Cowboy 12 Pack Page 12

  Lightheaded from the sensations rippling through her, she gripped the window frame, afraid she might pass out. Was that even possible from something so pleasurable? She was afraid to find out, and yet she couldn’t take her hand away. Torn, she caught her lower lip between her teeth.

  Below her window, Jake stopped what he was doing to look up at her. Their eyes met, his holding hers for a long moment before he tipped his hat to her. She blushed and quickly stepped back. Had he seen what she was doing? Seen the look of bliss on her face? There was no way he could have. The windowsill was too high. Her face flamed even more hotly, and she hurried to the basin to splash water on her face. When she looked at her reflection in the mirror on the washstand, she was embarrassed to see the wantonness in her eyes.

  Turning away from the mirror, she stripped off her nightdress and crossed the bedroom to the wardrobe. Good heavens, was that wetness she felt between her legs? The idea sent a whole new pool of heat rushing to that area. Ignoring it, she pick out a dress and hastily got dressed. She needed to stop thinking about the strange reactions her body was having to seeing her foreman half naked and get downstairs to check the work he was doing on the new barn. And find out where he’d gotten all the extra men to help him build it. She’d tried to hire more ranch hands for weeks and had no luck. She also needed to ask what he was paying them. The ranch was doing okay, but she wasn’t rolling in money. She’d bring in even less now that Boone had run off a good portion of her cattle.

  When she walked outside, she was surprised to see the new men were Indians. Arapaho, if she didn’t miss her guess. She didn’t have a problem with that. It was just that they didn’t leave their tribal lands very often. They usually weren’t treated very well. That Jake had been able to get them to come off their lands to do this barn raising said a lot about his negotiation skills—or how easy he’d been with her money. She hoped it wasn’t the latter.

  Ned and the regular ranch hands gave her a wave and a smile when they saw her. She smiled and waved back.

  Jake looked up from the nail he was hammering as she walked up to him. Up close, his naked chest was even more distracting, and it took her a minute to remember what she’d wanted to talk to him about.

  He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his gloved hand. “Sorry if the noise woke you. I wanted the men to get an early start.”

  She looked around. “So I see. And you didn’t wake me. I was already up.” Liar. “I’m impressed. At this rate, I’ll have a new barn before nightfall.”

  “Not quite that fast.” He flashed her a grin. “By nightfall tomorrow maybe.”

  “Not that I’m ungrateful, but exactly how much am I paying for all this extra labor?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “It does if it’s more than I can afford.”

  She wanted to remind him how much she was already paying for his services, but didn’t.

  Jake regarded her thoughtfully, then named an amount that stunned her. He’d made an extremely reasonable deal with the Arapaho men—better than she could have gotten from anyone in town, that was for sure. And they probably worked harder, too.

  “I also took the liberty of hiring some of them on full time,” he added.

  She blinked. “You did what?”

  “I know you need more hands working the ranch, and the Arapaho aren’t likely to be in Boone’s pocket.” He frowned. “That’s not a problem, is it?”

  Damn right it was. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw some of the Indians eyeing her and Jake. “I think it would be best if we discussed it in my study.”

  His jaw tightened, and she thought he might argue, but he nodded. “Lead the way.”

  Sadie assumed Jake would collect his shirt and make himself decent on the way to the house, but he didn’t. Something she was all too aware of when they got to her small study. Focusing on anything else when he was standing there practically naked was extremely difficult.

  “You should have talked to me before you hired those men.”

  He folded his arms over his chest. The pose made his biceps look even bigger, and she stifled a moan.

  “Because they’re Indians?” he asked.

  She dragged her gaze away from his arms. “Yes. No. At least not for the reason you’re probably thinking.” Her face colored. “I have enough trouble with Boone, not to mention everyone in this town who bows to him.”

  “I don’t follow you.”

  “Those bastards hate the Indians. When they find out I’ve hired some as full time ranch hands, my problems will double.” She shook her head. “As much as I’d love the extra help around the ranch, I can’t risk it.”

