His Dangerous Bride (The Brides of Paradise Ranch - Spicy Version Book 2) by Merry Farmer Page A

of them continued to nudge each other and giggle like disobedient kids in a school room, until Travis crossed behind them on his way to pick out a fresh horse for the day from the remuda, the herd of saddle-broken horses they had brought with them on the drive to give the other horses a rest now and then.
    “Breakfast should be squared away and we should all be ready to go in fifteen minutes,” Travis said in passing.
    “Yes, boss.” Luke jumped to his feet, taking his last bite of bacon with him.
    Eden hopped up after him, setting about gathering the breakfast dishes that the ranch hands had left behind. “You’re the boss too, you know,” she chuckled.
    She expected Luke to make some sort of snappy comeback, but instead he sighed as he stamped out the campfire.
    Eden frowned and straightened, her arms full of tin dishes. “What?”
    Luke was slow to look at her. His silly mood had vanished in a blink. He scowled at the ashes of the fire as he stomped with a little too much enthusiasm. Eden took her armful of dishes to the back of the chuck wagon, where Lawson, who drew the short straw and had wagon duty for the day, was setting things in order. She dumped the dishes there, then marched back to Luke, crossing her arms when she reached him.
    “Spill it, cowpoke,” she ordered him.
    Her teasing at least managed to wipe the scowl from Luke’s face and replace it with a fond smile. Eden enjoyed the shivery thrill that smile gave her, but she wasn’t after flattery at the moment. She continued to stare at her husband, arms crossed, brow arched to underscore her question.
    At last, Luke gave up with a sigh and stepped closer to her. “I’m supposed to be learning how to lead a cattle drive, right?”
    “Right.”
    Luke shrugged, a thread of anger working its way into his downtrodden expression. “So how come, three days in, Travis is still giving all the orders? He showed me how to run all the positions, told me a lot of stuff I already know about cattle.”
    “Yeah?” Eden shifted her arms to rest her hands on her hips, leaning closer to him in support.
    “The only reason I can think that he hasn’t turned over more authority to me is that he doesn’t think I deserve it in the first place,” Luke said at last.
    The spark of anger in his eyes over the situation caught hold in her. “That’s not right. Maybe he’s the sort of man who has a hard time letting anyone else take the lead.” Heaven knew her brother Brent was that kind of man, as they’d all learned far too many times.
    “Yeah, well…” Luke rubbed the back of his neck, grimacing. Then he sighed and let his arms drop. “Nothing I can do about it now except do my job. And maybe talk to Franklin when we get home.”
    “Maybe,” Eden echoed with a nod. She gave Luke an encouraging smile.
    He returned that smile, then marched off to get his job done. Eden continued cleaning up the camp, but the entire situation didn’t sit well with her. Yes, she’d learned a lot in the last few days, but not everything she’d learned was adding up. Travis not letting Luke take the lead, the other ranch hands poking fun at him every chance they got, Luke’s slips in confidence. Something had to be done.
    Once their camp was cleaned up and the men were busy saddling their horses and organizing the herd, Eden marched over to Travis.
    “I want to talk to you,” she began straight out.
    Travis was about to mount his horse, but stopped and twisted to face her. “What can I do for you, Mrs. Chance?” His lips twitched as if he thought calling her that was funny.
    Eden wasn’t amused. She crossed her arms and asked, “Why aren’t you giving my husband more responsibility? You’re supposed to be teaching him to lead a cattle drive.”
    Travis’s grin dropped, and his jaw with it. “Well, ma’am, I am teaching him.”
    “Mmm hmm.” She continued to stare him down, as if they were about to march twenty paces and draw. “So why haven’t you given him