The Lies Uncovered Trilogy (Books 4, 5, and 6 of The Dancing Moon Ranch Series) (54 page)

"I guarantee
that
will never happen," Annie snapped. "He thinks he's God's gift to women, and I don't like rodeo cowboys."

"If you want to learn about horses you will have to look beyond that."

Annie glanced at Ryan again and saw that he was still watching, though he'd shifted his position and was standing with his arms folded and one shoulder braced against the stable, as if he were there for the duration. Determined to dismiss the unsettling effect he had on her with his constant perusal, she said, "You sound like you're no longer going to teach me how to communicate with horses. If it's because I sometimes act like I'm not listening, I really am."

Boone looked at her soberly. "My son talks of moving me in with him and having me work in his studio, so I'll be leaving here sometime not so far from now."

"No," Annie said. "You can't leave. You've always been a part of my life." She couldn't imagine the ranch without Boone for his wisdom, his insight, his artistic ability with silverwork, and his eagerness to pass it on to her because she was equally eager to learn.

She'd also grown up watching the wild horses from a distance and learning about them from Boone. But it had only been in recent months that Boone began passing on information about how to communicate with them the way he did. Before, when she'd asked him to teach her, he merely said, "Time is not right." No explanation why the time wasn't right, only that old Shoshone Indian prognostication of his…

…you want this man…

About that, Boone was flat out wrong. Ryan Hansen would
not
be the person to pick up where Boone left off…

"You've said for years that the time wasn't right for me to start communicating with the horses, and only recently you began doing just that, so you can't leave yet."

"Man teach you now," Boone said. "He has the gift. I know." Saying nothing more, Boone got in his truck and drove off.

To Annie's dismay, Ryan started walking toward her. Not wanting to see him so soon after his long hike back, she made a dash for the house, but Ryan broke into a run and intercepted her, putting himself squarely in front of her and blocking her path. "Don't you think what you did up at the springhouse was a little over the top?" he asked, in a terse voice.

Shifting her gaze upward from a broad, muscular chest, glistening with perspiration, Annie replied, in an equally terse voice, "I could have done what I said I’d do if you did what you did and I warned you not to do, so be thankful you’re not walking bowlegged."

Ryan took a moment to unscramble what he'd heard, and said, "All I did was kiss you. That hardly warrants a long hike back to the ranch."

"If you hadn't kissed me you wouldn't have had to hike at all," Annie said, wishing she hadn't let him put her on the defensive, especially about that kiss. Even now the thought of it was affecting her reasoning and making her edgy, something that didn’t sit well with her, especially with a guy like Ryan who probably assumed God put him on earth to service women. He would of course also assume she’d eventually come to that realization.

"It's never happened before, did it?" Ryan asked.

Annie eyed him dubiously. "What, that I took a guy's horse and left him stranded?" she countered, not wanting to admit the truth… that the only other kiss she’d ever had was from a boy in elementary school.

"No, that you kissed a man back before," Ryan said. "I'm the first."

Annie let out a short, cynical laugh. "I
did not
kiss you back."

Ryan’s hard face broke into a smile. "You so did. That was definitely your tongue playing with mine, and you even let out a little moan while you were pawing my chest."

Annie couldn't help looking at his chest again, the sight of it a reminder of how it felt beneath her hands when he'd kissed her, and how intimate she’d gotten with Ryan during the kiss, with her tongue toying with his. Heat rushed up her face… which made her fighting mad, because she knew a man like Ryan would view a flushed face as a sign that he was about to acquire another female trophy.

Giving him her most lethal glare, she said, "If my father knew what you did he’d fire you. I know for fact that he told you I was off limits to the ranch hands."

"He did," Ryan admitted. "How about you tell him what I did and we’ll see if you’re right."

Determined to set him straight, Annie replied, "How about I say nothing, and if you ever try it again you
will
get a knee where it will do serious damage and you might find yourself out of commission with the women for a while."

