Vivian Arend - Rocky Mountain Rebel

“I’m sorry you got scared when you were little, but they smell?” The words squeezed out through tight lips.

Dammit, he was trying not to laugh. “They do,” she insisted.

“Chickens smell. Are you afraid of chickens?”

Her frustration would have been higher if he hadn’t said it so deadpan. As it was, her sense of humour snuck in to point out that part of her complaint was a little on the stupid side. She bounced to her feet and planted her fists on her hips, staring him down as straight-faced as she could. “Only when I have to ride them.”

Joel let his grin escape. “Sorry. I shouldn’t tease, and I am taking this seriously. So what are you going to do about it?”

“The job?”

“The horses. I take it you’d like the position.”

“God, yes.” She jiggled in place. “If I wasn’t worried about puking my guts out while on the trail with Mister Ed, I’d be pleased as punch.”

Vicki absently noted their eyes were at nearly the same level with him seated on the bench. Talk about big beasts.

“That’s the answer then. You need to get over your fear of horses. How long you got?” Joel stretched one leg to the side, still sprawled on the bench, his arm along the seatback.

“Until May.” She eyed him cautiously. “You’re not going to tell Karen, are you?”

“Don’t see anything to tell. If you were offered a job that required you learn to rope between now and May, I think you could do it. I don’t know all the mental stuff involved in dealing with your fear, but—”

“I need you to help me get over it.”

He stopped. “I’m a rancher, Vicki, not a shrink.”

“But you have horses.”

Laughter broke out before he calmed himself. “Sorry, not laughing at you but, darling, what are you thinking? That I can help you get over your fears? I don’t have a clue where to start.”

Shit. Options were fading fast. “But…you’re not afraid of them, right?”

“Of course not.”

“That’s all we need.” It had to be enough. She faced him square on, arms crossed, daring him to turn her away. “Teach me what you know.”

The earnest hope on her face was hard to resist, as was the rest of the package bouncing on her heels in front of him. High strung, high energy—hell, maybe he’d lied when he’d said he didn’t know the first place to start. If this was how she acted around horses, no wonder they freaked her out. The animals would pick up on all her tension and react. Nothing more temperamental than an edgy horse.

The desire to scoop Vicki into his arms and teach her how to relax grew by the minute, but Joel needed to keep this under control. No matter how much her bossy attitude turned him on. “Fine. Let’s teach you to like horses.”

Her eyes widened. “Seriously?”

He caught hold of her wrists to stop her from rebounding away from him. “First off, you need to slow down. If you want, we can go over to the barns—”

She froze, face going white. “Shit.”

Panic setting in already? He rocked forward to reassure her. “Don’t worry. I’m not planning on throwing you up on one right off the bat.”

She shook her head. “It’s just…” She twisted away and stomped along the top of the lookout, curses rising the entire time she paced. Joel hid his smile at a few of the racier terms. Not often he heard that kind of language from the ladies—although he’d been impressed with how raunchy his sister-in-law Jaxi could get.

Vicki had a far more extensive vocabulary.

She pivoted on the spot and glared. “Here’s the issue. If I start showing up at the ranch, people are going to notice. Either we tell them what we’re doing, which doesn’t work to keep Karen in the dark, or we tell them something else.”

He shrugged. “Not like we have to tell them anything, really.”

“They’re going to assume we’re seeing each other.”

Oh hell. She was right.

The initial dismay that struck faded far too quickly. Only two days earlier Jesse’s suggestion he had the hots for the woman had made him squirm.

Why wasn’t he nearly so upset with the idea anymore?

He kept their gazes locked together, refusing to look her over, no matter how much he wanted to. “So what?”

“So…it’s not true. We’re not dating. I’m not going out with you, because if I did, people will then assume I’m also fooling around with Jesse. I’m not a slut.”

He could have sworn his jaw hit his chest. He’d never expected to hear those words pop out of her mouth. “I never said you were.”

Her chin rose a fraction of an inch. “Plenty of others have said it.”

She was right about that.

His brain whirled with ideas. He wasn’t sure why this woman had gotten under his skin, but damn if he didn’t suddenly want to toss everything to the side and help Vicki make a change. He had a feeling an even break wasn’t something that came her way very often.

