Chapter Two
Jake
“You’re from back east?” I asked, walking ahead of Summer and her horse. I couldn’t help but study her and wondered what the hell an east coast debutante type was doing all the way out here. Brady’s ranch wasn’t exactly high society.
I had to admit that when I’d first approached her in her trailer with her filly, I’d first noticed her butt. It was high, round, wide and looked delicious in her blue jeans. But when she’d turned around... wow. She had these light green eyes that reminded me of a piece of jade I kept tucked away in my nightstand. And that long strawberry-blond hair made me immediately think about running my fingers through it. Summer Sellers was one attractive woman and if I had a weakness, it was for exactly that.
“Connecticut. I’m from Connecticut,” she answered with a quick, nervous smile before glancing down at the ground again. I couldn’t help but wonder if I made her nervous. I hoped I did.
“Never been there,” I answered as we walked the length of the barn aisle. A breeze passed through that caught her scent, reminding me of orange blossoms. I noticed her looking around the place. It was a good size, housing up to fifty horses but I wasn’t sure how it compared to whatever she was used to. Her mare was going down on the far right end.
“Oh,” she replied. “It’s um, it’s cold in the winter, and it’s uh, well, it’s pretty. You should try to visit sometime.”
I glanced back at her and raised my brows in a way that said I had no interest in big city living. We held each other’s gazes and there was something about those intense green eyes—a vulnerability there that I thought I recognized. Not that I gave a rat’s ass. I’d just met the girl so she wasn’t anything more to me than a pretty face and a fine backside. Well, it looked like she had a hefty pair of breasts, too. Not that I was looking…
“Okay, well your girl goes right here.” I pointed to the stall. “This good with you?”
“Should be fine. Thanks.”
I unlatched the stall door and slid it open, so she could lead the horse in.
Summer took a step toward the open stall and jerked to a stop, spinning around. “Um, where’s the bedding?”
“The what?”
She stared at me. “The shavings. I can’t have her standing on a bare floor like this.” She craned her head to the next stall over and glared at the bottom of it. “None of your stalls have shavings?”
“All the stalls have runs,” I answered with a shrug, sounding nonplussed but the truth of it was that her hoity-toity ways were beginning to annoy me. Springhill wasn’t a fancy place and neither were any of the people who lived on it. If she wanted to fit in, she’d need to get with the program…yesterday. “The horses are only in here at night,” I continued with a disinterest shrug. “They get turned out in the pasture during the day, unless they’re being ridden. So, nope, there’s no ‘bedding.’” Yep, I’d just finger-quoted. Summer frowned at me. Shit, she was obviously a good-looking woman, but damn, I didn’t care for high-maintenance chicks. It was a horse’s stall, for hell’s sake not a salon.
She put her hands on her hips and scowled at me like she didn’t appreciate my tone. She didn’t say anything so I continued. “You’ll find, city slicker, that country folk out here are simple. We don’t have the same… needs that you do. But the sooner you drop those fancy notions of yours, the better you’ll be.” Not to mention that if Brady caught wind of this ridiculousness, he’d shit himself.
“Fine, straw will do,” she answered, her lips tight. But then, worry twisted her brow as soon as she caught my expression. She might have been a pretentious little bitch but damn it, she was hot. And other parts of me were taking notice of exactly that same fact. I had to adjust myself so I turned around and did it as quickly as I could, not wanting her to see the instant reaction she had on me. Once I was comfortable, I turned back around to face her.
She was still wearing that nervous and unsatisfied expression. “You have straw, don’t you?”
“Straw?” I repeated with a smirk, deciding to play with her a little.
“Yeah straw,” she insisted with a frown. “You have that, don’t you?”
“Nope.” I shook my head. “Too messy.”
She looked at the stall, then back at me, blinking rapidly like she had something stuck in her eyes. “I can’t put her on the floor like this. She’ll get bed sores. Her hocks will be a mess.”
“Last I checked, she was an animal, no?” I asked, holding in a laugh because I was fairly sure that would send her over the edge.
“I’m sure this sounds silly to you,” she started, her eyes narrowing on me. I immediately imagined ripping her clothes off until she was completely naked, then throwing her down over my knees so I could slap that indulgent ass a few times. God, it had been too long since I’d had sex because this woman was making me all kinds of crazy.
“Now why would you suppose a thing like that?” I asked with a smile, clearly egging her on.
“Well, regardless, Aria isn’t used to, uh, ‘roughing it,’” she finished, using the little quotes sign in the air to mock me. I chuckled. The girl had gumption, I’d give her that.
“Look, Posh Spice, I gotta run into town and when I’m there, I’ll get something from the feed store. I’m sure your unicorn can handle being on the dirt floor for a couple hours without getting a sore?” I chuckled. I couldn’t help it. Sores…
“That would be great,” she answered immediately, a forced smile covering her very pretty face. “And, thanks… Scary Spice,” she finished with a raised eyebrow as I erupted into another fit of laughter.
“I’ll give it to you—you might be spoiled, but you’re quick.”
She just smiled back at me as she led the mare into the stall and slipped her halter off. I took a step back to give her room as she hung the halter carefully on the door.
“I don’t know if Brady briefed you at all, but this ranch runs family style,” I started, not wanting to take off just yet. There was something about her that made me want to stay and chat. Or maybe I just wanted to admire her a little bit more.
