Chapter Three: Tall , Rugged and Broodingly Handsome

'Holy hell!' Aiden couldn't form any more intelligent thoughts than that. His arm was burning from the hand wrapped tight around it, but it was a good burn. Those gray eyes were staring deep back into his own looking very much like storm clouds and the face wasn't so bad either. Weathered, tired, a bit sad, but rugged and manly.

Aiden swallowed hard, trying to redirect his thoughts. He worked hard to never give in to these thoughts and impulses; to hide his attractions. This man had managed blasted through all that with a stick of dynamite just by grabbing his arm.

"I said—" Tall, rugged and broodingly handsome ground out. "—why don't you watch where you're going?"

"I'm... I'm sorry." Aiden stammered. The man growled, released his hold and shoved Aiden back, causing the oversized hat to topple off his head.

The giant of a man, all six and a half feet of him, cursed under his breath and stooped low to grab the hat and shove it into Aiden's chest. Aiden's heart was thundering as he clutched at his hat and stared at the man. The blue chambray shirt was tight on a set of broad shoulders and a well-muscled chest, which led down into a flat stomach and lean hips and a set of legs that were—

"Hey Nick, I see you already met Aiden." Wendell's voice came from behind Aiden, snapping him out of his assessment of the growling man. Aiden's eyes flew up to this man, Nick's, face and his heart skittered to a stop when he saw Nick's gray eyes looking back in his and something flickered in them. Something like hunger—but the emotion was gone just as quickly as it had appeared and left Aiden thinking that he had probably been imagining that it had ever been there at all.

"Who's Aiden?" Nick asked as he stooped to pick up a sack that he had dropped when Aiden had crashed into him.

"This is Aiden." Wendell replied, tipping his head. "Susie wants us to take him back to the ranch with us and talk to Liz about hiring him on.

Nick's brow rose and he looked Aiden up and down, causing Aiden to swallow hard. "Kid, you know a damn thing about ranching?"

"I'm no kid." Aiden replied, finally finding his voice. "And.. uh.. well no."

Wendell shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Susie said to do it. If we don't then she might go to Brody. You want him pissed at you over upsetting Susie?"

"Hell no." Nick admitted. Leaving Aiden to wonder who Brody was.

"Is everything ready to go then?" Wendell asked and Nick simply nodded.

Aiden was about to get on his horse, as the other men climbed in the cart but Nick snapped his fingers. "Your damn horse is on its last leg from the look of it. You can ride in the back of the cart."

Aiden wanted to argue and tell this man off for treating him like a child but he couldn't seem to think let alone speak with those gray eyes staring at him. So Aiden tied the horse's reins to the back of the cart and then climbed in, sitting atop several sacks of flour.

The ride to the ranch seemed to take forever but the scenery was nice. Lush hillsides covered in long grasses and brilliantly colored flowers. Aiden's favorites were the blue bonnets. It was almost as if you were looking out over the sea when you passed a big enough field of them. And Aiden had to admit that while the flour sacks were hard, they were a welcome relief after being jostled around on a horse's back for weeks.

"How far away is this ranch?" he finally asked. He had hoped that Nick would answer so he could hear the other man's gruff voice doing something other than scolding him or grumbling but he remained stoic and silent.

Wendell glanced back. "We've been on Atkinson land most of the time since we left town. All except that over there—" Wendell pointed across a field to a large tree standing over a pond in the middle of a field full of flowers. A tiny cabin sat in the field with a single barn and tiny outbuildings scattered around. "—That's Ryder and Susie Hampton's place."

"The Atkinson's must be wealthy." Aiden noted.

"Sure. You'd never guess it by spending time with any of them though. Susie was an Atkinson before she married Ryder. Elizabeth, or Liz as most of us call her, is married to Susie's brother Brody. You win her over and you'll be good to go."

Aiden wondered if she would be hard to please. "Is she a hard one to win over?" he questioned.

"She's a good woman." Wendell replied with a shrug. "She's been through a hell of a lot and she's a lot better than she was when she was younger. Damn but she was an ice queen back then. Now she's fair. She will let you know what she expects from you and as long as you do your best to get that done you won't have a problem with her."

Aiden had more questions but they would have to wait until later because the ranch was coming into view. Aiden had come from a wealthy family, but they were a political family and everything about their home and their lives had been extravagant.

This ranch was a different form of wealth. There were massive barns, half a dozen of them. They were all well-kept and each seemed more of a fancy livery than just a simple barn most folks had. Wooden fences surrounded the numerous corrals. Animals dotted the landscape. Cattle, milk cows, horses, mules, chicken, cats, dogs— Aiden shook his head. He believed in gotten in a bit too deep.

