RED HOT RANCH Page 7

  “I can handle the task at hand,” she said. “I grew up on land like this. Plowing and tilling. Bet I know more than you what it means to go home with a days’ worth of sweat on my skin.”

  “Careful, Powell,” the big guy cautioned. “Sort of sounds like a come on.”

  He slapped the other man’s thigh, and the boy… Powell stepped forward as he smacked his hands together and lifted his head towards the door.

  “Find your own way out,” he said. “And no thank you for your time.”

  As soon as the pair rose to their full, shared height, Skye shuddered for all of a second when Powell pulled her closer to his side. He smelled of freshly laundered linens and fine aftershave. And with the other men gone, she had to hope that he knew what she was doing.

  “Mr. Powell, I–”

  “Let’s ditch the formalities,” he said. “It’s Aaron. And I bet you’d like it at the big house.”

  “I’ll try not to gawk,” Skye said. “But I guess a tour never hurt anyone.”

  He offered his arm like a gentleman, and she followed his stride as they moved from the barn and stepped across his family’s spread. The land seemed to stretch out for miles upon miles, and she swallowed some at the thought that this was so much more than her father’s small patch. Thinking that she could handle it and seeing the deed through were two very different things, and her legs just started to buckle underneath her when Aaron winded his other arm around her waist, his nose barely brushing against her blonde hair as he flashed her a quick smile.

  “I got you,” he said. “It’s all good.”

  She felt stronger standing close to him, walking near his side. The men who were supposed to have already taken their leave pointed their fingers from behind a fence lining the barn. Despite the glares of the boys from the bench, it was another lanky kid and his companion whose face failed to register a single emotion that made her blood run cold. Was this really the right call? Just the idea of having to be alone with them, out in the open…

  “Enough. Back to work.”

  Skye saw a man with long arms and even longer legs whistling for his crew to get back to brass tacks. Even from the distance, she could sense the warmth in his eyes and the green that nearly rivaled the grass under his feet. He pulled off his hat and revealed a mane of dark hair that curled just below his ears. His gaze caught hers, and Skye’s heart started to flip in her chest when he turned away and headed back to the barn.

  “That like your foreman or something,” she asked. “Looks like he knows how to get things done.”

  “Just Ben,” Aaron sad. “Never know what he’s up to. But I guess he gets the job done.”

  “Wouldn’t want to get your hands dirty, right?” she asked.

  “Hey,” he cautioned. “I’m on your side. Remember?”

  A large white house with a wraparound porch started to peek into view, and Skye held her breath at the prospect of entering when Aaron pushed her behind a pine tree and started to press his fingers into her hips.

  “And it could be nice,” he said. “I…”

  His lips started to move closer to hers, and despite her better judgment, Skye was on the verge of accepting his kiss when he pulled back and slowly shook his head.

  “But I would hate to mess up your big chance,” he said. “And I never even caught your name.”

  “I’m… I’m Skye,” she said.

  “That a real moniker?” he teased.

  “I don’t lie.”

  Aaron pursed his lips, and he looked her up and down as he patted her shoulders and pointed towards the way ahead.

  “Sure thing, Skye,” he said. “Can’t say that it’ll go down with my dad. But maybe if I back you up…”

  Skye furrowed her brow and reached for his hand.

  “Some grip!” he said.

  “Bet you’d like to see what else I could do with it.”

  Aaron laughed lightly, and they stepped towards the porch, the man’s eyes straight ahead when he finally looked back at her from over his shoulder.

  “You got me convinced,” he said. “Time to see what my dad thinks.”

  Chapter 2

  As soon as they walked through the front door, Skye needed a few seconds to catch her breath. Ranch or not, the ceilings stretched high over her head, and the colors swirling overhead were like Montana’s idea of the Sistine Chapel; instead of angels and the heavenly history of man’s struggle to know God, she saw red peaks pushing into blue. It was almost as if the roof was non-existent and the Big Sky Country was falling all around them despite the security of walls littered with family portraits. She saw Aaron resting under the arm of an imposing looking figure who seemed as if he could thread a needle with one move of his teeth. And then there were the other blonde boys, one so much taller than Aaron and the other just coming up to his knee. Skye paused in her path and started to touch the glass when his fingers were at her arm,

  “And these must be your brothers,” she said.

