Free River Road (River's End Series, #4) by Leanne Davis

woman he’d been with. So he’d do nothing. Besides, he didn’t really want to do anything anyway.
    When he went back to the grass patch, Kate was again leaning over the railing. “So, AJ, what do you all do around here for some fun?”
    He squinted up towards her. Why the hell would she ask him? Like anything about him seemed fun? Digging up grass wasn’t exactly the ideal pursuit of any party animal.
    “Uh, I ride horses. Quads. Target practice. The rodeo. I guess, that kind of stuff.”
    “I have to say I haven’t done any of that except ride the horses and you know how well I’m not at that.” She flashed a quick, easy grin at herself and he almost forgot about the see-through top when her dazzling white teeth shone in a full, huge, wonderful smile. “But target practice? Like what?”
    “Shooting guns. Clay pigeons. Or a box sitting on a fence post, whatever.”
    “Do you have a gun?”
    “Uh.” He scratched his head. She sounded shocked. It raised the hair off her head, she was so shocked by his proclamation. “Yeah… not so unusual. I hunt quail, grouse, some duck and pheasant. So I have a couple of shotguns, sure.”
    “Hunting. Guns. Dear God, it’s for real then? I see this stuff advertised by outfitters and the like. But here you are, living it.”
    He shifted his weight on his feet, feeling somehow more uneducated and stupid than he usually did.
    “Do you think you could show me sometime?”
    “Show you what?”
    “Let me try shooting one of your guns at a target. I’ve never even been that close to one. My parents were both avid anti-gun activists. So I have this unreasonable fear of them… but also a morbid curiosity. So... would you?”
    “Would I…” He nearly scratched his head some more from not believing she was serious.
    “Show me how to shoot a gun.”
    “Um, I really can’t. Jack doesn’t like us, you know, fraternizing with the resort guests.”
    “Jack doesn’t what?”
    He could feel the heat of a blush climbing up his neck. Did he use the wrong word? Fraternizing was right, wasn’t it? But it was not like he could be sure. It wouldn’t be the first time his ignorance embarrassed him, but with someone like Kate? He kicked the dirt near his toe. “You know, hanging around them. Separation between staff and guests. It’s one of his rules.”
    “What about the horse rides?”
    “That’s different, that’s work.”
    She scowled at him. “That is freaking ridiculous. I’ve never heard of anything so insane. What a damn tyrant. Like adults can’t decide who they want to be around? Yet you’re fully allowed to dig around the cabins we’re in, just not fucking allowed to fraternize with us?”
    Okay, maybe fraternize was the correct word. But why the hell was she so inflamed? He backed up a step, having no idea what to do with her. She had a lot of personality, and got riled up like a freaking machine gun. “Again, yeah. That’s my job. So, I’ll ah, just get back to it here.”
    She took her coffee and threw out a third of the cup in a splash over the railing. It landed in the freshly dug dirt. “That’s really insulting, AJ. Aren’t you insulted?”
    Was she still going on about Jack’s rule? He had no idea what the damn deal was.
    “No. He’s running a business. I respect that.”
    “Well, I don’t have to.” She suddenly spun around and away she stomped. He stared at the slammed shut door, wondering if she was mad at him.
    ****
    Kate dressed quickly in one of her new ranch outfits. Shorts again, her boots, and a t-shirt. She marveled that she had never dressed that way before. T-shirts did great things for her chest. She rushed into the little check-in office. The wild-looking tomboy girl was manning the front desk again. Jocelyn.
    “Can I rent a quad?”
    Jocelyn glanced up at her snarled question. Kate didn’t like being told what to do, but especially at a place where she was staying. And by her own brother, no less. “We require a small