Read Online April, Dani - Raven's Ranch (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme) by Dani April - Free Book Online

he didn’t tell me…”
    “Of course he didn’t!” His voice was loud, even angry. “Connor just wants to fuck you. I talked to him this morning out on the range.”
    “He told you that?”
    “He didn’t have to tell me. Any fool can see how he feels about you.” He pulled away from her. They walked the next several steps in silence, his boots and her sneakers noisily churning up gravel as they walked.
    “I didn’t know the ranch had that kind of financial problems,” Raven admitted at last.
    “It isn’t your fault, Raven,” he seemed to try and make his voice and manner easier, less hard. “You just got here. You couldn’t have known. Fact of the matter is, it wasn’t any fault of your grandfather’s, either. The private ranching business is just dying out. This is the age of the big corporation. We all need to go and work for them and give up the dream of having our own place.”
    “It would be really hard if I lost the ranch. This place has been in my family for over a hundred years. I don’t want to be the weak link in the family chain that loses the place.”
    “But, honey, the financial trouble of the ranch is just one problem you’re facing out here. You’ve got other ones, potentially bigger problems.”
    “I knew it wouldn’t be easy when I moved out here…” Raven tried to explain, but he wasn’t listening to her.
    “You don’t know anything about ranching, not even the simple day-to-day chores of living out here and getting everything to function.”
    “No, you’re right I don’t, but…”
    “Honey, you’re relying on me and the other ranch bums to run the place for you, and let me tell you, that’s not a good idea.”
    “I know that.” Raven knew her voice was starting to become desperate as she spoke with him. “Connor told me that…”
    Again he would not let her finish. “I told you, honey, forget about what Connor told you. He’s a good man, but he’s blind when it comes to you. He has some fantasy about the two of you and the other guys making the ranch work together and saving the place.”
    “Jesus, Tyler I know that!” Raven wanted to shout at him. “It’s going to be hell trying to get this place back up and working again.”
    “You can’t do it by yourself, Raven,” he told her frankly. “You can’t rely on your ranch hands either. So you see, you don’t have anyone to help you.”
    “I don’t think that’s true,” she countered. “The others seem like good guys. I think they’ll help me. Connor told me they all know everything there is to know about running a ranch. So I think between them and Connor, and you, I’m pretty well covered.”
    “You won’t have them much longer, Raven.” He came to a stop. She looked up into his eyes, scared because she knew he was telling her the truth. “Those cowboys will be gone from here in a couple of days. George Spencer was why they stayed on here.”
    “I don’t know why they wouldn’t want to stay on and work for me.” She could feel herself growing defensive the more she spoke with him. “I know I’m not my grandfather, but I’ve been trying to get along with them, and I think…”
    “Raven you’re a woman,” Tyler told her. “They don’t know how to get along with you. These wild guys don’t know anything about women except they’re for sleeping with after a hard day’s work. You’ve already been a distraction to them.”
    “If you’re talking about the incident in the shower this morning, I didn’t mean that to happen. It was just an accident. I’ll know better next time. I’ll stay out of their way,” she found herself starting to plead with him.
    “These guys all want you, Raven. They’ve wanted you even before you came to live here, ever since the first time your grandfather showed them your picture.” He reached out and put his hands on her shoulders. “They can’t have you. When they realize that, they’re going to get frustrated and they’re going to