Spurred On (The Quick and the Hot) by Em Petrova

take the blame, of course. I never restricted her. Gave her free rein of the ranch, let her try just about everything she wanted.” Val scuffed a hand over his clean-shaven jaw.
    “Well, she’s good. Maybe she needs a duty of her own. Something that plays to her talents.”
    Hayden’s jeans suddenly felt too tight at the thought of her talented fingers and mouth. Last night she’d stared up at him with those beautiful sea-green eyes while taking his shaft right into her throat.
    He shifted his weight to his other boot to ease the throb in his cock.
    Val pulled a tin of tobacco from his shirt pocket and tucked a plug into his cheek. “I’ve often considered giving her a job title if only to keep her out of trouble. She’s like a wild thing, running all over the ranch and sometimes helping the guys with things that are too much for her. She’ll never admit that she’s softer, smaller, and weaker than the men, even if she is resourceful.”
    A warm feeling formed in Hayden’s chest, but he kept the smile off his face. He didn’t want to reveal his relationship with Val’s daughter.
    “She knows everything about the animals though. Their history, health, the best places to sell. The peak times to pair them and how to care for illness and injuries. I think she needs a job that takes advantage of her knowledge,” Hayden said.
    Across the clearing Zoe Beth climbed on the bottom rail of the fence and leaned over to run her hand over the side of one of the new cows.
    “Sounds as if you’re saying Zoe Beth can be useful to you and your new project,” Val said.
    Hayden jerked his head toward his boss. Yes, she’d be very helpful in getting together new records for the small herd, for starters. But could he work with her so closely? They were bound to get caught. He couldn’t keep his hands off her.
    But if he didn’t keep her by him, who knew what trouble she’d get into on the ranch. Maimed by farm equipment or flirting with the ranch hands—both were things he couldn’t allow. And the thieves had returned a few nights ago, this time stealing several filled gas cans.
    With a nod, he extended a hand to Val. “I’ll take her on as assistant if you’ll give your consent.”
    Val’s eyes creased with his grin. “I thank you for taking the worry off my hands, Meadows. Good luck to you. She’s a spitfire.”

Chapter Eight
    As Zoe Beth approached the barn, she rubbed her palms together. The sting of that rope burn bugged the hell out of her.
    In the mudroom of the house, she’d located her gloves and stuffed them into her back pocket. It was time to get back on track and do her job right—whatever job it was.
    For several strides she was distracted by the agitation inside her. Where are my gloves? She patted herself down till she found them in her back pocket. Then she pulled them free and tugged them into place. More annoying than the sting in her hands was her irritation with Hayden. Overbearing, overprotective. She’d spent her whole life working with animals, even finicky ones. And she’d wrangled bigger, meaner ones than that small bull, no matter what Hayden thought.
    She pushed out a sigh. The day had turned too warm—or maybe she was still feeling the effects of Hayden’s assault behind the hay bale. She could still feel his finger pressing into her pussy through her jeans.
    Voices trickled from the open barn door, hushed and hurried.
    “Can’t be Cole stock.”
    “What the hell else could it be?”
    “It belonged to another ranch. See that hole in its ear?”
    Zoe Beth’s heart lurched and skidded to a stop. They found Five Feet.
    Face hot, she rushed into the barn. Ray and Buck stood in front of the calf’s secret stall, elbows leaned on the door and looking in.
    There was only one choice—Zoe Beth had to own up to her deception.
    “The calf’s mine.”
    Ray and Buck whirled to face her. A grin graced Buck’s face, but Ray shook his head. “Where’d ya get it, girl?”
    She lifted her