Page 26 of Rough Ride

She really shouldn’t be bothered by the fact that Eli would end up at the club at some point. She had a right to go there too, a personal invite from one of the owners. But for some reason, she didn’t want to go there—not unless it was with Eli.

Shit. Crysta knew that was a mistake. Even thinking about him dressed in leather, a crop in his hands…she sighed. He wouldn’t be there for her. He would be there for another woman, another sub. Eli would enjoy that sub for a night.

“I think those eggs are scrambled,” Jerry said, amusement filling his voice. She looked down and realized she had been beating the hell out of the eggs. She laughed.

“Yeah, they look pretty much scrambled.” Knowing that she needed to get her mind off Eli, she asked, “When is a good time for my father to come back over?”

“Every day is a perfect day, as long as you’re in Hawaii.”

She chuckled. “That’s true.”

“So, what does your father like to do? We have a few festivals he might enjoy.”

And as the sun started to rise and heat the kitchen, she talked about her father and tried to forget the other man in her life.

eight

Eli looked out over the land. He was sitting in his favorite spot, thinking about his problems. He had found the cut fencing that Jerry had mentioned, but he also discovered another one. Not down. Cut. Someone had deliberately tried to sabotage them. It wasn’t a big thing, but it was enough to worry him. More than likely, it was Sam or his son. It wouldn’t hurt them in the long run. He would have to send hands out to check their perimeter fencing. In the end, it would just take time away from the running of the ranch. Just something to irritate him. What they didn’t know was he didn’t need any help in that area lately.

He rolled his shoulders as he tried to get his temper under control. It had more to do with Crysta than any petty little shit like cutting their fencing. He’d been on edge since she arrived and now he’d apparently reached a boiling point. He directed most of his surly attitude toward Crysta, but now it starting to spill over to the staff. More than once he had found himself growling at one of the hands. He could tell other people it was just the adjustment of having Crysta at the ranch. But he knew better. It was plain and simple jealousy.

He had no right. She wasn’t his, never would be. Too many complications and there was something he tried to avoid with women and that was complications. Still, he had been rude on more than one occasion, even though he knew it was wrong. It wasn’t Crysta’s fault he was so attracted. As a Dom, he had never had this problem. Control was something he needed in all areas of his life, but especially with women. He had learned that lesson long ago.

Still, because he couldn’t seem to keep her out of his dreams, it was starting to interfere with his judgement. When he arrived in the kitchen, Eli had been pissed. Morning time was their time alone, to talk over things. Crysta was always full of stories of her childhood and sadly, he hung on every word. When he saw Jerry, it took every bit of his legendary control not to boot the manager out of the kitchen.

He needed to find a way off the island. If he went to Oahu, he would raise Crysta’s suspicions. In the past, he wouldn’t have cared, but for some reason, he didn’t want her to know he was going over to Rough ‘n Ready. But if he stayed, he was going to continue to be a total ass to her.

Worse, he had no right. On the day-to-day business, she did a good job. She seemed content to work with the hands every now and then, plus, she exercised a few of the horses that weren’t being used that much. She even mucked out the stalls alongside of the workers. He’d thought she would be a pain in the ass, but she had stepped back and let him take control.

Just that phrase had his body reacting. Knowing she was a sub wasn’t helping.

Knowing he had wasted enough time, he turned his horse and headed back to the barn. He’d look at the schedule when he got back and decide when to hop over to Oahu. It might be the only thing to keep him sane.

It took him less than fifteen minutes to make it back. A few of the men glanced his way as he rode up to the barn. He knew he’d been a bastard, but he didn’t give a bloody damn. The last few days he’d been out of sorts and he knew the reason. He gave up avoiding her and trotted down into the yard. He was going to have to talk to Jerry about the fence being down. It was quiet for an afternoon, but he knew they had moved some of the cattle over to another pasture so almost everyone would be out there working on that. Still, he expected one of the hands to be around in the yard.

Eli dismounted and made his way over to the barn.

“So, you like to ride, yeah?” a male voice said.

He heard the question and his mind came up with all kinds of different scenarios. He didn’t even stop to think before storming into the barn. She was standing there with Kana Bentley one of the best men on the ranch—not to mention married. He was devoted to his wife, but apparently, that didn’t matter to Eli.

Stepping into the barn, he found Crysta talking to the younger man. She was hanging up her tackle as if she had been out for a ride.

“I competed when we lived in Texas.”

“Wow. I had no idea. I mean, Joe talked about you a lot, but he never said you competed.”

She shot the man a smile over her shoulder. “Barrel racing. I was top racer in a three-county area.”

That was about enough for Eli. “Bentley, don’t you have something to do?” Eli asked.

Bentley turned around and his face turned red. The boy was all of twenty-one and married to his high school sweetheart. It didn’t matter to Eli. He just wanted the little bastard gone.

“Yes, sir. It was nice talking to you, Crysta.”

He scurried out of the barn giving Eli a few worried glances. Crysta waited until he was gone to confront Eli. If he had thought she wouldn’t fit in at the ranch, he had been mistaken. She was wearing a worn pair of jeans that hugged her generous hips; the red shirt and cowboy hat completed the outfit.

And she was looking at him as if he’d grown a second head.

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