  “With all due respect, cattle drive season is fast approaching, Miss Sadie. I need more men than the ones you already have working for you to get the herd to Cheyenne, and I need men who aren’t afraid of Boone and his cowpokes.” He shrugged. “If we’re going to provoke Boone, better now rather than later.”

  She frowned. “Why would you want to provoke Boone? He’s already cut my fences, stolen my cattle, chased off my ranch hands and burned down my barn. What more do you want him to do?”

  “I want him to stop thinking you’re going to roll over and give up your ranch just because he threatens you. You have to show him and everyone else in this damn town you’re willing to stand up to them.”

  “I am willing to stand up to them.”

  “Good. Then you won’t mind that I accepted Boone’s invitation for you to attend a social he’s hosting tonight at his ranch.”

  Sadie gaped at him. Her new foreman had overstepped himself—again. “What?”

  “You just said you were willing to stand up to Boone.”

  “I am. I just won’t do it at any event that bastard is hosting. I won’t step foot in his house.”

  “You will if you want to save your ranch.”

  She lifted her chin. “I hired you to run my ranch, Mr. Wagner—”

  “And to stop Boone from stealing it out from under you.”

  “That, too,” she conceded. “But I didn’t hire you to plan my social calendar. And I definitely didn’t hire you so you can tell me what to do. I’ll stop Boone, but I’ll do it my way.”

  “When? After every building on the ranch is burned to the ground? Or maybe after Boone actually kills someone?”

  She didn’t even want to think about that. “This conversation is over. I’m not going to the social.”

  His jaw flexed. “I already told him you accepted his invitation.”

  “Then tell him I’ve changed my mind. Or better yet, tell him you were wrong to accept his invitation without first asking me.”

  Sadie turned to show Jake to the door, but he caught her arm and spun her around.

  “I think it’s time for that spanking I owe you,” he ground out.

  Her eyes went wide as he dragged her across the room to the settee. He wasn’t actually going to carry out his threat, was he? But of course he was. It was exactly what a brute like him would do.

  “Don’t you dare—” she began, but he’d already sat down and jerked her over his knee.

  It knocked the breath from her, and she placed her hands on the floor to keep from falling off his lap. She needn’t have worried. She wasn’t going anywhere, not with Jake’s strong hand firmly on her back. She opened her mouth to order him to release her when she felt him lift her skirt, exposing her pantaloons.

  Her face flamed. “What are you—?”

  His hand connected with her upturned bottom, cutting her off. The smack hurt more than the ones he’d given her over her dress last night, and she barely had time to catch her breath before he brought his hand down hard on the other cheek. Sadie squirmed, desperate to escape the next slap, but it didn’t help. Jake delivered a series of firm spanks to each cheek until they were stinging something fierce.

  “Owwww!” Sadie craned her neck to look at him over her shoulder. “Dammit, that hurts!”

  Jake gave her a superior look
, his hand smacking her derriere again. “Good. Maybe you’ll remember it when you want to provoke me again.”

  He had some nerve. “Maybe you should learn to control your temper instead of spanking me.”

  “I’ll stop spanking you when you stop provoking me.”

  She grit her teeth to stifle a yelp. “I’m not going to Boone’s damn social no matter how much you spank me.”

  “Yes, you are.”

  “No, I’m not!”

  Jake muttered something under his breath she didn’t catch. “Then you’d better clear your calendar for the rest of the day because you’re staying over my knee until you change your mind.”

  Sadie would have laughed if her bottom didn’t sting so much. He couldn’t seriously mean to spank her all day. He was quite well built, but even his arm would get tired sooner or later. She squealed as his hand found the sensitive spot where the curve of her bottom met her thigh. His arm might get tired, but not before her derriere burst into flames.

  “Okay, I’ll go to the stupid social.” Just because she went didn’t mean she had to stay. It didn’t mean she had to speak to anyone, either. “Now, stop spanking me, damn you!”

