The Barn-Dance

The
Barn-Dance
by Camryn Rhys

Breathless Press

Calgary, Alberta

www.breathlesspress.com

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or

persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

The Barn-Dance

Copyright© 2011 Camryn Rhys

ISBN: 978-1-926930-44-2

Cover Artist: Dara England

Editor: Clarissa Yip

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in reviews.

Breathless Press

www.breathlesspress.com

This book is dedicated to my amazing editor,
Clarissa Yip,
without whom Leo’s story would never have come to fruition;
to my critique partners and my family,
who always believed in me; and to my grandma,
whose recipe Leo uses to snare his true love.

Chapter One

Mindy Edwards binned the last of the buns and swore. This was the absolute last time she would pretend to be a housewife. Another four hours of work in the trashcan, and nothing to show for it.

If she served store-bought bread one more time, the boss might have her hide. And she quite liked her hide, thanks very much.

“You just threw out another batch?” The deep voice from behind her sent chills up her spine. Not the kind of chills that made her afraid for her life. At least not in the strictest sense.

Mindy didn’t need to turn around to know it was Leo Fortiss, who was supposed to be out at the Stackland place, moving cattle. And who looked entirely too appetizing on a normal day. After another culinary failure, caring about her job was at an all-time low, and the temptation might be too much, so she didn’t turn around—just to save her libido.

“Aren’t you supposed to be moving cattle today, Leo?” She noticed blackened bread crumbs and reached for the dishrag.

“Dad left me behind to work on the tractor.” His boots scraped the linoleum as he moved across the big kitchen toward her.

Good God, man, stay away. Cal will skin me and then shoot me if I even contemplate breaking the rules. I need this job.

“Then shouldn’t you be working on the tractor?” she asked, wiping crumbs from the counter.

“Finished.” His voice was closer yet. This kitchen wasn’t big enough for her and Leo to coexist. Cal’s only rule when she took this job: no fraternizing. And pretty much every place her mind headed when Leo was around counted as fraternizing in any country.

He moved to the counter and picked up the pan that had been covered in burnt biscuits. Her peripheral vision filled with white T-shirt, muscled forearms, and tightly Wranglered thighs. One strong hand closed around the edge of the pan and lifted it to reveal another set of charred remains.

“Lordy, girl. You’ve done a job on these today.”

Mindy kept scrubbing the already clean counter. “I’ll be fine.”

Leo turned to face her; the tight bulge of his pants occupied her attention.
D
esire flooded her senses. The quickening of her heartbeat, the promise of a smile, the memory of what lay underneath that dark material—she jerked back to reality.

She whirled to the far wall. The stove and hood should be cleaned. More than that, the bread needed making. And the fantasies about the off-limits boss’s son needed to stop. Post-hasty.

Dammit, Leo. Get the hell out of here so I can work!

“You need help, girl.”

“I don’t need any help. I’m a professional.”

“Dad’s not above firing somebody for what he considers sub-par work.” Leo’s voice, laced with concern, made her angry and hot all at once.

“I am not doing sub-par work.” Okay, that was a lie. She’d been doing sub-par work since her first day on the job, and everyone knew it.
Suddenly, he was behind her, practically cupping her body with his. The heat of him, his scent—dark and musky, like the outdoors—overwhelmed her. In a summertime kitchen, the long-firing oven already slicking her with sweat, he managed to make her even hotter. And wetter. Just by standing close.
God.

“I’m tellin’ ya, Min, he’s on his last nerve.” His hand stilled her cleaning. The heat of his skin made her gasp.

Leo’s voice dropped, his hot breath tickling the back of her ear. “If you cut corners again, he’s gonna make some calls.”

God, if Cal called her last job, she’d get fired for sure. Her old boss, Randy, was a horny jackass she refused to sleep with, but Cal wouldn’t know that. And when Randy tells Cal she couldn’t even work a mixer, she’d be toast.
Why in the hell couldn’t she find a job she was good at?
Her body went slack and fell against his. Only for a second, but still long enough that her stomach tightened with desire. He was all hard muscles and strong promises, and she wanted to melt into him all over again.
Get ahold of yourself. You’ve gotta get this bread made now.
Only four hours until the rest of the crew got back.

She stood straight again.
Mustn’t lean on Leo. Can’t count on a cowboy.

