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Efrem gazed at the screen while he contemplated the situation. If he’d been monitored by quality assurance, he’d likely be getting a reprimand anyway. His carefully planned and executed career withered in front of him. Mr. Predictable was going for broke.
Chapter Two
Lisa sat back at the computer. She was astonished at the turn of events. All she had wanted to do was make her e-mail work with her e-mail program instead of against her. And now she had a part-time computer geek of her own. He had to arrange some things at work before coming out to the ranch. It would be a couple of days before he could get away.
She couldn’t wait to meet him. Picturing him as pathetically skinny, maybe five six, tops, with thick lenses in black frames and a plastic pocket protector, she smiled and laughed. It was going to be very nice having her own computer geek to call on.
The situation kept a grin on her face as she went out to check up on Raven and her foal. She strolled into the barn and checked on the three pregnant mares. They all nickered to her over their stall doors, showing they were comfortable and content for now. She reached Raven’s stall.
The foal took her breath away. He was beautiful, almost as black as his mama but with a jagged white blaze that started between his eyes and ran down the left side of his face.
The foal peered at her from behind Raven’s hindquarters. Raven swished her tail and Lisa laughed to see him shake his head free of the long, black hairs cascading over his face, almost falling down in the process. Lisa laughed again.
“Are you embarrassed?” she asked the new colt.
“Cute, ain’t he?”
Lisa jumped. She hadn’t heard Dan come in and step up next to her. “You startled me!”
The foal gave a snort of fright and hid completely behind his mother.
“Well, you startled the foal.”
Lisa snorted and turned her attention to Raven. She stood calmly, occasionally checking on the foal that was now doing a little stagger-step in the space behind her. The stall, like the others in the maternity barn, was over-large. There were overhead fans, padded walls, and thermometers in each one. Each stall had a door to the center aisle of the barn, and an outside door leading to the small paddock that ranged the length of the building. Each door inside the barn had a place for a temporary nameplate. The six stalls were all on the east side of the building with tack and equipment rooms at both ends. Lisa was very proud of this barn, and not just because she designed it. It was perfect for its function, and that pleased her almost as much as the comfort of her mares.
With an operation the size of this ranch, function and form had to go hand in hand. Efficiency had saved the ranch after her beloved grandfather’s nineteenth-century methods almost bankrupted it. Lisa had hated to have to change everything her grandfather loved, but he’d finally come around to her way of thinking as the red ink in the ledgers was slowly replaced by a bold black ink that meant survival of the ranch, if not the original methods. She sighed heavily, wishing he were still here.
“Something wrong, honey?”
Lisa stiffened. “No. I was just thinking about Grandpa.”
“He was a great old guy. Almost killed him when you started changing things around here.”
She turned to face him. The honey she would ignore, but the criticism was uncalled for.
“He saw what the changes did for the ranch. He was glad to see it prosperous again.” She didn’t mean to sound so defensive, but Dan hit too close to home.
“He didn’t take to change too good.” Dan leaned against the stall door.
Lisa stared at him. Dan had been with the ranch a long time. He was only a few years older than her and had become foreman after many years as a ranch hand. Dan and her grandfather thought a lot alike, but while her grandfather had come to accept the necessity of the changes that Lisa’s animal husbandry degree brought to the ranch, Dan never had.
“And you do?” said Lisa sarcastically.
Dan looked over his shoulder at her. He smiled. “I like change. When it’s for the best.”
“You mean, what’s best for you.”
He crossed his arms across his chest, his smug smile securely in place. “And what’s best for you, honey.”
Lisa grimaced. “I’ve asked you not to call me that.”
“It’s just a little endearment.”
“I know what it is.”
“Then you shouldn’t mind when I call you honey, honey.”
Lisa changed the subject.
“I have a computer guy coming on Sunday to show me how to use the computer. I won’t be able to do many chores.”
“Where’d the computer guy come from?”
“I met him online while I was trying to get the e-mail program to work.”
Dan lost his smile. “You invited a stranger you met on the computer to come to the ranch?”
Lisa’s stomach clenched a little. She’d read about men who met women in chat rooms then lured them into all sorts of nasty situations. But she would strangle herself with her own tongue before admitting to Dan the same thought had crossed her own mind.
“The man is a professional. He works for the company I bought the computer from and agreed to help me out for a few hours. Nothing wrong with that.” She turned and started out of the barn.
“A professional? You mean a computer nerd.”
Dan laughed his I’m-a-lot-smarter-than-you laugh as she walked off without replying. She hoped the computer geek didn’t run into Dan on Sunday.
“Hey!” Dan shouted. She stopped but didn’t turn around.
“Don’t forget the new ranch hand gets here on Sunday, too.”
Lisa muttered a curse under her breath. She’d forgotten about that.
“I’ll meet him. Bring him to the house after you show him around.” She walked off toward the house.
* * * *
Dawn light filtered through the curtains. Lisa lay with her eyes closed. She stretched and rolled from side-to-side, letting her muscles pull and bones pop. The sheet caught under a hip and pulled down, dragging across her naked breasts. Good dream. She rolled a little and the sheet tightened around her hip area. The feeling of her pubic hair rubbing against the 400-thread-count cotton, after scraping across her sensitized nipples, gave her a very good idea.
