How to Break a Cowboy (5 page)

I love him.

“Spud!”

“I heard you came in last night.” He glowers at me. “Why the
hell didn’t you come say hello? Bad fucking manners if you ask me.”

I push my way through the swinging kitchen doors and give
him a big hug and kiss on the cheek. “Sorry,” I say. “It’s good to see you,
though.”

The only thing that gives him away is the fact that he
blushes. “Alright then, enough of your bloody hugs and kisses.”

He passes me a plate loaded with eggs, bacon and thickly
sliced homemade bread. It’s a far cry from my normal fruit and yogurt breakfast
but after all the calories I’ve burned in the last twenty-four hours, I don’t
feel one bit guilty.

There are still a few ranch hands eating at the long tables
and I go to join Wade and Connor at one end. The minute I sit down, Dallas,
who’d been sitting beside Connor, stands up to leave, though the food on his
plate is only half-eaten.

I’m about to say something but Wade beats me to it.
“Dallas,” he says in that soft but commanding way of his. “Stay.”

Dallas pauses, mid-stride, then turns and sits back down.
With his head bent low over his plate, he starts eating again.

A weird feeling creeps up and then down my spine, settling
uncomfortably in my belly. Just seconds ago I was starving and couldn’t wait to
launch into my food. Now I have no appetite.

Whatever the tension is on the ranch and between the men,
I’m starting to think it might also have something to do with me. I turn a
questioning gaze to Wade but he’s not looking at me, he’s watching Connor.

Out of everyone at our end of the table, Connor seems the
least affected by whatever undercurrents are zipping around. While chewing on a
strip of bacon, he catches us staring and looks first at me and then at Wade.
“You two sleep okay?”

“Yeah,” I say. “Great. How about you?”

Connor takes another bite of bacon and laughs. “Sleep? Hell,
not a lot of sleep happened in my room last night.”

Wade stiffens beside me and I swear I hear Dallas grunt as
he shovels food into his mouth at a rapid rate.

“Of course, if you two had joined us, we could have had
double the fun.” Connor nudges Dallas. “Not that I’m complaining. That thing
you did…”

Dallas’s fork stops midway to his mouth. He glances at
Connor through a curtain of shaggy bangs and a slow smile creeps across his
handsome features. The vibe that passes between the two men is electric and I
can’t help but feel some voyeuristic flush sweep over me as I try to imagine
what it was that Dallas did to Connor.

But the minute Dallas glances in Wade’s direction, his smile
crumbles.

“I’m glad you two had fun last night,” Wade says gruffly. He
downs his coffee and stands behind me with his hands on my shoulders. “I’ve got
a Stampede Board meeting today with the other stock providers. So,
unfortunately, I’m going to miss out on our annual trail ride.” He kisses the
top of my head. “I’ll leave you in Connor’s capable hands and see you tonight.”

I know I shouldn’t, but I can’t help feeling let down. I
turn my face up to him but—damn!—the man’s expression could be etched in
granite, he’s that inscrutable.

“Capable, you got that right,” Connor says with a grin.
“I’ve been itching to get my hands on Tess without
you
monopolizing
her.”

Wade presses his lips together and nods. I’m about to say
something when I catch him glance at Dallas. Holy hell. If I thought the look
that passed between Dallas and Connor was hot, the one that passes between Wade
and Dallas is scorching. I mean, it’s like opening an enormous furnace door and
being blasted in the face.

Interesting.

No sooner has Wade walked out then Dallas stands and says,
“I’ll be in the stables, mucking out the stalls.”

“I’m right behind you,” Connor says with a smirk, but his
innuendo has no effect on Dallas as the man saunters off.

Once Dallas is out of earshot I say, “Okay. What the hell is
going on?”

“What?” Connor feigns ignorance as he takes a bite of toast
and washes it down with coffee.

“Don’t be a smart ass. Tell me what’s going on.”

With a shrug, Connor says, “Oh, the usual. Wade’s being a
controlling asshole and I’m simply enjoying myself.”

I smack him on the shoulder. “Don’t say that.”

Connor turns to look at me and in a rare show of
seriousness, he says, “I know you adore him. I do too. But the man can be
impossible to live with sometimes…Oh! Except that after six years, I still
don’t actually live with him.”

For the first time I hear bitterness in Connor’s voice.

