Hired Hands

by Wendi Darlin

  Hired Hands

  by

  Wendi Darlin

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  Hired Hands

  COPYRIGHT Ó 2008 by Wendi Christner

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  Contact Information: info@thewildrosepress.com

  Cover Art by Tamra Westberry

  The Wild Rose Press

  PO Box 708

  Adams Basin, NY 14410-0706

  Visit us at www.thewilderroses.com

  Publishing History

  First Scarlet Rose Edition, 2008

  Published in the United States of America

  Dedication

  I have to thank Rita Thedford and Sarah Makela for their friendship and professional advice. If it wasn’t for Liza James, this story never would have been written. Hugs and kisses to you all.

  Reviews

  HIRED HANDS

  Love a smokin' hot cowboy? How about two? For lonely widow, Nora, it's two times the loving in Wendi Darlin's Hired Hands. Saddle up for a sizzling ménage story that joins two longing lovers with a sexy cowboy who knows the score. He pulls out all the stops when it comes to bringing these two together. An utterly drool-worthy read by an up-and-coming erotic romance writer. I love Wendi Darlin's work! ~ Rita Thedford, author of Hot Night at the Blue Bug Saloon and One Dependable Man

  Sometimes you want someone so much you'll settle for another just to ease the ache...and sometimes you get everything you need. From the first word to the final climax, Wendi Darlin has penned an emotional and passionate story that tugged on my heart and kept me squirming in my seat. This story is hotter than the western sun at high noon and shows how a woman is never too old to ask for what she wants. ~ KyAnn Waters, author of Delicious Darkness and Hot Blooded

  Hired Hands

  Nora worried the dishcloth in her hand and stared out over the rolling grass hills behind the house. An offer that was hard to refuse weighed on her mind. Enough money to start over, to make a new life. There wasn’t a single damn reason to hang onto the ranch. She tossed the washcloth aside and pulled her long dark hair over one shoulder. No, there was one reason.

  She glanced at the empty farmhouse table where her son, Dylan, would normally be shoveling breakfast into his mouth. His chair sat empty, and the stove was cold; only the aroma of coffee filled the kitchen. The house was too silent, and her hands itched for the usual routine. She’d barely gotten used to making meals for just the two of them. And now with Dylan spending spring break with her sister in south Texas, the loneliness hit her hard.

  Her husband was gone forever, and at thirteen, her son needed her less everyday. She turned back to the sink and the burden on her shoulders.

  Dylan deserved the ranch; he’d already lost too much when his father died. This land was a piece of him, just like it had been with Robert. She couldn’t let her son lose his home. But she couldn’t manage it on her own.

  Cole Shanahan was doing a fine job, but he was a young man, hungry for his own place. And it wouldn’t be long before he found a way to get what he wanted. There was no guarantee another offer to buy the ranch would come around after Cole moved on.

  Maybe it was better to take the sure bet and sell now. What did she know about cattle and rowdy cowhands? Robert had handled all of that. He was a third generation rancher. He managed everything with such efficiency she never had a reason to learn the details of his work.

  She took care of the house, raised their son, and loved her husband in every way a woman could. But a year and a half had passed since Robert died, and though the pain was manageable now, the loneliness was killing her.

  Tears stung the back of her eye, but she brushed them away with the back of her hand. Through the window, she caught movement in the barn. Her womb fluttered and her thighs tensed. Having a man like Cole around didn’t allow her body to forget what it needed either.

  She dropped her hands, letting them slide down the front of her blouse. Her body ached to be touched. Her lips longed to be kissed. She lay awake at night yearning for the feel of a man pressed hard against her.

  One particular man.

  She kneaded her nipples and sucked in a sharp breath. A woman with Cole Shanahan sleeping on her property every night shouldn’t have to starve for sex.

