Wrangler (13 page)

T
he ranch hands get treated like family around here. We eat supper with them, and when it’s lunch time I take food out to them while they work. Aunt Jessie hollers for me around three o’clock to take some food out to the guys.  It was past lunch time when they got here, but she can’t help herself.  She said take them a late lunch so I’m packing the truck and heading their way.

She feeds them well, too. The basket of lunch is overflowing with ham and cheese sandwiches, potato salad and iced down sweet tea along with a couple of bottles of Coke.  I’ve got the basket secured into the passenger seat of the truck as I head down the side of the field toward the combine noise.  The pickup jerks and rattles on the uneven dirt and my boobs bounce and jiggle right along with it.

Jessie told me the new worker’s name is Chad and I expect I’ll have to know that.

Getting close, I shake my head, then holler out the window as I come into voice range. “Y’all hungry?”  I yell over the noise, trying to sound nonchalant.

After all, I don’t want to invite any attention from this Chad.  It’s stupid, but the fire that I felt last night was one of a kind.  I may be an idiot, but there was something there and the thought of anyone else just falls flat.

Chad’s enthusiastic voice greets me.  “Hell yes!  Bring it on over.”

Chad jumps down off the combine sounding far more eager than I expect.  Every muscle in his shirtless torso flexes and pops as he lands on a patch of dirt next to the machine.

As he comes up, he’s grinning as wide as the brim of his hat. “You’re the best part of the day.”  He has these perfect white teeth, straight as a stem of corn, and I still cannot shake the familiarity he seems to elicit.

“Nice to hear.”  I smile back, keeping things distant and polite as he approaches. 

I want that mountain man.
  The whiny voice in my head sounds like a toddler having a tantrum.

But, I can’t lie to myself and pretend there isn’t something familiar, some vibration that gives me the same feeling as last night.

For a second, I think his friendly joking is moving into flirting territory.  Then I catch a glimpse of myself in the side mirror of the truck. 

My hair looks like I’ve been riding on the back of a motorcycle and my shirt and my cheeks are smeared with dirt from pulling carrots. 

Enrique gets to me first.  “Miss Rachel? I told your aunt this morning and not sure she told you, but Vanessa and the kids are coming tonight to make dinner.  Celebrate your birthday. She’ll make all your favorites.  They’re leaving her mother’s place this afternoon, stopping by here on their way back home. Tomorrow they’ve got to get back to running the store, but they’ll spend the night here.” Enrique has a big family.  His wife, Vanessa, and their five children always visit once or twice during the months while Enrique works.  They’re fun and friendly; they laugh and she cooks to-die-for tamales and all sorts of food... But she knows I love her tamales, it’s Enrique’s family recipe.  My ass gets bigger just thinking about it.

“Sure.  That’s great.  You cooking up at the house then?”

“Yes.  We’ll make a fire outside...drink some wine or some beer.  You up for a little party?”

His face lights up so much all I can see is his smile. 

“I’ll be here.”  I answer.

“Good.”  Chad answers as he comes into closer view around the front of truck. “Then I will definitely be there as well.  I wouldn’t want to miss your birthday.” His eyes are not just looking at me, they’re regarding me.  Only one other man has looked at me like that, and that was last night.

He licks his lips, I see the blue eyes flicker and something clicks at the exact moment he steps closer, leans into me, his lips close to my ear.

“Last night wasn’t enough for me Dove.  How ‘bout you?” My head is spinning when he leans even closer.  “Not nearly enough. And that girl that came up in that pickup? She’s the sister of my friend I was with at the bar.  More like my sister.  I’m sorry if you thought otherwise, I would have had her tell you that herself, but by the time I turned around you were down the road.”

He hitches his thumbs in the front pockets of his jeans and stands straight.  A gleam of sweat covers his naked chest.  The dark hair over his pectoral muscles calls for my hands and I’m trying to process everything he just said.

He grins at my discomfort. “I’ll see you tonight.”

With that his hands leave his pockets, he tips his hat at me and walks away, following Enrique back up onto the massive piece of machinery, the lunch basket dangling from Enrique’s hand.

