Austin (New Horizon Ranch Book 8) Read online

  The woman hadn’t given him any peace last night. No sir, he’d tossed and turned and before dawn, he’d ended up standing on his front porch, swigging down coffee before the rooster crowed.

  And he’d been thinking about Jolene.

  No thank you, but he was not taking any chances of their skin coming in contact in any shape or form. If he had his way, there was not going to be any words exchanged—good, bad, or tempting.

  Because he was tempted. It wasn’t healthy being attracted to someone who downright disliked him. That didn’t seem to matter, though. Despite the distance between them, all he could think about was finding out whether her sassy lips were as sweet as they were tart and snappy. Or whether a kiss from her would be as fiery as the flame in her eyes. His throat went dry just wondering about it.

  “Austin!”

  He heard someone yell his name and then realized he’d been so deep in thought that he’d missed his cue to separate out a new group of cattle. His daydreaming had the whole synchronized work chain ground to a halt; everyone watched him, including one pretty lady with grit on her face and her hands on her shapely hips.

  “Sorry,” he called and moved his horse into the herd and then expertly drove a handful out of the group and out to the waiting ropers, who sent their ropes flying. One caught the head, the other the back legs, as they stretched it out so it wouldn’t hurt the men and woman administering the brand and the medications.

  And so the rest of the morning went. He kept his mind where it belonged, though. When they finally broke for lunch, he kept his distance from Jolene. He made sure to give her time to get her food and find a spot to eat before he went after his.

  Maddie got into the line beside him.

  “I guess the doc said you were good to go on the horse riding?” he asked.

  “Yes, he did. I, of course, have to be careful but I’m always careful. I wouldn’t be on the horse if I thought it would be a danger. Cliff would tie me to the couch and not let me leave the house if he could. He might be a risk taker himself but he’s in hovering mode right now. But I’m so blessed to have him. How’s your sister doing? It’s got to be hard on her having lost her husband at such a young age. And with a child. I can’t imagine.”

  “Thanks for asking. She’s she’s a fighter. She’s taking care of Julie and getting her teaching degree while she’s also grieving.”

  “That’s inspiring while it’s awful at the same time. And you’re helping her out?”

  “Yeah, getting that degree will help her make a life for her and Julie. It’s been seven months and I worry about her. She holds too much in.”

  Maddie patted his back. “She’s lucky to have you. You’re a standup fella, Austin, and believe me, I don’t say that lightly.”

  He took the compliment and then took his plate and headed toward a group of cowboys who had gathered over near the trailers. He made sure Jolene was not in the group. She was over near the horses, talking with Ty, and he remembered that she’d said she was here to break horses. Ty was over the horse program on the ranch, so it made sense. But try as he might, Austin couldn’t picture the tiny firecracker breaking a bronc.

  Sure, she was good on her horse—he’d seen that firsthand already—but breaking colts? The idea didn’t sit well with him. And that, too, bothered him because it wasn’t any of his business.

  “You should ask her out.”

  Austin’s head jerked as he looked from Jolene to find Treb, the ranch foreman, standing beside him. “What?”

  Treb chuckled. “When I yelled at you earlier to get your attention, I thought it was her you were zeroed in on and daydreaming about. Now I’m sure of it.”

  “Are you kidding? Not interested.”

  “And my name is George Washington.” Treb gave a gruff laugh. “Tell that to someone else because you’ve had your eyes glued on Jolene from the start. And I don’t see anything wrong with it, so I don’t know why you’re denying.”

  Austin didn’t have to reply and they both knew it. “Let’s just say I have enough on my plate right now without borrowing trouble and that…” He paused to nod toward Jolene. “Is trouble.”

  “Whatever you say. I came to tell you that I want you on the branding iron. We’re one man short.”

  “What? What happened?”

  “Shane just got kicked in the knee and it just swelled up like a watermelon. I’m sending him to have it checked out.”

  “I’m sorry that happened but put someone else in.”

