To Tempt a Wilde

She’d packed her scanty belongings before going by the diner to inform her boss that she was quitting.

That had been the hardest part of her decision.

The harried cook/owner had begged Althea to stay longer, at least for a few more nights, so he could find another waitress to help them out. Business was booming, as many ranchers and farmers from the surrounding areas were moving cattle and purchasing new stock, which meant traveling and stopping by the café.

Althea had been close to agreeing, mainly because the owner had been good to her, paying her weekly wages in cash versus a check without deeply questioning her reasons. That and the desire to get another few more days of tips had made her debate her decision to leave that day.

Piggybacking that thought, Althea had again gotten that eerie feeling of being watched.

She’d glanced nervously around the busy café, surveying the late-morning crowd. She’d seen no signs of anyone paying her any particular attention, yet remembering the previous night’s unease had been enough to strengthen her resolve to go.

When he’d realized Althea wasn’t going to waver, he’d asked her where she was headed, a concerned look crossing his deeply lined face. Althea had plastered a wide smile on her face, hoping the strain of what she really felt wasn’t showing, and told him she was headed east, that a friend had opened up a new restaurant and she had agreed to help.

The lie tripped smoothly from her lips, and she squelched down the guilt she felt. Mason was one of the few people she’d worked for who she’d actually begun to get close to.

Although she hadn’t dared share her history with him, or even tell him her full name, after the diner closed she and the older man had fallen into an easy, unexpected camaraderie.

He’d given her a look, one that had spoken volumes, and she’d squirmed a bit beneath his scrutinizing stare, but he hadn’t asked any more questions and had walked to the back to retrieve her pay, handing it to her and giving her an awkward hug goodbye.

It wasn’t until she was in her car that she opened the envelope, a small smile of gratitude crossing her full lips. Besides her wages, Mason had added several more crisp one-hundred-dollar bills, along with a note telling her to be safe.

Althea stifled the tears that threatened to fall.

She’d then gassed up at the Gas ’n Go next to the diner, bought a few necessities and hopped inside her car, preparing to leave.

That eerie feeling had crept over her again. She’d glanced into her rearview mirror, a shiver running over her spine, her heartbeat speeding up and thumping hard against her chest when she caught site of a dark green Mercedes coupe pulling into the diner as she left the gas station. The same make and color as the car he drove.

Keeping the car in sight as it came to a smooth halt, she’d watched a woman come from within, her high heels sinking into the unpaved parking lot as she walked inside the diner. Even though it wasn’t him, Althea’s instincts told her that he wasn’t far away.

He never was.

Without hesitating, she’d peeled out of the gravel parking lot and quickly headed east on I-90, once again on the move.

Now, as Althea heard the deep voice speak behind her, she spun around, her heart racing. She automatically stepped back several steps, warily glancing around looking for the can of mace she always carried and had placed near her feet when she’d entered the horse’s stall.

She eased her body down as subtly as possible and grabbed the can, palming it within her hand.

The man’s head swiveled, looked down at her hand before looking back at her. Although his eyes were shadowed beneath the Stetson he wore low on his head, leaving only a pair of well-defined, sensual lips visible, she felt his stare. She swallowed nervously.

She stood and glanced up, way up, as he pushed away from the wall and ambled toward her.

“What the hell are you doing with my horse…and who the hell let you in here?”

The question was spoken in a low, deep rumble. Yet the smooth tone did nothing to disguise the distinct…menacing undertone.

Althea’s heart leaped wildly against her chest as she stepped back, stopping only when her back brushed against the end of the stall.

Caught, unable to move away any farther, her tongue came out to moisten her bottom lip.

Waiting for the fear to come, Althea wondered why instead she felt a feminine rush of awareness sliver along her spine as he advanced into the stall.

Chapter 3

Nate advanced farther into the stall.

His glance raked over the woman in one all-encompassing glance, from her long dark brown hair, pulled up into a messy ponytail, down over a snug-fitting T-shirt that molded her small, high breasts.

