Once Hitched Twice Shy (Unlikely Cowgirl) Read online

“Sorry, sorry,” she mumbled. “I’ll stop laughing right now.”

  She did her best to contain herself as Hunter pried one end of the handlebar from the mud. It broke free with a wet-sounding pop. He smeared an arm across his face, marking his cheek with either grease or mud—she wasn’t sure which.

  Mia might have been better off had she worn pants instead of shorts. Not only were her knees scraped and muddy, but dozens of small welts from the grass blades covered her legs. No worries, she’d simply use it to tell the folks what they’d missed.

  Hunter pushed the ATV back on all fours with a grunt. “Did you do that on purpose?”

  Mia waited to answer, wondering if he were only kidding.

  His eyes narrowed. His lips morphed into one hard line. Nope, he wasn’t kidding. The accusation snuffed out the humor in a blink.

  “No,” she hissed, pointing to her scraped knees. “Of course not.”

  “Yeah right,” he mumbled. “Anything to get a laugh out of your audience.”

  “My audience? Karen isn’t even filming yet. Besides,” Mia persisted, “why would I do that if I was on there with you?”

  “So you would have been happy to steer it into a ditch if it had been just me on it?”

  She laughed, distracted by how well he wore that smudge. “Probably.”

  Hunter said nothing more, only tossed the tools onto even ground and climbed back onto the ATV. Seconds later he roared the thing to life, and gunned it. The front wheels reared up off the ground like an angry stallion.

  Mia’s heart raced as Hunter leaned against the force, shifting his weight as the four-wheeler climbed out of the ditch and back onto the trail at last.

  The hum of another ATV told Mia Karen was nearby. She glanced over in time to see her climb off. “Is this where we’re filming?”

  Mia shrugged. “Hunter’s mad at me for getting us into the ditch. He thinks I did it on purpose. Which I totally didn’t.”

  “Of course not. You don’t have a death wish.”

  “That’s what I told him.”

  Hunter shut the four-wheeler down and dug through the tools. With a long shovel in one hand and a toolbox in the other, he headed down the narrow path. And as he neared the bucket she’d been hoping to avoid, he reared back and gave it a good, hard kick.

  Mia might have gotten another good laugh out of that kick, but she was too bugged. “My energy is seriously wrong.” She grabbed the tripod for Karen and started a slow walk behind the once again grumpy cowboy. “I swear Hunter really knows how to throw off my groove.”

  “Actually,” Karen said, “yesterday’s footage with him is hilarious!”

  That made her smile. “At breakfast?”

  Karen nodded. “Yeah. Out of all the people you’ve shot with, I’d have to say your interaction with him is at the top of my list. Eddie thought so too.”

  “You already showed Eddie?”

  “Yep.”

  “Huh.” But soon she was stuck on the accusation once more. Sure, Mia would stage things from time to time for entertainment value, but not often. And she didn’t appreciate being called a liar. A quick glance ahead said Hunter was already poking around with the shovel. Which definitely meant the job had begun.

  “Okay, Hunter?” she hollered, hurrying to catch up. “Remember that I’ve got to walk people through every little part of the job. That means that you don’t prepare it for me. I have to do it, okay?” She tried to keep her tone light. He was used to doing this on his own and was probably not leaving her out on purpose. At least, that’s what she told herself.

  Karen took the tripod from her and stepped into position.

  Mia moved next to Hunter, catching hints of that wonderful aftershave. Man, he smelled good. And he looked good too, the smudges only adding to his rugged appeal.

  “Okay, before Karen starts recording, I better take hold of that shovel.” She held her hand out, and—after a moment of irritated hesitation—Hunter rested the wood handle against her palm.

  “There you go,” he mumbled.

  Mia pulled in a breath, trying to channel some good, positive energy before giving Karen the go-ahead. She glanced at her surroundings to take in her background, and was struck by a wave of reverent appreciation. A field of greens swayed in the breeze, the deep color a gorgeous contrast to the bright blue sky. Picture-perfect clouds dotted the stretch of blue, glowing slightly from the rays of the bright-shining sun. “Wow,” she breathed. “It’s beautiful out here.”

  Hunter’s brow furrowed. “Are you talking to me or the camera?”

