“Says the man who stared at my breasts like they are a saucer of milk and he’s a cat dying for a drink.”
I suppress a smile. “I know I was looking at your chest, but I got news for you, honey. I’m a man. That’s what we do. We look at breasts. Especially big ones. And yours are…big. However, let’s get something straight. I’m not attracted to you. You might be smoking on the outside to…some people, but beneath that, you’re a manipulative, selfish, lazy, careless, ditzy bitch.”
Her eyes widen.
“You nearly killed someone because you were so zoned out on drugs and alcohol, and as far as I’m concerned, the right place for you is behind bars or in one of those fancy rehab centers. If I catch you making those kinds of skanky offers to me or my men again, I’ll send you back to your father so fast you’ll be nursing an ass full of rope burn.”
I feel as if I have gone too far, but I swear, she doesn’t look disappointed or put out in the least. In fact, she looks a mixture of relieved and extremely pleased with herself.
“Okay,” she agrees coolly.
That is not the response I expected. This is turning out to be nothing like I thought it would be. I clear my throat. “Good. I’ll wait in the truck. Put all your shit in the back,” I order gruffly.
I walk to the front door of my truck and jump in. Surreptitiously, I watch her break into a sweat from my rearview mirror as she struggles to walk toward her bags in her tall heels. She has a fine ass on her.
She’ll have to make at least three trips to load them all into the truck—especially since she’s likely never carried a bag in her life; then it will be interesting to see her haul everything into the truck. She starts with the largest suitcase, dragging it behind her, the wheels catching the gravel and causing the bag to shake and tip dangerously. Once she reaches the truck, instead of lifting it, she grabs the bottom of the suitcase and flips it into the truck bed without much effort.
My jaw drops open.
As she moves away, I notice her shoulders shaking and for a second, I think I’ve reduced her to tears, but then she turns sideways and I realize she is laughing!
In a couple of minutes, her bags are expertly stacked. Quickly, she ties the straps of the bags to one another to prevent them from falling. Is this girl full of surprises or what?
She must have inherited the old cunning fox’s brains.
She hops into the passenger’s seat, takes the heels off her feet, and sits up straight. I stare at her curiously, but don’t say anything.
“Are we leaving, or are we just going to sit here, cowboy?”
9
Cass
First impressions can be everything and I hate that I blew mine with the hunk who came to meet me at the dirt strip. If it had been a movie, that moment I got out of the car and our eyes met should’ve had the Blues Brothers track, Rawhide, playing in the background. I can almost hear it playing in my head.
Rolling, rolling.
I’ve never seen anything as mind-numbingly and fabulously macho in Chicago. A real, honest-to-goodness cowboy. His skin is deeply tanned, his hair sun-streaked and curling around his shirt collar, and his features cut as if from pure granite.
He is casually leaning against a beat-up truck with the thumb of his right hand hooked into one of the belt loops of his faded jeans. It makes the big muscles of that arm strain against the sleeve of his plaid shirt. And the low riding jeans that hug his lean hips and fall onto cowboy boots...someone, anyone, just kill me now.
As I watch, one tip of his hard mouth curls into a sarcastic, lazy grin, and my mouth goes bone dry. It should be a crime to smile like that. He tips his solid black Stetson back. Nice. When he pulls away from the dusty pickup and starts walking toward me, my heart hammers like crazy. No, it doesn’t happen in slow motion, but it sure feels like it does.
Act one, Scene one.
Spoilt bitch meets to-die-for cowboy.
Tearing my eyes away from his approaching form, I pretend to nonchalantly dust my clothes with my sweaty palms and take the first step. I can feel my hands fidgeting and twitching as he walks toward me. I get OCD when I’m nervous and I’m shaking with nerves.
Even under the shade of his hat, his icy gray eyes, framed by paintbrush eyelashes, are piercing. When they drop to my chest and stay, I feel as if I’m gonna melt into a puddle. I know then I need to cool down and hit the right note of blasé or I’m gonna to ruin everything for myself.
