OLIVER: WESTERN CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE (Blackwater Canyon Ranch Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

glanced at the faces of her companions. Maybe crazy people paid to experience life on a ranch, but not her. She wasn’t an outdoorsy girl by any stretch of the imagination.
    Rachel shrugged as she carried a dish of scrambled eggs in one hand and a plate of bacon in the other. “I wouldn’t want her to get hurt.”
    “Why would I get hurt?” Daisy asked, pretending she hadn’t wondered the same thing. “Are the cows going to trample me or something?”
    “No,” her sister answered, sounding sheepish. “But you did fall off a horse once.”
    “I was six.” She didn’t want to appear weak.
    “You’re not going to get hurt,” Oliver said, shaking his head.
    “Let her live a little.” Caleb took one of the platters from Rachel and set it on the table. “We’ll treat her like a newbie ranch hand and all watch out for her, okay?”
    Daisy opened her mouth to debate the issue, but Rachel spoke before she could. “Fine. I suppose she’s not a kid anymore.”
    No, she wasn’t, but… Dammit, she didn’t want to hobnob with the animals.
    She’d expected to laze around the house, work on her tan, and embrace her inner bookworm the rest of the time.
    “Good deal.” Caleb smiled at his wife. “I’m headed to town in a bit, and you’ll be busy with the herd in the south pasture. Probably not the best first-time job for Daisy.”
    Caleb shifted his gaze to Oliver. “Looks like you’re the man in charge this morning. I’m sure she can help with the horses, right?”
    “Horses?” The last time Daisy had interacted with a horse, things hadn’t ended well. Granted, she’d been much smaller then, but the large animals still made her nervous.
    “You could take her to town with you,” Rachel offered.
    “Then she’s not learning about the ranch,” Caleb countered.
    “Don’t worry,” Oliver said as he lifted his coffee cup. “I’ll keep Daisy safe and busy.”
    ****
    Daisy took her time getting dressed. How could she get out of this mess? She should have followed her gut instinct instead of letting her mother guilt her into coming to see her sister at the ranch. Daisy could have found accommodations if she’d tried. Even a rundown place in the worst part of Cheyenne would be better than this. At least she’d be in civilization.
    Anything but ranch work.
    Wearing her oldest jeans and a vintage Def Leppard t-shirt, she ambled toward the barn. With no other reasonable excuses coming forward that would keep her away, she stepped inside and found Oliver writing something on a sheet attached to a clipboard.
    “I’m ready to report for work.” Strong scents of hay and horses assaulted her nose.
    He glanced up, taking a moment to survey her. She hated that every time he looked at her, the blood in her veins heated. “I grabbed gloves for you.” He shifted the clipboard to his opposite hand and pulled them from his back pocket.
    She took the pair of thick buckskin-colored gloves and slid her hands into them. They were bulky and awkward. “Now what?”
    “You can start by mucking the stalls.” He nodded toward the double row of stalls before he stepped inside an adjoining room, leaving her alone.
    She stood frozen in place as she counted ten stalls on each side. That would take her all damn day.
    “Is there a problem?” he asked as he reappeared.
    “I don’t think Rachel meant for me to clean stalls.” Daisy wouldn’t even know where to begin.
    He snorted as he walked toward her with a blue nylon rope in his hand. Tough and capable, he ignited her instinctive feminine senses. “Why is that?”
    She shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s…”
    “Rachel cleans them all the time, and it’s a reasonable, safe job.” He narrowed his eyes, his look serious. “Or are you above that kind of labor?”
    “No.” Rachel and Caleb had deserted her, leaving her at the mercy of a man who’d called her a high maintenance princess. If she didn’t do as he asked, he’d have full claim to that label of