  Treb looked amused. “No can do. Sorry.”

  “Yeah, sure,” Austin muttered, and then, looking around, he caught several people watching him from beneath their hat brims. If Treb had caught him staring at Jolene like a dope, then others probably had too. Cowboys—sometimes they had to find entertainment wherever they found it and Austin had a suspicion that he was the entertainment for the afternoon. There was probably a quick bet going with a few bucks or something. Shane getting hurt had opened the door for some action to be had. That’s what he got for letting his focus stray.

  Jolene had struggled to keep her eyes off Austin all morning. Deputy Austin Drake, she reminded herself so many times she was afraid she muttered it out loud a time or two while she was tagging cow ears and giving shots. Not exactly her favorite job in her career choice but cattle needed to be identifiable and medicated and someone had to do it. So, first day on the job and she wasn’t complaining about anything. When the handsome deputy strode up to the fire where she, Duke, and BJ were waiting for the first cow to be brought to them, she was not happy.

  Shane had gotten kicked in the knee, so she’d known someone would take his place but out of all the wranglers on the job today, why it was Austin she wasn’t sure. He didn’t even work on the ranch full-time.

  “Since you slowed traffic at that end, they decided to put you with us, huh?” BJ commented with a grin.

  “Something like that.” Austin met her gaze. He nodded at her and she nodded back at him. “Jolene, you making any baskets today?”

  Jolene suddenly felt as if the temperature had gone up another ten degrees as she felt the other cowboys’ eyes on her. “No, I can’t say that I am.” She yanked on her shirt collar and moved a couple of steps over to where cows would be delivered to them by the cowboys in the saddle.

  “I didn’t know you could make baskets.” BJ looked interested. “What do you make them out of?”

  “I don’t, BJ,” she said, shooting daggers at Austin. “He’s just aggravating.”

  The young cowboy looked confused and then laughed. “You two sure don’t get along. Why is that?”

  Before either one of them could respond, the first cow of the afternoon was dragged to them. It was time to work.

  Picking up a syringe, she drew up the vaccine ready to be administered while BJ grabbed the two rear legs and one front and tied them in one efficient motion. Austin then placed the brand and then released the tie, setting the animal free.

  It was tiring work but that didn’t keep her from noticing Austin. He might be a lawman but he knew what he was doing when it came to branding.

  She was tired and sweating buckets by three. Except for Shane getting kicked that morning, things had gone smoothly. Then there was a yell, and before she could turn to see what was happening, Austin reached out, pulled her into his arms and threw the two of them out of the way of a charging steer. They landed on the ground with him on his back; they rolled several times before they came to a stop with her laying on the ground with him on top of her.

  “You all right?” Austin asked, still holding tight to her.

  It happened so fast she was still reeling and trying to catch her breath as she looked into his concerned green eyes. For a heartbeat, she let her guard down and felt his heart thudding against hers and was very aware of being in his arms.

  “I’m fine. Thanks,” she managed and scrambled out of his arms. He was on his feet, too, as several cowboys came to check on them.

  “Sorry
about that,” a cowboy whose name she didn’t know said. “Blasted loop came off its legs and it bolted.”

  Still a little shaken, she caught her breath. “It happens. It’s okay.”

  “No, it’s not,” Austin snapped, glaring at the man. “If I hadn’t grabbed her, that steer would have plowed over her before she even had time to turn and see it coming. It was careless and no call for it—”

  “I’m fine,” Jolene snapped and placed herself between the two men. She glared up at Austin. “What is your problem?”

  “My problem? He’s the one who almost got you killed.”

  “You don’t know that. Things happen. Now back off,” she said, fuming and embarrassed. This was her first day on the job and he was treating her like a girl. It was hard enough to get the full respect of men in this job without him drawing attention to the fact over this.

