Miranda And The Ranch Hand (Domestic Discipline Romance) (2 page)

They whirled around to see Marcus standing in the stables. Miranda looked a little nervous, wondering how long he’d been standing there, but the grin on his face took some of the sting out of his stern tone.

David came to the rescue with a quick change of topic. “Mandy was just telling me Jennings wouldn’t take her ad for the clinic.”

Marcus looked at her with a frown. “Why not?”

“Because a woman belongs barefoot and pregnant out here, not tending to ranchers’ animals,” she responded sarcastically.

“Well, we’re just going to have to change that opinion. Open the clinic out here Mandy, and start with our animals. Word will get around. People know you here—they know your way with animals. They’ll get over their prejudices.”

Mandy threw her arms around her big brother. “Thank you, Marcus! I needed to hear that.”

“Hey, what am I? Chopped liver? Isn’t that basically what I said, too?” David said in mock protest at being ignored. Mandy embraced them both, and they all walked up to the house arm-in-arm. It really was good to be back home on the ranch she loved with the brothers who adored her.

But her jovial mood abruptly ended when she saw Dylan leaning casually against the porch rail with his bedroll at his feet. Mandy groaned inwardly when Marcus said, “Oh, that must be the new ranch hand. Howie says he’s good with horses.” Howie Winger was the ranch foreman and did most of the hiring.

Marcus walked ahead and greeted Dylan. When David and Miranda caught up, he introduced them. “Mandy, David, this is Dylan Wrightman. Dylan, my sister Miranda, and brother David. Mandy also has a special way with the horses, and she’s our own vet. David and I tend to stick to the cattle.”

Mandy figured she’d try to bluff her way through the introduction, “Pleased to meet you Mr. Wrightman, and welcome to the Double-R. I look forward to working with you,” she said in her sweetest possible voice.

Dylan could tell she was seething under all that sweetness, and he was enjoying every minute of it. He gave her a meaningful look, but all he said was, “The pleasure’s mine, Miss Rollins.” Then he brought her hand to his lips for a brief kiss. Miranda practically snatched it away as she felt a bolt of electricity charge up her arm when his lips touched her.

David laughed at the look on her face. “A man who knows how to handle horses and women. This could be interesting. Welcome to our home, Dylan. Come on, I’ll show you to the bunkhouse and stables, and you can get settled in.”

Miranda could feel the blush on her face. “I think I’ll… umm… go check on dinner.” And she rushed into the house. She couldn’t imagine what was the matter with her! She leaned back against the door, annoyed that she was acting like a silly schoolgirl around the new ranch hand. She was completely flustered. Then she shook it off. Maybe she was just afraid that he’d tell her brothers about the near accident in town.

Of all the ranches around Austin, why did he have to end up here? Then she remembered he was going to work the horses. Great, now she’d have to see him everyday. So much for enjoying breaking in the new crop of colts, and the wild Mustangs they had brought down from the canyon!

* * *

Mandy was up just after the sunrise the next morning, even though she hadn’t slept well. Her dreams had been plagued with visions of deep blue eyes, strong arms and soft words. She was definitely not ready to deal with Dylan. But she knew she’d have to talk to him today. As much as it galled her, she owed him an apology for running off without so much as a thank you. She had acted like a spoiled brat, and she had a feeling Dylan didn’t have much tolerance for that. Truthfully, neither did she, and normally she didn’t act like one, although her brothers might disagree. For some reason, he had brought out the worst in her yesterday. Not to mention her physical reaction to him—somewhere between being struck by lightning and run over by a stampede. That had to stop.

She dressed in the boys’ Levis and shirt she got away with wearing around the ranch. They were practical for ranch work, but she would create a scandal if she ever wore them in town! Pulling on her old boots, she grabbed her hat and headed to the stables. Miranda was determined to figure out exactly what to say to Dylan during her morning ride.

