Erin released a tight breath. “I didn’t come out to get a lecture on safety, although I appreciate you giving me one.”

“Why did you come out here, then?”

“To ask how you think I did today. Honest answer, please.”

“You did fine, but the true test will come tomorrow and the next day. If you can still walk in the morning, I’ll give you an A for your performance today.”

Erin had never heard anything quite so ridiculous. “I’m not a hothouse orchid. I can work as hard and as efficiently as any man you put me up against.”

“Whoa. I’m not putting you up against anyone. Get that kind of thinking straight out of your head. I know you pushed yourself too hard today, and that isn’t necessary. Ranching isn’t a male-dominated field. It never has been. Women have been ranchers as far back as the eighteen hundreds. Probably hundreds of years before that in other countries. They’re just as capable as men, but they do have a few physical limitations that men aren’t as likely to have.”

Erin wanted to tell him that she would show him some physical limitations, but she wouldn’t be the one who had them.

“You aren’t hearing me,” he said softly. “I see that prideful, defiant look in your eyes. Lose it. There’s no place for it on this ranch.”

She straightened away from the fence and struggled to get rid of the look on her face that he found objectionable. She needed this job. As of last night, she’d said farewell to her career in law enforcement and had no other means of earning money. She’d thought about getting a food-service job, but she feared she’d be lousy at it. If Wyatt sent her packing, she didn’t know what she would do.

His mouth quirked up at one corner, which made him look boyish. Only she knew that was deceptive. Wyatt was a hard, unbending man just like her uncle. He’d had to be. At the same time, he seemed to have a good heart. It was an attractive combination.

“You need to slow down,” he continued in that same, soft voice. “Pay attention to your body. This isn’t the controlled environment of a gym. When you lift weights there, the bars are evenly balanced and you assume a certain stance that protects your skeletal structure and muscles. Out here, you can get hurt in a nanosecond if you try to lift something you shouldn’t. Most of it is awkward, dead weight, and just one wrong twist of your hips can injure your back.”

“I’ll be careful.”

“If something is too heavy, get creative with the skidder to move it. We’re not in competition with one another. Steady and slow wins every race. All that matters at the end of a day is that the important work is done, and I stress the word important. On a ranch, you learn to prioritize. Unexpected work that’s important will crop up late in the day, and even if you’ve paced yourself, you can end up so exhausted you can barely lift your feet. Get the important stuff done as early as you can and then pace yourself as you do other things. At quitting time, the important things are that the animals are safe, fed, and watered. During the growing season, the irrigation schedule is also a top priority. Back off and slow down. A rancher who hurries is a rancher who gets injured.”