Page 8 of Her Three Rangers

She nodded. “Good. Then we have a deal.”

I scratched behind Rambo’s ears one more time before standing as well. “We certainly do. Thank you again.”

“You should thank Rambo.” She gave me a look that was just a little too innocent to be real. God, did she even know how sexy she was right now? “I just can’t say no when he’s around.”

My body reacted instantly to her words as they shot straight down through me. I looked from her to Rambo and couldn’t help but feel myself start to smile.

If someone had told me this day would have turned out so well just a few hours ago, I would have laughed in their face. Or, more likely, I would have punched them in the face.

But now?

With my dog on the mend and this beautiful woman giving me these sweet, sexy looks?

Yeah, this had turned out to be a pretty damn good day.

And the way she was still looking at me now made me wonder if tomorrow might somehow be even better.

Chapter 3 - Grace

“Why are there three men with motorcycles and tents in the pasture?” My grandmother didn’t even turn to look over her shoulder from where she stood at the stove as I walked into the kitchen. “I could barely sleep all night because of their constant coming and going.”

I smirked but did my best to hide it as I moved to pour a cup of coffee. It was entirely too early for the third degree, but I knew better than to try and avoid answering.

“I’m treating their dog, Nana,” I said, wrapping my hands around the steaming mug as I shuffled over to the kitchen table. “He had surgery yesterday. They were probably just back and forth to the clinic to check on him, but I’m sorry if they kept you up.”

She turned and gave me a hard look. “What does their dog being in the clinic have to do with them being in the pasture? That doesn’t even make sense, Gracie.”

No, it didn’t make a lot of sense, not even to me. I’d have to give her that point.

“They needed a place to stay while Rambo—their dog, I mean—recovered.” I sighed and gave her a pleading look. I hoped she wasn’t going to make me defend my decision too much—or think too much about it. “I couldn’t let the dog get on the back of a motorcycle a few hours after surgery, no matter how comfortable his little seat looks.”

And I had to admit, for as rough as Ty and the other guys looked at first glance, there was no denying they had a soft spot for that dog.

Particularly Ty.

But that made sense now that I knew some of their background.

“They used to be Rangers,” I said, remembering the conversation I’d had with Ty the afternoon before. “So I think we can at least trust them to be out in the pasture for a couple of nights.”

“They’re staying longer?” she asked, then shook her head and pinned me with another hard look. “Never mind. I don’t want to know the answer. But don’t let your guard down, Gracie. Just because they used to be law men doesn’t mean they can be trusted. There’s probably a reason they aren’t still Rangers now.”

Of course there was a reason, but I didn’t have the energy to defend Ty and his friends this early in the day. Hopefully this would be the only discussion my grandmother and I would have about them.

Even as I thought it, I doubted that would be the case. The look in her eyes told me she wasn’t finished, but maybe my half-hearted explanations would be enough for now, at least.

“It won’t be for too much longer, Nana,” I said, hoping to ease her mind a little. “I don’t think they want to be here anymore than you want them here. Once their dog is in good enough condition to travel, I’m sure they’ll be moving on.”

“You know I don’t like to tell you what to do,” she began, then paused and narrowed her eyes as I felt the corners of my mouth twitch. She and I both knew very well that she did like to be in charge. But to be fair, she had earned the right to voice her opinion. Life wasn’t easy out here, and she had held my family together through some really tough times. “Gracie, I’m serious. I just want to make sure you’re safe. If anything ever happened to you…”

I felt bad for smirking earlier as her voice trailed off. Of course, she was just concerned. “I know, Nana. I promise that nothing is going to happen to me. I’ve got you here helping me watch over everything, and I’ve got Jenny with me at the clinic.” I took a sip of my coffee and thought about the trio of men across the field. “I don’t know why, but I just… I don’t feel like these guys are going to try anything shady. They might look a little rough, but…”

I shrugged, not knowing what to say, really. It was a difficult feeling to explain, and from the skeptical look she was giving me, I hadn’t done a good job of making it clear to her why I felt that way.

But it was how I felt, at least about Ty, and the other guys seemed to follow his lead. All I could do was hope they didn’t prove me wrong.

“Just be careful,” she said, turning back to the stove. “You’re my whole world, and I’m too old to be up late at night worrying.”

“I understand, Nana,” I said, meaning it. “I just need a little more time to make sure their dog is okay, and then everything will be back to normal.”