through the wall for pointless windows, I want to make one giant one to walk through. French doors, predominately glass, north-facing, along the same wall as the kitchen cabinets and countertops.”

  Duke stroked his long beard, tugging on it when he reached the ends. His considering gaze roamed the trees surrounding them. “Yeah, okay. The lighting is a legitimate issue. It’ll also make the cabin seem larger.”

  Neve shook her head. “Just like a man to think the back door makes it look bigger.” She slapped his shoulder. “I’m glad you agree, princess, because it’s already done. Vince punched out the space for the French doors last week, and also a small window near the front door.” She ignored his shock. “The roof is repaired and sealed, the foundation fortified and secure, and the front steps I instructed Vince to build are being dug and set as we speak. Flooring is patched. With your helpful input from Gavin, I drew up blueprints for the walls I want constructed to create a private corner space for the bathroom, leaving the bedroom open to the rest of the cabin as per his request. I have to say, I admire the choice.”

  “Uh, Neve?” A worried brow rose as Duke squinted at her. “Don’t we need material to build walls?”

  “As well as cabinetry and countertops, for which our master carpenter, one Finn Welk, who arrived yesterday, has already begun to draft plans,” she informed him in one lofty statement. “I’m taking care of it today. What I really wanted to discuss with you, though, is the trip we’re taking tomorrow. There’s a flea market and a mom-and-pop hardware store I want to check out. We’re driving one of Vince’s trucks and hauling a storage trailer. I figure buying local will add to the special vibe Gavin’s aiming for, and until I know what I can dig up around here, I can’t very well place an order for furnishings, plumbing parts, or cabinet hardware.” She snapped her fingers as she recalled another item and dug around in her pocket, coming up with a crumpled note.

  Duke tentatively took the proffered ball of paper. Why was he always waiting for her to snap? Unless he’d done something stupid, she had no reason to lash out.

  He briefly scanned her writing. “Red Hill Historic Museum.”

  “It’s the only one in town. The Red Hill Historical Society runs it. Even if there’s nothing in the museum, it might be worth tracking down and interviewing a few older members.”

  Duke nodded his approval and pushed the note into his front pocket. “It’s a date.” His eyebrows snapped together. “I mean, it’s not a date. Not a date date.”

  She studied him. Interesting. Pink-tinged cheeks, shifty eyeballs, fidgety hands. Symptoms she recognized, but they didn’t belong on a confidently gay man. In fact, the last time she’d observed the signs of a crush, they’d been painfully obvious on a client’s young teenaged son who liked watching Neve a little too closely while she worked grout into newly laid tiles.

  But Duke?

  Was it possible for a gay guy to develop an attraction to a woman? Did he have some latent bisexual tendencies he’d neglected to share? Wouldn’t be the only secret he’d kept from her. She had no clue how that kind of thing worked and didn’t want to risk calling him out. If she scared the badger, he might dive back into his hole, never to be seen again. She smiled, however, thoroughly amused, and vowed to give him hell when the job was over. The ride back to Little Rock would be sweet, delicious torture.

  “God, I hate when you smile.” He appeared truly distressed. “Anything in particular you’d like me to do today?”

  She smiled wider. “Yeah, come with me to Lady Killer Ranch. It’s time for some recon. Maybe Yosemite’s a real anal-retentive farmer, rancher, whatever, and there are no old buildings he’ll let us dismantle. If that’s the case, we need a lumberyard on speed dial yesterday.”

  Reluctantly, Duke bobbed his head in agreement and gave another yank to his poor over-yanked beard. Why did he torture the poor thing so? “You’re right. Without material, we’re at a dead halt. We’re just inside national forest boundaries. Closest lumberyard with reclaimed wood is fifty miles east.”

  Neve’s heart fell into her gut, and the first wave of doubt drenched her. “Transportation would gobble up a huge slab of the budget.”

  Duke squeezed her shoulder encouragingly. “Let’s head over there now. If it doesn’t pan out, we’re heading to town tomorrow anyway, right? Adding getting an estimate from the lumberyard to our to-do list.”

  Worry gnawed at her insides at the same time she offered Duke a muted nod. She might’ve set herself up for failure. Vince and his team counted on her to come through with material, and Gavin expected her to stay within budget and timeline. She’d blow both if Timothy Hux couldn’t be charmed by a sassy city girl.

  A pocket of doubt in the back of her mind kept coming back to the calculation on the rancher’s lean face. If she’d missed the mark on this one, it would come at the expense of her job and, worse, her reputation.

  She swallowed and smiled halfheartedly at Duke. “We’re off to see the rancher, the magical rancher of Ozark.”

  “He doesn’t have to be magical. Just malleable.”

  * * * *

  Peachy, as Georgians like himself were wont to say. They were off to visit the friendly rancher and his merry band of cowhands. Duke did his best to keep his disdain for Hux from showing. Neve might attribute his interest to a schoolyard crush or some other ridiculous and embarrassing theory, so he kept his opinion to himself, as well the frown tugging at his lips.