The house caught his attention next. Two stories tall, painted bright white with wrap around porches and several balconies on the upper level. Crisp black shutters surrounded the windows and flower pots added splashes of other colors.

Porch swings, rocking chairs and benches covered the giant porch and there was a tall, lean and somewhat polished looking man lounged in one of those chair, bouncing a baby, probably not more than one year old on his knee.

He stood up and placed the baby on his hip as he stepped onto the porch steps and Nick brought the cart to a stop.

"Who'd you bring back?" the man questioned, his friendly green eyes falling on Aiden. Aiden jumped from the back of the cart, rubbing his sore backside as he did. He felt a strange prickling on the back of his neck and turned to see Nick watching him closely. When Aiden's eyes met his, Nick quickly turned away.

"This here is Aiden." Wendell replied. "He's a friend of Susie's and he needs a job for a while."

"He's come to the right place then," the man replied with a smile. "Welcome to Atkinson Spread, Aiden, my name's Jacob. My sister-in-law is the boss."

"So you're Susie's brother?" Aiden asked and Jacob nodded.

"One of them. Brody's around here somewhere. Our other sister, Susie's twin Sally, is at her house today. She's not feeling well."

"Is the baby sickness getting to her?" Wendell asked with a grin.

"Yep." Jacob chuckled. "Thomas was sporting a welted cheek this morning. Apparently telling your wife to 'suck it up' is not the appropriate thing to do while she's hugging the outhouse seat."

Aiden couldn't hold back the quick laugh that burst from his mouth and he quickly cleared his throat and covered his mouth. "Sorry I laughed..." he mumbled, hoping they wouldn't find him rude.

"Why are you sorry?" Jacob questioned with a shrug. Aiden had no answer. "Well show him to the bunkhouse and get his belongings settled in and then find Liz. She's probably in one of the barns."

"I'll let you take him to the bunkhouse." Wendell told Nick and Aiden cursed. Everybody he'd met so far was friendly, except for Nick, and Aiden would rather have a friendly guide.

Nick didn't appear too fond of the idea either but he nodded and motioned for Aiden to follow him before striding away, leaving Aiden no other choice but to quickly grab his saddlebags and chase after him.

Nick's strides were much longer than Aiden's and Aiden was practically jogging to keep up with the taller man. They passed two barns and came to a large bunkhouse. Aiden froze at the sight of the old man sitting in a chair beside the door. There was a hound at his feet that appeared to be even older than the man.

Nick glanced behind him and stopped walking as Aiden stared at the old man, hoping to determine whether he was alive or dead.

"I don't know why folks stop and stare at me so damned often." The old man muttered without opening his eyes.

"Because you look dead, old man." Nick replied with a chuckle. Aiden's eyes widened. Mr. Grumpy knew how to do something other than frown and growl after all.

"Yeah, well I ain't." The old man's eyes opened and he scanned Aiden carefully. "Who's this?"

"My name's Aiden." Aiden replied quickly.

"I'm Cookie." The old man grunted. He looked Aiden up and down again before glancing at Nick and giving him the same slow appraisal. "When the time comes I called it first." He mumbled.

"Called what?" Nick questioned.

Cookie just shook his head as his eyes once again slid closed. "It. Now go away and let me get back to my nap."

Aiden laughed again, wondering what had gotten into him. He'd gone a long time without laughing, as a matter of fact he hadn't even smiled since his father had dragged him into the woods and tried to end his life..... Now he'd done both in the short time he'd been in Bakerstown. This place was bad for him.

"Well here's the bunkhouse." Nick grunted as they entered the crowded building. Tiny beds lined the walls, there seemed to be at least thirty of them. There were tiny tables beside each bed but only about half seemed to hold any personal items. "You can take one of those beds down there." He added, pointing toward the far corner.

"Where do you sleep?" Aiden asked before he could stop himself. His face turned red and he swallowed hard, not about to meet Nick's hard gaze.

"Why the hell is that important?"

"It isn't." Aiden squeaked as he wondered if he was enough of an abomination for God to simply strike him dead right now. It would be a welcome relief from the stormy glare being sent in his direction.

"How many ranch hands are there here?" Aiden found himself asking several seconds later, just to ease the tense silence.

"As of now there's fifteen. Sometimes there's more and sometimes there's less. I've only been here a few months." Aiden walked to one of the empty beds and dropped his saddlebags. "Good thing about the Atkinson's is that they're always willing to help out folks who need it. Then once a man's back on his feet he generally moves on. Just as I expect you will be once you're back on yours."