  “You’re bleeding.” He reached out to run his fingertips along her jaw. She swatted his hand away and touched her jaw. There was blood on her fingers and she saw some on his where he’d touched her. She shrugged and rubbed her jaw on her shoulder. “It’s nothing. I’m fine. Everyone get back to work—the show’s over.”

  She stalked back to her station and in moments everyone went back to theirs. She couldn’t hardly think straight as they finished the day out. And it was easy to see that Austin was just as mad. Poor BJ was caught in the middle but he kept the cattle moving as they all got the last one done and called it a day.

  By the time they made it back to the ranch, it was dark. Horses had to be taken care of before anyone could head to their homes or their bunks.

  As they were unloading, Maddie stopped her. “You okay? It looked a little tense out there with Austin.”

  Jolene nodded. “I’m fine. Part of the job. He just got—”

  “Concerned.” Maddie gave her an understanding look. “I know where you’re coming from. I just want to say that I’ve been in your shoes and still am in some ways because I want to do my share. But believe me, I’ve learned that you can want to mix in seamlessly but a cowboy is a cowboy. And unless they’re a bad seed, they are going to be protective of you no matter what you want.”

  “I get that. I’ve dealt with it before but he…” Jolene sighed. How could she explain without sounding like she was just a complainer? This was her first day in the job and well, she couldn’t really explain why Austin irritated her. “You’re right. I just overreacted from being startled.” She gave a grin and hoped Maddie would drop it. She liked Maddie and felt as though they had a lot in common, so she didn’t want to do something to cause her not to like her.

  “You’re doing great. I’m glad you’re here.”

  “Thanks. Me too.” Jolene’s stomach clutched as Maddie smiled and headed off with her horse. She really thought this could be a place for her…if things could just work out.

  Chapter Five

  Austin was loading his horse into his own trailer before he headed back to his house. The sun had gone down an hour ago; it was near ten o’clock and he’d been up since before five that morning. Ranch work was a long day, especially in the summer when the time change gave them more daylight to burn. He was tired and wanted a shower and bed. And he needed some space between him and a certain cowgirl who he couldn’t stop thinking about. What had he done to make her dislike him like she so obviously did?

  And what was wrong with him that he was attracted to her despite her attitude toward him? Was there something he could do? Something he should do? All he knew was this just didn’t feel right, this irritation that rubbed between them. He knew his was from the fact that he was attracted to her and knew she’d likely welcome the attraction from a pole cat before she’d welcome it from him.

  And that was just plain irritating.

  He was closing the back end of his trailer when he heard someone walk up behind him.

  “Austin.”

  His pulse skipped at the soft sound of his name. He would recognize Jolene’s voice anywhere. It skittered along his nerve endings like a caress from her hand…or so he thought her touch could be if she wanted it to be.

  He turned to find her backlit by the dim moonlight. Her face was cast half in shadows from a floodlight some distance away. He stood in the shadows and when he didn’t say anything at first, she stepped closer into the shadows with him.

  “I came to say I’m sorry for overreacting today and when you stopped me on the road. Thank you for pulling me out of the way of that runaway steer.”

  He wanted to reach out and touch her cheek but figured she’d slap his hand with a resounding whack so he kept his hand to himself. “No apology needed. I’m glad you’re okay.” Deciding staying busy was best, he picked up the saddle that he’d dropped next to the trailer and headed toward the bed of his truck.

  He heard her boots crunching on the rock parking lot and knew she was following. He needed to get his head on straight and not on the way his gut had knotted up in her presence. Stopping short, he lifted the saddle over the side of the truck and set it down in the bed and then, hoping for sanity, he turned back. She stood between him and the driver’s side door. The moonlight caught her just enough for him to see worry in her expression. He groaned silently.

  “Look,” she said decisively. “I know I’ve been rude. And I apologize. You didn’t deserve the way I’ve treated you.”

