The Rancher's Surrender. Jill Shalvis
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at her belly. They had savings, but they were small. Too small. God, she thought, leaning against a wooden railing. What would they do? They couldn’t go back, there was nothing for them in L.A.
This was where they belonged, she could feel it, but she was deeply afraid about their future.
For whatever reason, Ty wanted this place, too. But she was every bit as rough and tough as he, and utterly indestructible, despite the broken promises in her past.
She told herself she hardly ever thought about that anymore, her mother’s hastily whispered vow to return as she dumped a terrified three-year-old Zoe in the group foster home.
Good thing for Zoe that home had been so strong, so supportive. There had been some rough kids she’d had to fend off occasionally, but the owners of the house, the Fontaines, had been kind, loving and very warm. Without that base in her life, who knows how or where she would have ended up.
Yet she wasn’t stupid enough to ignore the fact that she had indeed been perversely affected by her beginnings, no matter how much she shoved those beginnings away. She knew she didn’t trust well. She knew she used gruffness and irritability as a shield to keep others at bay. And she protected her wary heart with a grid of iron, never allowing anyone but her sisters too close. Even then, she’d held back a good part of herself, though it shamed her to admit it, for in return they had given her everything.
Fact was, Zoe liked control. A lot. And she went out of her way to ensure she always had it, which included holding tight reins on her feelings. But she didn’t have it here and she didn’t have it with Ty. One look into those sharp, knowing eyes and she knew the truth. Ty Jackson wasn’t the type to be controlled, which was reason enough to steer clear of the man. Not a problem, even if he had the best butt in Idaho and a smile that made her heart stutter. She’d steer clear.
She didn’t need the heartache.
What she did need was to survive, and she was a master at that. All she had to do was turn this ranch around, and fast. As in yesterday.
She could do it. They could do it.
But the little flutter of nerves had her pushing on. She drew in a deep breath of night. Dark in Idaho was unlike anything she’d ever seen in Los Angeles. It was...black. And complete. The sky was littered with stars, the air cold and crisp. It smelled like...camping.
And now it was home. Home.
God, what was she thinking? They were out of her element, there wasn’t a Taco Bell within a hundred miles! There wasn’t even a major city within a hundred miles.
But deep down she knew she wasn’t worried about Boise. Shooting the house a disgusted look over her shoulder, she kicked at some dirt and walked into the night, her inefficient tennis shoes sticking in the mud.
She was worried about her sisters.
And, if she were being honest, she was worried about Ty.
One of them was bound to fall for him. Delia loved a man with a sense of humor hidden behind the body of a Greek god, and Ty definitely fit the bill. And Maddie, she seemed to be such an easy mark for any man, with her low self-esteem and constant need to be...well, needed. Someone like Ty could take advantage of a woman like her in less than two minutes.
Only one problem with the theory of Ty hurting one of her sisters—he wasn’t looking at either Maddie or Delia with that fiery passion hidden behind sleepy bedroom eyes. He was looking at her.
What had that been over dinner, that strange connection between them? For a long, uncomfortable amount of time, she hadn’t been able to tear her gaze from his. Not that the big, lean, muscular man was a hardship to look at, but it unnerved her, this attraction she didn’t want.
Just the thought had her walking faster into the night. Behind the shack of a barn, and nearly a hundred yards away, was another building, a second barn. With all her energy, it was no problem to cover this distance quickly. She was oddly unafraid of the dark, even with all the night sounds echoing around her. In fact, she felt more at home here in the wilderness than she ever had on the crazy streets of Los Angeles.
This barn was much nicer than the one closer to the house, and she knew why. It wasn’t used by Constance’s ranch, it was part of the land leased by Ty. This part of Constance’s land was closest to his, and at certain times of the year, such as now, when it was still cold at night, he kept horses stabled here.
Through a thicket of trees and up a gentle slope she thought she could see the lights of his own ranch house. But because she didn’t want to imagine his life there, she turned away and opened one of the heavy double barn doors.
“Well, hello there.”
Zoe nearly jumped out of her skin at the unexpected voice, which was mixed with the sounds of the horses within the barn, stomping impatiently at the late intrusion.
“It’s just me. Cliff.” The man turned his flashlight on himself as he dismounted from his horse. “How‘ya doing tonight, ma’am?”
Zoe recognized him as one of Ty’s men. He was young, late twenties at the most. He smiled easily, laughed just as easily, was sweet and kind to a fault; altogether the opposite of his boss.
“I’m just checking the horses,” he said, as if he needed to put her mind to rest. “We’ve got one close to foal.”
Zoe’s troubles fell away at the thought. “Really?” She pictured a brand new baby horse, all awkward and adorable, struggling to stand next to its mother, and went warm and fuzzy inside. “I’ve never seen a pregnant horse before.”
“Can’t have that,” Cliff drawled, smiling at her. He walked past her into the barn and hit one of the switches on the wall. Soft light filled a small portion of the barn. So did an intriguing mix of scents that Zoe hadn’t gotten used to yet, but liked. Sweet hay, horse...man.
Even here, she thought with wonder, she could smell Ty.
She told herself that was dumb and concentrated on looking around. There was a double row of stables here, and a couple of curious horses peeked out over the doors. A sable-colored mare stood closest in her stall, staring over the wood with large, melting eyes.
Zoe moved closer, mesmerized. In the past few days she hadn’t had time for this, with getting the house cleaned and everything situated. She reached out with a slightly nervous hand, charmed when the horse pushed her big head closer, stretching her long neck.
Then Cliff was there, right next to Zoe, holding an apple. He pulled out a pocketknife and sliced off a piece. Gently, he took Zoe’s hand in his warm, callused one, put the wedge of apple on it and held it out. Zoe went still at Cliff’s touch and waited for that burst of awareness, the same one she got whenever Ty inadvertently touched her.
Nothing.
Disappointed, she looked up into Cliff’s handsome face, wondering why. It didn’t seem fair in the least that this man did nothing for her. It wasn’t unusual, she’d gone most of her life without being tempted in the slightest by the more rugged male species. She’d managed to lose her virginity early due to pure curiosity, but a shrugging disinterest in the activities had assured her she wasn’t missing anything.
Here she was at twenty-six, a woman who didn’t seem to lust as most normal women did. So why was she suddenly doing just that with Ty of all men?
Well, if she had to be experimenting, then it should be with someone kind and gentle like Cliff. Maybe if she tried just a tad bit harder...
Oblivious to her thoughts, Cliff held the apple up to the eager horse. “Watch,” he whispered conspiratorially, winking when Zoe beamed up at him, giving it her best shot.
The beautiful animal, whose sides were bursting, obviously filled with pregnancy, reached its sniffing, hopeful face toward them and...bright light flooded the place.
The horse snickered, annoyed. Zoe blocked her eyes from the bright glare.
“This is certainly cozy.”
Zoe