Fierce (Wolf Ranch 5)

She took a small step back.

“Nice to meet you, Charlie.” I clasped her hand in mine and energy ran all the way up my arm. A shock of desire. I immediately released her and stepped back, running the affected hand over the back of my neck to alleviate the sensation.

“Well, now that we know you’re Charlie but not Charlie, we’ll get you set up in the main house,” Clint said. “I don’t think the bunk house will suit.”

“I can just stay at a hotel.” I couldn’t miss the stiffness in her voice.

“Town’s twenty miles away. Not all that convenient,” Boyd said doubtfully.

Audrey pushed her glasses up her nose and nodded. “Rob and Willow won’t mind you staying at the big house.”

“I don’t want to put anyone out,” she said, breaking her gaze from mine and looking to Audrey. “Whatever you originally planned is fine.”

“She’ll stay in the bunkhouse.” I spoke before I even knew I meant to. I usually deferred decisions to Rob or Colton or Boyd, but if I was going to be spending two weeks with a gorgeous female, I wanted her nearby. All my crankiness about sharing a roof with a human was out the window. I’d figured Charlie would be a guy and annoying at that, not a dick-hardening, fuckable woman. This definitely wasn’t a bad idea after all.

Clint chuckled. “The bunkhouse is nice and all, but not really meant for ladies. Shared bathroom and all.”

“Like I said—”

“She’s staying in the bunkhouse,” I insisted, cutting her off and meeting her gaze once more. Holding it. “I’ll make sure she’s comfortable.”

She stared at me but spoke to Clint. “Sounds like this could be difficult. I’ll get a hotel room.”

Difficult? The only thing that would be difficult would be fitting my hard dick in my pants with her around. I was like an aroused stallion with a mare in heat.

“You’ll stay in the bunkhouse,” I repeated. “Come on, I’ll get your bag.”

Her back straightened at my deep tone. I knew it sounded rough, but I couldn’t help it.

“Levi, right? I’ve made things awkward. You all had planned for a man, and then there’s me.” She set her hand by her neck, and I couldn’t miss her short fingernails. Manicured with a pale pink color.

Yeah, I hadn’t planned for her. I’d planned on some asshole human male who was going to cramp my style for two weeks. Not a beautiful human vet. And very female.

“Levi, maybe it would be better if she stayed with Rob and Willow,” Clint warned.

I wanted to throat punch him. I whipped my head toward Clint and made sure he could see the way I narrowed my eyes.

“I’ll stay in the motel,” she said. “Sounds like that will be easiest.” She was clearly uptight, and I’d made her uncomfortable. Hell, she was like a skittish mare.

I needed to treat her like I treated any nervous filly. I forced myself to relax and stepped forward, loose-limbed and friendly. I gave her my most charming smile—straight out of the Boyd Wolf player’s playbook—before he met Audrey, of course. “Definitely not. You’re staying in the bunkhouse. With me.”

In my bed, preferably.

2

CHARLIE

I was used to working in a man’s world, but there was more testosterone on this ranch than on the entire Bronco football team.

It was nice to see another woman and cute baby, but they didn’t do anything to help. Not after Levi had put his foot down.

As I followed Levi to the bunkhouse, I shook off the way they’d stared when I arrived. He’d insisted on carrying all my bags—even wanted to haul my purse, which was ridiculous.

This wasn’t the first time time a bunch of horse people had freaked out to discover their vet was a woman. A black woman, no less. I’d been busting stereotypes from the beginning in the uppercrust horse world. There was a reason I dressed and acted professionally at all times, even here in Cooper Valley. There was a big difference between Mr. Claymore’s spread in Colorado and Wolf Ranch. With my boss, everything was precise and perfect… clinical. He expected perfection in everything from his employees to his horses. That was why I was here in Montana. He wanted his mare bred with a Wolf Ranch stallion to make the perfect offspring. It was my job to see it done. Literally.

Even if it meant staying with a super hot, super sexy, super grumpy cowboy named Levi.

Not that I minded. Not the Levi part but being in Montana. I’d bought myself two weeks of reprieve. The stress of my job. My grandfather starting to be forgetful. Those were nothing in comparison to the blackmail I was dealing with. I popped antacids like they were mints to ease the churn in my gut.

Being here and only having to worry about spreadsheets and horse insemination meant I had my life back. I could—hopefully—forget about ordering more illicit batches of ketamine. I was perpetually freaked that I’d be discovered. I’d be fired. Lose my vet license. Ruined. All because of Dax, an asshole coworker who’d found a way to use me to supply him with his stash to sell.