Ruby thought about it. Maybe Harmony was right. She couldn’t really imagine just always staying here, the good little woman, while Shane was out working the ranch.
It would be good for her to see the small town, maybe stop by the barber and see if he was interested in a partner at all. She wouldn’t expect much in the way of pay after all.
A knock sounded on the door, and all three women looked up.
“Lunch is ready,” Shane called.
The three of them stood and opened the door, and he stood there, looking tall and breathtakingly handsome as ever.
His green eyes only for Ruby.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hi,” he replied in a deep voice.
“Oh, please,” Harmony said, walking through them, waved her hand. “This is getting embarrassing.” She stopped and pinned Shane with a glare. “Oh, and we’re going into town today after lunch. We’re sure you have stuff to do around here, so we’ll take Ruby off your hands.”
Shane’s face darkened and one eyebrow arched high. “Is that so?” He looked at Bonnie. “You okay to travel?”
Bonnie flushed and stammered a yes, and Shane’s serious eyes moved to Ruby as if curious to see what she thought.
“It’d be nice to see the town. And I don’t want to get in the way of your work.”
“We’ll have the Taser, big guy,” Harmony said. She walked back to Ruby and put a hand around her shoulder. “And it’s not negotiable. We’re big girls. We can take care of ourselves. And I know Ruby, and she can’t live in quarantine.”
Shane took a deep breath and finally relaxed his shoulders, nodding. “I can’t stop you, then. But be back well before nightfall. The mountains get dangerous after sundown.”
Harmony nodded flippantly. “We’ll be fine.” She rubbed her hands together and walked forward, ignoring the awkwardness between Shane and Ruby. “Now, where’s lunch?”
Bonnie walked forward to join her, leaving Ruby behind with her cowboy.
He stared down at her quietly, and she fidgeted with her hands before rising on her toes and giving him a shy kiss on the cheek.
“I’ll be back tonight,” she said. “And I’ll come to your cabin.”
A grin spread across his face. “All right,” he said. “Fair deal. I guess if you’re thinking of settling here, you need to see the place. But I’d rather you go with me than your friends.”
“You can’t be with me all the time,” she said, threading her arm through his in a way that felt natural.
He let out a low growl. “But that’s the thing. I want to.”
She laughed. “You’ll live. I promise I won’t get into any bar fights. We’ll stay on the main street.”
“Okay,” he said. “But I’m probably going to send someone down to keep an eye on you. At a distance.” He looked in Harmony’s direction. “Don’t tell your friend.”
“Okay,” she said. “Just not Mav. I think we’ve had all we can handle of him today.”
Shane rubbed his hands together. “Oh, don’t worry. We’ve got him taken care of. I think Jesse already locked him inside his cabin.”
“Although, just between you and me, I think Harmony kind of likes him…” Ruby said playfully.
“You two coming?” Harmony yelled, and Shane gave Ruby a grin.
“Guess we better catch up. As for her wanting Mav, she should sooner want a wild bear,” he said. Then he barked a laugh and walked forward, pulling her with him.
As long as they were together, Ruby just felt good. Perhaps it was right that she spend a few hours without him and make sure she wasn’t under some spell and unable to think straight.
Because she was seriously already falling in love.
9
Ruby and her friends walked down the center of Main Street, which was dirt and strewn with small pebbles. They talked and laughed, eating ice creams they’d gotten from the local general store.
The mountain breeze swirling around them was cool and refreshing, the kind of air you never smelled in New York. They were surrounded by mountains and green trees and old stores that looked like they probably hadn't changed since the sixties, alongside newer stores that had popped up since.
They stopped in front of an old store with a barbershop pole, and Ruby held a hand up to shade her eyes as they looked in through the dirty front window.
Harmony checked the hours on the door and sighed. “Closed today. Go figure. If he doesn’t even have enough business to stay open the whole week, how is he supposed to be able to take on help?”
Ruby shrugged. “Maybe he can’t.”
