Earth and Sky

Davenport who was boss, but Grant feared this wouldn’t be taken with much of a sense of humor, the way they stood now. He had no idea why Hunter behaved so sternly around him. It wasn’t the way he remembered him from the times Hunter had visited Gable’s ranch. Whenever Hunter had come around there to buy horses, he was always jovial and smiling, nothing like the cantankerous bastard he appeared to be now.

    As the light started fading, Grant closed his book and got up from the old weatherworn chair he usually occupied. He’d have to get up at the crack of dawn to start his chores if he hoped to beat the heat for some of them, at least. He just wished he was tired enough for sleep to overtake him quickly, and prayed that his dreams wouldn’t leave him frustrated.

Chapter 4

    The next time all the men from the Blue River Ranch went out for a night on the town, Grant joined them, although it had taken a lot of coaxing from Tim and Hugh. Finally, it was Hunter who made him cave.

    “Come with us,” Hunter had said. “It’s a lot of fun to see Hugh make an ass of himself behind a microphone.”

    Silently, Hunter thought it would be good for Grant to see Miranda, so Grant would stop eyeing him. They hadn’t worked together that much—Izzie had made sure of that—but it was still hard not to bump into each other if your horses occupied adjoining stalls in the stables. Hunter had assured himself it would be one step too far to move Raven to the other side of the stable block just to make sure he saw even less of the striking cowboy.

    He couldn’t shake the feeling that Grant looked at him differently, though. With the others, he joked and played around, but around Hunter, Grant seemed overly polite and gentle. Then again, although Hunter made sure Grant knew he wasn’t his boss, Hunter did own the ranch, so he was sure Grant knew he could fire his ass if he wanted. Hunter was smart enough to know a good employee when he saw one, so he had no intention of actually throwing Grant out, even though every few weeks, Grant asked Hugh for a few days of unpaid leave, which was a little unconventional.

    At the bar, Grant stayed in the background, quietly drinking a beer.

    Although that was usually what Hunter did as well, he couldn’t stay close to the bar now, afraid that he’d have to talk to Grant, so he walked around in search of Miranda. When he couldn’t find her, he asked one of her friends when she would be arriving.

    “Miranda’s gone to the city tonight,” the petite blonde answered. “I think she said she was meeting a friend.”

    Hunter couldn’t help thinking the blonde was flirting with him. For a moment he thought about taking her up on it, but then he figured she’d be on the phone to Miranda as soon as he went home, so he decided against it. He nodded in thanks and left her with her friends.

    “Girls not interested?” Grant asked when Hunter returned to the bar.

    “They’re friends of Miranda,” he answered. “She’s sort of my girlfriend.”

    “Ah,” Grant nodded. “Only sort of?”

    “We’re not engaged or anything,” Hunter replied. He didn’t feel like elaborating, especially not if it meant that he had to tell Grant, of all people, that he and Miranda had sex and very little else. It wouldn’t look good for Miranda to get that reputation.

    “Have you ever seen Jack perform?” Hunter asked Grant, eager to change the topic of conversation.

    “I’ve only seen him with his hand down a horse’s throat,” Grant admitted with a chuckle. “If he’s as good a singer as he is a horse dentist, we should be in for quite a show.”

    Hunter nodded, saluting a guy at the other side of the bar with his beer bottle. “Best show in town. We’re grateful he still comes here regularly, because he’s on stage with his band almost every Friday and Saturday. I think he makes almost as much money now he’s touring the other counties as he does doing his day job.”

    At that moment, Izzie walked in.

    “Hey, sis,” Hunter greeted her.

    “Hunter,” she said. “Grant.”

    The way she said Grant’s name, with that teasing, amused smile of hers, worried Hunter, especially after all the innuendo that had been creeping into every conversation he’d had with Izzie these past weeks. Did Izzie think that he and Grant were here together?

    “I hear Miranda went to see the Chippendales in the city,” Izzie told Hunter. “Guess you’re going to be able to get up at the