7. Zeke
Zeke
M ontana has brought home some pretty neat stuff before.
There was the time he hauled in the old popcorn machine from the movie theater in town, and Dakota got it to make popcorn again—much to our delight.
Another when he found the absolutely huge leather sectional couch that fit all of us with room to spare.
Or, my personal favorite, the evening Montana came home with an old-school karaoke machine. We hooked it up in the living room so that Maisie could sing along with her favorite songs.
Even though Clay had made a big stink about it, he ended up singing more songs than anyone after a couple of beers.
Something told me Piper Collins was going to end up being the best thing he’d ever brought back to Blackwood Ranch, though. I felt it the moment she put her hand in mine.
Of course, much like the incident with the karaoke machine, it looked like our pack lead would need some convincing.
We had already washed our hands and set the table for dinner, even if it was going to be served out of takeout containers, when Clayton finally got home.
His hair, a rugged salt and pepper, was mussed from being under a hat all day; his beard, uncharacteristically long and shaggy after a few weeks of doing nothing but work.
“Hello, Miss Collins,” he greeted. His demeanor was less than sunny after coming home to a surprise after a long day on the range. “I hear from Montana that you’re our new nanny.”
I noticed the small twitch in Piper’s smile as his words hit her.
“Yes, I’m delighted to meet you! Everyone at the ranch has been so nice,” she said sweetly, clearly trying to make up for Clayton’s sourness.
“Hmph, I bet they are.” He snorted dismissively before cutting me a stern glance.
“So, aside from Evelyn’s glowing recommendation, what qualifications do you have for this position?” Clayton pressed, a hand stroking his increasingly unruly beard.
“Well, the whole cooking thing—mostly, you’ll have to take my word. I’m certainly no professional,” she began timidly before soldiering on. “I used to cook for all my friends in college, and I’m pretty good in the kitchen myself.”
“I see,” Clayton responded with a total lack of enthusiasm.
Piper did her best to keep a sunny smile on her face as she made her case to her new boss, but I could see his demeanor starting to weigh on her.
I didn’t like how disagreeable our pack leader was being.
It was like he was searching for a problem.
Usually when we interacted with omegas, he was sweet, albeit a little rough around the edges.
Piper Collins had him all grumbly, and I couldn’t for the life of me put my finger on why.
“I have a lot of experience working with kids.” Piper made an attempt to steer the conversation back toward safer territory.
“I majored in early childhood education before changing to communications, and I grew up babysitting a lot. Kids love me because I’m like a big goofy kid myself sometimes,” she offered cheerfully.
“Well, if a city girl like you can rough it out here in our humble backwater town, we would love to have such a well-qualified babysitter .” Clayton let the thinly veiled jab hang out in the open.
A wounded look passed across Piper’s face for a moment before her eyes flashed with spite, a too-sweet smile drawing across her lips. “I just hope I can manage,” Piper sighed, with the slightest tinge of sarcasm creeping in at the edge of her voice.
Before Clayton could cut in and make matters worse, Piper forged right ahead.
“If you don’t have any further questions for me, then I’d be happy to have Zeke or one of the others show me to my room now, if that’s quite alright with you, sir ,” she finished icily.
Sir . Ha! After the way she had been informally speaking to us, calling Clayton “sir” made it clear she’d written him off as her stuffy, rude boss.
None of this was lost on Clayton, who looked less than amused.
“It’s okay by me, as long as you earn your keep and your cooking is decent.”
Well acquainted with Clayton’s moods, Dakota and Montana both looked at Clay as if he were a bomb in danger of going off without warning.
“I trust you’ll be able to decide for yourself after dinner tomorrow, sir.” Piper’s stance snapped open with irritation, her feet shoulder-width apart and hands braced on her hips.
Clayton bristled with irritation. “The whole ‘sir’ business really isn’t necessary.”
“I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage, since you never introduced yourself.” Piper’s fake smile was enough to make the rest of us wince. She was doing her best, but Clay wasn’t giving her much to work with. And he wondered where Maisie got her mood swings from.
“Clayton Blackwood,” he snarled at her. “We'll see about dinner tomorrow.”
Since he was my boss and pack lead, I couldn’t put my boot up his ass for being so unpleasant to the sweet little omega. But I would have been lying if I’d said I wasn’t still tempted.
“You certainly will, Mister Blackwood,” Piper snipped back at him without missing a beat.
Montana and Dakota dragged Clayton away, along with the dishes, while I showed Piper to her new space.
Before we made it to her room, I stopped at the linen closet to grab a stack of new quilts, sheets, and towels, along with some clothes for her to sleep in.
We hadn’t had a guest in a while, and I knew the bed needed a refresh.
“This is your bedroom.” I waltzed into the good-sized room, tossing my pile of stuff on the empty queen-sized bed before giving her the tour.
“It’s got a fireplace, bathroom, and its own little deck.” I did a slow turn of the room, showing her the fieldstone hearth, the solid wood wardrobe, and the glass doors that led to the deck directly off the back of the room.
Piper’s eyes lit up as she took in the sight of the small but well-equipped bathroom. There was a sink made out of an old wash basin, an antique nightstand that Montana had put together from his flea market finds, and a clawfoot tub with a long brass pipe leading up to a large, round showerhead.
I followed her eyes as they darted up to the skylight overhead and back to the bathtub.
“It’ll be really nice to take a bath in here, especially on a night when the moon is bright,” I explained to her earnestly.
Her face lit with a dazzling smile. “I can’t wait to give it a try.”
Heroically, I manage not to be completely distracted by the thought of this petite slice of heaven in that bathtub, wearing nothing but her birthday suit and some suds.
Ever since I caught her honeysuckle scent, my mind had been caught on what that sweet fragrance might taste like.
Mercy.
“I know it isn’t much, but I brought you one of my T-shirts and a pair of Dakota’s sweats, since he and Montana are the shortest of us.” I did my best to move on to another subject, marching out of the bathroom and into her thickening cloud of scent.
“Tomorrow, Emmy from the diner is gonna come by with some clothes for you until me or one of the other boys can take you to get some basics at the store. Sorry you gotta wait, but we’re really up to our eyeballs in work right now with foaling and calving season, along with all the regular droving for grazing. ”
Even to me, my excuses sounded pretty lame—but Piper just shrugged.
“That’s really nice of her to bring some stuff.
I don’t need much until I get to the store myself, and even then, I just need whatever is good enough to keep up with a four-year-old.
Getting up and down a lot, getting covered in craft project materials and other mysterious stains,” she laughed, those sky-blue eyes of hers starting to become almost as distracting as thinking about her in the bath.
“Good night!” I rushed to say, needing us to go our separate ways. My hands were itching to reach out and touch her, and I didn’t want to get handsy on her first night in our home.