Loving Her Cowboys: Cowboys Online 3 Read online

  Loving Her Cowboys

  Sequel to Cowboys for Christmas & Cowboys In Her Pocket

  Jan Springer

  After spending ten years in a maximum-security prison, Jennifer Jane (JJ) Watson got early parole and a job on a remote Canadian cattle ranch playing housekeeper to three of the sexiest cowboys she’s ever met…a single woman shouldn’t be experiencing such scorching ménages with three sexy-as-sin men. Her love for her cowboys continues to grow as she gives into the fevered heat and scorching passions she feels for each of them.

  Passion burns bright when she’s wrapped in the arms of her cowboys. But JJ’s simmering restlessness explodes and she’s seriously making up for lost time by pursuing her dreams. There’s only one little problem. She hasn’t revealed to her bosses what she’s been up to while they’re away tending to the cattle and doing their ranch chores. She knows when they discover her secret, there will be hell to pay.

  Ranchers Rafe, Dan and Brady have found the woman who completes them. She makes their secluded ranch a home-sweet-home. She’s vulnerable, sweet and willing to share her bed with all three of them. But when JJ’s secret is unwittingly revealed, they’re stunned, angry and they figure it’s time to dole out some fiery punishment in some mighty naughty ways…

  Published by Spunky Girl Publishing

  Copyright 2016 by Jan Springer

  Discover other titles by Jan Springer at http:www.janspringer.com

  Cover art by Talina Perkins ~ Bookin’ It Designs

  Edited by Julie Naughton

  Notes

  This ebook is permitted for your personal use only. If you would like to share your ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. Characters, places, settings and events presented in this book are purely of the author’s imagination and bear no resemblance to any actual person, living or dead or to any actual events, places and/or settings.

  Chapter One

  “Something’s up with JJ,” Dan mumbled beneath his breath as the three of them went about packing the ATV trailers in the vehicle shed.

  “She has been acting differently lately,” Brady agreed.

  “Happier,” Rafe commented as he hitched his trailer to his machine.

  “Yeah, happier.” Dan agreed. That was it. She did seem more cheerful. She had been in a bit of a funk since spring when her stepbrother had come around. He had stalked her and then kidnapped her. They’d been lucky that things hadn’t turned out worse than they did.

  Dan shivered involuntarily as a burst of anger grabbed him. The incident had been too scary for all of them. The close call had made all three of them more protective of JJ.

  Dan forced his dark thoughts of that horrible night back to the work at hand and quickly tossed his knapsack beside the two bear-proof coolers in the trailer hooked to his own ATV.

  They were heading out to the mid-pastures to move more cows through the forests to the fresher northern pastures. Those meadows were closer to the railroad and when the time came in October for the final cattle drive, the cows that were ready for slaughter would be closer to transportation and ready to go.

  They estimated that this particular trip that began today would last three days. It was the longest they had ever been away from JJ.

  Over the past weeks of August, they had been working hard doing the haying and also moving small herds farther and farther north. But they had made it a point that at least one of them was with JJ every night. This would be Dan’s last time away from her until the October cattle drive which would keep them from JJ for a week.

  He was pretty nervous leaving her here on her own. They all were.

  Except JJ.

  He had expected her anxiety and panic attacks to kick in by now, but at breakfast she had been cheerful.

  “She’s up to something,” Rafe muttered beneath his breath as he tied a tarp over the supplies in his trailer.

  “She’s cute when she’s up to something,” Brady said with a grin.

  “Hey, she’s always cute,” Rafe injected.

  They all laughed and agreed.

  “If I didn’t have to get these tags onto the cattle during this last trip, I would be having a repeat performance of last night,” Dan teased them. He couldn’t help but brag, just a little, after spending his night alone with JJ.

  The three of them took turns with her. They each had their alone night with her and then every fourth evening they shared her. He had never met such a willing female sexual partner. It was liberating.

  He suspected her exploration of sex had something to do with spending so many years in prison. She had not expected to get out ten years earlier. Had he been in her shoes, he would be catching up for lost time too.

  “Well, Dan, my man, not to worry, because the first one back here in three days will have some quality time with her. And I’m betting it will be me.” Brady flashed his even white teeth at Dan.

  Son of a bitch.

  “So that’s why you picked the southeast quarter to work. It was closer to the ranch. Sneaky,” Dan growled.

  Lucky bastard. He wished he had thought of that.

  “Let’s just get our asses moving. The faster we get our work finished, the faster we get back to find out what JJ is up to,” Rafe said with a wink. He placed his helmet over his head and buckled the strap.

  A moment later, he fired up his vehicle, tossed the guys a wave, and roared out of the shed, leaving a blue cloud of acrid-smelling fuel.

  “That little bugger. He thinks this is a race,” Brady said with a shake of his head. His eyes glittered with mischief and a second later, he’d placed on his helmet, fired up his vehicle and, with a quick wave to Dan, followed Rafe.

  For a moment, Dan thought about staying for a couple of hours with JJ. Just to keep her company and ask her if she really was okay with them being away from her for so long. But then he frowned at the idea. She would think he was just being a clucking mother hen. He needed to trust her when she said she would be fine.

