Country Heat (King Creek Cowboys Book 1) Read online

  It wasn’t only her sexiness that attracted him, but her coolness under pressure and the way she took control of her new position without one moment of hesitation. Belle didn’t express her thoughts or feelings often, but she was fair and just, and had complimented Kit. She had been thrown into the fire pit yesterday, but she’d blazed through it like the professional she was.

  A strong woman like Kit could stand toe to toe with him. He liked a woman who could challenge him in any number of ways.

  He reached for his hat from the hat rack and looked back at her. She had her back to him, her cute backside to him as she scrubbed a pan. She glanced over her shoulder and froze when she saw him watching her. He couldn’t help it—he couldn’t look away from her.

  She broke the connection by turning back to the pot and attacked it with the scrubber.

  He shook his head and smiled before letting himself out the door.

  Kit had never felt nervous about going to a market and shopping in all her life, and right now it felt like she had some wild critter bouncing around in her belly.

  Really? You’re nervous about shopping, Kit?

  But then she’d never had anyone like Carter McLeod who had invited himself to go with her.

  Great. Just great.

  She checked her mascara in the mirror, more to do something to quell her panic than to make sure her makeup looked good. She didn’t even know why she wanted to look good. Instead of jeans and a shirt, she’d gone with a boho look with a nice flowy long top and leggings with sandals. While she looked in the mirror, she grabbed a carved wooden hair clip, pulled her hair back, and fastened it with the clip.

  Of course she did. Carter. He was the reason for all these mad feelings stampeding through her.

  She glanced at the clock and saw that it was time to meet up with Carter. She grabbed the strap of her purse and headed for the door.

  The moment she started to turn the bolt lock, the door vibrated as someone knocked on it.

  Carter. It had to be.

  She hesitated a moment before she unlocked the door and opened it. Her heart thumped a little hard when she saw him.

  Dear God. How can anyone look so good?

  He wore Wrangler jeans, a nice pair of boots, and a plain black T-shirt, along with a nice tan western hat. She almost told him he looked good, but snapped the words back before she could.

  Carter leaned one arm on the doorframe and the fire of his eyes sparked as he smiled at her. “Ready to lose that bet, Kit?”

  She liked the way he said her name. Loved the way he said it.

  This was freaking dangerous territory she was stepping into. Beyond dangerous.

  “Good timing.” She hitched the purse’s shoulder strap onto her shoulder. She kept her expression light, not wanting to show how much he affected her. “I was on my way out to meet you, to win that bet.”

  “I like a woman who’s on time.” He held the door open as she stepped through the doorway. “Hell, I appreciate anyone who’s on time.”

  “You and me both.” Kit waited for him to shut the door and they started down the path side-by-side, away from the guest house. “Being late is a pet peeve.” Her ex had always been late, and it had driven her crazy.

  He touched the base of her spine. “How has your morning been?”

  Tingles radiated through her from his touch. She swallowed, trying not to lean closer to him. He drew her like a magnet and it was a wonder she didn’t paste herself against his side.

  “It’s been a good morning.” She brushed her long shirt down with her palm, smoothing the material. “It’s nice having a little down time after a couple of busy days. I’m used to being busy, but starting something new tends to be demanding in its own way.”

  “It can be.” He reached the passenger door to a big red truck, and held it open for her. “Sorry about throwing you to the wolves the moment you walked in the door. I have to say, you handled your first two days like a champ.”

  A swarm of butterflies whooshed through her as he helped her into the truck. She certainly wasn’t handling her attraction to Carter well at all, and that was probably even more important than the job itself.

  Once he made it around to the driver’s side, he climbed in and shut the door before jamming the key in the ignition and turning it. The engine roared as it came to life.

  The prospect of being alone with silence between her and Carter, made Kit feel edgy and nervous. To avoid a gap in conversation during the ten-mile drive to Costco, Kit jumped right into asking him questions.

  She shifted in her seat to look at him. “How long have you owned the ranch?”

  “I’ve owned it for eleven years now.” He looked thoughtful. “Took me a few years to stash away enough funds to buy it.”

  “And you turned it into a nice operation.” She studied his handsome features. “Did you go into ranching because your parent are ranchers?”

  “Ranching has been in my blood since I was born” He nodded. “Might as well have been born riding a horse.”

  “Now that’s some image.” She laughed. “When did you start riding?”

  He looked out the window as he drove. “My dad had me on a horse from the time I could walk.”

  With a grin, she said, “Why am I not surprised?”

  He answered with a smile. “It’s the cowboy way of life.”

  Their conversation was easy, but she noticed that he seemed to be watching where her hand was and his was a little itchy-looking… Like maybe he wanted to reach over and hold hers. Or was this just wishful thinking on her part? Probably.

  It was a relief when they arrived at Costco. The sexual tension she felt when they were together made it harder and harder to think straight.

  After they parked, Carter grabbed a cart. A lot of shopping was in their future.

  They walked past big flat screen TVs, electronic tablets, phones, and on down the main aisle until they reached the huge wine selection.

  He stopped to peruse a selection of the more expensive wines. “What is your favorite type of wine?”