His gaze then rolled over her long, jeans-clad legs and back up again, sliding over her face, cataloging each of her features slowly.

To say she was beautiful was too…weak a description.

Her features were perfectly spaced in her oval face; eyes so dark they appeared black, wide-set and faintly tilted in the corners. Her nose was narrow, with a slight flare at the ends of her nostrils.

But it was her mouth that caught his attention, pulled him up short and made his cock thump against his zipper.

Both lips were full, wide and sensual. And made his mind wander, for a split second, thinking of how they’d feel against his mouth, on his body…

Her skin was the color of rich, dark honey, smooth and flawless. Decadent.

His hands itched to run down the side of her face, down her throat. His tongue tingled, irrationally, with a need to trace it down the smooth column of her neck. To find out if it tasted as good as it looked.

The thoughts came out of nowhere, bringing him up short.

Damn. Maybe his brothers were right. Maybe it had been too long since he’d been with a woman.

His eyes met hers.

Something tangible yet elusive passed between them as they made their silent observations of each other. Although her expression remained neutral, he caught the flicker of awareness in the dark depths of her eyes.

The horse whinnied in the background, breaking the intense, sudden connection, dragging Nate’s attention away from the woman in front of him.

A glance toward the horse showed it pawing at the ground before tossing its head back in a jerky movement. The ends of its nostrils flared as it kept its gaze on Nate. The animal had picked up on the sudden tension in the stable. Nate took a cautious step toward the near-wild beast.

When he brought his hand up to reassure the animal its neighing became louder as it pawed the ground, growing more agitated.

The woman turned toward the horse and laid a hand over its hind end, her lips pursing, making a calming, shushing sound. Immediately the horse quieted, but still it kept its amber-colored eyes on Nate, backing away from him until it stood between the two of them. The animal didn’t stop until it had positioned itself directly in front of her, as though it was protecting her from him.

He saw the ghost of a smile break across the woman’s full mouth, tilting one side up, a glint of what looked like humor sparking in her dark eyes, surprising him. Again, he felt his body’s response, but ignored it.

He brought his hand to the brim of his Stetson, tilting it in her direction.

“My name is Nathan. Nathan Wilde. What the hell are you doing in my stables, with my horse?” he asked.

When the tall cowboy tilted his hat toward her, the gesture oddly old-fashioned yet appealing to Althea, she slowly eased away from the wall, her hand remaining on the horse, soothing it.

“My name is Althea. Althea…Dayton.”

She hoped he didn’t catch the hesitation. She’d used her mother’s maiden name, which was her middle name, for the last two years, as a means of helping to keep under the radar. The fact that she hesitated even that small bit was unnerving to her, something she’d never done before. The fact that he could rattle her enough to cause the small slip-up was even more disturbing to Althea.

When he removed his hat his face was fully revealed. Althea drew in a swift breath, slowly expelling it.

To say he was handsome was too mild…too tame a description for the man standing in front of her.

He exuded raw, male earthiness in scalding waves. His skin, the color of molten chocolate, made her want to reach out and run her fingers over his face…she barely resisted the urge. She continued to keep her hand on the horse, thankful for its presence.

So this was Nathan Wilde, the oldest of the Wilde brothers, the one she’d heard about but had yet to meet.

When she’d arrived a few days before she’d been introduced to the men who worked the ranch, hiding her surprise when there’d only been one female who worked for Wilde Ranch, the housekeeper, Lilly. Lilly had been the one to take her to the guest cottage she’d live in during her stay. The older black woman had been open and friendly as she showed Althea around, her love for the ranch obvious in the pride in her expression.

After that, she’d been given the full tour of the ranch by Holt and Shilah, which had taken the majority of the day, as their land and livestock spread over two hundred acres.

The brothers had mentioned their oldest brother, Nathan, only briefly, simply telling her he was away buying cattle and wouldn’t return until the end of the week.

“Too late for him to do anything about it then,” Holt had said, turning to his brother. Althea’s radar had gone on full alert at the comment, knowing it had something to do with her, but she hadn’t asked. She’d simply filed it in the back of her mind for later thought.

