Chapter Four
Tara wiped the coconut oil from her brow. She and Royce had only lived on the ranch for a couple of days, but the knots in her shoulders wouldn’t let loose. What did she expect? To have found inner peace just because she had crossed the county line?
The ingredients for her homemade organic lotion spread across the island in the ranch’s main kitchen, as if they were different-colored jimmies and not essential oils and food. She desperately wanted her online store, The Skin You’re In, to take off. Her clients experienced relief from their sore muscles because of her lotions and oils. She approached her business from the perspective every person needed to be treated differently. No two bodies were alike; therefore, no two treatments could be alike.
The kitchen sat at the back of the main building the Rykers used for guest meals, guest gatherings, and check-in. Some of the bedrooms were also used for guests, but the family’s main living area was attached down a long hallway off the Gathering Room.
She could only dream of having a kitchen like this one and said a silent prayer to the gods for giving her this opportunity. The kitchen had two sets of wall ovens and a commercial stove that would make the top chef on the best food network drool. The cabinets stretched to the ceiling, offering tons of storage, and the sun set through the windows, smoothing the room with glowing warmth like lotion right out of the warmer.
The family often took their meals in here at the wood table that could seat eight. But other than dinner the other night, she hadn’t seen anyone except Jett and Karen. The brother that was the sheriff—Gage she thought his name was—lived on the property with his daughter and kept to himself mostly. The family had spent the better part of the night talking about Kace and his accident, but he hadn’t shown for dinner. Karen had seemed disappointed her son refused to join them and their family friend Gus.
She added drops of the lemon essential oil into the cream she had stirred up. The citrus scent mixed into the air, and she took a deep breath. Yup, still stressed.
She almost wished Kace had resurfaced so she could get another glimpse of his hard good looks. She could use something else to picture when she was alone at night. Looking was safe. Touching was something else altogether different. Besides, she didn’t have time for any kind of relationship. She had a child to raise and a business to grow. Those were the main reasons for staying away from men. The other reason had more to do with her ex-husband’s mistreatment of her mental well-being. She didn’t trust herself in the men department anymore.
She stirred the new lotion, hoping her clients would enjoy the invigorating scent and the health benefits. She would try it out tomorrow on some of the ranch employees and ask them for testimonials she could put on her website, assuming Jett allowed her to use her products on his guests. Good reviews would hopefully help her online sales. The extra jars and bottles she had picked for her business would arrive soon. Her business would be something tangible and not just a hope and a dream. The excitement of possibilities and a new life bubbled inside her, making her giddy. And a little careless.
The metal spoon slipped from her greasy fingers and bounced off the side of the bowl. She lunged for it, knocking the dish. Lotion splashed over her shirt, the counter, and the floor where the spoon and container sputtered like dying fish.
“Ugh. What a mess.” She leaned down to retrieve the spoon and the bowl, which slipped out of her grasp. She’d need to clean this up right away before Jett came in to start breakfast, or they’d be ice skating around the room.
Without looking, she stood and collided with a solid mass.
“Ouch.” She rubbed the back of her head.
“Hey, watch where you’re going.”
Okay, she hadn’t hit the cabinets. She turned toward the male voice, hoping she hadn’t collided with a guest. A gasp stuck in her throat.
This wasn’t just any male. A half-naked man with glistening sepia skin and defined pec muscles that led into a toned, flat stomach stared at her. Kace’s arms were carved with muscles. He had pulled his hair back in that weird man-bun thing, but it only gave him a more rugged presence. That, along with his unshaven face and the forbidding in his dark eyes, created a slightly dangerous look. She forced air into her lungs with some effort.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t see you come in.” She wiped her hands on the back of her pants. Now her pants and her shirt would be slimy.
“Clearly.” He rubbed the spot under his collarbone where her head had smacked him.
“Watch your step.” She put a hand out to stop him from stepping in the lotion. She grasped a strong bicep and heated skin. Her fingers moved over the muscle on instinct. She yanked her hand back as if she’d been zapped and clasped her wrist.
