216 Rancher Way Read online

  Being close to him has a strong effect on my body. A warm glow gushes through me, making my blush deepen and it sends a fiery heat between my legs. He’s so close. I could just reach out and touch him.

  I touch the calf instead, running my hand along his white neck while Butch watches me with an open stare.

  I’m all flustered and frazzled as I open my notepad and drop my pen. I quickly pick it up with a nervous laugh and stare at the empty page.

  “What’s his name?” I ask as my breath quickens.

  This is so not like me. I’ve never met anyone who can shake me like this. This morning I faced down the powerful Sheriff of this town, demanding to know about any corruption on his force and I didn’t even break a sweat. One look from this guy and I can feel drops of sweat dripping down the sides of my ribs.

  “I guess you don’t name your cattle, right?” I ask with a nervous laugh.

  “I do.”

  Progress. Oh, thank God, there’s progress.

  “I have a name for all of my animals,” he says in a deep throaty voice that has every hair on my arms standing straight up. “They even come when I call them.”

  “Get out of here. Prove it.”

  “Sookie!” he calls out and a cow lifts its head from the pack. “Come here.”

  The cow comes over, looking thrilled that she’s been singled out by this gorgeous man. I can’t blame her there.

  He reaches into a brown paper lunch bag and pulls out a few apple slices. The cow is in heaven as he feeds them to her.

  “That’s impressive,” I say with a smile as I watch. “I didn’t realize ranchers named their cattle.”

  “They don’t,” he says as he turns back to me. The harshness is gone from his blue eyes now. “But I’m not like most other ranchers.”

  “I can see that.”

  He pets the cow and whispers something in her ear. When she walks back to the group, Butch sits back down on the milk crate and takes the calf back into his arms.

  “What are you doing?” I ask as he checks the calf’s legs.

  “Making sure he’s growing all right. That he’s nice and healthy.”

  “Is he?”

  He puts the calf back down and stands up. I get an eyeful of his hard abs. They’re right in front of my face, clenching and begging to be licked.

  “He’s looking like he’s going to be a strong healthy male.”

  He’s not the only one…

  “How come I haven’t seen you around town? Do you ever go out?”

  He takes his hat off and runs his hand through his messy brown hair. I swallow hard when I see the indentations of his massive triceps on his round arms.

  “Not really.”

  “Why not?”

  He sighs as he puts his hat back on and turns to me. Every time his eyes are on me, I feel like I can’t think straight. He’s got the kind of beauty that disrupts brains.

  “I don’t like being around people very much,” he says in a soft voice. “Animals are better. They understand me and I understand them.”

  “So, you just… hang out here on your own?”

  “Yeah. Sometimes I go to the Tipsy Cow on Friday nights with the rest of the crew from here, but I usually prefer to stay home and read.”

  I glance at the old paperback book sticking out of his back pocket (and I steal another quick glance at his ass).

  “What are you reading now?”

  He pulls it out and looks at the dog-eared cover. “Hemingway. For Whom The Bell Tolls. Ever read it?”

  I shake my head. “Just listened to the Metallica song.”

  He laughs as he slides it back into his pocket.

  The sound of his laugh and the way he’s looking at me throws me off a little. It’s not with anger or hostility. It’s with something else I can’t quite place. If I could get that face on the front page of the newspaper, we’d be able to sell it nationwide.

  Then it hits me…

  “People don’t really know you around town, Butch. You’re a mystery to them.”

  “Not much of a mystery. I just prefer to be on my own.”

  “I have a proposition for you.”

  He raises his eyebrow.

  “Let me do a story on you. A feature. You’ll get the front page. A people of the town kind of thing.”

  He scoffs. “No, thank you.”

  “Come on! It will be big!”

  “For you, maybe.”

  “Everyone in town will know who you are after it runs.”

  He stares at me with those piercing blue eyes. “That’s my worst nightmare.”

