She crossed her arms over her chest defensively. “Why are you here, Raylan?”
“Figured you could use a ride to work.”
Her head shot around, her scowl deepening when she realized her car wasn’t where she usually parked it. “You said you’d take care of that,” she said accusingly.
I lifted my shoulder in a shrug. “Consider this me taking care of it.”
Her top lip curled up in disgust. “Pass.”
I looked around like I was searching for another option, knowing as well as she did, that there wasn’t one. “Not sure you have any other choice, Chaos.”
She pulled her phone out of her pocket, a catty grin on her face. “I can call Zach or one of my folks. Hell, I’d rather ask one of the ranch hands for a ride before I’d willingly get in a car with you.”
I hitched my jaw, my molars grinding together. It would be a cold day in hell before I left her alone with any of those immature, horny cowboys who lived in the bunkhouse and worked the ranch for Zach. Those assholes had a reputation bad enough to make most people blush when they heard some of the stories. I realized the hypocrisy of that thought, but I wasn’t exactly good at being rational when it came to Lennix Paulson.
Zach had done a decent job of making it known his little sister was off limits, and those guys were respectful enough, I guess. But if I ever found out one of them so much as breathed in Lennix’s direction, I’d have to come up with a creative and effective way to dispose of a body.
Fortunately, this being a working ranch meant that everyone’s workday had already started long before the sun came up. “Good luck getting a hold of anyone. Zach’s in the process of movin’ the cattle in for branding.” We both knew that meant things on the ranch were even busier than usual. “He and his guys are all tied up.” I held my arms out at my sides. “Meanwhile, I’m right here, offerin’ to take you where you need to go.”
“I’d rather walk.”
I wouldn’t put it past her to do that very thing, just to prove a point. “You could. But it’s more than fifteen miles to town.” I tilted my chin toward her feet. “You want to make that trek in those shoes?” The boots she was wearing were sexy as fuck, but they weren’t made for long distances, that was for damn sure.
She wanted to argue and probably hurl more than a few insults in my direction—it was written all over her face—but as quickly as that look came, it was replaced with begrudging acceptance. With a huff loud enough to convey her annoyance from twenty yards away, she opened her door and made a kissing noise to call Ziggy back inside, then she scooped Havoc up and started down the steps.
“Aren’t you gonna lock up?”
She gave me a look that said she thought I was being ridiculous. “We’re in the middle of nowhere.”
I ground my teeth together and silently counted to ten to keep from snapping. “That’s not a good enough reason to leave your house unprotected.”
She rolled those pretty green eyes, and I swear to god, my palm started to tingle with the urge to take her over my knee and turn her ripe, full ass pink. And with that image firmly planted in my brain, lust slammed into me like a freight train. It wasn’t the first time I’d thought of Lennix that way, but it was by far the strongest reaction my body ever had to a fantasy like that. It was a strange sensation of want and frustration. I wanted to punish her for not taking her safety seriously, then make her scream and cry out for entirely different reasons that had nothing to do with pain.
“No one’s going to break in,” she sniped, totally oblivious to the hard-on actively trying to bust through the zipper of my jeans. “And if someone was stupid enough to attempt it, Ziggy and Pirate would have no problem taking care of them.”
I stuffed my hands into my pockets, trying as discreetly as possible to adjust myself as annoyance continued to simmer in my blood. As twisted as it was, I kind of got off on her being a pain in my ass. The woman gave as good as she got when it came to pushing buttons. We were like oil and water. But damnif arguing with her didn’t make me feel more alive than I had in a really long time.
“What are you doing?” she called after me when I stalked past her, heading in the direction of her house. I didn’t bother answering as I pulled the key ring out of my pocket and fit the one I needed into the deadbolt, twisting until the door was firmly locked. She needed a security system as well. Given that Cord Paulson was her father, I was a little surprised he hadn’t insisted on setting one up the instant she moved in. But that was an argument for another day.
I spun back around and had to clamp my lips between my teeth to keep from smiling at the absolute shock painted across her gorgeous face. “You have a key to my house?”
“Yep.”
She sputtered indignantly. “But...how? I never gave you one. How the hell do you have a key to my house?”
“Zach gave it to me.”
Her jaw dropped open. “That son of a bitch! I gave him that key for emergencies. He had no right giving it to you.”
I walked right past her as she continued to rant and rave. I pulled the passenger door open and stood there, waiting for her to climb in. “That wasn’t his key. It was mine. He had it made and gave it to me on the off chance you ever needed something and he wasn’t available.”
She stomped over to me and stopped less than a foot away, her hip popped out in attitude as she glared up at me. “Give me that key.”
I let out a sound between a snort and a laugh. “Not a chance, Chaos.”
She actually stomped her foot in agitation. Christ, she was adorable. “This ismyhouse. That’smykey. Zach had no right making a copy. Now give it.”
I tipped my head down to meet her furious gaze and lifted a brow. “Or what?”
