Page 41 of The Rancher

Ted furrowed his brows and sat up in the bed. He propped the pillows behind him as the sheet fell to his waist. “Well, I…I?—”

She held up her right hand, as she grabbed her robe with the left. Then she shoved her arms into the sleeves and tied the matching belt around her narrow waist. “There is no love, Ted. You work for me and I’ve slept with you as a way to keep you doing what you’re doing. Nothing more, nothing less.”

He sat up straight. “But I thought?—”

“Well, you thought wrong. I could never fall in love with a plain old cowboy. You don’t have enough money to keep me happy, and that’s what I need to fall in love.”

“I guess I see how it is, so it doesn’t matter that Ray has fired me.”

She put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes. “Fired you. How long ago? What did you do?”

He lifted his chin. “I told Lyris she’d better stay out of my way if she didn’t want Maddy having an accident like her mama did. This happened last week.”

She narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips. “You idiot! Now, there’s no way anyone can get close to those horses. Why are you only telling me this now!? I can’t do anything about something that happened two or three months ago.” She paced; the bottom of her robe swirled around her legs with every turn.

“Well, Stormchaser is out of the races for the season. I heard the doc tell Ray that. He got caught in one of those bear traps I set. She’s not sure he’ll ever race again. Of course, that was before. Now, I sneak onto the ranch. I can still do what you want me to.”

She pointed at him and shook an index finger. “What else? What else did they say?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I had to go before Ray saw me. I told you Jason saw us at the Grizzly Rose. We never should have gone there.”

Marissa studied her manicure. “It’s not my fault.”

“You’re the one who likes to dance and insisted on going there. I’d have been just as happy with a quiet dinner at home and streaming a movie.”

She put her hands on her hips. “This isn’t your home. It will never be your home. You need to leave now and don’t plan on coming back. If you’re not working at Whispering Wind, then I don’t need you. Now, get out.” She pointed at the door and stamped her foot.

He moseyed out of bed and narrowed his eyes. “I don’t like being used.”

She lifted her chin. “You knew what you were doing and what you were getting out of it. So don’t act surprised or wounded. I won’t fall for it.”

Scott entered from the living room where she knew he was watchingFriendslike he did every morning. He turned his gaze over to Ted.

He was dressing as fast as he could as though he was afraid someone would decide to shoot him.

And Marissa thought seriously about shooting him…thought about claiming he was trespassing and it was an accident. Perhaps, if she had, she wouldn’t be faced with the very real possibility that he would turn on her.

Once Ted had his pants and shirt on, he grabbed his socks and boots and ran from the room.

Scott walked close and wrapped his arms around Marissa from the back. “Are you okay? I know it wasn’t pleasant for you to sleep with the man. Did he at least manage to do his job before he got fired?”

“How did you know about that?”

“I was listening outside the door before I came in. It’s always good to know what you’re up against. I’m glad he’s gone. I don’t like sharing you.”

She turned in his arms, ran a finger down his cheek and then cupped his jaw. “No more sharing. I’m all yours.” Marissa pressed her lips against his, kissing him deeply.You might be a lot of things, my dear Scott, but you’re good in bed and take instructions well. I think I’ll keep you around. That was the problem with Ray. He refused to do the things I wanted, even when I said them gently. I told him I couldn’t raise Maddy and he should send her to a girl’s boarding school. He refused. I should have known better, but I slept with you instead. Unfortunately, he caught us and broke off the engagement. I definitely wasn’t smart about that, but I know a lot more now.All I need is the chance to get him back. I just don’t know how to get it. He’ll never trust me. And if he knows about Ted, he obviously knows about me.The more she thought about Ted, the angrier she got, but mostly at herself. She knew better but she’d been blinded by her hormones…for the second time. And she’d been caught again, just like the first time. Well, not exactly like the first time, Ted was definitely not Scott, but close enough.

“Damn, damn, damn.” Marissa paced, trying to figure out what to do now.

Scott must have realized something wasn’t right.

He led her to the bed. “Want to talk about it?”

Did she? “No. Now I want you to make love to me. I’m antsy and I need to relax.” She lowered her chin and looked up through her eyelashes.“You know how to make me relax. Remember?”

“Oh, yeah, baby, I remember.”

Lyris headedto the barn like she did every morning. Today she walked in bright sunshine, as she hoped to see Ray. Instead, she found Will Asher.