  Another movement drew her gaze to the barn. Disappointment swept through her chest as one of the cowhands loped off. There was no sign of Cole’s broad shoulders or his honey-brown hair, mussed from the old Stetson he wore and the wind that rolled down from the mountains. Cole Shanahan was as rugged and beautiful as the land he worked. His dark chocolate eyes swam with gentleness and honesty. He was as dependable as he was strong. Men like him were harder and harder to come by.

  Even before Robert died, she had fantasies of making love to her husband while Cole ran his wide rough hands over her thighs, her breasts. She shivered as heat pulsed between her legs. Fantasies like that weren’t meant to come true, and she wasn’t one to act on them if they did.

  Lord, she could imagine them though. Nora’s eyes fluttered closed. She caressed her breasts, squeezing against the incessant tingling beneath her skin. Cole. The man brought every urge she had roaring to life.

  A breeze whipped through the open window and caught her hair. A whiff of spice and man assailed her. She tightened the hold on her breasts.

  “Cole...” she murmured, practically tasting his name on her lips.

  “Oh, darlin’,” came a low growl outside the window.

  Nora’s eyes popped open and searing heat rushed to her cheeks. “Cole! I—I didn’t...”

  His eyes dropped to her hands where they still clenched the front of her blouse. She immediately clamped them to the counter. Her mouth went dry, her arms trembled, and fear and embarrassment struck her like lightning.

  Then a hollow ache took over, egged on by the unmasked desire in his dark eyes as he took in her curves. This wasn’t a side of the soft-spoken, no-nonsense cowboy she knew at all.

  He’d been Robert’s right hand and stepped up to keep things running when Robert passed. He let Dylan tag along to learn how to handle the livestock, but otherwise he kept a respectful distance from her and the house. He’d never made an inappropriate move, never spoken to her of anything but business. Oh, but she’d imagined him so many times, looking at her the way he was now.

  Her chest tightened and her heart pounded wildly. His smile was too perfect for a cowboy. His features too refined for a working man. But right now, more than his good looks had her nerves spinning. A playful spark danced with the hunger in his eyes. She tried again to speak, but her mouth was a desert, her tongue completely uncooperative.

  “Miss Lambert, I’m Jesse. Cole’s brother. He called me in last night.” He glanced to her breasts again. “Is he here?”

  “I...” She swallowed hard and licked her lips. “He may be in the barn.”

  “Sure is nice to meet you.” The glimmer in his eye was purely wicked.

  Her thighs flooded with warmth and her stomach tumbled. “Cole never said he had a twin.”

  Two of them.

  Her fantasies took a whole new turn. Her gaze drifted over Jesse’s broad shoulders to the V of tan skin at the open button of his faded denim shirt.

  “Cole always leaves out the best part.” Laughter lifted his words, but the low seductive tone slammed them right to her core
.

  She jerked her gaze back to his and pressed her fluttering stomach against the edge of the counter. Her chest and throat had to be rosy with heat, and Jesse didn’t strike her as the kind of man who would ignore something like that.

  “Would you care for some coffee? Cole’ll be around soon. He’ll need me to sign the payroll this morning.”

  “Don’t mind if I do.” He drummed the windowsill with two broad hands before he stepped away and disappeared.

  Nora sucked in a couple of cooling breaths before she hurried through the mudroom to let him in.

  Every nerve in her body danced with anticipation. Jesse Shanahan was as dangerous as his brother was reliable, that much had been obvious. Another zing ripped up her spine as she reached the door.

  She tugged the hem of her blouse, hoping he wouldn’t notice her nipples straining against the fabric. Another hot wave of embarrassment flooded her. Who was she kidding? The man hadn’t even met thirty yet, and she had sailed past forty, two years ago. Just like his brother, Jesse probably had his pick of women, younger women. Women more suited to give him what a young man needed.

  Her hand trembled as she took the knob and gave the door a tug. One of the two finest looking cowboys she’d ever seen filled the threshold. His long powerful legs strained against the faded denim of his jeans, and arms roped with muscle hung at his sides. He and Cole were identical down to the masculine dimple in their left cheeks.

