RANCHER BEAR’S BABY(75)

She was scatter brained and disorganized, but that was okay with her because she wasn’t the one who had to suffer for it. I, on the other hand, was not okay with it. I had a feeling that Mandy and I were due for a long conversation about how she ran this operation.

As it was, Mandy was still in LA, and I was standing at the bottom of a steep driveway that I was afraid my tiny rental car wouldn’t drive up. It was barely six in the morning and I’d driven all night on zero sleep.

The sun wasn’t even up yet. That was a good enough sign to me that I should still be in bed.

I just had to keep reminding myself of the money I’d be making. I wouldn’t have to work for Mandy forever.

I started my hike up the driveway and kept an eye out on the woods surrounding me. The last thing I needed or wanted was to get mauled by a wild animal, or an animal that wasn’t wild.

With my heart pounding in my ears and that thought racing through my brain, I picked up the pace and raced up to the large porch of the house. My aversion to breaking in was suddenly gone and all I wanted to do was get into the relative safety of the inside. I went around the porch, pushing on windows until I found one that creaked open. That was the only invitation I needed, I thought, as I wedged my body through the gap and quickly closed it behind me.





CHAPTER 3: Bunny




I knew the house would be empty because Mandy was still in LA, so I wasn’t stealthy in my movements. I looked around, not thoroughly, and then headed upstairs. There were several bedrooms, but I picked the one that smelled the best. It reminded me of sunshine on a fall day. I kicked off my shoes and pants before climbing under the sheets.

Mandy might have won the battle by getting me out and about at god-awful hours, but my phone was downstairs in my purse, and I didn’t have anything else to do right now. She wouldn’t be arriving until the following day and the tasks she had for me, I could do after a nap.

I wrapped myself in blankets and curled into myself. The bed was more comfortable than I could ever remember a bed being and the delicious scent was even stronger in the bed. I was going to have to find out what kind of detergent the cleaners used.

I yawned loudly, and was unconscious in seconds.





The sound of a door opening and slamming shut downstairs had me sitting up so fast I immediately got the hiccups. I swore under my breath and tried to do the breathing thing Star had taught me to get rid of them. Movement downstairs sent me scrambling from the bed, to the door. I pushed it mostly closed and then crept over to my pants. I searched the pockets before remembering that my phone was downstairs. Shit!

I knew the moment whoever was downstairs heard me because a loud roar of anger practically shook the house and then doors started flying open. I went to the window and looked out, but the drop was too far down. There was a bathroom attached to the room, but there was nowhere to hide it there. It had to be the closet.

I snatched up my clothes as I went and backed into the closet. I pulled the door closed and pressed my back against the wall opposite the door. I still had the hiccups, but I was keeping my mouth closed, so they weren’t as loud. Maybe the intruder wouldn’t hear me.

Heavy footsteps pounded up the stairs and trekked from room to room until they got to the one I’d been in. I balled up my fists and tried to ready myself for a fight. The person was, without a doubt, about to find me. In the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but notice the enticing scent I’d been noticing earlier was stronger in the closet. The clothes that were hanging all around me were teasing my nose.

What happened next was a mess. The door was yanked open and, without looking, I bolted forward. I smashed into what felt like a solid rock wall and fell on my ass, in a heap of clothes from the closet that I yanked down in my fall. The metal bar that kept the clothes hung came off of its hooks and smacked me right on top of my head.

I was, by no means, a tiny girl. I stood nearly five foot ten inches tall, and I had plenty of curves. My weight caused the bar to come down with so much force that it felt like I’d been shot in the head. Not that I necessary knew what being shot in the head felt like.

I grabbed my head and swore vividly. “Son of a bitch!”

I completely forgot about the person I’d been hiding from as I rubbed my head and smacked the ground with my other hand. I didn’t feel blood, but I almost would’ve felt better if I had. At least then, the pain would’ve made sense.

“You broke my closet.”

I snapped my eyes up to the man with the gravelly voice standing over me. Immediately, I forgot about my head. My body reacted with a mixture of fear then arousal. I was ashamed to admit that the second reaction was stronger than the first.