Gabe (Men of Clifton Montana Book 2) (2 page)

He rode
his horse hard into the yard, kicking up dust behind him. The horse had sweat
streaming off h
im with the exertion. One of his ranch
hands met him as he rode Dandy in and offered to put the horse up. Gabe needed
a shower too much to deal with Dandy right now so he allowed it. He had a firm
rule that when you ride, you put the horse up and make sure
it has food and water, but he was too damn hot and tired
today. He was the boss so he could change the rules if he needed to. None of
the hands ever questioned him because they respected him, and he was good to
them. They rotated weekends when possible. G
abe took
care of his employees, paid them well and so they worked hard for him. His
brothers were the same with their ranch hands. The small community of Clifton
Montana respected the Stone brothers, and the way they treated their employees
had a lot to do
with earning that respect.

Gabe
strode across the yard, eating up the distance, trying to get out of the
staggering heat. He walked into the cool interior of the old farmhouse and
groaned when the air conditioning hit his hot skin. Hanging his hat on a pe
g, he then pulled out a chair from the kitchen table, sat
down and tugged his boots and socks off. He stood, unsnapped his jeans, and
took them and his boxer briefs off in one full sweep before tossing them into
the basket of dirty clothes. He then strolle
d naked
through the kitchen, into the hallway and up the stairs to his bedroom. The
house was really too large for just one person. It was a home made for a
family. When his father died three years ago, Jake being the oldest had first
choice of taking the
house, but he decided not to and
Gabe, being next in line, took it instead. Each brother inherited eleven
hundred acres of prime land. Jake’s ranch was on the north side of Gabe and
Wyatt’s on the south. The old house originally had six bedrooms, one bath,
a dining room, kitchen, and large living room, which
included a large brick fireplace. Gabe had taken two bedrooms and made them
into one, added a full bath, and installed a fireplace in what was now the
master bedroom. A half bath now took up the space u
nder
the stairs where there once was a closet. He’d done a lot of remodeling on the
old house and he loved every inch of it, but what it really needed was a
family. Once again, Emma’s face popped into his head.

Gabe
headed for his bathroom and turned on th
e shower.
Stepping inside, he cursed through a low growl as the cold water hit his hot
skin. He placed his hands on the cold, wet ceramic tile and dipped his head
under the showerhead. The shower had enough room for ten people with seats
built into it. The
water sluiced over his big body,
washing the dust and dirt off, turning brown as it flowed down the drain. After
getting clean and cooled down, he stepped from the shower and grabbed the
fluffy navy blue towel, which matched the color scheme of the room,
from the towel rack. The top half of the wall was navy blue
with white wainscoting along the bottom. The floor matched the walls with blue
and white marble tiles. A large window brought natural light into the room
along the wall above the huge modern claw
foot tub.

After
toweling off, he wrapped the towel around his waist, swiped his hand across the
steamed up mirror then lathered up his jaw and neck to shave. Of course, he
left his mustache alone. It had been a part of his face for so long he couldn’t
reme
mber what he looked like without it. After he
finished shaving, he walked into the bedroom and pulled on a clean T-shirt and
sweatpants, headed down the stairs barefoot, and entered the kitchen to get
something to eat. The countertops were black marble, wh
ich matched the appliances, including the smooth-top stove with a
built-in black microwave above it. The floor reflected the color scheme in its
large square tiles. A kitchen table sat to the left of the entry door, under a
window with white plantation bli
nds. Gabe made a
sandwich and sat down at the table. He picked up the local paper and skimmed
through it. In a town the size of Clifton, the paper never consisted of more
than four pages. Sighing, he put the paper down. He couldn’t concentrate on
anything
he was reading. Christ! He needed to get
laid. His thoughts went immediately to Emma, making his groin tighten.
Standing, he grabbed a beer from the fridge and headed toward the living room.
Tomorrow he was going to make a trip to town, get laid, and quit
obsessing over little Emma Conner.

* * * *

Emma
Conner stood in the kitchen of the Clifton Bed and Breakfast whisking up batter
for a new cake recipe. She hummed along as the radio played a Luke Bryan song,
her hips swaying back and forth in time with th
e
music. Emma sang the words of the song aloud then spun around when she heard a
snicker. Her employer and friend,
Becca
Daniels, stood in the doorway
with a big grin on her face. “How long have you been standing there?” Emma
narrowed her eyes at her frien
d.

“Long
enough to know Luke has no competition,”
Becca
said with laugh.

Emma
stuck her tongue out at her then laughed too. “Just for that, you don’t get to
taste the new coconut cake I’m working on.”

Becca
gasped. “You wouldn’t dare!”

Emma
bounced her eye
brows up and down trying to express a
maniacal intention, but she laughed when
Becca
put her hands together in prayer
formation. “All right, but if you ever tell anyone about this, you will never
taste another one of my delicious creations.
Deal?”

Becca
bo
bbed her head up and down, and
shook Emma’s hand, sealing the deal. They were chuckling together when Olivia
Roberts walked into the kitchen and raised an inquisitive eyebrow at them. “Did
I miss something?” Olivia asked suspiciously.

Becca
shook her head,
stifling her
grin. “Not a thing.”

