Fool's Gold Collection Volume 3. Susan Mallery
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guy, but a coral snake was beautiful and still deadly.
Once inside, they set to work. Rafe might have a job in San Francisco in a high-rise, yet he hadn’t forgotten how to saddle a horse. After using a brush to clean off Mason’s back, he set the pad in place with practiced ease. She worked on Kermit, the smaller of the two horses, huffing only a little as she gently set the saddle on Kermit’s back.
Bridles were next. Both Mason and Kermit were calm horses, taking the bit without trying to spit it out. From the corner of her eye, she saw Rafe making one last check to make sure everything was fastened securely, but not too tight, and that there weren’t any wrinkles or spots that would rub. They led the horses outside.
There was a mounting block on the far side of the barn. As both Mason and Kermit were good-size horses, she turned in that direction, but Rafe stopped her.
“I’ll give you a hand up.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I know I don’t.”
He draped Mason’s reins over a post, then walked toward her. He waited until she’d taken the reins in her left hand and grabbed the saddle. Then he laced his fingers together.
She stepped onto his hand. Despite the fact that they weren’t touching anywhere, the act felt oddly intimate. She told herself he was just being polite. That his mother had trained him well. Still, she felt flustered as he counted to three, then lifted her toward the saddle.
She swung her leg over Kermit and settled lightly into place.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” He continued to look at her. “You’re a little touchy.”
“You’ve threatened me and my home more than once. I think being cautious shows wisdom.”
“I’m protecting what’s mine.”
“So am I.” Which meant what? That they had something in common? “This would be a lot easier if we could get along.”
His mouth curved into a slow, sexy smile. “I don’t do easy.”
“I’m not surprised.”
He chuckled, then walked over to Mason. Rafe settled in the saddle, and they moved away from the barn.
“You have a route you usually take?” he asked.
She adjusted her hat, trying not to notice that, for a guy who drove a Mercedes, Rafe looked pretty comfortable on his horse.
“Uh-huh. It’s a big circle that takes us over most of the land.”
“Good.”
Right. Because he wanted to claim what he considered his. “You’re not going to start peeing on trees to mark everything, are you?”
He laughed. “Maybe when we know each other better.”
He was joking. Unfortunately, his words made her remember her friends’ suggestion from the previous evening. That seducing Rafe was the answer to her problems.
She glanced at him, taking in the straight back and broad shoulders. Was he the kind of lover who took his time and made sure everyone enjoyed the event, or was he selfish in bed? She’d known both kinds of guys, more of the latter than the former.
Not that it mattered, she reminded herself. Sleeping with Rafe would be stupid.
“Is the fence line like this everywhere?” he asked, pointing to the broken or missing posts, the downed line.
“Some of it is in better shape, but only for small sections. What was it like when you lived here before?” she asked before she could stop herself.
“Things were in better shape. Old man Castle might have paid his employees shit, but he cared about the ranch.”
She heard a trace of bitterness in his voice, and knew he had cause to resent what his family had gone through. But she still had trouble reconciling the vision of a hungry little boy with the successful man riding next to her.
“He kept a lot of cattle,” she said, watching the dark, moving shapes in the distance. “They’re everywhere and very wild.”
Rafe glanced at her. “Wild?”
“You know. Feral.”
He laughed again. “Been attacked by a few feral cows, have you?”
“No, but I stay clear of them. They make trouble with the goats. I swear, they come in the night and show Athena how to break out.”
“You’re giving them way more credit than they deserve.”
“I don’t think so.” While he was in such a good mood, even if it was at her expense, she risked a potentially dangerous question. “What does your mom want to do with the ranch?”
“I have no idea. I’d say restore it to its former glory, but it never had much of any. She has an emotional connection to this place. She wants to make it…better. She’s talking about fence lines and fixing up the barn.”
“Does she want to run cattle?”
“I don’t think so.”
“You could ask.”
“Then I’d know, and with my mother, that’s not always a good thing.”
“Not knowing is the reason you’re here now. How come you signed the contract?”
He shook his head. “A few years ago, one of my mom’s friends died unexpectedly. Her affairs weren’t in order and that made a mess for her kids. My mother decided that wasn’t going to happen and made sure she was fully prepared for her eventual passing.”
“That’s both considerate and a little creepy. She’s not that old.”
“I know, but once she gets her mind set on something, she can’t be budged.”
“Oh, so you inherited that from her.” Heidi winced, wishing she could remember to think before she spoke.
“Are you saying I’m stubborn?”
“Pretty much.”
The sun was high in the sky. The temperature was in the mid-sixties and there were no clouds to be seen. Some of the trees were budding, others had pale pink and creamy-white flowers all along the branches. She could hear birds, and if she ignored the wild cattle off in the distance, the moment would be about perfect.
“Part of her plan to get things in order involved me,” Rafe said after a few minutes. “I have to cosign every financial transaction she makes. She uses an online bill-pay, so I’m not involved in those, but every other check or document with a signature comes to me first. It adds up.”
“So, that’s how come you didn’t read the contract to buy the ranch.”
“Yeah. It’s my own fault.”
“Glen’s not a bad man.”
“No one said he is.”
“You implied it.”
“He did steal two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”
“But it was for a good reason. To help a friend.”
Rafe stared at her. She met his dark gaze and sighed.
“Your point is, stealing is stealing and trying to justify it doesn’t change the act itself. He was wrong.”
“Something like that,” Rafe admitted. “Glen may not be evil, but he’s not big on consequences.”
Heidi wouldn’t admit it out loud, but Rafe was right about her grandfather. Glen skated through life using his charm to get him out of most of the world’s unpleasantness.
“I don’t suppose it would help to say I’m sure