  It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate the care they’d given his injured ribs or the pain-dulling drugs they’d given him. He did. But it chafed his professional ego to rely on something as tenuous as a friendly neighbor to come through on such a vital necessity. Were he in charge of the cabin renovation, he’d have contacted the lumberyard last week, budget be damned. Neve’s solution, while creative and potentially a boon, was a risk.

  Besides, something about the old rancher struck Duke as smarmy. He intended to nail down exactly what he disliked about Tim during their hopefully short visit.

  Though the ranch entrance was only a mile or so from the cabin, the bumpy, unpaved mountain road made for slow travel. Nearly twenty minutes of tedious crawling passed before they came across a gated drive almost entirely hidden in the dense growth of the surrounding forest. A small battered sign read LKR, the ranch’s brand.

  Oddly, it pointed in the wrong direction. The road dead-ended up at the cabin’s parking area. Coming from town, the sign would be all but invisible, explaining how they missed it on the way up to Gavin’s property the first day. Only coming back would a passing eye catch the faded post.

  Why didn’t they fix it? Ten minutes with a shovel would do the job.

  “Do you suppose it’s hidden intentionally?” Neve’s ponderous voice
mirrored his musings.

  “It seems so, doesn’t it? Backward sign, overgrown entrance.”

  Her mouth quirked up, and Duke gave himself over to a short study of her profile. Lips too thin by half, a painful sharpness to her cheekbones, huge eyes that reminded him of flowing lava.

  They turned on him like they sensed his thoughts. “There’s something going on here. First, Hux practically snuck up on us through the woods the day we arrived. If you hadn’t gone crashing through the steps, forcing me to make the trek back up the hill to the car, he might’ve slipped right through the trees without ever announcing his presence.” A considering glance swept Duke’s face. “Maybe that’s the thing niggling in the back of my mind. Hux wasn’t on the path, but slinking through the woods. Not a friendly neighbor on his way with a friendly handshake, but a spy.”

  Despite how it reminded him of a bad television plot, Duke shivered. Nothing like creepy supposition to get his mind off Neve’s unattractive yet weirdly entrancing physical features. “Maybe he thought we were some teenagers out for a joy ride or something. Empty cabin out in the woods? Sounds like the kind of place to attract kids looking for somewhere to drink a few or smoke a little.”

  “Maybe.”

  He navigated the turn into the ranch at a single-digit speed. Pockmarked and pitted, the road seemed nearly impassable. He’d have to turn around if it didn’t improve. Unwisely, they’d taken the rental car rather than one of Vince’s trucks. However, once they rounded the corner, the lane smoothed out so perfectly the road might’ve been paved.

  “Ha!” Neve practically bounced in her seat. “C’mon, that’s intentional. Has to be. It looks like an abandoned road no sensible person would drive down, but as soon as it’s out of sight of the main drag, it’s perfect. Smooth as my ass the day I was born.” She shook her head, arms crossing. “He’s hiding something. Maybe the ranch. Who knows, but nothing else explains how the clues are adding up.”

  “But from who? And why? We should ask him.”

  She turned on him wide-eyed, the picture of horrified. “Do you want to get chopped into tiny pieces and fed to his livestock? You don’t admit to a psychopath you’re onto him, crazy. Don’t you watch movies? True crime dramas? It’s a poker game. It’s all about bluffing and reading the other guy before he reads you.”

  “You know, he might just be lazy.” Made sense, in a weird way, but also far-fetched and silly in the light of day. “Or really busy,” he added for good measure.

  “No. Not Yosemite. I told you, there’s something about him, something weirdly calculating. A man like that doesn’t do anything without a reason.”

  The trees thinned out as the land opened up. They were traveling into a kind of valley. A wire fence sprung up and lined the road on either side. It spread wider as the land broadened, enough for two vehicles to easily pass one another. Cows began to appear in small clusters between the trees, growing more concentrated the farther into the valley they went. A few had large curved horns. Big horns.

  Pricey cattle, Duke noted. Apparently, Lady Killer Ranch did well. Hux wasn’t hiding from debtors.

  Eventually the road curved to run alongside a creek shallow enough to walk across. Another mile down the road, the forest receded to nearly nothing, and a great expanse of meadow swelled and dipped.

  The main ranch house became visible at the far end of the wide meadow, its back up against where the tree line began again.

  “Beautiful,” Neve breathed. Her head pivoted back and forth. At first, Duke assumed she was talking about the view. Then she pointed north. “There. That building looks old and out of use.”

  It certainly did. Large, barnlike doors hung open and loose on old hinges, likely rusted and coming loose from the wood structure. An open square window on the second level showed nothing but blackness from within.

  For whatever reason, apprehension settled in Duke’s stomach. He invited it to stay. Something told him Timothy Hux might very well offer to let them dismantle an old barn, but at what cost? Probably one Neve would willingly pay.

  She rolled down her window and peered across the field. “Well, what do you think? It definitely looks abandoned, right?”

  Duke leaned forward over the steering wheel for a glimpse. “It appears to be a storage shed of some kind, probably for hay.”

  “It doesn’t seem like he’s using it.”

  “Well, I’m no farmer, but maybe it’s not hay season.”

  “I’m no farmer, either.”