  Jake did, but not before administering an extra hard smack to each cheek. As he set her on her feet, her dress slid down to cover her pantaloons, reminding her she’d been draped over his knee nearly naked. Her face colored anew, and she reached back to cup her sore bottom. She didn’t know how it was possible to feel the heat of her skin through the material of her dress, but she did.

  Her new foreman got to his feet, but she didn’t look at him. Partly because she was too embarrassed he’d seen her in her pantaloons, and partly because the front of his denims had a suspicious looking bulge she hadn’t seen there before. The sight made her nether regions purr. Blush deepening, she jerked her head up to meet his gaze.

  “I’ll be back to pick you up for the social at seven,” he said. “And wear something fancy. We want Boone to think nothing he’s done has bothered you in the least.”

  Sadie stared at Jake’s retreating back, speechless. He was escorting her to the social? Not if she had anything to say about it. But did she really want to face Boone and his den of rattlesnakes by herself? More importantly, did she want to goad her foreman into giving her another spanking? The answer to both of those was no.

  She swore under her breath as she rubbed her derriere. If she didn’t need Jake Wagner’s help, she’d kick him off her ranch on his ill-mannered backside. She did need his help, though. Which meant she was going to have to put up with him and his rude ways. But if he tried to put her over his knee again, he was going to be in for a heap of trouble.

  Chapter Four

  ‡

  JAKE HADN’T INTENDED to spank Sadie again, but Lord knew she deserved it. The woman had more spirit and spunk than anyone he knew, but if she didn’t get her head on right, not only was she going to lose her ranch, but probably get a few people killed in the process—herself included. Because that’s where this was headed. It might not be today, or next week, but sooner or later, Boone was going to get tired of taking potshots at Sadie and start taking real ones. If she was going to keep the ranch, she needed to go on the offensive. That meant getting in Boone’s face. And she knew it. The only reason she was resistant to the idea was because she hadn’t come up with it herself.

  Hoping Sadie would be too busy getting ready for the social to bother him for the rest of the day, Jake went outside to check the progress on the new barn. Ned and Leyati, the Arapaho he’d put in charge of the Indian crew, worked surprisingly well together. Sadie wasn’t wrong when she said there were people in the territory who didn’t like Indians. Jake was glad to see Ned wasn’t one of them.

  The older man was using a pulley to raise a stack of wood to the upper floor, and he glanced at Jake as he approached.

  “Everythin’ okay?” Ned asked.

  Jake nodded. “Fine. Sadie wasn’t pleased when she heard I accepted Boone’s invitation, but she came around eventually.”

  While over his knee.

  Ned frowned, but waited until the stack of wood was safely on the upper floor before replying. “I see the wisdom of Miss Sadie goin’ to Boone’s place, but I don’t like puttin’ her in danger like that. I wouldn’t put it past that bastard to try somethin’ after you two leave.”

  “He won’t come after her. Not when we were just at his house. But have a few men on patrol outside Boone’s property just in case.”

  Jake spent what was left of the morning, then most of the afternoon helping the men before he had to call it quits so he could clean up. When he was finished, he went into the bunkhouse to change into his best clothes. They weren’t much better than his everyday clothes, but at least they were clean. He waited until a few minutes before seven, then headed over to the main house.

  He almost walked right in, then caught himself just in time and knocked instead. He expected Sadie to answer, but a small, older woman opened the door. She smiled up at him, her dark eyes crinkling at the corners.

  “You must be Mr. Wagner. I’m Isabella, the housekeeper. Come in.”

  He took her up on the offer, stepping into the entryway so she could close the door behind him.

  “Miss Sadie’s still getting dressed,” Isabella said. “Have a seat in the living room. I’ll tell her you’re here.”