“Did you just feel up my arm?” He pulled orange juice from the refrigerator and chugged it out of the carton. Well, she wouldn’t be drinking any of that.
“No, of course not. I…um…I…” She wasn’t usually this tongue-tied, because the male body hadn’t flustered her in a while. His beard was at fault. She was a sucker for facial hair.
“Christ, Kace, that’s for the guests and unsanitary.” Jett charged into the kitchen and took the carton. He dumped it into the sink. “And put on some clothes, will you? I have a packed house this week.”
“I was out for a run.”
As if that should explain it all. She grabbed towels and cleaned up the floor. “Good morning, Jett.”
“Hey, Tara.” He turned back to his brother. “Are you okay? Do you need anything?”
“Why would I need anything except something to drink from the refrigerator?” He fisted his hands on his narrow hips.
She tried not to stare at his pecs.
“You stopped here on your run. What gives?” Jett eyed the counter littered with her stuff. He offered a swift smile but dropped it when he faced Kace.
“You and Gage can stop acting like Mom. I’m fine.” Kace pulled a bottled water from the fridge instead. Better choice.
“Maybe I should go. You two sound like you need to talk.” She wiped her hands on one of the towels. Cleaning the counter would have to wait.
“No,” they said in unison.
“Really, this sounds like a family thing.” And family she was not. Nor would she be. She might envy this family their large size, but large families also came with more drama. She was all stocked up on drama in her life. She could go for a hike on one of the shorter trails and be back in thirty minutes to put the rest of the ingredients away.
“Stay.” Jett put a hand up. “You have free rein of this kitchen anytime, and he knows I have a dress code when guests are around.”
“Your dress code should be for Lock. He’s the one walking around naked and scaring that Mrs. Sorrentino to death. I’m wearing pants.” Kace threw his arms up.
She would be sure to check around corners for Lock and his nakedness before storming into any unmonitored areas. Oh, how she wished Kace had on a shirt. Her gaze kept betraying her and soaking him in. She couldn’t help but appreciate a well-defined male body. It was her job to notice muscle definition and body structure.
“Are you sure you’re okay? Did you have trouble on your run?” Jett said to Kace.
“Leave me alone, man. I just want some breakfast. I don’t have any food at my place.” He opened and closed cabinets with a little too much force for someone who only wanted breakfast.
“We’re just looking out for you.” Jett held up a banana.
“I don’t need you to.” Kace pushed the offering away. Whatever was going on between these two, she didn’t want to be a part of it and didn’t know how to escape the kitchen without drawing attention to herself. Next time she’d work out her lotions in her own kitchen where it was quiet and void of sexy men without shirts.
“Fine. Have it your way, but put on a damn shirt. I have to cook for the guests. I don’t want to look at your nipples the whole time.” Jett grabbed an apron and pulled it over his head.
Her thoughts exactly. She gathered her things from the counter and forced her gaze to obey her.
Karen Ryker stuck her head through the doorway. Her blonde hair hung below her shoulders. She righted her black glasses on her nose and smoothed her cute bangs. “Hey, Jett, can you come out here a second? Oh, good morning, Tara.” Her smile was bright and wide.
She had liked Karen from the first interview. She had exuded a warmth that rolled off her with the ease of a summer breeze. Karen had treated her like an old friend, making her feel at home. Karen had been one of the reasons she had taken the job.
“Good morning.” The morning was turning out to be noisy and chaotic. Something she wasn’t used to but sort of enjoyed, like sweet-and-sour candies. She went back to her work cleaning up the ingredients and tried to put some space between her and Kace.
“Kace, honey, no one told me you were here.” Karen pushed into the room. “Can I get you something to eat?” She reached for his hair, but he sidestepped her.
“No, Mom, but thanks. I’m heading out in a second.”
He had just said he wanted breakfast. Clearly, what he didn’t want was his mother hovering over him. He didn’t know how lucky he was to have a mother who cared so much. Tara’s mother had been completely incapable of giving off warmth even if her head had been stuffed in the oven. She wouldn’t tell him that little piece of information no matter how much she might want to. It wasn’t her place. She was an employee. Nothing more.