“We could use a hairdresser at our ranch,” a deep voice called from behind them.
Ruby and her friends flipped around to see the blond man from the other night at the bar. He looked like he’d just come out of a nearby shop and was lighting a cigarette and leaning against the wall as he watched them.
She glared at the secondhand smoke, and he put it out under his boot. He wore nicer clothes than the McAllisters, but she didn’t like the way he was looking at her.
Like she was a piece of meat. Literally.
But he hadn’t been a brute. That had been his henchman, Dwayne. And Dwayne had gotten what he deserved. She hoped this man wasn’t thinking of revenge for him.
“Unlike the McAllisters, our ranch is a little more high-end,” he said, walking forward and extending a hand, which none of the women accepted. “My name’s Wyatt Wilson, and I run the Star Fifty ranch, just over the way.”
Ruby sneered at him. “I don’t know who you are. But I do know that you got in a fight the other night over me, and your friend was disgusting.”
Wyatt looked genuinely distressed, his handsome features drawn tight. “I’m really sorry about that. You’re a beautiful woman, and we shouldn’t have left you alone with him. Loneliness in these parts can make a man crazy. But that’s no excuse to trifle with a lady.”
“Thank you,” Ruby said. “Anyway, we were just here to see the barber. I guess we’ll get on our way.”
Wyatt stepped forward and caught her by the arm. She scented something in the air, something hot and animal. She looked up at him, his face shaded by the cowboy hat he was wearing.
“Why don’t you think about coming to work for me? If I were you, I’d think twice about taking up with the McAllisters.”
She jerked her arm free. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, and I don’t listen to gossip.” She started to walk away. “Come on, girls.”
“I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe you’d be interested in hearing a little something about them. A secret.”
“Maybe not,” she said.
He stared at her, then burst out laughing, swiping his hat off his head and beating his pants with it. He stood up, grinning at them. “Well, all right. You ladies are smart. But can I at least buy you a drink?”
Harmony leaned in. “Come on. He's hot.”
“He’s a jerk,” Bonnie said. “Can’t you tell?”
“Every man around here seems to be a jerk. Except her man,” Harmony said, jerking a thumb at Ruby. “But us girls have to look out for ourselves. Come on. One drink couldn’t hurt. Plus, shouldn’t you check out the local scene?”
Wyatt put his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “Look, it’s just me. We can go in the coffee shop, in broad daylight, and just talk. I’m harmless. I promise. Besides, I heard what you did to Dwayne, and I have no desire to experience that.” His eyes twinkled, and she couldn’t help smiling in response, albeit reluctantly.
Well, she figured she’d get this over with and then head back to Shane. Even if being around other men only made her miss him more. It already felt like he was hers.
Wyatt held open the door to the coffee shop, and they walked in as the bell jingled above them. It was quaint and quiet, and an older man and his wife were working behind the counter.
The wife looked up warily, pushing white hair behind her ear. “These your friends, Wyatt?”
&nb
sp; He nodded. “Well, friends of the McAllisters. Got to them first, if you know what I mean.”
The older man sighed. “I never will get why the two of you have to feud. You used to be such good friends.”
“You did?” Harmony asked. “You and who?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Wyatt said, grabbing a table with four chairs and pulling them out for the ladies. Bonnie gave Ruby a suspicious glare as she sat down, letting her know she wasn’t letting her guard down.
Ruby wasn’t either.
But the owners seemed nice enough. They chatted with Harmony about life in the small town. They ran this shop in the summer and then went north to Canada in the winter. Ruby wondered what life like that was like. Moving around. Living in wild, beautiful locations.
Life without shopping. Somehow, with the mountain air making her blood feel more alive than ever, she thought she could deal.
“So you all are staying up there for the duration of your trip?” Wyatt asked, sipping black coffee as the others raised their lattes. “Maybe I’ll have to pay a visit. It’s rare we have three such beautiful women in this neck of the woods.”
“I’m not sure Shane would like that,” Ruby said.
