Page 7 of Wild Heart
The passenger door opens, and someone drops to the dirt. With my dad standing in the way, I can’t get a good look at my new cleaner.
“This here is Summer.” Sawyer scratches his scruffy jaw and eyes me with a weird look.
My dad sounds shocked when he says, “I thought you said a kid, Sawyer?” Then he steps aside, and the sunlight reflects off huge black sunglasses.
A frenzy of wild tingles rocket from my balls to my chest when I find dark hair tied up high and long shiny strands draped over one shoulder. My gaze trails from the woman’s tight tee to form fitting jeans that wrap around lean legs, stopping at a pair of fresh white tennis shoes. The kid isn’t a kid at all. She’s the hot as hell fantasy woman who flaunted her ass in my imagination last night, while I palmed myself off in the shower.
“Summer.” I nod and resist shaking her hand. Nothing good would come of touching her, not now, not ever.
She drags the frames from her eyes and stares directly at me. It’s unsettling how my heartbeat has gone from calm and collected to crazy frantic. At one glance, the halo of cornflower blue darkens around her pupils before she speaks. “Good morning.” She smiles shyly and breaks eye contact, all the while teasing the tips of her hair with startling pink nails.
Hell. I’m dead. Her sexy Irish accent is enough to make me blow my load right here, right now, in front of everyone, and she’s only said two words. Thankfully, I conjure up an image of Clay’s homeless sad sick puppy, and that does the trick to switch my mood from hot n’ horny to… a fraction less horny because the pup will be fine, and she’s still stunning.
“Let me show you inside, Summer.” My dad ushers her towards the house. I can’t help the obvious gaze that follows that fine ass of hers. The peachy perfect, ripe, swaying ass that makes me think of how good it would be to…
“I know that look.” Sawyer interrupts my sex daydream. “You listen here, Hayden Taylor.” He’s steps into me, a little too close, and all I smell is coffee and oil. “I ain’t stupid. I know prime flesh when I see it, and that girl is my blood. Ya hear? So keep your brains in your head and your dick behind your zipper.”
“Well blow me down, Sawyer. You’re acting like she’s your daughter.”
“While she lives under my roof, you’ll think of her as my goddamn daughter. Which means I’ll shoot the boots off your scrawny ass if you try anything. You’re a helluva lot older than her.” Sawyer teases curly whiskers at the corner of his flat mouth. “Don’t make me kill ya, boy.”
I chuckle. “I’m thirty and she’s - what age?” Even though my tone is mellow, I really want to know.
“Twenty-three, Taylor. Young enough to fall for a rancher like you. So quit sniffing around.”
He’s acting all territorial when we both know he’s been living on his own for years without a care in the world for anyone else but himself.
“She’s here to clean the house, Sawyer. That’s it.” I pat his shoulder with a comforting tap, but the scowl he pins me with is less than friendly.
Sawyer’s eyes narrow, and he grunts from his throat. Shuffling back, his worn old boots crunch the fine gravel. “I’ll be back for her later.”
“I’ll drop her home on my way to Jackson’s. If that’s helpful?”
“It is.” Sawyer lifts into his truck and nods his hat.
I’m not sure why I stand there watching dry red earth bellow out in dusty plumes from behind his wheels as the truck rattles clear of the front yard. It is better than venturing indoors to see Summer again, and better than knowing she is off limits. Not only is she protected by the unpredictable neighbor who has a fine collection of rifles stashed away, but she’s a temporary addition to the ranch’s payroll.
I’ll not see her that much anyway because she’ll be in the house all day while I’ll be out tending to business. We’ll never cross paths. Potential problem solved.
When I reach the porch, I take a steadying breath, only for it to burst out when girly laughter filters through the house. The door rattles with the force of my entrance. I cross into the hallway and stomp down the hall to our kitchen.
“What’s so funny?” I don’t know why my tone is so harsh.
Big baby blues cut to mine like I’ve caught her sticking a finger in frosting and sucking it clean. Damn, that would be hot. A rosy blush kisses her pale creamy cheeks, and her gaze seems to linger on my clean tee.
My dad's voice fills the weird silent standoff between the two of us. “Summer was telling me there’s no WiFi or cell service at Sawyer’s place. She has to call her mom on a regular ole telephone, like they did in the ‘olden days’?” Dad throws me a quizzical look.
The kitchen smells different, like flowers or powdery soap. It’s a delicate floral scent that makes me curious to know if Summer actually tastes like summer too. “I’ll give you the password for the ranch WiFi, and you can call your mom from here. Cell reception is spotty around these parts, but there’s a phone in the office, you can use it anytime.”
I can’t help the huge grin aching my face when she jiggles up and down and claps her hands repeatedly. “That’s amazing. Thank you so much. I thought I was going to be stuck in the outback with no way to communicate with the real world.” The excitement lacing her cadence is syrupy like honey. I want to pour it all over me and order her to lick it off.
“The real world?” Dad folds his arms and keeps his brow wrinkled.
“Would it be okay if I video chat with my best friend too, Mr. Taylor?”
This woman is a whole other breed of female. “Things will get a helluva lot confusing around here if you call me Mr. Taylor.”
In that second, as she smiles at me, I notice the sunlight bursting into the room and sparkles of gold twinkling on the silver faucet. Everything seems that much brighter today. My boots tap the tile floor when I step closer to her with my hand stretched out. Something is propelling me in her direction, and I feel like I want to touch her, even if I shouldn’t. A man has to be chivalrous, right? “My name’s Hayden, and this old man is Hank.”