No matter how much trouble it was, he made a decision. He was in. One hundred percent. If the town rebel wanted to clean up her act, he was game.

“You’re planning on moving out of town, if all this works out?” Joel asked.

Vicki nodded.

“If I promise there will be no games with Jesse involved, will you go out with me?”

Her righteous anger blurred into confusion. “Go out—? Joel, I want to learn to ride.”

He tried, he really tried, but he couldn’t stop his lips from twitching, even though he buried the full-out grin.

She swung a fist into her thigh hard enough it had to hurt. “A horse, you ass. Yes, I know the goddamn song, but I want to ride a horse without freaking out.”

“And I promise we’ll work at that as well. But maybe diving in at the deep end would help deal with the idiots. I’m not saying I won’t try to help if you don’t date me. But if you and I are hanging out together for a long, steady time, that could go a long way to killing some of the…”

Shit. How much did he want to admit about the talk of the town?

“The rumours how the Hansol girls are loose and easy? You don’t have to try to protect me, Joel.” She glared up into the tree where the leaves were slowly changing colour. “I’ve heard pretty much everything you could repeat. Hell, Eric Tell doesn’t even feel the need to temper his talk during full daylight in public places.”

“Yeah, but he’s an asshole.”

She snorted. “No arguments there.”

Joel reached for her hand. “We could do this. We can make sure it’s crystal clear it’s just you and me involved, and frankly…”

He trickled to a stop. Vicki’s body language was all tied up tight, and she wasn’t giving an inch yet. She’d been honest with him about her fears? Maybe she needed a little reciprocated honesty.

“In a way, you’d be doing me a favour. You know that reputation you’re worried about? Jesse’s and mine?”

Lord, the faces this woman could pull.

“If you two were women you’d have been painted as harlots ages ago. Instead you’re held up as sexual heroes.”

“I know, it’s damn unfair, but honestly I’m getting tired of it. It’s time to get this town to see me and Jesse in a different light, and you and I dating would help a lot.”

Vicki stepped back a pace, freeing her hand, her alert gaze looking him over. “And Jesse’s going to simply agree with you? Because if he fucks around, it won’t help either of our situations.”

“I’ll take care of Jesse.” Confidence was rising. “Not a problem.”

“And you’ll help me get over being afraid of horses?”

“I’ll give it a shot.”

Vicki stared out over the water for a minute. “We’re both crazy, but it might work. You’re right. I shouldn’t give a damn what the town thinks, especially if I’m leaving, but I still do. I want what I shouldn’t bother wanting.”

“You’re not your family. You’ve got every right to change the things you don’t like about your life.”

God, listen to him. He was still finding his own way and now he was giving out advice?

When she turned, some of the bounce was back, a touch of the anger, but now, something else as well. He waited for her to share whatever was going on in that intriguing mind.

Vicki stepped in close.

“You’re right. It’s time to get moving forward with my life. So what do I want?” She took a deep breath as if gathering her courage. Then she held up one finger. “I want you to teach me to deal with the bloody horses.”

Joel grinned as he dipped his head in acknowledgement.

A second finger rose. “I want people to stop talking about me like everything my family does is etched on my back simply because we share a name. If you’re brave enough to try and help me fight that bullshit, I’d be damn grateful.”

“Deal.” A trickle of pride in doing something honourable—doing something that could make a difference in a person’s life—struck again. Even though he’d get some benefit down the road, it was going to take some energy to accomplish this.

He was ready for the challenge.

Then she caught hold of his shirt and leaned in. “And just so you know, that girlfriend thing? I’ve never been anyone’s girlfriend before.”

Both her actions and her words made something inside tighten as he fought to understand. “You’ve never had a steady boyfriend?”

She moved in close enough their lips were nearly touching as she whispered the words. “I’ve never had a boyfriend, period. I want to learn all there is about being a girlfriend, Joel. Everything. And I want you to teach me.”

Joel’s brain wasn’t working properly. Even skimming through what he knew, her words didn’t make sense. “Vicki…”

She released him and backed up. “Great, I did that well, didn’t I?”