Page 2 of Huckleberry Hill (Saddles & Spurs #1)

Chapter Two

The Ranch

The coffee pot gurgled, and my eyes flickered open. I held in a moan.

Jet lag combined with a lack of sleep and garnished with a heaping dose of anger had me feeling like a bread truck had hit me. Not just hit me—but run over me, backed up, and done it again for good measure.

But it was a new day. The world had kept on turning. And instead of waking up in the room I shared with my sister in New York, I’d woken up in a wrangler’s bed.

And because I was insane, I pushed my head deeper into his pillow and inhaled, needing another fix of his scent.

And then I thought of him . . .

Gianni always smelled like expensive Italian cologne. The memory flashed and then vanished.

Realizing what I was doing, I quickly pulled away from the pillow and sat up.

I slid my legs out from underneath the covers. The wooden floor was chilly on my bare feet. It was late spring, but the bite of winter still hung in the air.

After I used the bathroom, I came out into the living room. Declan was sitting on the couch, bare-chested, having a cup of coffee.

“You’re not cold?” I blurted out.

“Nope.” He looked at me, a few days of dark scruff covering his jaw. “I brought your suitcase inside. And your keys.”

“Thanks.”

“Coffee’s on. You’re welcome to pour yourself a cup.”

“I should probably get over to the main house.”

“Get dressed, pour yourself a cup, and I’ll walk you over there. Consider me bear repellent.”

He flashed a grin.

My gaze narrowed.

“What?”

“You’re flirting,” I said.

“Oh, so you noticed?” His grin widened. “I was flirting with you last night too. And you were kinda flirting back.”

I gasped. “I was not .”

“Hate to break it to you, bear snack, but you kinda were.”

“It was late, and my life was in in danger.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “But I’ve had a few hours of sleep now and I’m in my right mind again.”

He cleared his throat.

“What?” I demanded.

He gestured with his chin at my chest.

I looked down. Due to the chill in the room, my nipples were standing at attention. Saluting General McFlirty.

“Ah, hell,” I muttered. I marched over to my suitcase and grabbed my keys which rested on the handle. “I’m going to change.”

“Not on my account, I hope. I like the current view,” he said with a cheeky smile.

“Didn’t my dad tell you the rules when you started working here?”

“ Red sky in the morning, sailor take warning? ”

“Powell daughters are off-limits.”

“Off-limits for what?”

“Dating.”

“Who said anything about dating a Powell daughter?” he inquired.

“Oh, come on.” I rolled my eyes. “You’ve been flirting with me since the moment you met me.”

“The moment I met you, you fell on top of me . If anything, you’ve been flirting with me, bear snack.”

“Don’t call me bear snack,” I commanded.

“Why not?” he drawled. “I mean, we do go way back to last night when I saved your life. You actually woke me up out of a sound sleep. I thought I was getting burgled.”

Do not smile. Do not smile. Do not smile.

“Look,” I said with a sigh. “You work here. I’m going to be visiting for a few weeks before I go back to New York. Let’s just be friends.”

“You want to be friends?” he asked with a raise of his brows. “Men and women can’t be friends.”

“Sure they can.”

“Hmm. No. I’ve seen that romantic comedy,” he said.

“If we’re going to argue, I need caffeine.”

“I already offered you coffee. And we’re not arguing. This is called banter. We’re bantering.”

“You were so chivalrous last night,” I pointed out. “Where did that go?”

“A gorgeous woman lands on top of me, then sleeps in my clothes in my bed and then wakes up looking like that? A man can only control himself so much.”

“You think I’m gorgeous?”

“Is that the only part you heard?”

“Nothing else seemed to matter,” I murmured, hating that I was staring at his mouth. “This is bad.”

“What’s bad?”

I gestured between the two of us. “This. I’m talking to you like I’ve known you for years.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“It’s just . . . weird.”

“Doesn’t have to be.” He cocked his head to the side. “So, you’re visiting your family for a few weeks. And then you’re going back to New York?”

“That’s the plan.”

The idea of going back to New York sounded dreary and tiresome. But my sister and best friends were there.

“Then we can be friends for a few weeks. You’ll see, I’m a very good friend,” he said.

“You just said men and women can’t be friends.”

“I like trying new things. Except snails. I’m not doing that.”

A reluctant smile spread across my mouth. “I think your idea of friendship is different than my idea of friendship.”

“All joking aside, I have no interest in getting on your father’s bad side, okay? I respect him, and I like your grandmother quite a bit. And for the record, when I took this job I had no idea you were coming home to visit.”

I cleared my throat. “If we’re going to be friends, we should set some ground rules. For instance, friends don’t walk around topless in front of each other.”

“We could start a new trend.”

I pointed to his bedroom. “Shirt.”

“Bossy women turn me on by the way,” he quipped.

“Do not make me middle name you,” I said, trying not to laugh.