They’d given her three weeks pay upfront, no strings attached, something that surprised Althea but at the same time made her instantly at ease, just in case she had to move on unexpectedly.

Later that evening, after the men had shown her around, she’d gone to the main house where Lilly had invited her to eat. Not having had the opportunity to go into Landers and pick up supplies, she’d been thankful for the invitation.

Remembering Holt’s earlier comment, she’d casually mentioned it to the older woman, watching her as she bustled around the kitchen, removing a storage bowl from the refrigerator to heat up leftover food from the afternoon meal for Althea.

The older woman had paused, one hand on the chrome handle of the microwave, and glanced at Althea. She’d held her gaze for such a long time that Althea had immediately regretted her impulse in bringing up the question.

“Baby, did you notice there weren’t any women working on the ranch?” She finally spoke, closing the door and setting the cook time.

Althea nodded her head, slowly.

“There’s a good reason for that,” she’d said, her expression, although light, serious as she turned and fully faced Althea.

“And that would be?”

The older woman turned away, moving toward the stove to pour the boiling water into two mugs she’d set out before tossing tea bags into both.

“Besides me, you’re the first woman in over two years who’s been on the ranch. Let’s just say women living at the Wilde Ranch has never been an…easy thing.”

Before Althea could digest that comment, the older woman had continued. “And if you want to stay for any amount of time, my suggestion would be to lay low, do your job and everything will be fine. Particularly around Nate.”

Something in the woman’s expression warned her not to ask questions, so she simply nodded her head and sipped the tea Lilly placed in front of her, feeling a kernel of apprehension knot in her belly for the first time in the week she’d been on the ranch.

Now she straightened, dusted her hand down the side of her jeans and cautiously extended it toward him.

He glanced down at her hand and hesitated for a fraction of a second before he engulfed it within his large one. Althea did everything she could not to squirm, the electric heat of his hand touching hers, warming her on contact, sparking off a fizzle of awareness down her spine.

“Yes, Mr. Wilde, I’ve heard about you, from your brothers. What I meant was, your brothers told me you were away when they hired me. Not that that was the reason they hired me or anything. I just…” She stopped, took a breath, trying like hell to curb her nervous chatter. “I look forward to working here at the ranch.” She rushed out the rest of the sentence, expelling the breath of air she’d taken as she did.

He held her hand, held it a fraction longer than was necessary before slowly releasing it.

“It’s beautiful here, I’ve already started falling in love with—”

“No offense, Ms…. Dayton,” he broke in, eyes narrowing, cutting Althea off, making her want to bite her tongue for the words she blurted and her crazy inability to stop with the nervous chatter.

She didn’t miss the emphasis he’d placed on her last name. As though he suspected she hadn’t given him her true name.

But his voice, smooth and liquid, distracted her momentarily. He had the type of voice that inexplicably brought out everything feminine in her. Things she thought long buried deep down inside, things she thought she’d never feel, tucked deep.

Her imagination took over as she eyed him. She imaged him roping cattle on a lazy summer day, beads of sweat glistening against his naked, muscled chest, wearing snug low-riding jeans, his Stetson on, the rim low, shading his eyes…

“But as my brothers should have consulted with me before hiring you, I’m not so sure your stay here will be that long. I wouldn’t want you to fall too deeply in love. With the ranch, that is,” he said, breaking into her little fantasy and bringing a flush to her face, dragging her mind away from the unexpected flight it had taken.

Althea withdrew her hand from his and fully faced him, swallowing down her embarrassment.

The noticeable coolness in his tone was in direct competition with the heated way he was looking at her, the way he’d been since the moment he entered the stall. His words said one thing, his eyes something totally different.

Althea focused on what had just flown out of his mouth.

“Well, Mr. Wilde, as your brothers were so kind as to give me three weeks’ pay—” she began, and ignored the look of surprise on his face “—for the next three weeks at least, you don’t have one damn thing to say about that,” she finished, and smoothly turned away from him, giving the horse her full attention.

