Page 9 of Trails of Temptation

I was going to be alone. I’d made my peace with it.

I wasn’t going to come between Keely and Pete, even if it meant giving her up.

After the auction I checked into a motel somewhere between Hot Springs and Helena. I kicked off my boots and got in the shower, closing my eyes as I pressed my forehead against the smooth, chilled tiles. I hadn’t wanted a drink this badly in years. I just wanted something to wash away the sound of her voice and the way her smile brought alive something within me that had been dormant up until two summers ago, when Keely walked right into my life and then left with my heart in her hands.

Fuck.

I had two options.

Ignore her.

Or tell Pete to go fuck himself and make hermine.

ChapterFive

Keely

“It’s pronouncedKey-Lee,” I said with a bit of an attitude to Ben and Archie, the two ranch hands who currently took up residence in the old bunkhouse between Grant’s house and the stables. Both men were in their mid- to late-twenties and had the look of a downhome, born-and-bred cowboy from rural Montana with their sun-kissed skin and worn cowboy hats perked on top of their ruffled hair. Ben was exceedingly handsome in my opinion, but he was on the shy side. Archie, however, made up for being second in the looks department by being a shameless flirt.

“Keely,” he said, drawing out my name and rolling it over his tongue. He was leaning against the paddock fence, one cowboy boot resting on the railing as he leaned in to speak to me. “Never heard that name before.”

He’d been calling me Kelly for the past week, even though I’d corrected him several times. He seemed to like that it agitated me, and we’d teased each other back and forth for a few days about it before I’d finally had enough.

I shifted the basket of peaches I was carrying on my hip and glared up at him before turning back to Grant’s house and striding inside. Archie had the audacity to whistle as I walked away, followed by a low chuckle from Ben.

Part of me wished George was here to see the way the other ranch hands were gawking over me. Would he have been jealous? Probably not, but those guys worked for him as the head rancher on the property. He wouldn’t have taken so kindly to knowing his workers were ogling over anyone instead of doing whatever they were supposed to be doing during the long summer days at the Hallston Ranch.

I set the basket of peaches on the kitchen counter and wiped my brow with the back of my hand, exhaling as I turned on the box fan and lifted it onto the counter. I went over the menu for lunch and dinner in my head as I washed my hands and started a huge pot of water to boil. I stared out the window while I started working on the peach cobbler I had planned for dessert. Ben and Archie were still lingering by the paddock, occasionally looking over in my direction. I scowled, but I couldn’t help but feel a little lighter on my feet as I started peeling the peaches. If they thought I was hot enough to risk their jobs, well, surely George thought the same.

I mean, he’d sat there in a stupor while I cooked breakfast yesterday morning, his eyes following my every move. I’d made sure to brush against him as I set a plate of eggs, bacon, and pancakes in front of him. Had I imagined that he’d leaned into my touch?

I’d told Moira all about it, of course, while she sat in bed and munched on her breakfast. She’d made it her sole mission in life to set George and me up together, but that was kind of hard to do being confined to a bed all day long.

“Ouch,” I hissed, clutching my thumb. I’d just nicked myself with the paring knife I’d been peeling the peaches with. “Stupid,” I whispered to myself before sucking on the wound. I looked back out the window just in time to see George’s truck pull up to the paddock, his voice raised over the purr of his truck’s engine as he scolded Ben and Archie for standing around doing a whole lotta nothing.

Archie looked in my direction as he kicked off the railing, tipping his hat… at me.

“Shit,” I whispered, watching with interest as George slowly turned to look in my direction, his eyes narrowed into cat-like slits. I waved at him, beaming. He only frowned and put his truck in park.

I felt like a fool for even missing his presence over the twenty-four hours, but I’d grown used to having his grouchy, storm cloud-like presence nearby. I looked forward to seeing him in the mornings while he talked with Grant about what their day ahead would hold. And even though Grant rarely joined us for dinner unless Moira forced the matter, seeing him on the occasional evening around the dining room table felt natural in a way, like the two of us were meant to be there.

But I hadn’t gotten him alone just yet.

Sure, he’d driven me to the grocery store a few days ago but that hardly counted. Especially since Pete ruined the vibe.

I watched George get something out of the back of his truck, his face twisted in his usual scowl. He didn’t look back up at me, not once. I hated that my heart fell a bit as I washed my hand and put a little Band-Aid on my finger and got back to work.

* * *

“Where’d you learn to cook like this?” Grant asked, smiling as he dished himself another helping of roast chicken.

I shrugged, blushing a little at the compliments that had been thrown my way since everyone sat down for dinner. Moira was eating dinner at the table too, and was in good spirits after her doctor’s appointment went well earlier in the day. She was truly glowing as she sat back with her arm roped over Day’s chair, her fingers brushing through the boy’s soft curls.

“I had to learn if I wanted to eat,” I replied with another shrug. I glanced at George, who was sitting across the table from me. He looked up at me as I began to tell everyone about my time at Montana State, how’d I’d kept me and my roommates fed with nothing but a hot-plate and microwave in the shabby apartment we shared on the outskirts of campus.

That conversation bled into Grant and George talking about the auction, and I was thrilled to see George light up a bit as he told us all about what he saw, who he talked to, who he fought, with and the two bulls he bought for the ranch.

Sometime later, Moira said sleepily, “Alright, kid. Off to bed. You have camp in the morning.” She patted his back, motioning for him to go upstairs and start getting ready for bed.

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