God, his shoulders are fucking massive. He’d dwarf me in every sense of the word.
Not to mention the tattoos that snake over his skin. I can’t make out any of them in particular from here, but he’s littered in shades of black and gray, from his collarbones down to his hands. I wonder if his chest is similarly covered, if they stretch down to his legs.
I want totastethem.
My mood swings up at the sight of his brilliant smile, the way it shifts the trimmed strap of facial hair tracing his jaw. Dadneverhires anyone hot, and he hasverystrict rules about me staying away from his employees.
I’ve listened until now, but if he wants to dictate my life, maybe it’s time to push the envelope.
If he wants me to stay on the ranch, I will.
But things are about to get a whole lot moreinterestingaround here.
Chapter Two
BENNETT
“How’s Carlos holding up?”I ask, glancing at the bluetooth display when the phone line crackles a bit.
I’m getting close to where service might be an issue.
The paved roads finally make way for the half-swept dirt paths I’m much more accustomed to, and I sigh in relief. Twenty-two hours is a hell of a drive, and I’m ready for it to be over. If Pa wasn’t so hell bent on his attempts at being friends with the Montgomery family, I’d have refused to make the trip on principle.
“He’s a twitchy little fucker,” Pa says with a laugh, his voice echoing oddly over the phone. “He and Ana are holed up in a hotel by the hospital even though she’s still a week out from her due date.”
“Yeah, well, it’s his first. I’m sure it’s nerve wracking.”
Pa laughs, loud and throaty. “You’ve got no clue, kid.”
Nor do I want to. The only brush I had with possibly getting someone pregnant… well, it didn’t turn out well. Let’s just say that.
“I’m glad he hasn’t exploded yet,” I say with a sly grin. “I’m about to, though, this drive has been hell.”
“Yeah, you getting close?”
I hum affirmatively, checking my GPS. “Ten minutes or so.”
“I’m grateful you did this for us,mijo,” Pa says. “Wouldn’t trust anyone else with it. Just remember?—”
“Keep a low profile and don’t mention my last name unless David recognizes me, I know.” I think it’s ridiculous that David Montgomery still holds a grudge over a stupid misunderstanding from over a decade ago. It’s even more ridiculous that my dad is dead set on remaining the guy’s friend enough to bother sending me up to Montana all the way from Texas just to oversee a damn cattle drive. “I won’t mess things up, Pa. Don’t even worry. I’ll be back before you know it.”
I know he’ll worry anyway, but someone has to have confidence in me.
“You’ll do fine,mijo,” Pa says, surprising me with the certainty in his voice. Maybe I misread his reticence to send me out here. “The ranch is rough with both you and Carlos gone. Don’t stay gone too long.”
My lips twitch at the affection in his voice. God forbid he tell me he misses me, but Ma’s always been better with words than either of us.
“I won’t let you down,” I promise, my eyes catching on the start of a farm. The GPS confirms it’s the right place. “I’m pulling up to the ranch now. I’ll talk to you later.”
He lets me go with a warning to be careful and a fond goodbye. I roll my eyes while pulling into the long driveway that leads into the heart of the Montgomery ranch. He’s making this whole thing seem like some stealth mission instead of what it is—all I’m here to do is keep an eye on what David picks up from the cattle drive in order to make sure what we buy off him for the slaughterhouse is up to par.
Pa sends Carlos up every year, even though I’ve never heard him complain about the quality of what we get from the Montgomery ranch. Does he ask Carlos to be this secretive, too?
It seems exhausting.
I roll my truck to a stop halfway up the driveway, sprawling pastures to one side and a hulking red barn to the other. A guy who looks a little younger than me saunters up to my truck as I roll the window down, and I shoot him my most winning smile. He nods easily in return.
“Can I help you, boss?” he asks, stopping a few feet from my door.
