“Well, you’re in luck, honey, because that’s what I made tonight.” Leta took one of the bags back from me before I could protest, and then she bustled past me and into the kitchen. “Ooh, Lordy, someone did a nice job with the paint in here!” she said, looking around. Her eyes settled on Kia, who had stood up from the table, and Leta smiled. “You must be Miss Nash.”
“Please, call me Kia,” she answered as Leta set the bag on the table. Kia came around to give Leta a handshake, squeaking when the old woman roped her into a hug. “It’s nice to meet you,” Kia choked out.
“Nice to meet you too,” Leta replied before releasing her to give Kia a critical eye. She then reached out and pinched Kia’s waist, causing her to squeak again. “You’ve got a real nice figure, but I’d feel a lot better if you put a bit more meat on your bones, Miss Nash. Let’s see if we can do something about it.”
Bemused, I set the other bag on the table and watched as Leta unpacked containers of macaroni and cheese, ribs, creamed spinach, and large, round biscuits that made my mouth water just looking at them. Even Kia looked ravenous as she came back from the kitchen with a stack of plates and silverware. Leta’s cooking had that effect on people.
“I do hope I brought enough,” Leta said as she served us both. “You two look famished.” She folded up the paper bags, tucking them under her arm, and then she picked up her purse and prepared to leave.
“You’re not staying?” Kia asked around a mouthful of biscuit.
“Oh no,” Leta said. “I’ve still got more work to do back at Golden Cattle Ranch before I turn in for the night.” She leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. “You two be good now.”
I walked Leta to the door, making sure she made it to her car safely. Generally, there was no danger out in these parts, but coyotes and wolves sometimes crossed onto ranch property, and I was still feeling edgy after that strange man’s visit today. I needed to talk to Kia about what I’d found out and make her understand just what it was we were up against.
When I returned to the dining room, I found Kia scooping a second helping of ribs and macaroni and cheese onto her empty plate.
“I thought you weren’t hungry,” I teased, settling back down to my own plate of food.
“It’s amazing what a compliment and the sight of good food can do for one’s appetite,” Kia said dryly, but there was a twinkle in her eye. Her frozen dinner had been shoved off to the side, practically untouched. She paused for a moment. “I appreciate your apology, Hunter. Some guys don’t have what it takes to admit they’re wrong.”
I snorted. “I can’t say I don’t struggle with that issue every once in a while,” I admitted, “but I don’t want there to be any bad blood between us. But, really, Kia, I found out some important stuff today that you need to know about.”
Between bites of food, I told her about my visit with Mrs. Jones and Johnny. Kia interrupted occasionally to ask a question, but for the most part, she listened in silence, a look of intense concentration on her face.
“Did the ranch hand corroborate her story?” she asked.
I nodded. “Johnny pretty much said the same thing—that Old Daniel had fired off most of his workers, drastically cut down on Johnny’s own hours, and became extremely tightfisted about money.”
“I don’t know what the hell was going on,” Johnny had said, scowling off into the distance. “I thought maybe Mr. Nash had lost a bunch of money on an investment or a wager, but I can’t see why he’d have risked the ranch on something foolish like that. The only thing I can think of is that he was being blackmailed, but I can’t think of what someone would have over a sweet old guy like him.”
“Do you know who that slicker works for?”
Kia frowned. “Um . . . hang on a sec.” She dug a card out of one of the front pocket of her jeans. “Samuel Bradley,” she read. “President of Bradley and Radcliffe, Inc.”
I scowled. “Mrs. Jones said she thought the man who’d tried to buy the ranch off Old Daniel might’ve been Branson or Branford. It’s too much of a coincidence.”
Kia sat back, her plate practically licked clean. “You think Samuel was the same man who tried to buy the ranch from my great-uncle?”
“It’s a strong possibility,” I answered. “Mrs. Jones said the man seemed pretty insistent about buying the ranch, so I can’t imagine him not coming back out of the woodwork once he discovered Old Daniel had died.” I frowned again. “You know, I can’t help but think I’ve heard the name Bradley and Radcliffe somewhere,” I mused aloud. “I think I’ll call up my brother in the morning and see if he knows anything about the company.”
