Home on the Ranch: Her Cowboy Hero

by Pamela Britton

  “Not long.” They both paused at the bottom of the stairs. “I’m still learning the ropes.”

  “You done with your tour?” Colby asked, walking toward them, and Jayden’s spirits sank. He’d stuffed his humanity back into its concrete bunker again, bolting the door closed so she couldn’t see what he was thinking. She supposed she should be grateful. They should go back to the way things were before she’d gone and held his hands.

  “We were just finishing up.” She injected the words with a peppy smile, or so she hoped. “He’s all settled into his room. We were headed down to see the horses.”

  “I can take over from here. You can take your lunch.” He motioned with his chin for Dylan to follow him.

  Diss-missed.

  She could practically hear the drill instructor in her head, but one of the good things about working at Dark Horse Ranch was its proximity to her family and, perhaps more important, Paisley. What she needed right now was to wrap her daughter in her arms, to inhale her unique scent and to remember that this job was too important to risk getting involved with Colby. She waved goodbye to the two men, but she could feel them watching her the whole way down the aisle.

  Her car wouldn’t start.

  She sat there for a moment, disbelief causing her to clutch the wheel as if she could will the damn thing into submission. She tried again. Nothing.

  Colby peeked his head out the barn. Dylan stood behind him.

  She wanted to cry.

  Nothing had gone right since the moment she’d started this job. Maybe God was trying to tell her something. She should quit before a house fell on her head.

  “Open the hood,” she heard Colby say.

  She pulled on the lever to her left and the hood popped open, Colby and Dylan disappearing when they lifted the cover. The sky had cleared, the sun warming her when she stepped out of the car, a horse nickering in the distance.

  “Sounds like a starter,” she heard Dylan say.

  “We just replaced it. Might be a bad alternator. They can ruin a good starter in no time.”

  “Or she got a bad part.”

  She crossed her arms in front of her, relieved the burning in her eyes didn’t translate into tears. At least Colby could fix it. She hoped. Things could be worse. This could have happened while she’d been out running errands, stuck somewhere with Paisley and nobody to help.

  “Never a dull moment with you.”

  She didn’t take offense to Colby’s words. She felt the same way.

  “Can you fix it?”

  “I’m sure I can, but at this point, I’m wondering if you should take it to a shop. They can run some tests I can’t.”

  A shop? She couldn’t afford that.

  He must have read the look in her eyes. “I know someone in town. Former guest here. He’d do anything for one of our employees.”

  “I can’t believe this.”

  Dylan moved to her side, placed a hand over her own, squeezing it gently, the gesture so reminiscent of what she’d done to Colby earlier that her gaze shot to his own before she jerked her hand away.

  Colby straightened. Just for a moment she caught a glimpse of it, the squinty-eyed, pupils dilated, flat-mouthed look of disapproval.

  “I’ll call a tow truck and run you into town to talk to the guy.”

  “You don’t have to do that. I can take care of it.”

  “I’m not giving you a choice.”

  Chapter 10

  Sitting next to her was like having a powder keg in the truck while playing with matches. For the first time in his life he began to regret his self-imposed celibacy and its torturous side effects, especially when he sat next to a woman who made him rethink his decision of living as a bachelor for the rest of his life.

  “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you doing this for me.” She stared out the window at the hills in the distance and a sun that had lost its daily battle with the earth, sinking below the horizon with a splendid splash of color, as if it wanted to go out with a bang. “I can’t believe how quickly your friend diagnosed my car.”

  His grip tightened on the steering wheel as he pretended to concentrate on the road ahead of him when he was doing anything but. She smelled like spring when the orchards were in bloom, and it was damn distracting.

  “I should have pulled your alternator and had it professionally tested when I took your starter out. This is my fault, really. It never occurred to me that it could have a short and that’s why it wasn’t charging.”

  Restaurants and small local shops passed by in a blur as they headed back to her place, to an apartment complex he’d never heard of before, but appeared to be on a rough side of town.

  “Yeah, but at least you bought a warranty. I won’t have to buy a new starter all over again. Not that I’ve paid for the first one yet.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her shake her head. “I can’t believe all this. I’m so stressed I’m going to be fired.”

  “Relax.” It was his turn to shake his head. “I told you Jax understands. These things happen.”

  “Yeah, but how am I going to get to work tomorrow?”

  “I can pick you up.” And even though he heard himself offer, he couldn’t believe the words had come out of his mouth.

  “You don’t have to do that.” She frowned. “Maybe my uncle has a vehicle I can borrow. My aunt Crystal’s going to drop off Paisley later tonight. I’ll ask her.”

  Coward. That was what he called himself, because it would really be no trouble. The ranch wasn’t that far from downtown Via Del Caballo. Instead he said nothing as she directed him to her apartment, pulling to a stop in front of a two-story complex that’d seen better days.

  “This is your place?”

  He didn’t mean the words as an insult. It just looked so different from what he’d expected he found himself asking the question, but when he glanced over at her he saw her chin lift.

  “It’s not much, I know, but at least it’s mine. You should try going to school full-time and raising a kid all on your own because, goodness knows, Paisley’s dad refuses to give me a dime for child support.”