“Are you sure? It’s not a big deal. I can whip up eggs. They aren’t on today’s menu, and you don’t like what is. Tara, are you hungry? I can make extra.”
“No, thank you. I’m fine.” She doubted she’d be able to eat anything with Kace’s chest as the centerpiece at the table.
“Mom, please stop fussing,” Kace said.
“Okay, then.” Karen threw her hands up. “Just put some clothes on. Jett, I need you.”
“I have to start breakfast.”
“It can wait.” Karen pointed at the door and hurried out.
Most mothers would have pushed harder to feed their kids. She respected Karen’s ability to let it go. She would have tried harder with Royce, but he was only five. Maybe when Royce was a grown man, she would know how to back off some. Her mother’s first priority had always been to keep her husband content because when her dad became angry, he had let her know with his fists. If that meant she had to go hungry, her mother would choose her husband over her daughter’s empty stomach. That wasn’t the kind of mom she ever wanted to be.
Jett started to follow Karen out.
“Hey, Jett, before you go.” She readjusted her ponytail and tucked some of the curls that had fallen free back inside it.
“What’s up?” He heaved a sigh.
The acid in her stomach said to wait, that now wasn’t a good time to open her mouth. But she didn’t want to be the person who allowed fear to dictate her decisions anymore. She rubbed her hands together and dove in. “I wanted to talk to you about my lotions.”
“Can we do this later? I have a busy morning.” He didn’t wait for her answer but hurried in the direction Karen had gone.
Her stomach took a nosedive to her sneakers.
“Don’t let him get to you. He’s a pain in the ass when he’s stressed.” Kace dropped onto the chair and hung his head between his knees. His elbows rested on his thighs.
She scooped out the lotion she had prepared and stored it in the mason jar with her company’s name on it. She ran her thumb back and forth over the etching. These jars held her future. She hoped Jett would agree to her idea, or she’d wasted a lot of money on glass.
“Shit. I wish that spinning would stop.” The words were barely more than a whisper, but she caught them.
“What did you say?” She waited to see if he would raise his head or move from that chair.
“Nothing. I just need a second.” He remained still, not so much as a hand gesture.
“Are you dizzy?” The mason jars and thoughts of her new life could wait. He looked as if he needed help. She had seen this kind of thing before in her line of work. In fact, the best thing about her job was helping people feel better. Even her lotions were designed to provide relief of some kind. It’s why she had started the lotion business in the first place.
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine. Can you sit up?” She grabbed the lemon balm essential oil.
He raised his head and produced a wobbly grimace. The color had drained from his face. “I don’t need any help. Not from my family and not from you.” His tone, sharp as a paring knife, startled her. He pushed out of the chair and swayed on his feet.
She didn’t move. If he fell over, it would serve him right for snapping at her. But he could hit his head on the corner of the counter or fall back and smack the table. Even if he deserved a slap upside his head for the way he’d spoken to his mother just now and to her, she couldn’t allow him to topple over and get injured. With a huff she plunged forward. Let his pride and his ego be damned.
“I just sounded like a jerk, didn’t I?” He turned back to her.
She nearly collided with him again. That had to stop and right now. No body-slamming. “Pretty much.” She would not lie. He might be her boss too, but she’d had enough of men thinking they could get what they wanted from anger and fists. No more.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to talk that way to you. Can we keep that between us?” He pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut.
“Dizzy and a headache. Did you hit your head on your run this morning?” The pain was all over his face, and that would explain the antagonistic personality. Everyone was a grump when they were in pain.
He blinked his eyes open. His pupils were dilated. The crease between his brows deepened. “Something like that.”
“You either did, or you didn’t. Did you fall? Maybe you need to see a doctor.”
“I’m fine. I was in a car accident a month ago. Sometimes my head hurts. I don’t like anyone making a big deal out of it. That’s why I don’t want anyone else to know about me shooting off my mouth.”
