Page 7 of Guys Like Him

“After you rinse your dishes and put them in the dishwasher,” Harry said on her way out of the kitchen, a caddy full of cleaning supplies in her hand.

They carried their dishes to the kitchen once they finished. Kieran rinsed, and Cash stacked them in the dishwasher. They returned the butter, jellies, and soup to the refrigerator, and Cash tucked the honey away in the cabinet.

“Would you like a change of clothes before we start the tour? It’s chilly for shorts and flip-flops. I provide your work clothes to you. We keep an excellent selection of styles and sizes available in the general store.”

“General store?” Kieran asked.

“It’s basically a storage building where we keep clothing and boots for the employees. Ivan, my foreman, once referred to it as shopping at the general store, and the moniker stuck. There’s no charge for the items there, and I will give you an advance on your first check so you can buy any personal hygiene supplies you want from a store in town. Would you prefer to start the tour at the general store and get a change of clothes?”

Kieran glanced down at his sole possessions. “I’m fine in this.”

Cash shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

The ranch was a hive of activity. Cash greeted every person by name, and they responded with a nod or hat tip. Kieran easily recognized the ones who’d served time, though they looked less weary and feral than he felt. He didn’t bother committing the names of the buildings or people to memory. No distractions. No attachments.

“There are quite a few entry-level jobs on the ranch. Try them all to see which is the best fit, but I think you’d make a great fit in our horse barn,” Cash said as they neared the biggest structure on the property. Once inside, Kieran could see why it was so large. It had dozens of stalls toward the front and a vast arena in the back. Each stall door was open, and a wagon piled high with manure and dirty bedding sat in the middle of the aisle. Several unopened bags of shavings and soft wood pellets dotted the stretch of concrete.

“You want me to work with horses?” Kieran asked. “Why?”

“Animals are drawn to you,” Cash replied, gesturing to Patsy, who’d never been more than two feet away from Kieran since he’d arrived. “We have rescue horses who are skittish after being abused, much like the dogs you worked with in the program.”

“Why not work with the dogs?” Kieran asked.

“The kennel is fully staffed right now, and Finley could use the help here.”

Kieran opened his mouth to respond just as someone inside the barn sang off-key, tentatively at first but gaining fervor with each verse. He didn’t recognize the lyrics and wasn’t sure he’d identify the voice as human.

Cash chuckled and shook his head as a rake sailed out of the stall and landed on the concrete aisle. “That’s Finley Ashe,” Cash said, raising his voice to be heard over the ruckus. “He’d be your boss. He can’t sing for shit, but he’s pure magic with the horses.”

A blond guy wearing painted-on jeans and a snug black Henley to show off his athletic build stepped out of the stall and jerked to a halt when he saw Cash, the tune dying on his stunning lips. Kieran had seen chiseled cheeks and a square jaw like Finley’s on models in magazines but never in real life. He’d chalked it up to Photoshopping, but that kind of bone structure really existed. Pale green eyes shifted to him and widened. Finley’s mouth parted, drawing Kieran’s attention to a chin dimple just as a soft gasp escaped his lips. Holy shit. The sweet sound unfurled something deep inside Kieran, a pleasure he’d denied himself for nearly two years to focus his full attention on getting retribution. An alarm bell went off in Kieran’s head, warning that this man would threaten his willpower.

“Fin,” Cash said, “come meet Kieran.”

Finley swallowed hard and said, “Hello, Kieran.” His voice had a soft Southern drawl like Harry’s. He stepped forward, and his foot landed on the rake tines. Kieran watched in horror as the handle arced upward and smacked Finley on the forehead with a sickeningthud.

What the hell? Finley blinked a few times to clear his vision, but it still took him a few seconds to realize he was lying flat on his back and staring at the barn rafters. He’d never paid attention to the building’s construction before because his only concern was its four-legged inhabitants and the people who cared for them. Those were some big-ass beams supporting the roof and protecting the precious horses under his care.Why am I on my back? Am I hurt?His head had landed on a bag of shavings he planned to spread in the cleaned stalls. The world around Finley stopped swimming, and he noticed a high-pitched alarm ringing through the barn.Was it a fire?