“That sounds like a good idea.” Kia stood up and started clearing the table. “I think it would be best to see what you can find out about this guy before we make any kind of decision. I’d hate for us to go after a man who’s innocent.”
I snorted. “Trust me, I’ve done business with men like Bradley. He’s far from innocent.”
The man’s reptilian gaze sent shivers down my spine.
Samuel Bradley was stone-cold, no doubt about it. The kind of guy who would do whatever it took to get what he wanted. I could easily imagine him blackmailing an old man in an attempt to force him to sell off the ranch.
Putting aside the subject for the night, I helped Kia clear the table. Then I took up a position in front of the farm sink and started filling it with water. “I’ll wash,” I said, tossing Kia a dishrag. “You dry.”
We worked in silence for a long while—me scrubbing plates and setting them in the dish rack, Kia hand-drying them and putting them away. She was fast, I observed. I picked up my own pace to try to keep up with her. She was drying the dishes faster than I could hand them to her.
“You used to do this for a living or something?” I asked, half joking.
Kia’s answer surprised me. “I had a dishwashing job at the college cafeteria,” she told me without pausing from her work. “Between that and the freelance photography work that I did later on in my college career, I was able to afford my books and my share of room and board at the dorm.”
I frowned. “Didn’t your parents help you out with any of that?”
Kia shook her head. “No. When my father left my mother for another woman, he cut me out of his life too. And, well . . . my mother wasn’t good for much of anything, except a bottle of whiskey.” She spoke matter-of-factly, but I knew she had to be hurting about it still. “I worked my ass off in high school, so I could earn an academic scholarship to NYU. I got my undergrad degree in photography and imaging, and I haven’t looked back since.”
“Wow.” I pulled the plug, allowing the sudsy water to drain out of the sink. “Well, your mother must have at least been proud of you, right?”
“Honestly?” Kia hung the dish towel on the hook over the sink. “I don’t think she even noticed I was gone. She’s dead now—cirrhosis of the liver, I was told—so I’ll never be able to know for sure.”
She shrugged, and I was suddenly overwhelmed by a fierce need to take her in my arms, tell her that her mother was wrong and that she was amazing and didn’t deserve to be neglected, but her eyes were flat. I knew instinctively that she wouldn’t welcome my pity. She was a self-made woman, and she wanted to be acknowledged for what she was now, not where she’d come from.
“Maybe you could show me your photography sometime,” I suggested after a moment.
Kia smiled a little. “Maybe. I didn’t bring my portfolio or anything, but I have taken a few shots with my DSLR since I got here, and I’ll show them to you if I ever get a chance to develop them.”
“I’d like that,” I said. And I really meant it.
I was filled with a burning curiosity to find out more about this woman, about her passions and what made her tick. We stood there, smiling at each other for a long moment, and I felt something subtle shift in the air between us.
“I’d better get to bed,” Kia said quietly, breaking the spell.
“Yeah,” I said soft
ly. This time, when the memory of her naked body rose in my mind, I didn’t try to fight it or push it away. “We’ve got a long day tomorrow.”
I watched as she walked away, heading up the stairs to bed, and waited until I was sure she was behind the closed door before turning in.
CHAPTER 14
Hunter
THE NEXT WEEK PASSED fairly quickly. I showed Kia how to muck out the stalls, clean tack, and feed and care for the horses. I spent an afternoon teaching her how to saddle and mount a horse and then ride one, and though she was nervous at first, she ended up taking to it like a duck to water. Once I was confident she could hold her own reasonably well, I took her with me on fence inspections, and we worked on the repairs together whenever we found them.
I also hired Johnny to come and help me herd the cattle to a different pasture and told the former ranch hand I’d hire him at least once a week to help with the task. The man was grateful for the opportunity, meager though it was, and I determined, once I was done here, I would convince Kia to hire Johnny back on to his old job as ranch hand.
