My Kind of Trouble by Becky McGraw

looked at his mangled fist, then placed a kiss near his
wrist. "Don't honey, he's not worth it."
     
    Luke's chest was heaving and anger poured
off him in waves. He swallowed thickly, then looked at her. There
was a red haze in his eyes, that was slow to clear. Anger smoldered
there and something else. Hatred blacker than any she'd ever seen,
especially in this man's eyes. Even when he'd kicked Jimmy Jones'
ass when they were teenagers, he hadn't looked like this. Murder
had definitely not been out of the question here.
     
    When Luke's breathing calmed down a little
he wiped his knuckles on the unconscious man's shirt and shook her
hand off his shoulder to stand up, then he stepped over the man. He
turned his back to her and leaned down with his hands on his knees.
"Get me a rope. I don't have my cuffs with me."
     
    She scurried out through the door and
grabbed a rope down from the peg. Going back inside, she handed it
to him and watched as he rolled the man over and expertly hog-tied
his hands to his feet like a professional roper in a rodeo. She
expected to him to stand and throw his hands up for a time when he
finished, but he didn't. Instead, he walked over to her and pulled
her into his arms hugging her fiercely. "You sure know how to
attract trouble don't you, darlin'?"
     
    She sighed deeply then gave him a watery
chuckle. "Looks that way, darlin'," she said and snuggled her cheek
against the soft cotton t-shirt of his t-shirt. Her arms went
around his waist and she hugged him back. "Thanks for the
rescue...again," she mumbled against his chest.
     
    "I'll always be here for you, cupcake," he
said in a low growl then kissed the top of her head. Then he pushed
her away and looked her over carefully. "Did he hurt you?"
     
    "Nah, but I'd have hurt him if I'd have
landed that knee to his balls. That's twice now that move has
failed me. I need to practice, I'm a little rusty." She lifted an
eyebrow then asked with humor in her eyes, "Care to volunteer?" Her
eyes followed his hand down when he moved it to cover his crotch
and she laughed.
     
    "No way, sugar. I just barely avoided that
move the other night."
     
    She glanced over at the unconscious man
lying on his side with his hands and feet trussed up behind him.
"What're we gonna do with him?"
     
    "We're going up to the house to call Cole,
so he can come and haul this piece of trash out of here," he ground
out between clenched teeth then leaned over and picked up his hat
and dusted it off.
     
    Luke saw interest spark in her blue eyes
then she said, "You and Cole still hanging out together?"
     
    "He's my Chief Deputy...and still my best
friend. He's covering for me while I'm out here."
     
    "Then I'll have to thank him," she told him
with a grin. "Maybe I'll ask him to come by for supper."
     
    "He'd probably appreciate that." Although
his friend was loyal to a fault, he didn't really want him around
Cassie. Cole had been on the verge of asking her out himself way
back when, right before Luke had. Jealousy seemed to be a constant
knife twisting in his gut where she was concerned, and Luke
couldn't seem to stop it. Even his best friend wasn't immune from
him. Luke didn't want any man touching her...except him. And he
didn't have the right to do that anymore...not that it was going to
stop him.
     
    They walked up to the house side by side and
ran into Bud on the way. Luke told him what happened and they found
out the man was the newest hand that Bud had hired. They had to
almost physically restrain Bud, when he grabbed his rifle from the
saddle and was headed out to the barn to take care of the scumbag,
as he'd called him. Instead, they managed to wrangle Bud up to the
house with them and Luke called Cole.
     
    A little while later, Cole pulled up the
long dusty driveway of the ranch in his department-issued SUV and
pulled to a stop in front of the house. They all walked outside and
met him at the porch steps.
     
    He got out of the truck and walked over to
them.