  He shoved his safety helmet onto his head, buckled it, straddled his machine and a moment later he angled his vehicle out of the shed and closed the door. He climbed back onto his vehicle and tossed a wave to JJ, who was hanging laundry on an outdoor clothesline.

  She waved back and looked quite happy. A wide smile brightened her face and her long auburn hair blew in the autumn wind.

  Well, hell, she didn’t appear nervous at all. Yep, she was definitely up to something.

  Whew, I thought the guys would never leave.

  JJ breathed a sigh of relief as Dan’s ATV disappeared up the trail where Rafe and Brady had just gone.

  Hurriedly, she finished hanging the clothes and rushed into the ranch house to get ready.

  Half an hour later, JJ stood on the dock gazing out across the choppy blue waters, watching the white bush plane as it glided toward her on the lake.

  Good heavens! Her heart was about to bust right out of her chest at the thought of what she was about to do.

  Had she totally lost her mind? Yes, she must have. Her legs began to shake as she spied the flight instructor’s face in the window.

  Kaley waved. Her pretty smile did little to alleviate JJ’s anxiety. Her stomach rolled with anxiety.

  Oh God, she was going to be sick. She was going to puke right here. She was going to hurl her breakfast right into the lake.

  But JJ also knew, after being sick, she would climb into that plane. Just like she had been doing all summer, every time the guys had been away.

  Exposure therapy. It was a bitch. But it worked for her. With the help of co
gnitive therapy — learning to change the way she talked to herself about doom and gloom scenarios of the plane’s walls closing in on her — she had also been practicing how to breathe through the panic her active imagination created.

  To make matters even more challenging, she’d obtained her student pilot license and had been learning how to fly a small plane. This plane was a pretty big one compared to what the other pilots at North Country Air flew, but Kaley swore it was the best. Her Cessna Caravan could hold up to sixteen passengers and a bunch of cargo. It was a 1997 and had been brought over from Sweden in 2006 by a pilot friend of Kaley’s. Kaley had purchased it for way over a million dollars in 2008.

  “Are you ready, JJ? We’re forgoing the outside pre-flight inspection since I know you know it perfectly,” Kaley called from the open doorway. Her shoulder-length wavy honey-blonde hair blew around her face in the wind. She had expertly maneuvered the Cessna right up along the side the large dock and was waving to JJ to come inside.

  Kaley’s shout snapped JJ out of her momentary funk. She grabbed her knapsack, the one she carried on her with all her emergency items; a first aid kit, water, water purifying tablets,, waterproof matches, a tiny emergency stove and dried packs of food, in case the plane had to make an emergency landing.

  She tossed the pack to Kaley who caught it with ease and dropped it inside the plane.

  “Now, your turn,” Kaley said in a firm voice.

  JJ froze as a wave of panic descended over her. Her throat went dry and her heart began a crazy fast beat.

  Shit! Now was not the time to lose it.

  “You can do it. Just breathe and don’t forget those happy thoughts!” Kaley shouted.

  JJ nodded jerkily.

  Happy thoughts. Yeah, right.

  Oh man, she was nuts doing this.

  “Come on, JJ. Remember. Baby steps. You have been doing this all summer. Let’s go or the plane will float away without you and you’ll have to swim for it. You don’t want to do that, do you?” Kaley flashed JJ a huge smile that popped out deep dimples in Kaley’s cheeks.

  She extended her hand and JJ didn’t hesitate. She swallowed her panic, stepped onto the nearest pontoon and grabbed Kaley’s hand.

  She could do this. She would do this. She wanted so badly to be free from her fears and become an asset to her men. Being able to fly them in and out of here, especially if there was a health emergency…the helplessness of being unable to help Dan by getting him to a hospital this past spring had been the flame that had lit her wick to get her ass in gear and retrain her brain.

  In a moment, she was in the plane and Kaley had placed JJ’s knapsack on one of the seats nearest to the cockpit.

  “Oh hey, I got some mail for you,” Kaley said as she held out a letter. JJ accepted the white envelope.

  Who in the world would be writing to her here? She had no friends, aside from a handful of female pilots at North Country Air who knew her. A quick glance at the name and address had JJ frowning. The letter was from a former cellmate of hers from the penitentiary.

  She wished she could read the letter now, but instead she tucked it into a side pocket of her knapsack. She would have to read it later.

  It was time to fly.

  She sat in the pilot’s seat, and checked the gauges. Everything looked good. It was textbook perfect.

  Kaley did a great job in maintaining her plane, and so far JJ had never come across a problem during the in-flight checks.

  “Okay, start the plane and take her down to the other end of lake just like the last time.”

  JJ nodded. Unfamiliar confidence whispered through her.

  Yeah, she could do this. Just like last time. She had already taken the plane around the lake many times. She knew how to read the instrument panel like the back of her hand. Heck, when she was asleep, she even dreamed that she was flying.

  Yes. She could do this.

  * * * * *

  Just one more night, until I see JJ again, Brady thought as he stared into the orange flames of the evening campfire. He chuckled and shook his head. He’d realized months ago that every time he was alone, his thoughts drifted to JJ. And many times, just like now, he would remember the first time he’d seen her. She’d stepped off the small plane where it had landed on the frozen lake right outside of their ranch.