Mrs. Jones also came to visit, declaring that she liked the looks of things so much that she would come back on as the housekeeper. Her cooking wasn’t quite as good as Leta’s, but it was still delicious, and Kia and I looked forward to her home-cooked breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.
No longer worried about keeping the house clean or keeping up with the dishes, Kia somehow managed to dredge up the energy to work on home improvement projects during the evening, and though I would have much rather kicked back with a beer, I helped her out. I knew there was something soothing to her about working on the interior design projects, and besides, the house did need to get done.
By the end of the week, the ranch was looking a hell of a lot better. The horses were well cared for, the house was coming together, and the fences and even some of the machinery had been repaired.
“It’s finally time for me to start training those horses,” I told Kia over dinner on Sunday night.
Mrs. Jones had made us steak, potatoes, and glazed carrots, the latter of which Kia seemed to be particularly relishing.
“Training them?” she asked, popping another carrot into her mouth. “What for? They don’t seem like they need to be broken in or anything.”
I laughed. “I forgot that you don’t know how Daniel made the majority of his money. He trained stock and cutting horses, selling them to cattle ranchers.”
“Cutting horses?” Kia frowned. “What are those?”
“They’re horses specially trained to separate a cow from the herd,” I explained. “Cutting horses are used in competition, while stock horses are used around the ranch to help herd cattle.”
“Huh. I guess I never thought about it, but it makes sense that you’d need horses specifically trained for that,” Kia mused. “And you know how to train cutting horses?”
I nodded. “It’s been a while, and I’m not as good as Daniel was, but he taught me the ropes. Some of these horses are already a fair way into their training from what Johnny told me, so I should have a few ready to sell by the end of the month.”
“That would be very exciting,” Mrs. Jones said as she came to clear some of the plates away. “It would do my heart good to see this ranch starting to turn a profit again. And I wager the townspeople would be happy too.”
The phone rang then, and Mrs. Jones started toward the living room to pick it up. “I wonder who on earth that could be.”
“I’ll get it.” I stood up and placed a hand on Mrs. Jones’s arm, already having a good idea of who it was. “You go ahead and finish what you were doing.”
Excusing myself, I went to the living room and picked up the phone resting on the side table next to the couch. “Bridle Hill Ranch,” I said, settling myself into the chair.
“Hey, Hunter,” Eric greeted me. “How are things going?”
“Pretty good.” I gave him a brief overview of what Kia and I had accomplished that week. “I’m pretty hopeful we can get this ranch back on its feet by the end of the month. In the beginning, I was worried Kia might end up being dead weight, but she’s really been holding her own.”
“That’s great,” Eric said. “Really good to hear. Listen, I got your message about that guy from Bradley and Radcliffe shaking Kia down about the ranch, and you’re right—they’re bad news. They pounce on ranches that are down on their luck, buy them up, and turn them into housing developments.”
“I knew it,” I hissed. My grip tightened on the phone, and I forced my hand to relax before I cracked the phone. Then I thought about what Eric had said and paused. “Wait, you said ranches down on their luck? But, from what I understand, Old Daniel’s ranch was going strong when he was approached to sell.”
“Well, maybe the guy who approached Daniel wasn’t the same guy who approached the two of you last week,” Eric suggested. “It follows the pattern that Bradley would approach Kia now, when the ranch is declining. I don’t see why he would have made an offer on the ranch when it was still functional. It would have cost him a hell of a lot more to buy it then than it would now.”
“What you’re saying makes sense,” I said, “except that Bradley offered Kia one hundred grand for the ranch, which is easily five times what it’s worth right now.”
“One hundred thousand!” Eric exclaimed. “That’s crazy!” There was silence for a moment. “He has to have an ulterior motive,” Eric said finally. “There’s some kind of strategic advantage Bradley will gain by buying that ranch, and I think it’s worth finding out what that is.”
“I don’t suppose there’s any chance you might be able to help me on that end?” I asked. “I’m not very good with business.”