  “Good eye,” Aaron said. “Oliver’s the middle child.”

  “I wouldn’t think that to look at him.”

  “You would change your tune if you met him,” Aaron said. “Kind of a jerk. But it’s part of the stigma, right.”

  Skye shrugged her shoulders as she turned her attention towards the smaller boy.

  “And this is…?”

  “That’s Jesse,” Aaron says. “Always eager to please. Kid never goes against any one of us. Loyalty is paramount in these parts.”

  Latching onto the word, Skye took hold of his hands as she smiled into his eyes.

  “I’m loyal,” she said. “When I think it’s worth my time.”

  “Sounds like something of a catch in that,” Aaron said. “You always so sure what’s worth your time?”

  “Right now, it kind of looks like you are, Aaron.”

  He blushed at her compliment, and Skye knew that she had ways at her disposal to make him want her more. But this was hardly the time or the place, and she just curled her fingers under his collar as she released a heavy sigh.

  “So do I get to meet the boss man or not?” she asked.

  “Word of advice,” Aaron said. “Call him Mr. Powell if you hope to stand a chance.”

  She nodded her head as he led her into a dark office with the sunlight just poking through the windows. Sitting behind a desk was a stout man with a gray crew cut, and he barely looked up from his ledgers to acknowledge his son; Skye might as well have been invisible.

  “You sort it all out?” the man asked. Now this was the only Powell in her mind, and Skye stepped past Aaron as she reached her hand across his desk.

  “Done and done,” Skye said. “Need a new ranch hand? You’re looking right at her.”

  The old man looked up from his pen and his pages, and he barely stifled a laugh.

  “And I thought that Jesse had a soft heart,” Powell said, looking to his oldest son. “I leave you to do one thing, and this is what you come back at me with?”

  Aaron clenched his teeth, and his hand stated to curl into a fist when he released his fingers and sighed.

  “She says that she knows the score,” Aaron offered.

  “And what do you say?” Powell challenged. “Or are you looking at more than her hands?”

  “My hands?” Skye asked.

  “Either you really do know your way around a shovel, or you bite those nails into oblivion. So which is it, young lady?”

  Skye lengthened up the back of her neck and cracked her knuckles in front of his eyes before she spoke.

  “Can see my way around any pile of shit. Yours or your stock. All I ask is a chance to show you as much.”

  Powell laughed as he shifted out of his chair and paced around to the front of his desk. Giving his son the side stare, he turned his total attention to Skye but stopped short of touching her as he looked to his son.

  “You really think she can handle this?” he asked. “Or are you thinking of making another move?”

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nbsp; Aaron flinched as he took Skye under her arm. She had never pictured herself with someone like him. Sure she wanted someone without dirt under his nails or scruff on his face. And Aaron stood tall and seemed strong as he pressed her closer and stared his father down.

  “I know what I’m doing, Dad,” he said. “And in a few days’ time, there will be no question.”

  Powell started to speak when he swallowed his words back and lifted up his pen. Clicking it furiously, Skye saw the man’s face grow gray, and when the words left his lips on the back of a moan, he shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

  “Fine then,” he said. “Give her chance. But when it goes to shit,.. don’t look to me to pick up the–”

  “Won’t happen, Dad,” he interrupted. “She’ll be just fine.”

  Believing in herself and what he said, Skye allowed Aaron to usher her back down the photo-lined hallway. She had no knowledge of what it was to grow up like that, and she started to speak her thoughts aloud when she suddenly slapped a firm hand over her mouth.

  “I… I didn’t just say–”

  “No need to be shy,” Aaron assured her. “We had to earn our keep to.”