Aiden looked at Nick then to see the guarded anger in the man's storm gray eyes as he stood wide-legged with his fists clenched at his sides. Without another word Nick turned and strode from the door.

Aiden snorted and turned his back to the door, glancing down at his tiny bed. "Maybe not, you jackass." He mumbled. "I might stick around just to piss you off."

"And who might you be hoping to piss off?" A feminine voice full of amusement asked from behind him. Aiden flushed bright red and whirled around to face the newcomer.

She was average height for a woman and slender with golden hair pulled back and a brown Stetson on her head. She wore trousers with a white button down shirt tucked into them. A gun belt was slung low on her curved hips which surprised Aiden. He'd never seen a woman with a gun on her hip before.

Her green eyes were sparkling beneath her hat and a smile curved her full lips. Her skin was tanned from time spent in the sun and light freckles dusted her nose. She walked over to him with a confidence that told him immediately that she was the boss everyone had been talking about.

"I'm Elizabeth Atkinson." She confirmed his suspicions. "But most everybody here calls me Liz."

"I'm—"

"Aiden, yeah, Jacob told me you were here." She looked him up and down as if assessing a head of cattle. Aiden stood there and shifted his feet awkwardly. "Do you have any experience on a ranch?"

"No, ma'am," Aiden admitted as his ears reddened.

"I didn't figure you did." She tapped her chin with one long, work roughened finger. She was certainly different than any other woman he'd seen before.

"I never had much reason to learn." Aiden rushed to defend himself. "I grew up in the city. I can saddle a horse and I can ride enough to get around." He shrugged his shoulders. "That's about the extent of my talent."

"Can you hold a rake? A pitchfork? A shovel?"

Aiden nodded. "Yes ma'am."

"Then you'll do."

"Thank you, ma'am."

She laughed lightly and walked closer. She stood beside him and patted him on the back. "You're cute. Like a puppy."

"Huh?" his blush deepened and her laugher increased.

"I'm just teasing you. Loosen up, Aiden. Call me Liz, Elizabeth or even Boss if you must but not ma'am. We're pretty informal around here. I only have two rules on my ranch. No alcohol and no fighting. If you want to drink and brawl do so in town but if you get in too much trouble with the law I'll have to let you go."

"I won't be any trouble, ma—Liz."

"I didn't figure you would be." She moved away and placed her hands on her hips. "You already met Cookie outside, he'll be preparing your meals. He cooks better than he looks." She assured him with a wink and Aiden found himself laughing. "Nick, the man you're hoping to piss off, hasn't been here long but he's a good worker. Wendell's been here since before I took over the ranch; so have Frank and Kent but you'll meet everyone tonight I'm sure."

Aiden's head was spinning as it filled with new names and information.

"Room and board is free to all the hands and you'll work six days a week with Sundays off. Pay is thirty dollars a month."

Aiden nodded. "Okay."

Elizabeth swallowed and bit her lip as her nose curled. "And uh.. you get a five dollar sign on bonus."

"I do?" Aiden asked skeptically.

"Yep. And I'll expect you to head into town in the morning and use it to buy yourself some new clothes."

Aiden blushed again. Dammit, he'd forgotten about how dirty and threadbare his clothes were. The shower he'd taken at the hotel hadn't helped his trail worn outfit. He wondered if nicer clothes would have made a difference in the way Nick looked at him—then he mentally smacked himself for thinking such foolish thoughts.

"Thank you, ma'am. I've been running awhile."

"Running?"

Aiden swallowed hard. Shoot! Why had he said that?! "Um..."

Elizabeth shook her head. "It doesn't matter. Just so long as it's not the law you're running from. If I tell my husband I've hired on a criminal I can't be responsible for what he does to you."

"No!" Aiden assured her quickly as he shook his head with force. "No, I'm not in trouble with the law. I promise." It's just bounty hunters hired by my parents to kill their man loving son.

Elizabeth smiled again. "You're too cute to be a troublemaker. You'll do fine here. Just don't cause trouble and do the work we ask of you. If you're unsure about something or need help then ask for it. Don't abuse the animals, don't let the bulls out of the corral unless you have a death wish and don't leave the ranch without checking in with either me, Brody, Jacob, Ellie or Sally. If you do and we don't know where you are then we'll end up worrying and searching for hours for no reason."

That seemed simple enough. "Okay ma'am." Her green eyes narrowed. "Liz."

"Good." She held out her hand and Aiden sealed their deal by giving it a firm shake. "Welcome to Atkinson Spread."