Something about the way Roxanne’s cheeks flushed when Ihanded her those ridiculous shoes struck me. I shouldn’t have enjoyed making her squirm—but I did. Hell, I don’t even know her. Probably shouldn’t poke at her either, not when the future of this ranch depends on her and her crew sticking around. But damn if I’m not curious to see what happens when that polished exterior cracks.
“Nice form, Faraday,” one of the ranch hands hollers as I pass. Laughter follows me all the way to the fence.
“Looking hot, sweetie,” another guy calls.
I shake my head and smirk, tipping a wink in their direction before heading back to the house to clean up before supper.
I’m rubbingmy head with a towel when there’s a knock at my bedroom door. Jameson rolls in his bed. He’s had a long day on the ranch so he’s down for the night.
“Evening, friend,” I say, opening the door to Topper. “What brings you ‘round these parts?”
“Do you mind telling me what the hell that was back there?”
“What was what?”
“You know.” Topper thrusts his hands on his hips. “Stripping down to your underwear in front of our special guests.”
“My clothes were wet.” I shrug. “Don’t like the feel of soaking wet jeans.”
“I hate it when you act like this.” He takes a step into the room and freezes once he sees what I’ve laid out on the bed. “What in the blazes is that?”
“Stedman’s rodeo uniform.”
Topper rakes his hand through his hair. “And what are you going to do with it?”
“Want to give our new guests a taste of a real cowboy atdinner,” I say, picking the rhinestone-studded shirt off the bed to admire it.
“That would be kind of a treat if youwerea real cowboy.”
I frown. “I am.”
“Wrong. Stedman is a real cowboy, you’re a mountain man wannabe cowboy.”
“Who hurt you? I mean, seriously, why are you like this?”
Topper flops down in the leather armchair in the corner of the room. “Can you rope a calf?”
“Well, no,” I say, slipping a white tee over my head.
“Can you ride a bull?”
“Not really.”
“Can you barrel race?”
“Listen, I help bring the horses in from pasture.”
“With Stedman and Millie.”
I pull on my jeans and then slide into Stedman’s ornate rodeo chaps complete with white leather fringe. Okay, so Stedman is a beast of a man, and everything is a little big, but I still marvel at myself in the mirror as I finish getting dressed.
“What happened to me being the guide for the guests so you can keep your stress down and remain on the sidelines?”
More images of Roxanne being pulled from the trough wander through my mind. “Can’t a person change their mind?”
“I don’t want you to blow this for us,” Topper says.
“I’m not going to blow this,” I say, adding my ten-gallon to complete the ensemble. “Going to have a little fun, that’s all. If they can’t take this cowboy heat, they better get out of my kitchen.”
