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CHAPTER1
Steel
Taking off my straw cowboy hat, I wipe at the sweat on my brow with a handkerchief and blow out a ragged breath. I’ve been putting posts in all day and it’s been hotter than hell out here.
The dinner bell rings and I sigh, grabbing the keys for the gator out of my pocket. The end of the day couldn’t come soon enough for me. I’m exhausted.
I hit the gas and head back to the main ranch house to get dinner and then head back to the bunkhouse to collapse. At forty, I’m too damn tired for this shit. But when my family lost their ranch, I moved away and started sending money back home to my sisters and mother. They stayed in our hometown of Wildwood and have been moving on with their lives. I’m the only one that hasn’t managed to get over the loss.
Dad dying when he did was just the icing on top of a really shitty cake.
I smile when I think about my hellion sisters though. Both of my younger sisters are little hellcats and I love them dearly and thank heaven every day that they’ve managed to pull themselves together and move on.
“Hey, Steel! I need to talk to you, man!” Cody calls to me as I get back to the barn with the gator.
I nod and step out of the vehicle after I stop. I impatiently slap my dusty hat on my jeans which are almost as dusty. “Hey, man. What’s up?”
He grins sheepishly. “First…how did the fence posts go?”
I shrug. “Perfectly fine. It’s not a hard job and you know that. So what’s up?”
He looks nervous and I have an uneasy feeling that I’m not gonna like what he has to say.
“You got a winner on your auction. She’ll be here in two days.”
My mouth drops open. “Really? I didn’t think anyone was left in the running.”
“Yep. She snapped you up yesterday.”
“Great.” My chest heaves nervously, my boots shifting in the dirt.
He cocks his head, eyeing me closely. “I thought you more than any other man here would be agreeable to this. You seemed to be excited to be part of it.”
I sigh, shifting slightly on my feet, uncomfortable when his sharp eyes seem able to see right through me.
“I was. I mean I am. Or I thought I was. I mean…”. I run my calloused fingers through my hair. “I don’t know how I feel anymore.”
Cody nods his head and slaps my shoulder. “Well, unlike most of the guys, you didn’t seem to have a problem with it and I hope that’s the case because this is gonna be a wild one.”
My head comes up, my eyes widen at the smirk on his face.
“What the hell does that mean, Cody?”
Heather walks up behind him and swats his arm viciously. Or at least I think she thinks it is. For big guys like me and Cody that shit is just mosquito bites.
“Stop messing with him, Cody!” She shoots me a sparkling look that shuts Cody’s amusement down right quick. His scowl at the two of us has me backing away, my hands held high. No way do I want the jealous son of a bitch to get his dander up.
“Hey, man. I got no problem. I just want to know what’s up with this woman.”
Heather smiles gently at me which makes Cody grind his teeth, flexing his jaw. The sound of it makes me wince. That can’t be good for your health. Or your teeth.
“It’s a surprise from her mother and from how she was talking on the phone…I don’t think she knew a damn thing about it and she’s a little pissed.”
My brow lifts. “Great! Sounds perfect. Everybody else gets a woman who’s at least aware of what’s going on and I get one who has no idea that she won me. Because her mother did it for her. I’m sure she’s a real peach. Why is her mother so desperate to get her a man?”
Heather shoots me an impatient glare. “Some mothers are just pushy like that. But if you’ll recall, I don’t think that Emma was aware of what her daughter pulled. So she had no clue either.”
I take my hat off my head again and slap it nervously on my thigh. “Still doesn’t sound good,” I grumble under my breath.
