Tobias (Reynolds Ranch 2)

What sick, twisted soul puts it back in the fridge ass-empty?

I snatch up a bottle of water to quench my thirst. It’s the end of the summer, so the heat and hard work make me endlessly thirsty. I take out the pointlessly chilled pitcher and set it on the counter. I’ll deal with that problem later.

Did she take a nap or something? She’s a few years older than me, but she doesn’t have a work ethic at all. If I knew how to cook, I’d have no use for her, but I burn everything but coffee, and even that’s total shit.

I don’t know this woman well, but she came from an agency that specializes in that kind of thing. She’s not a great cook and her cleaning has gone from good to nonexistent. I’m too damn tired most days to care, but she finally pushed me to the end of my patience. She’s going to need to find another job right away. I storm out of my kitchen, needing to find that lazy woman who sets my teeth on edge.

Dang, I don’t hear any noise as I walk through the entire first floor, and she’s nowhere to be found. Tapping on her bedroom door, I don’t get a response, so I look inside her bedroom on the first floor and it’s empty and a complete mess.

Letting out a harsh breath, I hiss, “Screw it.” I need a damn shower anyway. Closing her door, I stomp up the stairs toward my bedroom. As soon as I hit the landing, I hear the first sounds of movement—the telltale sound of the floorboard in my bedroom that I need to fix creaks loudly.

“What the hell?” I whisper to myself, grateful that I keep a gun on me. Is someone in the family safe? That’s the only damn reason I can imagine someone being in there. There’s another safe in my office, but it’s a hidden one. Still, only those who have been in this house and close to the family would know about the one in my bedroom.

“He’s coming. Shit. Hide,” I hear in a hushed female tone. Hurried movements and the sound of clothes rustling tell me all I need to know. The safe has nothing to do with what’s going on in there. Something more depraved is going on inside a room it shouldn’t be. Rage boils in me because I can tell she’s not inside making my bed, which isn’t something I had her do anyway because she’s not allowed in my bedroom.

Seething, I slam my door open to find my ranch hand buttoning his pants while Nina’s covering herself with my favorite blanket.

“Get the fuck out of my house.” My voice shakes the damn rafters. This is a level of pissed off I haven’t been in a long time. There are six bedrooms in this house including the housekeeper’s one on the first floor, and they choose mine to disrespect me in. Soiling my bed with the clear intent to insult me.

“I’m sorry, Tobias.” His eyes beg me not to fire his ass, but he can go over and find a new position elsewhere because I don’t tolerate fucking lying assholes and he told me a whopper of one to get out of work early. I shake my head, glaring at the bastard, wanting to clock him in the jaw, but I don’t need a lawsuit on my hands.

“No, I’m the sorry one. Your kid getting sick must have been a quick illness. Get off my property before I call the police or decide to bury you in my field.” We’re super busy, and this fucker’s having sex in my bed. I could kill him.

My attention turns to the bitch on my bed. Shit, I’m going to have to throw away those sheets. Maybe even the mattress. “That goes for you, too. You get out of my bed. You’re fired. I want you out now,” I bark out, teeth clenched.

“I don’t have anywhere to go,” she pleads, slowly loosening the sheet and rising to her knees in a seductive pose to reveal her tits to me like I’ve got any interest in her worn out body. I don’t. I made my momma one damn promise before she died that I’d never let any woman into my bed that wasn’t going to be my wife, the mother of my child. This broad crossed the line.

“I don’t give a damn about that. Get your nasty ass off my bed.” Every second that passes, my anger intensifies, blurring my vision with indignation. I’d never hit a woman, but she’s sorely testing my patience. My former ranch hand scowls at her audacity, seeing her easily offering her body to me after just taking his dick. He has the nerve to actually look pissed. He’s married with kids.