Steal Her Heart (Kaid Ranch Shifters #1)(6)

Look at all her cows, having a happy moment in the pasture…

Wait, the cows were in her pasture.

Eeeeerk. Maris slammed on the brakes.

She did a quick head count. She was pretty sure all of her cows were back in their pasture. But…she’d sold them. To the Kaid Brother’s Ranch. And now they were back here. Eating her grass. And mooing. And pooping, and chewing, and staring at her.

This was like calculus for Maris right now. “I don’t understaaaaand,” she murmured, easing her truck forward again.

There were deep tire tracks from a trailer all up and down her little one-lane road, but when she pulled up to the unloading corral, no one was there.

The man she’d slapped across the face had come straight here and unloaded her cows back into her pasture while she was paying debts and eating dinner.

What.

The.

Fuck.

Okay, what had he solved? He’d paid her for what? For nothing? She wasn’t some sad charity case who needed a man to give her money. And not just a man, but a stranger. A tall, mysterious, dark, tattooed, handsome, intimidating, sexy cowboy stranger. But none of that mattered! He’d dumped her cows back onto bloodstained ground. Had he not heard her when she’d said she was selling because of predators? The wolves were still here. There were bones all over this damn pasture. Bones of a herd that were being devoured one by one.

And again, she wasn’t a charity case!

Emboldened with the last remnants of the wine buzz, she yanked her truck in reverse and sprayed mud behind her as she peeled out toward the main road.

She didn’t need anything from a man. She’d made that mistake before, and all he left her with was a broken heart. If she was going to continue ranching, she was going to do it on her own terms, not take a massive check from some nosey, abrasive, pushy do-gooder.

She’d never been on the Kaid Brother’s Ranch before, but she was about to say an official hello to the neighbors.

She hoped that interferin’ jackass was ready for the hell that was headed his way.





Chapter Four


“Aww, shiiiit,” Bryson murmured as he backed the trailer into the space beside the unloading arena. In his side mirror, he could see Wesley Kaid riding up on his favorite horse, Rango. Even with his hat pulled low, his narrowed eyes were easy to make out as he studied the empty trailer.

“Here we go,” Bryson huffed out as he threw the truck in park and got out. He didn’t look up at Wesley or speak until he was unhitching the trailer from his black diesel F350. “What?” he ground out without turning around. Asshole would hear him. He had the ears of a dog.

The leather of the saddle creaked as Wes drew up behind him. With a soft growl in his throat, Bryson turned and leaned against the front of the trailer. “I told you a million times I don’t like people behind me.”

Wes cast his attention to his brother, Hunter, sauntering their way from the house. The Kaids might be brothers, but they looked nothing alike. Wes had blue slanted cat-like eyes that missed nothing, chiseled cheekbones, a lean build, and shoulder-length brown hair, while his younger brother, Hunter, kept his blond hair cut short, and was built like a semi. Wes might look like the smaller of the two, but a man would be wiser to mess with the big one. Wes didn’t give a single fuck about a fair fight. He would have a man gutted before his brother even moved to throw a punch.

“We got a call said you bought us a big haul. Bought a whole herd from the ranch next door to add to our numbers, and I must say,” Wes said, dragging his attention back to Bryson, “we sure were pleased. But low and behold, you show up dragging an empty trailer, so I guess I’m just confused on where the beef went.”

“Ain’t your beef,” Bryson drawled before he spat on the ground.

“Yeah?” Hunter asked, frowning as he pushed his cowboy hat back and came to a stop by Rango. “Then whose beef did Dixie Johnson see you hauling out of the auction?”

“Mine.” Bryson cocked his head and dared Wes to jump off his horse and start a fight with him. Again.

Wes stayed put though, smart cowboy, and arched his eyebrows. “Yours?”

“I bought them with my money, so yeah, mine.” Sometimes he wanted to throttle Wes just for lookin’ at him wrong. He hated that asshole. “You ask a lot of questions like you’re accusing me of something.” Bryson rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. “You accusing me of something, Wesley?” Wes hated being called his full name. Bryson was probably, definitely gonna get in a fight today, but bring it on. He’d been itching for one since he saw the tears in Maris’s eyes. The quit in that woman had made him feel angry and protective for reasons he didn’t understand.

“It just seems like you went to that auction to get us some more cattle, and you came back with zero fuckin’ cattle. You gotta job to do—”

“And I do that job—”

“But you’re out on the clock buying cattle out from under us with money you earned from working our ranch!”

Hunter grabbed Rango’s reins as the horse pranced, disturbed by his rider’s anger. “Wes—”

“Shut the fuck up, Hunter. You wanna run this ranch like a pussy? You wanna have another bad year like the last? Like the one before that? Then go on then, go lenient on him, let the bruin run this place.” He twitched his head toward Bryson. “Let him do what the fuck he wants. Let him steal from us—”