14
Zoë held her belly, laughing so hard at the jokes the men shared that she was sore. Murray and Jeff arrived a while ago, joined them, and the discussion about work had dissolved into joke-telling. Since she’d put Murray in his place a few days ago, he’d been nothing but polite with her, but she had the distinct feeling he was trying to impress her tonight. She’d danced with Ethan again, and once more he’d held her close. Skip had asked her to dance, to an upbeat song, and she’d gladly accepted, eager to shake her stuff, absolutely loving the opportunity to dance. She’d also danced with Boone, surprised when he held her close and then ground against her. With a shake of her head, she’d pulled back from him, informing him she didn’t reciprocate his interest. Boone was gorgeous, but she only had eyes for Ethan, and tonight he’d given her many signs he was interested in getting busy when they returned to the ranch. Sure, sleeping with the boss was a bad idea, but she thought they were mature enough to handle a sex-only arrangement, and saw nothing wrong with having some fun while she stayed at the ranch.
Boone nudged Ethan. “What sexual position produces the ugliest children?”
Ethan’s face told her he knew his friend was setting him up, but he shrugged. “I don’t know, which?”
“Ask your mother,” Boone replied and then burst out laughing.
Ethan shot her an I-knew-that-was-coming look that had her laughing. The closeness between the men was endearing and she liked Ethan more as the night progressed. His grumpy bastard persona hadn’t reared its head at all. In fact, he’d been nothing but pleasant since dinner earlier at the ranch. The many looks he’d thrown her way, ones that spoke of his sexual interest in her, had her leaning in her chair, trying to be closer to him, figuring the others wouldn’t appreciate her crawling onto Ethan’s lap as she wanted to. She bit back a laugh at the thought of her straddling Ethan, instantly picturing his shocked expression.
After catching her eye, Murray grinned at her. “What do you call a woman who can’t make a sandwich?”
Knowing the punchline, and hardly believing he’d choose this particular joke to impress her, she merely stared at him. “Single,” he related and then laughed heartily.
Only Jeff joined him. She knew the rest of the men were too well-mannered to tell sexist jokes in her presence, but Jeff and Murray seemed to lack such decorum.
Murray frowned. “Huh. I thought you’d like that one, seeing how well you can cook. Oh well, how about this one: What do women and condoms have in common?” When she didn’t answer him, he grinned. “If they’re not on your dick, they’re in your wallet.”
Again, the pair laughed riotously but no one else at the table did. She read Ethan’s expression. He was about to chastise Murray. Although the little shithead deserved it, she didn’t want to see any tension between the men who, so far, had been having such a great time. Murray was ruining it, and she decided to take it upon herself to set him straight. Smiling sweetly at him, she tilted her head.
“What’s the difference between you and eggs?”
His expression told her he knew she was setting him up but couldn’t figure out where she was going with the joke. When he shrugged stiffly, her smile turned wicked.
“Eggs get laid.”
Everyone aside from Murray laughed uproariously.
“We were having fun. You didn’t have to be a bitch about it,” he snapped as he shot her a hard look.
Ethan tensed beside her and she could see the irritation on Skip and Boone’s faces. While she appreciated their chivalry, she was more than capable of handling Murray on her own. Placing a calming hand on Ethan’s forearm, she turned a reproachful look on Murray.
“And you didn’t have to be a sexist prick. We both got our licks in, so, what do you say? Truce?”
“Sure,” he replied huffily, then looked to Jeff. “We should get going.”
He and Jeff stood and, after saying goodbye to everyone, the pair left. As the tension at the table ebbed, Skip looked to Ethan.
“That boy is trouble and I’ve told you so.”
She stiffened, hoping she wouldn’t see an argument between the pair. Ethan pursed his lips. “You have, and as I told you, I’ve already written him up twice. One more screw up and he’s out, but I can’t do anything about him being an asshole outside of work hours.”
Skip nodded and, much to her relief, changed the subject entirely. Soon the group was telling her stories about other ranchers and she found the ones about the Carson brothers the funniest. According to Skip, the ‘city-slicker’ brothers didn’t let their ignorance of ranching operations stop them from starting one up. They ran an escape ranch, offering a respite from city life, a place that provided authentic ranching experiences. Visitors could go trail riding, drive cattle, and even shear sheep on the ranch. It was a great idea to be sure, even if the brothers were out of their league in the ranch’s early days.
“Tell her the story about Shane and the footbath,” Skip prodded Ethan.
With a smile, Ethan began the tale and it was obvious to her that the men still found the story funny. “Well, you’ve seen the footbaths at the ranch, right?” She nodded. “Just after they started up the ranch, they called Cole to come out there because some of their cows were ‘walking funny’.” His accompanying air-quotes had her smiling. “Cole showed up and sure enough, some of their cows had infected feet. After instructing the brothers on proper foot care, Cole helped them buy and set up the baths. Shortly after, I got a call from Zeke that he and his brothers were having problems with a heifer and couldn’t catch her. I went over there and sure enough this heifer was feisty but with my instruction, Shane caught her and haltered her. He was leading her toward the barn when something spooked her. She ran hell-bent for the barn, dragging Shane behind her. I was already laughing because not five minutes before I’d told him to never let go of the lead and to show her who was boss. Of course, I didn’t mean for him to hang onto it if he was in danger of being hurt, but there he was hanging onto it for dear-life as she charged for the barn. She saw the footbath and tried to jump over it. She pulled the lead real hard and Shane went flying into the lip of the bath and then flipped over, landing flat on his back and sloshing water everywhere.”
She, Boone, and Rory chuckled, but Ethan and Skip howled with laughter, the pair obviously still finding the story hilarious. Regaining control, Ethan continued his tale.
“I was laughing my ass off, but worried Shane was hurt. I ran up to him and he got up on all fours, soaking wet, and turned a green-looking face to me. He said, ‘I think I got cow shit in my mouth’, and then he threw up in the bath.”
They all laughed. She was glad it was back to the five of them, the tension caused by Murray long gone. Even Rory laughed loudly and seemed totally at ease now. Skip dabbed under his eyes.
“Those boys are a riot. I thought they were dumb as dirt at first, but they were just inexperienced. They learn quickly though, and listen to advice, I’ll give them credit for that. The ranch is running smoothly now and they’re all doing well working it, and Kit is becoming quite the horseman.”
“Wait,” she broke in, grinning, “Kit? You did say their surname was Carson, right?” Skip nodded, smiling, his eyes dancing with humour. She chuckled. “Kit Carson? His name is actually Kit Carson?”
“Yep, apparently their daddy has quite the sense of humour. Story goes he’s a huge fan of old westerns and wanted his boys to have cowboy names. Hence Shane and Zeke. Kit told me their mother was reluctant to name him Kit, especially given their surname, but their daddy eventually wore her down and she agreed to name their third son after the legendary frontiersman.”
“Oh my God that’s funny,” she enthused, chuckling again. For such a small town, Bison Bluffs seemed to house quite the collection of characters.
Skip stifled a yawn.
“I’m tired, too,” she announced. “We all get up so early that this has been a really long day. I mean, I had fun, but it is getting late.”
“Then let’s get out of here,” Ethan suggested.
After bidding the Bukowski brothers goodbye, she left the bar with Ethan and Skip, Ethan holding her hand the entire way to the truck, making her smile with the expectation he wasn’t too tired for some fun when they arrived back at the ranch.