Page 72 of Dust Storm

“Something like that.”

I turned to storm out of the barn, but CJ’s sharp whistle caught me by surprise.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. “Excuse me?” I hissed as I slowly turned to face him.

He reached into his pocket and handed me a peppermint. “Now, before you go and skin my brother alive, give Dottie a treat and tell her what a pretty girl she is.”

I pressed my fingers to my temples. “I have work to do.”

“We all have work to do.” He pulled my wrist down and dropped the peppermint into my hand. “Now show her some appreciation for not bucking you off and leaving your city-girl ass in the middle of a goddamn field.”

Dottie didn’t seem fazed by the fact that I was wound tighter than a coiled spring. She snarfed down the peppermint when I offered it to her.

I shivered as her big hairy horse lips tickled my palm.

“Now what do you say?” he prodded.

I pressed my hand to her nose. “Dottie, you’re a pretty girl.”

“That’ll do,” CJ said, tipping his head toward the doors. “Get out of my barn.”

Fine by me.

My spine itched.

It wasn’t dry skin or an irritating shirt kind of itch.

It was agitation.

My skin was crawling with adrenaline. Focusing on the budget spreadsheet in front of me was impossible.

How dare he say that I didn’t let people love me? He didn’t even know me. We were opposites.

The clock ticked louder than a bomb. Each jolt of the minute hand fueled the fire I needed to burn off.

How dare he ride off like that, abandoning me in the middle of a fucking field?

I could have died.

If I had been back home, I would have cut out of the office and hit the treadmill to clear my mind.

But I wasn’t home, and there was no treadmill here.

But I was working twenty feet from my bedroom…

I hadn’t taken advantage of the lack of structure for my job here, but there was no time like the present.

One more glance at the clock told me it was the golden opportunity for a littleself-care.

The girls would be at dance class until dinner time, which meant Christian wouldn’t be around until his mom brought them back.

I pushed out of the chair and beelined for the guest room, yanking the door closed behind me as I shimmied out of the jeans I had put on this morning.

I hated jeans. They were stiff and restrictive. But they did make my ass look good, so at least there was an upside.

I tossed them on to the cowboy boots I discarded when I came back to the house to work. My underwear and blouse were quick to follow. I pawed around in my suitcase until I found the discreet velvet bag.

I pulled it out, pressed the button, and the vibrator buzzed to life.Excellent.

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