  She shot him a look. “The camera’s not going yet.”

  He nodded in reply, but the pucker in his brow remained.

  With the shake of her head, the straightening of her shoulders, Mia turned back to Karen and gave her a thumbs-up. “Welcome to Day 2 of Try My Life’s week-long special on Blue Sky Ranch.” Mia had made up a different name for Reynolds Ranch in the interest of protecting the privacy of those living there. And the blue-sky reference fit perfectly. “As you can see, I bribed this handsome cowboy to join me once again. So, Dusty, tell everyone what we’ve got here.” She glanced over to catch a hint of a smile pull at his lips.

  Handsome indeed.

  “It’s, uh, Hunter, remember?”

  She slapped a hand to her forehead. “Oh, why do you look like a Dusty to me? Must be the boots.” She winked, and his smile grew.

  He glanced down at the barely drying mud scuffs along the edges of his cowboy boots. “Yeah, the next time you’re going to run us into a ditch, I’d appreciate a little warning.” He looked at her pointedly.

  Mia gave him a touché nod. “Fair enough,” she said, wiping a smear of mud off her calf. “Maybe the next time you decide to leave a big ol’ bucket in the center of the barely-big-enough-for-a-four-wheeler trail, you could give me a little heads-up.”

  “We weren’t in a race, Mia.” He glanced over to the camera like he’d forgotten it was there.

  She almost had too. “Yes, but you whispered something directly in my ear and it got me all flustered.”

  “Whoa,” Karen piped. “It’s getting hot out here …”

  Hunter tilted his head. “I only told her to watch out.”

  “Yes, but it wasn’t what you said. It was the feel of your breath on my skin.” She flicked the blonde strands of her hair off one shoulder and lifted a brow. The mere confession—as playful as it was meant to be—caused a trace of warmth to rise in her cheeks.

  The word speechless came to mind as the smart-mouthed ranch hand looked at the ground and shook his head.

  Why did Mia have to enjoy teasing him so much? “Now,” she said, getting things back on track. “You were telling us just what we’re doing out here on this gorgeous piece of land. It’s not to have a romantic picnic for two, but I’d say it’s pretty enough out here for that.”

  “Yep.” Hunter held her gaze as a spark of something flared up in his eyes. And then it was gone. He cleared his throat again. “What we have here is a broken polyethylene pipe.” The ground they stood on was covered with sparse grass. He pressed his boot into it, and water pooled into the sunken space. “So what we need to do is …” He motioned to Mia with a nod. “I mean, what she needs to do is prod around with this shovel, digging just inches at a time, and find exactly where that pipe is. We can tell by the faucet just a few yards over that it should be right about here. But if the spade of that shovel hits our line, we’ll have a second mess to fix.”

  “Now, wait, wait, wait.” Mia gripped a hand around his wrist. “You didn’t tell me that. Nobody told me that if I mess up, I’m going to be stuck doing twice the work. Let me just get myself psyched up for this.” She handed the shovel back over to Hunter and jogged in place. She shook her hands out, clapped them three times, then gave the camera a look. “Karen?”

  “Yeah?” she replied from behind the lens.

  “Do I look ready to you?”

  “You look ready.”

  She tu
rned to Hunter next. “Hunter.”

  “Mmm-hmm?” Man, he was cute.

  “Do I look ready to you?”

  He held her gaze for a moment. “Nope.”

  She flinched back. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean you’re missing this.” He placed the shovel in her hand. And Mia couldn’t help it. She burst into laughter. Hunter joined in, nudging her arm with his shoulder.

  “Silly girl,” he said, which only made her laugh harder.

  “Yeah,” she agreed. “I guess I am. Now let’s get digging.”

  Finding the pipe wasn’t hard, but keeping the muddy water out of the hole wasn’t quite as easy. Hunter assisted her the way a dental assistant might hand over tools at just the right time: pipe cutters, to cut out the punctured part; hose clamps, which she slid onto each side of the split pipe; and a piece he called the fitting, which he said she’d need to pound in with a rubber mallet, something he then supplied.

  Mia took hold of it, but was met with resistance when he didn’t let it go. “This isn’t to hit me with, okay?”

  She nodded, and he released it. “No hitting you with this?” she reiterated, holding it up.

  “None.”