  The warm spice of his aftershave followed him into the house. He hung his hat on a peg and followed her gesture into the kitchen where he sat at the table and watched her fill his cup.

  “How long you and Cole been...” His dimple deepened.

  Nora’s cheeks flamed. She grabbed the sugar and creamer and hurried over. A caramel bead of liquid slid down the cup, and the stoneware clattered against the worn wood as she all but dropped the coffee in front of him.

  “We’re not. Cole and I—” Her face grew hotter than the steam rising from Jesse’s coffee.

  Jesse’s gaze moved slowly, taking her in from head to toe. She stood frozen, unable to break away from his open assessment. His bottom lip caught between his teeth, and when his eyes met hers again, the flare of fire sent a quiver ripping through her thighs. Her knees threatened to give way. Her breasts came to life as if he’d actually touched them. And the wet silk of her panties clung to the suddenly hot and swollen flesh between her legs. If he could get her this turned on with just his eyes, she would probably slide into a puddle on the floor if he so much as brushed his fingertip against her.

  Nora swallowed hard and reached toward the table for support. It had been so long since a man showed any sexual interest in her. Men on the ranch wouldn’t dare, and the men in town thought too highly of Robert. Jesse obviously didn’t give a damn about propriety. He’d step over his own brother to get to her.

  A smart woman would run like hell, but her body and mind screamed for satisfaction, for something. For Cole.

  Cole...She took in Jesse’s features, searching out the differences. He was missing the small scar that curved over Cole’s eyebrow. His manner was more direct. So much more direct.

  “My brother’s an idiot.” His voice was low, his ability to read her mind, disarming.

  “Cole’s a good man.” She could barely hear herself over the hum in her ears.

  “Not as good as I am.” Jesse reached for her waist.

  Nora gasped as his strong hands wound around her. She stepped back, but in a single breath he’d risen and stood so close, she could feel the heat of his body. Her muscles quivered.

  “Jesse?” She strained against his touch without any real effort to break free. She couldn’t deny how much she needed a man. Would it kill her to give in?

  His head bent to hers. His breath brushed her lips. Her hands trembled, and prickles of desire swept across her chest. Any second he would back away, realize the age difference or that he’d gotten caught up in something he had no intention of finishing. She didn’t dare look him in the eye. Hers would never hide the desperation she felt. Any second now, he’d back away. She was sure of it.

  He moved closer, and before she could blink, the heat of his mouth enveloped hers. His kiss shot straight to her knees, leaving them weak and setting her whole body afire. She braced herself against his broad chest. Her lips parted, accepting his tongue. He tasted like coffee and honey and delicious, delicious man. A needy moan bubbled in her chest and rose between them.

  He drove the kiss deep, stirring up everything she’d tried so hard to keep at bay. His kiss was reckless and wild, giving her a good sense of what she could expect from him. God help her, she wanted what he promised. She went limp in his arms and reached up, her fingers diving into the soft hair that rested on the collar of his shirt. His aftershave mixed with the rich aroma of coffee that filled the kitchen, and her chest hitched.

  The smell of him filled her senses, and just beyond the scent of coffee and spice, her body recognized the tang of his arousal and hers, so undeniable she could almost taste it in every drag of his tongue. She had never been so boldly seduced before, never lost herself in a stranger’s arms. But then Jesse hardly felt like a stranger. It was so easy to forget he wasn’t the man she’d wanted for so long.

  His hands spread over her back, and he dragged her closer with brute strength that revved instincts as old as time and sent her inhibitions scrambling. She was tired of being the strong one. The one who held the world on her shoulders. She was ready to feel powerless, fragile. Just a brief escape before she had to pick up her burden again.

  Her nails scratched the thin denim over his back, and her body arched willingly.

