Between Two Sisters (contemporary western romance novella) (3 page)

Billy studied the herd of cattle off in the distance. Mr. Haffner wanted him to spend tomorrow examining, and repairing if needed, the miles of fencing on the far side of the property. He would spend his first official day of work out in the fields in the fresh air, riding the fenced boundary. He looked forward to the solitude he would find out there, working alone, far from the bustle of the ranch.

He tore his eyes from the fields afar and turned his attention back to Melanie just in time to catch her st
aring at him. She averted her gaze quickly, but he didn’t miss the blaze of color that rose to her cheeks when he caught her gaping at him.

A truck coming up the dirt road saved her from further embarrassment. It slid to a stop a few hu
ndred yards away from them. Cass jumped out of the passenger’s side and gave a little wave to the man driving.

“Cass? What are you doing out here?” Melanie asked.

“I feel like riding today,” she shrugged as she approached Gobie. “Scoot back,” she commanded Billy, and before he could respond, she grasped the horse’s mane and used it to swing herself up into the saddle, so she was sitting right in front of him.

“Maybe you should have tacked up your
own
horse,” Melanie scolded her. Billy thought he detected a hint of jealousy in her voice.

“Nope, I’m good,” her sister shot back at her. She grabbed the reins from Billy and shot him an amused grin. “I suggest you hang on; I like to ride fast.” Without any further warni
ng, she wheeled Gobie around towards the frog pond meadow and gave him a sharp kick. Billy steadied himself in the saddle and reached around Cass to grab the saddle horn. He didn’t want to put his hands on her, though it was tempting. He threw a quick look over his shoulder and saw Melanie sitting on her horse, watching them ride away. His heart sank when he realized she wasn’t following them, and part of him was angry at Cass for hijacking what had been a pleasant afternoon.

-3-

Cass urged the horse on, faster and faster, and her blonde locks blew back into Billy’s face. She smelled of fresh hay and newly turned soil, and he inhaled deeply before feeling a pang of shame for having lustful thoughts for her. But then he realized there was nothing to be ashamed about. She had been little pesky Cass when he was a boy, but now they were both adults, and everything had changed.

He acted on his urge before he could chicken out and removed his hand from the saddle horn. He wrapped his arm around her waist, resting his palm against the soft, warm skin of her abdomen.
She smirked at him over her shoulder and slowed Gobie down to a fast walk. For a moment Billy worried she had slowed down to tell him to take his hands off of her, but to his surprise, she pushed back further in the saddle so that her bottom was flush against his crotch. He inhaled sharply as he scrambled to think about something else, anything else besides the feel of her against his most intimate parts.

She directed Gobie to the small stream that cut through the meadow and carefully dismounted.

“Enjoy the ride?” she asked him with a devilish grin. From his vantage point atop the horse, Billy had a clear view of the top of her creamy breasts, and the red paisley bra holding them. He cleared his throat and forced his eyes elsewhere, to a tree in the distance.

“I suppose.” No, this was not the pesky Cass he grew up with. This Cass was all woman, and bold in a way he found disarming. She knew what she wanted and she no longer had to whine to try to get it.

“Relax, Billy, I won’t bite,” she joked. He stared at her dumbly. “Aren’t you coming down off of there?”

“Oh. Yeah, sure.” He slid off Gobie and stood awkwardly beside her in the grass.

“So,” she twirled a strand of her hair around her finger as she spoke, “I hope Melanie didn’t bore you to death today. I swear, she’s worse than my mother sometimes!”

Billy’s mouth
fell open in surprise and he rushed to defend her. “She wasn’t boring at all; we had a nice ride, actually.”

Cass just shrugged. “I heard you two had gone out riding, and I decided to come recue you. Aren’t you glad I did?”
She winked at him boldly.

