Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Zach

I was being a dick. I knew it, but I couldn't seem to help myself. The moment the new girl had opened the door, wearing nothing but that skimpy negligee, my dick had twitched in response, making my already foul mood that much worse. It was bad enough I had to babysit some spoiled city girl, the last thing I needed was to be attracted to the woman who was already proving herself to be an epic pain in my ass. I didn't have time to take out of my busy day to chase her ass down because she couldn't be bothered to show up on time for work.

Resting my arms against the top railing of the corral where a few of my cowboys were working the young red roan mare that was proving to be full of piss and vinegar, I scrubbed at my face with one hand before lifting the tin mug of coffee to my lips and taking one last sip. My face pinched up in disgust as the cold, bitter contents hit my tongue. I'd let it sit too long as my mind drifted to places it had no business going and now it was no good. I dumped the cold coffee onto the dusty ground near my boot. It was my third cup so far this morning, and it wasn't doing a damn bit of good.

I'd been up since she ripped me from a deep, peaceful sleep when she came running out of the cabin closest to my house the night before, brandishing a cast iron skillet and yelling at the top of her lungs.

At any point as I watched her through my living room window, dressed in that goddamn nighty with that ridiculous sleep mask pushed up to her forehead, I could have stepped outside and explained it was just an owl and nothing to freak out over, but I would have been lying if I said I didn't get a bit of enjoyment out of watching the show. She really was a fish out of water, the performance she put on the night before more than proved that.

I should have known my mom would put her close to me. She asked that I keep an eye on the woman, give her the lay of the land, and make her feel welcome, none of which I'd taken the time to do yesterday. Admittedly, I'd ignored Rory's requests out of spite. After the upheaval that had been the first twelve years of my life, I wasn't necessarily big on change, and having some chick from California invade my sanctuary, my ranch, all so she could learn a lesson, left a bitter taste in my mouth. I doubted she wanted to be here, that she appreciated this place for all it was. She probably thought she was too good for us and this land, this simpler way of life, and that made my disdain for her that much worse.

However, when her shouts of confusion and agitation gave way to deep, body-wracking sobs, the humor I felt at watching her lose her shit immediately dried up. Guilt clawed at my insides as I witnessed her crumble. She wasn't crying like someone who was stuck somewhere she didn't want to be. She cried like her heart was breaking. I went from hating the woman I didn't even know to feeling sorry for her in less than five minutes. I spent the rest of the night replaying how her pretty face had twisted up with heartache and how her entire frame sank with sadness until I gave up on sleep all together and dragged my ass out of bed to get to work, even though there were still hours of darkness ahead of me.

Just as the sun had started to rise over the mountains, I told myself I was going to do as my mom asked and show her the ropes, only, as the hours ticked by and the valley flooded with sunlight, that ire I'd lost a bit of the night before came back with a vengeance. She'd had her little breakdown, and now she was blowing off her responsibilities.

I had shit to do that didn't include waiting around for her snobby ass to decide to wake up and grace us with her presence, so I'd stormed over to her cabin, ready to rip her a new one. Unfortunately, she was still in that fucking nightgown when she answered the door. A nightgown that left very little to the imagination. I had to bite my cheek so hard at the sight of her straining nipples through the silky fabric that I nearly took a chunk out of it.

That first up-close glimpse of her quickly revealed two things. First, she was fucking gorgeous, even with red, puffy eyes from crying all night long. Her pink bee-stung lips would tempt any man to taste them, and her warm caramel eyes had the power to pull you in against your will and never let go. They were the kind of eyes a person could easily get lost in for hours at a time. Second, she was young. Way too young for me to be thinking about kissing her or wondering how soft her skin was or what was beneath that nightie.

She was too fucking young to make my dick stiffen behind my jeans like some hormone-addled teenager, and the fact I hadn't been able to control my hard-on only pissed me off more.

I'd snapped, speaking to her in a way that would have had Rory or my grandma smacking me upside my head. When those eyes went big, panic swimming in their warm depths at my harsh tone, I forced myself to turn on my heel and carry my ass back to the barn before I acted like an even bigger asshole. If that was possible. I'd been berating myself ever since as I waited for her to show up.

I pulled myself out of my own miserable thoughts just as my foreman, Hal, came walking over, taking up a spot on the fencing beside me. He had one of the ever-present toothpicks he chewed on tucked into his cheek. He rested his arms on the top rung of the corral and propped a booted foot on the bottom one. "Hey, boss. All good?"

"Yep. All good, Hal. How about you?" Hal had been working on the ranch since before I came to live here. My grandfather had hired him on as a hand years ago, and when I took the place over, I promoted him to foreman. There was no one I trusted more to help me run this place and keep the other hands in line than Hal. He was a hell of a cowboy, ran the bunk house in a way that kept the others in line while still earning their respect, and loved this land almost as much as my family did. This was home to him, and he treated it with the respect it deserved. He'd more than earned his position a thousand times over. He had helped turn me into the rancher I was today, he and Pop. They'd bred in me a love for the land and the animals we were responsible for, and I didn't know what the hell I'd do without him.

"Can't complain. The sun's shinin' and I'm still kickin'." He jerked his chin in the direction of the horse currently throwing the rider on her back into the dirt. "Hell of a spirit in that one. She's gonna give you a run for your money, for sure."

A slow smile curled the corners of my mouth as I watched the horse give my cowboys hell, tossing her head back and forth, making them struggle to catch her reins. "Looks like it."