“Well, maybe where it concerns you,” Wyatt said, eyeing her friends. “But there are two other women here who would do just fine.”
“I’m engaged,” Bonnie said. “And Maverick seems to have claimed her, not that I approve.” She rolled her eyes, but Wyatt’s expression tightened, his gray eyes fixing on Harmony.
“Claimed?” he asked, as if the word held a different meaning, one Ruby didn’t understand.
“Just a kiss,” Harmony said.
Wyatt let out a sigh of relief.
“What’s wrong?” Ruby said, caught off guard by his sudden intensity.
“Nothing,” Wyatt said, becoming all calm and easy once again. “Just didn’t want to think those mountain men were taking advantage of women under their care.”
“No, Jesse punched him,” Bonnie said.
“Did he now?” Wyatt replied, looking Bonnie over more carefully for the first time, making her blush.
Ruby suddenly wanted to leave, hating the awkwardness between them.
“So three of you and three brothers, is that how it is?” he asked, sitting back with folded hands.
“Yes, I suppose,” Ruby said. “Though not in a paired-up way.”
“Sure, sure,” Wyatt said casually. “And you’re with Shane.”
“Yes,” she replied carefully, trying not to give away anything more.
“Is it serious?” he asked, his gray eyes glinting in the low light of the cafe. He reached out a hand for hers, and she wasn’t quick enough to pull back. He stroked a long finger over the top of her palm before bringing her hand to his mouth to kiss it.
She squeaked and jerked away. “Serious enough.”
“A woman after my own heart. Willing to settle somewhere like this after only a day.”
She gulped. “When it’s right, it’s right.”
“Didn’t expect a city girl to say it,” he said, standing and stretching. “But I’d be careful if I were you. Shane McAllister has his own reasons for wanting a bride, and if you want to know more, you know where to find me.” He pushed his business card toward her, and she pushed it back.
“No thank you,” she said. “Anything Shane wants to tell me, he can tell me himself.”
“Suit yourself,” he said. “But if you need to find me, just head straight west from the McAllister ranch. If you ever have trouble with Shane, my door is always open. But you may as well ask him. Ask if there are any other reasons.”
She just let out a slow breath, waiting for him to go. She didn’t know if he was bad or good, but she definitely didn’t trust him enough to let him talk badly about Shane when he'd been nothing but good to her.
“And a little bit more advice, and this goes for the lot of you, be careful in thinking a mountain man wants commitment. Half of them are starved enough for a woman that they’d make any promise. But when their lust is slaked, be careful what they say a week later.” Then he tipped his hat, and with those chilling words, he was gone.
The women were silent, and the owner and his wife were awkward as they tried to pretend not to have heard.
The wife approached quietly to pick up their cups and see if they needed anything else. And dispense some much-needed advice. She looked in the direction Wyatt had gone.
“He’s not a bad sort,” she said, nodding at his back as it disappeared down the street. “He and Shane’s family just have some bad blood. But if you needed him, he’d be there. At least the boy I once knew would. Sometimes I don’t know what’s gotten into him. Fighting with Mav, who used to be his best friend…” She shook her head. “And anyway, I think Shane is a fine man, so you just pay no mind to what Wyatt said in that particular area.” He looked over at her husband lovingly. “Even men in this rough country can tell the difference between love and desperation. The right men anyway.” She winked at Ruby. “Listen to your heart.”
Ruby was left stunned, but she recovered quickly and left a large tip as she and her friends got to up to leave. As they walked into the sunlight, unease crept through her, and she turned to Harmony and Bonnie, who also seemed deep in thought.
“Girls, do you think I’m moving too fast? Do you think I’m confused?”
Bonnie shook her head. “You did everything with Bill the slow, reasoned way. I think hot and instinctual might do you good this time.”
Harmony nodded. “I don’t think there’s any reason not to go forward with Shane. Then again, I don’t think it’s a bad idea to guard your heart, just in case.”
Harmony would say that.