The rest of the afternoon I’m buzzing inside and I’m already on my second pair of panties. 

How could he be here?  This is crazy.  Now that I know it’s him, I’m having trouble walking straight.

Aunt Jessie has to scold me twice, my daydreaming making me burn two batches of corn cakes she wanted to make to contribute to tonight’s dinner.

“Rachel!  What is the matter with you?”

“Sorry, Jessie. I’m not myself today.”

I pull the heavy black pan off the top of the stove and scrape the blackened corn cake stuck to the bottom into the trash. It’s half past five and Vanessa’s already outside getting the fire going and the kids are running around in the garden.

My mind plays out a hundred different versions of the night in front of us.  Chad sits next to me, letting his leg touch mine. No, not his leg, his arm brushing against me as he asks me to take a walk with him. Then maybe...

Stop it.  NO way.  It’s not going to happen.  Look at him!  He’s a sculpted cowboy God.  Guys like that are not into fluffy, plain girls who like to daydream and talk to themselves.

Well, but he was pretty far into me last night.

Stop.

Eventually, I manage to get a couple batches of corn cakes done without burning them.  When that’s done, I head upstairs to my room and lay out some clean clothes.

“Jessie!  I’m getting in the shower!” 

We have to give each other a heads up when we are using the hot water. There’s nothing quite like a blast of freezing cold water when you’re in the shower and someone else decides to use the hot tap.

“Ok, honey.”  Her voice trails up from the kitchen.

I close the bathroom door.  My belly tightens and a little vibration starts between my legs. 

Happy birthday to me.

“Sure, let’s go.”  I’m talking out loud to myself like I’m talking to him. “In the shower? Why not?”

Stripping my clothes off feels good. It’s a hot day out there, and they’re stuck with sweat. I step into the shower and let the warm water run down my back, over my full breasts, the curves of my body. 

I imagine walking with him, his hand brushing against mine. As I lather soap suds over my belly I think of him grabbing my waist, pulling me close in an urgent kiss.  His rough, strong hand pushing up against the back to my neck, tangling in strands of my hair.  I imagine what his mouth tastes like as it moves against mine. Tangy, salty, like grit and prime beef. His hands cupping my breasts as his lips move down my body.

In my head, he’s a character out of a romance novel. I have stacks of them in my closet and under my bed, and they’ve taught me a thing or two about single-handed reading.

My thighs are tight as my fingers delve into the hot pink slit between my legs. I press hard, rubbing back and forth, letting the hot water cascade over my shoulders and down my back. My fingers are Chad’s fingers, working inside me while his mouth kisses my breasts. My hands fumble against his pants, working the strained zipper.

Sounds escape my lips. I drive my fingers hard and deep, feel the surging release building as I moan and gasp into the warm water. The hard, swollen nub of my clit sends lightning bolts through my body as my fingers drive inside my wet canal, and I imagine it’s Chad’s huge cock entering me, pressing into me for the first time.

I close my eyes and see his face, his mouth open, his eyes focused on me, and only me.

I spasm and quiver as my fingers complete the job, my free hand darting out to steady me against the wall of the shower, shuddering until the waves of pleasure subside. 

Panting, I arch my neck letting my head fall back into the shower spray, the water tingles against my tightened nipples.

When I step out of the shower I can hear talking and laughing from outside.  The smell of burning wood drifts into the house, carrying with it the intoxicating scents of Vanessa’s cooking: grilled vegetables, beans, chicken and sautéed onions.

My mouth is already watering as I turn the doorknob to my room and hesitate. I can feel the tension growing, the edge of something about to happen. I’m just not sure what it is yet.

I blow out a breath. “Come on, Rachel.”

Whatever’s about to happen, I need to see it through.

Moving through the house, the smells just get stronger, and when I step out the back door the fire is high and bright against the pink and orange sky over the corn field.  Enrique stands behind Vanessa, his hands on her shoulders, her fingers settled on top. 

They are such a contrast.  Enrique stout size with warm caramel skin against Vanessa’s near translucent complexion and ivory blond hair.  They met at the community college a few towns over and from the way Enrique tells the story, she was his the moment he set his eyes on her.