  The disappointment weighing heavy in the sentiment almost made him laugh. Like she’d have done things differently and learned about hay farming just so this one moment in her life would make sense.

  “You’re a bit of an overachiever.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with expecting to succeed.”

  The creek continued to flow alongside the dirt road, growing wider and deeper, until they crept closer to the ranch house. There, it gurgled off to the right, arching back in a half-circle and disappearing behind the house. Tim Hux probably fished right off his back porch.

  A small pang of envy hit Duke square in the chest. He’d grown up in the wild woods of southern Georgia, fishing and hunting with his dad and brothers. Somewhere along the way, he’d turned into a city boy and traded fresh game and canvas tents for protein powder shakes and a midtown loft. He smiled, imagining an early retirement back to his roots.

  “We’re facing a potential disaster, and you’re over there grinning like an idiot.” Neve’s disgust only made him smile wider. She pointed at the front of the house as he drew up the car and parked. “There’s Tim. Someone’s with him. Might be his brother, Miles, the one he radioed to send Laurel and Owen that day.” She opened her car door and gave a cheery wave to the two men.

  Duke swallowed his disappointment at having anything more important to do than enjoy the scenery. He exited the rental and followed Neve up three wide, creaky steps and onto a rickety wrap-around porch stretching roughly eight feet out from the house.

  Tim and his presumed brother crowded around Neve, all big smiles and tight jeans.

  Either they were trying to flatter her or truly found her attractive. The latter he couldn’t wholly fathom, despite his own weird attraction to her. Even standing there, she was too lanky. Arms too muscular, long, loose curls too thick, hawk eyes too challenging…hips too swingy, shoulders too square. He thought of her braless. Tits too small, nipples too aggressively pointy…

  Duke cleared his throat and stopped short of their intimate circle. “Nice to meet you proper, Mr. Hux,” he inserted, offering his hand to the rancher.

  The rancher turned to him, and his sharp hazel gaze swept over Duke.

  His first real good look at Tim, who he’d only briefly seen from his back through vision clouded in pain. He had an instant understanding of Neve’s assessment. Definitely something caught his attention in the man’s canny stare. As quickly as Duke noticed it, it dissipated.

  A wide, friendly grin spread beneath Tim’s generous mustache. “Well, look at you, up and at ’em. Nothing broken after all, eh?”

  Duke stretched sideways, the muscles going taut. “Some stiffness. We’re heading into town tomorrow. I’ll have it looked at while we’re there, but I sure do appreciate the help. I’d ask you to pass along my thanks to Laurel and Owen.” If the shrewd rancher liked the shroud of friendly neighbor, Duke would wear it as well. Like Neve said, read the other guy before he reads you. He didn’t want Tim to pick up on his disquiet.

  Tim clapped him on the shoulder. “Well, what’re neighbors for? Duke, this here is Miles, ranch foreman and my little brother. You and Ms. Harper have a knack for timing, I tell you. We were headed out to pasture when Miles saw the car coming on up the road. Another five minutes, we’d have missed you.”

  Indeed, two white and brown spotted horses, paint horses if Duke had to guess, were saddled and tied to a post at the far end of the long wrap-around porch.

&nbs
p; Miles didn’t smile as wide or have a grip as sure when he shook Duke’s hand. He hardly made eye contact.

  The shy one, Duke decided. Miles didn’t have Tim’s height or impressive sideburns, but they did share the same green-brown eyes and pale brown shade of hair. An obvious enough resemblance.

  Miles stepped back and put his hands in his pockets. “Nice to meet y’all.” He nodded toward Neve then peered at his older brother. “I’ll head out. You see to our guests. Owen can ride with me.” He made his exit with an accepting bob of Tim’s head.

  The rancher’s steady gaze returned to Neve, running appreciatively over her as though she were the prettiest thing this side of Little Rock. “Guess that just leaves us, don’t it?”

  “Kind of.” Duke crossed his arms. He clamped his jaw shut to keep from saying something less pleasant than stating the obvious.

  Neve ignored him and matched Tim’s smile with one that oozed charm and a hint of tease.

  Why had he come along to personally witness this awkward ogle-fest? And why the hell didn’t Neve ever pretend to be charming for his sake?

  Oh, right. Because why schmooze a gay guy?

  As if she’d just noticed he still stood there, she glanced at him and started. “Oh, let’s not forget our third wheel.” She winked then and stuck out her tongue the moment Tim turned his back.

  Before he knew it, he was smiling with her. Damn it, she’s good. The snake and the charmer.

  Tim guided them toward a cluster of six picturesque rocking chairs at the far end of the porch, facing west, naturally, for optimal sunset-watching. Two groups of three, they were angled to slightly face each other in a sort of half-circle to foster companionable conversation.

  Quaint.

  “Y’all have a seat. Make yourselves comfortable. I’ll get Laurel to bring out some of her famous iced tea. Hope you like sweet. Only flavor it comes in.”

  Neve didn’t hesitate, bounding toward the middle rocking chair in the first cluster of three with a childlike grin. “Lovely. Sweet tea would be fantastic. I’m parched.”