Ruthless (Wolf Ranch #6) - Renee Rose Page 0,13

soft, raspy voice telling me that, how I’d nodded solemnly in agreement. How I’d felt special to be responsible for something so big. That summer had been the last time I’d come to the ranch, and it had been easy to keep the secret. No one at home, especially my parents, would have believed me. I’d kept it all this time. Even when Rand had appeared in wolf form on top of the waterfall watching me skinny dip.

Even now with him as my contractor. I had to pretend I didn’t know the truth about him and Nash, that they were shifters.

“Turkey or roast beef?” he asked, making me startle. He’d washed his hands in the sink and used a dish towel to dry them. Pulling wrapped sandwiches from the bag, he looked to me. “Are you hungry? You’re not a vegetarian or a vegan or something like that, are you?”

I laughed, going to the sink to wash my hands, too. “No. Although I did eat a lot of mac ‘n cheese and buttered noodles to get me through college. Turkey, please.”

“No more noodles for you. I’ll make sure you’re well fed, darlin’.” Rand flashed a grin, and when I noticed he had one dimple in his cheek, my panties melted on the spot. God, this was going to be hard, having him in my house doing the remodel projects, plus being hot, plus being a shifter…

He took a deep breath, and it seemed as if his blue eyes got darker.

I wanted him. Maybe he’d been in the back of my mind all these years, but there was a pull between us. Shifter or not. As if the secret I kept, the one he wouldn’t say, made me feel more connected to him.

I had no problem with a cowboy-wolf hookup. A fling with the contractor was what pornos were made of. I didn’t come to Cooper Valley looking for a husband or long-term boyfriend. If Rand liked to sow his wild oats with humans before he got mated off to some other pack or whatever it was they did, I was down.

Totally down. I just had to remember not to get my heart involved, like Uncle Adam, because Rand wouldn’t stick. Just like Uncle Adam’s Maggie.

Rand took a step closer. Somehow, he seemed bigger. Was he big all over? I had to wonder if wolf cocks were bigger than a regular guy’s. Was he proportional? Extra proportional? Oh God, my mind was one hundred percent in the gutter.

Clearing my throat, I opened the ancient fridge and pulled out a jug of lemonade I’d bought at the store. “Want some?”

“Sounds great, Red.” He winked.

I melted some more at the nickname. He used it like we were close and not just strangers who barely remembered each other from fifteen years ago. But the fact that he remembered all these years… I was going to be a puddle of goo by the time lunch was over.

I took a sip of the tart drink, licked the drops from my lips. My gaze whipped to his when I heard a rumble. Had he growled?

“You’re hungry, huh?” I asked.

The corner of his mouth turned up. “You have no idea.”

He took a step toward me, as if he was hungry for—

“Upstairs,” I blurted. Oh my God, what did I just let fall out of my mouth?

He stilled, a dark brow arching and the corner of his mouth tipping up.

“Upstairs? What do you want to do upstairs?” he asked, his voice somehow deeper than before. Huskier.

I wanted him to strip me bare and fuck me hard, but I couldn’t say that. Ever.

“Red?” His knuckles stroked down my cheek, and my eyes fell closed. “You need something from me? All you have to do is tell me, and I’ll take care of it.”

I bet he would. My pussy clenched at all the possibilities. I opened my eyes, and I realized he’d moved even closer. I tipped my head back to meet his gaze.

“Before we eat, could I have you, um, do something big and manly for me?”

Big and manly? Out of all the things that could be wrong with the house, why couldn’t there be a sinkhole?

Rand shot me a cocky grin. “Darlin’, I would love to do manly stuff for you. Show me what you need.”

It was the first thing that came to mind, besides sexy times. I felt even more stupid than before, but I couldn’t just say nevermind. “Come on.” I beckoned to him with a crook