It was the thing she missed most about the ranch while she was back East—riding to the outer boundaries of their land, going as fast as Windfire could take her across the wide-open fields. She loved the early morning, still fresh with the kiss of dew, before the fog lifted and the ranch came to life. This was her time, and she relished every minute of it.

Miranda got to the stables and went to get her saddle and gear from the tack room. She turned around, heading back to Windfire’s stall and ran smack into Dylan, standing like a solid wall in the middle of the stables. She was no slouch, but he towered over her, just like her brothers, and he was all muscle. He reached out to grab her elbow so she didn’t stumble backward, and then went to take her saddle.

“Sorry, I didn’t see you over my gear. I… uh... am usually the only one here at this hour.” There was that flustered voice again! She stepped back, managing to loosen his hold and keep her hold on her saddle. “It’s all right, I can get it. We sort of have a rule around here... ‘You ride ’em—you saddle and groom ’em.”

Dylan threw up his hands in mock surrender. “Never let it be said, I don’t play by the rules. Do you usually ride this early, and by yourself?”

“Of course,” she said, bristling at the implication that she shouldn’t ride alone. “I’ve been riding this ranch since I was four. There’s not a square inch I don’t know.”

“Good, then you can show me around.” With his typical look of bemusement, he headed to get his own saddle before she had a chance to reply.

“Damn!” How could she say no to that—she already owed him one apology for being rude. So much for getting the day off to a good start. She grumbled as she saddled up Windfire. She even considered mounting up and taking off, but immediately dismissed the idea, remembering that she was trying to dispel her brat image. So she walked Windfire out and mounted outside the stable.

She didn’t have to wait long. Dylan was mounted and right behind her minutes later. “We’ll head up to the north pasture.”

“Lead the way.”

Dylan had hoped to explore on his own this morning. He wanted to check out the sites where the dead animals from Rollins Ranch had been found. But he definitely didn’t like the idea of Miranda riding alone this early, with everything that was going on. And he was probably better off with someone who knew the ranch the first few times he went out. He noted Miranda’s stiff seat on her horse and figured she probably wasn’t quite ready to face him alone yet. That made him smile. He also noted the dark shadows under her eyes. Apparently he wasn’t the only one who’d had a restless night.

With both riders preoccupied with their own thoughts, the canter along the trail to the north pasture was quiet. By the time she got to the open pasture, Miranda had relaxed and was ready for a run. She had pretty much forgotten that Dylan was even behind her, and she let Windfire have his head. The great stallion took off like a shot, almost daring Dylan’s mighty beast to follow. Dylan was caught off guard, but his horse accepted the challenge.

Miranda had a good head start, and Windfire was born to run. Dylan urged Black Lightning to give him more speed, but he wasn’t going to catch up. He could hear Miranda’s laughter as she flew across the field, and mistakenly assumed she was laughing at him. By the time he reached the stream where she finally slowed down, he was ready to let her have it. Then she turned and he saw her face.

She looked incredible—like a child at a birthday party. Her eyes sparkled, her smile was brighter than the morning sun and her face was flushed with the excitement of the run. She hadn’t been running away—she’d just been running. It was just her and the horse gobbling up the ground.

She confirmed his assessment with a laugh. “Oops, Dylan, I’m sorry. You were so quiet back there, and I’m used to being alone in the morning. Windfire and I just did what comes naturally when we hit an open field. I forget how fast he is.”

“I hope you don’t ride like that often—you’re likely to break your fool neck!”

Instantly her exhilaration was tempered. “You know, you’re worse than my big brothers. Why is it men always assume I’m helpless just because I’m a woman. Believe it or not, I can take care of myself.”

“Yeah, like yesterday…”

“Listen, about yesterday, I’m actually glad you brought it up.”

“I’ll bet!”

“Dylan, seriously, I shouldn’t have ridden off without at least thanking you for your rescue.”

“No, you shouldn’t have.”

She bristled, but took a deep breath and turned back to look at him. “You’re not going to make this easy, are you?”

