I gave her a crooked grin. “There was me thinking it was my devastating charm and rugged good looks.”
Images of her in the shower flashed through my head, and I shifted closer to my horse, not trusting my body one damn bit. I was like a moth to her flame; every single time I set eyes on her. No feelings, just pure animal attraction.
“Hey, Tally. How you doing?”
I whipped around, lip curling. Fucking Glenn.
“Aren’t you supposed to be checking the perimeter fences?” My voice came out cold—ice laid over the fire burning hot in my chest. No idea what it was about that guy, but he always managed to piss me off.
“We did.” He lifted his chin like he was throwing down a challenge.
I snorted. “Find that hard to believe.”
He was with Danny, the new kid we’d taken on. Local boy with a wide-eyed kind of hero worship for Nash. I kept my eyes on Glenn.
“Grab some grub, then both of you check the irrigation on the north side of the barn.”
Danny nodded and turned his horse toward the bunkhouse, where Ruby wasserving up lunch. Glenn didn’t follow. He shifted in the saddle, shoulders rolling, neck stretching. I knew that move. I’d seen it before, right before a guy tried to ask a woman out.
I felt it in the air, the hesitation, the shallow breath. I could damn near hear the question forming in his mouth.
“Tally,” I growled, loud enough to interrupt. “Grab a horse. If you’re not working for my brother today, you can come with me.”
She smiled, slow and sly and crossed her arms, cocking out one hip in a way that made my self-control scream.
“It’s my day off,” she said, that sultry edge in her voice sliding right down my spine.
Christ. I didn’t dare adjust myself, because the moment I moved, she’d know exactly what she was doing to me.
I turned my glare back to Glenn. “Clock’s ticking, Glenn. Lunch won’t wait forever.”
He muttered a quiet “fuck” and steered his horse after Danny.
As soon as he was out of earshot, Tally gave me a look that could melt steel.
“Want to come over here and piss on my leg while you’re at it?”
Damn it. Why did she have to amuse me so much?
“Go get a horse, Brownie.”
She fluttered her eyelashes, gave me a little curtsy and then skipped off to the stables.
“Where are we going?” Tally asked, her hips rolling with Isabelle’s lazy gait. She’d come back from the stables with all the tack to saddle up Gunner’s latest recruit for the kid’s camp.
“I want to check the development,” I told her, lifting my gaze to the clear blue sky that stretched wide and endless. Wisps of cotton clouds blew on the cool breeze that swept down from the peaks. It was dry and clean carrying the scent of pine needles and hay. A silver glow danced off the mountains in the distance and the air hummed with the quiet fall energy that fell between the fire of summer and the cold hush of winter.
“Why? Is there a problem?” she asked, her gaze whipping to mine.
For a moment my heart forgot how to beat. She looked beautiful. Cheeks pink from the cold, back straight, regal and elegant. Her long braid hung down her back, almost touching her perfect heart shaped ass, begging me to grab hold of it and wrap it around my fist while I…Damn I did not need to think about that while sitting on a horse.
“Not that I’m aware. I just like to check in regularly, make sure Jenkins is still playing nice.”
“Don’t you trust him?” Tally asked, her spine stiffening a little as something flickered across her face, something I didn’t understand, not quite fear, but close.
I shrugged. “He seems genuine.”
Nate Jenkins, the millionaire developer building homes next to our land, had originally pitched apartments and a meatpacking plant. We’d made it crystal clear that wasn’t going to fly. Not for Last Creek Ranch. Not for the land.
