Learnin' The Ropes (30 page)

Gently, he grasped her chin in his hand and turned her to face him. “That isn’t all I told him, Lexi Jo. He was quite persistent in getting the answer he wanted.”

“What answer was that?”

“If I plan on sticking around.”

“What did you tell him?” Lexi asked, afraid of the answer.

“That I’m staying here as long as you’ll let me.” Ty slid his arms around Lexi, picking her up and settling her across his lap. She looped her hands around his neck and studied him.

Everything in him wanted to confess he was in love with her, but he wasn’t ready to voice that exciting and somewhat frightening revelation.

“Then you can stay forever.” She kissed him on his chin, his jaw, and his neck.

“Lexi, I honestly have good intentions. I want to be the best mechanic you’ll ever know, to be a valuable employee, and to be a friend you can count on and trust,” Ty said, watching her nod in agreement. “All my good intentions fly right out the window when I look at you. You are so beautiful that I have a hard time remembering my name, let alone anything else when we’re together. Just like now. You feel so good in my arms. You taste like the most wonderful nectar ever created, and your scent fills my senses.”

Enchanted by his words, she remained silent. No one had ever said anything that sounded so romantic and wonderful to her before. Her heart was completely wrapped up in the strong, dangerously handsome man holding her close in his arms. She didn’t want to think about anything except how right it felt to be this close to him.

“I’d really like to take you on a date, Lexi. I think that would be a good first step in seeing where this would go. Let’s do something normal couples would do. Will you go out with me Friday night?” Before common sense got the better of him, he blurted out the question.

“You mean a real leave-the-ranch kind of date?” Suddenly, she wanted more than anything to go with Ty on a date.

“Yeah, a real date.” He pulled Lexi closer, hoping he wouldn’t have to work too hard to convince her. If she turned him down, he wasn’t sure his heart or ego would ever recover.

“I’d love to go on a date with you.” She hugged him then kissed his cheek. “What time should I be ready?”

“Well, if my slave-driving boss will let me off a little early, we could leave at five.” Ty shot her a mischievous grin.

“I think she might be persuaded to let you off early, but don’t tell anyone.” Flirtatiously, she batted her eyelashes at him. “She wouldn’t want the rest of the crew to think she was playing favorites.”

“How much persuading does she need?” His lips brushed hers.

“A lot more than that, buckaroo.” She pushed against his chest until Ty fell back on the quilt. When she was flush against him, she kissed his jaw, leisurely making her way to his lips.

“Like this?” He flipped over so he was on top of Lexi. Fiery kisses tailed across her neck, proceeded to her ear, and ended with a scorching exchange that blew Lexi’s mind. Never, in her twenty-nine years, had she been kissed quite so deeply, passionately or thoroughly.

“Just like that,” she rasped when she could once again speak. “You can definitely leave early Friday, if you promise another kiss like that is involved.”

Ty grinned. “If that’s the boss’s orders, then I have no choice but to oblige her do I?”

“Nope,” Lexi said with a wink. “I think we better head back in, though.”

Instead of rising to his feet, he buried his face in her hair. She heard him groan, felt his struggle to do what was right. Finally, he lightly kissed her lips, stood, and pulled her up with him.

“I think we’ve let things go far enough for the afternoon,” Ty said with a wicked grin. He bent down and picked up the quilt and Lexi helped him fold it. He carried it in one hand while he held her hand in the other.

They strolled across the pasture, enjoying the beautiful day and each other.  Halfway to the fence, the ground trembled. The sound of something pounding and huffing came from behind them. Swiftly turning,  they both looked with wide eyes as one of the bulls raced full tilt toward them.

Lexi tightened her grip on Ty’s hand as made a mad dash for the fence.

“What did you do?” Lexi asked as they ran.

“Me? I didn’t do anything except come out to see you.” Panic seized him as he measured the distance to the fence and calculated the bull overtaking them before they reached it. The crazed bovine moved a lot faster than Ty would have thought possible.