Chad looks up as my boots hit the first step down off the back porch. I’m wearing my usual farm jeans and shirt. I thought about putting on one of my skirts and a pair of my patent leather flats I like to wear when I work at the bar, but it felt too hopeful.  I didn’t want to look like I was trying.

My skin ripples as his sky blue eyes follow me down toward the group.  It’s not just a glance either, he’s locked onto me.  Challenging me to break the stare.  My stomach dances under my shirt.

He is so fucking beautiful...

His jeans are perfect, just the right side of casual, loose but still straining a bit over his thighs.  He wears a red and blue plaid shirt that’s unsnapped, with a clinging white tank top underneath.  His pectoral muscles pressing on the white fabric and a hint of his dark chest hair decorating the scoop of the neckline.  With wide spread knees his long fingers dangle down between his legs as he sits on one of the upturned logs that encircle the fire.

I think I have lost the power of speech.

“Hey, come on over here.”  He jumps up, offering me his seat.  “I’m jealous sitting here next to Enrique and Vanessa all coupled up. What do you say we give them some competition?”  He tips his head to the side, urging me toward him.  The flex of his square jaw moves with every word.

Vanessa and Enrique lean into each other with a soft chuckle.  Four of their kids are running around making machine gun noises as they play army with sticks. The other one is asleep near Vanessa’s feet, settled in a travel bassinet lined with quilts.  The night air is full of the sounds of children, the crackling fire, and crickets, but all I can hear is my heart beating out of my chest.

“Okay.”  I fuss with my shirt and jerk one shoulder toward my ear as I step closer to the fire.

Okay?  That’s what you have to say?  I’m an idiot.

I glance at Jessie who doesn’t try to hide the wry smile on her face.  I tighten my lips and glare at her with my best ‘don’t even start’ eyes.

“Can I help with anything?”  I ask Vanessa.

I lick my lips and try to keep my voice steady as Chad steps sideways, politely giving me a bit of room to move past him. But his eyes inspect me from top to bottom, tracing each curve like they belong to him.

“No, you sit.”  Vanessa winks.  “Have fun.  The food is almost ready.”  Enrique winks at me as well and I feel like the poor fat girl being set up with her cousin for prom. Except no poor fat girl ever had Chad as a cousin.

His hand grazes the small of my back as I step past him, and it’s not accidental.  His simple touch ignites a cascade of heat that makes the fire look frigid.  He leans down and whispers in my ear, and I swear he draws in a breath like he’s smelling me.

“You can help me.”

Parts of my body just melted. “I can?”

I settle my behind onto the upturned stump that was his seat until a moment ago and scratch at my temple.

I’m still having a very hard time absorbing the fact that Chad is the mountain man from last night and I have to wonder whether it’s actually a coincidence that he ended up here again today.  Or, that he’s the one that came along last night.  That’s an awful lot of coincidences.

And there’s also a steaming portion of embarrassment inside me right now over what actually did happen in the back of my pickup truck.  I mean, less than twenty-four hours ago his fingers were inside me and his tongue played me like a fiddle. 

Oh, and the things he’d said to me.  Oh my God. 

Who would have thought that kind of dirty talk would directly connect to my lady parts and send me rocketing into the night like some harlot?  His eyes are on me, and I swear I can actually feel it. Everywhere his eyes go, my skin tingles.  And I can read his face. It’s like we have a seductive secret and it’s only multiplying the tension twisting around the flecks of bright ash swirling in the air around us.

“Yep.  You can help me remember how good it feels for a dumb ole cowboy to get a pretty girl like you to sit with him.”

My cheeks turn into hot coals. 

Is he serious? 

Vanessa and Enrique chuckle, and I know if I look over at Jessie she’s going to know right away.  My chest aches at the thought of his tongue.  That first brush against my sensitive flesh.  The way I opened my legs so wide for him, giving myself over.

A shiver takes my shoulders.  Chad only smiles bigger, like he knows what I’m thinking. 

Last night is a night I’ll never forget.  I mean, for a girl’s first real kiss, I could have done a lot worse.

And something tells me it won’t be the last.

CHAD