  He knew enough about women to know that if Sadie was still getting dressed, it was going to be a while, so he might as well do as the housekeeper suggested and get comfortable. As he did, he had to admit the couch was nice. He didn’t get much chance to sit on fancy furniture unless it was in a bordello. Outside of that, it was saddles, rope-strung cots, hard ground, saloon tables and a few jail-cell floors. This couch, though, was something else entirely. It almost made him want to stretch out, put his head on one end and his feet on the other, and take a nap while he waited for Sadie.

  Jake’s mouth edged up as he imagined the look on her face if she came downstairs and found him like that. She’d probably have a tantrum and he’d end up spanking her again. He certainly wouldn’t mind. While he’d spanked her this morning for her own good, he had to admit it was pleasant. Sadie was one hell of a beautiful woman, and he’d have to be a blind eunuch not to get aroused at the sight of her wiggling ass. It had taken every ounce of strength not to pull down those sassy little pantaloons of hers and redden her bare bottom. His cock went hard at the image and he had to stifle a groan. He dared say she’d make for a damn fine roll in the hay. Too bad he’d never get the chance to find out. At the end of the day and even in the midst of giving her a well-deserved spanking, he would never consider taking advantage of her. Contrary to popular belief, he was a gentleman—albeit a hardened, rough around-the-edges one.

  Gentlemen or not, he could still dream, couldn’t he? And dreaming about spanking Sadie was probably all he could do. After this morning, she’d likely learned her lesson, so he’d have no need to put her over his knee again. Damn shame.

  Footsteps on the stairs interrupted his fantasies. He got up to meet Sadie, all set to complain about how long she’d made him wait, but the words died in his throat at the sight of her. She swept down the stairs slowly, as if she wasn’t used to wearing the fine dress and heeled shoes she had on—or maybe she just knew how to make an entrance. Either way, she was the most breathtakingly stunning woman he’d ever seen.

  *

  SADIE HADN’T DELIBERATELY kept Jake waiting. She was so furious he’d had the audacity to spank her again, she barely got any of the day’s work done, which of course made her late getting ready. Even then, she’d spent a good portion of time imagining all sorts of delightfully satisfying ways to put him in his place. Her favorite was the one in which she ran down the stairs with a rifle and filled Jake full of holes. Knowing she couldn’t only made her seethe more.

  The fact that Jake was right about going to the party made her even angrier. She hadn’t talked or socialized with any of the other local ra
nchers since her father had died. After his funeral, she’d crawled into the safe embrace of her closest family friends and shut everyone else out. Which had only made it easier for Boone to come after her ranch. Outside of him and the town sheriff, no one probably knew she even existed. She needed to let people know she wasn’t dead, too, and that she wouldn’t give up her ranch without one hell of a fight.

  Sadie smoothed her hands down the front of her gown. It was one that her father had ordered from San Francisco for her birthday a few years ago. She’d thought it was foolish, especially when she found out he thought she might wear it to one of the town socials. There hadn’t been any men in town she wanted to impress, much less marry, so she’d put the dress away, unworn. She wouldn’t have worn it tonight if Isabella hadn’t insisted.

  “I’m going to the party to show Boone I’m not too fragile to stand up to him,” she’d told the woman. “I should be wearing my denims and carrying a pistol.”

  Isabella made a tsking sound as she’d fussed with Sadie’s hair. “A woman can be both beautiful and tough at the same time, pequena. Men think most poorly of woman who looks like she’s been ridden hard and put to stable wet.”

  Sadie blushed crimson. “Isabella! Where did you ever hear such a thing?”

  “From your own dear mother. Many times, I might add.”

  Sadie couldn’t imagine her mother saying anything of the kind, but didn’t call her housekeeper on it.

  By the time Isabella was done, Sadie had to admit she looked like a different person. She wasn’t sure if she liked that. She wanted to show Boone she could stand up to him, but she didn’t like pretending to be someone else. Standing there on the stairs now, seeing Jake look at her like she was royalty, though? That was something she did like, if only because it knocked her insufferable foreman off his fence for once.