  “Well, then …” She tossed it over her shoulder. “What good is it?” Hunter laughed, but he didn’t retrieve it for her after she’d thrown it. Karen would most likely have to edit some footage at that part, since it took Mia a good thirty seconds or more to locate the thing.

  Soon she had the fitting in place, the pipes reconnected (which took a whole lot of muscle), and the hose clamps all tightened up. “Now I just pile all the stuff I took out of the hole back in it?” Mia asked, coming to a stand.

  “Yep,” he said. “That’s about it.”

  “Sounds simple enough.” New splotches of dirt and mud clung to Mia’s legs. She gave them a quick brush-off, then went back to work, covering the hole with the sloshy mud she’d removed earlier. “Okay,” she said, looking to Hunter. “Tell me how much time something like this usually takes you.”

  He shrugged. “I’d say from beginning to end I’d be looking at between seven to ten minutes tops.”

  Mia looked at the camera. “Karen, tell me how long we’ve been recording this segment.”

  “Thirty-eight minutes,” she said with a laugh.

  “What?” Mia feigned disappointment. “Well, lucky for you guys at home, you’ll get to watch me work my tail off in fast-motion. Now if I could only put the drive home in fast-mode.” She jabbed a thumb in Hunter’s direction. “This guy is driving back, and trust me, he’s going to be yawns-ville on the ATV.”

  That dimple in Hunter’s cheek showed as he grinned.

  A dose of heat rushed up Mia’s neck and into her face. Holding on to him all the way back would be anything but yawns-ville.

  Chapter 7

  Hunter lounged back in his chair, clicking through stations so he could catch the next game. He could tell by the reflection of the window on the big screen that the sun hadn’t fully set. He let out a sigh, wondering what kind of excuse he could make to go over to Wayne’s. He’d dropped the ladies off a few hours ago, and it seemed the old guy was starting to feel better. Mia and Karen were preparing a late lunch and had asked Hunter if he wanted to stay and join them.

  The answer he gave them (quite the opposite of what he wanted to say) was no, he’d better get back to work. And so he had. Back to work and back to wondering if he should’ve apologized to Mia. Sure, the ATV thing had been annoying, but he should have been quicker to take her word for it. Of course she hadn’t done it on purpose; one look at her knees could testify to that. They’d smoothed things over easily enough, but that didn’t mean an apology wasn’t warranted.

  Dang, she was captivating. No wonder her MyChannel vlog show had become so popular. She was a great host. Smart, funny, cute. After returning home, Hunter couldn’t stop himself from getting online and viewing a few of her episodes. He’d forced himself to stop after the third one; no need to become obsessed with her. But there was no escaping Mia’s unique confidence. She seemed genuinely comfortable in her own skin, which should make Vanessa even more jealous if she ever caught sight of the show. Sadly, despite Vanessa’s obvious beauty, she was one of the most insecure women he’d known.

  The smell of a woodsy fire drifted into the house as Hunter yawned and stretched. He didn’t think much of it at first, but then something came to mind. He hadn’t seen any of the ranch hands tonight. Hadn’t heard them downstairs, either. It wasn’t a weekend, but the gang could have decided to hit town for dollar-drink night at the club. Or maybe …

  The idea had him going from reclined to upright in a blink. He hopped off the seat and sped to the window, further separating the slats at one spot in the blinds. There across the field, in Wayne’s backyard, a pluming cloud of smoke rose from the fire pit. “No way,” he mumbled. They hadn’t discovered the women were there, had they?

  Mia had asked how long she’d taken to do a task that normally took Hunter under ten minutes. Well, this time, he was about to outdo himself. In a matter of seconds, he had his hair finger-combed through, his teeth brushed, and a splash of cologne on the fresh T-shirt he’d thrown on after his shower. He was in his truck, speeding down the dirt road just seconds later. There was no time to think of why he’d say he came. Except to maybe just check in on Wayne.

  The sun sank lower into the horizon, just about gone. The red glow spread over the land as Hunter pulled along the drive. And there it was, evidence of those pesky ranch hands—the pickup. A dart of anger pricked his chest.

  He climbed out of the truck, strode up the steps in the fading sunlight, and knocked on the door. He waited less than ten seconds before walking around the house and toward the backyard. No sense in beating around the bush.

