Kayla & the Rancher, Paige Tyler [story read aloud TXT] 📗

the foyer and into the living room to where she stood. As he’d done outside the saloon that day when she’d first met Dalton Jeffries, Cord stepped in front of her, putting himself between her and the other man.

“I’ll ask you again, Jeffries,” Cord said. “What the hell are you doing in my house?”

“I came to discuss some business with you, and your beautiful fiancé was

kind enough to entertain me while I waited,” Dalton said smoothly. “Nothing wrong with that, is there?”

Kayla saw Cord’s jaw clench, felt him stiffen beside her, and she unknowingly held her breath, her gaze going from one man to the other.

“You and I have no business to discuss,” Cord told the other man bluntly.

Dalton’s mouth tightened. “Why don’t you hear me out before you decide?”

Cord was silent a moment before answering. “Say what you have to say, and

then get the hell out.”

“I’m here to make you an offer on the ranch,” Dalton said without pre-emption.

Kayla looked at the blond man in surprise. Cord would never sell this place, she thought, not when he clearly loved it so much.

Cord’s brows drew together, and his voice was hard when he spoke. “I

already told you that I’m not interested in selling.”

Dalton thought a moment, and then nodded. “Not even if I give you double

what this place is worth? Because that’s my offer, providing you agree to

convince the rest of the ranchers in the area to sell to me as well.”

Cord folded his arms and eyed the other man coldly. “Why the hell would I do that?”

Dalton leveled his gaze at Cord. “Because it would make it easier for

everyone involved if you did. The other ranchers respect you, Holderness. If you sell, then they’ll be more likely to so the same.”

“Get out,” Cord ordered.

But the other man made no move to do so. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather reconsider?” he asked instead. “It’s a lot of money. At least think about it.”

Cord ground his jaw. “Get out, before I throw you out.”

Dalton Jeffries gave Cord a long, hard look, and Kayla almost thought that Cord real y would have to use force to make him leave, but then the other

man nodded. “You real y should have reconsidered, you know.”

With that, Dalton Jeffries put on his hat and dipped his head at Kayla before heading for the front door. As he walked past where they stood, she

instinctively took a step closer to Cord.

As soon as the other man had left, Cord turned to her. “He didn’t touch you, did he?” he asked, gently putting his hands on her shoulders.

Kayla shook her head, her brow furrowing. “No, of course not,” she said,

hastening to reassure him. “You really don’t like him, do you?”

Cord’s jaw tightened. “Well, the feeling is mutual, I can assure you.”

“So I noticed,” she said. “He seems really eager to buy your ranch, though.

Why?”

“Because this part of the Wyoming Territory is prime cattle grazing land, and Dalton already owns a couple hundred thousand acres to the north of us,” he told her. “Ranchers for hundreds of miles bring their cattle up here to graze for a few seasons before driving them down to Kansas City. Al of the

ranchers out here, me included, make good money letting these cattle graze on our lands. The more land you own, the more money you make, and

Jeffries is always looking to make more money. That’s what he lives for. But one thing that is especially irritating to Jeffries is that my property lays dead center along the cattle trail that runs from Kansas City to his property. That means I get a little bit of the money that he thinks should go to him.”

She frowned, a thought suddenly occurring to her. “What did he mean when

he said that you should have reconsidered selling? Was that some type of

threat?”

Cord gazed down at her and gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Jeffries likes to talk tough, and he’s a man who has to be taken seriously, as some of the ranchers around here have already learned. So I want you to be careful. If you want to go into town, have one of the hands take you. And if you go out riding by yourself, don’t go beyond sight of the ranch house.”

Though normally headstrong, Kayla kept Cord’s warning in mind when she

decided to go riding the following day. She’d asked Cord if he wanted to go with her, thinking that perhaps they could have another picnic lunch, but he’d told her that he had work to do, much to her dismay. He did, however, give her the most delicious kiss before he’d gone out on the ranch that morning.

She was thinking so much about that kiss that she didn’t realize how far she’d ridden from the barn. She was thinking about turning around when she

spotted two men by one of the fences that ran along the northern part of the property. At first, she began to wave at them, assuming they were a couple of the hands out fixing the fences, but as she got closer, she realized that she didn’t recognize either of the men.

Even though she knew that the smart thing to do would be to ride back to the barn and tell Cord or his foreman what she’d seen, her innate curiosity

wouldn’t al ow it. Besides, she didn’t even know what these men were doing.

Deciding that she had to see for herself, she rode closer. She was still a couple hundred feet away when she realized that the men weren’t fixing the fences at all, but were cutting them instead!

“Hey, what are you doing?” she yelled, the words out of her mouth before she even realized what she was saying.

Startled by the sound of her voice, the men spun around. They stared at her in disbelief for