Rocky Mountain Romance (Six Pack Ranch) (15 page)

She came, shuddering over him. He caught her chin and stared into her eyes, and
that
was what sent him over. The pure bliss washing over her face, satisfaction in every bit of her expression was too much to resist. His cock jerked in the confines of his jeans, her hot pussy separated from him by too many layers, but hell,
yeah
.

They’d as good as fucked their brains out.

He pulled her mouth to his and kissed her while they fought to regain their breath. Open mouths, sucking for air. The faint lights of the truck interior blurred against the foggy windows.

Melody cupped his face as she pulled away, smile settling into place as she glanced around and laughed softly. “We steamed up the windows.”

“You’re hot stuff, sweetheart. Next time, your truck, right?”

She crawled off him and curled up on the bench at his side, waiting as he rolled down the windows and turned the fan on high to clear them. “Next time, second base or farther. Promise me?”

Steve raised a hand in the air and solemnly swore, “Next time, I will not neglect your breasts.”

Another laugh escaped. “You’re a goof.”

“You’re the one who just rode me like a pogo stick.” He winked, then put his arms around her waist and tucked her in tight for the ride home.

Three months of this? Rocking her world while he proved he’d changed?

Not a sacrifice at all.

Chapter Ten

Of course, after weeks of nothing but sunshine, on Monday the skies were overcast and grey. It seemed appropriate somehow. Worry hovered like a carrion bird, ready to see what the day would bring—feast or famine.

Melody shoved aside her misgivings and tried to focus on the good parts of her position as she parked her new truck at the side of the road and headed into the café.

She was in charge. That deserved a celebratory breakfast before heading into her day.

She waved to the girls behind the counter and settled on one of the barstools as a familiar waitress stepped forward, coffee carafe in hand.

“Want a hit?” Stacey asked.

“Plus the breakfast special, please.”

She added a little cream to her coffee and took the first sip, hot liquid rolling down like molten satisfaction. Only then did she look around to check who else was in the café.

In the far corner of the room, local farmers had pulled together two of the square tables, surfaces now littered with coffee cups and plates.

She grinned. Just like hobbits. That was probably their third breakfast—but she would never tease them in public because she knew how hard and how long most of them had already worked.

Sean Dalton was in the group, which solved one of her most current problems. She rose from the counter and headed to the table, nodding at people who acknowledged her.

Masculine laughter broke off as she paused beside the joint tables.

The group of men glanced up at her, some smiles fading, a couple a touch too familiar for her liking. Still, she gave them all the benefit of a doubt, offering greetings to everyone before focusing on Sean.

“I’m headed your way to do some inoculations later this morning.”

His smile froze between one heartbeat and the next. “Why isn’t Mathis coming out?”

“I thought you’d heard. He’s taking time off, so I’ll be your contact for the next while.” She tilted her head toward Justin Williams. “You’re on the list for later this week. Depending on how things go at Sean’s, I’ll give you a call to let you know when I’ll be out.”

He didn’t seem nearly as concerned as Sean. “Just let me know.”

“What’s Tom doing?” Sean demanded.

Melody worked to keep her polite face firmly in place. “He’s taking care of things at the clinic. Anyway, I see my breakfast is ready. I’ll let you finish your coffee in peace.” She made direct eye contact with Sean. “Call and let me know where you want me to join you. Or leave me a voicemail, because the notes don’t say where you want the job done.”

“I’ll get my lead hand to call,” Sean answered briskly then ignored her, which was fine because her plate of food was being laid on the counter, and nothing was worse than eating cold eggs.

So. It had begun.

She tried to enjoy her breakfast, but the meal sat heavy. She was pulling open her truck door when her phone rang. A familiar tone. A guitar riff that made her smile, especially remembering their explosive adventure two nights earlier.

It had been far more pleasurable for how unexpected it was.

“Steve. How are you doing this fine day?” she teased, crawling in the cab and switching the phone to hands-free so she could hit the road.

“I want to see you,” he started with no preamble.

“That won’t be for a few hours. I have a date with a herd.” Her fingers crossed involuntarily that everything would go well. “I’d love to see you tonight. I don’t know what time I’ll be done, though.”

“Hell, I know what it’s like,” he reassured her. “Sweetheart, it isn’t as if I haven’t dealt with your schedule before, or you with my last-minute cancellations. Neither of us is working a nine-to-five office job.”

No, but that didn’t mean she had any intention of being delegated to the back burner like in their previous dating lives. She was enjoying the attention he’d been paying her.

Although…they didn’t have to spend every waking moment together. She didn’t expect him to hold her hand and fawn over her.

“I should be able to see you this evening. If it works, you want to try for dinner?” After poking animals with sharp objects and having them object, she would enjoy not having to cook. “My treat.”

He growled, the sound raising goose bumps on her skin. “Now, don’t you start that. I can afford to buy you a burger.”

The highway flew by as she talked with him, finding out what his plans were for the day. She turned down a side road that was a shortcut to her first job of the day, thankful for the new wheels underneath her. “I’m loving this new truck,” she mentioned to Steve.

He hummed in approval. “I look forward to taking her for a drive.”

She opened her mouth to answer him, stopped by his low chuckle of amusement coming over the phone line. “Grow up,” she teased.

“I can’t help it,” he insisted. “There are so many things I want to talk to you about. So many things I want to
do
with you.”

A heavy pulse of heat struck between her legs, and she smiled that he could have such an effect on her so quickly. “You’ve got a damn dirty mind, that’s all I can say.”

“I think you like my dirty mind. And my dirty talk, and everything else about me that’s dirty.”

“Not true. I’m not going near you after you’ve been cleaning stalls.”