  I laugh, but I’m more determined than ever. There’s no time to get it out of him and written for this issue, but next week, I’m going to have his gorgeous face on the cover no matter what.

  “Let me take you out for lunch and we can talk about it.”

  He looks surprised. “You want to go out to lunch with me?”

  “Yeah, it will be fun. My treat. And if you want, we can do the interview there.”

  “In town?”

  I smile. I like this guy. Cassidy was right—once you get past his gruff exterior, he’s not so scary.

  “You ever been to the Virgin Street Diner? They make a burger that will knock your shirt off. Well, if you had a shirt on.”

  “I’m a vegetarian.”

  I look at the cows all around us and grimace. “Right. Sorry. I’m sure their veggie burgers are pretty good too.”

  Shit, do they even have veggie burgers?!

  “All right.”

  My mouth nearly drops open.

  “All right, I can do the story on you?”

  “All right, I’ll have lunch with you.”

  “And the story?”

  “We’ll see.”

  That’s good enough for me. I take a couple of pictures of the albino cow and quickly write up an article as Butch heads over to the barn.

  I give it a quick proofread and send it over to my editor Charlie with the pics. I’m not even sure if he’ll read it. He’s seventy now and all he can think about is retiring and hitting the open road in his RV with his wife Caroline.

  It’s done. It’s not the best article, probably in my top five worst, but it’s done.

  “Where’s the hottie?” I whisper to a nearby cow as I look around for Butch.

  A rumbling gets my attention and I freeze when I see him ride out of the barn on a motorcycle. He has his t-shirt on and a helmet tucked under his arm as he approaches.

  “We’re taking my bike,” he says in a firm voice. “That’s part of the deal.”

  “But I have my car here.”

  “I’ll bring you back,” he says as he hands me a red helmet.

  “Where’s yours?”

  “I don’t need one,” he says. “This hat is impenetrable.”

  I put the helmet on and something weird hits my temple. Oh crap, I still have the daisy behind my ear. Are you kidding me, Daisy?! I must look so ridiculous.

  I throw it onto the ground and strap on the helmet, excited to get behind this big man. I’ve never ridden on a motorcycle before.

  Butch reaches down and grabs the flower off the ground. He pulls his book out, opens it up, and sticks the flower between two random pages.

  “Why are you keeping that?” I ask as he tosses the book onto the milk crate.

  “You looked gorgeous with it,” he says as his blue eyes watch me. “I want to keep a reminder of the first time I saw you.”

  I swallow hard as I stare at him in shock.

  “Come,” he says, jerking me out of my startled daze. “I’m getting hungry.”

  I climb onto the bike and wrap my arms around him. He’s so big and feels really good. I try to keep my hands and arms loose, but as soon as he hits the throttle, I cling onto his hard stomach. I can feel the ridges of his abs under my palms and I’m loving the feeling as he picks up speed and roars out of the ranch.

  Butch Steele is between my legs.

  That’s the
story of the century right there. No one is going to believe it. Not even Annabeth and she’ll believe anything.

  I can’t stop smiling as I hold onto him and we ride to the diner in town.

  Chapter Three

  Butch

  I take the long way to the diner. I’m just not willing to give up the feel of having this sweet beautiful girl’s arms wrapped around me too easily.

  She feels so good. If I knew a girl like Daisy was living in town, I would have gotten out more. I would have searched for her and then not given up until she was all mine.

  She’s incredible. I still can’t stop picturing the moment she popped out of the grass like an angel, shocking me to my core.

  My hands were shaking as she walked over. I had no idea what to say. I never know what to say around people, but I can usually fumble my way through an interaction. But with her, the words were non-existent. They just weren’t coming. All I could do was stare in wonder at this beautiful girl with the flower in her hair who came out of nowhere to rock my world.

  I shift on the seat, feeling her inner thighs pressing against me. It makes me moan but the noise of the motorcycle swallows it so she can’t hear.