There’s only one way I know to do that. I channel Tamara Honeywell. And to be honest, I’m a much better actress than I thought. I take a gamble and offer myself to him in the most unsubtle way possible. That’s usually good to scare all but the most desperate man. And this one is definitely not desperate. Jessie always says men like a chase. Put it on a platter and shove it under their noses and they’ll run a mile. He falls for it like a rat falls for cheese. He doesn’t run a mile, but his lips thin and he takes a long step back.
I can tell by the expression in his eyes that he has declared war, which is fine by me. I’m not here to get laid or have my heart twisted and torn. I’m here for a month because I have bills to pay, and then I’m gone. Forever. With chivalry dead and buried in the dirt, I start dragging my suitcase toward the truck. I’m used to hard work, but I’m wearing high heels. It’s boiling hot and I nearly break my ankles. All the while I can see him watching me in the rearview mirror.
Asshat!
Once I’ve thrown everything into the bed of his truck, I join him in the front. I don’t care about sweat or dirt, but Tamara would, so I make a big deal about it. When I sit on the dust covered seat and my skirt rides up my thighs, so high it’s nearly obscene, he gives me an odd look before quickly looking away. The backs of my legs stick to the leather and I want to wiggle under his glare, but I know not to do so. Tamara would be confident about getting attention.
“Are we leaving, or are we just going to sit here, cowboy?” I ask, putting extra sass into my tone.
“I’ll pull away whenever I damn well please,” he responds, but he starts the engine with a scowl. Even when he is angry he looks as delectable as three scoops of ice cream and a big ole cherry on top.
“Are you smiling or just breaking wind?” I ask cheekily.
“Yeah, very classy,” he says sarcastically.
Hmmm…what would Tamara do? Be obnoxious. I stick my lower lip out in a belligerent pout the way I saw her do to Ms. Moore and snarl, “Don’t talk to me like that.”
He fixes the brim of his hat. “Maybe if you’d stop acting like a spoiled child I’d stop talking to you like that,” he retorts, his big brown hands clenching the steering wheel.
I contort my face and pick up my discarded heel—which probably costs more than my old apartment—and hit him on the shoulder with it. I’d love to say that I’m acting, but his manners are starting to piss me off.
“Quit acting like a selfish bitch.” He snatches the shoe from my hand, cranks his window glass down, and without any hesitation, hurls it out. “Oh, whoops. There goes your precious designer shoe,” he says, smiling smugly.
I gasp. I don’t care about the shoe as much as the money it costs. I hope Tamara doesn’t expect to get it back. All the same, he is insufferable. “You act like I give a shit about a stupid pair of shoes. There’s plenty more where that came from,” I scoff as I crank my glass down and toss my other shoe out into the endless stretch of prairie extending out on either side of us.
He stares at me in shock for a moment before turning back to the road and roaring with laughter. It breaks the tension and I bite my lip to keep from laughing along with him. I have to stay in character.
When I look in his direction, I notice his straight black hair blowing around his face from the breeze of the open windows. He has two dimples, but the one on his right cheek is more noticeable than on the left. He is a truly gorgeous specimen. One I would love to have for myself. Christ, where did that come from? I hope I don’t have to spend too much time with him or there
could be trouble.
“You’re not going to be my trainer, are you?”
“Unfortunately, yes. The man who should have been training you broke his leg,” he explains morosely.
“Are you good enough to teach someone?” I ask. I know the terms of the deal—I have to be able to ride well enough to fall off of a horse at the end of the month and not hurt myself too much. I might as well get the pieces into their rightful places on the chessboard.
“That’s up to you. Will you listen and do exactly as I say?”
Cass would listen to everything he says while being respectful toward him, but I’m not Cass. I’m Tamara Honeywell, Queen Bitch. “Probably not.”
“Well then, you’ll probably fall off the damned bronco,” he says with a frown.
He swerves suddenly for no reason at all and I grab the holy-shit bar over the window and glare at him. “Are you sure you’re qualified to drive?”
