Page 17 of Wild Rose (Blue River Springs #1)

Rose

My muscles ache. The soles of my boots are caked with dirt. My hair is out of control with the humidity. I don’t know if it’s the week catching up with me or if today just seemed like I’d walked the entire perimeter of the ranch.

Weakly, I push the screen door to the main office. To my relief, Ginger is still here. “Thank goodness I caught you in time. I wanted to bring you these.” I hand her the corrected timecards. “Sorry I took a little longer than expected. Things kept cropping up. Phone kept ringing.”

“I know all about that, dear. Don’t worry, I’ve been waitin’ for ya.” She takes them from me and gets started.

“Can I help?”

“Oh Lord, no. This part’s easy. You go home now. Get some rest. Although it is a Friday night—I’m sure you young ones have plans.”

“Not tonight, unfortunately. I still don’t have a car until Wesley figures out a way for me to get around, so I’m stuck here.”

She gives me a pointed look. “Well, you’ve got yourself a brand-new-lookin’ cart. Use that.”

My eyes widen. “Oh no, Brett said it’s not made for roads, potholes and gravel and such.”

She pulls down her glasses. “Yeah, well, that didn’t keep you from stealing one, did it?”

I press my lips together, wincing playfully. Ginger looks over my shoulder. “Hey, Jake?”

I glance back. Jake is one of the younger ones on staff. Funny and sweet, from our few encounters.

“Hey, Rose.” He smiles. “What’s up, Ginger?”

“Listen, before you go, boss says the tires on Rose’s cart ain’t cuttin’ it. If she ends up on a dirt road or anywhere rough, they’re just gonna tear up. Think you can switch ’em out for somethin’ sturdier? Like them all-terrain ones?”

He considers this for a moment, while I bite my lip, then nods. “Yeah, I think I got something.” He turns to me. “OK if I drop it off in the morning?”

“Uh, sure,” I answer nervously. “It’s just outside. I can make it back to the cabins on foot.”

He simply dips his hat to me. “I’ll go take a look then.”

“Ginger,” I whisper when he’s gone. “I don’t want to get in any more trouble.”

She gives me a stern look. “Flower, how old are you?”

“Twenty-two.”

“And it doesn’t bother you that you’re being treated like a teenager?”

I sigh. “It did, but then my first night out, I got into trouble with—”

“ Bones isn’t a place for you to be going on your own—they prey on city girls and tourists. But there are other places in town I think you should check out this weekend.”

“Like what?”

She shuffles around her desk. “Here are some brochures folks drop off for things to do in Blue River Springs. Take a look. There’s a farmers’ market, antique shops, a bookstore, museums .?.?.”

I take the pamphlets from her with some interest but notice she doesn’t say much about nightlife. And I’m growing tired of staring at the ceiling all night.

“What about a place like Bones? You know, I met the Callahans while I was there.”

She shakes her head. “Those two are as much trouble now as they were when they were kids. I babysat for them one night. Frightful children. And I’m not answering your ‘place like Bones’ question. That’s a recipe for disaster, and I’m not getting involved.”

I chuckle. “Thanks, Ginger, I’ll check these out. Good night.”

“Night, dear.”

I step out into the warm evening. Exhaustion consumes me when I realize I have to walk back. I’ll barely have enough energy to walk up the cabin steps, much less the distance from here.

I’m looking forward to the shower in my little cabin. It hasn’t been half bad. Wilder thought I wouldn’t last a day, but the joke’s on him. I’ve managed four nights just fine.

My cheeks heat at the memory of him catching me this morning. OK, so maybe I fell on top of him, right between his legs—but he still caught me.

I’ve come in contact with that broad chest a few times now and it still makes my skin sizzle.

What is wrong with me?

I’ve never been a complete klutz around men. But Wilder brings out the crazy in me. And did I really call myself stupid when he wouldn’t let me fix payroll?

That’s not like me.

I think it plenty, sure—but I never say it out loud. This attraction has got to stop.

A wind chill runs through my bones, and I fold my arms as I walk, glancing around the familiar road, but not certain where it leads.

“Great,” I mutter. Every path seems to split off into more dirt trails winding into the distance. It’s dark now and everything just looks the same.

“How hard can this be, really?” The ranch is quieter now, save for the chirping of crickets. Where the hell are those little critters coming from?

I inhale deeply as I keep walking, my feet ready to give out.

“Some reset this is turning out to be.” Although, despite the blisters, there’s something satisfying about the simplicity of it all.

No buzzing phones, no broken elevators or crowded subways, just work that feels real. Important. Appreciated.

Inevitably, my thoughts circle back to Wilder and those eyes that seem to see through me, reading me like an open book.

