Until Travis Young had wandered onto the property.
He was the prettiest man she’d ever seen.
He had clear blue eyes like the sky, and thick blond hair. He was lean and just about an inch taller than she was.
He smiled easily, and laughed easily too.
He made her feel fluttery.
It was nice to feel that way. It was...fun.
And she had decided that she would really like to figure out that whole man-woman thing.
One thing she was smart enough to realize was that it wasn’t as simple as gaining the trust of an animal. She couldn’t just walk up to him, let him smell her hand and offer him a carrot. That might work with recalcitrant horses, but it wasn’t going to be the way that she connected with a man. Which was a pity because she had a hell of a lot of carrots.
Hunter took the woman out on the crowded dance floor—which was really just a small section of the bar that had tables and chairs pushed away, with the jukebox in the corner—and pulled her against him.
The woman looked absolutely elated to be the center of his attention. Elsie frowned.
Hunter didn’t have any particular skill set that she could see, other than looks. And women just... Women were ridiculous over him. Not even Alaina was immune. Which she found completely annoying.
Alaina was chewing her lip and watching Hunter and the blonde with irritation sparking in her eyes.
And what Elsie really hoped was that Alaina didn’t do anything embarrassing. One thing about Alaina that Elsie admired was that her friend was all-in on whatever feelings she was having in a given moment. And she was a fighter. When Alaina wanted something, she went for it with all the conviction in her body—and it was a lot of conviction.
Alaina was all passion.
But Elsie also worried about her friend getting hurt.
“I don’t want a local guy,” Elsie said. “They’ll treat me like I’m a kid anyway. I’ve known them for too long.”
“Well,” Alaina said, “that is a hazard of living in a town this small, there’s pretty much no way to avoid knowing everybody. And we all went to a one-room schoolhouse. Mystery is a little bit hard to come by.”
“Agreed.”
“That’s why I like Hunter,” Alaina said. “He’s not part of our class, you know? He’s older.”
“As old as my brother,” Elsie said, wrinkling her nose.
“Your brothers are both also hot, Els,” Alaina said, grinning.
“Ew.”
Alaina shrugged and ate a fry. “Facts are facts. Sexy is sexy.”
“Whatever. I don’t want to date a boy we grew up with either.” As in, sat next to in that one-room schoolhouse they’d gone to. No, the very idea appalled her. “I want some mystery. It’s rare.”
The town of Pyrite Falls, Oregon, was tiny, and Four Corners ranch—four ranches operated in together by the Garrett, King, McCloud and Sullivan families—was even more insular.
They worked on the ranch, they lived on the ranch, they’d gone to school on the ranch.
As kids there had been a lot of workers’ kids to play with—but not many had stayed more than a couple of years. Only the four primary families were truly constant.
Four Corners was its own world, and Elsie loved it—but it had also kept her oddly sheltered. They’d had their share of hardships—Elsie’s mother hadn’t stuck around, her dad had died when she saw young, so in some ways she was an old soul. Much older than her actual twenty-four years.
In others...she felt much, much younger.
Only recently had it occurred to her that the steady rotation of ranch hands could be useful. They had a lot of young men come and go. And many of them had been handsome enough. And hadn’t known her since she was an actual baby.
But Travis was the first one to really, truly catch her eye.
“True. But you’re not exactly mysterious, Elsie,” Alaina said.
“What you mean?”
“You say everything you think.”
Elsie wrinkled her nose. “So?”
“I don’t think men like that.”
Elsie sighed. “No offense, Alaina, but you don’t know what men like.”
“Boobs,” Alaina said pragmatically.
Elsie snorted. “So, do I just go up and flash him?” She thought back to her earlier ruminations on baiting horses and blinked rapidly. “Are boobs the carrot?”
“The carrot?”
“That’s how you get horses.”
Alaina looked at her like she was a tragedy. “You are a strange girl, Elsie Garrett.”
“Well, we both know more about horses than we do about men.” And generally, Elsie was okay with that. But right now... Less.
She looked back over at Hunter, who had his arms wrapped around the woman now, and he was kissing her. The blonde arched her whole body forward, her boobs crushed against Hunter’s chest as she returned his kiss with reckless enthusiasm. And in spite of herself, Elsie found herself tilting her head slightly, as the woman did.
Heat prickled all over Elsie’s skin. She did not want to see that. His large hands moved over the woman’s body, and there was a curve to his lips, even as he kissed her.
A little bit wicked.
Mysterious.
No.
That shook her out of the weird trance she’d fallen into. “Okay,” Elsie said, bringing her beer bottle down hard on the table. It was still half-full, but she and Alaina cared more about people watching than drinking. “I am done with bar time.”
Alaina looked over at the dance floor too, and grimaced. “Me too. I’m okay with the fact that he’s gonna hook up, but I don’t actually need to see him with someone else.”
“That is the state of Hunter McCloud, Alaina,” Elsie said, because she knew Hunter. Because he wasn’t mysterious at all. Because she was actually pretty expert on the guy. Hazard of him being her older brother’s best friend, and him always being around. “There’s always someone else. Don’t take it too personally. And don’t get too caught up in him.”
“Too late for me,” Alaina said, sounding mopey.
Good. Mopey Alaina was fine.
It was angry Alaina everyone had to fear.
They had driven separately, and Elsie waved Alaina off while she went to the bar to pay the tab. She looked back over at Hunter, and didn’t see him at all. She wondered if he had gone off with her already.