His laugh has an edge to it. “I was avoiding a gopher.”
“What is a gopher?”
“Technically, it’s a ground squirrel.”
I turn my head back quickly but all I see are clouds of dust.
The rest of the ride is silent. I don’t want to push the man’s buttons too hard, even though I know Tamara would. She went out of her way to push mine and if I had not needed this job so badly, we would have come to blows. We drive through a tall wooden arch with Bucking Bronco Ranch written on a hanging wooden board and pull up at a large white house with a deep wraparound porch. I automatically reach to open the car door, then halt in my tracks and sit inside the car instead. Tamara would wait to have the door opened for her.
Lars opens his door, steps out, and slams his door shut. “What are you doing in there?” he asks, staring at me through the open window.
“I’m waiting to have my door opened,” I say, sitting a little straighter.
He shakes his head in wonder. “You’ll be waiting a long while if that’s the case.”
I sit back in my seat stubbornly. I hope he doesn’t concede to opening my door. I hope that he teaches me to be independent soon so I can drop this snobby act. “And I don’t have shoes,” I add. “I need to be carried in.”
His eyebrows disappear into his hat and the expression of astonishment on his face almost makes me burst into laughter. As I watch, the shock of my request is wiped away and replaced with a scowl. “Here’s another option. How would you like me to throw you into the house?”
I lift my chin arrogantly. “Well, at least get me some shoes then.”
“We’re on a ranch. It won’t kill you to walk barefoot on a bit of dirt.”
I love being barefoot—feeling the soil between my toes and the rocks beneath my feet—but I pretend to make a revolted face. “That’s disgusting. I am not getting my feet dirty.”
“Okay, I’ve had enough already. Let me make this crystal clear. If you don’t stop acting like a spoiled brat, I will make one call—one—and this will be over. I don’t care if you get hauled off to prison. It’s the best place for you as far as I’m concerned. While you are here, I expect nothing less than blind obedience. Do I make myself clear?”
Good man. Tamara’s father had a brilliant idea to send her here. This man and this place are exactly what she needs. Shame he has such a cunning daughter that she schemed her way out of his plan. I make a face. “Fine, I’ll listen, but I’m not doing all the gross things you workers do. I’m just going to learn to ride a horse and go back to my life in LA as soon as possible.”
“I don’t give a shit what you get up to when you get back to wherever you came from, but while you’re here, you’ll do whatever I tell you to do,” he says sternly.
“How about not,” I snicker.
He stares at me with another priceless expression of disbelief.
Ignoring him, I open the door. Jumping to the ground, I wiggle my toes in the lovely hot soil. I almost moan with pleasure. I absolutely adore the feel of it. Up above, an eagle is circling in the hot blue air. In the distance, I can see animals that looks like deer grazing.
“Are those deer?” I ask, squinting at them.
“No, antelope. We have about a hundred of them.”
I turn toward him. “Really?”
He nods. “The spread is heavily populated with wild pigs too.”
I have always loved animals and wanted to have a lot of them around me, but living in Chicago obviously deterred me from owning any. At that moment, I want nothing more than to go see all the farm animals, but Tamara Honeywell only loves animals when they come in the form of a handbag, a coat, or on her plate. “We passed a ton of little cottages on our way here. Are they all separate farms?”
“Most of what we passed belongs to this ranch. There are dozens of small homes lining the spread since many of the employees live and work on the land. It’s much easier than driving through the old country roads daily.”
“What kind of ranch is this?”
“We’re producers of grass-fed, grass-finished, pasture-raised beef, and we’re one of the finest stock farms in the state. Our prize cattle are sold for premium prices, but we also have dairy, sheep, hog, poultry, orchards, and we’re starting an Arabian horse operation soon.” His voice is filled with quiet pride.
10
Cass
I could have listened to him talk about the ranch all day long but that kind of talk would have bored Tamara silly, so I cut him off by walking away from him.
“Show me where I’m staying,” I command as I reach the back of the truck.