“Why should I? You’re the one who acted like a spoiled brat.”

“Fine. I’m sorry I didn’t grovel at your feet in gratitude!” She turned on her heel and marched back to her horse.

“Oh, no, you don’t!” He grabbed her arm and brought her back to him. He had one arm around her waist pulling her to his broad chest. He tipped her chin up with the other. She couldn’t breathe at the closeness, the smell of him, his touch. She knew she should fight his embrace, but she had no will to do it.

“What I should do is blister your butt for being so reckless.”

“You wouldn’t dare—my brothers would kill you.”

“Really? Is that why you were so anxious for your friend John
not
to tell them what happened? My guess is that’s exactly what they’d do if they found out.”

Miranda knew her blush would give her away, but she couldn’t control the heat in her body, especially at the thought of his threat.

“I thought so. Well, you can relax, I won’t tell them. But let me tell you this, Miranda. If I ever catch you putting yourself in that kind of danger again, I’ll make sure you won’t be able to ride off—in fact you won’t sit a horse for a week!” Then before she knew what was happening he swung her around and delivered three hard smacks to her backside and let her go.

“You… you!” Miranda was so furious, she could barely speak. “You will regret that, Dylan Wrightman!” She practically spit the words at him, and then stalked off to her horse, rubbing her smarting behind. She mounted Windfire with a slight wince and took off.

Dylan chuckled as he leisurely got back on his horse and headed off to check out the scenes of the animal deaths. That brat was going to end up over his knee before this case was over, just as sure as the sun rose and set each day. But he also was disturbed by the fact he wanted to kiss her, almost as much as he wanted to spank her.

Howie just shook his old head as he watched Miranda and Windfire come flying back toward the stables. He couldn’t help but cringe as she jumped the horse over the fence into the corral. No one was ever going to tame that filly, he thought. He’d been ranch foreman since her parents ran the place, and he’d watched her and her brothers grow up. He breathed a sigh of relief as she finally slowed down and walked Windfire into the stables. She and that horse were made for each other, but they still gave him gray hair.

From twenty feet away he could see the fire in her eyes. It was pretty rare for someone or something to rile up her temper this early. Maybe he’d just wait a while to tell her the news Marcus had given him last night. Somehow he had a feeling she wasn’t going to like answering to someone else on breaking in the new Mustangs.

Miranda unsaddled Windfire and got him feed and water, but she went through the tasks like a raging hornet. Now she knew what people meant when they said they were so angry they saw red. The nerve of that man! Just who did he think he was? And who worked for whom around here! If he manhandled her one more time... she’d shoot him—that’s exactly what she’d do. Miranda stopped at that thought and laughed at herself.

All right, maybe she wouldn’t shoot him, but what was she going to do? She was so confused by her feelings. She was furious that he treated her like a child, but these were no childlike sensations she felt whenever he touched her. She absently rubbed her backside again, wondering how she could feel anything other than fury at this stranger who felt so free to take her in hand.

Normally after her morning ride, Miranda took care of Windfire and then headed to the main house for breakfast with her brothers. But this morning she wanted to avoid their perceptive eyes, not to mention their meddling but lovable housekeeper, Jenna. She needed to focus right now. She needed to work with the horses.

After Windfire was settled, she went down to Greybell’s stall. The mare was with foal and could go into labor anytime. But the foal had not yet turned, and as Miranda laid her gentle hands on the animal, she could tell nothing had changed. “We need to get this little one of yours turned around pretty quick, old girl. Otherwise, it’s going to be a long birthing for both of us.” She spoke softly and soothingly to the horse. Her voice was part of her way, and people who had heard her just an hour ago with Dylan, wouldn’t have believed it was the same voice.

She saw Mickey, Howie’s nephew and one of the horse boys, come in. “Mickey, let’s start with that spooky little red colt this morning. It’s time that one took on a rider’s weight. Bring her out to the corral with the light saddle and bridle. I’ll do her up, but give me a nice long lead to work with.”