Ryan laughed at her attempt to intimidate him. "It could be worth it," he said. "I liked your little moan and feeling your hands on my chest and your tongue playing with mine. As for being out of commission, that's not likely as bull riding actually makes men’s balls tougher."

Annie let out a sharp laugh. "You rodeo guys are so pumped up with hot air. Where did you hear that one?"

"No, actually it’s true," Ryan replied. "My sister-in-law told me."

"That’s because your brother probably convinced her of it after she told him bull riding was not only the stupidest sport on the planet, but it wasn‘t compatible with family planning."

"It's the sister-in-law married to my brother who’s the archaeologist who told me, and he doesn’t ride bulls or broncs," Ryan replied, undermining her argument.

"And your sister-in-law’s reasoning was…?" Annie waited.

Ryan shrugged. "Bouncing up and down causes calluses."

Annie hadn’t realized her gaze had dropped to his crotch until Ryan said, "You can’t see them through my jeans but they’re there. Balls, that is, but I haven’t checked recently to see if they’re callused."

"Then in the event they aren’t, you’d better keep your distance," Annie replied. "And this conversation is over."

When she turned to go, Ryan caught her by the arm, and said, "Does that mean you won’t be showing me any more trails?"

"You got that right," Annie replied, then shrugged out of his grip, stepping backwards.

Again, Ryan smiled, like he’d somehow scored another hit, and said, "So I was right when I said you're more bark than bite, since you let a little kiss scare you off."

"Ha! That's rich," Annie countered. "What I did was let a man who thinks he’s the answer to every woman's prayer know he's not."

"But not until after you kissed me back, and that was shortly after you told me you’d never met a man worth kissing," Ryan pointed out.

Feeling frustrated because she couldn't seem to get the upper hand, Annie said, "The only reason you were able to kiss me at all was because you caught me off guard."

"Then we could try again and see who’s right," Ryan pressed on. "If you kiss me back a second time we’d know I was worth kissing, but if I’m not worth kissing, you could knee me in the jiggly stick."

Annie clamped her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing.

"You've never heard it called that, have you?" Ryan said.

Annie shook her head but said nothing. The whole conversation was so completely unexpected she was at a loss for words.

"Yeah, bull riders have jiggly sticks because there’s nothing holding it together when it meets a bull’s backbone with a whole lot of bucking energy coming full force."

"Well, it’s what you guys deserve for putting flank straps around the bull’s male parts," Annie said. "I imagine you’d buck too if someone did that to you."

"Actually, contrary to popular belief, the bucking strap’s not tied there because the stifle joint of the hind leg limits how far back a flank strap can be attached, which isn't beyond the bull’s flank. All it does is get the bull to use his hind legs more in a bucking motion, which is the true test of a bull rider’s skill in maintaining the ride. If the strap's too tight or it’s applied wrong the bull won’t buck well and the rider can request another ride."

When Annie didn’t respond, Ryan said, "You didn’t know that either, did you?"

Annie couldn’t bring herself to admit she didn’t, so instead she shrugged, and said, "It’s obvious the bull doesn’t like what’s happening or he wouldn’t buck, so my opinion of rodeos and rodeo riders still holds."

"What makes you so sure the bull’s not having as great a time as the guy he’s trying to buck off?" Ryan challenged. "He’s been bred for bucking, and the crowd cheers when he does, and there’s still a chance he can shove a hoof in his rider’s jiggly stick before he’s done with him."

"Like I said, this conversation’s over," Annie replied. "As for showing you the trails, you'll need to get one of the men to do it since I don’t have time. Meanwhile, I’ll be fixing macaroni and cheese and guacamole dip to go with chips to take to my protesters tomorrow so you might think about how that would look plastered against you before you venture out there to chase my friends away, if you even have the nerve to show up out there again. They had a pretty good laugh after you left."

"I’ll just bet they did," Ryan replied. "But I’m not done with them yet. Your dad gave me orders to get rid of them and that’s what I intend to do."

When Ryan turned to walk off, Annie called after him, "Good luck then." She also realized she’d just issued a challenge, which a man like Ryan Hansen wasn’t likely to let go unopposed.

