Chapter Three
Three days afterthe most incredible night she’d ever spent with a man, Ella had another interview in the Hill Country. On a ranch just outside a small town named Whiskey River, about an hour and a half west of Austin. Could she help it if the thought that she might see Chase again was occupying her mind? He hadn’t said, but she thought he might be from the Austin area. Not too far from there, anyway, since he didn’t have a hotel room because he’d been planning on going home. Until he met her, that is. Most of the night had been spent having spectacular sex in her hotel room. They’d talked but somehow they hadn’t gotten around to last names, phone numbers or even where they each lived.
Ella didn’t do one-night stands. Scratch that. She never had before Chase. She sighed. Face it, she told herself sternly. It was one and done. An amazing night—sexy and fun and totally memorable—but only one night, after all. Neither of them had been interested in more.
Except that she was. No use thinking about it, though.
As for the job, she was starting to feel desperate. Maybe she was being too picky. But she wanted a place she could stay, a town she could call home. A job she enjoyed with a decent boss and good working conditions. You wouldn’t think that would be so hard to find. Honestly, though, the bottom line was that the job had to be in Texas and nowhere near Amarillo. If she never saw Amarillo again it would be too soon.
Not that she had anything against Amarillo itself. But it was home to Phil Daniels, bareback champ and hervery ex-fiancé. She quit her job as assistant manager of Phil’s family horse ranch, and had been looking for another ranch manager job ever since. Preferably a horse ranch and not cattle. She had nothing against cattle either, but she knew a lot more about horses and their care, as well as the workings of a medium-sized horse ranch.
She prayed this job would be the one. Her friend Katie, who’d gone to college with Damaris Walker, pulled some strings to get her an interview at the Walker ranch. The same Katie who was keeping Midnight and Dawn until she found a job. According to her friend, the Walkers needed an honest, trustworthy ranch manager quickly. They’d fired their previous one and Damaris and two of her brothers had taken over the manager’s duties for the past several months.
Her interview was with Damaris. In Ella’s experience women ranchers were a tough breed. They didn’t fool easily and didn’t take any bullshit. Which made her wonder how the Walkers had managed to hire a thief. Trusted the wrong person, obviously. She knew all about that. She figured Damaris would be doubly careful now but Ella’s bona fides were good and her integrity had never been called into question. Surely that would help.
The road to the ranch house veered off from a farm-to-market road. Driving down the long gravel road, she looked around at the rolling hills. Most of the land was still fairly green, especially for September. Trees covered much of the landscape, with fields in between. The trees would be gorgeous later in the fall with the leaves turning myriad colors.
The vista opened up to a large ranch-style house with log-cabin-style wood siding. There was a huge wrap-around porch with stone and wood columns and a wooden railing. Rocking chairs were placed invitingly on either side of a small table, flowers spilled out of pots and hanging baskets, and a wooden swing occupied one end of the porch before it wrapped around back.
Beyond the house she could see a large barn and round pen, several fields, some with horses grazing, some planted with grass but devoid of animals.
She parked and walked up to the front door of the rambling white farmhouse where Damaris had said to meet her. After they’d talked a bit, Damaris had said they’d go down to the barn, see the rest of the property and meet the horses in the barn and in the fields. Ella drew in a deep breath, straightened her shoulders and rang the doorbell. The door opened and a man stood there staring at her in surprise. Tall, dark curly hair, sinfully beautiful blue eyes. A mouth that could kiss a woman blind. And had. His left arm in a sling. Chase. “You’re—What are you doing here?”
“I live here.” He looked her up and down and shook his head. “And you must be Ella…Slade.”
“Oh, shit.”
He cracked a smile. “A simple yes will do.”
Maybe he was a friend of the family. Or some kind of employee. “You’re Chase…Walker?” Say no, she prayed.Say no.
“That’s me.”
Of course it was. She closed her eyes and bit off a groan. She’d heard of him. Never met him or even seen him. But she’d definitely heard of him. Two-time saddle bronc national champion. A rodeo cowboy. Just her freaking luck.
Chase, the man she’d spent an entire night doing the deed with God knows how many times was supposed to interview her for a job at his family’s ranch.
Shit, shit, shit.
*
Damn. She lookedevery bit as good now as she had three nights ago. Of course, she’d looked even better then since she’d been naked a good long part of it.Don’t think about that. Do not go there.
Yeah, too late.
Ella’s long dark blonde hair hung over her shoulder in a thick braid. She wore tight jeans that did nothing to hide her most excellent curves, a long-sleeved western-style chambray shirt, cowboy boots and a cowboy hat that were clearly used for work and not simply show.
But he knew she was the real deal, anyway. He’d read her résumé and it was a hell of a good one. He finally got his shit together enough to say something.
“Come on in. Obviously you were expecting to meet Damaris.”
“Yes.” She walked in. “I knew she had brothers but…”
He nodded. “Several. My brother Marshall and I live at the ranch. He’s with Damaris right now looking at a horse, which is why she asked me to meet with you.” Chase shut the door. “When I saw the name Ella I wondered if it could be you, but you never said what kind of job you were interviewing for. So I put it down to coincidence.”
“Apparently it wasn’t. You never said you were Chase Walker.”
“As I recall neither of us was much interested in that type of thing.”