Mindy crossed to the refrigerator, trying to escape Leo’s body heat and her response to him. It was distracting enough to have his hard body across the table at dinner, but in her kitchen? Not acceptable. “I don’t know what to do, Leo. I can’t cook, and everyone on this ranch knows it. I might as well just pack my bags.”

Leo caught her hand. He tugged hard enough that she couldn’t resist and came to face him at last. “I have a proposition for you.”

God, he was sin on a stick. Just an inch or two taller than her, their bodies fit together like a hand in a glove. And every one of his seventy inches was packed with solid muscle. Not the kind you get from lifting weights, but the kind you get from an honest day’s work. Top it off with the hard lines of a Fortiss face, piercing brown eyes, and a tousled mass of light brown hair, and you could spell… shit, you could spell anything.

Plus, since she got hired last week, he’d started to sport a shadow of facial hair again. That was her weakness, especially on him. Always had been.

“I’m not sure I want you to proposition me.”

The sexy curl of his lips told her he didn’t miss the innuendo in that one. Instead of looking rejected, Leo actually looked challenged. He always rose to a challenge.

“It’s not that kind of proposition, Min.”

She pulled her hand away, just as he tightened his grip. “I don’t want a repeat of history, Leo. If you can think of a way for me not to get fired, then I’d love to hear it. But if not, then just leave me to fail spectacularly on my own.”

“I’ll help you with the bread. And I can teach you a trick or two in the kitchen.” He may have ended the sentence, but the rise in his voice suggested more.

“But?”

There was that smile again. The one that said he had plans for her. She’d seen it before, and as her insides melted, knew she would be doing whatever he asked of her. She’d been in love with him once, all those years ago, and she thought she was over him, but his proximity and unspoken promises made her hot in all the right places.

“There’s no ‘but’. Well, not yet, anyway.”

She crossed her arms. “So there’s a condition?”

A bright smile tugged at the corners of his eyes. “A man has needs, Mindy.”

Memories of a past long-buried flashed in her mind. He’d talked about his needs then, too. Before the undressing and kissing and naked bodies in the hayloft. Before she’d offered more than he wanted. “We will
not
be doing that.”

Leo’s mouth tightened, and his eyes flared momentarily—another challenge. “I meant social needs.” He leaned back, crossing one booted foot over the other and hands gripping the clean counter. “As it happens, I need to take someone to the Barn Dance tomorrow night, and you’re…well, here.”

The Barn Dance. She’d forgotten all about that. Was it August already? Of course all the Fortiss men would go to the Barn Dance. The whole county would be there, and to have the most prominent ranching family missing would be a slight even Cal wouldn’t tolerate. But the last thing Mindy wanted was to be gossip fodder. “Every girl in this town wants to take you to that dance. You don’t need to ask the only one who doesn’t.”

His quick indrawn breath and slow frown told her she could have been a little nicer in her refusal. She hit home, maybe too close.

“I don’t want to take someone who’ll read something into it.” He shrugged, his lips pursing. “I figure since we have history that neither of us wants to relive, you’d be safe. You wouldn’t expect anything from me.”

Mindy didn’t respond. She was too busy remembering the heat of his mouth against her own, and the unmistakable scent of his skin. He still smelled like a rainy afternoon, at all times of the day. But no amount of good smell or good kissing—hell, even great kissing—could make up for their history.

“You could always take your chances, maybe get fired, and send me to a little old dance on my own.” He pushed off the counter and breezed past her. “Your choice. I’ll be out in the shop if you change your mind.”

***

Leo didn’t like seeing Mindy every day. Sure, she was gorgeous, in that city girl kinda way, with her highlighted hair and too-fancy-for-the-kitchen clothes.

Who in God’s name wore high heels in the kitchen?

Okay, yeah, it was hot. But not exactly practical. And definitely not the way to impress his dad, even though it made all the other cowboys want to come in at the end of the day just to get a look at her sweet ass wiggling as she ferried back and forth to the kitchen. Truth be told, he wanted her to go to the dance with him just to protect her from those leering jackasses. And he was a little surprised that none of them had asked her yet, although they were probably terrified of a woman that gorgeous.