I wonder if he feels what I feel when we touch.

Touch? More like grope him.

Although, if I’m honest, I’ve yet to feel unwelcome. He might try to act like I’m a nuisance, but I’m not picking up that vibe. The way his mouth twitches into a faint smirk whenever I fumble. The way his whole body stiffens when I press mine against his.

Or maybe it’s my body that does that. That goes completely still at the electric circuit shooting through me.

The crunch of hooves on gravel pulls me from my thoughts. I flip around.

At first, I think I’m imagining him since he’s on my mind. But I’d know that build anywhere—ran into it enough times.

Wilder rides toward me on a brown horse I’ve seen him on before, his silhouette outlined against the fading light.

“You lost?”

I hesitate. I’m not a fan of admitting when I don’t know what I’m doing.

The sting of embarrassment prickles my skin. “No. Just exploring. It’s a Friday night after all, maybe I’m looking for another bonfire or, you know .?.?. more reasons to aggravate my boss.”

He pulls the horse to a stop beside me. “Exploring, huh? Must be why you’re about half a mile from your cabin.”

“Half a—” I glance around. “How’s that?”

He chuckles. “Want a ride back?”

My eyes flick to the horse. I’ve never been on one before. But I don’t want to share that fact just yet. I shrug. “Sure. Why n—”

He swings down like it wasn’t really an option for me, holding the reins in one hand as he steps closer. “Come on, then.”

He supports me as I hoist myself up. His strong grip rests just above my hip, on the open skin between my waist-tied shirt and jeans.

Jesus, I need to have sex.

That’s got to be what this is. It’s been too long. I’m drying out over here.

Once I’m settled, I release a breath I’d been holding. I can’t tell if it was from climbing a horse for the first time, or Wilder touching me like his hands belong on my skin.

The saddle feels impossibly high, the horse’s movements beneath me unsettling. But I’m instantly at ease when Wilder settles behind me.

“Comfortable?” he asks, his tone laced with amusement.

I nod.

He reaches around me to take the reins in both hands, his chest brushing against my back. The heat of him seeps through my shirt and I swallow hard, trying not to melt into him.

Is that even safe to do?

Safe? Maybe you should be asking yourself if it’s appropriate.

No. The answer is no. So there will be no leaning or melting of any kind.

“You’ve never been on a horse before.” His breath is on the side of my face. It’s warm and masculine.

My cheeks flush hot. I twist my head so he doesn’t see me blush—but it backfires.

Because he doesn’t move. So when I twist to face away, his lips graze my neck.

I suck in a sharp breath and squeeze my eyes shut. “Oof, I’m sorry.” I exhale a laugh, covering my face, because of course , I just did that. “I’m an H.R. nightmare, aren’t I?”

“A what?”

“Where I’m from, you’d be sending me training videos on sexual harassment and make me sign an acknowledgement of understanding.”

His soft chuckle vibrates through me. Then he guides my hands off my face and onto the saddle horn. “Just hold on. The only training I want to give you is how to not fall off a horse,” he teases. But with the way his arms are wrapped around me from behind, I am not laughing.

I’m melting .

The ride is smooth yet refreshingly .?.?. gritty. I cling to the saddle horn, my knuckles white as we pick up speed.

“Where’s your cart?” he asks.

“Left it with Jake. He said he needed to .?.?. tune it or something.” I don’t tell him that Ginger basically ordered the boy to change the tires on that thing so I can ride through town.

Wilder’s quiet for a moment, and I wonder if he bought it. Can you even tune a golf cart?

“Thought you called it a day and went home,” I say, breaking the silence. And also to find out where he’s been the last few hours. If maybe he’s keeping his distance because of what happened in the Saddle Room earlier.

“I don’t call it a day until everyone else does.”

I frown. “How do you manage that?”

“It’s my ranch. My staff. Dallas and I tend to do a sweep. I usually check the livestock, storage, closures, all for safety. He’d check on the staff. Make sure no one’s over-worked, that the night crew is well rested and prepared.”

“Now you do both?”

“Now I do both.”

I consider this for a moment. “So this is what, my courtesy ride? Are you on patrol?”

There’s a beat before he answers. “No. I came lookin’ for you.”

My heart skips but quickly fades when I remember how he warned me to try to keep up on my first day.

I hum. “Don’t worry, boss. I got it all done.”

“Thanks,” he mutters. “Sorry I didn’t give you a chance to fix things earlier.”

Warmth spreads through me at his apology. It almost tells me that he didn’t just do it because I was being a brat about it, but that he realized I could.

I shrug. “You did.” Then, because I know why he was so adamant about doing it himself, I ask, “I made some people real angry today, didn’t I?”