Home On The Ranch

“All that time sitting in an office?” She couldn’t help being curious about this man who did zippy things to her lady parts.

He glanced over at her. “How do you know I work in an office?”

“Well, I didn’t figure you were a highway worker after the AC comment.” She paused. “And Keri at the bakery might have mentioned you worked at an energy company or something.”

He huffed out a little laugh. “I manage to forget how everyone knows everything about everyone here.”

“Trust me, it’s not the only place that’s like that.”

“Where are you from originally?”

She made a circular motion in the air with her index finger. “All over. Army brat.”

“Bet that was interesting.”

She shrugged. “Yes and no. Japan was neat. I still love Japanese food.”

“Not a lot of that in Blue Falls.”

“No, but I like it here.” She glanced out across the land where Austin had grown up. “I used to envy kids who got to stay in one place.”

“We always want what we don’t have.”

“I guess that’s true.” Despite the fact she’d known this man all of a single day, she found herself wondering what Austin wanted that he didn’t have. Other than to get his grandparents’ property cleared out and sold, that was. “Well, if you need more first aid, just yell. I’m going back to work.”

Before she could lift herself to her feet, Austin stood and held out his hand. As she looked at that proffered hand, some heretofore unknown alarm system in her head started clanging as though Blue Falls was about to be bombed by B-52s. Some instinct said if she touched his hand, she was going to have trouble sleeping at night, no matter how exhausted she was.

But then she couldn’t really refuse without appearing rude. Telling herself to think about anything other than Austin—the price of bread, how many elements she could remember from the periodic table, how dandelions grew back so blasted fast—she accepted his hand. Dang if he didn’t pull her up as easily as if she weighed no more than one of those dandelions. And as she feared, sizzles of electricity raced up her arm and proceeded through the rest of her body.

“Thanks,” she said, wincing inwardly at how forced her cheery voice sounded.

Austin released her hand so suddenly it was as if her touch had turned scorching hot. Trying not to be offended, she gave him a quick smile and retreated inside. But when she returned to the area of the kitchen where she’d been logging her finds, she had a hard time focusing on the task. In fact, she found it hard to sit still. Darn her overactive imagination. It was having a field day up in her head, wondering what that large, warm hand would feel like touching her face, his fingers finding their way through her riot of curls to the back of her head.

No, she wouldn’t think about his lips. Nope, nope, nope.

Determined to regain some of her suddenly AWOL sanity, she decided to tackle a closet in the master bedroom. But when she stepped through the doorway, her gaze landed on the bed covered with an old-fashioned chenille bedspread. She knew she was in trouble when instead of wondering what she could do with the chenille, she had a mental flash of crawling beneath it with a very hot and naked Austin Bryant.

Chapter Four (#ulink_fec94c6b-d422-5afe-8303-4bb8658857ce)

After Ella retreated into the house, Austin let out his breath and ran his fingers back through his hair. When was the last time a woman had taken care of him like Ella just had? His grandmother when he’d been a kid scraping knees and elbows around the ranch? It freaked him out how nice it had felt, her soft hands being gentle with his stupid injury but quick and efficient at the same time.

The moment her small fingers had touched his skin, a wave of heat had raced through him that had nothing to do with the climbing temperature outside.

Damn, of all the women toward whom he could have a powerful attraction.

With a shake of his head, he returned to the ladder and what he should be thinking about—working to get this ranch ready to sell.

But as he wrestled with the gutters, his mind kept wandering back to the woman inside the house. He seemed to always end up on dates with taller, leggy blondes. He’d assumed that was just his type. Even in high school, he’d dated Sophie Bellermine, who’d been a blonde and the center on the basketball team.

So why were his thoughts and hormones latching on to a petite brunette whose curls seemed to be hosting a party on her head?

What was she doing in the house anyway? Yesterday, she’d been like a whirlwind, speeding back and forth to her truck. Today she seemed to disappear inside for longer stretches of time. He just hoped she didn’t fall victim to an avalanche of his grandparents’ myriad possessions.

No, not his grandparents’ stuff, not anymore. Now it all belonged to him—at least until Ella could get it off the property.

As if thinking about her conjured her, Ella strode out to the truck carrying a box of...something. He didn’t even care what it was. Just wanted it gone.

He paused in the midst of attaching another portion of the gutter that had pulled away from the roof to watch her. Her legs might not be as long as a supermodel’s, but they certainly packed a lot of punch. Fit, smooth, tempting. His body stood at attention, making his jeans grow uncomfortable. But he couldn’t stop watching.

He would have been better off if a burly, hairy guy had shown up to do the job, but if someone had to be here for several days, she was a damn sight nicer to look at.

When she turned to walk back to the house, she headed in his direction instead. She shaded her eyes as she looked up at him.

“Glad to see you haven’t bled out.”

No, his blood was too busy rushing to other parts of his body to mess with a measly head wound.

“Despite evidence to the contrary, I’m not normally accident-prone.”

“Good to know, because I start charging for the second injury.”

He laughed, surprising himself. It seemed to release some well of tension within him he hadn’t truly been aware of. His arm and leg muscles relaxed, including the death grip he’d had on the rung of the ladder. He took a deep breath, maybe the first true one he’d taken since getting the call about his grandfather.

“You okay?” Ella asked.

“Yeah.” He nodded once toward the house. “How’s it going?”

“Good. I’m logging as I go so I can at least pretend I have a tracking system for supplies.”

She was taking the time to log piles and piles and piles of stuff that he would have sworn had outlived its usefulness? “Won’t that slow you down?”

He thought he saw a hint of a wince cross her face, but she was too far away to tell for sure.

“Some. I guessed that you still had quite a bit of work to do before you were ready to list the place.”

“I do. But I can’t do anything inside until it’s cleared out.”

Ella slipped her hands into the back pockets of her shorts, probably unaware of the way that movement accentuated her figure and threatened to make him topple off the ladder.

“How much more do you have to do outside?”

Plenty to keep him busy for several more days, but how could he convey that he just needed all the crap gone, out of his sight, out of his life without sounding like he had an irrational hatred for inanimate objects?

“A bit.” Way to be specific, dude.

“Got it, pick up the pace.”

Before he could respond, she spun and disappeared around the corner of the house. Frustrated by his mental hang-up about his grandparents’ stash, he looked up at the cloudless sky and let out a long sigh. He needed to chill, let Ella do her thing. After all, her hauling everything away wasn’t costing him a penny. He needed to appreciate that positive fact instead of letting his past make him want to throw however much it cost at someone to haul everything out of here today.