Who wouldn’t be? He’d been intimidated by her beauty all those years ago, and even after she’d said yes, he was still a little hesitant. Of course, the fact that this was his dad’s ranch, and maybe someday would be his, made him feel a little more confident than he had been as a nineteen year old.

Leo picked up a trail about halfway out to the shop. Max and Slave, his dad’s Australian Shepherds, didn’t approach the house, but fell into step somewhere outside a hundred yard perimeter, like little kids who’d been caught doing something bad and nipped at your heels to redirect your attention.

He looked toward the chicken coop, but no fresh holes were immediately visible. Past that, the new tree line rose in front of the near field. Their dirty paws said they’d probably been digging somewhere. Maybe one of the new trees needed some attention.

The big shop door was open, and Leo mentally kicked himself. If his dad had come back and found that open, he would have gotten a tongue lashing. Of course, if he hadn’t heard Mindy swearing at the top of her lungs, he never would have abandoned the fragile doors to any wind that might come up.

He should have known she’d turn him down. It was stupid to try. But he was damn good in the kitchen. He could sure help her out, if she’d just let him.

Why he cared so much about her, he’d never…oh, who was he kidding? Everyone knew he was crazy about Melinda Edwards. In fact, his dad had asked him if he was sure it was okay to hire her, seeing as how the whole town knew about her breaking his heart when she ran off to the coast.

If he’d said
I love you
back, maybe it would have been different. Maybe she wouldn’t have left. Maybe they’d still be in this kitchen. Only married. Naked. Fucking.

He could picture every inch of her smooth skin under those uptight clothes and designer heels. Just being around her made his blood boil. He was lucky he hadn’t gotten an erection right there in the kitchen. Her body bending against his still hit all the right places. That soft little ass of hers nestled into his groin and reminded him of why he’d waited for her the first time. She fit him like his own saddle.

Since the tractor was fixed, he was gonna have to come up with something to do before Dad called and asked if he was done. Because if he
was
done, what the hell was he doing hanging around the yard when there was work to do? Maybe he could go out and check those trees.

Leo pulled the Quonset doors closed and latched them together with the bungee cord, then called the dogs. They yipped around his legs as he trudged out to the tree line, and he inspected the trees one at a time, looking for the hole.

“All right, guys, where’d you dig this time?” he asked Max and Slave, scanning the trees. He bent to check the drip line when he heard clipping behind him as her fancy shoes made quick contact with the rocky soil.

He’d given her just enough time to weigh the options.

“You know dogs can’t talk back, right?”

“Haven’t you heard?” Leo stood and clapped his hands on his jeans, then turned to face Mindy. “I’m the Dog Whisperer.”

She crossed her arms and thrust one hip out. The pressure of her arms below her pert breasts made the pink fabric of her top strain against her aroused nipples. He could see the outline of her bra, so she must have been pretty turned on for them to stand at attention like that. His heartbeat quickened. He was gonna get hard, he could feel it.

Her plump lips pursed then parted. “Look, I’ll take you up on your offer on one condition.”

Please don’t say anything about sex, Melinda. Please.
One good mental picture, and his erection would be inevitable.

“What’s that?”

“Just the dance. And just one lesson. You teach me how to make the bread today; I’ll go to the dance
only
tomorrow. No dinner, no movie, no…bedroom. Just the dance. And then we’re done.”

How like her to put him at arm’s length. She’d done it the first time they were together, and she was doing it again. But it didn’t matter this time. He wasn’t going to try to sleep with her, anyway. “I’m still gonna work here on Monday, Min.”

“Don’t change the subject.” Her shoulders rose with a deep breath, and the attentive nipples moved under the practically sheer material of her cotton shirt. She didn’t even have to say sex. His mind went there of its own volition.

Leo turned around and knelt at the base of the tree. Sure, it was more uncomfortable for his growing erection to be crushed against his leg like this, but he needed to be doing something. And not looking at Mindy’s face while he stretched his Wranglers.

“Fine,” he said.

“Good. Now, can you help me with this bread?”

The soft purr of her voice increased the discomfort of his position as his mind filled with visions of her naked body, her ecstasy thrumming through him as it once had—too long ago.

“Just give me a minute to…finish this.” He patted the damp earth at the base of the tree, hoping she didn’t know enough about drip lines to know he was bluffing.

Mindy put a hand on her hip and raised her eyebrows. “I’ll just wait.”