Ruthless (Wolf Ranch #6) - Renee Rose Page 0,4
me on the spot. Now I could pay the light bill. If I could keep the electric working.
“He’s a nice guy,” I shared. “I’m thankful he hired me and gave me your number to help. As you can see, I’ve got a few things to fix.” I looked up, indicating the entire house.
He offered an easy laugh. “A few things.”
“Your timing couldn’t be better because I just blew a fuse.”
“It’ll be easy for us to fix things since we live on this side of the mountain. We’re neighbors.”
I arched a brow. “Oh?”
He tipped his head away from the house. “Live in the hills above Wolf Ranch.”
Oh. I looked him over again, this time wondering if he was one of them, a shifter. He didn’t look any different than any other big guy. He was maybe a few years older than me with sandy blond hair that curled from beneath a baseball cap with the same construction logo on it. I pegged him at six feet and close to two hundred pounds.
Good looking, not that I was interested in a shifter. I wasn’t although my mind went to the silver wolf I’d seen at the swimming hole the night before. The one who I’d seen long ago. The one who’d worked on uncle’s ranch.
Rand. The one I knew wasn’t this guy.
I cleared my throat. “There are tons of issues with this old place,” I said, getting my thoughts away from Rand Tucker. “My list is long. Too long for my budget to do all at once.”
“No problem. I assume electrical is at the top?” He followed me down the hall.
“Yeah. The lights have been blinking, and as I said, I just blew a fuse turning on the coffeemaker.”
He stuck his head into the kitchen. “Wow, my grandparents had a fridge like that.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, leaned against the doorframe. “Well, it’s not running right now.”
He frowned then nodded. “Where’s the fuse box?”
I tipped my chin toward the hallway. “Basement.”
He stepped back and let me lead the way.
I opened the door and flipped the switch. That light worked. Going down the rickety stairs into the creepy basement, Nash followed. There were small windows that let some natural light in but not too much, which was probably good because I didn’t want to see how many spiders were in the dark corners. If I saw one, I probably wouldn’t be coming down here ever again.
On the far wall, there was a bigger window I remembered Uncle Adam telling me had been opened for coal delivery back in the day. He’d had to shovel it into the furnace to keep the house warm in the winter. Beneath it, the dirt floor had bits of crushed coal ground in. That had been decades ago when it had been last used, replaced with an oil burning furnace.
The air was cooler, a dank scent filled the air. There wasn’t much on this level beyond an old washer and dryer and a few lines strung between the first floor’s cross beams for hanging things to dry.
“Here it is.” I went over to the old box on the wall.
“Wow, vintage fuses. Haven’t seen many screw-in ones lately.”
I turned and pointed at my uncle’s handwriting next to each one stating what they went to in the house.
Heavy steps came down the stairwell right before a deep voice said, “Careful, darlin’. Touch that and your hair might curl.”
Nash and I turned, Nash’s shoulder brushing mine.
I touched my hair, red as a rooster and already crazy curly. It always looked like I’d been electrocuted. I didn’t need that to actually happen to have that effect.
“I told you to wait for me,” he growled at Nash, who immediately stepped away from me.
“Rand’s right,” Nash replied. “Gotta turn off the main first.”
I heard Nash but wasn’t paying him any attention. I felt like I’d gotten a jolt of electricity just looking at the guy who’d come down the stairs.
Rand. The wolf from last night. I knew it was him. Felt it in my bones. My heart leapt and my pussy wept.
I hadn’t seen him since I was ten, but I knew who he was. He’d been sixteen then, so he obviously looked older now. The time had treated him well. Really well. He was… wow. Better. Bigger.
Holy shit. I’d been right back then, and I’d been right the night before at the swimming hole. Rand was a shifter.
He stared at me with those blue eyes that I knew had met mine