Country Heat (King Creek Cowboys Book 1)

K
ing Creek Cowboys
series

Country Heat

Copyright © 2016 by Cheyenne McCray LLC

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This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to anyone. If you would like to share this eBook with another person, please purchase an additional copy or copies. If you are reading this eBook and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should purchase your own copy. Thank you for honoring the author’s work.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

“
D
o you want it harder
?”

“Yeah.” Carter McLeod nearly groaned at Lisa’s firm touch. Damn, her hands felt good.

That’s it
. He relaxed, his eyes closed, then chuckled to himself as he realized how erotic their conversation sounded.

Maybe it wasn’t so bad he’d been given the gift certificate for the massage with Lisa for his birthday. He’d had one hell of a week at the ranch, and this was just what the doc ordered.

He’d have to admit to his little sister she’d been right—the massage was the perfect birthday present.

“Turn over, Carter.” Lisa moved her hands away from his shoulders. “Scoot down and lie on your back so that your head rests on the table.”

To tell the truth, he didn’t want to move. He wanted to lie right where he was and let her keep going.

He raised his head from the donut-like face rest and managed to turn over under the sheet and scoot down without revealing anything he didn’t want on display. Lisa was cute with lots of sexy curves, but he had no plans to let things go anywhere with his sister’s best friend. It was bad enough that it was all he could do to not let his thoughts wander where they shouldn’t be going.

When he was on his back and she’d removed the face rest from behind him, he closed his eyes again and relaxed. He hadn’t let himself do that in a long time.

As she worked on his shoulders, he tried to let his mind drift and not think about things like running the ranch, and the fact that he had a new cook coming in. Kit Beaumont had been a last resort pick after he’d fired Lester. The third cook in a row he’d lost for one damned reason or another since Cal died. After Lester, no one but Kit had applied for the job.

Carter’s office manager, Grace, had gone ahead and hired Kit. So now he had some fancy chef from L.A. coming to the ranch today. Might already be here. He didn’t know how long the new cook would last, but maybe she would get them through a couple of months—before she decided ranching life and feeding a bunch of cowhands and staff weren’t for a city girl.

Not only had his cook bugged out, but several other issues had cropped up during the past three weeks. One of his mares had nearly died while foaling twins; the neighbor’s Brahman bull had escaped his pen and trampled the fence between Carter’s ranch and Johnson’s place. Now some of Carter’s prized Angus cows might be giving birth to a half Brahman calf in nine months or so.

Carter’s gut clenched as he thought of his Border Collie, Lucy. A bobcat had torn up the dog bad. Thank God he’d reached Lucy in time to rescue her from the wild animal, and the vet had been able to save the sweet ol’ girl’s life. Lucy was staying with his sister, Leeann, who was a vet tech, until the dog healed.

Lisa massaged one of Carter’s arms from his biceps to his wrist. “Relax.”

Carter hadn’t realized his muscles had tensed until Lisa pointed it out. He did his best to do as she instructed, but it wasn’t easy. He focused on the mint and rosemary scent of the massage oil and the feel of it on his skin. The only thing he would change was that New Age mood music for some good ol’ George Strait.

Lisa moved her hands down his body, her fingers skimming the sheet over his cock.

Carter’s body jerked and he opened his eyes and shot a look at Lisa.

She flashed him a wicked grin. “Just making sure you’re still with me.”

“I haven’t gone anywhere.” He knew his words came out in an impatient grumble, but her grin broadened.

“I’ve always wanted to get my hands on Haylee’s oldest brother.” Thankfully, Lisa moved lower, away from the family jewels. “And now I have.” A rumble rose in his chest and she laughed. “You’d have a lot more fun in life if you’d just loosen up.”

He scowled.

She leaned closer. “You’re not getting any younger, Carter McLeod.”

He decided ignoring her was the best idea and he closed his eyes.

She gave a soft laugh and moved away. He had to get his cock to ignore her, too, so he thought about Grandma McLeod. Yup. That was all he had to do and instant shrinkage.