She looked at me, sort of confused. “Family style?”
“You know, we—as in everybody who works here—we all sit down for dinner together and visit, talk about the day and shoot the shit. In the mornings, we meet for coffee and breakfast in the kitchen and Brady gives us a rundown of the day to come.”
“Oh. So, do I need to be at dinner tonight, you think?” she asked and I couldn’t explain the tremor in her voice.
“If you wanna eat,” I answered with a shrug and another charming smile that was meant to annoy her. It looked like it worked.
She inhaled deeply but held her tongue. As I looked at her, I thought to myself that she seemed kind of like an injured soul—she didn’t strike me as a victim per se, but something wasn’t right in her world, that much was obvious. But that was her business and it didn’t concern me. What did concern me, however, were those luscious breasts which were bigger than I’d previously gauged. They were so big, in fact, the buttons of her white, cotton shirt looked like they were ready to pop open. I suddenly wished they would.
“Do you want some help with your tack before I head to town?” I asked. “I’m happy to put it in the tack room right there.” I pointed it out and she poked her head in. “There’s a saddle rack, and a place for your bridle and whatever else.”
“I think I’ll just keep my tack in my bedroom.”
I studied her with a frown. “You’re gonna drag it out every time you ride?”
She slowly nodded and a smile eased across her face. “I guess you’re right. That does sound like a lot of work.”
“You’re much prettier when you smile and stop being a fussy ass,” I said. Her eyes widened momentarily and I wondered if I’d said too much. Of course, if she wanted to survive out here, she’d need to toughen up. “I’ll help you get your tack.”
“No. That’s okay. I can do it.”
I walked with her back to her trailer anyway. The first time I’d seen her in the rusty, old rig, I’d decided it didn’t fit her, but now with the shavings thing and her momentary disdain for the tack room, I wanted to ask what her deal was. Was she just down on her luck? Or was there more to her story? Of course, there was more to her story. There had to be.
She was obviously from money, but money didn’t drive a rusted-out truck and trailer. Given how fancy her expectations were, I couldn’t believe she’d even put that horse of hers in the trailer to begin with. I wouldn’t have thought twice about loading our stock in it because it looked safe enough and would get us from point a to b, but this woman was much more complicated than anyone I’d ever come across. It was going to be fun to bring her back down to earth.
She opened the tack room to the trailer and stepped in, quickly pulling her fancy saddle off the rack. “You said you wanted to help. Fine. Here you go,” she said as she shoved the saddle at me. I was surprised but took the saddle anyway. We were going to have us a fine time…
Her English saddle was much smaller and lighter than the bulky western saddles I was used to carrying around. I settled it on my forearm while she grabbed a bridle, a couple of pads, and another saddle blanket.
“I hope I never have to saddle for you. I’d forget half the tack!” I laughed as she frowned back at me. “Whatever happened to a single pad, single saddle?” I continued. “Good Lord, woman. Life here is simple—you’d best remember that.”
“I’ll come back for her blankets and rain sheet,” she offered, clearly ignoring my comment. I’d broken many a horse in my time and now I was just itching to break her in.
“After you,” I said as she took the lead and I focused on the way her tight, round cheeks bounced as she walked. Yeah, this one was going to cause me trouble. I could already tell.
The walk back to the tack room was a silent one but once inside, we settled her tack on an empty spot inside.
“Thank you,” she said.
“Sure. No problem, Posh.”
“Hey, you two,” Brady called from the doorway. “I’m going to show Summer to her cabin, but before I do that, can I see you for a sec, Jake?”
I nodded as he touched Summer on the elbow. “Be right back, okay?”
“Sure. Thanks again.” She smiled and damn if she didn’t light up the entire barn, regardless of the fact that she was the most spoiled and pretentious woman I’d ever met. But I was certainly up for the job of bringing her back down to earth again. I imagined I’d have a hell of a time taming the wild, little filly. The thought made my Johnson jump to attention, something which wasn’t exactly great timing, considering I was about to find myself alone with Brady. At that thought, it quieted down again. Thank God.
“Don’t even think about it,” Brady said as soon as we were out of earshot.
“What?” I asked, jamming my hands deep in my pockets but I already knew what he was talking about.
“You know what. Don’t touch that girl. I just saw the way you were looking at her. She’s off limits.”
“And just why is that?” I asked, sounding bored. He’d never made any woman off limits to me, mainly because Brady tended to keep to himself and respected that my business was just that… mine.
“Because she’s had a bad time lately and I don’t need you causing her any more grief.”
“I don’t plan to cause her any grief.” Brady and I got along real well because we understood one another. And because he didn’t shadow me. He respected me because he knew I knew what I was doing.
“Don’t touch her, Jake.”
I shrugged. “Fine. I’ll keep it in my pants.”
“Make sure you do.”
“Heard you the first time, Brady,” I answered with a bored sigh. Brady nodded and then started back to the tack room. I crossed my arms, content to stand there and watch him lead Summer to her cabin. Yes, I was irritated and disappointed but the more I thought about it, the more I realized she wasn’t my type anyway—way too ornery and pretentious. I liked my women beautiful, sexy yes but also down to earth.
Regardless of the fact that she wasn’t my type, the girl had a body. And no one was going to blame a man for looking—and I could do that all day long.
Look but don’t touch, old man, I thought to myself with a smile because I never had been good at window shopping.