Maisey Yates - A Tall, Dark Cowboy Christmas

“I’ll suggest Wyatt and Bennett pencil being living props into their schedule.”

“Not you?” she asked.

He shifted, feeling uncomfortable. “I think I might scare them away.”

She shrugged. “Some women dig the asshole thing.”

He cleared his throat. “I’ll make a note of that.”

He pushed open the back door, led her into the dining hall. No one was in the large room. There were rows of vacant tables and benches, all clean and ready for the next meal.

Two large dispensers of coffee from Sugar Cup were set up on a long, bright blue table that was pushed up against the back wall, along with fixings for cider, hot chocolate and tea. In exchange for sending people on to the coffeehouse, they provided the ranch with coffee. And as far as Grant was concerned, it was a pretty good deal. An employee brought out fresh urns in the morning, and picked them up in the afternoon.

Caffeine that he didn’t have to make was about the best thing he could imagine.

Except for possibly a self-refilling whiskey bottle.

“You can get coffee here in the morning,” he said. “That’s what most of us do. Wyatt and Lindy have coffee at their place, but most of the ranch hands come here.”

“Am I a...ranch hand?” she asked.

“I guess so,” he said.

The corner of her mouth tilted up, a dimple denting her cheek. “How funny.”

“Mostly, you’ll be doing chores in here, or housekeeping type stuff. Not a whole lot of heavy lifting.”

She lifted her arms, which were slim like the rest of her. “For the best.”

“Come with me, I’ll show you to your cabin.”

They walked down a long dirt road that led away from the guest cabins. Not all of the Get Out of Dodge staff lived on the property, but depending on weather or projects that were happening, it was convenient to have the lodging.

This particular little house was set far away from most of the main buildings, nestled into the trees.

It was small, with a tidy porch and a red door. It was near one of the ponds, providing a nice view from all angles. The mountains at the back, the water out the front.

He found himself looking back at her, to see if she had that look on her face again. She did. A little bit of wonder. A whole lot of awe.

“Is this it?”

“Yes,” he said.

He imagined that was an opening for witty banter of some kind. But he honestly couldn’t be bothered. He didn’t have enough experience with that kind of thing.

He walked her up to the door and punched in a code. “Four three six,” he said. “That will get you in. I’ll write it down for you.”

He pushed open the door, and held it for her. Her expression went blank as they walked inside. Like the rest of the cabins, this one had been furnished with all new stuff.

Hell, it was nicer than his place.

Small, but nice.

“Think this will work for you?”

She blinked several times in rapid succession. “Yes,” she said, her voice sounding a little bit tight. “Yes, this is fine.”

“Are you okay?”

“Are you really letting me stay here?”

“Yes,” he said. “Though, to be real technical about it, Wyatt is letting you stay here. He’s in charge. I’m just a shareholder, so to speak.”

“But I mean... You’re letting me stay here for... Nothing?”

“For work.”

She sucked in one side of her cheek, looking away from him. “I don’t have to sleep with you or anything, that’s what I’m asking.”

Heat shot down his spine, pooling in his gut. The shock of her bringing up sex, and the fact that he might be looking to trade lodging for it, caught him off guard.

“Hell, no,” he said, the denial vehement and easy.

She lifted her hands. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be offensive. But you know, women on their own have to look out for these things. Most situations that seem too good to be true are. And most of the situations I’ve been in that were too good to be true fell apart because... Some guy expected a form of payment I wasn’t that interested in.”

“That’s not going to happen here,” he said.

She took a deep breath, clasping her hands together and looking around. “Okay. So, when do I need to start work?”

“You said you’ve worked in housekeeping at a hotel?”

“Yeah. I’ve done that a ton of times. Hotels, motels. You name it. I’ve cleaned it.”

“Okay, make the rounds on the cabins today. The supplies are in the mess hall, where we just came from. You can start in a few hours. Get some rest.”

She nodded. “I don’t... I don’t really have much in the way of—”

“Toiletries should be in the bathroom. You can use the washer and dryer in Wyatt and Lindy’s place.”

He hadn’t verified that with his brother and sister-in-law, but he figured if they were going to start giving homes to strays he could give their washer and dryer.

“So.” She looked at him. “Is he your younger brother?”

“Who?”

“Wyatt.”

“No. I’m his younger brother.”

She made a musing sound. “You seem older than him.”

He had to laugh at that. He probably did. “No.”

“You have other brothers?”

“One,” he said. “And kind of a surrogate brother. And a younger sister. She’s around. If you need anything, and you see the girl with dark hair, that’s Jamie. She’ll be happy to help out.”

“Thanks,” she said.

“You’re welcome. I guess I’ll leave you to it, then.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

He lifted his hand, brushing his fingertips against the brim of his hat, and their eyes caught and held. She was pretty. He wasn’t sure if he’d realized that yet. Well, he noticed she was pretty in that way he tended to find women pretty. They were female—he liked that, and he generally liked looking at them.

But McKenna Tate was something more. With her large brown eyes and delicate, pointed chin. Her dark hair was tangled, but still glossy, hanging around her face in a wild mane. And her mouth...

Pale pink with a deep curve at the center of the top lip, the lower one round and full.

He felt... hungry .

Dammit all. That wasn’t new. Not really. But he wasn’t used to that hunger hitting hard and specific, with a woman standing right in front of him.

General craving he was used to. It was part of him. Part of his life. Wanting sex and not having it was printed on his DNA.

This was specific. Sharp and focused.

He didn’t want a mouth.

He wanted that mouth.

Those lips.

Hell. No.

He forced himself to turn away. It was that or do something stupid he couldn’t take back. Dammit, he wasn’t one for guilt or pity but the woman had asked him outright if she was going to end up owing him anything and now he was staring at her lips like a sex-starved beast.

Because he was.

He walked out the front door without saying anything, taking in a deep breath of the cold early-morning air. Hoping it would do something to jolt him. To get rid of the deep, dark need that was coursing through his veins, ten times more potent than any alcohol.

He had work to do, and he was going to focus on that.

And he wasn’t going to give one more thought to McKenna Tate’s mouth.

CHAPTER THREE

MCKENNA EMERGED FROM the cabin a few hours later feeling strangely numb. Like she might be wandering through an alternate dimension and wasn’t quite connected to her body. The cabin was so cute and neat, and she had felt weird putting her old, threadbare clothes away in the solid wood chest of drawers. Like they might dissolve the pretty cedar.

She wished that she had something warmer than what she was wearing, but her spare few items were what they were. And only what she could fit into a backpack.