“How did the bull get in here?” Lexi asked, running as fast as she could, keeping stride with Ty’s long legs.

“Didn’t Swede say something yesterday about moving the bulls around?” Vaguely, he recalled a conversation from breakfast the previous day.

“I completely forgot.” Lexi said. Her thoughts were so muddled with Ty, she was starting to forget important details. Like dangerous bulls. “I’m sorry.”

“No biggie.” Near the fence, he poured on a burst of speed. Before Lexi could climb over, Ty swept her up and over the pole fence along with the quilt. He centered his hand on the top pole and vaulted over it a second before the bull slammed on the brakes and slid into the fence, making it rock.

The momentum from their run carried them several yards before Ty bent over with his hands on his knees and drew in gulps of air. Lexi dropped the quilt and sat on it, trying to catch her breath and calm her quaking limbs.

“That was close,” she finally said, looking up at Ty.

“You think?” A teasing glint brightened his blue eyes. “That was a little too close, babe.”

“Where’s your sense of adventure?” Lexi teased from her seat on the quilt, squinting at him as the sun shone in her face.

“Right here.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her with a ruthless intensity that she easily matched. Adrenaline and longing coursed through them, setting their hearts into a matching wild rhythm.

It took both hands to hang onto his last little speck of sense, but he finally set Lexi down, picked up the quilt, and tugged her toward the house.

He glanced down at her with a cocky grin. “I think after all that, you need to feed me dinner.”

“Is that so?” She cast a flirty look his way.

“That is so.” Playfully, he swatted her bottom. “Let’s call it hazard pay.”

Lexi laughed. “We’ll both cook. You grill the steaks and I’ll do the rest.”

“Deal.” After dropping a kiss to her cheek, they continued to the house.

Gratitude filled him as he thought of the fence Cal and Keith recently finished rebuilding. At the time, he wondered why it needed to be so tall and stout. Now he knew.

Ty was helping Lexi finish the dinner dishes when a knock sounded at the back door followed by a “hallo in the house,” from Swede.

“Come on in, Swede,” Lexi called, putting away the last clean dish while Ty hung the dishtowel on a rack to dry.

Ty and Lexi watched Swede enter accompanied by a tall, attractive woman with white hair, sparkling brown eyes, and a warm smile.

“Howdy,” Swede said, grinning from ear to ear.

“Hey, Swede. Did you enjoy your day off?” Lexi asked as Swede dragged the woman further into the kitchen.

“I sure did. Made a trip to Boise today,” Swede said, sweeping off his hat. “This here is my sister, Janice. Everyone calls her Jan. Sis this is Lex Ryan, the boss, and thet feller with the dishpan hands is Ty, the best mechanic I’ve ever met.”

“Hello, Jan,” Lexi said, extending her hand to Swede’s sister. While Ty shook her hand, Lexi took a moment to study the older woman. A faint family resemblance existed between Jan and Swede. “Welcome to the Rockin’ R Ranch. Are you going to be visiting Swede for a while?”

“Well, I’m not…”

“Actually, Jan ain’t here to visit me.” Nervous, Swede twisted the brim of his hat in his hand.

Ty watched the ranch foreman with interest. It was one of the few times he’d seen the man uneasy.

“Oh, well…” Lexi started to say, but Swede interrupted.

“I fetched her to be yer housekeeper. She can do the job with her eyes closed and ya got to have some help before we hit high tide with summer comin’. The boys ain’t got time to mess with cookin’ and cleanin’ and ya said yerself ya didn’t have time to keep chasin’ down help thet won’t stay. Jan will stay with me in my house and it’ll be dandy.”

Lexi wasn’t sure what to think or say. It wasn’t like Swede to just spring things — employees — on her, but she was tired of searching for a housekeeper and they did need the help.

“So, Jan, do you have experience housekeeping and cooking?” Lexi wanted a little background on the woman before she agreed to Swede’s plan.