“A headache that won’t go away could be a sign of a concussion.” Massage therapy could affect spine alignment and relieve some of the pain. She had used the cupping technique on clients before to help reduce their discomfort.
“I’m fine.”
“Okay. Okay. You’re fine, but can I try something that might help with the headache?” She doubted he was good. More likely he was stubborn and hated admitting he was hurting, but he had asked for her discretion, and she would give it. He was a grown man and clearly didn’t want anyone clucking around him. That was okay by her. She did not have any desire to save him from himself.
He hesitated as if he was weighing her words. “I guess I have nothing to lose. What are you going to do?”
“Have a seat.” She added a few extra drops of the lemon balm into her lotion still in the bowl and gave it a quick swirl. She warmed some between her hands. “Can you scoot away from the table a little? I want to stand behind you.”
“Did you just say scoot?” He barked out a laugh.
“I believe I did. What’s wrong with scoot ?”
“Nothing. Just sounds like something my mom would say.”
“I like your mom more and more. You might want to apologize to her. She was only trying to help you.”
“Yeah, I know. She’s over the top sometimes. It’s too much.”
“I think you and your brothers are lucky to have a mom who cares so much. Anyway, it’s really none of my business. I should keep my opinions to myself.” She held out her slicked-up palms. “I’m going to rub your neck and shoulders with this.”
“You want to put that stuff on me? It stinks.” He wrinkled his nose.
“It’s lemon. How bad can that be? This will help. I promise.” If she was sure of anything in this world, it was the benefits of her essential oils and her massage skills. After that, things became a crapshoot.
“I doubt it will help.” He contradicted his ornery declaration by sliding the chair forward away from the table as she had asked, scraping the chair legs against the wood floor.
“It won’t hurt.” She inched behind him and pressed the pads of her fingers against his shoulders. His muscles flexed under her touch.
He tilted his head forward and leaned into her hands. She closed her eyes and took a long, deep breath, allowing the strength of her arms to ease the tension in his shoulders. The scent of lemon filled the space between them like sun spilling around tree branches whispering in the wind. The friction of their skin and the healing elements of the oil would get into his muscles and calm his nervous system.
“Tell me about your car accident.”
“Not much to tell. I crashed.”
As she kneaded his knotted muscles, her mind emptied of the negative thoughts that plagued her. Massage was as much a therapy for her as it was for her clients. She could help here by releasing some suffering with a skill that made people feel better. The science behind massage wasn’t confusing, like the way loving words laced with lies could be or promises that broke when they were supposed to be stronger than diamonds. Emotions were confusing.
Kace groaned as her fingers traveled up his neck. Her gaze took in his strong back and broad shoulders. His skin was smooth and warm. He was picture perfect in his jogging pants and messy hair. She pushed the thoughts away on another long exhalation and focused on untangling the chords in his neck.
“How’s that?” She moved out from behind the chair and washed her hands.
He rolled his head on his neck. “That wasn’t bad. And I’m not dizzy. The dizziness doesn’t usually last anyway, but for some reason it had this morning. Thanks.”
She handed him the water bottle. “Drink plenty of this. We moved some toxins around. The water will help flush them out.”
“How did you do that?” He narrowed his eyes. A small smile played with the corners of his mouth.
“Do what?” She busied herself with putting the ingredients of her lotions away. Now that she wasn’t acting like his massage therapist, she’d prefer not to stare at his chest again or that sexy mouth.
“Make me feel better.” He tilted his head back and chugged the water.
She stole a glance because her curiosity was impossible. His neck was long. The muscles flexed while he drank. He had a nice neck. Her fingers had already memorized its texture.
“The essential oil. Lemon balm helps with dizziness and headaches. I can leave some for you if you’d like. You just have to put it in a carrier lotion or a diffuser.” She had extra diffusers in her car. She could lend him one.
“No way that lemon stuff did anything. It was you. Your hands are magic.”
Heat burned her face. No matter how much work she had done to move on, compliments still made her uneasy. “Um, thanks. It’s just my job to relieve the tension in your muscles, but believe me, those oils are the real magic.”
