Briar's Cowboys (11 page)

His cock protested her repeat absence, but mostly, he worried that she’d been dissatisfied with the arrangement at the ranch but didn’t know how to tell them. She was exhausting herself with someone else rather than revealing the truth to the men here.

That pissed him off, and a burst of jealous anger made him growl as he thought of her in another man’s arms. No. Wasn’t happening. Not after the way she’d given herself to them. The way she cuddled into him at night spoke of her need for intimacy. Did she want to be with him, Ram, Cannon and Hawk or were they just warm bodies? Obviously, she wasn’t getting the closeness she desired from someone else.

Still, despite the fleeting touches and occasional teasing in the office, there was a hint of mostly hidden guilt in her eyes. Briar was exceptionally good at hiding her thoughts, but he sensed she wasn’t any happier with her deception than the men were. So why didn’t she just come out and say it—she didn’t want a relationship with them, and they should stop hoping.

Though they both tried to act as if there was nothing wrong, things had gotten tense to say the least. Jax was relieved to leave every day after their sessions in the office, and he knew that shouldn’t be the case. He should want to spend every waking moment with her. And yet, he was disheartened enough that when he and the team had ridden out to the cabin to collect their things, he’d wanted to stay there away from the emotional upheaval.

He shook his head. Probably, he was making too much out of this. He should just take the hint and move on. To that end, tonight, he and the men would stay in the bunkhouse, just like the employees they were.

Crumpling her note in his fist, he whipped it against the counter’s backsplash, not caring that it bounced into the sink.

“Off again?” Ram asked, sounding no happier than Jax felt.

“Yeah,” he replied, the word clipped by his annoyance. “What the fuck, man? I don’t get this. I thought she really liked us.”

“Doesn’t make sense to me either.”

“I guess we rushed her and she decided she doesn’t really want to be with us.”

Ram made a disbelieving sound. “I don’t think so.”

“We’re not exactly what she’s used to. We’re dirty and sweaty most of the time. Bumped up and bruised. Our skin’s all callused and we’re gone from sunup to sundown most days—sometimes longer. Not exactly ideal.”

“And yet, she wasn’t with any of those city slicker guys, was she? And she had no problem falling in with us, right from the start. I mean—”

Suddenly, as if something he’d said flipped a switch, Ram’s eyebrows drew together and his eyes went blank as if he were looking inside himself. Jax recognized it as Ram’s thinking face. He watched, waiting for the light to return to his friend’s eyes. In a moment, it was back and Ram cocked his head.

“What?” Jax prompted.

“We need more cattle, more revenue and more men to work the ranch, right? Briar has a lot of space and a huge house and buildings in excellent shape. I wonder if she’d consider…something like a city slicker getaway. Someplace where men and women can come to learn about life on a ranch—like Hawk and Cannon did but only short term and they’d pay to be here. People are always looking for adventure vacations. Why can’t we give them that?”

“It’s not ours to offer,” Jax replied, though he liked the idea. “It would take a ton of work to put together… I’m not sure Briar even wants to be here anymore. The novelty seemed to wear off awfully quick. And if that’s the case she’s not going to want to hear any ideas to make a go of this place; she’ll be wanting to sell this place and get out of here as fast as possible.”

“Maybe we should get her to talk tonight. Press her for some answers. If she doesn’t plan to stay, we should know.” Ram sighed and looked around. “Maybe Robert will hire us back. This was good while it lasted.”

It
had
felt good to be in charge of the Last Chance. Knowing he was ultimately responsible for ranch operations here, Jax had worked together with Ram the past couple days to plan the best ways to utilize the land and handle the stock. They’d watched the expectant mothers carefully, knowing every viable head of cattle would be vital to the ranch’s future. They’d set up schedules for chores, maintenance and tracking. Everything to keep the Last Chance running with limited manpower and resources.

Jax shook his head. “No, I’ve tried to talk to her for a couple days now. I think maybe we should just go to the bunkhouse tonight and give her space. We’ll all talk to her in the morning, at breakfast.”