With a smile she slid one hand down to fondle a breast, the other one to rub her pussy a bit harder than a cotton sheet. Flattening her fingers, she pressed her mound and felt her clitoris roll and twitch. At the same time, she tweaked a nipple. Her whole snatch twitched. She pushed the sheet down and pulled her legs up and out, spreading them wide. The feel of the air against the moist flesh excited her. She flexed her private muscles, caressing herself. She groaned and slid her hand between her legs. She had to reach inside for some juice to slick up her personal dance floor. Good and wet, ready as ever, she got to her knees and pushed down so she was spread open again. Her hair surrounded her, falling to touch the sheet bunched around her knees. The slow and lazy motion of her hand and fingers as she played with herself allowed the heat to build slowly. It ratcheted up when her fingers found and rolled her clit. It stood high and hard enough for her to hold it between two fingers and squeeze. The action so enthralled her she did it again and ended playtime with a hard, fast, jerking rub of her whole pussy
.
Kneeling on the bed, breasts heaving, cunt dripping, she let her head drop back in completion. Her clit twitched and so did she. She flopped onto her back, disappointed. The only thing she missed with masturbation was a post-coital cuddle. But she wouldn’t let that take the shine off a great way to start the day. She rolled to her feet and hit the shower. Towel drying her hair, she wandered back to her bedroom and, for a brief moment, debated on what to wear.
“Heck, a computer geek and another cowboy. Not exactly a dress-up day.” She grabbed a pair of jeans with tears in both knees, a rip in the seat, and frayed cuffs. A bleach-spotted T-shirt was followed by a faded chambray shirt. No matter how hot it got, a long-sleeved shirt was necessary for ranch work. Despairing of finding a pair of socks without extra holes, she plopped down on the rocker to pull on a pair of ratty sport socks then stomped her feet into her work boots. The cowboy boots were old, worn, and stained—just right to prove how hard running a ranch was to a computer geek.
“He’ll probably show up in a suit and tie. Tough. He’ll be uncomfortable, not me.”
She headed to the kitchen and put on a larger pot of coffee, since she was expecting a guest. While the coffee perked, she made toast, rummaged for something to offer the computer guy. She gave up after finding the moldy cottage cheese.
“He’ll have to make do with coffee,” she muttered as she tossed the cottage cheese container toward the almost overflowing garbage can. It landed on top and bounced off onto the floor, spilling its smelly, slimy contents all over.
“Damn!”
“Something wrong, boss?”
Lisa jumped and turned toward the back door with her hand at her throat. Her eyes widened at the sight in the doorway.
Dan stood just inside, his hat still on his head. Behind him stood a very promising specimen of cowboy. He was over six feet, with long, neatly groomed black hair, blue eyes framed in black lashes, and the barest hint of a smile.
“Boss?”
“Uh, sorry. You startled me.”
“I ain’t cleanin’ that up,” Dan said, pointing at the green and white streaks on the kitchen floor.
“No one asked you to,” she snapped. Her waspish tone annoyed her. But Dan annoyed her even more. She turned to find a paper towel, but the holder was empty. Looking around, she grabbed a dirty kitchen towel and bent to wipe up the spill. She froze when a large, warm hand covered hers. Surprise, a matched set of his and hers, slithered up one arm and down the other. This man was as pleased to meet her as she was to meet him. Isn’t this interesting?
“Let me,” said the too-good-looking cowboy. He took the towel from her and reached out across the floor to wipe up the mess.
She stared at him, mesmerized by the blue eyes that held hers even as he wiped the floor.
“You don’t have to do that,” she whispered.
“I know. I want to.” He kept looking at her as he unerringly cleaned the cottage cheese from the floor. Finally releasing her from his gaze, he folded the towel around the mess and, straightening up, went to rinse the towel in the sink. Dan left.
She felt a delicious shiver as she realized she was alone with the cowboy. Then she shook herself mentally and recited sexual harassment phrases from the Small Business Owner’s Guide to Employment Practices to herself. She looked away while she carefully erected No Trespassing signs all around her new employee. They almost crumbled when she looked back at him to find him leaning casually against her sink, staring at her, the wet towel draped over the handle of the oven.
“Well. Let’s get the show on the road, shall we?” She turned and headed toward the ranch office. “You’re early and I’m expecting someone else, so we’ll just talk a bit right now and do the paperwork later.”
She didn’t hear him follow her down the hall. She turned to see where she’d lost him and planted her nose in his chest. His wide, hard chest. Her hands flailed in the air but ended up buried in the soft blue of his shirt. Large working hands cupped her upper arms. She glanced up.
“I didn’t…hear you. Behind me. I mean.” In an attempt to distract herself, she went back to reciting sexual harassment phrases to herself.
She held her breath as his gaze roamed over her face. His hands flexed on her arms as his eyes settled on her mouth. She suppressed a shiver. She was tempted to recite those harassment phrases out loud for his benefit. She also had the disconcerting feeling he knew exactly what she had done before getting out of bed.