Billy considered his options quickly.
Any other time, in any other place, a hot young thing like her coming onto him would have been well received. He’d wine and dine her, sleep with her, then toss her to the side. It wouldn’t be his original intention, but once he conquered her and realized she had little going for her to keep him interested besides her looks, his attention would wane quickly. But that wasn’t an option here. This was Cass, and this was the Haffner ranch.

“I’m not a little girl anymore, Billy.” She pouted prettily and he cursed himself for noticing how good her plump lips looked when she did it. “I turned twenty a few months back.”

He nodded but didn’t answer her. What was he supposed to say to that? This blonde bombshell was making it very hard to resist her. She was sex in a pair of cowboy boots, and now she had announced that she was old enough for him to sleep with. He shifted nervously from foot to foot, his eyes downcast as his heart hammered in his chest. It was a horrible thing, being torn between his growing lust for Cass, and his desire to respect the Haffner family.

“Cass, I…”

“What? Do you have a girlfriend you left behind or something?” She narrowed her eyes at him as she waited for his reply.

“No, it’s not that. I…I just don’t think we should get involved with each other like that.
I’m not looking for a relationship right now.” He tried to let her down gently, and prayed his expression didn’t reflect how conflicted he felt inside about it.

She laughed at his awkwardness, though not unkindly. “
Who said anything about a relationship? Why, Billy Forester, you’re not a fourteen-year-old boy anymore, and I’m not a seven-year-old-girl. We’re both adults here. There’s nothing wrong with a little tryst between two consulting adults, now is there?”

“Cass,” he sighed
as he removed his hat and ran his fingers through his hair with frustration. “You’re a beautiful woman; you really are. I’m pretty sure you already know that already! But your father is my
boss
! We can’t just sleep together like a one-night stand; it’ll get too messy. We have to see each other all the time, and that could get awkward fast.”

She rested her hands on her hips and studied him. He met her gaze and tried to push out of his mind how much her green eyes resembled Melanie’s.

“It’s her, isn’t it?”

“What?”

“You’ve got a thing for Melanie. I didn’t get it when we were young, but looking back now, you were crushing on her
baaaaad
. And you still are, after all this time.” Her eyes danced with anger. “I got some news for you, Billy-boy…your precious Melanie’s seeing the ranch manager, Marty.”

“I know,” he answered quietly. He didn’t even try to deny what she said. She was too sharp a girl to buy his lies, so he didn’t even bother.

“Oh, so you know already? How much time do you plan to spend mooning over her, then?”

He had no reply to that, but in his own mind, he knew she was right. He had to let go of Melanie.

“Well. If you come to your senses, you let me know. You and I,” she leaned closer, placed one graceful hand against his chest, and dropped her voice to a whisper, “could have
a lot
of fun together.”

He had come to the ranch prepared to accept it if Melanie wasn’t there anymore, or if she had married, but never had it crossed it mind that he’d have to resist Cass.
She had barely crossed his mind, and now here she was, throwing herself at him.

“We have to get back,” he mumbled, gently removing her hand from his chest. The primal man inside of him wanted to lay her down in the grass and rip those pesky buttons off her shirt one by one with his teeth before he moved onto other things. But luckily, his civilized side won out.

“Fine,” she answered curtly, and she hopped back in the saddle without further comment. Billy climbed carefully up behind her, careful to leave an appropriate amount of space between them. It was hard to avoid contact with her, when they were sharing a saddle built for one.

Silently
, Cass turned Gobie back towards the ranch. They didn’t speak as the horse ambled back the way they had come. He couldn’t see her face, but Billy could feel the anger and hurt radiating off of her. He bit his lip with frustration. He hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings, but messing around with each other could lead to so many complications between them. He hadn’t worried about it with Melanie, because in his heart, he knew she was the one for him. It turned out it was all a moot point anyway; no need to worry about complicating his work life by dating Melanie, since she was already spoken for. But Cass was a different story. Her sexy demeanor and interest in him had blindsided him.

