While I knew that, hearing it made my stomach twist into an anxious knot. What did I know about home ownership, much less ranch ownership? And I thought I could turn this place into a profit-turning endeavor? When it was literally falling down around my ears?
I was so screwed.
“I can’t afford to do it all at once. You do more than electrical, right?”
He looked me over once again, his lips quirking. “Lots more, Red.”
For some reason, it seemed like he was talking about more than just construction. Heat pooled between my legs under his steady gaze, and my nipples puckered in my bra.
Nash came up the steps and into the kitchen and cleared his throat.
I sprang back from Rand, suddenly conscious of how close we were standing. How we’d been staring at each other. That my gaze had been fixed on his lips.
“You might want to put the coffee maker in the living room for now, get it off the same circuit as the fridge and your other kitchen appliances.”
“Okay, right.” I nodded. Nash nodded back and glanced at Rand, who was still looking at me.
“Ready?” Nash asked. His curious gaze was still on Rand. “We should probably stop at Rob’s place to give him the news. You know, that Natalie arrived.”
“Yeah.” Rand seemed reluctant to move, reluctant to look away.
“Uh, now?”
“Right.” Rand tipped his cowboy hat at me. “I’ll be back, darlin’. This afternoon.”
“Sure. I’ll see you guys then.” I lifted a hand to wave.
“Just me,” Rand growled. “Nash has somewhere to be.”
Nash flicked his brows like that was news to him, but he gave me a wave and left.
“I’ll be back, Red,” Rand said again when the screen door slapped shut behind Nash.
I leaned my hip against the doorframe, a smile starting to form around my lips. “So you said.”
“Yep. Won’t be able to keep me away.” He winked and left, walking backward like he didn’t want to stop looking at me.
I watched, heat swirling everywhere.
Holy shit. Did Rand… like me? He had to be the way he stared at me and touched me and carried me and… God.
Guys like Rand weren’t usually attracted to geeks like me. I wasn’t bad looking, but in Los Angeles, I sure hadn’t turned many heads, mainly because I didn’t do the Barbie Doll routine with the straightened hair and painted nails. I had B cups, no implants. No designer clothes. Just wild red hair.
I was a musician who ran with the arty types.
Rand was a cowboy. Carpenter cowboy. Hot, carpenter wolf cowboy.
Who was coming back here this afternoon.
With a yelp, I ran for the shower. Montana living got more and more interesting every day.
4
RAND
“A bed and breakfast? No. Absolutely not. That is totally out of the question.”
Nash and I watched Rob, our alpha, pace around his giant kitchen after we gave him the news about Natalie’s plans for the Sheffield ranch.
He moved back and forth in front of the sink on the far side of the island. Nash sat at the large table, and I leaned against the fridge. I had no idea where Willow was, but with my wolf hearing, I knew she wasn’t in the house.
“That can’t happen.” He took his hat off and ran a hand through his hair.
“Well, obviously,” I agreed although my belly twisted. A wolf fucking lot. The urge to protect my mate was already at war with my alliance to my pack. I’d scented her at the swimming hole and confirmed it earlier.
Why the fuck did she smell like fucking apples and spice? Why did my wolf practically lick his lips to get a nice taste of her to see if she was just as sweet? Fuck, it wasn’t just my wolf. I wanted to get her beneath me. I wanted to find out if her scent was as delectable everywhere.
Now that I knew her by smell, I’d find her anywhere. That was the only way I’d been able to walk away earlier.
The fact that she was just down the road while I was standing here arguing with my alpha made my wolf angry. I knew I had to stay, to explain, but all I wanted to do was turn my truck around and get back to her. Open that front door, find her and set her on the nearest horizontal surface and claim her.
But no. I had to talk this shit out like girls at a slumber party. “It was an idea, a way for her to make a living,” I explained. “She doesn’t have any money to fix the place up, and it will need work, as you know.”
“I won’t forget my mate fixing that fucking roof,” he grumbled. “She sure as fuck learned her lesson about being up there.”
“Oh shit,” I muttered. The idea of Natalie on that steep pitched roof made me start to sweat. Yeah, she’d have a sore ass if she even thought about doing something as stupid as that. She wouldn’t dare. Would she? “There’s more to be fixed than the roof. I can’t imagine the B&B happening for a stretch. Might even take her a year or two to get the place ready, depending on how much she has to invest and that doesn’t even take into account furniture and decorating. Fancy sheets and whatnot. With her only income coming from bartending at Cody’s...”