  A burst of familiar laughter sounded as the yard came into view. Mia’s laugh. Hunter strode across the porch with his hands on his hips. He looked over the scene. Connor was cuddled up to Karen, his fold-up chair as close as it could get to hers. A few feet off, Skinny Alex and Bill sandwiched Mia. Both were turned inward, warring for her attention, no doubt.

  “Pathetic,” he mumbled as he stepped down the stairs. Over the chatter and laughs, his footsteps went unnoticed. Except by one.

  “Whatcha doin’ here, Hunt?” Wayne’s deep voice nearly knocked him off his feet. He spun around to see the man seated in a bench in the shadows.

  “Oh, hey, Wayne. I’m, uh …” He tucked a hand in his pocket. “Just checking in on everyone. Having a party?”

  “Well, I wouldn’t call it that,” he replied. “Just a small gathering. The boys here caught word that the gals were in town and wanted to get to know them a little better.”

  “I bet they did.” Hunter checked out the handful of yards between Wayne and the group. “Why aren’t you closer to the fire?”

  “I was a few minutes ago, but it got too warm for my blood.”

  “The fever’s not gone yet?” Hunter asked.

  “Not yet. But Don Nichols brought me some of his wife’s soup this evening, told me there’s something going around. Lasts about four or five days. I reckon I’ll get feeling better soon enough.”

  Hunter began to lower himself next to Wayne.

  “No, no, son. I just kicked Mia out of that spot. I don’t want anyone getting too close to me and catching what I’ve got. ’Sides, you need to go join the others. Have some fun.”

  Watching those dorks flirt with Mia sounded like anything but fun. More like torture. Which was ridiculous, he reminded himself. They’d liked Mia longer than he had. Not that he liked her. He just … oh, heck. What was he doing? Hunter wiped his palms on his jeans.

  “Hunt-man,” Bill hollered, “what are you doing here?”

  Hunter’s eyes dropped to the grip Billy-boy had on Mia’s hand.

  “You wouldn’t believe how tiny her hand is,” the kid said in awe.

  “Yeah, I bet,” he grumbled. Bill. What an annoying turd. The g
uy would do anything to get close to a woman.

  “Are you going to join us?” Mia asked. Firelight reflected in those blue eyes of hers. And for a moment, the flames flickered in his chest as well.

  “I’m not sure,” he said, rocking back on his heels.

  “You should,” Mia urged.

  Karen giggled as Connor whispered something in her ear. “Yeah,” she added. “Join us.”

  A worn stump stood across from Karen and Connor—must’ve been where Wayne sat earlier. Yet as Hunter considered taking a seat, a thought came to him. There would be no filming tonight. No opportunity to make his ex jealous. Which left him wondering why he was seeking Mia out.

  Because he was fascinated with her.

  “Hey,” Alex called. “Why didn’t you tell us these guys were here? Were you trying to keep them all to yourself?”

  “Yeah, that’s exactly what he wanted,” Connor chimed. Bill spoke up too, some stupid told-you-so remark regarding Mia and how great she was.

  Hunter didn’t need the reminder. “You know,” he said, hitching a thumb over his shoulder, “I need to grab something from the house. I’ll be right back.” It was a lie, of course. But he wanted out. He wasn’t ready to have feelings for someone. And like it or not, Hunter’s feelings for Mia were growing at an alarming rate.

  “Hey, would you mind bringing me an ice-cold water when you come back?” Wayne asked as he passed.

  He had to be kidding. He wanted to tell him—at least quietly—that he wasn’t coming back at all. But as Hunter took in the old man who was looking a mite older than he had just a couple days ago, he thought better of it. “Sure.” He kicked at a rock, satisfied as it shot clear to the fence line. He’d get the water, deliver it to Wayne, and get the heck out of Dodge.

  He told himself that very thing as he delivered the icy cold glass to Wayne. “See you tomorrow,” he mumbled under his breath.

  Wayne gave him a wink, telling Hunter that he wouldn’t make a stink of him leaving the party so soon. Hunter glanced at the group by the fire once more, satisfied that they were too distracted to notice him. Good. He’d simply go back home, catch the rest of the game, and … and fight for the woman’s attention tomorrow?