Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Zach

T he warm breeze filled the cab of my truck as I turned the wheel and pointed it back toward the main part of the ranch. Usually I was tired after a long day of work, my body worn out, but spending the day driving around in my truck, counting cattle and checking the herd, was peaceful as hell. Relaxing, even.

"This is the life," Connor said from the passenger seat. The aviator sunglasses covering his eyes pointed out his open window at the view beyond.

"It doesn't suck."

He chuckled and slumped down low in the seat, pulling the brim of his baseball cap low over his eyes like he was gearing up for a nap. "You sure got it good out here, man. If I were to ever retire, this is what I'd want to do."

In all the years I'd known him, Connor Bennett never even uttered the word retirement. I always assumed he planned to go out still clinging to the back of an angry bull in his old age. "What, you want to be a rancher?"

He lifted his shoulder in a shrug. "Doesn't have to be my ranch. I just like the work. It's honest. I feel useful here."

I couldn't help but think long and hard about the things he'd said the past few days since his unexpected arrival. It didn't take a genius to realize my friend was struggling, but I knew if I voiced my concern—or, hell, even showed it—he'd shut down or possibly leave, and I had a feeling he needed this place at the moment. It came by its name honestly, after all, and I didn't want to take that away from him.

"Yeah, well, you know you're welcome here any time, man. There's more than enough work to keep you busy."

I looked over and caught the smallest vestige of a smile on his face before we lapsed back into a comfortable silence for the rest of the drive.

"Jesus," he said as the lodge came into view a while later. "This place is impressive. "

I let out a chuckle and shook my head. "You act like you haven't seen it before. You were here for the grand opening."

"I know, but it's been more than a few years, and the mind tends to forget the details after a while."

I took in the large structure, pride at what my family had built and all the legacies they'd created swelling in my chest. "It's kind of taken on a world of its own. The woman we have running hospitality got the idea for all these tourist events, stuff like fly fishing, trail riding, hiking. There's even an archery range beyond that grove of trees there." I pointed past the few cabins behind the lodge that we rented out to our longer-term guests to a grove of trees. "As soon as we started offering up that stuff, our bookings nearly doubled. She's really built this place up. Made it even better."

"You guys have been busy," he pointed out as I guided the truck around to the back of the lodge where our family and staff parked, leaving the front open for guests. The second I pulled into an open spot, the back door of the building opened and a familiar head of light brown hair came into view, the honey colored highlights liberally laced throughout the silky strands shimmering beneath the sun.

My body reacted instantly. My heart rate increased and all my blood traveled south, gathering in my groin and making my pants uncomfortably tight. I could barely hear anything over the sound of my heart pumping in my ears.

One of the housekeepers had come down with the flu, so she'd been filling in. This was the first time I'd laid eyes on her in nearly three days, and just a small glance made my lungs constrict like someone reached into my chest and wrung them out like a wet washcloth.

Her jeans hugged her body to perfection, giving every man in the vicinity a perfect view of that ripe peach ass and mile-long toned legs. She was wearing boots and a simple white T-shirt fitted to her trim waist and round tits, which looked to be the perfect handful, but even dressed to do ranch work, she held my attention and refused to let go. Whether she was dressed like some SoCal socialite or a farm girl, she stood out. It wasn't about what she was wearing, it was just... her.

I sat immobile as she looked back over her shoulder at something, her smile lighting up her entire face. I felt my lips begin to curl up at the sight of it, only to have them fall in the opposite direction as I caught sight of who she was gracing with that gorgeous smile.

Jealousy stabbed at my insides and crawled beneath my skin, making it feel like I was covered in fire ants as Raylan, the guy in charge of all the horseback events for the lodge, stepped onto the deck with her .

I'd known him since we were kids. Hell, up until two seconds ago, I'd considered the guy a good friend. His sister and Rory were tight, so we'd been raised close, but as I watched Rae reach out and place her hand on his forearm, giving it an affectionate squeeze, I wanted to rip his goddamn throat out.

"Yo, Zach." The slug to my arm yanked me out of my murderous thoughts and back into the present. "I said your name like ten times."

I blinked, trying to clear the red from my vision. "What?"

Connor's brows pulled together as his gaze bounced between my face and the chokehold I had on the steering wheel. A few more seconds and I might have ripped the damn thing right off. "What's with you? You look like you want to rip somebody's spleen out through their eye socket all of a sudden." He wasn't too far off the mark. He turned to look out the windshield. "What's gotten into—oh shit," he said as soon as he spotted Rae. He ripped his sunglasses off and scooted forward in the seat to get a better look. " Damn . That's her, isn't it?" He let out a sharp whistle, twisting his neck to shoot me a shit-eating grin. "Can't fault your tastes, brother. She's gorgeous."

