Just Gettin' Started: BWWM Interracial Cowboy/Western Romance (Westbury Ranch Book 1) Read Free

world, but Cullen did it with one glance. The moment she walked into the room, he knew he would never be the same ever again. She was special, definitely different. He loved the steel in her spine, the haunting beauty of her face, the sexy curves that he could see even though she was fully clothed, and the intelligence that shone in her eyes. Her caramel smooth skin shone with an inner glow, and her dark eyes appeared to see the depths of his soul.
    He felt the buzz of desire careen through his veins, but of course, she wasn’t even thinking about him in those terms.
    This was his new job, a new place, and he should be concentrating on his work, but instead Graeme found himself focusing more and more on Cullen as they rode side by side while she showed him the ranch. Yesterday, she gave him a tour of the barn, the stables, and the fields where the lessons took place and helped him settle in the cottage—but today they were outdoors, scrutinizing the ranch that would soon become his home.
    The place was beautiful with its rolling meadows, hills that stood a little far away, a gurgling stream that traversed through the fields, and trees that dotted the land. Indeed a place where he could be comfortable and happy—if only it wasn’t for the gorgeous, stone-faced woman who was tying his insides into knots.
    “That’s where I plan to put a new barn for the sheep.” Cullen pointed to the west side of the field. “And we can divide that acre for the cattle. Perhaps I should concentrate on the cattle first.”
    He tried to focus on the job at hand. “Do you have any experience with cattle?”
    “We’ve never kept them before, but it shouldn’t be that hard.”
    “It’s not,” he admitted as he ran his hand over his horse’s neck. “But they’re a bit different from horses. Cattle don’t really get you.”
    She glanced at him with a smile on her face. “I wasn’t actually expecting to hold an intelligent conversation with them.”
    He gave her a sheepish grin, wondering how the hell he was supposed to keep his hands off her if she continued to stare at him like that. Her eyes, as dark as the midnight sky, were mesmerizing. “Are you seriously telling me you’ve never held a conversation with King?”
    She bit her lip. “Well, a couple of times.”
    “More than a couple, I bet.” He laughed. “And I don’t blame you. When a horse looks at you, you can sense their intelligence but with cattle…it’s like grass, grass, water…and more grass.”
    The laughter that sputtered out of her was music to his ears.
    “Grass and water? Is that all they think about?”
    “I guess so.”
    “It seems to me you’ve spent a great deal of time glancing into cows’ eyes.”
    “That’s because where I was…there weren’t many beautiful women like you,” he blurted out the words before he could think them through.
    Cullen snapped her mouth shut. Her lips pursed. Her eyes became guarded.
    Damn it! He never could leave well enough alone. Graeme realized that this woman was going to take a lot of time. Frankly, he wasn’t the most patient of men, but when it came to her, he was willing to try his damnedest. Now that he’d put his foot in the mouth, he might as well make the most of it. “Are you opposed to going out in general, or just not interested in going out with me?”
    She sighed, turned her horse around, and made the animal trot toward the trees.
    He followed her. Did he just say too much? This was a dicey situation because she was technically his boss. Not that he had a problem with something like that, but she might. He didn’t blame her if she didn’t want to get involved with him, but in that case, he would close off his heart to keep it intact. Graeme got a nasty feeling that this woman had the power to affect him in a way he’d never experienced before.
    “I’ve got work to do, Graeme. It’s my dream to see this ranch prosper as it never did before.”
    “From what I’ve seen, so far, you’ve