Maybe he played solo, too. No, no, no. Don’t go there. Besides, maybe he has a friend. With benefits. Or, you stupid, single, virtually celibate girl¸ a wife.
“Sorry.” She stepped back, turned and strode into the office, stepping behind the desk to put some distance between them. She sat in the creaky leather chair. He stood in front of the desk, his weight on one leg, his hands placed casually at his belt line.
She peeked at his ring finger. Hmm, no ring.
“My, you’re quiet and quick,” she said.
“Sorry.”
He didn’t look sorry. She waved him to a chair and shuffled papers on the desk in order to gather her wits. She located the stack of employee forms she needed and placed the first one on the desk, facing him. She took a pencil and pointed toward the middle of the form.
“You fill this form out to here. Leave the rest blank and I’ll fill it in later.” She placed another page in front of him. “Fill this one out completely and give it to Dan. He’ll keep it in the barn office.” As she talked, she avoided looking at him. When she did look up it was to see him watching her, not the paperwork.
“Look. This isn’t going to work if you don’t pay attention. I know cowboys don’t like paperwork, but it is necessary. And you need to stop staring at me!”
He grinned.
“What’s so funny?”
“I think there’s been a misunderstanding,” he said.
“And what would that be?”
“You have me confused with someone else. Maybe the other person you’re expecting.”
She looked at him in confusion. “You’re not Jerry Price?”
His smile spread across his face making the light brighter in the room. “No. I’m Efrem. Efrem Mantz.”
Her jaw literally dropped open as she stared at him in astonishment. This is the computer geek?
Chapter Three
“You’re Efrem? The computer g—” She choked to a stop.
Efrem chuckled. “Geek? Yeah, that’s me.”
“I’m sorry, I—”
Efrem held up his hand to stop her apology. “No apology needed. Very few computer geeks look the part these days.” His eyes wandered over her face and torso, the only parts visible above the big, scarred desk. Her breasts were well-rounded and tightly confined by a stained T-shirt. Her dark hair hung down her back in a damp braid and her deep, brown eyes looked everywhere but at him. He wondered what her hair looked like stretched across a bed.
She didn’t seem to know what to do with him. He knew exactly what he wanted to do with her. His thoughts caused a tightening in his lower body. Shifting in his seat, he rested his right ankle on his left knee. A little camouflage would go a long way to avoiding any further misunderstandings.
He cleared his throat. “You don’t exactly fit my image of a rancher, either.” Her eyes flew back to him. He smiled, trying to ease the awkwardness between them. “All for the better, I might add.”
She looked down behind the desk and, from the chagrined expression on her lovely face, saw something that displeased her. He’d seen the well-worn jeans cupping a pert bottom and wasn’t displeased in the least. “I look every bit the rancher.” She leaned back and propped a boot on the desktop. “This is high fashion on a ranch.”
“It’s high fashion on you, Lisa.”
He watched the faint blush spread across her cheeks and cursed himself. His own face heated. He wasn’t good with compliments and flowery words.
“That it?” he asked, gesturing to the computer on a sm
all table next to the desk.
Lisa seemed relieved at the change of topic. “Yes. Let me turn it on.”
Efrem stood and circled the desk.
Her chin tipped up as she looked at him. Her gaze was even with his…ah…thighs. Stay down, boy. You’d poke her eye out if you came to attention now.
“Unless you want to turn it on yourself,” she said in a shaky voice.
He wanted to whimper. “You turn it on for me.”
Lisa, her eyes glued on him, gulped and groped for the button on the front of the machine. Good thing she didn’t look at his…thighs.
Since her hand was hovering several inches away from the power button, he covered her hand with his own large one and guided it to the button without breaking eye contact. Together they pushed it, her hand steadied by his.
“Thanks.”
He stared hard into her eyes. Silicon man was starting to sweat.
She jerked her gaze away and looked at the computer screen. As the network prompt came up, she reached for the mouse to cancel it. Efrem’s hand covered hers again.
“No, wait.” He shifted his eyes to the monitor.
She stilled at his touch. “I, uh, don’t want to wait.”
Efrem grinned, still watching the screen. “Neither do I, sweetheart, but, first things first.”
She made a noise in the back of her throat while a medium blush fanned across her face.
Down, boyo. The woman doesn’t need three eyes looking over her shoulder. His hand moved the mouse across the pad, along with her hand.
“What’s your password?”
“I don’t have one.”
He looked back at her. “You have to have one to get on the network.”
“I don’t think I have a network.”
“Is this your only computer?”
“Yes.”
“Dan doesn’t have one in the barn?”
“No. Dan doesn’t need access to my computer files.” She snorted. “Besides, I don’t think he’s comfortable with cordless phones yet.”
Efrem chuckled deep in his throat. Her sense of humor was parallel to his own, which warmed him from the inside out. “That doesn’t surprise me. Okay. You can cancel the network prompt. After the virus check runs, you need to log on to your desktop.”
Efrem