Eric sighed. “I’ll see what I can do, but I can’t make any promises. I’m pretty busy these days. I’ll let you know if I do find anything. But in the meantime, I suggest you do your own research.”
“Will do. Thanks, brother.” I hung up the phone and then stared into the empty grate of the fireplace for a long while, thinking on what my brother had said.
Is it possible that the man who approached Daniel a few years ago is completely unrelated to Bradley?
I supposed it was, but that didn’t mean I believed it for a second. And, even if it was, Bradley was still up to something, and I was determined to find out what it was.
The sound of a floorboard creaking caught my attention, and I looked up to see Kia standing in the doorway, gazing at me. She was freshly showered, both of us having cleaned up before dinner, and her damp hair gleamed softly in the lamplight. As usual, I was struck by the urge to take her into my arms, to kiss those luscious lips, and to run my hands through her hair, but I refrained, just as I had countless times in the past week.
“Mrs. Jones said to tell you good night, and she took off to her cottage,” Kia said, stepping into the room. She paused for a few seconds. “I overheard some of your conversation.” She perched herself on the edge of the couch, a small smile on her face. “You really think I’m doing a good job?”
I grinned. “You’re doing a fantastic job, darling,” I told her, reaching out and taking her hand in mine. That proved to be a mistake as a spark of electricity arced between us, and her pulse fluttered in her throat, but I tried to ignore it. “I couldn’t have asked for a better ranch hand.”
Kia affected a playful, haughty look. “I’ll have you know, I’m the owner of this ranch,” she said, looking down her nose at me. “And I don’t appreciate you referring to me as a ranch hand.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said.
We both laughed. I began rubbing my thumb across her hand, circling the sensitive spot between her thumb and forefinger, and silence fell over us. I heard Kia’s breath catch in her throat, and I bit back a growl as I caught the scent of her intoxicatingly delicious arousal.
I should let go of her hand now.
My entire field of vision narrowed until Kia was all I could see. All I could think about. And I knew I was cl
ose to breaking.
“Hunter,” Kia whispered.
And that was all the invitation I needed. Growling, I pressed her back against the couch, kissing her deeply. Kia kissed me back, hesitantly at first and then with more ardor as I drew her into a passionate embrace. My cock hardened, already throbbing with the need to be inside her, and when she whimpered with pleasure, I knew I was lost.
To hell with my requirements.
I slid my hands beneath her black tank top. I was going to take her to bed tonight. Without breaking the kiss, I hauled her into my arms and wrapped her legs around my waist. Then I carried her up the stairs. I stumbled a few times, causing her to squeal, but she didn’t let go of me or stop kissing me, and eventually, we made it to my room at the end of the hall.
I kicked the door shut behind me. Then I turned on the lamp and laid her out on the bed. “I want to see you,” I said huskily. “Every fucking inch of your beautiful body.”
Eyes dark with desire, Kia sat up and ever-so-slowly removed her tank top, exposing her torso inch by inch. I watched silently as she revealed her breasts, which were covered by a black bra, and I had to remind myself to be patient and not rip the offending garment away. She made a show of tossing the tank top aside. Then she reached around leisurely and popped the front clasp on her bra, letting it glide off her shoulders.
“Damn . . .” I groaned as Kia took one breast in each hand and began massaging the round globes.
How could I ever have thought they were too small?
They were perfectly round and perky with chocolate-hued nipples I desperately wanted to nibble and taste.
“More.”
“More?” Kia raised an eyebrow, a flirtatious smile playing on her sensuous lips. She moved one hand down her abdomen and then popped the top button on her jeans. She slipped her hand beneath the waistband of her panties. “Mmm,” she moaned as she touched herself, her eyes drifting closed as she leaned back against the pillows.
Unable to take it anymore, I grabbed her zipper and yanked it down. Then I ripped off her jeans and panties in one fluid motion. Kia let out a shocked cry as I settled myself on the bed. She looked at me with wide eyes as I spread her legs.
Operation Wolf: Hunter ~ Sedona Venez Page 7
