The Rancher Meets His Match (6 page)

             
She threw up her hands and walked away.  Walking would help her to calm her nerves.  She had to learn to curb her temper.  She had always had a problem with it.  Her brothers used to tease her constantly just to get her to lose it.  When she lost it, the words that came flying out of her mouth would make a sailor blush.  She didn’t mean to snap at him.  She wasn’t even mad at him.  She was just frustrated and for some reason it was easy to take it out on him. 

J.W. followed her down the driveway.  He stayed far enough back and tread lightly enough that she didn’t know he was there.  For some reason he couldn’t fathom, he couldn’t seem to stop himself.  He always had to be near her.  He watched her work every day with the
horses.  He noticed all the things she did when she wasn’t working with them.  The woman couldn’t be still she always had to be doing something.  She helped Heath weld a jack on a trailer.  She patched a stall that no one else had bothered to repair yet.  She worked with his daughter on her riding.  She even occasionally helped Cook in the kitchen.  Yet, for some reason they always seemed to be snapping at one another about something.  She drove him crazy.

She had a temper that was bound to get her into trouble, but from what he’d seen it seemed to be her only flaw.  Even that made him want to irritate her just to see the look she got when she was mad.  She never tried to be anything she’s not.  He liked that about her.  In fact, he liked everything about her.  “You can stop following me.” She said.  She had known he was back there.  He was cautious and she still knew he was there.  “I’m calm now, ok!  You’re right I just have a really bad temper and I can’t contain it sometimes.” She said. “How did you know I was behind you?”  He asked. “The light from the yard cast a shadow over your shoulder.”  She stopped and turned around to face him.  He was right behind her now.  He looked deep in her eyes.  They were wet with tears.  She had been crying.  How did he not know she was crying.
  He pulled her into his arms shushing her. For some reason he couldn’t fathom, h
e kissed one eye and then the other.  She opened her mouth to say something and he caught her mouth with his.  He was a head taller than her and had to lean down to kiss her.  She hadn’t expected it, and she really didn’t expect the feelings he stirred in her.  She opened her mouth wider and kissed him back.  He drove his tongue in deeper.  She sucked on his tongue and then his bottom lip.  No one had ever kissed her so deeply, nor had she ever wanted it from anyone else.  He completely blew her mind.  She felt the fire in the pit of her stomach.  She wanted this man like no other.  She broke off the kiss and lowered her head “We have to stop.” She said.  “We barely know each other.  This is crazy.  I’m not a whore.”  “What would make you think for one minute that I thought you were?” he asked.

  She had never felt anything so intense, like his kiss.  It got her excited like breaking in her first colt.  It was a rush of adrenaline.  She couldn’t think. She had to stop. She stopped looking down and looked him in the eye.  His eyes filled with desire, and his heart was beating rapidly.  She felt something she had never felt before.  It was something she couldn’t explain.  She wanted him just as bad as he wanted her.  He closed his eyes and blew out a deep breath.  “We’ll take it slow, if that’s what you want?” he said and he placed a kiss on her forehead.  “That’s what I want.” She said.  Although she felt like she was lying.  He took her hand and walked her back up the drive.  When they came to the
porch,
he let go of her hand and opened the door for her.  He followed her into the kitchen with his hand on her shoulder, but took it off when everyone looked up at them.  He hoped that no one would notice their swollen lips or the redness from where his beard stubble had scraped her face.

Lisa walked in and sat down at the table beside Josey.  “What are we having tonight?” she looked at Cook. 
“Beef Stew,”
He said.  “Beef! I can’t eat beef.  Just the thought of eating a poor harmless animal, ugh, how could you be so cruel?” Lisa didn’t notice the looks passed between Josey and Hilary.  They were trying hard not to laugh.  Hilary felt bad for Cook for a moment but then she realized he was enjoying every minute of it.  “Well” he said, “I guess you will just have to go into town and find something to eat because
,
beef is what’s for dinner
.”  J.W. belted out a laugh so big the whole table turned in shock, and then they all started laughing with him.  Lisa stomped out of the room in a huff.  The front door opened and slammed and the sound of tires crunching in the gravel told them all she was gone.  But they all knew she would be back.  For
now,
they could eat their dinner in good company.

(Lisa)

             
Lisa pulled up to the little diner in town.  In a town this small, it was either this or fast food.  She figured this would be the only place she cou
ld get a salad.  She walked in
the door and every head turned to stare.  She felt out of place in her high heels and cocktail dress.  Everyone else had on t-shirt
s
and jeans, tennis shoes or boots, cowboy hat or ball cap.  The women wore their hair up in a ponytail or down around their shoulders.  She walked up to the counter and asked the waitress; “Where’s the restroom
?
I need to freshen up.”  The waitress pointed her around the corner.

             
She locked the door behind her and pulled a little bottle and a mirror out of her purse.  She poured the white powder onto the mirror, took out her credit card and made a neat little line with it.  Then she took a straw and snorted it up her nose.  She was about to be out of her precious supply and she needed money fast.  She had to check in with Frankie.  She didn’t need him sending out his people to collect on her debts.  She would have his money soon.   She took out her cell phone and called him.  “Frankie, darling, this is Lisa.  Listen, I almost have your money.  Yes dear, I know I promise you, I will have the money.  Ten days, but I need more time.  I promise I can get it.  I am working o
n a plan right now.  Ok, bye darling
.”  She shut the flip phone and threw it in her purse.  She gathered up all of her things and threw them in her purse too.  She looked at herself in the mirror then pinched her nose and sniffed. 