Ruby nodded. “Well, are we ready to go home?”
Harmony grinned at her as they got to their rental car. “You ready to get home and ride your cowboy?”
Ruby didn’t care about her blush as she got in the backseat so Bonnie could have the front. “Maybe.”
“All right,” Harmony said, starting the engine and pulling out. “I guess we better giddy on up, then. Let’s get you home.”
Home, Ruby thought. That already sounded just about right.
* * *
Shane paced in the empty dining hall, checking his watch and then glaring at the empty parking space in front of the lodge where the girls’ car had been.
“Calm down,” Jesse said. “It’s only been a couple hours.” He looked around the empty hall. “That was good of you to serve dinner so the men could turn in early.”
Shane nodded, knowing it had more to do with not wanting anyone to interact with his mate than any kind of generosity. Though he tried to be a fair, kind employer. Even if he was known for being stern. But they respected him; that was what mattered. And they seemed to like their jobs, coming back year after year to help with the cattle.
Mav was sitting sullenly in the corner, arms folded, unhappy to be showered, clean, and in human clothes. He was still covered in a shaggy beard and his long hair, but he looked a little more presentable now.
“Why do I have to be here again?” he asked grumpily.
“To apologize,” Shane said. “If Ruby’s going to be my mate, I don’t want her thinking she or her friends are unsafe here.”
“She liked me kissing her. I could tell.”
Shane let out a growl before Jesse put a hand up. “He means her friend. Harmony. With the dark hair.”
“Oh,” Shane said, sitting down on the log bench. “Fine. But don’t do it again. You have to ask women if they want to kiss you.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Mav asked, putting his hands behind his head and leaning back. “Seems to me women should want a man who takes control. Who knows what he wants and takes it.”
“If what you want is a punch in the face, then try it again and I’ll be happy to oblige you,” Jesse drawled, staring at his brother in a way that made Mav squirm.
Jesse was the most patient
with their younger brother, but as a result, he was also the best at intimidating him.
“Fine, I’ll behave. I won’t kiss her, even if she begs me,” Mav said.
“Unlikely,” Jesse said.
“True,” Shane said. “I get the feeling those women don’t have to beg for anything.”
“They’re something, right?” Mav said, sitting forward. “I found real beautiful ones, didn’t I? Not as sturdy as I thought, but they might as well be hot.”
Jesse sighed. “Mav, they didn’t come here to hook up with us.”
“No, but his chick did come to hook up with him, so that’s us sorted for another few months at least,” Mav said, nodding at Shane. “At least the land won’t go up for auction.”
“True,” Jesse said. Then he gave Shane a wary look. “But don’t rush into this for that. If she’s not the right one, we’ll find another way.”
Shane shrugged. “Luckily for us, she is the right one. I’m just not sure how to address the whole thing. I’d like to finish this up in a couple days. Makes me nervous. But I’m worried if she finds out, she’ll think I only want her to keep the land, and that’s not it at all.”
“That’s why I brought her,” Mav said bluntly. “What’s wrong with that?”
“Women want love, romance,” Jesse said.
“You would know,” Mav said. “Any woman that comes around here only wants you.”
Jesse’s eyes went cold and he looked away. “Anyway, if they aren’t back soon, I’ll call Matt. He said he’d be keeping an eye on them.”
“Okay,” Shane said. “In the meantime, Mav, you think about how to keep your hands to yourself when they get here.”
Mav saluted. “Aye-aye, sir.”
Shane sighed and folded his arms and got up to keep pacing. He wouldn’t feel safe until she was home.
When the rumbling of an engine outside preceded their car pulling up, warmth surged through him.
He looked up to see them getting out of the car, locked eyes with a pair of gorgeous cornflower-blue irises, and grinned.
His mate was back.
She hesitated as she looked through the window and saw who else was with him, but then she seemed to decide to trust him and waited for her friends to get out of the car before heading in.
Mountain Bear: BBW Bear Shifter Romance (Bear Haven Book 1) Page 7