“He’s pushing you away,” I say quietly.

Connor stares straight ahead as he sips his coffee, but
there’s no mistaking the tic on the side of his cheek. “I’m not the only one
he’s pushing away,” he says as he sets his mug down.

“Dallas?”

Glancing around at the now empty dining room, Connor says, “We
met Dallas at the Cattlemen’s Saloon in Calgary about six months ago. He’d just
moved out West and was looking for work. We invited him to stay at the ranch.
About a week later, we fell into bed together.” Leaning toward me, he whispers,
“It was fucking amazing. I’ve never seen Wade like he was with Dallas. I mean,
it even rivals what we share with you.”

“No kidding,” I say, squeezing my legs tight as I imagine
the scenario of the three men together. All hot, naked and fucking like wild.

“After that, Wade wouldn’t have anything to do with Dallas,
though he’s pushing me into his arms every chance he gets. Like last night. I
was all ready to crawl into bed with you two, cozy as a submarine sandwich,
when he shuts me out, telling me Dallas is waiting for me back at my room.”

“Huh,” I say, putting all these new pieces of information
together. “So how are you handling it?”

“Oh, you know me. I just roll with it and take my enjoyment
where I can get it.” Connor takes my empty plate and stacks it with his and carries
it to the kitchen.

I watch him for a second before following. What is pretty
clear is that both men are pretending like things are fine and dandy when, in
fact, they aren’t. The thing is, as far as I can see, the solution is pretty
simple.

I walk to the kitchen window and call, “Thanks, Spud. That’s
the best breakfast I’ve had in years.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he says, waving me off all brusque-like. But I
catch his smile and I figure, on a ranch populated by men, he probably doesn’t
get thanked very often.

Joining in step with Connor as he exits the dining hall, I
say, “Is there something I can do?”

Connor slings his arm over my shoulder and says, “Nah. Don’t
worry. It’s not your problem. I shouldn’t have unloaded all this on you in the
first place.”

“Yeah, but maybe I can help, maybe I can—”

“You know what you can do? Put on your crappiest clothes and
come help me and Dallas muck out stalls.”

“Chores? You’re going to make me do chores?”

“You betcha. You want to stay on the ranch? You’ve got to
help out.” He gives me a squeeze and whispers in my ear, “Besides, I want you
to get to know Dallas a little better. I think you’ll really like him.”

Shit. I bite my lip and look up into Connor’s naughty,
knowing smile. Then I kiss him and head off to change.

*****

By the time I arrive at the barn, Connor and Dallas are
about half-finished. Connor throws me a pair of leather work gloves, points to
where the shovels are hung up on the wall and puts me to work. Yep, I’m
shovelling shit and, believe it or not, with these two men, it’s actually kind
of fun. With Wade not around, Dallas comes out of his shell, laughing and
joking with Connor and me, making crude comments and sexual innuendos about
everything under the sun, including the size of their new stallion’s cock.

“The mares take one look at him and make a run for it,”
Connor laughs.

“All except Dixie,” Dallas says. “She’s always flirting
across the fence from him.”

“Dixie? Hey Tess, isn’t that your middle name?”

“Smart ass,” I say as I shovel a pile of dung onto Connor’s
boot instead of into the wheelbarrow.

“Smart ass?” he says, kicking off the pile of manure. “You
know I speak nothing but the truth.” Then he winks at me and nods in Dallas’s
direction. “As much as you’re like Dixie, Dallas over there is a dead ringer
for Midnight Run.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Dallas says with a half-smile.

“Midnight Run?”  I ask.

“The new stallion.”

“No kidding?” I eye the front of Dallas’s jeans but he’s
resting the handle of his shovel in front of himself, obstructing my view.

“Maybe if you’re nice to him, he’ll let you take a look,”
Connor says, propping his elbow on my shoulder.

I’m pretty sure Dallas is blushing as he turns away and I
smile in response. When I go to move out from under Connor’s arm, he’s got a
grip on my shirt and I don’t get far. I should have known he’d retaliate for
the pile of manure on his boot. Tugging on the neck of my shirt, he dumps a
handful of straw down my back.

“Hey!” I quickly yank my shirttails out of my jeans and
shake the bottom to remove the prickly straw.

Connor laughs as he shovels the last bit of refuse into the
wheelbarrow. Dallas takes it out back while Connor turns on the hose to wash
everything down.

