Page 5 of Wrangle Me, Cowboys

“You don’t know anything about me,” I said, forcing my voice to remain calm and steady. “And neither does your wife.”

“I know you ain’t got morals nor standards,” he said. “Letting a group of men take turns with you.” His lip curled into a sneer as his eyes roamed over my body.

“We don’t take turns doing anything but making dinner,” I said coldly. “And what your wife saw the other day was my brothers keeping me from dying of hypothermia. If she saw something dirty in that, maybe she’s the one who needs to look at her morals.”

With that, I whirled on my heels and stomped out of the barn, but not before I heard him mutter after me, “Jezebel.”

The nerve of that guy! I was shaking with rage as I stomped back to the house. Here I was, taking over the horses to make his job easier, and he was calling me a whore. I had half a mind to go back out there and give him another lecture. But knowing me, I’d spill out way too much and it would come back to haunt me. After all, his wife was at least a little bit right about that night. It hadn’t been completely innocent. Had it?

*

A while later, when I’d calmed down, I saw Waylon heading for the shop out beyond the five empty cabins behind the house. I threw together a sandwich as an excuse and let myself out the back door. I wasn’t sure if Holden had told his brothers about our kiss, or if I should tell them first. I didn’t know how this whole thing worked at all, but I knew they didn’t like secrets. If I came clean about it, I figured they’d respect me. Then again, it might get Holden in trouble.

Either way, I wanted to feel Waylon out, see how he felt about it and find out if he knew. So I balanced the plate and headed out. I’d never been inside the shop, though I’d seen the guys pulling their farm equipment in and out of it. This seemed like a good time to go explore. When I stepped inside, it was a bit gloomy, despite the overhead fluorescents. It took a minute for my eyes to adjust. The huge tractor was up front, the one that Waylon had driven out to pull me from the cow trough on the night of the infamous topless massage.

Hurrying between that and the side-by-side, I spotted movement at the back of the shop. I hurried back and found Waylon halfway under the hood of an orange muscle car. He had his usual tan Carhartt coveralls on, but the top was peeled down to hang around his waist like jeans. His green thermal shirt showed off his lean muscles. For a minute, I stood there watching him turn a wrench, wondering if it was possible he could be any hotter.

“I brought you a sandwich,” I said at last.

Waylon straightened up so fast his head hit the bottom of the hood, and his cowboy hat toppled off, landing in the engine. He growled a curse and plucked it up, replacing it on his head as he turned to me.

“What’d you need?” he asked.

“I…” I trailed off, stung by his short response. I should have been used to it by now. Waylon wasn’t a man of many words, and when he did use words, they weren’t especially pleasant ones. I tried to imagine what he’d been like with Maria, the ex who had run off and left him for his brother.

“Is that for me?” he asked, plucking the sandwich from the plate. He took a big bite of it and then stood chewing and looking down at it. “What’s that taste?”

“It’s avocado mayo,” I said. “Made with truffle oil.”

“Huh.” He took another bite.

“Do you like it?” I asked hopefully.

“What’s wrong with regular mayo?” he asked, depositing the half-eaten sandwich before turning back to his car.

But I could not be dissuaded that easily. I’d wear him down eventually. No matter how surly he was, I could always get a smile out of him. I sidled up to the car and leaned against it. “So you fix cars?”

“I’m rebuilding the engine,” he said, not looking up from his tools.

I tried to pose sexily against the car, but I immediately started sliding back along it. Seriously, looking sexy was difficult while balancing a plate on one hand. I mean, the car was really polished!

“Don’t scuff the wax,” Waylon said from under the hood.

I propped myself against the side mirror and nibbled at his sandwich. “Did Holden tell you what happened the other night?” I asked.

“What happened?” he asked, not sounding interested at all.

“We kissed.”

“Is that right,” he said flatly.

“He said you were all okay with…us being together. All four of us. So I guess I’m just wondering…how does it work?”

Finally, Waylon picked up a rag and wiped his hands roughly on it. “It doesn’t,” he said shortly. “My father’s lending us money to save the ranch if we keep you out of trouble for the next two months. That’s all.”

My heart dropped straight out of my chest and onto the dirty, oily concrete floor. “He’s paying you?”

Waylon paused, guilt flickering across his face. “Lending us money,” he said after a few seconds. “Not giving it to us.”