The fact that he was referring to something that was precious to her both riled her and made her skin crawl. She knew why he and his friends were there. “What do you mean, we’ll be neighbors?”
Hatched tilted his head north toward the ranch that neighbored Wilbur’s on the other side from the Cooks’. “Gladys Dunlap is my aunt. She’s fixing to kick the bucket any day now and I’m her heir.”
Shit. Wonder if poor sweet Gladys knows how you talk about her.
“So, what do you think? Us four get together and have a little fun with you in the middle?”
“I’m in a committed relationship, Hatch. Even if I wasn’t, I don’t think we’d be…compatible.” She recalled all he wanted was a pretty cunt. He didn’t care about anybody else but himself. And with two more men who looked to be just like him, she could imagine the world of hurt an unwilling woman might be in in the middle of the three of them.
Hatch stepped away from the truck and sauntered toward her. “Aw, you never know. I think we’d manage just fine.” The fierce erection he was sporting told her that he wanted to find out right then. Her heart rate escalated as she backed into the barn. Which side is the pitchfork on?
“She said she’s not interested.”
Julián’s voice had never sounded so sweet in her ears.
“What’s it to you? Wait. You look familiar,” Hatch said as he squinted up at Julián.
She peeked out of the barn and was riveted by the sight of Julián who sat astride his enormous, solid black stallion, Mick. The Thoroughbred had to be all of seventeen hands high, and even he looked ready to do damage if any of the three men had made another move toward Gwen. Julián had one hand in his barn jacket pocket.
Julián stared at Hatch and smiled but there was no friendliness in his eyes. “Julián Alvarez.”
“This is between us and the lady, Alvarez. Doesn’t concern you at all.”
“Considering that she’s our woman, I think it does,” Chris said as he trotted up beside Julián mounted on a powerful-looking, solidly muscled quarter horse with a white star between its eyes. The horsewoman in Gwen noted that there must’ve been a draft horse somewhere in his lineage, given its bulky build. She blinked, thinking that she needed her head in the game while her men were outnumbered. Chris looked ready to do serious damage. If Hatch or his friends were armed, this situation could go bad fast.
Gwen stepped forward, being careful to inch in her men’s direction rather than place herself squarely between them. “As I said, Hatch. I’m in a committed relationship and I’m not interested.”
Once she stood between the two horses that Julián and Chris still sat on, Julián said, “Dunlap, I’d think twice about approaching defenseless women in this manner while you’re in town. You’re mistaken about how things work in Divine if you think the men of this community will tolerate you cornering and propositioning any of our women like that.”
Hatch’s face turned an ugly color. “You got no say in what I do.”
Chris pulled out his phone and started tapping the screen. “How ’bout we introduce you to someone who does, starting with the sheriff of Divine County. The lady isn’t interested in you and clearly doesn’t want you—or your friends—here.”
Hatch spit in the grass and turned on his heel as he glanced at Gwen. “See you around town, Gwen.”
Gwen heard a barely audible snapping sound and looked up at Chris.
He smiled down at her as Hatch started the engine on his older-model pickup truck, put it in gear, and sprayed gravel as he took off. “Got a shot of the truck and his license plate for Hank. You okay, darlin’?”
Holding her hands out for the two horses to sniff at her, Gwen finally released a shaky sigh as Hatch’s truck disappeared in a cloud of dust down the gravel driveway. “That was scary.” She looked from one to the other of them. “If you hadn’t been here, I don’t want to hazard a guess what would be happening right now.”
Chris softly growled and his horse shifted under him. “I’ll follow them out and lock the gate behind them.” He cantered down the driveway to do exactly that.
“If they’re determined, they’ll still get in,” she murmured, feeling very alone and vulnerable. They’d shattered the peace and tranquility of her stay on Wilbur’s beautiful spread.
Julián lifted his handgun from his pocket and put the safety on. “We should get your .38 back from Angel and let him know what happened so he can spread the word about those three.”