The muscle in my jaw was ticking like crazy. "Shut the fuck up," I ground out as I worked to unlock my molars. "And get the hell out of my truck."

Connor climbed out, the asshole laughing as he slammed the door, drawing the attention of Rae and Raylan. My focus was so consumed with the woman that it was impossible for me to miss the way the color rose in her cheeks when she spotted me. I also didn't miss the way she quickly dropped her hand from Raylan's arm and took a step backward as I got closer. It helped to settle some of the irrational anger that had started churning inside of me. But not all of it.

Raylan, clueless to just how close he'd come to being physically maimed, recognized Connor as he bounded up the back stairs. The few times Con had come out to the ranch for a visit, Raylan had joined us for a couple beers, and the two of them had hit it off. "Hey, man. Didn't know you were in town." He clapped Connor's offered hand and pulled him in for a quick slap on the back.

"No one did. Surprised this one the other day when I showed up out of the blue." He hiked his thumb over his shoulder in my direction as I climbed the three steps up to the deck at a much slower pace.

"Well, it's good to see you."

"You too. It's been too long." Connor turned his attention to Rae, offering her that charming- ass smile of his that earned him countless ad campaigns and no shortage of bedmates. "I'm Connor." He extended his hand toward Rae.

The acid in my stomach threatened to travel up my throat as she reached out and wrapped her fingers around his, giving his hand a shake. "Rae. Nice to meet you."

"Oh, the pleasure's all mine, I assure you."

Christ, what was the deal with all my friends wanting to die today?

A low growl worked its way up from my chest, and I swear, it only made him grin that much bigger.

Raylan jerked his chin up at me in silent acknowledgement as I joined their little huddle. "We should hit up the Tap Room tonight," Raylan said, clapping Connor on the shoulder again and giving him a little jostle. "You know you can always count me in for a good time. Matter of fact, I was trying to talk Rae here into hitting town later on to cut loose for a bit."

Her blush grew, staining her cheeks an even deeper red. "Oh, um, I don't know." She danced around the invitation, her gaze darting all over the place, almost as if she were too nervous for it to land on me. "I'm kind of tired."

"Come on, boss." Raylan grinned and nudged me with his elbow like it was a given that I'd side with him. " Tell her she should go out with us. We're a hell of a lot of fun."

Normally I would have agreed. Raylan knew how to have a good time, that was for damn sure, but as I forced myself to look away from a blushing Rae, my eyes narrowed menacingly. "If she said she doesn't want to go, she doesn't want to go. End of discussion."

His chin jerked back at my tone, his brow furrowing in confusion. I couldn't really blame him. To most of my friends, I was known as the easy-going one. I'd rid myself of the habit of being quick to anger a long time ago, but something about the woman standing less than three feet away threw me so off balance, I couldn't tell which end was up.

Sensing shit was spiraling out of control, Con finally decided to stop being an asshole and cut me some slack. "Come on, man," he said to Raylan, leading the way back toward the door he'd exited only a minute ago. "I don't know about you, but I'm starvin'. Let's get some grub."

Raylan shook off the awkwardness easily enough. "Sounds good." They started back into the lodge, but stopped so Raylan could look back over his shoulder. "Hey, Rae, just let me know what time works best for you."

She graced him with another smile that I had no reason to be pissed about, but I wasn't feeling particularly rational at the moment. "Thanks. I really appreciate that, Raylan. I'm excited."

My gaze ping-ponged between the two of them. "What's going on? What are you excited about?"

"Ivy suggested I ask Raylan for horseback riding lessons." She bounced on the tips of her toes, her excitement palpable.

"I can teach you." The words spilled out, sounding a lot more like an order than a suggestion.

Rae's eyes went big, her lips parting to form an O. "I-I couldn't ask you to do that. Really. You're so busy?—"

"It's no problem."

Raylan cut in, taking his life into his own hands as he said, "I really don't mind. It's kind of my job."

For some reason, the thought of letting another man teach Rae to ride a horse made my skin prickle uncomfortably. If Raylan did it, he'd get to touch her. He'd get to spend time with her, just the two of them and the animal. It set my teeth on edge.

"You got guests to take care of," I clipped before getting a hold of myself and pulling in a deep breath, hoping to calm the raging waters inside of me. "You focus on the paying guests. I can take care of Rae," I said, the finality in my words leaving no room for argument.

One thing was for sure. Connor was never going to let me live this shit down. He'd hold my crazy-ass behavior over my head for eternity. He'd probably even tell Raylan why I was acting like a jackass, and the two of them would enjoy giving me hell together.

But as I finally caught Rae's gaze, her excitement still showing in the beautiful curl of her lips, I really couldn't find it in me to care.