Before she turned away she saw the flash of irritation on his face and squelched the need to laugh. She had enough sense to know when to walk away from a fight. No sense in pulling the lion’s tail any more than she had today.

“We’ll see about that,” he nearly growled, advancing on her.

Hot and heavy, the tension instantly grew thick; heady and palpable.

Althea, despite the way the last years had shaken out, forcing her into hiding, had never been one to run from a challenge.

“Either I can work off the advance, or I can leave. Either way I’m fine with it. I’m still getting paid. It’s your call.”

So much for not pulling the lion’s tail, she thought with a mental shrug.

With her heartbeat racing out of control, Althea felt his glare on her the entire time as she turned and gave the horse a final pat, pretending a nonchalance she didn’t feel.

As quickly as humanly possible she was out of the stable, not waiting around to see his reaction to her challenge…wondering what in the name of God she’d just signed on for.

Chapter 4

“Either I can work off the advance or leave. Either way I’m fine with it…”

A deep frown settled between Nate’s brows as he drove past the south pasture heading into town, thinking of the words slung at him by the woman.

He hadn’t wanted to go to town. He had enough to do around the ranch to keep him busy from sunup to sundown. But thoughts of the woman—Althea—had plagued him the entire morning.

Hell, thoughts of her and their exchange had kept him up most of the night as well.

Although she’d said it in an “I don’t give a damn” kind of way, he’d seen a look akin to desperation in her eyes. The look, coupled with his reaction to her, had plagued him throughout the night and into the next day.

One time too many while helping the hands mend some critical fence, he’d had to redo a piece he’d fixed. Once he’d nearly hammered off his own finger as he pounded away at the fencing before he decided he needed to get away.

Immediately images assaulted his mind in vivid, erotic detail of just how Ms. Althea Dayton, or whatever her real name was, could work out the debt.

Vivid, mind-blowing images.

The type that even now had his cock rock-hard and ready. Ready to show the smug woman just how she could service him.

His mood had gone from hell to hell-in-a-handbasket when he’d stalked inside the house and caught his brothers before they could make a quick getaway.

Nate stopped just inside the doorway and surveyed the scene in front of him. Both of his brothers were eating the jumbo cookies Lilly had made. Praising her for them as though they’d never tasted a damn cookie before. Relaxed as though they hadn’t a care in the world.

To say he was pissed off was putting it mildly.

“Okay, who the hell’s bright idea was it to hire that woman and not let me know about it?”

The conversation came to a grinding halt in the warm, airy kitchen as soon as he spoke.

His brothers looked up at him, cookies halfway to their mouths, both looking as guilty as two boys with their hands caught in the cookie jar.

One look at Nate’s angry, tight features and they knew, instantly, they were in deep-shit trouble.

A side glance in Lilly’s direction and Nate had seen the humor lurking in her dark eyes but had chosen to ignore it. Miss Lilly could find humor in the situation. She had that right. He couldn’t go off half-cocked with the woman who’d helped raise him, one who was like a surrogate mother.

He turned back to his brothers.

They, on the other hand, didn’t get a get-out-of-jail-free card. Not even close.

“Don’t even try getting away,” he said, pinning them with a look when they both, at the same time, made as though to leave the room.

Both Shilah and Holt paused midflight. Slowly, they spun around on the scuffed-up heels of their well-worn boots, both warily watching him as he advanced farther into the large kitchen.

He stopped less than a foot from them, crossed his arms over his wide chest and stared them down.

Although technically there wasn’t much in the way of staring down. The men were all of similar height, Holt being the tallest at six foot five, Nate and Shilah just a few inches shy of that.

“Okay, now look here, brother—” Holt was the first to speak in his slow, crawling drawl, the one he used when he was either trying to get a piece of tail from a woman or when he knew he’d screwed up and was buying time.

“Cut the brother crap,” Nate interrupted. That was another thing he did. Whenever he wanted to maneuver his way out of a situation, Holt was quick to pull out the brother card.

