Ruthless (Wolf Ranch #6) - Renee Rose Page 0,19
to earn income somehow. Working at Cody’s pays the bills but not you.”
My eyes widened when I caught on. She thought she was going to have to pay me for work on the house. As. Fucking. If.
“Darlin’, don’t worry about paying me none. We’ll get to that another time. I can work on this place and get it spiffy for guests, but do you really want them? I mean,” I cleared my throat. “If you chose Cooper Valley over L.A., you can’t miss big city life and a gaggle of people.”
She smiled. “Yeah, who likes people?”
I grinned. “I like you.” I wasn’t going to hide my feelings. She knew how I felt about her with every lick of her pussy, but I’d tell her, too.
Her smile fell, and her cheeks got as red as her hair.
“That got you all flustered.”
“And you?” she asked, blatantly redirecting the conversation.
“Me?” I asked, leaning back in my chair and tucking my hands behind my head, elbows out. I wanted her to know I was open to any questions she had. There would be no secrets between us.
“Yeah, you. What have you been up to these fifteen years?”
I dropped my arms, leaned forward. Pierced her with my gaze, so she didn’t have any doubt she was the center of my focus. My world. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you changed the subject.” I winked. “Went to college in Missoula with Nash. Studied business. Came back here after. We started the contractor business together.”
“You were a big help to Uncle Adam.”
My gaze softened, remembering the guy. “He was a good man, Red. You’ve got good people in your family.”
She looked away then took another bite of sandwich.
“What? What did I say?”
She took her time to chew and swallow. “My parents aren’t like Uncle Adam. They’re small-minded, miserable folk. I was supposed to stay in Nebraska and get a job at Walmart and take care of them in their old age. I haven’t even told them I own this place because they’d probably hound me to sell it and give them some of the money. They don’t know I’m in Montana, working at a bar to fix up Uncle Adam’s old ranch house.”
Yeah, that wasn’t ideal. I needed to come up with some other way for her to earn a living and fix this place up. It sure as fuck wasn’t bartending at Cody’s, that was for damn sure. I didn’t like the idea of her being down there having every eligible and not eligible guy in the valley hitting on her like she was fresh meat.
Every one of them would know my fist first hand. I also wanted to track her parents down and have a talk with them. Right after I beat the shit out of any guy she’d fucked before me. Shit, the list was getting long. “That sucks. Not that you’re here. About your parents. I love mine. They’ll like you.”
Shit, they would. They were going to be thrilled. Both sons mated.
“Me?”
“Yeah, you.”
“Rand, I—”
I held up a hand, cutting her off. “Eat your sandwich, Red. You’re safe, for now.”
She looked nervous by my words. “The way you’re talking, you think we’re—”
“What?”
I quietly waited for her to spit it out, but when it never came, I asked, “Together?”
She looked down at her sandwich. “Rand, I’m not interested in your kind.”
A dark brow winged up. What the hell did she mean? My heart clenched. She had no idea. Did she? “Kind?”
Her face brightened, and she gave me a flirty smile. “Yeah, bossy and too full of himself.”
I grinned wickedly, leaned forward. “How’s that ass feeling? Sore on that hard chair? If I remember correctly, you were the one who asked for more.”
Now she looked away, sweetly embarrassed. “I just… I’m not interested in anything more than sex.”
“We didn’t have sex, darlin’.”
She rolled her eyes.
“You know what I mean.”
“Oh, I do. I just have to wonder how many orgasms it’ll take for you to change your mind.”
7
NATALIE
“Whiskey sour,” the blonde cowgirl ordered. She gave me a suspicious once over, like she was afraid I was moving in on her territory, even from behind the bar. She wore a tank top with the word Flirt in sequins across her boobs. Her blonde hair was styled and curled artfully down her back, and the pink cowboy hat actually looked cute on her. With me, there was zero competition, that was for sure.
My mind instantly went to Rand and the fact that she’d be perfect for him. Styled, smiled