Chapter Seven
Letty
Ialways had the sneaking suspicion that nature would kill me. I just expected it to be something like me falling from a cliff, being carried away in a tornado, or being murdered by a wasp like a normal person. I did not think I'd be eaten alive by a giant murder cat.
And yet…here we are.
I knew giant cats existed. I've been to the zoo. I've also lived in Texas for years. Of course I know they're out there. I've just never seen one unless it was safely in an enclosure.
There's no glass between me and the one making these terrifying, guttural growls while staring me down. It's just me, him, and no way out.
"I promise cow tastes better than me," I whisper, inching closer to the fence I have precisely zero hopes of climbing over.
It's chest high. I still have to wiggle to get onto my bed.
"Horse probably tastes better, too. I wouldn't know because I've never had it, but I'm sure you'll find it more appetizing than sweaty human. "
I feel bad about trying to entice it to eat a cow or a horse. Tanner probably won't be very happy about that. But if it runs off in search of one of them, I can run for help. Since my phone is still on the kitchen counter, my mouth is the only weapon I've got.
"Please, don't eat me."
The bobcat makes another of those terrifying sounds, padding closer.
I gulp, trying not to cry. My eyes fall closed, and I can't manage to force them open again. Apparently, I'd rather die oblivious than see it coming. Who knew?
I hold my breath, waiting for the inevitable pain.
I wait.
And wait.
"Ahh!" I nearly jump out of my skin when there's a loud, pissed-off roar. It's not the cat. It's…Walker?
I crack my eyes open, a shocked cry falling from my lips when I see him charging toward the bobcat, swinging a branch and cursing. The bobcat slaps at him and growls again.
"Get out of there!" he roars at me.
It takes a second for my mind to process the command, and two more for my legs to work. I stumble away from the fence, rushing wide to avoid the cat slapping at Walker and his branch.
He clips the cat in the side, earning a howl of fury.
The cat turns, leaping the fence exactly where I was standing not even ten seconds ago.
Within seconds, it's gone.
My legs give out.
I plummet to the grass like a falling star, only far less gracefully.
"Letty!" Walker roars, tossing his branch aside. He stumbles toward me, landing on his knees beside me before yanking me into his arms. "Are you hurt, baby? Christ, tell me that you aren't hurt."
"I…I…I thought it was going to eat me."
"They don't eat humans. If they feel threatened, they'll rough you up, but they won't eat you."
"That's not helping!" I cry, shaking like a damn leaf as he runs his hands all over me, checking for injuries. "He was big and pissed off and…how did you find me?"
"Came lookin' for you," he growls, tipping my head back by cupping my cheeks in his hands. "Christ, you shaved ten years clean off my life, Sunshine. How'd you end up trapped by a bobcat?"
"I don't know! I was just going to the pond, and I saw the well, so I stopped for a minute to see if it still had water."
"It doesn't. Been dry for years."
"I know that now," I huff. Who is telling this story, me or him? "Next thing I know, the cat is right there, growling at me like it wants to eat me."
"It may have kittens on the other side of the fence," he mutters, his rough fingers stroking my cheeks. "You must have gotten in between her and them."
"Her? I thought it was a he."
"That was a female."
"Oh." I slump against him, my whole body weak. "I don't think I want to go to the pond anymore, Walker."
Just saying it reminds me of why I was going there. It reminds me of what Blaze said earlier. Walker fired Toby Jackson last night for…what? Coming to the kitchen? To teach me a lesson? To remind me that he's in charge here?
I still don't know. I still don't know how I'm supposed to feel about it, either. Where I'm from, jobs aren't something to sneeze at, and losing them is a big deal. I don't like knowing that someone lost his just because he spoke to me.
"Come on." Walker rises to his feet, swinging me up in his arms like I'm weightless. "I'll take you back."
"I can walk." I squirm, trying to get him to put me down because this feels dangerous. All of this feels dangerous. One minute, he's firing people because of me. The next, he's saving my life. That's not normal.
Then again, I have the sneaking suspicion that nothing about Walker Jessup is normal. He's in a class of his own, somewhere between cranky enigma and bossy force of nature.
"Just let me," he says, his voice a soft plea as his gaze tangles with mine. "Please? I…" He swallows hard, muttering a curse. "My life just flashed in front of my eyes, Letty. Just let me carry you until I'm convinced you're safe."
