The Rancher's Best Gift. Stella Bagwell

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       Chapter Two

      Back in the kitchen, Camille opened the fridge and pulled out a ribeye steak she’d been marinating. As she heated an iron skillet and tossed in several hunks of butter, her mind spun with thoughts of Matthew Waggoner.

      When had he turned into such a hunk of a man? She’d not exactly remembered him being so broad through the shoulders, his waist so trim, or his legs being that long and corded with muscles. And that blond, blond hair. He used to wear it buzzed up the sides. Now it was long and curled against the back of his neck and around his ears. But it wasn’t just the hair or the breadth and strength of his body that had caught Camille’s attention. There was something different about his rugged features. Perhaps it was the hardened glint in his gray eyes or the unyielding thrust of his jaw. Whatever it was, he looked too damned sexy for her peace of mind.

      A mocking laugh trilled inside her head. Just what I thought, Camille. You weren’t really serious when you swore off men for the next ten years. You take one look at the Three Rivers foreman and you start swooning like a silly schoolgirl. Snap out of it, girl! You have nowhere else to run to!

      Run? No, Camille thought as she shoved the voice right out of her head. She wasn’t going anywhere. And she wasn’t afraid of her heart or anything else getting tangled up with Matthew. She’d known the man since she was a teenager and they’d hardly been anything more than acquaintances. Nothing was different now. Nothing at all.

      She was still frying the steak when Matthew returned to the kitchen. He’d not changed out of the clothes he’d been working in, but he’d knocked off most of the dust. The long sleeves were rolled up to expose thick forearms burnt to the same nut-brown color of his face. He’d left his hat behind and Camille decided he must have run wet hands through his hair. Damp tendrils fell across his forehead and tickled the tops of his ears.

      Just looking at him caused a flutter in her stomach.

      “Go ahead and have a seat at the table, Matthew. Would you like a glass of wine or a beer?”

      He pulled out a chair at the end of the table and sank into it. “A beer would be nice.”

      She carried a tall bottle and a glass mug over to the table and set both in front of him. “If you’re wondering if I’ve turned into a drinker, don’t worry. I mostly keep beer and wine to cook with.”

      “I wasn’t thinking anything like that,” he said.

      She went back over to the gas range and switched off the blaze under the steak. By now the French fries were done and she loaded a pile of them along with the steak onto a large plate, then gathered a small bowl of tossed salad from the fridge.

      When she set the whole thing in front of him, he cut his gray eyes up to her. “This is overdoing it, Camille.”

      Her heart was beating fast and it had nothing to do with his words and everything to do with the way he was looking at her, the way he smelled, the way his masculine presence filled up the small kitchen.

      “What’s wrong? I cooked the steak too long?”

      He shook his head. “This is not a part of the deal.”

      “What deal? I didn’t know we had a deal?”

      He made a flustered sound as he reached for the knife and fork she’d placed next to his plate. “I’m not your guest. I’m here to work cattle.”

      “You don’t have to tell me why you’re here, Matthew.” She left the table and walked over to the cabinets. “You’ve been doing this for years.”

      Yes, fourteen years to be exact. When Matthew had first gone to work for Three Rivers Ranch, Joel had brought him and four other hands down here to Red Bluff. The work had been exhausting, but the special time working closely with Joel had changed Matthew’s life. He’d found the father he’d always needed and the home he’d never had.

      She plunked a bottle of salad dressing along with a pair of salt and pepper shakers in front of him. “You want any ketchup or steak sauce?”

      Her question pulled him out of his memories and with a tired sigh, he pulled the plate toward him. “No, thanks. This is good.”

      Once he started to eat, he thought she might leave the kitchen and go on about her business. Instead, she pulled out the chair angled to his right elbow.

      “Looks like Blake sent plenty of cattle this time. I saw the extra pens.”

      He glanced at her. “He’s been on a buying spree. When prices drop, your brother takes advantage.”

      She smiled wanly. “Blake always did know how to turn a profit.”

      The steak melted in his mouth, a fact that surprised Matthew. He would’ve never guessed Camille could do much in the kitchen. Reeva had ruled as the Three Rivers house cook for long before Camille had been born and the woman wasn’t the sort who wanted to share the domain.

      “I guess you’ve taken to living here on Red Bluff,” he said. “You’ve been gone from Three Rivers for a long time.”

      She slanted him a shrewd look. “Did my family send you on a fishing expedition?”

      He chewed another bite of steak before he answered. “That’s funny. But I’m too tired to laugh.”

      “What’s funny about it? You’re a part of the family. You know as well as I do that they’re trying to figure me out—or come up with a way to get me back to Three Rivers.”

      He glanced over to see a smirk on her face, but whether her ire was directed at him or her family he couldn’t guess.

      “I didn’t ask you anything,” he said. “I only made an observation. Guess the subject of you living here on Red Bluff is a prickly one.”

      “You know it is.”

      Deciding it took too much energy to talk to this woman, he focused on finishing the food on his plate.

      Quietness settled around them until she spoke again. “Sorry, Matthew. I didn’t mean to sound so—defensive. It’s just that I’m beyond weary of answering my family’s СКАЧАТЬ