“You don’t know my middle name,” he reminded me.

“I’ll make one up.” I sighed. “That coffee really does smell good.”

“There’s homemade vanilla on the counter and half and half in the refrigerator,” he taunted. “Come on, you know you want a cup.”

“Caffeine peddler.”

“So, friend,” he said as he ducked into the bedroom. “Let’s get to know each other a bit.”

“Hmm. What do you want to know?”

“Age. For starters.”

“Twenty-three,” I said as I went to the cabinet. “You?”

“Thirty-two.”

I didn’t make a barb about the age gap between us. It would’ve been too easy.

“How long have you been a wrangler?” I inquired.

“First job doing it, actually,” he stated. “I was a calf roper on the rodeo circuit until about six months ago.”

“Rodeo, huh?” I asked as I went to pour myself a cup of coffee. “You quit? Why?”

“One too many injuries. Thought I should quit while I was ahead. What about you? What’s a small-town Idaho girl doing in New York?”

“Livin’ the dream, man. Just livin’ the dream.”

He laughed.

“How long does it take for you to put on a T-shirt?” I asked. “It feels weird having this conversation when I can’t see you.”

Declan stepped out of the bedroom. He’d changed out of his gray sweats into jeans, and he’d put on a black and purple flannel. He was missing the boots and cowboy hat, but thanks to counting Declan-in-chaps in bed last night I was able to visualize the full picture.

“Crap,” I muttered.

He frowned. “What?”

“Never mind. My turn to change. Then I really do need to get to the house.”

My phone lit up with a slew of incoming texts. Before I had a chance to reply, it vibrated with an incoming call.

“Someone’s popular,” Declan jested.

“My sister,” I explained.

“She doesn’t know you’re here, does she?”

“She knows.” I bit my lip.

Declan took the hint. “I’ll be outside.”

I took my coffee and ducked into the bedroom, shutting the door.

“What do you mean a bear tried to eat you?” Salem demanded the moment I answered my phone.

“Good morning,” I replied. “I slept like shit. I’m in no mood.”

“No mood? What about me? I woke up to your text this morning and nearly had a heart attack.”

“I was being dramatic,” I stated.

“Are you at the house?” Salem asked. “What did Dad say when he saw you?”

“He hasn’t seen me yet,” I said, setting my cell phone down on Declan’s unmade bed. I pressed the speaker button.

“I swear to God, you’re the worst storyteller in all the world. Start with the bear.”

“Where are Poet and Wyn? I only want to tell this story once,” I said.

“Wyn left for Sagaponack this morning with the Carrington family. And Poet’s already at the office,” she said. “There’s no way we can all have a four-way call.”

“Kinky,” I joked.

“ Hadley ,” Salem warned.

“Fine. Fine,” I said with a sigh as I slid into my jeans. “I got here at like, two in the morning. I was going to stay in the cabin. Didn’t want to wake up Muddy and Dad, you know? A grizzly charged me as I was trying to unlock the door, and that’s when Declan pulled me inside.”

“Declan? Who the hell is Declan?”

“The new wrangler,” I explained. “I crashed in the cabin with him.”

“Oh, really? ”

“Not like that,” I said with an eye roll she couldn’t see. “He gave me the bed and he took the couch.”

She paused for a moment. “Did you know Dad hired a new wrangler?”

“No. He hadn’t told me. Neither did Muddy.”

“Huh. Well, it wouldn’t be like they’d tell me,” Salem murmured.

“That’s because you never call home.”

“I call home,” she protested.

“Once every few months?” Now was not the time to get into it with my sister. “Anyway, Declan’s waiting to walk me to the main house. I need to go.”

“Hold on. What’s he look like?”

“Why does that matter?”

“Humor me.”

I exhaled a puff of air. “Six three, thereabouts.”

“Go on.”

“Dark hair,” I mumbled. “Scruff . . .”

“No,” she gasped.

“Yeah.” I sighed.

“Your type.”

“I know , Salem. He also has tattoos on his pec and arm.”

“How do you know he has a tattoo on his pec?”

“I saw it . . . when he pulled me inside the cabin . . . and I fell on top of him. He was—ah—shirtless.”

“Well, this just got even more interesting.”

“No. No it didn’t,” I lied. “We’re friends. We’re going to be friends.”

“You’re going to being friends with the new hot wrangler who looks like he jumped straight out of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers? ”

“He doesn’t have red hair,” I pointed out. “And I didn’t say he was hot.”

“He’s hot,” she said with a laugh.

I closed my eyes and remembered the feel of his warm skin beneath my palm . . . and the trail of dark hair disappearing into the depths of his gray sweatpants.

“Might be good for you, you know,” she said. “Get over Gianni by getting under a cowboy. I support it.”

“Well, I don’t,” I remarked. “That’s the last thing I need to be doing. Hooking up with Declan.”

“Send me a picture.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Come on, you owe me.”