One thing, she’d told the truth. He wasn’t getting any younger and he still wanted to find the
right
woman to marry, raise a handful of kids, and spend the rest of his life with the woman he loved.

He was likely dreaming an impossible dream and he needed to return to reality. His friends and fellow ranchers would tease the shit out of him if they knew how sappy his thoughts were at the moment.

Thirty-seven today—one more year had flown by.

By the time Lisa had finished working him over, he was almost wishing for a “happy ending”, like some of the girls gave in the trashy massage parlors in Phoenix. He’d never been, but he knew a couple of men who enjoyed it. That wasn’t Carter’s style.

Lisa left the room and he tugged on his jeans, western shirt, socks and boots. He grabbed his Stetson and pulled it low on his brow before he stepped out into the hall.

The real world came back in a hurry. A ninety-minute massage hadn’t been nearly enough.

Lisa’s words came back to him. Maybe he did need to have more fun in his life.

* * *

“
I
’ve been
to Arizona before.” Kit glanced out at the scenery speeding by as she spoke with her best friend, Daisy. Kit guided the car into the right lane of the Superstition Freeway as desert scrub and cacti gave way to more scrub and cacti. “I know I’ll like it here.”

“Just wait ’til you hit triple digits in the
teens
. L.A. doesn’t get close to 117 degrees in the summer.” Daisy sounded exasperated as her voice came over the speakers in the Lexus SUV. “You’re going to miss the 70-degree weather.”

The sign for the turnoff to King Creek was coming up in one mile. “I’m tough.” Kit had been through far worse than a little heat and had survived.

“Not to mention stubborn.” Daisy went on, “Being a chef in a five-star resort hotel is a big difference from being a cook at a one-star ranch.”

Kit laughed. “It could be a five-star ranch for all I know.”

“It’s probably more like a zero-star.”

“I don’t think there’s such a thing as a zero-star anything.” Kit followed the direction her GPS pointed her to and guided her SUV from the freeway and onto the off-ramp. “I think if it’s below one it’s too crappy to rate.”

“You never did tell me why on earth you’d want to go work on a smelly, dusty, place in the middle of nowhere.”

Thinking about the reason why she wanted to be in the country usually made Kit’s stomach sink. At this moment, however, she found excitement building inside. “My grandparents had a farm in northern California before they passed away. Some of my best memories are from days we spent in the country. It will be like going back to my roots.” She missed the time she had spent on the farm and missed her grandparents so very much.

She needed to return to that simplicity in life.

Surprise was clear in Daisy’s tone. “You grew up on a farm? Why haven’t you told me about that one
important
detail?”

“It’s been hard for me to talk about.” Kit felt a wave of sadness. “My sister and I spent summers on the farm during our childhood with Grandpa Will and Grandma Martha. They were our paternal grandparents.” She glanced in her rearview mirror as she pulled onto Kings Ranch Road and headed north. “I loved the farm and I’ve wanted to go back for so long. This gives me the opportunity to do that.”

“I understand.” Daisy’s voice softened. “I’m going to miss you.”

Kit swallowed past the lump that lodged in her throat. Daisy had been her closest friend since moving from San Francisco to Los Angeles. It wasn’t going to be easy not seeing her on a regular basis.

“We’re only going to be 350 miles or so apart.” Kit tried to make her voice sound perky, even though she didn’t feel that way. “That’s five or six hours.”
Or so.

“I’m going to miss our lunch, movie, hairstyle, and shopping dates,” Daisy said. “Who am I going to drag to Neiman Marcus when I need a new pair of shoes?”

Kit laughed.

“If it wasn’t for that cheating bastard, you’d still be here,” Daisy went on. “Did I ever say how much I hate that S.O.B.?”

Kit gripped the steering wheel tighter, until her hands ached. “I needed a change anyway, and I want to see if I still fit in the boonies.” She slowed at a four-way stop intersection. Her heart slowed too, as Daisy’s words brought thoughts of her ex-boyfriend, Derrick, to the forefront of her mind, where she didn’t want him at all.