             
That should do just fine, she thought.  She left the rest room and found a table in the far corner.  There was a scruffy looking trucker type in a cowboy hat and boots at the table beside her.  He was sitting alone.  She decided to ask him to share her table because she hated sitting alone.  She didn’t like it when people stared at her out of pity. “Would you care to join me?” she asked.  The man turned to her and smiled a
half-cocked
grin.  He looked as if he were up to no good, but Lisa was too high to care.  They sat and drank a few beers and talked about a lot of things.  Lisa’s tongue begin to get loose the more she had and before long they found out a lot about each other.  She learned that he was into stealing cattle and he learned she had a drug addiction and a lot of money owed to her dealer. 

             
They left the diner together and she found herself in the back of his truck.  There was a bed and television and even a little bar in the back of it.  “Wow, I didn’t know these things had so much room.” She said.  “Yeah well when you live on the road for most of the year you have to find your pleasures somewhere.” He said.  His movie collection consisted mostly of porn and Lisa took one out of its case and popped it in.  “Well now, I think it’s always a good idea to mix business with pleasure
,
don’t you.” She said taking off her dress.  She slowly unstrapped her bra
and then eased it off one shoulder at a time then she spun it around in the air a couple of times before throwing it at him.  “Your turn,” she said.  The man unbuttoned his shirt and took off his jeans.  The limb in his boxers was bulging upward.  “Lady, I do think we can do business.” He said.  She lay down on the bed and he pulled off her panties.  They didn’t even bother with the shoes.  He pulled off his boxers and climbed on the bed.  He flipped her over and rode her from behind.  “Harder!” she screamed.  She turned around and pushed him back on the bed.  She climbed atop him and rode him hard and fast.  His big hands kneaded at her breast and tugged on her nipples.  She leaned down further and he popped it in his mouth and sucked one then the other. 
             

             
When they were through, she offered him a cigarette
,
while lighting one up for
her
and
they discussed rustling.  “I love a bad boy.” She said.  “What I need you to do is to let me know as soon as those cattle are moved.  I’ll pay you a lot of money for helping me with that little matter.” He said pulling out a wad of one hundred dollar bills.  He threw five of them at her and thanked her for the ride.  Then he gave her his number and walked her to her car.  They sealed their deal with a kiss and she drove away smiling.           

             
As a few days went by everyone was settling down in their normal routines.  Hilary worked with
the two, barrel horses and
she
worked with Josey every chance she got.  Lisa still followed her around trying to fill her head full of lies but
Josey had finally learned to tune her out
.  She worked hard at her barrel racing and listened to any advice Hilary gave.  Her time had improved and the little mare was doing great.  Hilary was still having a problem getting the gelding to stop rearing up, but he was doing it a lot less o
ften.  She didn’t know what
caused it but she would find out soon enough. 

             
When they were done with their run Hilary took the saddle and bridle into the tack room and left Josey to brush her down and feed up.  J.W. had assigned that chore to her, since she was old enough to handle it
and he wanted her to know what
hard work
was all about
.  Hilary walked into the tack room and the door shut behind her she turned around to find J.W. leaning against the door smiling at her, arms crossed and
one
leg kicked back on the door.  She set the saddle on its rack and hung the bridal on its hook.  “Can I help you with something?” she smiled as she walked toward him.  He pushed off the door and pulled her to him.  “Just something I’ve wanted to do all day,” he said.  He pushed her hat off her head, and wrapped her up in his arms then bent down to steal a kiss. 

             
He had been doing little things like that ever since he followed her out into the dark after her temper had gotten the best of her.  Sometimes he would be waiting in a stall, sometimes he pulled her behind a door.  He snuck kisses every chance he got. Hilary knew that she was
in danger of
falling in love with him.  She
had
never wanted anyone as much as she wanted him.  She hoped that when her time was up
training the barrel horses
he
’d
still wanted her to stick around.  He asked her in the hospital to stay
,
but that was before.

             
“I have work
to do,” she said smiling. She pulled back a little and stared up at him.  “Somehow
,
I don’t think the boss will mind if you slack off a little bit.” He told her.  “Hmm, but I will,” she said.  He kissed her on the forehead and let her go, and opened the door for her.  He winked at her with his wicked grin and followed her out.  She walked down the aisle of the barn to see if she could find something to help with.  She liked to keep busy and she knew the stalls needed cleaning so she went looking for Clinton who was usually in the barn at this time every day cleaning. She pulled out her knife and cut the bag of shavings open that he already had in the stall
he was working in. T
hey
dumped it out and
started spreading them
, working together
. 

             
He sometimes gave her the creeps but he was a hand on the ranch and she wasn’t able to understand
just
what it was about him that bothered her.  She worked along beside him until they had all the empty stalls finished and she left him to go help Heath with whatever she could.  Heath was young and a lot of fun to be around.  She knew he had a crush on her but she
knew it was nothing serious.  He was just a teenager, the son of the ranch foreman, Samuel.  He was a good kid and a hard
worker.  She liked helping him
with things.  Sh
e also knew that Josey had a huge
crush on him.  She found him working with
Samuel on a tractor that wasn’
t running.  She offered to help them and they gladly
accepted
.