“Was
Emma singing again?” Olivia laughed at the looks on their faces. “I’ve heard
you quite a few times,” she said with a shrug. “All I can say is, don’t give up
your day job.”

“I hate
you both,” Emma told them, making Ol
ivia and
Becca
burst out laughing.

The back
door swung open and
Becca’s
fiancé entered the kitchen. Jake
Stone strode directly to the love of his life and kissed her deeply. Then he
kissed Emma and Olivia on their cheeks. “What are you making, Emma?”

“It’s
a secret, a new coconut cake recipe.” Emma gave him a sly
smile.

“I love
coconut. Do I get to sample it when it’s done?” Jake asked hopefully. He smiled
when she responded with a happy nod of her head. She smiled at him then poured
the batter into the cak
e pan before putting it in the
oven. The smile left her face when the back door opened again and Gabe, the
last person she wanted to see, walked into the kitchen. She turned her back to
him. She could do without seeing Gabriel Stone, since he still saw her
as a little girl. What did she have to do to get him to
see her as a woman? Strip naked and parade her body around in front of him? She
mentally shook her head. He’d probably say ‘put your clothes back on, Emma’.
The man was so infuriating.

“What
are you doing here?” Emma heard
Becca
ask Jake.

“I told
you I was bringing the new riding horses over today, Red. You weren’t paying
attention to me, were you?” Jake answered.

“I
always pay attention to you, Stone. What were we doing at the time?”

Ja
ke laughed. “Not saying in front of company, Red.”
Becca
laughed and looped her arm
through his before they walked together out the door.

Emma
turned the timer on the oven and called after Jake and
Becca
. “I want to see the new horses.” Everyone headed for
outside except Olivia. Emma halted and smiled at her.
“Come on, Liv.”

“I see
no reason to go out there and look at an animal I’m terrified of.” Olivia
sniffed.

Emma
laughed and looped her arm through Olivia’s and whispered alongside her
friend’s ear.
“Wyatt’s here.”

Olivia
got a huge grin on her face. “Well, hell Emma. Why didn’t you say so?”

Everyone
walked toward the trailer where Wyatt Stone was unloading the horses. Emma
stopped to talk with
Becca
, feeling Gabe’s eyes on her. She
felt him behind he
r but she refused to turn around.
She heard him grumble as he moved around her to help Wyatt. Why couldn’t she
talk to Gabe the same way she spoke with Jake and Wyatt? For one reason, Jake
and Wyatt didn’t get her all tongue-tied and make her feel klutzy.
Sexy as the other Stone brothers were, it was only Gabe for
her. Emma stood by the corral when she heard Olivia squeal. She ran behind the
trailer and saw Olivia on her knees, hugging a miniature horse. Emma laughed.

“This is
the cutest thing I’ve ever see
n,” Olivia babbled.
Emma watched as Wyatt stopped beside Olivia and shook his head.

“You
can’t ride a horse that small,” Wyatt told her.

“I have
no intention of riding any horse, cowboy, but this little one is just
precious.” Olivia laughed. “I want one.”

Emma
smiled as Wyatt shook his head and led the little horse into the barn. Emma
looked over at Jake. “Why did you get a mini?”

“We
thought it would be a treat for the kids to see. If it goes well, we’ll get
another one,” Jake told her, and then he kissed
Becca
.

“You two
need to get a room.” Emma huffed. They both looked at Emma and grinned.

“I know
a great B and B where we could get a room.” Jake laughed.

“Oh, no
you don’t. I just cleaned the rooms and put clean sheets on the beds. Go home
and mess up your
own sheets,” Emma scolded. “More
guests are arriving later today.”

Becca
laughed and looked at Jake. “I say we go home and mess up
the sheets, Stone.” She looped her arm through his and they walked toward where
they’d parked their individual vehicles, sep
arating
to retrieve their own, and then they drove off one following the other.

Emma was
so very happy for them.
Becca
moved in with Jake after he was
shot during her rescue, refusing to let him out of her sight. The man who had
abducted
Becca
shot him whe
n Jake made himself a target. Olivia and Emma lived at the
B and B now. The mudroom which had been at the back of the house had been
gutted and remodeled into a small apartment, and the housekeeper’s quarters had
been upgraded with a new bathroom, which in
cluded a
bathtub where it once only had a shower. Emma envied
Becca
and Jake their love for each
other, but was truly happy for them. She just wished she had someone in her
life. Her eyes instinctively moved to Gabe and found him watching her. Their
eyes m
et and held. Her breathing faltered when she
saw his eyes wander over her face and linger on her lips, but when his gaze met
hers again, she blushed. His mouth twitched beneath his mustache as he looked
away from her. Emma needed to get away from him and l
ooked
around for Olivia.

“She’s
in the barn with Wyatt,” Gabe said in a quiet voice.

Emma
jerked his way. “What?”

“Olivia.
I assume you’re looking for her. She’s in the barn with Wyatt.
Probably bugging the hell out of him.”
Gabe smiled.

Emma
felt a smile
lift the corners of her lips. “You’re
probably right.” She shook her head. “I don’t understand why he doesn’t like
her.”

Gabe
chuckled. “Oh, I think he likes her all right. He just doesn’t want to.”

“I don’t
understand why not. Liv’s beautiful and he’s not
in
love with Stephanie anymore.”