***

All the while Ryan was working with the trail horses, the following day, and getting familiar with each, he kept mulling over Matt Kincaid’s first directive, which was to get rid of the protestors, and Annie’s assumption that he wasn’t man enough to do it, but he would, as soon as he got the go-ahead from Kincaid to carry out his plan, and this time he wouldn’t end up with a knee in the crotch and food plastered across the front of him. He also intended to get a positive response out of Annie in the form of a kiss, and not just a peck on the lips, but a long passionate kiss that would have her moaning and kneading his chest and doing everything she’d done with her tongue before, and more. Maybe it was the thrill of the chase, but the challenge was definitely on.

He'd just turned the last of the horses into the pasture and had returned to the stables when the corridor darkened and he looked around to see Matt Kincaid walking toward him. One corner of Kincaid's mouth twitched, like he was trying to hold back a smile, as he said, "Annie just told me she’s not going to show you any more trails and didn’t say why, so I left a topographic map unrolled in the office. I dotted in where the main riding trails are. Today and tomorrow you can take the guests on the trails Annie showed you yesterday, and in between rides you can check out the trails on the map."

"That works for me," Ryan replied, in a way that left no doubt that he was pissed.

"Sorry about the long walk home yesterday, for whatever reason," Matt said. "You must have really pushed one of Annie's hot buttons."

Ryan gave a little grunt, then deciding he didn’t want to get into exactly which hot button he had pushed, he said, "What about my busting up the protestors? You still want me to do that?"

"Sure, if you think you can," Matt replied. "Like I said, I want my wife back. Annie and I have a tendency to butt horns on occasion, especially if it involves animals, and Ruth’s the peacemaker in the family, and right now I could use a little peace."

"Then I know a surefire way to get rid of the protestors." Ryan eyed the manure pile out behind the stables. "Do you have a destination for that pile of manure out there?"

Matt glanced in the direction Ryan indicated, and said, "When we have enough to fill the dump truck we haul it into Pine Grove to a nursery."

"Are they under contract?" Ryan asked.

"No," Matt replied. "They just take whatever we bring in."

"Then I have a better use for it," Ryan said. "I also noticed you’re having some cows butchered in the pasture behind the barn right now. Before the butcher hauls everything off can I have a couple of garbage bags of entrails?"

Matt eyed him dubiously. "Maybe you’d better fill me in on what you have in mind."

Ryan outlined his plan for ridding the place of protestors, which brought a hearty laugh from Matt, along with a nod of approval. "You’re on your own with Annie though, and I wouldn’t want to be in your boots when she finds out what you’re up to, but go ahead."

"I intend to," Ryan replied. "I see you have a Bobcat with a front end loader parked out there. Is that what you use to load the dump truck?"

Matt nodded. "Have you operated a Bobcat?"

"Yeah, since I was about twelve," Ryan said. "Can I borrow it?"

"Sure," Matt replied. "Then you can operate a dump truck too?"

"Yeah, since I was about sixteen."

"I’ll get the truck and meet you at the manure pile." Kincaid's grin and amiable slap on Ryan’s back gave Ryan the impression Matt Kincaid held a new respect for him, maybe because Matt didn’t know what to do with his daughter and the new wrangler was taking her on…

…about now he's probably thanking his lucky star she's the only one…

That cowboy at Pete’s Pub got it right, as did the helicopter pilot…

…get within three feet of her and you'll get burned if you don't get kicked in the nuts first…

Well, he’d gotten the nuts treatment, and hiking back to the ranch on a rough, dusty trail that zigzagged down the side of a mesa on a day pushing ninety-five degrees pretty much added up to being burned. But now, Annie Kincaid was about to get her comeuppance. And as soon as he got rid of the protestors he’d work on the rest of his plan… the getting-a-kiss-from-Annie followed by the getting-Annie-into-his-bed plan. It bothered him that he was figuratively placing bets with the cowboys in town, but it was a challenge he couldn’t seem to set aside.