Free Lipstick and Leather: Three Sexy Cowboys, Three Sexy Tales by Cheyenne McCray

wandered through the house as she tried to get to know it again. It was a sprawling ranch house with five bedrooms, three bathrooms, the large kitchen and a study. The study was perfect for her to get some work done.
    Two hours later, Brianna wanted to bang her head against the desktop. She’d tried to find a foreman but everything she tried headed right into a dead end. The first place she had called had been the local employment office and the man who had answered the phone had started coughing, sounding like he was trying to hold back laughter while he told her that ranch hands and foremen didn’t use an employment office to search for a job. A pleasant lady at the Chamber of Commerce told her she would need to call other ranchers.
    A black address book was in the desk with names and phone numbers scrawled in a tight script that was difficult to read. She went through the book and started making calls. The ranchers she talked to expressed disbelief that Joe was leaving the Diamond B and wanted to know how to reach him. Likely wanting to hire him. She found Grace’s phone number but decided to use Grace as a last resort.
    Brianna had looked over the books and still didn’t see how the ranch was going to make it.
    She had found the documentation where some of the ranch land had been parceled out, and was under contract but, it hadn’t been sold and there was no guarantee that it would. Joe had sounded so positive, like it was a fact, something she couldn’t see in black and white.
    She decided she’d had enough and she needed to go check on her operation. Now that she was the owner she needed to be more hands on.
    After slipping on her shoes, she walked out the front door and saw a familiar form—Joe. He was near the corral, talking to a couple of the ranch hands. She felt a combination of irritation that Joe was still here and a sense of pleasure that confused her.
    He didn’t look at her as she walked up. “Henry, you make those repairs to the fence line along the west pasture.” Joe looked to the other ranch hand and started talking to him. “Larry—”
    “Wait a minute.” Brianna cut in and the two cowboys looked at her.
    She faced the ranch hand. “Get out of here while I talk with Joe.” The cowboy scowled and glanced at Joe who gave a nod. Anger flushed through her. Even though she had fired Joe he was still giving the ranch hands orders.
    “Go on.” Brianna made a “scoot along” wave of her fingers.
    Larry turned and brushed into Brianna as he walked by her. “Bitch,” he said under his breath.
    Joe’s eyes were dark with anger and his jaw tightened as he stepped toward the ranch hand and drove his fist into the cowboy’s jaw. The man’s hat went flying and he landed flat on his backside.
    Joe’s voice was hard as the ranch hand rubbed his jaw and looked up at him from the ground obviously trying to get his bearings back.
    “Don’t ever bump into or talk to a woman like that. You hear me?”
    “Yes, boss.” The cowboy nodded.
    “Now get on out of here.” Joe said.
    The cowboy staggered to his feet, grabbed his hat, and headed toward the far side of the corral.
    Brianna’s jaw had dropped. Her gaze went from Larry to Joe. “Well, thank you,” she said.
    “Don’t thank me. I’d do that for any woman.” Joe’s jaw was tight as he looked at Brianna.
    “But I’ll tell you this, if you were a man I would have hit you. You don’t treat an employee like that. You don’t treat anyone like that.”
    She pushed aside his comment as her anger returned. “What are you doing on my property? I told you to leave.”
    Joe put one hand on the gate to the corral. “I told your daddy I would see this through and I aim to keep my promise.”

    She clenched her fists at her side. “Leave.”
    “Lady, you’ll have to call the sheriff if you want me gone,” his gaze was dark and a part of her wanted to draw back. “I don’t give a damn if you pay me or not. I’m not leaving until this