  “One way or the other?” she managed to ask. “Not sure what that means for me.”

  Aaron pushed his fingers into her shoulders, turning her around to face him in the space of the open door. Skye parted her lips, and she nearly expected his mouth on hers when he simply kissed her hand and smiled, almost shyly.

  “Means that I’m going to keep an eye on you,” he said. “See what makes you tick. Now let’s get you out in the fields.”

  Chapter 3

  Skye felt proud as he walked her towards the fence. Like all she had to do was show that she was pure of heart and even stronger in body and spirit. And then he would protect her at all costs. Maybe she wasn’t entirely smitten, but Aaron’s eyes glowed as he stopped her in her tracks and waved his hand across the large expanse looming in the distance.

  “It’s all gonna be mine one day,” he said.

  “Because you’re the oldest?” she asked. “Or because you’ve earned it?”

  He arched his eyebrow at the sound of her question, and Skye lifted her body to the tip of her toes as she took his face in her hands. His skin was smooth and smelled of sandalwood. He really didn’t belong out on the range, but it was still part of his charm,

  “No answer?” Skye said. “Part of the problem is that brush you failed to clear off to the west.”

  “Is that right?” he asked. “And what are you going to do about it?”

  Supposed chivalry demanded that he take the lead. But he didn’t have the hands for the move, and she wanted to spare him the embarrassment as she broke into a run and sighed heavily at the twigs and the bramble just blocking the sun. Of course the grass would grow if it wasn’t in the way, and without the benefit the gloves, Skye started to lift the twigs from the ground, pulling the scraggly shrub up by its roots. She barely broke a sweat before the job was done, and as she proudly wiped her hands together and turned back to face him, she saw the dark-haired boy striding forward atop a golden horse. The contrast was perfect in the sun, and Skye felt a light buzz blooming in her chest as he stared down at her.

  “Not bad,” he said.

  “Thanks.”

  “Seems about right for a girl.”

  And just like that, she thought him no better than the men that she had surpassed for her brand new job. Even Aaron’s hand at her back did nothing to dissuade her, and she saw the skinny kid leading a horse to graze when she suddenly leapt into action and seized the reins from his hands.

  “Skye! Hold up!”

  She tuned Aaron out as she lifted off the grass and climbed onto the back of a palomino that could be a mirror image for the horse under the stranger’s thighs, under other parts of him…

  “You Ben?” she asked as she grinned at him.

  “Powell Junior tell you that much?” he asked as he rode after her and quickly came close to her side. His stubbled face and his bright green eyes brought a blush to her face, but in a strange way she felt as if she was already spoken for. And she kept up her pace, looking every few strides over her shoulders, her smile growing brighter as Ben chased after her.

  Her grin fell when she suddenly realized that Aaron was nowhere to be found. She brought the horse to a stop at the edge of a clearing that loomed over the edge of a large ravine. The horse whinnied under her legs, and she lost the horse, thinking that she would fall when a strong arm reached around her waist.

  “What are you up to?”

  Ben pulled her from one saddle to another. The palomino raced back to the ranch, and Skye knew that she would have been ground into the dirt, her bones likely broken if it wasn’t for him.

  “How did you know that I needed a helping hand?” she asked.

  “Didn’t exactly think that,” he confessed. “But I’ll bet you’re still glad that I’m here.”

  “I’d like you better if you didn’t think that you have to play the hero.”

  “Relax, little girl,” he said. “It’s called doing the right thing.”

  “Like you would have gone after one of your boys if the horse took off?” she asked.

  “Maybe. Maybe not,” he a said. “But pretty sure that this was all you.”

  Skye didn’t have a retort. She just rested in his arms as Ben eased the horse back. He reeked of sweat and shit, but she found the scent surprisingly sweet. Not that he was where she was meant to go. In her mind, it should be Aaron Powell, and she hoped that he would be there as soon as they turned around the corner.

  But she saw something and someone else altogether.

