Santa Soldier Bear - Meg Ripley Page 0,52

hated it when they wanted to follow him around and see how the work was done, but the money it brought in was hard to argue with.

Checking his watch, Roman gestured to his truck parked nearby. “I’d better get going. I don’t want to be away from Melody any longer than I need to be right now.”

“Sure thing. Keep me updated. And thanks for the help.” Austin turned to Gunner, his chestnut gelding who patiently waited nearby. He swung easily up into the saddle and headed back down to the barn, Izzy and Dizzy keeping up in the dust clouds behind him. It’d been a long, hot day. Austin was already behind on his daily chores, and as he got closer to the center of operations, he remembered he was supposed to have guests coming that afternoon.

He cursed under his breath. He didn’t have time for this. He spent far too many hours showing tourists around and coming up with activities to keep them entertained, as if they weren’t grown-ass adults who could take care of themselves.

On top of the many other jobs he had at the ranch, making sure the guests didn’t get bored was the worst. He removed Gunner’s tack and gave him a good rubdown while the two dogs competed over a hoof clipping from the last time the farrier had been there. Austin shooed them toward the house before he headed for the outdoor shower stall at the back of the barn. He was covered in horse dirt and cattle mud, and if he didn’t track it into the house, he’d have one less thing to take care of.

Austin stripped off his clothes and tossed them aside on a nearby bench, but he carefully hung his Stetson on a hook on the outside wall of the shower. He stood directly under the showerhead as he turned on the spigot, not bothering to wait for it to heat up. There was something about that first spray of bitterly cold water that woke him up and reminded him of just where and who he was. He was a rancher. He was a survivor. He was out there in the middle of nowhere, with no one around, and that was just the way he liked it.

Grabbing a bar of soap, he began washing away the dirt, along with his worries about opening the family ranch to strangers, letting his concerns go running down the drain in the center of the concrete shower floor. Sure, these folks could bankrupt him if they did something stupid, but they could also make his family a good living if they brought all their friends. In the moment, he was happy to not think about any of it.

He stiffened as he felt someone watching him. No, it was something deeper than that. Something affected him all the way down to his core, making his inner grizzly raise its head and pay attention.

A long whistle sounded behind him. “I knew we were coming out here to see how they raise cattle, but they obviously do a hell of a job with their cowboys, too.”

Austin rinsed the soap out of his eyes and glanced over his shoulder to find three ladies standing there, staring at him in shock. “Shit!” He grabbed a towel from a nearby hook and wrapped it around his waist. These must have been the guests that were supposed to be staying for the week. “I didn’t expect you for another few hours.”

The woman in the middle’s cheeks were flushed, her lips slightly parted, but the gaze from her deep green eyes was unwavering. She didn’t bother to check out his rugged physique as the other women were doing, choosing to stare deep into his soul instead. Not a strand of her deep golden hair was out of place, and her fitted dress suggested she thought she’d be spending the afternoon at a luxury hotel instead of a farmstead. She blinked as though she were coming out of a trance and then looked away.

“I...I’m sorry. Our earlier plans fell through, so we went ahead and came right here. We didn’t find anyone up by the house, so...” Her voice was deep and velvety, and it sent a quiver of energy through Austin’s stomach.

He returned her level stare, only vaguely aware of the other women standing there. He wasn’t particularly modest, having grown up in a rural area where getting things done was the important thing, and there was no room for shyness. Regardless,