Without any shoes, I find it far easier to pull myself up and stand inside it. I grab the tightly bundled bags and throw them onto the ground, jumping down after them before they can fall over. Again, he just stares at me with a bemused expression. God, how can a man be so effortlessly gorgeous?
“Well?” I prompt rudely.
A tick starts up in his cheek and I have the impression that he is struggling to control himself. I follow as he marches forward, his back straight and rigid with tension.
“Am I staying in the house?” I ask. I really don’t want to live in the same house with him for a whole month. He is too attractive for my liking, and I hate the idea that I’ll have to keep on antagonizing him just to keep him insufferable and arrogant. It’s either that or I blow this job by doing something stupid like falling into bed with him, or worse, getting emotionally entangled.
He inclines his head toward the white house in front of us. “Yeah, you’ll be staying in the guest annex. It’s downstairs and connected to the rest of the house by the kitchen.” He turns his face toward me.
That suits me just fine, but I can imagine how offended Tamara Honeywell would be to be living next to the kitchen. “Next to the kitchen?” I grumble. “What am I, a fricking servant?”
His mouth lifts in disgust. “It makes it easier for you to wake up every morning and tend to your horse.”
“What exactly am I supposed to be doing with the horse?” I roll my eyes as if I’m bored to death and not brimming over with excitement at the thought of caring for my very own horse. A horse that will be mine for the next thirty days!
His voice hardens. “You will clean your horse’s stall, feed and grain all the horses, and once a week, you will clean out the barns.”
Lars opens the door and signals for me to walk inside ahead of him. He says nothing as he strides through the big house. We go through a large airy kitchen and down a short corridor. He opens a door and stands back.
I almost break into a smile, but force myself to remain passive. “This is it?” I complain in a whiny voice.
“You won’t be inside for anything but sleeping, so I’m sure you’ll manage,” he says tightly from behind me.
I take a step into the room. The floor is cool under my bare feet and I drop the suitcases. Knowing he can’t see my expression, I let go of my facial muscles and start beaming with happiness. God, I could live in this annex forever and ever. It’s simply the most b
eautiful room I’ve ever been in. I look around me in amazement. It is decorated in exactly the way I would love my home to be done up one day when I am married and have my own little family.
The windows are large and sunlight pours onto the duck-egg blue walls and makes rectangles of light on the gleaming wood floors. There are French doors that open out to a patio that overlooks gorgeous country. I can already see myself sitting out there watching the sunset with a tall glass of something cool.
My eyes move to the bed. It is large, intricately carved, and painted white. The sheets are all crisp and smooth like in a hotel. The furniture is all white. There is a pretty dressing table with a little dusty-pink velvet-covered stool pushed up against one wall and built-in cupboards on another. Someone has put a blue vase of wild flowers on the nightstand.
I hear him come into the room, and as I turn to look at him, he grabs my suitcases from the floor and hauls them onto the bed.
“Are you bipolar?”
“What?” he growls.
“Why can’t you make up your mind? Either help me with my bags or don’t. I can’t understand why you’d refuse to help me when I needed assistance, and take my bags when I really don’t need your help anymore.”
He runs his hand behind his neck and frowns. “I don’t know why I did either. You’re easily the most ungrateful, cranky woman I’ve ever had the misfortune to meet.”
He looks so adorable my stomach flutters. I can’t think of a single thing to say.
“There’s a bathroom through there.” He sighs, indicating a door on his right. “When you finish unpacking, go to the horse barn. It’s down the hill on the left. Choose a horse that takes well to you. Isadora and Pumpkin are both gentle. So is Misty. Devil’s Ride is mine,” he says, walking away.
“Thank you,” I say to the closed door.
I don’t bother to unpack. I’m far too excited about the horses to concentrate on anything else. Only one suitcase is mine anyway. The two big ones are filled with the things Tamara will need when she come to take over on the last day. Shoes, bags, jewelry, dresses, rollers, hair straighteners, and all kinds of things you’d never think one woman would need for one night away from home.
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