But for all Brielle cared right now, it could all rot into the ground. She was in a hellacious mood, one that had been building up steadily over the last two weeks.
For one single day it had seemed that she’d had the men willing to listen to her, but the next day — the day after Colt walked out of her room while she was sleeping off what she’d thought was an afternoon in heaven — she’d tried to talk to the guys and they were back to looking at her like the city girl she was.
Okay, she could admit that her sexy little temptation hadn’t been the best idea ever. She was trying to earn their respect and she’d pulled a Daisy Duke move. Freaking brilliant. But it was all she’d been able to think of at the time.
Using her brains would have been smarter, because even if people thought she was some stupid socialite, Brielle knew she had a good mind.
So she had to prove that she was capable, that she was willing to work, that she was the owner of this place and it was time someone showed her how to do her job. If she ended up having to fire every single one of them, so be it.
It had been two weeks since she’d seen Colt, and though she was trying not to think about that, trying not to dwell on it, she was still hurt. They’d had incredible sex, followed by an intimate moment unlike anything she’d shared with any other person in the universe, and then he disappeared without a trace. No phone calls, text messages, emails — nothing. Not even a quick wave as he passed by in the yard. Of course not.
To top all of that off, she’d finally begun speaking to her father again, and he was going to show up in a couple of weeks. Great, and not so great. If she didn’t appear to know what she was doing, he was going to be royally disappointed. A few months ago, that wouldn’t have mattered to her. Now, it did matter, more than she cared to admit.
Feeling anything but confident in her new position as owner of this ranch, Brielle felt that she’d rather stay in a women’s shelter than live one more day on this ranch with the men hating her, and with Colt who knew where.
“Please, Tony! I’ve been reading those books you gave me, and I’ve been working with Joe, the only guy here willing to work with me, but I still need to figure this all out.” She hoped to high heaven that he’d cave in just a little.
And maybe it was working. Tony sighed and got ready to speak.
And was interrupted.
“What does a city girl know about working a ranch? Actually doing something around here might make you break a nail. You wouldn’t want that to happen, now, would you?”
Brielle stiffened as a voice she knew all too well assailed her ears from behind.
Colt!
He was back, and not only back, but he’d dared to mock her with the first words spoken between them since he’d climbed from her bed. As she took a few deep breaths, she debated whether to use a choke hold on the rage consuming her or just to unleash it.
“What’s the matter, Princess? Cat got your tongue?”
“That’s it!” She whirled around and took menacing steps toward the miserable man who was so warm one minute and then cold as ice the next. Thank goodness she had her rage as protection — otherwise she’d have been completely immobilized by the way his jeans were clinging to him just right, and the way his shirt hugged his pecs and his abs.
But no. She didn’t notice that this time, because everything was coming through as a bright, vivid, blistering red. How dare this man leave her bed, not speak to her for two weeks, and then come back and talk down to her?
“Where in the hell have you been? Do you think you get to just come and go as you please? I don’t think so, Colt! You are so beyond fired.”
She’d had it with this place and she’d had it with him and all the crazy feelings he inspired in her. Yes, she’d been through with Montana before she’d ever arrived, but right now, she wanted to do nothing more than take a match and burn the entire place down. If she didn’t get some help real soon on making this freaking ranch work, she refused to be held responsible for the outcome.
“I don’t think I’ll let you fire me,” he said with a cocky smile. “Nah. It’s not a good day to do your bidding.”
“You pompous, self-serving, worthless son of a bitch!” While speaking, she jammed her finger into his chest hard enough to make him flinch, though she didn’t notice that. “If you even think you get to come around here after being gone for two weeks and then speak to me that way, you are sadly mistaken. I swear by all that’s holy and unholy that I will take one of these pitchforks and drive it straight through that smile on your face.”
When the stupid, stupid man had the nerve to laugh, she turned and made her way to the damned pitchfork. Before she was able to get her fingers around it, she felt steel arms wrap around her from behind.
“I missed you, too” was all the warning she got before he turned her around and pushed her against the wall, then lowered his head and kissed her. Her shock allowed him to keep their lips connected for a few seconds. Then her body stiffened with horror.
“How dare you?” She didn’t even recognize her own voice, because it was on such a new register. “Do you honestly think you get to manhandle me? Do you think I won’t rip you apart?”
Some of her anger drained as she looked at him. Yes, he turned her on — not at this moment, but obviously he’d gotten to her a couple weeks ago. But that didn’t matter. He had no right to grab her that way, not after the way he’d treated her.
“Sorry I haven’t called, sweetheart. I was stuck in Seattle for the past couple of weeks. It’s too boring to even talk about.” He threw her a sheepish grin as he drew back only far enough to look into her eyes, his body still pressed against hers.
Taking a moment to get herself under control, Brielle lifted her hands and pushed hard against his chest, making him take a step back. “I don’t give a damn where you’ve been, Colt. But if you throw yourself on me like that again, you won’t like the results.”
“Are you upset?” The way he asked the question stopped her in her tracks. Was the man blind or just very, very dense?
“Are you really that brain-dead? Seriously? After what we did, do you think you can just disappear without so much as a word, and then strut back in here as if nothing is wrong and pick up where we left off?”
At the look in his eyes, she had the awful feeling that that’s exactly what he’d thought. Counting to ten in her head, and then to twenty-five, Brielle took a few more calming breaths. Maybe all cowboys were just that clueless. How would she know?