  This is not the last time I’m going to be between these thighs. I want to feel them pressing against me in every way. Against my hands as I feel how wet she is, against my cheeks as I bury my tongue deep in her pussy, and against my waist as I slide inside her, making her mine.

  I want this girl in every way. I need her to be mine.

  I’ve never needed anyone before, so this is staggering to me. It’s surreal. It’s come out of the blue, but when an angel appears like this, you don’t let her go.

  That’s why I agreed to the story. I would have laughed you out of town yesterday if you’d told me that I would have agreed to a feature written about me in the local newspaper. I would have called you crazy.

  But one look at Daisy and everything has changed. I’d do anything to keep her near, to prolong this unexpected encounter.

  I get an edgy uneasy feeling as I turn into town. I don’t like being out here among the locals. I’d rather be back home, but I’m going to have to venture out of my comfort zone if I want to keep an amazing girl like Daisy in my life.

  She’s a ray of sunlight and I can’t expect to keep her locked away in my dark world.

  I ride over to the Virgin Street Diner and park my bike in the parking lot on the side. It’s a 50’s style diner although I don’t know if it was designed sometime in the nineties to look that way or if it’s just seventy years old and they’ve never updated it. Either way, the scents coming out of it smell amazing.

  Daisy steps off the bike and my hungry eyes are on her as she unclips the helmet. Seeing her again after a few minutes of only feeling her is another shot of lightning to my core.

  She shakes out her long black hair as she smiles at me. There’s a pink hue in her cheeks. It’s the color of excitement.

  “That was your first time on a bike, wasn’t it?” I ask.

  She grins. “How did you guess?”

  “I must have bruises on my stomach from you squeezing it whenever I accelerated.”

  The flush on her cheeks deepens. “Sorry about that.”

  “Don’t be. I liked it.”

  She turns away before I can see those adorable cheeks turn scarlet red. My eyes are on her back as she walks to the door. She’s not stick-thin like some of the girls around here. Daisy has curves in all the right places. A thick waist and an ass packed into those jeans that I would kill to get my hands on.

  I’m already in love.

  I’ve never had this feeling before. Not even close.

  I always thought that girls were not worth the trouble and I was better off alone. One minute with Daisy and I’ve realized how completely and utterly stupid I was.

  Finding the right girl makes life worth living. It changes everything. It gives this lonely existence of mine purpose.

  What am I going to do if she doesn’t want to be with me? How can I possibly go back to my miserable old life as this changed man?

  Calm down, I tell myself. You haven’t even had your date yet. One step at a time.

  I grab the door and hold it open for her. My eyes never leave her face as she walks inside and asks for a table for two.

  People everywhere are looking at us as we follow the waitress to the table, but I keep my eyes on the red and white checkered floor. There’s a jukebox playing some old song by some guy who’s probably long dead from the sound of it.

  We slip into a booth and the young waitress says she’s going to give us a few minutes to look at the menu.

  I barely listen to her. All of my focus is locked on the gorgeous girl in front of me. She’s got a big smile on her face as she looks at the milkshake menu.

  “You gotta try their strawberry milkshakes,” Daisy says as her green eyes light up. “They’re ah-ma-zing!”

  “Do you come here often?”

  “Whoa, Butch,” she says with a laugh. “Was that a pickup line?”

  Her face suddenly drops for some reason. Maybe she doesn’t want to be too forward or she’s worried we’re not there yet. “I didn’t mean to imply that you were picking me up,” she says with her voice racing. “Or that you like like me. Or, that this is a date in any way. I know it’s not. This is work. It’s an interview. I’m totally professional.”

  I’m keeping a straight face, but I’m holding back a laugh as I watch her squirm nervously in front of me. She’s adorable.

  “We’re here for the story and that’s it,” she rambles nervously. “So, let’s get started. What can I ask first? Oh yeah. Why do you hate people?”