  His arms tightened around her, the steely length of his erection pressed into her stomach, and his hand moved low to grasp her ass. He was ready to take her, ready to erase every thought in her mind. The first man since Robert. A man she could trust...

  She broke the kiss and stepped back, dragging air into her screaming lungs. This wasn’t Cole. Jesse Shanahan was a stranger. A complete stranger who looked like every fantasy she’d ever had. But it was all an illusion. Her fantasies had been about Cole. A man she trusted. A man she’d known for years.

  “I don’t even know you.”

  A wicked flicker lit his eye, and a slow smile spread across his face. “Pretend I’m him.” He reached for her again. “He may be blind, but I’m not.” He hauled her back into his arms. “Cole’s never known what was good for him. Always waits too long for what he wants. And you...” His lips feathered kisses along her cheek. “I know my brother wants you.”

  Her head wobbled from side to side as she pushed away again and reached for the common sense that still lurked in some hidden corner of her mind. She moved back, but the table wedged into the lower curve of her bottom, and in one step, Jesse’s hard thighs pressed into hers. She shook her head. “No. He doesn’t want me. I’m old enough to be his—”

  “Lover?” His laugh was low, seductive. Need gathered in her core and rolled through her womb as she forced herself to look him in the eye. “Yes, you’re old enough to be his lover.” Jesse bent his mouth to hers and slid a hand over her breast. Her nipple sprang up to greet his palm. His lips brushed hers, teasing with just the slightest dip of his tongue. “Cole wants you. And so do I.” The heat of his hand was no match for the thin fabric of her blouse. “You want us, don’t you?”

  Her throat constricted too tight to form a single syllable. Both of them?

  “You don’t have to choose,” he whispered. Goosebumps pricked her neck and converged on her breasts where his hands lifted and gently squeezed. A sigh escaped her as his breath pushed past her lips, and his mouth connected more solidly with hers.

  A murmur of protest squeaked from her throat, but rationale skittered away as his other hand slid down to bunch the denim skirt she wore. Her body screamed for him, and a scene she’d imagined before flashed in her mind. Cole’s muscular body taking her hard and fast, again and again. Those broad hot
hands everywhere at once, his strong thighs moving between hers, and the relief of finally being filled. No more emptiness. A reprieve from the loneliness that seemed it would never end. She squirmed closer, allowing her long-neglected flesh the attention it needed.

  Jesse’s mouth skimmed her neck as the hem of her skirt scraped the sensitive skin of her thighs. Kisses seared her chest, and in one motion, he lifted her onto the heavy wood table.

  “Jesse?” Her skirt bunched around her hips. His coarse hands splayed across her thighs and sank into her flesh. He answered with the quirk of a devilish grin and a gentle push that parted her legs. She gripped his wrists. The sinewy muscles of his arms filled her palms.

  “Wait.” She had to come to her senses before she completely lost her mind. “Cole will be here any minute.” The protest was weak, and even as she said it, her grip on him loosened.

  The corners of his eyes crinkled as he met her gaze. “Good.”

  The implications of that one word sent a shiver down her spine. Jesse bent over her, taking her mouth in a hungry kiss as his hands slid to the juncture of her thighs. She gasped and gave in to the dancing of her nerves in the wake of his touch.

  His thumbs skimmed the wet silk of her panties. A low groan rumbled up his throat. She arched as his mouth trailed her neck.

  “Would he...would he join us?” The words were barely a whisper, a thought that escaped without permission.

  Jesse’s seductive assault came to a stop, and his dimple deepened. “If we make him an offer he can’t refuse.” His thumbs hooked the thin strips of elastic on her hips. Lifting her slightly, he tugged her panties down and knelt between her knees.

  Nora could barely breathe as she looked down at herself, bare and ready for this man she didn’t know. This man who was the carbon copy of the man she’d wanted for years. They were just talking dirty, right? Foreplay. Words that would never amount to anything. Cole would never join them. Even if he would, she couldn’t. Could she?