“I feel better from just those few minutes than the run I went on. Well, it was more like a fast walk. I’m not allowed to run. If lemon juice was the answer, wouldn’t my doctor have told me to have some?”
She stifled a giggle. “It’s essential oil. Not the same thing as squeezing a lemon, so please don’t try to drink it. Though the brand I use can be ingested. Don’t do it unless I tell you how. Essential oils have a lot of benefits, but the medical field doesn’t use them. If you add some oil in a diffuser along with whatever your doctor has recommended, your therapy might be easier. Most of the time essential oils are best when inhaled.”
“Can I schedule a massage with you?” He finished the last of his water. Did he have any idea the effect his body could have on an innocent bystander like her? That was confidence.
“You can stop by and make an appointment. I don’t have the calendar downloaded to my phone yet.” She couldn’t tell a family member no. She should have no reason to want to say no, except that this man oozed appeal. She had no time to be attracted to any man. Oh, she could keep telling herself that all she wanted. But Kace had a certain quality that made her take notice in a way she shouldn’t.
“Can you fit me in today?”
“Today?” She stalled, then berated herself. She should stop all her fussing. It wasn’t as if he was asking her out.
“Are you still here without a shirt?” Jett plowed into the kitchen. His baseball cap slipped from his head. “Please go out the back. Guests are already pouring coffee in the Guest Hall. Tara, would it be too much trouble to ask you to help me prepare? I know it’s not in the job description, but my mother and my other brother got tied up.”
“Sure, whatever you need.” She gathered her things from the island and put them away. She was glad to help out and be more involved with the workings of the ranch. The spa was very new. If business didn’t take off the way she planned, she could still prove her worth as an employee. She needed this job.
“I’ll help too,” Kace said.
“Not until you’re dressed.” Jett pointed to the back door.
“After breakfast, then, Tara?” Kace’s smile unfolded and touched his eyes for the first time.
He wasn’t such a bad guy. She scolded herself. She would not feel sorry for him because he was hurting. She could not rescue him.
“After breakfast, what?” Jett looked between them.
“She’s giving me a massage.” His words held so much pleasure she really couldn’t turn him away now.
“She doesn’t work for free. Not even for us. Got it?” Jett narrowed his eyes and pointed at Kace. It didn’t take a professional psychologist to figure out which brother called the shots between these two.
“I’ll pay her.” The smile dropped from his face, as if Jett’s words had wounded him.
“It’s okay. I wouldn’t charge any of you.” She busied her hands at the sink again, reminding herself to stay away from this family dynamic. She could not save Kace Ryker, but oh, that little part of her that couldn’t help herself sat up and paid attention to the hurt expression on his face.
“I pay my own way,” Kace said and stormed out the door.
Jett plopped butter into a frying pan. His posture was loose with dropped shoulders, and his nose was up high as if he were unaffected by Kace’s outburst. Arguing could be the way they communicated with each other. She didn’t have any siblings and couldn’t relate, but she wanted to know more about what was happening with Kace.
“Kace just mentioned he was in a car accident a month ago. Was it out on the highway?” She folded a dish towel to appear somewhat disinterested.
“It was at the speedway. He’s a race-car driver. This last accident nearly ended his life.” He chopped vegetables and added them to the pan as well. “Could you grab the eggs?”
She understood his hasty departure now. He needed to still feel independent. She had seen it in her ex when he was injured and unable to play. Drew would lose it if she or anyone implied he was less than he had been before the injury. A man like Kace wouldn’t take a handout and didn’t like anyone even thinking as such. That was an admirable quality until the anger took over.
She grabbed the carton of eggs and placed them beside Jett. Kace must have a concussion, and he wasn’t telling. She tucked an errant curl behind her ear. It certainly wasn’t her place to out him. But Kace Ryker was a damn fool if he thought he could keep a head injury a secret.
She’d had her fill of athletes with bruised egos. If she ever dated again, she wanted a quiet man who didn’t demand anything, who didn’t expect everyone to do as they said. Who could be humble and kind at the same time. Too bad there wasn’t an essential oil for that.