Staking His Claim (Ranchers of Chatum County 1)

By the time he came and picked her up after he finished working on his ranch and she got back from her job in town, there was no sunlight left to do anything outside.

But he came and got her every night. And they spent every evening together, either cooking at his house or having supper at the diner in town. They watched movies sitting on his couch together and usually never made it to the end of the film before they were touching each other and were out of breath and naked.

He never complained about her job, but he did ask her leading questions that at first seemed innocuous. But the more nonchalant the question was, the more she knew the answer meant to him. Finally she threw up her hands and told him he had no reason to be jealous. She only wanted him. She saw that statement sink in and a calmness come over him that was almost tangible.

He still brought her back to her aunt’s home every night. He usually became tense but he never verbally attacked. He never criticized, but he would stand erect, rigid, and Elaina knew he was never happy to take her home.

But he did, and she gave him points in her head.

She was immensely happy. He was going out of his way to please her, and she knew why. He wanted her. Completely. And he was trying to prove it to her.

He was going for her.

Totally.

For the win.

****

Three wonderful weeks later, Elaina was heading back to the bank at the end of her lunch break. She’d spent most of the hour in the small, county library with a yogurt cup and granola bar, using the internet for nothing more import

ant than a bit of online shopping.

She was walking past the only grocery store in town when Trevor opened the door, walked out and bumped into her.

He reached out to steady her at the same time he realized who he had in his arms.

His grin was infectious.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

They grinned at each other a moment before he spoke again with the smile still in his voice as he studied her. “Raul Vega? Seriously, Elaina?”

A small laugh erupted from her throat. “Yeah, seriously.”

Trevor sobered. “He’s a good man.”

“Yeah, he is.”

“Even though you could have had all this,” he lifted his hands from her and motioned to himself like he was a chocolate donut with cream filling.

“Right.”

They laughed and chatted a few minutes. She looked at her watch. She was going to be late if she wasn’t careful. “Later, dude, I need to get back to work.”

Elaina turned away from him and kept walking as he went in the opposite direction.

She was still smiling when she came to the entrance of the bank and saw Raul leaning against the front of the building, arms crossed, a frown on his face, watching her.

Her insides quivered and her legs trembled from the shock of him appearing out of the blue when she wasn’t expecting it. “What are you doing here?”

She came to stand within a foot of him as he answered, “I bank here, Elaina. It’s the only bank in town.” His voice was strained.

She bit her lip against the unintentional grin that began encompassing her face. She motioned with her head in the direction she had just come from and asked him, “Did you see all that?”

His eyes narrowed on her and his lips flattened. “Yeah.”