AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I pushed the pie back into Tyler’s hands before crossing my arms over my chest and squaring off against Boone. “Were you not bitching just last night about how shorthanded you are?”
He scowled. “I wouldn’t call it bitching.”
I lifted a dubious eyebrow. “Are you or are you not looking for experienced hands to hire on?”
He grunted.
“And did you not specifically say you wanted someone with experience in…” I scrambled for the word again. “What was the other word for calving?” I hissed under my breath to Tyler. “The one that starts with a P?”
“Parturition?” Tyler asked.
I snapped a finger and turned back to Boone. “You wanted a hand who knew his way around parturition, and that’s exactly what I’ve brought you. You’re welcome.”
Boone continued trying to stare me down, but I simply stared right back, refusing to be cowed. In the end, Boone broke first. He tilted his head toward Jed and said something under his breath I couldn’t hear.
Jed came down off the porch and beckoned for the kid to follow him. “Come on, Tyler. Grab your stuff. We’ll set the pie in the kitchen, and then I’ll show you around.”
Tyler’s face lit up. “Seriously? Sweet!” He grinned at me before grabbing his backpack and scrambling after Jed.
That left Boone and me alone in the yard. I noticed he still hadn’t thanked me. Instead, he snapped, “My office. Now.”
He spun on his heel and marched into the house. My first instinct was to tell him he wasn’t the boss of me, but then I remembered he was, in fact, the boss of me, so I quickly scampered after him.
He led me through the house, past the dining room and kitchen, and down a hallway that presumably led to several bedrooms. His office was in the back of the house with a view out over a wide expanse of pastures. He held the door open, gesturing for me to go in first.
I paused just inside, taking in the room. Unlike Jed’s office in the barn, which was nondescript and functional, Boone’s space had a style that was as sturdy and comforting as the man himself. It was full of rich, polished wood and soft brown leather. Slanted rays of sunlight landed on cluttered piles of paper on his large desk. A slim silver laptop lay closed next to two empty coffee mugs and a scattering of pens and pencils. The rest of the office, however, was neat as a pin. Books sat neatly arranged on deep shelves, and the two leather guest chairs remained perfectly angled in front of the desk.
Boone made an impatient noise behind me, and I held back a sigh. I still had no idea what had crawled up his ass, but I decided to head his anger off at the pass.
“You’re welcome,” I said cheerily, giving him my brightest smile as I dropped into one of the guest chairs and made myself comfortable.
“What the fuck are you playing at?” he asked before even coming around to face me.
Boone had removed his cowboy hat and was doing his usual finger-brushing to repair his permanent case of hat head. The thick golden locks were still attractive, even if they’d been pressed into a hat all day.
The man was gorgeous no matter what condition he was in.
“Errand boy,” I said as nonchalantly as I could. “I think? Or maybe gopher. What do you call it out here? Probably something cattle themed.”
Instead of taking a seat behind the desk, he moved right in front of me to prop a hip on the heavy wooden surface. It meant he was suddenly looming over me, and I could see the purplish bruises of sleepless nights under his eyes. My heart slowed to a different kind of beat, the kind where I wanted to reach out and run a soft thumb under his eyes and beg him to let someone else take the wheel for a while so he could rest.
That was the whole point of asking Tyler to come work at the ranch—to take some of the pressure off Boone. I still didn’t understand what I’d done wrong.
Boone crossed his arms in front of his chest, placing those sexy, muscled, and tanned forearms right in front of my eyes. I stared at the golden hairs and couldn’t help but imagine the rough feel of them under my fingers.
“Do you have any idea who you offered a job to?” There was an edge to his voice, and it caused my back to bristle.
“Yes, his name is Tyler. He’s eighteen and has experience. What’s the problem?” I added defensively. “We’re desperately shorthanded. You said so yourself last night, and Jed won’t stop talking about it.”
He took a breath as if trying to rein in his anger before speaking to a toddler. “His name is Tyler Hosser. His father, Walt, owns the ranch down the road, and to say we aren’t on good terms would be an understatement. There’s history there, and suffice to say, me hiring on his boy is a surefire way to start a war around here.”