“Hey Tess,” he calls.

“What?” I ask, walking over to him, still pulling at the
back of my shirt to remove the last bits of straw.

“Don’t get in my way or I’ll hose you down.” He flicks the
nozzle in my direction and douses me.

“You bastard!” I cry out, startled but still laughing.

“Oh shit,” Dallas says when he comes back into the barn.
Dodging bursts of spray, he runs over to join me. “Not this again. It’s a
miracle any work gets done on this ranch.”

“No shit.” I glance up at Dallas. There’s no mistaking the
look of fondness he sends Connor’s way. It seems to me that working with
Connor, day in and day out, would make anyone’s stay at the ranch a lot of fun.
Particularly if you had the opportunity to share his bed as well.

“Come on,” Dallas says, pulling me out of the line of fire
of another blast from the hose. “I want to introduce you to someone.” We duck
out the door just before getting drenched and Dallas leads me to a corral
behind the barn.

Dancing and tossing his mane out in the ring is the most
beautiful horse I’ve ever seen. He’s big and black and shiny. That’s about the
extent of my horse knowledge.

“That’s Midnight Run,” Dallas says and by the tone of his
voice, I know he not only loves working on the ranch, he loves working with the
animals.

Damn. I’m starting to like Dallas a whole hell of a lot. I
sneak a glance down at his jeans. Nothing’s covering him up now and from the
size of the bulge, Connor wasn’t kidding. Yep, my fondness for him has
certainly grown if the tingling heat hidden behind the fly of my Levi’s is any
indication.

Thankfully, Dallas doesn’t notice my lingering gaze. He
whistles and the young stallion’s ears perk. His shiny black coat glistens in
the late morning sun.

“Come on over here, you wily bastard,” Dallas calls.

The horse responds to Dallas’s voice by tossing his head and
nickering.

“Ah you big show off, get over here.’ He makes a clicking
sound with his mouth and the horse dances over.

“He’s spirited, isn’t he? You ever ridden him?”

 “I broke him,” he says quietly. “But he’s Wade’s horse now.
I haven’t ridden him in months.” Dallas’s jaw clenches and his nostrils flare
and I’m pretty sure Dallas is talking about more than just the horse.

The black  approaches and it’s like Dallas said, he lifts
his front hooves as if he’s prancing and showing off for me.

“Come on, now,” he says and the horse sidles up to the
fence, sniffing and snuffling around Dallas.

“Is this what you’re looking for, you greedy boy?” Dallas
gives him a handful of oats.

The horse sniffs at his hand but before he can take a bite,
Dallas takes my hand and drops the oats into my open palm. I hold my hand out
to the horse. He shies away at first and I have an urge to tug my hand away too,
suddenly afraid the unpredictable horse might bite me.

I love horses, I do. But they scare me a little; they’re so
big and powerful. I try to relax and focus on the way Midnight Run’s nose is
soft and how he blows hot air out of his nostrils as he sniffs at my palm. Then
his big soft lips extend out and snuffle up all the oats, leaving a bit of nose
and mouth slime on my palm.

I laugh and wipe my open hand down the front of my jeans.

“He likes you,” Dallas says as the horse sniffs my face and
stays close enough for me to pet him on the nose.

“I like him too.”

I glance at Dallas and find him staring at me with those
black, black eyes of his. My cheeks burn under his intense gaze.

I smile hesitantly when suddenly I cry out because my hair
has just been yanked with a sharp tug.

“Hey!” Dallas smacks the horse on his nose, making him
release the mouthful of hair he’s tried to snack on. Midnight bares his teeth
at Dallas and then sniffs at my hair again.

“He thought my hair was hay,” I say. My heart is still
racing from the unexpected tug. Facing my fear, I hold out my hand to the horse
for him to sniff instead of my hair. “It’s okay,” I say, encouraging the big
black beast.

While I’m focused on the horse, Dallas moves behind me and
takes my hair in his hands, smoothing it into a ponytail at the back of my
head. I don’t know what he uses to tie it with but his hands on my head and in
my hair make me shiver with unexpected pleasure.

“Thanks,” I say, sounding a little breathless.

“No problem.” His voice sounds even deeper and huskier than
usual. “I know what it’s like to have long hair get in the way. I used to keep
mine long. I cut it when my mom passed away.”