  “A good pinot noir.” She let her gaze drift over the bottles. “My tastes are a little on the pricey side.” She gestured to one. “Williams Selyem is one of my favorites.”

  Carter picked up a bottle and set it in the cart. “What else do you recommend?”

  Kit pointed out a few others that she knew were good wines. He put six in the cart.

  “Where to now?” He nodded to the bakery and the deli area. “Breads? Cheeses?”

  “I bake my own bread.” She started toward the aisle. “I could use a good variety of cheeses.”

  She glanced back at Carter and he smiled and shook his head as he followed her. “You do know you’re feeding cowboys, don’t you?”

  “Cowboys should get good quality food.” She reached the rows of cheeses from all over the world. “Cooking great meals is what I do and what I’m good at.”

  “I do have to keep the ranch in the black.” Amusement was in his gaze.

  “That’s why we’re here.” She smiled at him. “Big quantities, low prices. I’m good at working within a budget.”

  He chuckled and they continued down each and every aisle. With Carter’s help, they filled two carts.

  They spent the time laughing and talking about this and that. Nothing serious and nothing too personal, which Kit was perfectly fine with. She didn’t want to spend the time in deep conversations while they were grocery shopping. Hell, she didn’t want to get into any kind of deep conversations with him.

  She thought back to his question about raising children and guilt twisted her heart. She’d intentionally been evasive. It was a hard topic for her to speak about. But it was a lie of omission.

  Did it really matter? It wasn’t like she was going to get into a relationship with the boss.

  The more time they spent together, the more she wanted to break all the rules and take Carter straight to bed. He was so masculine, so sexy, so…everything a woman could w
ant in a man. Since she’d arrived he’d showed her that he was genuine, honest, caring, willing to jump in and help where needed, and more.

  Didn’t he deserve straight answers from her?

  She mentally shook her head. It really didn’t matter. She wasn’t going to end up in a relationship with him.

  No how, no way.

  Now if she could just get her libido to stop wanting to jump into bed with him. Just being around him did all kinds of things to her heart and her body.

  When they finished shopping at the warehouse store, they loaded all the boxes into the truck, and put items in a cooler that needed to be kept cold. They headed to their next stop.

  The farmer’s market was located five miles from Carter’s ranch. Throughout their shopping trip, he had made her feel at ease and she enjoyed the conversation and his company.

  The whole time she was crazily aware of him. She snuck several glances at his handsome profile and his strong hands on the wheel. He caught her watching him a couple of times, and her face heated.

  Damn. She was far too attracted to the man for her own good. Her own good would mean staying far, far away from the man. As far as her position as cook would allow.

  She’d already let herself become too enamored with him. His voice was smooth and warm, and she enjoyed the ease in which he could engage her in conversation, making her feel as if they had known each other far longer than three days. His sexy smile sent little shivers through her, and the way his lips curved at one corner when he was amused never failed to cause her stomach to flip-flop. She couldn’t get enough of looking at him. His broad shoulders, muscular build, trim hips, nice thighs, and sexy ass were more than enough to send any woman into fits of longing.

  Not me. She tried to convince herself that she was immune to his charms but was failing miserably. I am not like some teenage girl with a crush on the boy next door.

  Right.

  After they reached the market and Carter had parked, he helped her out of the truck. He grabbed a couple of woven baskets out of the back of his vehicle, and she took one of the baskets from him. They strolled toward the produce stands. They’d had to park out away because so many people had come to the market.

  Wonderful smells of fresh fruits and vegetables flowed over her as they neared the produce.

  “This reminds me of my childhood.” She let her gaze drift over the brightly colored produce ahead. “I helped my grandma with her vegetable garden, and picked apples, apricots, and peaches with my grandpa, depending on the season.”

  Carter shifted the basket he was holding. “I grew up with a mom who gardened and a dad who had a small pecan orchard.” He gave a self-deprecating grin. “Unfortunately I didn’t inherit their green thumbs.”

  “I’d like to start a garden.” She stopped before they reached the first vendor as the words tumbled out. “There’s a patch of ground that isn’t being used by the guest house.”

  He raised an eyebrow.

  Heat flushed her cheeks. “I’m sorry. My mind has just been whirring ever since I arrived. I feel like I’m back with my grandparents.”

  “Don’t be sorry.” He rested one hand on her shoulder, and she felt the weight and heat of his hand through her top. She almost couldn’t breathe as he spoke. “You’re free to do what you want with that plot. I’ll get you whatever seedlings and fertilizer you need, and I’ll have the area fenced in to keep out the wildlife.”

  “Thank you. There’s so much I can grow for the meals and to be able to go and pick it fresh will be wonderful.”

  He gave her a slight nod and a sexy little smile. “Anything to keep our best cook ever happy.”

  She laughed as they walked beneath the awning of the tarp-covered market.

  Rows and rows of produce greeted them as they walked onto the dirt path between the stands.

  The basket swung on Kit’s arm as she moved to the first vendor and perused the varieties of lettuce and cabbage. Considering the refrigerators at the ranch contained zero fresh produce, she had a lot of produce shopping to do.