Truth was she would have been happy to stay in L.A. with the great future she’d imagined with him,
if
he’d been who she’d thought he was. Unfortunately, that was all it was, her imagination painting the idyllic picture of a home with someone she’d been so certain she was desperately in love with.

In her heart she knew that was the problem. She’d been desperate
for
love. At thirty-three, it was far past time to break the pattern.

Not going to happen again.

Even as she went to culinary school, she always dreamed of opening her own restaurant in a small town. When she met Derrick, desperate for love, she changed. Her life goals changed too, in order to fit into the L.A. lifestyle with him.

Taking this job at the ranch in Arizona was her chance to clear her head and reset back to what her goals were before him. She planned to work at the ranch and save up money before deciding where to go and open her restaurant.

Kit barely slowed as she checked all directions before continuing on down the road.

“Who knows.” Daisy spoke in a brighter tone. “Maybe Mr. Big Time Cowboy Rancher will turn out to be sexy. Come to think of it, cowboys are pretty hot. I bet your boss will be, too.”

Kit rolled her eyes. “Cowboys
are
hot, but he’s probably twenty years older than me. As sexy as cowboys are, they do have an expiration date.”

“Sam Elliott is still hot,” Daisy said.

“Point taken.”

Daisy spoke to someone in her office, her words slightly muffled, then moved the phone to her mouth again. “I’m sorry, Kit. I’ve got to get back to work. Call me when you get settled in. Promise?”

“Promise.” Kit’s throat and eyes ached. She was going to miss Daisy and her life in L.A. Had she made the right decision? Or had she been too reactive?

She gritted her teeth. She’d made the decision and she was going through with it. If things didn’t go well, she could always give notice and return to L.A. Except for the fact that she was stubborn and hated to admit she was wrong.

“Call me,” Daisy said again.

“Talk with you soon.” Kit pressed the disconnect button on the steering wheel and ended the call.

The view outside the SUV’s windows gave way to greener brush, grass, and wildflowers crowding the sides of the road. The majestic Superstition Mountains soared toward the sky to her right, its peaks and valleys green with new growth, while the bluff was a stark white contrast against the green.

It was the first week of April and spring was in full swing in what locals referred to as the Valley—the Phoenix metro area. Even though Kit hadn’t been raised in the desert, she felt a certain affinity for the wildness of the land. The difference in the scenery made her think of how different it was at home.

Home.

She didn’t have a home anymore thanks to Derrick. She had no place to come home to at night to cuddle up with someone she loved, someone who was there for her in her life and in her heart and soul. Just like when her father died, she had no home.

All she had after she left Derrick was a cold barren apartment.

She clenched her teeth as her thoughts jumped back to Derrick and how he had left her. The pain of his betrayal had triggered memories and feelings of the past all the way back to her father’s death. She had never been able to forgive him for leaving her mother, sister, and herself with
nothing
when he died.

They’d lost everything. Every damned penny, the house, and the cars, too.

She probably shouldn’t feel the way she did, but she couldn’t get herself to forgive him. Of course her father hadn’t planned on dying in the printing-press accident. But he should have been prepared. Should have known they would be left with nothing if he died.

Nothing.

The hypocrisy of her own abandonment slapped Kit. After what she had done, who was she to judge about abandoning someone?

Still, her entire body tensed. She’d had relationships over the years and they’d all gone bad. She’d thought Derrick was different, that she could trust him and believe in him.

Kit slammed the heel of her palm on the steering wheel and an ache shot through her hand.
How could I have trusted him?
She had shared everything with him, every single secret she’d kept before meeting him.

And when she caught him having an affair, he had blamed
her
, saying that he wouldn’t have strayed if she could have children. She had known it was bull, the pain had been sharp and searing, all the way to her gut. A part of her couldn’t help but feel inadequate.

The biggest blow came soon after—the woman he’d been screwing was pregnant with his child.