Page 62 of Ranch Rules

She took the hand he offered and let him pull her to her feet before following him to a bedroom that must belong to him. He pointed her toward the bathroom and after adjusting the temperature just the way she liked it, she hopped in and quickly rinsed off.

Thomas was waiting for her when she was done with an extra-large towel that he expertly wrapped around her. Back in the bedroom, she watched as he rifled through his dresser, finally coming up with a green shirt.

He held the shirt open for her and she obediently slipped her arms through. Then, he did the buttons one by one, giving her a knowing grin.

Was it possible that he knew her pussy hummed with need despite his careful ministrations just minutes ago? How did he do this to her—command her body like this? “You don’t seem like a flowers kind of guy,” she remarked, just to distract herself from her own thoughts.

“There are plenty of things you don’t know about me, little-bit,” he said, offering her a pair of shorts with a drawstring waist.

“Biscuits and gravy for breakfast, pancakes for dinner.” She grinned at him as she accepted the shorts. “Are you trying to fatten me up so I can fit into your clothes?”

“You could do with a little meat on your bones.” He reached around and gave her a sound, albeit playful smack that resounded throughout the room. “Now, stop stallin’, I need to get these bulbs in the ground today.”

“Sir, yes, sir.” She gave him a mock salute, laughing as she danced away from him as he playfully swatted again. Then she hurried into the shorts, pulling them as tight as they could go before tying the drawstring.

“Mmm. I have to admit, there’s somethin’ sexy about seein’ you in my clothes.”

“You know what would be even sexier?” She batted her lashes. “Taking them off.”

He chuckled. “Is my little girl becoming a naughty little slut?”

“What can I say, I just have a thing for domesticated cowboys. Besides.” She boldly reached for the crotch of his jeans, putting her hand over his cock. “I was just thinking that you didn’t get to come earlier.”

“Stop distracting me, little girl, or Imma take you over my knee,” he growled.

“Fine.” She dropped her hand with a long-suffering sigh. “I was only thinking of you.”

Thomas ducked his head and gave her a long, lingering kiss on her collarbone. “And I thank you kindly, ma’am. There will be time for playing later, I promise.”

With that in mind, she followed him outside and listened as he explained what he wanted planted beneath the bedroom window. She had never done any sort of gardening before and she knew that she should pay attention, but she was having a hard time concentrating. How was it possible that his smile made her feel weak in the knees? Or that he looked sexy in gardening gloves and holding a trowel?

“Can you hand me those bulbs?”

“Sure.” Natalie handed him the bag he’d pointed to. He deliberately brushed her chest as he reached for it, giving her fingers a seductive squeeze and distracting her even further. “What kind of flowers are these?”

“Manly bluebells.”

“Oh, right. To go with the masculine peonies.” She did her best to squelch a smile, but if his dancing eyes were anything to go by, he caught it and didn’t mind.

“Exactly.”

While gardening wasn’t really her idea of fun, Thomas seemed to enjoy it and she enjoyed being with him. In fact, it seemed to relax him, and she listened as he began telling her stories about growing up on a ranch not far from the one he now worked on.

“My mom loved to grow things,” he told her as he covered yet another hole with dark, moist soil. “She’d put any seed she could find in a pot and tend to it even if she didn’t know what it would grow into. I guess I got the itch from her, even if some think it’s unmanly.” He growled playfully.

Natalie turned wide eyes on him. “Who said that?”

He flung the soil on his shovel toward her while she held up her hands and shrieked. “Well, anyway, I guess I got that from her. These beauties will be something to behold come spring.”

“I can’t wait,” she said without thinking. Her blush was hot and automatic. She dropped her eyes, but she needn’t have worried. He didn’t remark on her comment or her stained cheeks.

“What about you?”

“What about me?” she asked as she patted the soil down on the bulb she’d just put into the ground.

“What do you do for fun?”

“Hmm... well, if I finish all my work before six I go home and unwind with a nice cold glass of wine and read through the next day’s contracts.”

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