  Brady had asked his sister, Jenna, to send a man or two, through her Cowboys Online business where she supplied ex-cons with jobs on ranches. But JJ had turned out to be a woman, and she had been wrapped from head to toe in winter gear, as if she’d been afraid of the cold.

  She’d also been drunk, having broken into the North Country Air pilot’s cargo of wine she was supposed to deliver to the wilderness retreat a hundred miles east of Moose Ranch. Turned out JJ had a claustrophobia problem, accompanied by anxiety and panic, and had hoped the wine would calm her nerves. It had, and it had made her pretty bold that night too. She had told him between hiccups that he was grumpy but cute.

  Brady smiled. Truth be told though, despite his anger at his sister, Jenna, for deceiving them in sending them a woman instead of a man, JJ had been the prettiest woman he’d ever laid eyes on.

  He had never imagined she could become more beautiful. But she had.

  His heart hurt every time he thought about her being caged like an animal for ten years in a penitentiary. Anger pushed aside his hurt when he thought of why she had been put in prison in the first place. Something as simple as self-defense with extenuating circumstances should have gotten her probation or exonerated. Hell, her case should never have gone to trial in the first place.

  Thankfully, she had eventually been given a full pardon. She could go anywhere, yet she stayed here with them.

  Brady frowned. Did she stay because she couldn’t get herself on a plane and fly out of here due to her anxiety? If she had no anxiety or panic issues, would she have left them? Because of her problems, did she feel like a prisoner, except with imaginary bars?

  A wolf howled off in the distance and Brady shivered at the lonesome sound. He tossed another split log onto the fire. Yellow sparks burst into the black sky. The fire flared higher but did little to chase away the chill in the air.

  Brady zipped up his jean jacket, hunkered into his makeshift chair and pulled his cowboy hat lower over his ears. Soon he would have to turn in this hat for a toque, because winter was coming. But by wearing his cowboy hat, he felt close to JJ.

  He grinned. Her fascination with cowboy hats amused him. She said they turned her on. And boy, did they. Her eyes would sparkle and she had this cute little half-smile when she got the three of them wearing their hats at the same time.

  A cow bawled from somewhere close by. Through the drifts of mist, he could make out the silhouettes of cattle as they settled for the night. The last couple of days he had moved over a hundred animals. Some to other pastures and some to this pasture. Tomorrow he would move many more dozen. Then he would go home and have his night with JJ..

  Man, he could hardly wait to see her again. But in the meantime…He reached for his satellite phone.

  “Hi Brady! Where are you now? Did you have supper? Are you cold?” JJ asked in a gush as she heard Brady’s voice on the phone.

  Static crackled and for a moment she thought the call had already been dropped but then Brady answered.

  “Just sitting here by the fire freezing my ass off, baby girl. How’s it going your end? Are you all right? Did the guys call you already?”

  JJ grinned.

  All three men had called her every night, checking up on her. She looked forward to evenings and to their conversations after flying the skies and then returning to the ranch to play the domestic woman. She was experiencing the best of both worlds. Pilot and hausfrau.

  “I heard from Rafe earlier and I just got off with Dan. You didn’t answer my question about supper. You weren’t too tired to cook something warm, were you?”

  Brady chuckled.

  “You old mother hen. Yes, I had supper
and I must say those chocolate eclairs you made tasted damned good my first night. If you were here, I would have made you lick the cream off my lips.”

  Warmth burst through her at Brady’s compliment. She loved it when the guys couldn’t get enough of her cooking and her baking.

  “Chocolate eclairs, like in plural. You ate all three of them at once? I made one for each night. And each of them big enough so you wouldn’t need to eat all three of them at once.”

  Laughter. “Too late.”

  JJ shook her head. Gosh, she ached for him to be back here with her. It was too miserable a night for them to be away and outdoors. Although Rafe and Dan had old cabins to hunker down in, Brady was in an area of the ranch tonight where there was no cabin.

  A gust of wind blew against the office windows and a shiver crept up her back at the creepy noise. Ordinarily it wouldn’t have bothered her, but she’d been here alone the past two nights and the loneliness of them being away was starting to get to her. How in the world would she survive it in October when they were gone for a whole week?

  JJ looked out the window. It was pitch-black outside. She couldn’t even see the lake. And from all that wind pummelling against the ranch house, she knew autumn was coming in like a lion. She would not be surprised in the least if the electricity went out. She glanced at shelf by the doorway to the hall and relaxed. A flashlight stood there in case it was needed.

  “Did you put your long johns on?” she asked, trying to keep her voice cheerful. Despite her uneasiness, JJ didn’t want Brady picking up that anxiety was creeping around her tonight. He had a job to do and babysitting her was not one of them.

  “Wish you were here with me so you could see exactly how much action my long johns are getting in a certain area. I am missing you like crazy.”

  JJ’s breath halted in her lungs. Naughty man.

  “I really miss you too, Brady.” I miss all three of you.

  She waited for an answer and cursed silently when none came.