Hal chuckled. "Horse like that, she'll make you earn her loyalty, but once you got it, you probably won't find a better animal on this green earth."

I had a feeling he was right about that, but before I could voice my agreement, I noticed a few of the guys in the corral shift their attention from the young mare to something off in the distance. I turned to follow their gazes, curious about what had stolen their focus from their work, and the moment I spotted her, a coal in my gut began to burn hot.

"What the fuck?" I grunted under my breath, my vision narrowing as my eyelids pinched into vicious slits.

Hal let out a long whistle, making a show of taking the hat off his head and fanning his face with the brim. " Christ almighty. That the new girl we been hearin' all about?"

She was. She was also about to be the fucking death of me.

Without giving Hal an answer, I pushed off the railing and stomped in her direction, noticing her rushed pace.

"Sorry. I'm so sorry!" Her eyes were frantic as she skip-walked toward me. "I know you said fifteen minutes, but I got a little turned around?—"

I stopped in front of her, slamming my hands down on my hips, the pads of my fingers digging in deep to stomp out the itch tingling beneath my skin, an itch that had me wanting to reach out and grab hold of her. The frayed denim shorts she was wearing were so short every single inch of her legs, from mid-calf to the bottoms of her ass cheeks was on display. The white racerback tank was cropped, leaving a good two to three inches of her midriff exposed. And those boots. Jesus, the boots she was sporting were a fucking joke. They were the type of boots city folk wore when they wanted to play at country life. The stitching was neon pink, they were covered in something sparkly, and the stiff leather creaked with every step she took. And don't even get me started on the floppy wide-brimmed hat she was wearing or the oversize sunglasses she currently had tucked in the collar of her shirt.

"What the hell are you wearing?" I gritted out through a clamped jaw.

She looked down at herself, her brow furrowed in confusion. "I—clothes."

Christ, this woman was going to do my head in, no doubt about that. "Let's get one thing straight. When you're workin' on this ranch, you don't walk around in shorts, and you sure as shit don't wear boots that look like they'd fall apart if they got so much as a drop of water on them."

Her head came back up and I saw those warm brown eyes had cooled considerably, growing sharp. The trepidation that had been there a moment ago was gone, replaced with something much fiercer. And fuck if it didn't make my dick twitch. He and I would be having a talk later tonight. We needed to come to an understanding that this woman—the barely legal woman—was off limits.

"I know you aren't about to shame me for what I'm wearing," she started, her tone scolding. "Listen here, cowboy. I've had a really shitty week, and I'm not in the mood for whatever lecture you're dead-set on giving. If you're about to tell me I have no business walking around in front of all these guys in shorts and a tank top, I swear to God, I will lose my freaking mind. A woman should be allowed to show as much or as little of her body as she chooses without having to worry about a man's reaction. If they can't keep their dicks in line, that's their problem, not mine, and I'll be damned if I let you or anyone make me feel like I'm at fault or in any way responsible."

I squeezed my eyes closed and pinched the bridge of my nose to fight off the headache pulsing behind my eyeballs in time with my heartbeat. "Stop," I said, holding up my hand to silence her tirade. "Jesus Christ, please just stop." Her mouth snapped closed so fast her teeth clacked together. "I don't give a shit what you wear on your own damn time, Hollywood. But this is a goddamn ranch. My ranch. There's a reason everyone you see is dressed in jeans, sleeves that at least cover part of their arms, and practical boots. We dress for function here. For protection. I don't give a shit about some cowboy's boner. What I do give a shit about is you fryin' all that skin that's gonna be exposed to the sun all damn day, or being feasted on by bugs. It's inconvenient enough, havin' you here and havin' to stop and explain everything that the rest of us already know, I don't need to deal with you whinin' the next day because you dressed like you were ready to spend the day at the beach. "

I caught a flash of uncertainty in her gaze just before she covered it up with a heavy dose of bravado. "First of all, my name is Rae, not Hollywood. And second, I'm not a child. I understand the importance of sunscreen, thank you very much. And you won't hear me whining about anything. I'm more than capable of taking care of myself."

I opened my mouth to argue, but quickly decided against it and snapped it shut. If this woman— Rae —didn't want to take my advice, that was on her. Throwing up my hands, I took a step back, officially done with this interaction. "You know what? Whatever happens is on you, but don't say I didn't warn you."

She crossed her arms over her chest and glowered up at me from beneath that ridiculous hat. "Fine. I won't."

"Hal," I barked out, calling my foreman over before Rae could say another word and possibly cause the vein that I could feel throbbing in my forehead to burst.

I didn't take my eyes off her as I heard Hal's sensible boots come to a stop beside me. "Yeah, boss?"

"This is Rae, the new girl. This is her first day, but she's already made it clear she can take care of herself, so don't pull any punches." I turned to my foreman, lifting a brow as I added, "Got me?"

Hal's Adam's apple bobbed on a swallow of discomfort. "Uh.. you sure about that? "

Rae cut in, answering for me. "I'm capable of doing anything the rest of these guys are. I don't need to be babied."

A smile that had to have looked as wicked as it felt pulled at my lips. "You heard the lady," I said, grinning at Hal like a cat who just caught the fattest canary. "She doesn't need to be babied. I expect you to treat her like you would any other hand."

My foreman let out a resigned sigh, knowing as well as I did that this was about to be a shitshow of epic proportions. "You're the boss."

Damn straight I was. And if today ended with sending Rae running for the hills and getting her out of my hair, I'd consider it a win.