There's something in his gaze, something deep and devastating. It wraps around my heart like ivy, working its way into the deepest, darkest corners. And that feels dangerous, too.
"Okay," I whisper anyway, falling still in his arms.
We walk in silence for several long moments.
Unlike me, he doesn't trip and stumble his way through the field.
He plants his feet like he knows precisely where to step to miss the poop, holes, and roots that I had to dodge every other step.
He stares straight ahead, his expression severe.
I peek up at him, trying to figure him out.
At first, I thought he was just a misogynistic asshole who didn't want a woman here because, even though he probably thinks we belong in the kitchen, we don't belong on a ranch where manly men do manly men things.
Now…well, now I'm beginning to think it's a lot more than that.
I'm just not entirely sure what a lot more is.
"I should have told you about Toby," he murmurs suddenly.
"You fired him because of me." I hate how small and vulnerable I sound. It's not a feeling I'm used to, not anymore. I've had to take care of myself for a long time.
"No." His jaw works. "I fired him because I saw the way he looked at you last night. Didn't matter if I kicked him out of the kitchen or not, he would have been back, Sunshine." He meets my gaze. "He was halfway to your place when we found him last night."
"W-What?"
"Men like Toby don't hear no," he says. "They don't give up, either.
He'd have kept finding reasons to get you alone.
Eventually, that wouldn't have been enough for him.
I'm not going to have you backed into a corner by anyone here because they don't know when to quit.
If having Tanner fire Toby means everyone else thinks twice about fucking with you, it's worth it. "
"I can take care of myself," I whisper.
"So you've said," he murmurs, glancing down at me. "But maybe…"
"What?"
"Maybe I like the thought of doing it for you."
My heart thuds against my ribcage so hard I'm sure he probably hears it.
"I've been an asshole," he says. "I can own that. You knocked me on my ass as soon as I set eyes on you. I'm jealous and possessive as hell over you for reasons I can't even explain to myself. I'm also worried as fuck."
"Why are you worried?"
"Because there are twenty other men on this property right now just like me, capable of giving you the same things I can," he rasps. "And you've got me thinkin' there isn't a single other woman in the world like you."
I stare at him for a long, silent moment. "For a man raised in a barn, you sure do have a way with words, Walker," I finally say.
A rough bark of laughter escapes his lips, along with a smile so goddamn sexy my heart skips a beat. "Does this mean you'll give me a chance, Sunshine?"
"It means I'll consider not enhancing your food anymore," I say carefully. "But…I don't think we should date."
What am I doing? What am I saying? I don't know!
"And why is that?"
I scramble for an answer. "We work together. I don't want to be a distraction."
The way his eyes darken screams trouble. They glint with this unholy light that sears me all the way to my damn soul.
"I'll take your concerns under consideration," he says, stepping onto my front porch.
My sign is missing again, dammit. But he doesn't give me time to complain about that before he dips his head, his lips less than an inch from mine.
"But we both know if I slipped my hand in your panties right now, they'd be soaked for me, Sunshine.
You want this. I'm going to prove just how much you want it. "
"I…I…" I can't even find the words to formulate a lie, and he knows it, dammit.
"Tell me no if you don't want this."
I try to form the word. Honestly, I do. But it won't come.
He notices. His eyes light up, his grin growing half a second before his lips come down on mine, his kiss somehow soft and possessive at the same damn time. And when he flicks his tongue against mine in a demand for entrance, I don't deny him.
He groans, his hands tightening on me, as he kisses the breath from my lungs, replacing it with his taste, his scent…and the absolute certainty that I am fucked.
"Damn, Sunshine," he rasps against my lips. "Been wanting to do that since you showed up here."
I just moan in response.
He kisses me again, so thoroughly I forget my own name. By the time he backs off, I'm breathing hard, clutching at his broad shoulders like he's the only thing rooting me to reality.
"Get some rest," he whispers a moment later, carefully easing me to my feet. "I'll see you at dinner."
"Walker, I—"
He doesn't give me time to finish whatever I was going to say. He simply touches my cheek and strides away. It's only when he's disappearing around the corner that I notice the tear in his sleeve and the blood trickling down his wrist.
"Holy…" I gape after him, shocked. He got hurt out there? He never said anything! He just carried me all the way home while bleeding and never said a word.
My heart stutters, my reservations about him crumbling to dust at my feet.
Crap. I am so utterly and thoroughly screwed.