Panic spiked his blood, making it race through his veins. Finley had to get the horses to safety. But wait… They were already out. He’d been working alone to burn through frustration. His trip to see his mother had only added more stress, and he’d picked up a stupid earworm on the ride back to the ranch. He’d been shoveling shit and singing along with the song playing on an endless loop in his head, andbam! Something had knocked him on his ass, but what? Lightning? That didn’t feel right. Something had rung his bell, not fried his circuits.

Two faces came into view—one Finley knew well, the other he’d like to know better. Both men looked at him with grave concern. Their lips moved, but he couldn’t hear them over the alarm. A fire? He didn’t smell smoke. The ringing seemed closer and not as loud as it had been. Finley realized the ringing was in his ears. He locked his gaze on Cash because the other man stole his breath. Finley already had enough problems to contend with and didn’t want to add a lack of oxygen to the mix. Was he breathing? Finley inhaled deeply, testing to see if his lungs worked adequately. The ringing got quieter, but he still couldn’t make out the words Cash said. His boss looked at the stranger, and Finley couldn’t help shifting his gaze too. Christ, he was gorgeous. Black hair swept over a broad forehead. Dark brows slashed down to form a vee over eyes so dark they looked black. The man stared down at him with naked concern and something else in his gaze. The sexy stranger blinked and erected a shield of indifference, but it was too late. Finley recognized the emotion, and it called to something deep inside him like a lone coyote howling for its pack. Butterflies fluttered in Finley’s stomach, and his blood heated with excitement. But how had he ended up on his back in the barn staring at this beautiful lost boy?

A flash of memory detonated, clearing out his brain fog and reducing the ringing in his ears to a subdued hum. Lightning hadn’t struck, at least not literally. Finley had locked eyes with the sexiest man he’d ever seen, and something inside him had detonated with awhoosh. The smoldering stranger had used a flamethrower to light Finley’s dormant pilot light after a six-month relationship detox. He’d always been a little boy crazy with a habit of falling too hard and too fast and always for the wrong guy. But this was… Finley scrunched up his face as he tried to find the right word to describe his reaction, and that’s when he noticed a dull ache in the center of his forehead.

The entire encounter came flooding back in high definition. Gobsmacked by the newcomer’s beauty, Finley had stepped directly on the muck rake. The handle had flown up and cracked him a good one on the forehead, causing him to stagger back and fall onto the bags of bedding. Humiliation heated his cheeks, and he groaned.

“Finley, are you okay?” Cash’s concerned tone and worried blue eyes signaled his boss had mistaken the sound as a sign of physical distress, not mental anguish. Finley tried to sit up and clear the air, but Cash placed a gentle hand on his shoulder to keep him still. “Kieran, I need you to find Rueben Sanchez for me. He has emergency medical training and can assess Finley for a concussion.”

Finley had rattled his cage pretty well, but he was not concussed. “Not—”

Cash silenced his protest with a gentle squeeze. Finley shifted his gaze to the gorgeous man, who seemed to look right through him with those obsidian eyes. This stunning stranger might just be the most broken boy he’d encountered yet. This guy’s pain hovered over him like a rain cloud, stirring Finley’s protective and baser instincts.Oh, baby, come stand under my umbrella.

“Kieran,” Cash said gently.

Kieran. A beautiful name for a beautiful man. He seemed to shake himself out of a trance at the sound of his name. “Um, yeah. Where would Rueben be?” Cash gave directions to the farrier barn. “Farrier?” Kieran asked.

“He’s a blacksmith who makes and fits the horses with shoes,” Cash explained.

Kieran glanced at Finley once more before nodding at Cash. “I’ll be right back.”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com