He tried to smooth thing over with her when they arrived back at the barn, but Cass would have none of it. She slid off the horse and tossed the reins to him before stomping off to her truck. She slammed the door, started it up and peeled out. Billy watche
d her speeding down the drive back towards the ranch house with great concern.

A man chuckled from the barn doorway. “I’d stay away from that one, if I were you,” he cautioned Billy.

“What do you mean?”

“That Cassandra’s a hellcat, I tell you.
I’ve seen enough good ranch hands fired after tangling with her. She’s all woman, ‘til she’s done with you, then she turns into your executioner.”

“
Cass
?” Billy asked as he dismounted.

“Yup, Cass. She’
s used her feminine wiles more than once to take down the men around here, and I’m betting you’re next on her list. I’m just saying, man… keep your pants on around that one!”

Billy’s heart hurt for her. She clearly had a reputation f
or sleeping around with the staff, then causing them trouble afterwards. He thanked his lucky stars he hadn’t allowed anything to happen between them, out in the meadow.

“I’
m Ramiro, by the way.” The man extended his hand and Billy shook it.

“Billy Forester.”

“I heard. New assistant manager here. Congratulations! Let me tell you a few things about this place: Mr. Haffner’s a fair guy, just don’t screw with him and he’ll treat you straight. Marty gives as good as he gets, so put in an honest day’s work and he’ll treat you right, but slack off and there’ll be hell to pay.” Billy decided that he liked Ramiro immediately. His assessment of Mr. Haffner was spot on, and he respected that the man had offered up no complaints about his workplace. In the past, he had come across too many other ranch hands eager to fill him in on the faults and weaknesses of an employer, and he discovered with time that people like that weren’t ones he cared to develop a friendship with. Best to stick with the straight shooters, and Ramiro struck him as such.

“I’ll put him away for you, if you like,” he offered. “I heard you just got in today, and I imagine you’ve got a lot to do before you start working tomorrow.”

“Thanks, that would be great. It’s going to be quite a walk back to the cabins!”

“Walk to the cabins?” Ramiro scoffed. “No need to waste such time, my good man.” He tossed a set of keys to Billy, who managed to catch them in spite of the unexpected move. “Take one of the Gators out back; just be sure to bring it back in the morning.”

“Thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Most likely,” Ramiro shrugged.

Billy walked around the barn and found half a dozen Gators lined up there. He hopped into the nearest little utility vehicle and started it up. Ramiro was right; driving a Gator home sure beat walking.

Back at his little cabin, he decided to take a quick shower and grab something to eat before unpacking. He found a note taped to his refrigerator.

Billy, Just picked you up a few things to get you started. Hope it’s all things you like. Mrs. H

He shook his head with disbelief as he opened the fridge and the cupboards to see what she had bought for him. There were crackers, cookies,
cereal, peanut butter, coffee, and bread in the cupboard, and the fridge held milk, soda, juice, various lunch meats and cheeses, and some fruits and vegetables, as well as a few condiments. A peek into the freezer revealed some frozen pizzas, chicken, beef and pork chops.

“That woman thinks of everything,” he chuckled, touched by her thoughtfulness and generosity. Judging by the amount of food she bought for him, he wouldn’t have to shop for at least a week, if not longer.

Under the hot spray of his shower, Billy tried to put to rest his confusion about the Haffner sisters. Melanie- was she really giving him mixed signals? There were times when he thought he felt something from her, a mutual longing, and he was confident she felt the same spark between them when she held his hand to get up off the ground. But she was Marty’s girl, and that made her strictly off limits. He could only hope that they’d break up sometime soon, but it didn’t seem likely. She claimed they were happy together. But then why had he caught her staring at him in that way when they were out riding?

Cass. Cass was a pin-up girl brought to li
fe, and she was feisty. He loved a challenge. But Ramiro warned that she was trouble, and he believed it. He’d have to be steadfast in listening to his head instead of his libido, in order to stay out of trouble with that one.