Undeniable Lust (Ranchers of Madison County #1)

Chapter One

Daniel let his eyes adjust to the dim light of the stable before he called out to his boss.

“Jared!”

“Back here!” Jared barked.

Daniel made his way down the stable aisle toward the back of the long building.

“Hey, Boss, we finished the back pasture.”

Jared grunted and continued working without looking up.

Daniel watched his boss for a moment, then he cleared his throat. “So, have you chosen which woman you want?”

Jared looked up from the horse’s hoof. He was bent over cleaning and glared. “Jesus, you want to talk about that shit right now?”

Daniel leaned against the stall wall, crossed his arms over his chest, and bit his lip to keep from laughing at the disgruntled look on his boss’s face.

“Yeah, Boss, I do. It should have been easy since only three women applied for the job as your wife.”

Jared gritted his teeth, set the horse’s leg down, and rose, draping his arms on the horse’s rump.

“It’s not a fucking job, you asshole.”

Daniel chuckled. “Well, I beg to differ. I’ve known you most of my life, and you’ve never been an easy man to talk to.

The fact that you’re six-foot-five, have a deep, grating voice, never smile, and look like a total badass, scares a lot of people.

Especially women. You might just have to pay to keep them around. ”

“For God’s sake. I don’t have time for idle chatter and sweet talk. I’ve got a ranch to run.”

Daniel grinned. “I get that, but that doesn’t explain why you’re an asshole most of the time?”

Jared snorted and pushed past Daniel, waiting for him to exit the stall before he closed the door.

“I don’t mean to be an asshole. I’m not used to talking to a lot of people.

We’ve been isolated on this ranch my whole life.

That’s why I took out the ad for a wife, remember?

I’m not going to spend what little downtime I have driving two-hundred fucking miles to the nearest city to hang out in a bar. ”

Daniel held up his hands. “I get that. I’m right there with you.

I just couldn’t believe that mail-order brides still happened nowadays, although I’ve heard about them coming from other countries all the time.

A lot of guys will choose a woman online from Russia, the Philippines, or Brazil.

But why not one that lives in the United States?

” Daniel shrugged. “I bet there are more mail-order brides than we think from the US.”

Jared nodded as he wiped the horse pick off with a cloth and hung it back up in the tack room.

“I had to do something. I don’t have any other family left, and I need someone to pass this ranch to. Phil has had success with his wife, and they’ve been together for six years now. He’s the one who gave me the website.”

“Can I see which one you chose?”

Jared rolled his eyes. “Yeah, come up to the house.”

They walked to the main house in silence. Both men walked up the stairs into the back porch, cleaned off their boots on the mat, and then traipsed into the kitchen.

“Hey, Abby, what are we having for dinner?” Jared asked as he walked to the sink to wash his hands. He grabbed a glass from the strainer and filled it with water.

“Roast beef,” Abby threw over her shoulder as she stood at the stove.

Jared nodded as he sucked the glass of water down in two gulps and filled it again before he walked out of the kitchen. “This way.”

Daniel followed him into the office and over to the massive wood desk.

Jared moved behind his desk and sat. The large desk chair groaned under Jared’s weight. He picked up and opened a file and spread three pictures out.

Daniel studied each one. From his perspective, none of them were desirable, but what did you expect?

A beautiful woman wouldn’t be a mail-order bride.

Daniel surmised that a pretty woman would have easily found someone closer that she knew.

It was risky to marry a complete stranger. Daniel turned all three to face him.

One woman was too old and way past her baby-making years.

Jared definitely wouldn’t have chosen her, Daniel guessed.

Another looked like she had eaten a lemon because her mouth was pressed tightly together in a pinched look.

There was nothing warm about this woman at all.

The third one was hard to tell. The picture was gritty and of poor quality and taken from several yards away.

From what he could tell, she was tiny, on the skinny side.

She had long hair pulled tightly up into a ponytail.

Daniel couldn’t tell what color her eyes were from the picture, but they looked to be very light green or blue.