  “I’ve missed this.” Kit smiled as she selected lettuce and other fresh leafy vegetables, including spinach and kale. “I loved the smell of the earth and the vegetables as we harvested them.”

  “My mom always says pretty much the same thing.” Carter paid the vendor and they moved on to green beans and sugar snap peas. “She said there’s something about getting to know mother earth up close and personal.”

  Kit nodded. “She’s right.”

  “A lot of the vegetables are out of season,” she said. “I imagine most of the local growers here at the market have greenhouses.”

  Carter nodded. “You’re right, they do.”

  She gathered tomatoes, onions, and garlic and set them in her basket as Carter paid. “I’ll be able to put together much better and healthier meals now.”

  “What you’ve been making has been damned good.” He looked amused. “Topping that is going to take some work.”

  She flashed a quick grin. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”

  “Looking forward to it.” He reached for the basket she carried. “This looks like it’s getting heavy.” He said as she loaded it with crook neck squash and zucchini.

  She shook her head. “Really, it’s fine.”

  “No arguing.” He took the basket. “I’ll let you carry the empty one. For now.”

  She shook her head but smiled.

  While they shopped, she made sure she collected fresh herbs and spices. Mint, rosemary, thyme, cilantro, dill, and parsley. She also picked up some fresh ginger root, and peppers. She did the selecting and Carter paid.

  After the first basket was nearly overflowing, she started on the next, filling it with fruits, some brought into the market from organic growers since April was out of season for a lot of the items.

  “We’re at the end of the shopping trip,” he said casually as they walked to a large display of several kinds of apples. “You know what that means.”

  She tipped her head to the side as she thought about it then smiled. “I guess you earned your two dozen cookies.”

  “You bet I have.” He raised the basket a bit. “You can see the fruits of my labor.”

  “Oh, please.” She rolled her eyes.

  He winked. “You’ve been so busy I’ll bet you haven’t had a chance to tour the ranch,” he said as she put apples into the basket she carried.

  “It has been a little hectic.” She had to tilt her head to meet his gaze. “I’m sure once I get into the flow of things, I’ll have time to do just that.”

  “I’ll take you around.” His eyes held hers for so long she thought she thought her heart might stop beating. “Let’s plan on it this week sometime.”

  “Sure.” She forced herself to turn away and peruse the oranges, lemons, and limes from Phoenix. “I feel like I’ve been taking too much of your time since I got here.”

  “I have no problems working it around my schedule.” He gave her another sexy grin when she glanced back at him. “One of the perks of owning the ranch is being the boss.”

  She brushed away strands of hair from her face and smiled. “Okay, boss. You’re on.”

  7

  Humming to herself, Kit stuffed four sandwiches into an insulated bag with icepacks for the horseback ride with Carter. He had cancelled the tour of the ranch earlier in the week, but this morning had said they were on for today’s ride.

  She wore a worn pair of jeans, a T-shirt, and Haylee’s well-broken in boots. They were a tad too big, so Carter had given her two pairs of his socks so that the boots fit better. She wasn’t used to wearing boots, and it felt a little odd and clunky as she moved around the kitchen.

  The day they were supposed to tour the ranch, one of his mares had gone into labor and had a breech birth. Carter had almost lost both of them, but the vet came through and both mare and filly were now fine. It was the second time that month he’d almost lost a mare and baby while the horses gave birth.<
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  Kit added a couple baggies of handmade potato chips to the sack, along with six each of the snickerdoodle and toffeedoodle cookies she’d made. She’d also filled two large thermoses with cold water—since this was the desert, they couldn’t have too much water with them no matter the time of year.

  It had rained last night, but it was clear this morning, and Carter had said they were still on for the ride.

  Whether intentional or not, he had sent her senses on overdrive every time he was around. He frequently came into the kitchen and spent some time with her when they were alone, usually a little before breakfast and lunch.

  She paused in her motions and closed her eyes.

  Carter had come into the kitchen and talked with her so many times this week, that it felt as if she had been working at the ranch for weeks instead of just a single week. He was intense, but easy to talk with, and he liked to tease and could take it in return. He made her smile and laugh every time he was around.

  By mid-week she had a full-blown adult “crush” on her boss. She knew she shouldn’t let herself get close to him in any way, but everything about him drew her in. His smile, his sexy grin, his intelligence, his great sense of humor, and every other thing about him she could think of.

  She opened her eyes and smiled. She was almost giddy with excitement, something she shouldn’t allow herself to feel. A sigh slipped out. Did she want to stop whatever it was that was happening between her and Carter?

  Maybe. Maybe not.

  Whatever the case, she was too far gone as it was.

  For dinner she had been eating on her own in the guest house. She had offered to make Carter dinner in the evenings, but he had insisted she was off work and the last thing he was going to let her do was cook for him. The first night had been different because of the birthday party. Carter had teased that it had been her “trial by fire,” something Belle had decided to do. He hadn’t known it ahead of time, but went along with Belle.

  “There’s no stopping Belle, once she has her mind set.” He said she might be brusque, but she was fair in all matters and well-intentioned.