  “Lewis!” Ben cried out. “Don’t you have to get to the coops? Last I looked the roofs had almost caved in.”

  Lewis’ face was a blank mask, but there was a quiet rage in his eyes that chilled Skye’s soul.

  “Go with him, Charlie,” Ben ordered. “Not like you’re on a break right now. Take a walk. Both of you.”

  Charlie seemed almost too fast to follow the order, but Lewis lingered and stared Skye down.

  “And I won’t have to have that either!” Ben cried as he pushed off the horse and formed a tight fist. The threat of the blow sent Lewis back, and once he was gone, Skye finally relaxed as Ben took hold of her arms.

  “You good?” he asked.

  “I…”

  His hold was strong, his breath sweeter than the rest of his scent, but Skye still pushed back and fiercely shook her head over her shoulders.

  “Where did he go?” she asked.

  “Who?”

  “You know,” she started. “Powell. Or Aaron.”

  His lips stared to curl into a smirk that swiftly turned into a soft smile as he patted her cheek.

  “Little girl, don’t buy into their shit.”

  “What shouldn’t I–”

  “Because they only think of getting one over on the other,” he said. “And I can see that you’re strong.”

  Skye stood still as he leaned forward, meaning to kiss her, but she turned her head away and brushed her hands down the back of her jeans.

  “That’s the long and short of me,” she said. “And I didn’t ask you to get in the way.”

  Skye swirled away from him, and she still felt his touch as she looked to see nothing but the two jokers grinding rakes into the dirt. Charlie smirked at her; Lewis’ eyes stayed cold.

  “You might need me.”

  Ben’s whisper burrowed into her ear, and she moved to face him. His eyes were soft, but a man like this was far from unfamiliar. And as good as he looked, it in no way fit in with her master plan.

  “I don’t think so,” she said.

  “You think it’s him?” he asked.

  Ben tried to swallow the words back as soon as they left his lips, but when his face morphed into a mask to rival Lewis’, he backed off.

  “You just going to wait for him to come back and see what he does next?”

 
Skye couldn’t help but like the look of his eyes. The way he talked was another matter altogether.

  “I don’t play the field,” she said. “And when Aaron comes back–”

  “If and when.”

  Ben seemed to want to say so much more, but he held back as he glared at the men still smirking just a few feet away.

  “Don’t even think of messing around with her,” Ben warned.

  Charlie swore that they would leave her be, and Ben left her alone with a sly smile. Skye started to rush after him, her body warm when Lewis snapped his fingers and pointed towards the barn.

  “Think you can muck the stalls?” he asked.

  “I could,” she said. “But I don’t think–-”

  “I do,” he said. “You look like a dog. Get your nose down in the dirt and clean it all up.”

  Skye wanted to scream, but she held back and started to rake the stalls. Aaron was a memory; maybe Ben had just been a vision. Still Skye did the work that she had only hoped that she would still be paid for, and when the job was well done she looked up into the night sky. Tired and wondering how she would manage to make her way back home, her plans had to shift in the span of an instant when two shadows crept over her weary form.

  Chapter 4

  Skye swallowed hard as felt her body backed into the corner of the barn. Just above her head looked an open window promising the way out. Maybe if she were taller or suddenly blessed with the gift of flight, Skye could disentangle herself from the situation and make her way to the other side. As she was, she could only scan the faces of the two men, the hot feel of their rank breath washing over her. Charlie licked his lips and cracked his knuckles, and she imagined what he wanted to do with his mouth or his hands if given the chance. But his stance was nothing compared to Lewis staring hard at her, his face a blank mask. Did he want to rip the flannel from her shoulders or snap her neck with a single push? Not wanting either fate to come to pass, Skye carefully scanned the small space between the men’s arms. If she ran fast and took off from the corner kicking and clawing, could she get past them and scream at the top of her lungs while breaking into a sprint? Maybe, it was a small chance at best, a suicide move at worst, but there was no way that she was just going to stand there, slack-jawed, and let them.