Out of all three, the last one was the youngest, so she would be able to have the children Jared wanted. He was just worried that she looked so small. She might have a problem with the birthing since Jared was so large.

Since Jared was a very old-fashioned, traditional man who demanded his wife be submissive to him, Daniel thought a woman with some spunk might keep Jared on his toes. He couldn’t see any spirit in this woman. Although he knew it was hard to tell from a photo.

It came down to the two younger women.

“I think I can guess which one you chose,” Daniel said and pointed at the young, sweet-looking woman.

****

Jared picked up her picture. He wished he had a better photo of her, but it didn’t really matter.

He needed a wife, and this was the only way he could get one.

He was tired of using his fist to relieve his larger-than-average libido.

He couldn’t remember the last time he was balls-deep in a soft woman.

“Yeah. This one,” he said as he pointed to the older woman, “is way too old. I want to have a baby planted in my wife within a month. This one,” he pointed to the prude, “I was afraid I’d have to drag to bed every night, so she could lie underneath me like a cold board.

” He tapped the picture he was holding on the desk. “This was my only option.”

Daniel tilted his head again to see the picture under his boss’s fingers. “She doesn’t seem so bad.”

Jared stood and put the pictures back in the file.

“It doesn’t matter. Frankly, I really don’t want an attractive woman.

I’m afraid she’ll distract me from my work, and I won’t have that.

I can always have the light off if she doesn’t appeal to me, so I don’t have to see her face.

I just need a child from her. I want an heir.

Someone to leave this ranch to. I don’t want to be the last Rafferty to live and work on this ranch. ”

Daniel’s eyes widened. “Jesus, Jared. That sounded really cold. You might scare the poor thing away before you give her a chance.”

Jared grunted. “Daniel, we’re not going to date. Within the week she gets here, we’ll be married. I don’t need to get to know her. If she stays out of my way during the day and spreads her legs at night, we’ll get along just fine.”

Daniel rolled his eyes as he followed Jared out the back door again. “You’re going to run her off before you even get to know her.”

Jared stopped and turned to his foreman.

“Listen, I’m doing this for two reasons.

” Jared held up one finger and then two.

“One, I want children, and two, I want a warm body to enjoy every night. I’m not going to fall in love or want to spend a lot of time with her.

She’ll be here for a purpose. I will not have her disrupting this ranch or taking up a bunch of my time. ”

Daniel frowned. “Where the hell did you get the idea that a woman would put up with that? Your parents were in love for fifty years. You saw how good a relationship could be. Why would you want to make it so cold and empty?”

“Remember Todd?”

“What about him?” Daniel asked after he nodded.

“How long did it take him to lose his ranch after he married Carrie?”

Shock chased across Daniel’s face. “What are you talking about? You’re blaming his wife for the loss of his ranch?”

“He was head-over-heels in love with her from the beginning. He was always with her, and his ranch paid the price. To make it worse, he told me she didn’t like living on the ranch, so he sold it, and they moved to her hometown in the South.”

Daniel shook his head. “I don’t think you see the whole picture. If I remember, we all had a bad year. Maybe he just couldn’t come back from it?”

Jared shook his head. “The downfall of his ranch points to his love for his wife.”

“I think that’s bullshit.”

Jared shrugged and then turned and started walking. “I don’t care. This ranch is the most important thing to me, and a woman won’t change that.”

Daniel grunted. “What time are you going to pick her up at the bus station tomorrow morning?”

Jared frowned over at Daniel as they walked. “I’m not. You’re going to pick her up. I’ve got that buyer coming in the morning, and I can’t miss him.”

“Why does it have to be me?” Daniel scowled.

Jared shrugged. “Because you’re easygoing and will hopefully put her at ease. She sounded terrified on the phone when I talked to her, so I can’t imagine what she’s going to do when she sees me.”

“Let’s hope she doesn’t faint from fear,” Daniel half-joked, because there really was a possibility of her turning and running at the first glance at her future husband.

Jared grunted. “Shut the fuck up. Just be at the bus station around nine.”

Daniel rolled his eyes. “You got it, Boss,” he said and walked off in the opposite direction.