Page 71 of Second Chance with the Rancher

Her smile was idiot-big as she climbed down the ladder. No man had ever run her a bath before. She was giddy and hopped down the last rung straight into Nate’s waiting arms. He carried her the rest of the way into the bathroom where LED candles (that she had ordered for décor) were set up on the windowsill next to the free-standing soaking tub. It was beautiful and perfect. He placed her gently in the tub, making sure to keep her cast out and resting it on a hand towel.

“You’re not going to get in with me?” she asked, giving him a big dramatic pout.

“Won’t fit me and you, Minx. As much as I’d love to. But you enjoy.” Then he bent down, kissed her on the lips softly, and turned to go.

“Thank you, Nate,” she called after him, settling into the warmth and bubbles.

“I’d do anything for you, Minx,” he said before closing the door and leaving her with her warm bubbly bath, LED candles and a heart so confused it wasn’t sure whether to beat or break.

Chapter Sixteen

By the time Mieka got out of the bath, the water was cool and her fingers resembled raisins. Nate helped her out so that she didn’t slip and fall and get her cast wet, then he wrapped her up in a big towel, gave her a big glass of water and the two of them retired up to the loft where Mieka promptly fell asleep.

They finished up everything at the second cabin that morning, then raced ahead to the third cabin to meet Cal with the helicopter.

Rinse and repeat.

Assembling furniture, decorating, setting up house, a vegetable-free dinner, a stroll to the waterfall while consuming the drug of amazing orgasms, experiencing those amazing orgasms followed by a deep, dreamless sleep wrapped up in Nate’s arms.

Then they made their way to the final cabin on the hill the next day where Cal met them with the last crate. He even found a spot to land his helicopter and came to join them.

“Cal, this is Mieka, Triss’s sister,” Nate said as they watched the big, broad-shouldered man with the dark red hair amble his way up the hill from where he’d landed it in the field.

Cal held out a tanned hand scattered with freckles and scars, and Mieka took it, grateful that he didn’t give her a limp handshake because she was a woman. His hand was just as calloused as Nate’s but she didn’t mind. “Pleased to meet you, Mieka.” Cal propped his hands on his hips after releasing Mieka’s hand and gauged the cabin. “How’d setup on the other three go?”

“Pretty good. We’re going to stop at the first one on our way back and stock it up with linens, but otherwise, everything is ready for guests, right, Minx?” Nate asked, bumping her shoulder playfully.

“I think so.” She shielded her eyes from the sun and took in the vastness of her surroundings. Fields and hills, mountains and forests. It was breathtaking and made her problems feel so small and insignificant in comparison to how big and miraculous the world was.

“Need a hand unloading?” Cal asked, following Nate over to the crate where he used the crowbar in his hand to pry open the box.

“Can always use another set of hands,” Nate replied as he got the crate open and started hauling out boxes of furniture.

The three of them worked quickly and smoothly. Cal stuck around to help assemble furniture and before Mieka knew it, they were done.

“Wow!” she said as the three of them sat on the hill staring out at the winding river below. Cal had packed a cooler with beer in it and ran to get it from his helicopter once they were finished. Now they were all enjoying a cold San Camanez lager after a hard but accomplished day’s work. “That went way faster with three sets of hands.” She turned to Nate. “Do we have time to head back to the house before dark?”

He shook his head. “Not the house, no, but we could probably make it to the first cabin before dark if you wanted to.”

She shook her head and smiled. She wasn’t ready to return to reality. She loved playing house with Nate where they could wander around naked, even outside, if they wanted to and not worry about being spotted by anyone. Not that she had, but he certainly did and she wasn’t about to ask him to put his clothes on anytime soon.

The smile that met hers warmed her heart to a startling temperature. “Me either. We’ll stay the night here, then head out in the morning.”

“I’m not a fan of flying in the dark if I can help it,” Cal said, standing up with a bit of a grunt. “I’m going to head home, but I’ll pop ‘round the ranch soon for a beer and a bullshit with you and Ash.” He slapped Nate on the shoulder affectionately, smiled warmly at Mieka, then stalked down the hill toward his shiny black bird.

“He seems nice,” Mieka said, taking a sip of her beer. It wasn’t her beverage of choice, but after a busy day like today, it surprisingly hit the spot.

“Salt of the fucking earth, that guy,” Nate said, not looking at her, but rather propping his forearms on his knees and staring out at the field below. The sun had already set, but hints of orange, yellow and pink still lingered in the sky along the ridges of the hills. “I would trust Cal—any of my brothers really—with my life. I’m glad he moved here. Not sure it’s for him, but he seems happy.”

“What makes you say you’re not sure it’s for him?” And more importantly, what made him think that this was the place for her?

He shrugged a big, muscly shoulder. “Guy never sits still in one place for long. He gets restless. Flies his chopper to a new town, sets up camp for a few months, maybe a year, then picks up and leaves again when he feels like it. I don’t know if a city would be better for him or not, but I’m not sure he’ll stick around here long enough to put down roots.” He took a pull of his beer and shrugged again. “Then again, I’ve been wrong about shit before. Maybe he’ll settle down. Find a nice woman and call this place home. It’d be nice to have more friends around.”

She stared at his profile for a moment, studying the length of his nose, the definition of his cheekbones, his strong jaw and chin. She’d never noticed it before, but from the side she was looking at him on, his nose appeared a little crooked. She liked it. It added to his character.

“How’d you break your nose?” she asked after a moment of silence passed between them.

Nate snorted and took another sip of his beer. “Ash decked me. We were fifteen. I ran my mouth. Can’t remember what it was about, honestly. But he got pissed off and decked me, broke my nose.” His eyes bugged out. “Blood was everywhere. Our mother was furious. Kicked us both out of the house until dark for ruining her nice new rug.”

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