“I wed at eighteen and had five babies by the time I was twenty-five, so I know a bit about keeping a house orderly. I had to with my brood. My husband and I opened a restaurant and ran it successfully for twenty-seven years. His illness forced the sale of the business and when he passed away last year, it left me with too much time on my hands,” Jan said, looking fondly at her brother. “So when this rascal said you needed my services, I decided to jump into a new adventure. I’ve never lived on a ranch before, but Swede tells me I’ll adjust just fine.”

“You aren’t the only one getting used to living on a ranch,” Lexi said, pointing at Ty. “This one had never even seen a cow up close until he moved here in February.”

“It appears I’m in good company, then,” Jan said with a warm smile Ty’s direction. “Growing up in Seattle, Francis knew from the time he was old enough to talk that he wanted to be a cowboy. While other little boys got paper routes and played baseball, this one practiced learning to walk, talk and live like a cowboy. He left home the day after he graduated from high school and has been living his dream since.”

“Francis?” Ty mouthed, shooting Swede a devilish look.

Swede glared at him and shook his head.

“So there’s hope for me yet,” Ty commented with a broad grin. He tucked away Swede’s real name for later tormenting purposes.

“You already knew that,” Lexi said, squeezing Ty’s arm. The rock-hard strength of his bicep unsettled her, but she turned her attention back to Jan.  “Is there anything I can do to help you settle in?”

“No, Swede helped me move my few things into his spare room already. I was staying with my daughter in Boise and didn’t have a lot to bring along. I would be happy to start in the morning if that would be satisfactory.”

“If you feel up to it, that would be great.” Lexi relayed the times she’d like to see breakfast and dinner served. “After breakfast, we can go over the job details, if that sounds good to you.”

“That would be fine,” Jan said, as she looked around the beautiful kitchen. “So I’ll be serving meals here?”

“Oh, no,” Lexi said with a laugh, imagining the discomfort that would bring the hands. They all behaved as if they tread on sacred ground anytime they needed to come in the house. Swede and Ty were the only two that acted normal when they were there. “Meals will be served in the bunkhouse. It has a full kitchen and we can work on a grocery list tomorrow.”

“Very well,” Jan said, glancing at Ty. “Do all the hands join you for Sunday dinner here?”

“No. The hands have Sundays off, so that would include you as well,” Lexi said, reaching for Ty’s hand and meshing their fingers together. “This guy thinks he gets special privileges.”

“I see,” Jan said, even though she didn’t. Although the tall mechanic, as Swede referred to him, looked like any other wickedly handsome cowboy, she wondered what the relationship was between him and the boss.

“Well, let’s head back to the house, sis,” Swede said, escorting his sister to the door and settling his hat on his head. “Thanks, boss, for givin’ this a try.”

“Sure, Swede. You haven’t steered me wrong yet,” Lexi said then looked pointedly at Ty, giving him a wink.

“I’ll walk with you.” Ty needed to say good night before he and Lexi got involved in more kissing that would lead to places they really shouldn’t go.

“Night,” Lexi said, waving at Swede and Jan before kissing Ty’s cheek.

“Night, babe. Thanks for dinner and a great afternoon,” Ty whispered, then followed Swede and Jan out the door.

“Well, Ty, you are the mechanic and also are learning to be a cowboy?” Jan asked as they walked across the yard, enjoying the pleasant evening weather.

“That’s right, ma’am,” Ty said.

“And you’ve only been at this since February?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Well, you seem to be a very fast learner,” Jan said with a smile.

Ty nodded his head in thanks and bid both Swede and Jan a pleasant evening as he went on to the bunkhouse. After doing his laundry, he called Beth and caught her up on what had happened in the last few days, including the bull chasing him across the pasture.

“What were you two doing in the pasture, anyway? I would think you would have noticed him before he got that close,” Beth said.

“We were… um… a little… um,” Ty stammered.

“You were what? Tyler Jaxton Lewis, what have you done!” Beth used the tone that always let him know he was in trouble.

“I haven’t done anything, exactly,” Ty said. His hand plowed a furrow through his hair and he released a sigh. “We were just kissing.”