  She was so pretty and sweet-looking in the low light. He almost smiled because it hid the sassy spark in her eyes and softened the stubborn jut of her jaw. “Any reason you’ve got that big chip on those pretty shoulders of yours? If you care to share, I’m all ears.” He should accept her apology and move on but, call it because he was so tired, he pushed for reasons. And because he was tired, he’d made the “pretty” slip of the tongue. Why he thought that would bother her he wasn’t sure but he had a hunch she would not appreciate it. She stiffened, telling him his instinct had been right.

  She slapped the hat she held against her thigh. “No, I’d rather not. I just wanted to say you were doing your job when you pulled me over. It wasn’t you—it was me who was out of line this whole time.”

  She turned to go and he just reacted, maybe because he was so tired. He reached and put a hand on her arm. “Wait.”

  Halting, she slowly turned toward him. They stared at each other in the darkness. He could hear the blood rush through his veins and the beat of his heart. An owl let out a lonesome hoot and Austin was lost in the moment. He must be coming down with something. If she weren’t standing there solemnly studying him, waiting for him to tell her why he’d stopped her, he would have been tempted to touch his forehead to check for fever.

  “I told you, Bartees and law don’t mix,” she said, firmly, before he found his voice. And then she walked away, stalking in the dim light of the parking lot.

  He just stood there. She hadn’t needed to explain her warning; he knew she was telling him that she knew what he was thinking about and she wanted him to back off.

  The cop in him immediately wondered why she was so against cops. The man in him wanted to know why she was attracted to him and yet so sure they wouldn’t mix.

  He climbed into his truck and headed home. No doubt about it—it was going to be another long night.

  “Dad-burned smokin’ hot man!” Jolene grumbled all the way across the parking lot. Memories of her dad being handcuffed and led away filled her mind. She’d been five and remembered crying and clinging to one of the officer’s legs as they put the cuffs on him. Remembered pleading for them not to take her daddy as the officer had leaned down and gently tugged her off his leg and handed her over to her mother.

  Despite knowing as she grew up that her dad had been selling drugs and the cops were only doing their jobs, she remained uncomfortable around cops. Her mother said repeatedly that it was because she had been so young and the trauma of it had just made a scar on her. Maybe so, but very seldom did she ever get a break when it came to a cop. If she got pulled over, she was getting a ticket—ye
s, her mouth and attitude could be part of it. Was part of it. “Darn it,” she muttered as she reached her door and headed inside.

  She had to get the chip off her shoulder but it sure as heck wasn’t going to be because she acted on the powerful attraction she felt for Austin Drake. Getting along with one was the goal. Not getting romantic with one.

  No, that right there was never going to happen. For more reasons than one.

  Chapter Six

  “You sure you’ve got this?” Ty asked Jolene the next day.

  She narrowed her eyes and cut them from the wild horse to stare at her new boss. “I’ve got this. It’s what you hired me for, so stop your worrying.”

  She could tell by the way his jaw clenched that he might be regretting hiring her. This batch of wild Mustangs he’d taken on to tame had a few mean ones in the mix. Jolene had intentionally picked one of them for her first assignment. And this was exactly why; she needed to lay to rest any hesitancy he or her fellow coworkers might have about her.

  “You sound as stubborn as my Mia,” he said, referring to his wife. Though Jolene hadn’t met her yet, she knew through cowboy circles who he’d married. A rodeo star in her own right, Mia Shaw had gotten hurt and ended up in Mule Hollow and Mrs. Ty Calder.

  Ty was a good guy but truth be told, Jolene wasn’t so sure she’d ever be ready to hand over her identity to someone else. She couldn’t imagine being Mrs. anyone.

  “Then you should know I’m not backing away from this. If you don’t have confidence in me, then it’s all the more reason for me to prove you didn’t make a bad hire.”

  “That’s not what I was thinking.”

  “Well, it’s what I’m thinking. So, boss, if you don’t mind, I’ve got a herd of cowboys paying close attention to what’s going on in this pen and I personally feel like making a bunch of doubters pay up big on the bets they’re more than likely shooting around right now.”