The car continued its bumpy progress down the rough gravel road leading to his cabin, finally pulling to a stop a few feet in front of where Dean stood. Just the one trip had kicked up enough dust to lightly coat the bottom half of the car, and Dean had a moment to hope that the woman inside of it wouldn’t be too thrown off by the less than glamorous living standard he had out here. When the newly arrived nanny opened her door and stepped out of her car, his first thought was that ranch life must be a new thing for her. His second thought was that she was almost alarmingly attractive. She had dark hair tucked behind her ears and wide, bright blue eyes. Her slim body looked achingly good in a pair of dark jeans and a black shirt. The clothing was simple but had the look of something fashionable to Dean’s admittedly untrained eye. Her tennis shoes were such a bright white he doubted she’d ever worn then outside before. She was definitely not dressed for spending time in a remote cabin in the woods.

  “Hi!” She called softly, waving a delicate hand and smiling wide as she made her way towards Dean and Caitlyn. “I’m Amira Davis. You must be Dean. It’s so good to meet you.”

  Dean returned her smile and hefted Caitlyn up a little higher on his hip. “Hi, Amira, I’m glad to make your acquaintance, and grateful that you could take the job so quickly. I know this must be quite a change from Massachusetts.”

  She frowned a little, looking confused. “Do you mean Maryland? I’m actually based in the DC area.”

  Did he mean Maryland? He thought her profile had mentioned that her last job was in Massachusetts…but he tended to get East Coast states mixed up. Not to mention, he’d been frantically searching through profiles, trying to find someone qualified who was available right away. Maybe he’d gotten her profile mixed up with someone else’s.

  Oh well, when in doubt, turn on the charm. It usually worked to smooth things over, and in his service-oriented business, he’d learned that a smile and a self-deprecating joke could mean the difference between an angry client and an appeased one.

  “There’s a difference?” he joked, playing up his Colorado twang. “When I look that way from out here, all I see is one big coastal spread of confusion.” He winked, and she laughed, her whole face lighting up. Dean’s stomach did an involuntary flipflop when he saw that. She really was beautiful.

  “Fair enough,” she agreed. “I can admit, the world looks different from out here. I was glad for an excuse to come out this way, actually. I’ve got a friend who lives close by. I’m planning on taking some time to see her while I’m here, if that’s alright.”

  “Sure,” Dean nodded. “Don’t see why not. I’m just glad you made it. Have any trouble finding the place?”

  Before answering, her eyes moved over his shoulder to the house directly behind him. He tried seeing it through her eyes. As a nanny in DC, she was probably used to some pretty fancy places. His cabin…wasn’t fancy. To say the least. For a bachelor, it had been perfectly comfortable, if a little spare. What more did he need than a bedroom, a decent-size living room, some basic kitchen facilities and a small bathroom? But throw in two babies, and things got a little…cramped.

  “No,” she finally said, fixing a smile on her face again. “I wouldn’t say I had trouble. I did go to the main house before finding this one. There was a nice man there and he told me where to go.”

  Dean shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. He knew it would make more sense to move up to the big house. It was there for him to live in. But it didn’t feel like it was truly his yet. It certainly wasn’t supposed to be. The main house had been his father’s domain—with Dean’s older brother, Jackson, as the heir apparent. No one could have guessed that they’d lose both Jackson and Dad in the span of just a few years. Now Dean was the one left to shoulder all the responsibilities they had left behind. He’d stepped up to take over the ranch, but moving into the main house…that had been a bridge too far.

  He turned his attention back to her, opening his mouth to invite her inside. When he got a look her face, though, he stopped. Her formerly easy, smiling expression was gone. In its place was a mask of fear as she stared in horror at a spot on the ground. Dean followed her gaze and chuckled.

  “He’s not going to hurt you, and that’s a promise.” He watched the small snake make its way over the bed of pine needles. Not looking reassured, Amira moved closer to him and Caitlyn.

  “Oh yeah? How can you be so sure? Do you read snakes’ minds?”

  He laughed again and Caitlyn stirred in his arms. “Nope, not that I’m aware of. But I have lived on this ranch all my life. I know a garden snake when I see one. That little guy isn’t interested in you. He just wants to mosey on his way.”

  She looked on the verge of believing him, but before she could relax, a toad landed squarely on the toe of her pristine white sneaker. It was apparently the last straw for Amira’s composure. She gasped and jumped, catching her foot on a tree root hardly visible above ground. Her arms pinwheeled uselessly at her sides, and she started to go down.

  Dean just reacted. Keeping a strong hold on Caitlyn with one arm, the other shot out, catching Amira around the waist before she could land in the dirt next to the offending toad. He watched it hop off towards the nearby river, likely in search of water, shade, and slightly less commotion. Then his gaze moved back to Amira, whom he held firmly against his body. She felt good there—better than she had any right to. He might have forgotten himself and said something to that effect if not for Caitlyn’s vocal indignation about the abrupt movement.

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  Leslie North, Wild Ride (Wildhorse Ranch Brothers Book 1)

 

 

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