The True Cowboy of Sunset Ridge (Gold Valley #14)(31)

Nobody wanted to deal with their own issues.

Well, alone in a tiny, remote cabin where she didn’t even have TV, she would have ample time to ponder them.

If only she could only keep herself from pondering her landlord.



CHAPTER SEVEN


COLT’S ENTIRE BODY hurt like a son of a bitch. He could not believe how sore he was from doing ranch work. But putting in a new fence, moving hay around, dealing with heavy equipment and hefting building materials back and forth had made for a helluva day. He was dirty, sweaty, and he was in pain.

He still hadn’t dealt with the interior of his house, which badly needed a face-lift, not because he was remotely fancy, but because he needed a bathtub big enough for him to sit in. He was too tall for a standard tub, and he needed to soak. Thankfully, he bought a hot tub off of a guy on the circuit, and he’d installed it out in the barn.

It wasn’t the final stop for it, but he didn’t have the deck built that he needed, and this worked fine for him. He went out to the barn and double-checked the temperature, then he walked in the house, opened up the fridge and got a beer. He took his hat off and set it on the counter, took his shirt off and wiped his chest down, then threw the shirt onto the floor.

He was beat.

He went back outside, the oppressive heat molding itself to his skin. He was over it. Whose bright idea was it to quit the rodeo and become a rancher?

He preferred eight seconds of glory to this bullshit.

No wonder he’d left Hope Springs when he’d been eighteen. It had been a solid decision.

“Whine about it, Daniels,” he growled to himself as he wrenched the barn door open again, then pulled it closed.

He kicked off his boots, his socks and pants and underwear, and hauled himself, still holding the beer, down into the tub. He was still too damn hot for this, but it was what his muscles needed. Otherwise, he was not going to be human come morning, and Jake was still going to expect him to come out to the ranch.

Jake was establishing a pretty great equine operation, and Colt was impressed with it. He knew his brother was going to be successful with the endeavor, but it was requiring an intense overhaul of the property. Parts of it were completely finished, but with Jake looking to expand, it meant a hell of a lot of work for the two of them.

Of course, Colt could do something with his own ranchland. He owned land now. So there was that.

Hell, maybe he could even join forces with Jake in that way. Have some of the animals on his property.

But that all sounded very permanent. And he just didn’t feel like making a commitment. Not entirely. Right now, he had a house, and it had decent bones. He could leave and rent it out if he felt like it. Lease his land. Go back on the road.

It had been some thirteen years since he’d been in one place for more than a couple months at a time. He just didn’t know if he had it in him. Didn’t know if he wanted to find it in him.

He let his head lie back against the rim of the tub. He tried to remember the rodeo. What it felt like. How much he enjoyed going out drinking after a hard-out ride. Picking up his guitar and playing a half-assed country song with more charm than skill. He... He hadn’t touched his guitar for a few months. But then, he didn’t much feel like he had the right to make music, any more than he felt like he had the right to party or win or fuck. Of course, then he’d met Mallory Chance.

And then, a vision of Mallory swam in his mind. Mallory, with her pale skin and firm, small breasts. Mallory, who had freckles in some interesting places, and he remembered each and every one. Remembered playing connect the dots with them, using lips and his tongue that night in the motel room.

He groaned, feeling himself getting hard beneath the water.

Nope. He wasn’t going to do that. He wasn’t going to go there with her. Talk about entanglement.

Damn entanglement.

She was his tenant. She was connected to his family by marriage. It was ridiculous. He didn’t want this.

But then, he didn’t want any of it. He couldn’t remember the life that he’d had before, not really. It was like watching a reel of someone else’s life. Watching a movie where maybe he played a part. But he didn’t fit in this life either. Working with his brother, coming home, being angry...

Thinking about a woman who was not very far away, who he decided he couldn’t have. It was all... None of it felt like him.

He wasn’t sure he knew who he was.

The barn door opened, and he stood up reflexively, turning around to see what the hell was going on. And there she was. Standing in the doorway, backlit by the sun, her hair a glowing reddish halo, her eyes wide. She was wearing a demure little dress that was gently fluttering midthigh thanks to the breeze, and she was staring... Well at the part of him that had been getting a little excited thinking about her only a moment before.

“I... I’m sorry,” she said, turning away from the door and practically running off.

“Hell,” he growled, stepping out of the tub, yanking a towel off the nearby shelf and wrapping it around his waist. “Hey, don’t worry about it,” he said.

“I...” She turned back around. “I don’t see how this is going to work.”

In that moment, he didn’t know why he would go after her. He didn’t know why he cared at all. Any number of women had seen him naked. More than he could count. She’d seen him naked—he didn’t care. But she was distressed, and his immediate instinct had been to go after her. It bothered her, and he couldn’t leave it alone. Something was drawing him toward this woman. And it could be argued at this point that it was fate.