Page 20 of Cowboy Devil's Embrace

The lifestyle I used to lead.

All of it seemed so foreign to me now.

This land was good. And as I made repairs to the house, I saw its true potential. It was big and strong, built for a family.

Suddenly, I wanted that. Very much.

A mate.

A child.

A real home.

I fought a grimace as I switched the ice pack to the other side of my head, moving my hand still hurt, too.

I’d hardly even made it onto the horse’s back before the miserable beast tossed me like a sack of potatoes. This morning, I started slow and helped Jed wrangle goats, separating the ones Emmet had instructed us to, into separate pens.

Admittedly, I was annoyed at the menial task, but the crafty critters were wilier than I’d anticipated.

Either way, there was no getting around the fact that getting head-butted in the balls by a goat named Dolly May fucking sucked.

Especially when the head-butter had horns.

I hissed a sharp breath as I tried to switch positions, having given up on this ranching madness an hour ago to ice my tender bits. Still, I could hardly move. My entire body felt beat up and sore.

The sound of the front door slamming open barely even jostled me.

What the fuck?

“Max? You here?”

I growled and closed my eyes as Emmet came sauntering into the kitchen where I’d gone to lick my wounds so to speak.

“There you are. Here, this is your Crew,” Emmet growled.

The Wolf shifter looked pissed as hell, walking into my house with his hands on his hips, dripping sweat and smelling like he stepped in a pile of manure before he got here.

I looked down at the trail of filth he’d left in his wake and my inner Devil seethed.

“What in God’s name are you doing, tracking mud all over the hallway? Out! OUT!” I shouted and hustled the man to the porch.

Not that I was some snobby princess who hated dirt or anything. But my housekeeper was another story—fuck.

I didn’t have to worry about that anymore. She’d already left me to my own devices.

“Sorry about the mud,Boss,” he seethed.

“But if I didn’t have to come all the way back here to find your city boy ass, I wouldn’t be dragging all this dirt through your fancy place and sweatin’ my balls off while I’m at it. Now here,” Emmet growled and slapped a handful of dirty applications onto my chest.

“I don’t even know why you’re so riled. Won’t your maid be cleaning this up for you,” Emmet said, his tone reeking of disgust.

“Mrs. O’Hare left. Grandmother needed her services elsewhere. Not that it’s any of your business,” I snarled back.

Emmet’s mouth hung open, and I watched in surprise as a look that closely resembled guilt and maybe even compassion crossed his face. He looked around the unkempt room and scowled.

“Damn, I had no idea. What are you doing for food?”

I grunted and pointed towards the fridge. The curious wolf opened it and frowned as he picked up one of the four sealed packages of bologna I had left.

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