With her heartbeat racing out of control, Althea felt his glare on her the entire time as she turned and gave the horse a final pat, pretending a nonchalance she didn’t feel.
As quickly as humanly possible she was out of the stable, not waiting around to see his reaction to her challenge…wondering what in the name of God she’d just signed on for.
Chapter 4
“Either I can work off the advance or leave. Either way I’m fine with it…”
A deep frown settled between Nate’s brows as he drove past the south pasture heading into town, thinking of the words slung at him by the woman.
He hadn’t wanted to go to town. He had enough to do around the ranch to keep him busy from sunup to sundown. But thoughts of the woman—Althea—had plagued him the entire morning.
Hell, thoughts of her and their exchange had kept him up most of the night as well.
Although she’d said it in an “I don’t give a damn” kind of way, he’d seen a look akin to desperation in her eyes. The look, coupled with his reaction to her, had plagued him throughout the night and into the next day.
One time too many while helping the hands mend some critical fence, he’d had to redo a piece he’d fixed. Once he’d nearly hammered off his own finger as he pounded away at the fencing before he decided he needed to get away.
Immediately images assaulted his mind in vivid, erotic detail of just how Ms. Althea Dayton, or whatever her real name was, could work out the debt.
Vivid, mind-blowing images.
The type that even now had his cock rock-hard and ready. Ready to show the smug woman just how she could service him.
His mood had gone from hell to hell-in-a-handbasket when he’d stalked inside the house and caught his brothers before they could make a quick getaway.
Nate stopped just inside the doorway and surveyed the scene in front of him. Both of his brothers were eating the jumbo cookies Lilly had made. Praising her for them as though they’d never tasted a damn cookie before. Relaxed as though they hadn’t a care in the world.
To say he was pissed off was putting it mildly.
“Okay, who the hell’s bright idea was it to hire that woman and not let me know about it?”
The conversation came to a grinding halt in the warm, airy kitchen as soon as he spoke.
His brothers looked up at him, cookies halfway to their mouths, both looking as guilty as two boys with their hands caught in the cookie jar.
One look at Nate’s angry, tight features and they knew, instantly, they were in deep-shit trouble.
A side glance in Lilly’s direction and Nate had seen the humor lurking in her dark eyes but had chosen to ignore it. Miss Lilly could find humor in the situation. She had that right. He couldn’t go off half-cocked with the woman who’d helped raise him, one who was like a surrogate mother.
He turned back to his brothers.
They, on the other hand, didn’t get a get-out-of-jail-free card. Not even close.
“Don’t even try getting away,” he said, pinning them with a look when they both, at the same time, made as though to leave the room.
Both Shilah and Holt paused midflight. Slowly, they spun around on the scuffed-up heels of their well-worn boots, both warily watching him as he advanced farther into the large kitchen.
He stopped less than a foot from them, crossed his arms over his wide chest and stared them down.
Although technically there wasn’t much in the way of staring down. The men were all of similar height, Holt being the tallest at six foot five, Nate and Shilah just a few inches shy of that.
“Okay, now look here, brother—” Holt was the first to speak in his slow, crawling drawl, the one he used when he was either trying to get a piece of tail from a woman or when he knew he’d screwed up and was buying time.
“Cut the brother crap,” Nate interrupted. That was another thing he did. Whenever he wanted to maneuver his way out of a situation, Holt was quick to pull out the brother card.
“Besides, it wasn’t me who invited her to come. It was Shilah—”
“Way to throw me under the bus,” Shilah broke in, his expression neutral, yet the look he gave Holt promised retribution was coming his way. Soon.
“I may have issued the initial invitation, but you were the one who actually hired her when she came.”
“Yeah, well—”
Nate held up a hand, forestalling any more arguing on exactly whose fault it was.
“Whichever one of you—or both of you—is to blame, I don’t give a damn. Just take care of the problem. Now.”
“And how do you want us to do that? We’ve already paid her in advance.”
“So I heard,” Nate replied tightly.
“Besides, we need the help, you know that, Holt,” Shilah said, always the one to use logic in any situation. “Lilly’s surgery is in a few weeks and we can’t spare any of the hands to help out. It’s just temporary. She can do the odd jobs. Can help Lilly out in the kitchen—”
“Hell, no, she’s not working in the kitchen. That’s out,” Nate bit out, the thought of the woman actually in his home, in his domain, something he wasn’t about to allow. “No matter how you reason this out, you both know how I feel about women on the ranch. I should have been consulted.”
There was a short pause, none of the men giving an inch, all staring each other down.
“How’d you find out, anyway?” Holt finally asked, running a hand over the back of his head.
“How long did you plan to hide it from me?” he asked, raising a brow. When Holt shrugged, his expression sheepish, Nate continued. “Walked into the stable where I’ve been keeping the new horse, and she was there, feeding it.” “Thought that horse didn’t let anyone near her.”
“She doesn’t. Didn’t,” Nate corrected himself.
Thinking of how gentle the horse had been with the woman, the lines of his face wrinkled, momentarily making him forget his irritation with his brothers. “Damnedest thing, too. She was feeding it by hand. It was all but cuddling in her lap, like some kinda lap dog.”
“Your problem is you don’t know how to deal with a stubborn female. Horses are no different. You have to be gentle, say all the right things to her. Make her feel special.”
“Oh, yeah, and I suppose you know how?”
“Damn right I do,” Holt said, barking out a laugh. “You have to whisper in her ear, tell her how sweet her…tail is,” he said, staring at his brother, laughter lurking in his eyes. “You do remember how to do that, right, Nate? Or do you need a crash course, brother? ’Cause if you do, I’m here for you, man…I’m here for you,” he said, his voice lowering to a whisper, stringing out the last words.
“Yeah, I got your crash course right here,” Nate replied, flipping his brother the bird. This time Holt openly laughed at him.
“You know what your problem is, Holt? You think everything is a damn joke,” Nate bit out, and caught the gleam of humor in Shilah’s eyes as well. This time he included him in his middle-finger salute as well.
“Since when do we need your permission to hire help around here?”
“Since the help you hired was a woman,” he replied, not giving an inch. “I damn sure don’t need another woman around here. Especially who, after