More Than Pride by Kell, Amber (good books to read for beginners TXT) 📕

bad road. His new employer didn’t need to know how hard up he was—body and soul. There wasn’t a cowboy alive who hadn’t broken, sprained or damaged at least one body part…and if there was, they weren’t working hard enough.

Glen’s muscles stretched and loosened as he walked towards the building. By the time he reached the freshly painted front porch he was walking almost normally—a bit bowlegged, but normal for him.

Before he knocked on the door, it was whipped open and a gorgeous young man peered at him through the screen door. “Hello!”

“Um, hello there.” Glen replied. “I’m looking for Baron Remington. Is he here?”

“Nope.” The blond’s brilliant smile took the sting out of his response. “I’m about to announce lunch so you might as well come in and grab something to eat. You must be Jeffrey’s cousin.”

The screen door opened and the slim young man motioned him inside.

“Yeah, I’m Glen King.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Tyler. Baron’s my brother.”

They shook hands. Glen kept his touch gentle. He didn’t want to hurt the smaller man.

Not to mention if he was brother and lover to the owners, it was best to stay on his good side.

Tyler pulled a smartphone from his pocket and pushed a series of buttons before returning it to his pocket. “The men will be here in a minute. I suggest you come stand over here by me so you don’t get trampled.”

The words had barely left Tyler’s lips when the sound of footsteps reached Glen’s ears.

Loud voices echoed in the entry and a line began to form into a room on the left. Looking to the right, he realised it wasn’t the dining area.

He turned a curious look towards Tyler.

“Oh, they’re washing up. Margaret, the old cook, has them trained. She’s gone to live with her relatives now, but luckily she broke them in while she was here.”

The grin he received warmed him on the inside, a sensation that ended quickly when a big man with dark eyes and dark hair looked at Glen as if he were measuring the size of Glen’s coffin and fixing to put him in it.

“Hey babe,” Tyler’s smile could’ve powered the county.

The big cowboy’s expression went from maniacal to tender in the space of a second.

Right in front of everyone, the man walked over, cupped Tyler’s face and plastered the hottest kiss Glen had ever seen outside of a porn video smack on Tyler’s lips.

He discreetly adjusted himself as he watched the two men embrace.

When the cowboy released Tyler, the smaller man’s eyes weren’t focused and his lips had a tempting sheen. He blinked repeatedly at Glen.

“Cody, this is Glen. He’s Jeffrey’s cousin,” Tyler said, pointing towards Glen.

“Glen!”

He turned to see Jeff walking towards him. Jeff wrapped his thickly muscled arms around Glen and thumped him on the back. When Glen finally freed himself, he turned to shake Cody’s hand.

“Nice to meet you.” He gave Cody a firm grip, though not fighting for dominance. Even if his kiss with Tyler hadn’t confirmed his identity, Glen could almost feel the air of leadership pouring off the other man.

“Same here,” Cody said. He tucked Tyler in the crook of his arm and scooped his lover along as they walked to the dining room. “Jeff says you’ve been on a ranch since you were young.”

“Yeah, I grew up on one. My daddy’s health didn’t let him keep it so we moved to the city when I was in my teens. As soon as I could, I went back to it.” Glen couldn’t live without his horses and cattle. He hadn’t thrived in the city. He had hated the concrete, the noise and the incessant flow of people. Wide-open spaces and the smell of animals were his loves.

Cody gave him an understanding look. “We are short-handed right now and Jeffrey gave you a good recommendation. We’ll try you out for a few weeks and see how you fit in here. For now you can sit down and enjoy the best food in the country.”

Mutters of agreement rang around the table and an adorable blush crossed Tyler’s cheeks. A warning glance from Cody had him quickly shifting his gaze.

Got it. Don’t look at Tyler. “I’ll go wash up.”

He headed to the bathroom and quickly cleaned his dusty and sweaty hands. Returning to the dining room, he found an empty seat next to his cousin. Jeff gave him a wide smile and a friendly slap on the back. His cousin looked happy and healthy. Good. Of all his relatives, Jeff had always been one of Glen’s favourites.

A platter of chicken was handed over followed by mashed potatoes and buttery corn.

The first bite had him closing his eyes to better absorb the flavour. Spices exploded across his tongue as juice from the chicken filled his mouth.

Damn, that was good.

Swallowing, Glen opened his eyes to see the ranch hands watching him with amusement. “This is amazing.”

Jeff laughed. “Tyler’s the best damn cook I’ve ever met.”

“You made this?” He couldn’t stop the surprise in his voice. That would teach him to judge someone by appearance. Tyler had looked too pretty to be of much use, however anyone who cooked like this was worth his weight in gold…and considering Tyler wasn’t very big, more than his weight in gold.

Tyler blushed. “Yeah, it’s my thing.”

The chef kissed his lover on the cheek and headed to a door Glen guessed led to the kitchen.

He saw the ranch hands were all staring at him. “You’re lucky. At my last ranch we had an old cook who thought if the meat was more tender than shoe leather he was spoiling us.”

The men around the table laughed. “Tyler spoils us something rotten, and he also plans the menus for a fancy place in town,” Jeff told him.

Glen took a bite of the potatoes and barely held back a moan. Hell, he’d work for room and board if it included this type of cooking. Who really needed money anyway?

Jeff chuckled. “Three meals a day.