Boots and Twisters (9 page)

Lucky cocked her head toward Trent. “He’s never been a Scout either, right?”

Trent’s mouth quivered as he fought laughter. “Right.”

“Fine. But be warned. I’m not much good in the kitchen.” She glanced at Trent. “You ready?”

“I am.” He mounted the four-wheeler and Lucky slipped onto the back, her hands resting lightly on his waist.

Isaac frowned. “Hey, where are you two going?”

“From what I hear, there’s a fence needing fixin’ on the northeast corner. See ya this afternoon.” Trent goosed the throttle and the four-wheeler took off with a jerk, forcing Lucky to wrap her arms around his middle. That was one way to get the woman to hold him.

Ranching suddenly had a new appeal to Trent, one he’d never known existed. If Lucky didn’t work out as a ranch hand, he might still get that kiss he’d been hankerin’ after. Then he’d have her out of his system and he could get back to his regular, grumpy, frustrated self.

Lucky held on as they bumped across pastures. She got off at each gate, opening and closing them behind the ATV. Each time, Trent took off with a jerk and she had to hold on tighter or risk being left on her ass in the grass.

Riding on the back of the four-wheeler gave her the needed time to digest her feelings and pull herself together.

Had she known Isaac and Trent were co-owners of the Triple J Ranch…

What?

She sure as hell wouldn’t have done the nasty with Isaac. But would she have given up the chance to work there? Declining a real job offer so that she could go pound the pavement to find something that suited her as well?

Not hardly. And she was only working nights at the Ugly Stick Saloon. Based on her first visit there, she might be more of a disaster working there and be fired before the first full night.

The previous night she’d spent cleaning up the storeroom mess. She didn’t count any of that time as paid hours she could use toward reducing her debt to Audrey. But now that she had an idea of how much she’d destroyed due to her carelessness, she could start paying off that part of what she owed Audrey.

Lucky couldn’t get over how warm and friendly Audrey had been when she had all but ruined her business and truck.

She’d vowed to make it right and she would.

In the meantime, if she wanted to keep the job on the Triple J Ranch she’d likely have to work twice as hard as any man just to prove she was good at the job.

So be it.

Working at the Ugly Stick, she could put feelers out to other ranchers. If things didn’t work out at the Triple J, she’d consider moving on and have a plan in place to ease her transition.

Though things had started out shaky, after looking at it from all angles, it was not one of her worst disasters. She’d make it through this one easily.

Her challenge would be resisting her bosses.

Isaac had been nothing but nice, chivalrous and so damned sexy when he’d kissed her the night before, she hadn’t been able to resist. She could see herself falling for his charm and cheerful demeanor and he’d been so good in bed, gentle, caring, everything a lover should be. Her heart raced at the image of a naked Isaac pulling her into his arms. Yes, she could fall for the nicer brother.

Trent Jameson was the one who had her worried. Not only had he tried to blackmail her for a kiss, he was entirely too attractive in that bad-boy way for a mere mortal woman to resist. Even a woman who fancied herself a cowboy. Yes, she’d been a tomboy since she knew the difference between men and women. But she was also a woman with needs and the hormones to remind her of those needs. She’d denied herself for way too long and now her needs were clouding her brain.

Riding with her legs wrapped around Trent, her breasts pressed against his back, her pulse was pounding, and she was in a lather. And for the second time in two years her girlie parts were hot, wet and ready for more than mending fences could satisfy.

She hopped off the ATV and put some distance between her and the man causing her the disconcerting feelings. Hell, she’d already been with his brother. It would be wrong to have these lusty feelings for Trent.

The bad boy tilted his head to the side. “The fence is over here.”

“I know. I was just stretching the kinks out of my legs.” And trying to rein in her raging desire that had other places aching to be touched.

Trent adjusted his jeans and untied the fence posts and pole pounder from the top of the utility box on the back of the ATV.

By the time he’d thrown them on the ground, Lucky was back in control. Or so she told herself.

She reached for the hammer, nails and barbed wire, her hand colliding with his, sending shockwaves up her arm and back to her core, making it ache even more.

Maybe she should just give him that kiss he’d wanted the night before. She could hope he was a terrible kisser and she’d be over him before anything started.

She glanced at him. Those full lips curled upward on the ends like he knew a secret. The secret that she was as horny as the women at Ladies Night out the previous night. The night before with his brother had only stirred in her a desire for more.

Fire burned up her neck into her cheeks. She spun away and went to work, praying they’d finish quickly and she could go back to the barn. Surely there would be more horseshit to muck. Backbreaking, disgusting work would wipe this man’s sexy presence out of her mind.

She’d made it all the way to the broken fence without the wire cutters before she got her head back on straight. Turning back to the ATV, her breath caught and lodged in her throat.

Trent had chosen that moment to remove his shirt and hang it on one of the posts and then bent to check the loose strands.

All the air left Lucky’s lungs in a rush and for a moment she felt light-headed.

The man could make a helluva living stripping. She’d pay top dollar. And she could forget about forgetting him. No amount of horse droppings or sweaty labor would put that image out of her mind.

Her knees shaking for the second time in as many days, she snapped her gaping mouth shut, grabbed for the wire cutters and hurried back to the fence.

Using the wire cutters, she clipped the broken barbed wire.

It had just enough tension left in it to spring back.

“Fuck!” Trent yelled.

As soon as the curse word left his mouth, Lucky knew what she’d done wrong. She’d been in such a hurry to get to work, she’d forgotten how barbed wire could curl up again when the tension was released.

Cringing, she turned toward Trent and gasped.

The strand of barbed wire had wrapped around his bare chest, digging into his skin, each barb poking a hole. Blood dripped in many places.

“Sweet tea and grits!” She hurried toward him.