It would be a long day and an even longer night, but Jax had already risked himself by moving so quickly with the new owner of the Last Chance. It was time to regroup and hope for the best before he, or any of his men, were hurt by Briar’s change of heart.

* * * *

The cowboys in Daly were great tippers; in fact, Briar was pretty sure she was bringing in more than she’d ever gotten tending bar in the city. All she had to do was be nice, chat and pour drinks and the men showed their appreciation. The several hundred in her pockets each night was almost embarrassing. She didn’t want to take advantage of the cowboys, and she’d made it clear she wasn’t available, but they showered her with cash and a couple marriage proposals a night.

Still, she had to stay on her toes to keep free of occasional gropes. The result was absolute exhaustion by the time she rolled in every night. That surprised her since she was accustomed to longer hours at her old job…but she hadn’t been getting up at six a.m. and essentially doing another job during the day back there.

Today, she felt more adjusted to it all. She wasn’t as tired, and she was pretty sure with tonight’s tips she’d manage to put over a thousand in the bank tomorrow. And with things going so well and everyone who’d come to the bar behaving so well, she was ready to tell the guys exactly what she’d been up to. She knew they were suspicious and it had been unsettling to lie about her whereabouts, but she’d been certain they’d have had a fit. They still might.

This morning, Jax had tried to pressure her for an answer.

“What have you been doing at night?” he’d asked as he’d put his written reports in order for her to enter in the cattle records online.

She’d shrugged, not looking at him. “Hanging out with friends. There’s a lot to catch up on.” Overall, it was true yet a lie by omission. He hadn’t responded and when she’d looked over at him, suspicion had filled his eyes—suspicion and guilt.

“Jax,” she’d said, deciding to come clean, but he’d backed away, his expression closing down.

“I need to get out to the field and check on the guys.” He hadn’t even said goodbye when he’d left, but the slam of the front door had spoken fairly loudly.

He didn’t like that his woman was going to parts unknown and socializing with God knew who. It didn’t matter that their relationship was new. He and his team staked a claim. Given the opportunity, she suspected they’d be rather territorial—especially Jax and Ram.

Tonight, she’d tell them and roll with it.

Prepared for the worst, she pulled up to the house shortly before midnight. Perplexed, she stared at her new home. The front porch light was on, but otherwise the place was completely dark. That was off. Normally, lights shown through the front windows because someone had waited up for her. Of course, she could understand why they might not have. Going to sleep at midnight only to crawl from bed before the sun had to be exhausting with the strenuous days they had.

Turning off the truck, she sat in quiet for a few moments. The night was absolutely quiet, without even the sound of a cow lowing at the moon. Being on the ranch was so peaceful at times like this. Who was she kidding? It was peaceful
most
all the time. She never had a problem finding space to collect her thoughts and enjoy the world.

Unfortunately, the secret she’d been keeping made her feel a bit troubled. She wanted some noise so she couldn’t hear her thoughts and the worries she had about revealing her job. Not that she was doing anything wrong; she just didn’t relish the coming confrontation.

Leaving her truck, she headed into the house. It was also silent save for the electrical buzz present in all homes. She kicked off her shoes in the foyer then headed upstairs to take a shower then crawl between Ram and Jax. Being embraced between their bodies each night was quickly becoming one of the best parts of her day.

A sick horrified knot plummeted to the pit of her stomach, however, when she entered her bedroom. Though she hadn’t turned on the lights, she couldn’t hear their reassuring breathing, the telltale sign of their presence. Trepidation filling her, she flipped on the light switch and found her bed neatly made, just as she’d left it.

“Where…no…” she whispered, turning around. Every bedroom door was open, even Hawk and Cannon’s. Still, she walked along the floor and looked in each room, feeling more ill with each step. Empty, empty, empty… There wasn’t even a sign the men had been there.

They’d left her. She was all alone in this big old house—she might even be alone on the ranch. God knew where they’d gone. Maybe they’d decided staying at the cabin was better. They could get plenty of guy on guy action without the inconvenience of a female intruder.