“Besides, it wasn’t me who invited her to come. It was Shilah—”

“Way to throw me under the bus,” Shilah broke in, his expression neutral, yet the look he gave Holt promised retribution was coming his way. Soon.

“I may have issued the initial invitation, but you were the one who actually hired her when she came.”

“Yeah, well—”

Nate held up a hand, forestalling any more arguing on exactly whose fault it was.

“Whichever one of you—or both of you—is to blame, I don’t give a damn. Just take care of the problem. Now.”

“And how do you want us to do that? We’ve already paid her in advance.”

“So I heard,” Nate replied tightly.

“Besides, we need the help, you know that, Holt,” Shilah said, always the one to use logic in any situation. “Lilly’s surgery is in a few weeks and we can’t spare any of the hands to help out. It’s just temporary. She can do the odd jobs. Can help Lilly out in the kitchen—”

“Hell, no, she’s not working in the kitchen. That’s out,” Nate bit out, the thought of the woman actually in his home, in his domain, something he wasn’t about to allow. “No matter how you reason this out, you both know how I feel about women on the ranch. I should have been consulted.”

There was a short pause, none of the men giving an inch, all staring each other down.

“How’d you find out, anyway?” Holt finally asked, running a hand over the back of his head.

“How long did you plan to hide it from me?” he asked, raising a brow. When Holt shrugged, his expression sheepish, Nate continued. “Walked into the stable where I’ve been keeping the new horse, and she was there, feeding it.” “Thought that horse didn’t let anyone near her.”

“She doesn’t. Didn’t,” Nate corrected himself.

Thinking of how gentle the horse had been with the woman, the lines of his face wrinkled, momentarily making him forget his irritation with his brothers. “Damnedest thing, too. She was feeding it by hand. It was all but cuddling in her lap, like some kinda lap dog.”

“Your problem is you don’t know how to deal with a stubborn female. Horses are no different. You have to be gentle, say all the right things to her. Make her feel special.”

“Oh, yeah, and I suppose you know how?”

“Damn right I do,” Holt said, barking out a laugh. “You have to whisper in her ear, tell her how sweet her…tail is,” he said, staring at his brother, laughter lurking in his eyes. “You do remember how to do that, right, Nate? Or do you need a crash course, brother? ’Cause if you do, I’m here for you, man…I’m here for you,” he said, his voice lowering to a whisper, stringing out the last words.

“Yeah, I got your crash course right here,” Nate replied, flipping his brother the bird. This time Holt openly laughed at him.

“You know what your problem is, Holt? You think everything is a damn joke,” Nate bit out, and caught the gleam of humor in Shilah’s eyes as well. This time he included him in his middle-finger salute as well.

“Since when do we need your permission to hire help around here?”

“Since the help you hired was a woman,” he replied, not giving an inch. “I damn sure don’t need another woman around here. Especially who, after realizing living on a ranch is not some bullshit Hollywood glamorized version, cuts out with the first man that comes her way.”

“Man…what the hell?” Holt asked, frowning.

As soon as Nathan made the retort, he wanted to snatch the words back, feeling like a fool. He didn’t need or want the pity he saw lurking in either one of his knuckle-headed brothers’ eyes once it dawned on them what he’d said and why.

Holt grabbed the back of his neck again, rubbing it, his face reddening. “Yeah, well, sorry, bro. I guess I wasn’t thinking. With Lilly about to have surgery in a few weeks and all, I figured she could use the help around the house. I wasn’t trying to hurt you, you know that…” His voice trailed off into an awkward silence.

“You won’t see much of her, anyway, Nate,” Shilah said, pulling away from the wall he’d been leaning against. “You don’t want her in the kitchen, that’s cool. There’s plenty of other things for her to do. And she’s not staying in the main house. She’s using the guest cottage. No worries. She’ll only be here for a short time, just until Lilly has the surgery and is back on her feet. She’ll be gone before you know it.” Shilah finished.

Nate eyed him suspiciously, wondering at the swift change in attitude. Although he didn’t like her using the guest cottage, the place he had built and planned to live in before Angela left, it was a better alternative to her living in his house. Under his roof.