“Don’t touch,” he said, his voice curt, his mouth set in a grim line.

“But I have to get you out of that.” She searched for the ends of the wire.

“You can’t unwind it.” He hissed, easing one of the barbs away from his skin. “You have to cut away each barb.”

With the wire cutters still in her hand, she moved close to him, carefully stepping over the wire on the ground.

“I’m so sorry. I should have remembered.”

“Just get it off before I bleed to death.”

Slowly and with as gentle a touch as possible, she cut on each side of the barbs until those digging into him were removed and he could step free of the rest of the wire.

“Good thing each four-wheeler is equipped with a first-aid kit,” he muttered. “You can find it in the utility box.”

Lucky pointed to the ATV. “Sit there while I take care of the wounds.”

He flexed his arms. “It’s not that bad now that I’m not a human pincushion.”

“Please. I feel bad enough. At least let me clean them and put antibiotic ointment on them.”

“On one condition.” His mouth curved upward.

“A kiss?” She sighed. “If that’s what will make you sit…fine.”

He settled on the seat and waited.

Lucky hovered close by, alcohol pads and a tube of ointment in her hand. “Now? Aren’t you in pain?”

“More than you know.” His fingers closed around her wrist and he dragged her close. “I promise to be a very good patient.”

“You’d better be.” She frowned, knowing a kiss would be a very bad idea. With a quick peck on the cheek her plan, she leaned toward him, aiming for one of those high cheekbones, though the jaw line covered in rough-looking stubble called to her as well.

He must have guessed her intent and thwarted it by turning his head at the last minute, putting his lips square in line with hers. Before she could squeak a protest, he wrapped his hand around the back of her head and crushed her lips with his.

To keep from falling into him, Lucky braced her hands on his chest, her fingers pressing into the smooth skin, layered over hard muscles. Her legs straddled one of his massive thighs and she couldn’t breathe, nor did she want to.

If she died there and then, so be it. The kiss was everything she’d never expected, but suspected could be possible. The precise reason she’d avoided it in the first place.

Her blood turned hot, racing through her veins, her heart hammering against her chest and a delicious ache built down low, where her crotch rubbed his thigh. She moved just a little, and the friction of his jeans against hers sent shockwaves through her nervous system. She moaned, her fingers clutching at him in an attempt to drag him closer.

What felt like only a moment or maybe a lifetime passed before he raised his mouth enough she could suck air into her lungs.

“Holy hell,” she groaned, her body plastered to his like a woman desperate to get naked. And oh, how that thought made her hot all over again.

“Holy hell is right.” His fingers tightened at the back of her head, threading through her hair. “Who knew there was passion beneath the denim and cowboy hat?”

Warm breath feathered across her mouth and her lips parted. “That wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“But it did.” His lips brushed across hers in a feather-soft caress.

She shivered with desire so strong it scared her. Sanity crept in and Lucky pushed against his chest. “It did, but it won’t again. It can’t.” It would be wrong to kiss both brothers, wouldn’t it?

“Wanna make a bet on that?” He let go, his eyes smoldering, sexy and completely mesmerizing. If she were the type of girl who could be easily mesmerized.

“I don’t gamble,” she said, her resistance wavering.

“Because you know you’d lose.” He held out his arms. “I’m in your hands, nurse.”

She retrieved the bandages, ointment and alcohol pads from where she’d dropped them on the ground, shoved them into his hands and backed away. “I think you can handle it from here.”

“Won’t you feel a huge sense of guilt if I contract lockjaw because I couldn’t reach one of those on my back?” He gave her a poor-me, sad-puppy look.

Her eyes narrowing, she counted to ten then snatched back the items and went to work on the puncture wounds, less than gentle in her application of the alcohol.

“Sheesh! Go easy,” he said.

“I should have come out here alone. None of this would have happened.” And she wouldn’t have been tempted by the brother of the man she’d made love to the night before.

He captured her hands. “Never work the ranch alone.”

“I know, I know. Buddy system.”

“Right.” He let go, his hands drifting down her sides to her hips, steadying her while she applied ointment and bandages to his wounds. “You’re pretty good at that.”

“It’s not rocket science.” She patted one last bandage in place and stepped away.

His hands fell to his sides and he stood.

Tall for a woman, she felt short and feminine next to Trent who was at least another five inches taller than she was. She had to look up to stare into his eyes. Those deep brown, bottomless, soulful eyes. “You and your brother have the same chocolate-brown eyes,” she commented.

“Is that so?” He frowned. “That’s about where the similarity ends.”

“You can say that again.”

His frown deepened. “What do you mean?”

“You don’t kiss anything alike.”

“What the fuck?” He grabbed her wrist. “You’ve kissed my brother?”

She shrugged. “Maybe. But then that would be my business, not yours.”

“It damn well is my business.”

“What I do with my lips is my business alone.” She planted her fists on her hips. “Why don’t you stay here and let me finish the fence?” she said.

“Because it goes faster with two. As long as one isn’t wrapping the other in barbed wire and kissing the other’s brother.”

Guilt washed over her. “I’m sorry. That was careless of me.”

“The barbed wire? Or kissing Isaac?”

“The barbed wire.”

Trent glared and touched one of the bandages, exaggerating a painful grimace. “If you feel that badly, I’ll let you kiss my booboos tonight after I’ve had a shower.” He waggled his brows.

Lucky glared and turned away. She refused to be caught up in his teasing and got back to work, careful not to cut a strand of wire without holding on to the loose end and then easing it to the ground. Four of the old wooden fence posts had rotted. She pounded two of the metal posts into place and Trent pounded the other two. By the time they’d finished stretching the wire with the come-along, the sun was beating down on them and they’d worked up an honest sweat.