  He stopped the flow of words coming from her mouth by touching her hand. He had to breathe deeply for a moment.

  “I didn’t mean it that way.”

  Didn’t he, though? Wasn’t that exactly what he’d thought as he pulled up in front of her place? Despite everything she’d told him, there’d still been a part of him that had wondered if she’d really struggled as badly as she made it seem. She had.

  “You amaze me.”

  The words were so far from what she’d expected to hear, her eyes widened in surprise, or maybe they did so because he’d tugged on her hand, pulling her toward him, and he realized another truth in that moment: he could no more resist her than he could control the gravity of the moon.

  “Colby.” Her eyes had a question in them.

  “I’d like to kiss you, Jayden.”

  “We shouldn’t,” she all but whispered.

  “I know.”

  She looked away, her next words all but a whisper. “I think I want you to kiss me, too.”

  Still, he hesitated. He had many reasons to avoid kissing her, some of them so deeply hidden inside himself he only caught glimpses of them from time to time. But the obvious reasons, the ones he’d been listing in his head over and over again since she’d touched him, those he couldn’t seem to recall as he stared into her eyes. That gaze drew him down, her inner light and goodness a whirlpool he could no longer fight, and so he let the current suck him down until, at last, her feathery soft lips rested against his own.

  It zapped him like static charge on a windy day, the reaction so unexpected that his heart jolted in response, and he knew that he hadn’t imagined the connection between them. She felt it, too. He heard it in the barely audible hum s
he emitted, a sound that turned into a moan. In every corner of his mind he told himself to stop. Instead he found himself spinning ever deeper into the vortex that was uniquely Jayden.

  She released another soft little moan, and he admitted he liked hearing her make the sound. His hands moved to the line of her jaw, her skin warm beneath his palm, everything about her so small and delicate and so utterly feminine that it roused every protective instinct he had, and that was an emotion he’d never wanted to feel again. The realization blasted him with a cold dose of reality, one that felt like icy fingers on his heart.

  He wasn’t any good at keeping people safe.

  “No,” he groaned as he drew back. “We can’t.”

  Rather, they shouldn’t, but not for the reason she probably thought. He wasn’t a war hero. Far from it. That was a secret he planned to hold close to his heart.

  “You’re right. We shouldn’t.” Her eyes had turned the most dazzling shade of blue. “But I can’t seem to help wanting more.”

  He exhaled a breath that shook from the aftermath of his desire. “We need to forget this ever happened.”

  “But—”

  “No.” He didn’t want to hear more. If she found out how close he was to throwing caution to the wind, it’d be all over for him. “I’ll be the responsible one here.”

  Those spectacular eyes that showed every emotion dimmed for a moment. Her whole face flushed, from her cheeks to her chin to her forehead, and he knew she’d taken his comment wrong. He almost called the words back. Almost. Instead he started the truck, forced himself to stare straight ahead.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  The cabin popped from a change in air pressure when she pushed her door open. He carefully composed his face into a blank slate.

  “I would never say anything to Jax, if that’s what you think.”

  His hands clenched on the steering wheel, tighter and then tighter still as he fought the urge to leave the truck and pull her to him and kiss her like he’d never wanted to kiss a woman before, not even Liz.

  “Yeah, well, I can’t take that chance.”

  Her facial muscles ticked, as if he’d physically struck her. “I’d be taking a chance, too, you know. I’ve already pushed the limits of my employment lately. If we both got caught messing around—”

  “We’re not. So end of story.”

  Her blue eyes were so luminous and intense he knew he’d wounded her.

  She slammed the door. He gunned it, slipping away from her like he’d left so many things in his life.

  * * *

  Jayden all but ran up to her apartment, and for the first time ever, she was grateful for Paisley’s absence. Her eyes were burning as she slammed the front door and then leaned against it, but not from tears of shame. Oh, no. They were tears of anger and frustration and maybe even amusement at the absolute and utter ridiculousness of it all. What were the odds? How could it be that after all her hard work she’d finally landed her dream job only to work with someone she found attractive, but who didn’t want her?

  She scrubbed at her cheeks, took a deep breath. This had been the week from hell. If she didn’t know better she would think God had other plans for her and her career. First Levi showing up. Then her car breaking down twice. And now this.

  Someone knocked on her door. Jayden glanced at the clock and realized nearly a half hour had passed.

  Aunt Crystal.

  “There’s Mommy.” Crystal’s smile was wide, her familiar blue eyes meeting her own. “Go on.”

  “Mommy!”

  Paisley’s cry was a balm to Jayden’s heart, as were the arms that wrapped around her neck and held her tight when she bent to scoop her baby up. She squeezed Paisley back, probably too hard, because she started to squirm in her arms.

  “Owie.”

  “I know, baby. I’m sorry.” She’d needed that hug. It served as a reminder of all she’d been working toward and the future that was right there in front of her if she didn’t go blowing it by getting involved with a man who made her forget herself in the same way Levi had done...and look where that had gotten her.

  “Let’s go to the family room and have a chat with Auntie, okay?”