He full-out laughed, and the sound was contagious. Melody caught a glimpse of herself in the rearview mirror, an ear-to-ear grin stretching her cheeks wide.

Past the mirror, a decrepit horse shelter caught her eye. Weathered grey boards were tucked against the mixed spruce forest. She remembered seeing the building before, but what was new were the horses wandering in the small yard outside the shelter.

“Hey, Steve. Who owns the land just off of 532?”

He paused for a moment before answering. “Dalton. He bought during the last spring auction after Jensen passed away.”

Melody slowed her truck and pulled to the side of the gravel road even though there wasn’t another vehicle anywhere in sight. “Did he buy animals as well?”

“I didn’t think there were any animals left. Jensen sold off most of his stock years ago, and his kids sold the rest when he moved into the Seniors’ Home.”

But there were horses on the land. Scrawny ones, the most swayed-back beasts she’d ever seen. She needed to take a closer look before she said anything, though. “Thanks for the info. I need to get rolling.”

“Call me anytime,” he offered. “I like talking to you.”

“Yeah, it is rather fine, isn’t it?”

The sound of his rumbling amusement echoed in her ear as she hung up, a pleased sensation rolling over her at his quick response.

She caught another glimpse of the horses, and her amusement faded. She checked her watch, but there wasn’t time to take a look before getting to the first scheduled appointment, so she put it on her mental agenda for when she was free.

Walking into the first barn of the day always gave her a thrill. It didn’t matter whose land she was on, not really. The animals and what she knew about their habits and behaviours made her step with confidence into the middle of the action, whether she was at a mom-and-pop hobby farm or a billion-dollar-ranching operation.

The first few jobs passed quickly as she fell into a routine, taking every back road possible to cut time off her trips.

She hadn’t lied to Steve. The truck was amazing, and she wasn’t worried at all about it dying. Not like Myrtle, rest its soul.

Melody checked the battery on her phone, wondering if she’d missed a call from Sean while she was out of range of the lone cell-phone tower in the area. It was possible, and when she called him back and got no answer, she was even more convinced there’d been a communication breakdown.

But the time was closing in when she needed to get to his land for the long, sweaty task of inoculating the herd, and she wasn’t sure where she needed to be. Time to check in at the office.

“Rocky Mountain Animal Care, Callie speaking. How can I help you?”

The line was barely intact, and Melody rushed to get information before she lost contact altogether. “Hey, Callie, it’s Melody. You see a note from Sean Dalton saying where to meet him?”

The front-desk receptionist at the clinic hummed. “I don’t see anything in the logbook, and there’s nothing that’s come in since I arrived.”

“Drat.” Melody checked her watch again. “Can you call—?”

The line crackled one last time as the connection between them severed.

She thought a few choice words, then took a shot and headed for the main homestead, hoping along the way she’d pass a field or outbuilding with a batch of vehicles surrounding it. Something that would give her a clue to tell her where to go.

Her detecting skills sucked, yielding not a single hint along the way. What was worse was when she pulled into his yard, it obviously wasn’t the right spot. There were trucks gathered, parked to the side, but the herd of cows that were supposed to be in the yard waiting for their turn to be prodded—they simply weren’t there.

Melody made her way to the ranch house, cursing under her breath at the delay. She knocked loudly, peeking through the window for a sign of life.

Emily Dalton came forward, wiping her hands on a towel, a frown creasing her forehead, dark hair pulled back in a neat ponytail. “Can I help you?”

“I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m Melody Langley, one of the local vets. I’m here to do your inoculations, but I didn’t get word where to go.”

The woman’s mouth hung open for a second before she slammed it shut, her frown increasing. She shook her head and turned on the spot, headed into the house. “Come with me, I’ll get a hold of Sean on the walkie-talkie.”

“Thanks.”

Melody took off her boots and paced farther into the neat farmhouse, the smell of home cooking filling the air.

“Well, she’s here now,” Emily announced into the microphone in the corner of the room, glancing toward Melody with concern as a voice rumbled back, barely recognizable as words. “I don’t know why she’s here. You have everything ready for her?”

Sean’s response was another buzz Melody couldn’t understand, but it set Emily nodding before she hung up and turned with a sigh.

“They’re waiting for you down at the White Pine barn.”

It wasn’t Emily’s fault. Melody held in the rest of her frustration as she headed toward the door. “That’s the one I reach off Simpson Road, right?”

“That’s the long way around,” Emily muttered, pulling off her apron and slipping on a pair of boots. “Come on, follow me and I’ll get you there in no time.”

Still took them nearly twenty minutes, which was a lot less time than it would have if Melody had taken the only other route she knew. Emily drove confidently through side fields, popping out of the truck to steal through gates Melody would never have known to use.

She waved at Emily in thanks as she parked beside the barn, grabbing her equipment and heading in to the corrals behind the barn at a near run.

The cattle had been there for a while—that much was obvious from the mess in the yard.

Sean looked daggers at her as he folded his arms over his chest. “You’ve wasted over an hour of my time, and my men’s time.”

“I could have been here on time if you’d left word where you would be,” Melody pointed out as politely as possible. “I mentioned that to you this morning.”

“I called. Left a message at the clinic.” He turned his back on her, jamming his hat farther on his head as if he were fighting to control his temper.

Melody suddenly wasn’t sure what to do. Had she missed the update? Dammit. Until she found out who had screwed up at the office all she could do was move forward. “Let’s get started then.”

She kept her head high in spite of the rocky start, but from the expressions on the hands waiting to help, Sean wasn’t the only one holding back from giving her hell.

It was going to be a long afternoon.