No…they’d never treated her as if she were an interloper. Pressing her hand over her eyes, she realized what this was about. The scent of smoke and the lingering smell of the beer that had occasionally spilled over her fingers reminded her of the tension that had been in the house the past half a week. This was about her job, even if they didn’t know what it was they were pissed about. Maybe it was about her being too tired for sex when she came home at night.

No…they weren’t that shallow. It was about the secrets. She should have told them, and now, she’d missed her opportunity.

No…things couldn’t be as screwed up as that. Tomorrow morning, they’d come for breakfast and she’d explain everything to them. If they wanted her, if they were committed to her, then they’d listen and not freak out over her having a job to help the ranch get by.

Yes…everything would be okay in the morning.

* * * *

But it wasn’t.

After lunch, Briar sat in silence at the kitchen table, contemplating the house’s stillness. No one had come to breakfast. No one had come in for lunch—of course, they never did. The midday meal was always eaten on the run while they worked.

Jax hadn’t arrived in the morning to go over the ranch’s books and answer any of the questions she’d had from the previous day. She was getting a good grasp of everything so she didn’t need him to hold her hand through the work or anything, but apparently, her on-the-job training was over.

Fine.

She stared out the window beside the table, watching for the cowboys—not that she expected to actually see them. Her line of sight was obscured by the freezing drizzle had battered the house all day, melting the snow, but coating everything it touched. Streaks of ice ran down the windows and the screens. Overall, the weather did little to alleviate her malaise and instead gave her reason to worry over the men battling the elements outside.

Disquieted, she helped herself to a second of the heavily iced cinnamon rolls she’d made this morning. Pulling off pieces, she mindlessly ate it while she finished her coffee. The sugar did little to sweeten her mood, and she knew she’d have to do something to get her attitude out of the dumps before she went into the bar.

She glanced at her watch. And…it would be time to leave soon, which was okay. She was going stir-crazy in the house—mostly because she needed human interaction and enough chaos to keep her from thinking too much.

Briar sighed. Leave it to her to screw up the best thing to happen in her life. She should have just told them what was going on. Hopefully, it wasn’t too late.

Suddenly, the cinnamon roll tasted like sand. She threw it away and tossed the rest of her coffee in the sink, rinsed the cup then set it in the rack next to the empty slow cooker. She hadn’t bothered with dinner for tonight. At the moment, she highly doubted there would be anyone here to eat it.

“I’ve gotta get out of here,” she muttered to herself before heading for the stairs. She was at the foot when the front door creaked open, and the four men filed in. She stared at them taking in each drawn face. Jax stood in the front, the other three behind him. He glanced at the clock near the doorway and she couldn’t help but wonder if he’d timed this purposely so they’d intercept her usual departure.

“Hi,” she said tentatively, coming around the staircase so there wasn’t a physical obstruction between them. God knew there was a thick emotional chasm separating her from the group.

Jax gave her a nod. “Were you about to leave?”

She nodded.

Four scowls met her answer.

“I guess we shouldn’t stop you then,” Jax said darkly, almost daring her to go. Apparently, being the leader, he was the spokesman for the four.

“I guess we should talk first,” she snapped in response, crossing her arms over her chest and staring angrily at them. How dare they disappear then come back here all attitude-laden.

Jax tilted his head, acknowledging her words, and a stream of water rolled off his hat. He pulled it off and hung it on a hook by the door. He placed his all-weather coat and Carhartt jacket beneath it. The others followed suit.

“Okay,” he said, turning back to her. “You start. Everything was rolling along then apparently you got bored with ranch life. So where have you been going every day?”

For a lawyer, he was apparently fantastic at jumping to conclusions with little evidence. “I wasn’t bored. I got a job.”

“Why?”

“Because we don’t have enough money to cover operating expenses beyond taxes, equipment fuel and animal upkeep.”

“What kind of job?” he asked. “There’s no reason Ram and I can’t help with the other expenses.”

Just as she’d expected he’d say, and just what she couldn’t accept.

She shook her head. He’d also exceeded his allowance for back and forth questions, apparently deciding that he would be the only one pressing for answers. “Where’ve you been all day?”