Page 63 of The Outlaw and the Heir

"Hasn't once."

"Interesting...hmm, no, that fits."

"Does it?"

"It does."

"Ah...so?"

"We're going to need to rest, I haven't slept at all, and I don't look forward to getting no sleep and trying to work with a sore ass," I said and then smirked. "Even if it is an ass that's sore because it was properly used."

"Good," he said, flopping back and then scooting over to make room. "Then let's get some rest. I could use it."

Suddenly, a little unsure, I lay down beside him. He twisted onto his side beside me, shoving his face into the pillow, and closed his eyes. His hands were pressed against my arms and I could feel the heat radiating off him as he gave a small wiggle and sighed. I watched him for a moment, my brow rising slightly when I heard his breath growing deeper and rhythmic, signaling his apparent ease with falling asleep.

Add that to the list of things I envied about him, the lucky bastard.

AMBROSE

Wiping my forehead, I tucked away the cloth and walked toward the nearby shade. The sounds of the men working were familiar and welcome as I stopped under the overhang of the barn and turned to lean my back against the wall. It used to be that I always felt a twinge of guilt whenever I took a break, even though I knew it was perfectly responsible to take a break and survey how everyone was doing. Far too many years had been spent worrying that my father would see me slacking and judge me harshly, even though monitoring the men was part of my job.

It still happened, but at least I could ignore it today because my father was in Rapture, dealing with a couple of merchants. Of course, my brother was away as well, so that was even less worry for me. Not that my brother bothered to leave the main house, and when he did, it was to head into town or some other out-of-ranch business or to do one of his random and completely unnecessary 'inspections.' The second was irritating for everyone involved, and I suspected even my father found it tiring, though he never said anything.

Momentarily free from the overwhelming power of the sun, I watched as the men went about their day. None of them did more than glance up and see me watching them before returningto work at the same pace. I didn't demand that any men work themselves into the ground simply because theycouldwork harder. Men who busted their backs to do a job as quickly as possible with the most effort were quickly worn down and unable to do anything. I wasn't in the business of working my way through laborers just because they could technically be replaced quickly through the connections our family had built over generations.

I looked around, my heart thumping a little harder when I saw a familiar face in the crowd of men going about their duties. Unlike me, the sun hadn't done much to him save darken his skin without the slightest trace of red, whereas I always seemed to oscillate between turning different shades of red before fading to a slightly darker tone than before and then back to red again. I'd lived here my whole life and still fought with the sun. Meanwhile, the wily bastard was from a place that hadsnow,for God's sake, and still acclimated better than I did.

If there was a God, he damn well had a twisted sense of humor.

I'd say my stare made Samuel aware of my presence, but I was more inclined to believe he could feel me irritated at him. His sense of danger might be finely tuned, but nothing was as sharp as his sense of when he was getting on my nerves. However, a couple of weeks ago, I’d found a new way to take that irritation out on him—a way we could both enjoy.

That was also why the bastard had a slight limp, though he did a good job hiding it. So when he grinned at me, I smirked and raised a brow, trusting that he knew me well enough to understand what I was so smug about. The little bastard had spent all day yesterday riling me up in every way he could and then switched to sexually teasing me. By the time he got to my cabin, I had pounced, dragging him to the floor rather than waiting to get to the bed, and had taken him on the rug, thoughit had required gagging him with a shirt not to alert the entire ranch that I was effectively finding a new way to turn his legs off for a while.

He rolled his eyes as he approached and glanced to his side with a pointed look. Whatever heat might have been stirring in my loins immediately vanished when I saw my sister walking beside him, my niece and nephew in tow. All three were dressed more appropriately for being outside, even Elizabeth.

"Pants?" I wondered aloud, trying to remember when I had ever seen my sister wear anything that wasn't a dress. "And...boots?"

Elizabeth's smile was radiant as she laughed at something Samuel said as they approached, and I wondered just what he'd said about me because it was definitely about me from the impish way he grinned as they reached me. I ignored him, bending to scoop my niece up and listen to her shrieks of joy as I tossed her lightly in the air before catching her and holding her against me.

"What, now they're gone, you're gonna roam around like ya work here?" I asked her, arching a brow.

"I told you he was going to say something," Samuel chuckled to Elizabeth. "He should know better than anyone that the mice will play when the cats are away."

"Just so long as I don't grow whiskers," Elizabeth said, poking her cheek, which had a smudge of dirt on it, something else I'd never seen in her adult years.

"I shouldn't be too surprised," I said with a sigh. "You were always getting in trouble for sneaking out of the house to do who knows what."

"You don't know?" Samuel asked, cocking his head.

"No," I huffed. "She wouldn't admit what she got up to."

"And I never will," she said with a wink, adjusting her hat.

"Never say never," Samuel said, and I eyed the pleased smile on his face and then my sister, who was rolling her eyes at him.

"You toldhim?" I demanded in shock. "Of all people, him?"

"Well, that's just rude," Samuel said while still sounding pleased.

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