  Her daughter took her hand, toddling along until she saw her favorite toy on the ground, a plastic horse with a golden mane and tail that Grandpa had gotten her for Christmas back before everything had gone south. She loved that thing.

  “Horsey.” She plopped down on the ground, sliding her tiny fingers through the silky mane. “Weeee,” Paisley said with a giggle, which was the sound she made when she pretended to be a horse.

  “She’s getting bigger every day.” Her aunt settled on the couch, a piece of furniture Jayden’s brother Carson had made for her. It was the only nice piece she had.

  “How are you feeling?” Jayden asked.

  “Better. Much better.”

  “Good.” She sucked in a deep breath. “Thank you so much for dropping her off.”

  Her aunt hugged her next. “Honey, you know I’d do anything for you and Pais.” She drew back, clutching Jayden’s shoulders and squeezing them a bit. “But I wish you’d let us do more. This rift between you and your father. It has to end.”

  “I know.”

  “Really?” Crystal asked. “Because I hate the way you sneak around the ranch. I hate the way you refuse to ask your dad for help. Speaking of that, if your vehicle breaks down again, you can borrow one of our trucks, but you should really ask your dad.”

  She shook her head. “I’m not going to call him and ask him for something. He’ll just hold it over me somehow.”

  “But you will call sometime soon?” her aunt asked.

  She took a deep breath, knowing that if she promised her aunt, it meant she’d really have to do it. But like she told Colby, maybe it was time.

  “I will.”

  Crystal looked relieved. They both watched for a moment as Paisley cantered her horse on the nutmeg-colored carpet. Jayden smoothed her hair back and realized her hands shook.

  “It seems like just yesterday she was crawling,” Crystal said.

  Her aunt had a way of taking the stress out of a room. She’d always been that way. When Jayden’s mom had died, Crystal had been the only thing to keep her sane. Her dad and her brothers had dealt with grief the way a lot of men did, occupying their time with other concerns and hiding their sorrow behind stoic eyes. Jayden had tried to do the same, but her grief had driven her right into Levi’s arms. She’d sworn off men ever since...until now.

  Her cheeks heated as she recalled Colby’s kiss. Huge mistake, she knew that, but her toes curled when she recalled how it felt to be held by him.

  “Okay, spill.” Her aunt didn’t wear reading glasses, but she still peered up at her as if she did, chin down, eyes unwavering, her long gray hair tucked behind her ears. “There’s something else going on with you, I can tell.”

  Damn her red cheeks. They betrayed her as surely as a lie detector.

  She thought about denying it. She had every reason to do exactly that. She didn’t need Crystal to worry about her making another mistake in her life. But in the end, her need to confess outweighed her concerns.

  “I think I have a crush on my coworker.”

  Crystal’s face slipped into a mask of horror. “With Jax?”

  Jayden gasped. “No.” She looked heavenward, wondering how her aunt would even think that. “With Colby Kotch.”

  She released a sigh, because now that she’d said the words out loud, she could no longer deny it to herself. Something about the man made her think things no sane mother of a three-year-old should be thinking, especially when she’d worked so hard to gain control of her life.

  “And you work with him?”

  Jayden nodded. “He’s a therapist at Dark Horse Ranch, but he wears a bunch of hats some
times. I’m supposed to be helping him out—well, I do help him out, and so we’ve been working together pretty closely. We’ve been a little shorthanded lately, but the ranch manager will be back from vacation tonight, so things will settle down, but I’ll still be working with him.”

  “And you like him.”

  The words were said as a statement, Aunt Crystal’s stare as intensely scrutinizing as someone in law enforcement. Jayden saw a hint of dismay in that gaze, probably not surprising given how anti-dating Jayden had been since the whole Levi thing had blown up in her face.

  “He’s a good man.” Jayden knew she sounded defensive, but she couldn’t help herself. “You can tell a lot about a man by the way he works with horses.”

  “Who’s the family?”

  “You wouldn’t know them. He’s from Texas. Talks with a Southern accent and everything.”

  Crystal had a curious expression on her face. Then she grinned. “Where’s your laptop?”

  “Aunt Crystal, no. No snooping. He’s just a nice guy that I work with. No need to stalk him on the internet or anything.”

  “Why not? You never know what you might unearth. What if he’s running from the law or something?”

  Crystal got up, scanning the room, spotting Jayden’s computer sitting atop the kitchen table. She headed right for it and lifted the screen and tapped the return key before Jayden could stop her.

  “You should really have a password.”

  Jayden wanted to slam the lid closed. “And you should really keep your hands off other people’s devices. I mean it, Aunt Crystal. You don’t need to Google him. It’s okay.”

  Paisley looked up from playing with her horse, her attention caught by the raised voices. “Your great-aunt Crystal has lost her mind,” she told her daughter.

  But Crystal ignored her. She pulled a chair out, its legs clawing at the kitchen floor, screeching in protest. She plopped down without giving her a second glance. Light from outside the kitchen window gilded Crystal’s long gray hair. She’d had that color forever, a kind of blondish gray. Most people her age would have dyed it, but Crystal always claimed she loved her silver locks. It made people think she was smarter than she was, or so she was fond of saying.