  There’s an awkward silence between us as the question lingers in the air. Is that what she thinks? That I hate people?

  “I don’t,” I tell her after a long pause. “They just don’t seem to like me.”

  She starts scratching her head with the tip of her pen as she studies me with narrowed eyes. “Why is that? Is it because you’re standoffish and short-tempered?”

  “I have no idea,” I say, feeling my shoulders slump down. “I’m just not as friendly as everyone else, I guess.”

  “But you were friendly to your animals. I saw that.”

  “I’ve always been more comfortable around animals. They get me. People don’t.”

  “Where did you grow up?” she asks. “I know you didn’t grow up around here. I would have seen you before today.”

  I sigh as my cruel past starts clawing its way out of me. I like to keep it locked down where it can’t do too much damage.

  “I grew up in Idaho,” I tell her. “Came here about eight years ago when I was twenty-two. I needed a fresh start. Colt Patton, the owner of the ranch, was nice enough to put me up and give me a job.”

  She starts scribbling down notes. I don’t know how she can read that mess.

  “What was your childhood like?”

  I swallow hard. “Rough. Miserable. I don’t think you’re going to want to print any of that in your story.”

  She looks up at me with wide eyes that are filled with worry and concern. I don’t like seeing that look on her. I liked the look back at the ranch better. The one when she was checking out my shirtless chest.

  Luckily, the waitress comes over to take our drink order.

  “I’ll have a strawberry milkshake,” she says with a smile. “Thanks, Amelia!”

  “Same,” I grunt, keeping my eyes on the table.

  The waitress leaves to get our order and Daisy is looking at me funny.

  “What?”

  “See, that’s why everyone in town thinks you’re a big grump. One word answers, you don’t look at her. Why don’t you try to be polite and nice?”

  I just stare at her.

  She’s lucky she’s so adorable or I’d be out of here before Amelia punched in the order.

  “Everyone thinks I’m a grump?”

  Her face twists up, but then she nods. “Prett
y much, yeah.”

  “What do you think?”

  She studies me with those sharp appraising eyes. “I’m not sure yet. I think you’re like an oyster.”

  I sit back in the booth and cross my arms with a grin on my face. “Please explain that one.”

  “Hard and salty on the outside, but all gooey on the inside. Open up a little. Let people see that mushy interior.”

  I’m willing to do anything to make this girl want to spend more time with me. If she wants me nice and gooey, I’ll shoot goo all over anyone who crosses my path. Wait, that sounded wrong…

  “Try with the waitress,” she says with an encouraging nod. “She’s a super sweet girl. Her name is Amelia Richardson and she plays piano at the church. She’s totally innocent. Nothing to be scared of.”

  I clear my throat as the waitress returns with the milkshakes. This is not in my nature, but I’ll try it for Daisy. I’ll do anything for her.

  Most people just stay away from me once they get a taste of my nature. I like that she doesn’t put up with my shit and demands the best of me. It’s a nice change.

  “You can do it,” she whispers as Amelia arrives.

  “I heard you play piano at the church,” I say as she places the milkshakes on the table.

  She smiles. “I do. Every Sunday.”

  “How much do they pay you for that?”

  Daisy drops her head into her hands.

  “Nothing,” Amelia snaps. “I do it for God.”

  “Sounds like a scam.”

  Amelia storms off with her cheeks burning red, looking furious.

  “Sorry, Amelia!” Daisy shouts.

  “What?” I ask as Daisy shakes her head at me and laughs.

  “I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but you really should stick to animals. You shouldn’t be around people.”

  “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

  We’re both laughing as we start drinking our milkshakes.

  I haven’t laughed with anyone like this in, I don’t know how long.

  When Amelia calms down and returns to take our order—two veggie burgers and fries—Daisy handles it with an extra soft tone and big smiles. I stay quiet.

  “Let’s get back to the interview,” she says as she taps her pen on her notepad.