“They do on my ranch,” she said, her tug far stronger than I thought it would be. I yelped as she dragged me along, my feet barely keeping up with her. “Zeb,” she called, making the young man turn. He smiled at her, but as his gaze drifted to me, that smile froze. It was his eyes that told me his problem was with me.
“Yes ma’am?” he said, taking a few steps in her direction. It was nice to see that his ears were still listening to the kids, even if his back was to them.
“You know Katie? She dropped Tiffany off this morning.”
“We met,” was his curt response.
“It seems you weren’t that friendly. Why?”
“I’m sorry, Lucinda,” he said, taking his hat off and running his fingers through his hair. The image of this guy in a backwards ball cap, no shirt, and jeans low on his hips flashed through my mind and I nearly screamed.
What the hell was wrong with me?
He didn’t like me; nothing would change that.
So, was I a sucker for pain because my ex was a jerk too and I fell for him.
“Katie has had a rough go recently. Both she and her daughter are trying something new.”
“Tiffany was telling me,” he said, still looking at his boss.
“We need to be nice to them.”
“Yes ma’am,” he told her as he put his hat back on.
“Zeb,” a kid called and the look of relief on his face was hard to miss.
“Excuse me,” he muttered, tipping his hat to her and hardly sparing me a glance.
“There, all fixed. Why don’t you take some pictures of the kids and the barn, since you’re here.” She gave me a smile and then walked away, leaving me here.
Did I want to do that?
Nope.
Wanted to be on the furthest side of the ranch from this asshole. But a promise was a promise, and I could easily do what I needed to do without having to think of him.
With that, I put the camera up to my eye and snapped a few pictures of the kids working with the animals, their smiles pure.
“You don’t have permission to take photos with the kids in them,” Zeb growled in my ear, making me clench my teeth.
I snapped a few more before turning to look at him, my brow raised in a challenge.
“I do.”
It was simple, straightforward, and should have shut him up.
I also should have known better because it sure as hell didn’t. In fact, it enraged him even more.
“They are my responsibility while they’re here, and I say you can’t do that.”
“Glad to hear that, still can’t do it though.” I took another one, just to piss him off and flashed him the screen. “See. Can turn around and post it now if I wanted to.” Okay, that wasn’t the truth. I didn’t have access to their site, and I hadn’t set up anything for the ranch yet.
But I could do it.
I would do it, actually.
“Who the hell do you think you are that you can disobey me like that?”
