stack hay and ride fence and pull calves. You have to admit, she’s turned into one of the best hires we’ve ever had. Works all hours, never complains about anything.” His eyes narrowed and the smile thinned. “And you think someone like that could be dishonest? Wouldn’t she be complaining at every turn and trying to get out of hard work?”
“I don’t know,” Mallory confessed. “Vanessa made me question my judgment. I’m not certain about anyone anymore.”
“If you want to distrust somebody, you take a hard look at that Bruner woman,” Darby said. “Something’s not right there. I’d bet money on it.”
“She’s just a friend,” Mallory muttered.
“She doesn’t think that. She wants you. And she’ll find a way to get rid of Morie, you mark my words. She’s not going to let her stay here.”
“It’s my ranch. I hire and fire.”
“Think so? We’ll see. Meanwhile, how about easing up on Morie?” he added. “God knows what that child’s been through in her life to make her end up here, doing a job she was never intended to do. Hurts me to see that deep scratch on her face. Flawless complexion. She could have been a model.”
Mallory frowned. He hadn’t considered her complexion or her background. He’d only been concerned that she might be a con artist. He’d have to take a better look at her. On the one hand, he was suspicious. On the other, he trusted Darby’s judgment when he couldn’t trust his own.
He patted the old man on the shoulder. “Never could take back talk from anybody but you, you old pirate.”
Darby grinned. “You’ll always get the truth from me. Even if you don’t want to hear it.”
Mallory sighed. He was looking after Morie. She’d gone galloping off, still crying. He felt like a villain. “Think I’ll take a ride.”
Darby smiled. “Good idea. You do that.”
MORIE STOPPED AT THE CREEK and got off the horse. She bathed her face in the clean water and used her only handkerchief to mop up her tears. Ridiculous, letting that awful man make her cry. She should have kicked him and told him what he could do with his job. That’s what her father would have done. He’d never have gone off crying. She tried to picture that and it made her smile.
She heard a horse coming up and turned, expecting Darby. But it was the boss. He looked oddly contrite, watching her with one arm crossed over the pommel, his dark eyes keen on her tearstained face.
“Maybe I could have chosen my words better,” he said stiffly.
She shrugged and looked away. “I work here. You’re the boss.”
“Yes, but…” He drew in an angry breath. “Why didn’t you fight back? Why did you run?”
She glared at him. “I’ve caused enough trouble for one day,” she said flatly. She drew in a long breath. “Listen, I should quit….”
“No!”
He was out of the saddle in a heartbeat and standing over her the next. He took her by the shoulders. In the silence of the woods, she could hear her own heart beating as he looked into her eyes and didn’t look away for so long that her heart ran wild. She had to part her full lips to breathe. Her heartbeat was strangling her.
He saw that helpless reaction and it touched him. She couldn’t have faked her attraction to him. It was far too visible.
His hands relaxed and became caressing. They ran up and down her arms in the long-sleeved cotton T-shirt. “You puzzle me,” he said, his voice deep and slow, like velvet. “I don’t like it.”
Her hands pressed against the soft cotton of his shirt. Underneath it she felt cushy, thick hair and hard muscle. She smelled the woodsy cologne and the masculine soap that clung to his skin. He made her tingle all over, just by standing close to her. She looked up at his wide, sensuous mouth and remembered how it felt to kiss him. She wanted him to kiss her. She wanted it, so much!
“Damn it,” he ground out, because he knew. He could sense her hunger, even before her rapt gaze on his lips proved it to him.
Before she could question the sudden curse, his mouth went down on hers. He kissed her hungrily. His arms lifted her into the instantly hard contours of his powerful body and pulled her into him. His hand went to the base of her spine, insistent as he demonstrated the force of his desire for her.
She tried to protest, but her own