Rancher In Her Bed. Joanne Rock

blame rested with millennials or apps or the parenting that had let a crop of kids grow up thinking they were the center of the universe, Frankie agreed with the consensus among her girlfriends that romance was a thing of the past.

      Which begged the question, why was she lingering outside the main house at Currin Ranch, heart fluttering wildly while she hoped for a sighting of her boss, Xander Currin?

      Because she was ten kinds of foolish, that’s why. She’d already accomplished her errand here—a two-second task of retrieving the keys to the barn where the haying equipment was stored. Xander had kindly left them outside the back entrance on a huge wooden patio table, right where the maintenance manager had told her they’d be. One of the other hands who’d helped with the haying equipment yesterday was out sick today, and he’d accidentally taken the other set.

      Frankie had volunteered for the errand so fast the other ranch hands had all looked at her sideways. If she wasn’t careful, her ill-advised crush on Xander would become a running joke all over Currin Ranch. She valued this job too much to make her workplace uncomfortable that way, and she’d strived for too long to prove she could hold her own with the physical demands of the job.

      With the fear of being laughed at spurring her boots, she jammed the keys into the back pocket of her jeans and turned away from the massive log mansion overlooking a creek bed. She kept to the stone path that wound past the pool house and through a low shrubbery hedge, returning to the edge of the lawn where she’d left the energetic young mare, Carmen, she’d ridden over. Her time spent with the animals was the best reward of the job and a necessary part of the requirements for veterinary school. If she could ever make enough money to pay for it.

      Yet another reason why this job was so crucial for her. Her other gigs were of the volunteer variety—shadowing a local vet on his calls during her off days and helping out at a local animal shelter. Currin Ranch was the only job she had that came with a paycheck.

      Stroking the mare’s flank, she was just about to mount up when she heard laughter and voices in the backyard. Male. And female.

      A warning prickled along the back of her neck, urging her to go. Or maybe calling her to stay? Because she recognized the deep tone of the man, a warm and sexy chuckle pitched low in a way that made Frankie’s skin heat. The object of her silly crush.

      But a fluffy feminine giggle smothered any wayward thoughts Frankie might have been entertaining about Xander. Frozen in place, she watched as the couple emerged from the shrubbery together. Xander escorted a strawberry blonde in a bright yellow sundress that accentuated considerable curves. The woman’s glossy waves bounced along with everything else as she tapped her way down the path in kitten heels. Reaching the driveway less than ten yards from where Frankie stood, the woman didn’t so much as glance her way as she lifted a hand to wave goodbye to Xander. She slid into an ice-blue convertible that looked like it cost more than veterinary school.

      Had she been an overnight guest?

      Jealousy flared. Feeling every inch the ranch hand she was, Frankie fought an urge to at least swipe a dusty streak off the front of her jeans. Instead, she hauled herself up on the mare’s back even as the horse startled sideways away from the convertible’s racing engine.

      It was all Frankie could do not to glare at the woman for punching the accelerator while the vehicle was still in Park. Blondie squealed the tires on her way out.

      Soothing the mare with a reassuring hold on the reins and a squeeze against her flanks, Frankie was about to turn tail and ride for the barn when she noticed Xander charging her way. Tall and muscular, he wore his jeans and fitted tee with the ease of any other ranch foreman, but as the heir to the Currin family fortune, there was something commanding about his presence. Right now, with his blue eyes fixed on the horse and his stubble-shadowed dark jaw flexing, he had an air of restrained danger. The allure of a man who could hold his own with a surly beast without breaking a sweat.

      “Whoa. Easy, Carmen,” he called to the anxious palomino, his stance the same one the ranch trainer used when breaking a new mount, positioned just outside the reach of her dancing forefeet. “Easy.”

      “She’s okay,” Frankie assured him, leaning back slightly in the saddle to cue the mare. “I’ve got her.”

      Her heart sped faster, more from her boss’s sudden appearance at her side than the mild scare with Carmen. Frankie wouldn’t have taken her if she’d felt the least bit uneasy with the spirited youngster. Besides, keeping her seat on Carmen was a cakewalk compared to bronc riding, the rodeo event Frankie had recently taken up. She’d tried it on a dare from one of the other ranch hands and discovered she wasn’t too bad at it. And considering how badly she could use the extra money, she couldn’t deny the appeal of the cash prizes.

      Xander peered up at her with narrowed eyes.

      “I didn’t think the trainer had cleared this one for work.” Shifting closer, his gaze darted from the horse to her and back again. “Carmen hasn’t been with us long.”

      Her boss reached to stroke the palomino’s muzzle, his dark hair a stark contrast to the horse’s golden coat and white mane. She was used to seeing him in his black Stetson around the ranch in his work as the foreman.

      Much to his father’s frustration.

      Everyone involved with Currin Ranch knew that Ryder Currin wanted his only son in the family’s oil business and not overseeing the ranching operation. But for the eleven months that Frankie had been on staff, Xander had been personally involved with everything from the herd to the haying, making sure the collective efforts ran smoothly. He was good at his job, but even she knew the foreman’s role wasn’t where the heir apparent belonged.

      “I’m not using her for work today,” she explained, forcing herself to relax, if only for Carmen’s sake. She hadn’t meant to rile the boss. “I rode her over to pick up the barn key because she seemed restless. I thought she could use an outing.”

      Why couldn’t Xander’s blue eyes be focused on her for positive reasons and not because he thought she’d screwed up? So many times, she’d hoped to snag his attention, and now, when she’d finally accomplished it, he seemed on edge. Irritated, even.

      “Not cleared for work means no riding.” His jaw flexed as he moved closer, stroking down Carmen’s neck to her shoulder, quieting the animal. By now, his shoulder neared Frankie’s calf, his body in tantalizing proximity. “A good ranch horse doesn’t spook at engine noises. No sense putting her in a position to fail when she isn’t ready yet.”

      Frankie bit down on the inside of her lip to keep from pointing out that an over-revved Italian luxury car wasn’t the kind of “engine noise” horses heard in the normal course of ranch work. Neither was screechy bubblegum pop dialed up to full blast on a convertible stereo as his guest peeled out of the driveway.

      Then again, she didn’t think she could muster an impartial “yes sir” when he was dead wrong about Carmen. Carefully, she quit gnawing on the inside of her lip so she could speak.

      “Then I guess I’d better get her back to the barn.” Frankie managed a tight smile. “I’ll let the trainer know Carmen needs to broaden her musical tolerance.”

      Xander’s head snapped up to look at her, his dark brows angling down with his frown.

      Had that slipped out?

      Her fake smile froze in place.

      In the silent moment that followed, she became aware of the soft buzz of electric hedge trimmers as a gardener worked nearby. The scent of cut grass hung in the Texas June air, growing more sweltering with each breath.

      “What’s your name again?” he asked, a warning note in his voice.

      Was he going to write her up? He couldn’t fire her for being a smart-ass, could he? She really needed this job and the hundred hours of animal care that would help her get an interview for vet school. She might have been on staff for almost a year, but she’d only just started working more directly with the horses.

      For