“The worst kind, too,” she said. “A reverse snob. You’re so busy looking down on people with money, you don’t give them credit for being people at all.”
“That’s not true.”
“Really?” She tapped the toe of her boot against the grass and folded her arms over her chest. “Sterling drives you crazy. You met my sister for five minutes and dismissed her.”
“She’s ridiculous,” he argued.
“Maybe, but you don’t get to make that judgment based on listening to one conversation.”
“One was enough,” he said fervently.
“And worst of all,” she went on as if he hadn’t spoken, “you had me failing before this experiment even began, didn’t you?”
He shook his head. “I gave you a fair chance.”
“A chance, anyway. Hardly fair. Not if you already had me judged before I began.”
“I told you I thought you’d done a good job so far.”
“Aha!” She stabbed the air with her finger. “So far. Leaving me plenty of room to fail.”
“Look,” he said, clearly irritated, “you can’t blame me for making judgments. I’ve known plenty of women like your sister, and you come from the same crop, so to speak. Why should I believe you’re different?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Open your eyes, maybe?” This was just infuriating. Chloe was trembling with waves of indignation. Her whole life, she’d been the outsider in her family. The one who didn’t fit in. Didn’t belong. Now she found the place she wanted to be and still she didn’t belong. “Haven’t I done everything you and Mike have asked of me?”
“Yeah, you have.” He pulled his hat back on and lowered the brim over his eyes.
“I’ve mucked out stalls, fed cattle, fixed fencing, all without a complaint.” And she was damn proud of it.
“You have,” he admitted, and folded his arms across his chest too. Now they stood like bookends, facing each other, neither of them giving an inch.
“So if that’s all true, why do you still think I’ll fail?”
“Because you’ve been doing it for a couple weeks. Once the newness wears off, things will change.”
“Because I don’t care about my dreams as much as you did about yours?”
His lips twisted into a frown. “Dreams have nothing to do with this.”
“Of course they do!” She swept her arms out, encompassing the beautiful ranch. The life he’d built for himself because he’d dreamed it and made it happen. “This is what you did because of your dreams.”
“And it took me years, not weeks.”
“And that makes a difference?”
“It does,” he snapped. “When something comes easy, you don’t appreciate it as much.”
“Easy?” Hurt tangled in her chest, squeezed her heart and made her sound breathless. “I’ve been working my whole life to carve out what I want for myself. I’ve stepped away from my family’s expectations and started my own path, and you call that easy? My God, who do you think you are, anyway?”
“I know exactly who I am, Chloe,” he said softly. “It’s you I’m not so sure about.”
Another slap and this time she nearly staggered. She’d thought they had a connection. That they’d forged a bond of some sort during the two days they were trapped together during the storm. Since then, they’d built on that, or so she’d thought. These last couple of weeks at the Perry Ranch, Chloe had believed she’d earned his respect if nothing else, but apparently she’d been fooling herself.
“Easy,” she repeated, her voice a low throb of hurt and insult. “That’s what you said, right? That I would get my dream too easily?”
“Chloe—”
“You once said you admired how I went after my dream, do you remember?”
“Yeah, I do.” He shoved his hands into his jeans pockets.
“I’ve held up my end of our bargain, haven’t I?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve got what, another week to go?”
“About that.”
“Fine.” She breathed deep, drawing in enough air to feed the fire burning deep in her gut. “When the time’s up, you’re going to have to admit that I won.”
“It’s not a contest, Chloe,” he said tightly.
“Oh, yes it is.” She shook her hair back, lifted her chin and locked her gaze with his. “All my life, people have been telling me no, you can’t, you won’t. Well, every time they said it, the words only fired my determination to prove them wrong. This time won’t be any different.”
“Damn it, Chloe—”
“And as for the ‘newness’ wearing off...” she continued, cutting him off neatly. “Well, you don’t have to worry about that. I pass your test, I get the land. That was our deal.”
“I know what the damn deal was.”
“Good. Just make sure you honor it.”
“I don’t go back on my word,” he said, sounding as insulted as she felt.
“Well, how can I be sure? Turns out I don’t really know you, either.”
* * *
Two days later, Liam was a man on edge. And walking across the yard to a meeting with Sterling wasn’t improving his mood any.
Since their confrontation at his ranch, he and Chloe had hardly spoken. She’d moved out of his room and back to the guest bedroom, and that was eating at him. Probably for the best, he kept telling himself, though his dick didn’t believe him.
And it was more than the sex he missed, damn it.
He liked waking up with her snuggled against him. Liked how she smiled at him when she first opened her eyes. Liked the way she sang in the shower. Liked too damn much about her, really.
But memories of her sister crowded into his brain and reminded him that Chloe was no different at the core of it. How could he trust her when a part of him was waiting for her to become who she was born to be?
Nine
“I need you to do something for me this Saturday.” Sterling Perry leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers on the desktop.
Liam slapped his hat against his thigh. Impatient, he’d been making small talk with Sterling for a few minutes now. He was supposed to meet Mike out on the range, show him the canyons where the herd was most likely to wander. Instead, he was standing here, waiting for Sterling to get to the point. God, he was looking forward to being at his own place.
He liked Sterling fine, but the man had a way of stalling, dragging things out that drove Liam nuts. “Yeah, so you said earlier. What’ve you got in mind?”
“Simple,” his boss said. “I was invited to an engagement party for your girl Chloe’s younger sister.”
Liam stiffened. Cagey as ever, Sterling noticed plenty even if he was rarely out and about on the ranch. Somehow, he’d picked up on what was between Liam and Chloe. “She’s not my girl. Not anybody’s girl. She’s a woman.”
Nodding, Sterling said with some amusement, “So you did notice.”
Oh, he’d noticed all right. Not that it was any of his boss’ concern. “Sterling—”
The older man shook his head and held up one finger for silence. “Not my point. What you do on your own time is your business. But her father is something else again. Hemsworth is a client. I should be represented there, but I’ve no interest in going.”
Liam scowled. “Neither do I.”
Sterling actually laughed. “Yes, I know. But you’re still my foreman and I need you to be there, representing me and the ranch.”
This wasn’t the first time Sterling had thrown a curveball at Liam. He’d stood in for the older man at meetings, at the new TCC, at horse auctions and now, it seemed, at an engagement party. Well, he wasn’t going to surrender without a fight. Hell, he’d met Ellen Hemsworth for five minutes and couldn’t stand her. Not to mention that Chloe would be there and he was, at the moment, acti
vely avoiding her.
“Damn it, going to parties isn’t part of my job.” There was nothing he wanted to do less than go to that particular celebration. Hell, it sounded like torture. Mingling with the rich and useless. Making small talk with people he didn’t give a damn about. Plus, it was black tie. Wearing a damn tux all night?
“It is now,” Sterling said flatly. “You represent the Perry Ranch at the party, Liam. We keep our clients happy.”
“Send Mike,” Liam said, grasping for any straw at all. The fact that it meant he was throwing a friend under the bus didn’t bother him in this case, either. “He’s your new foreman. He should get used to dealing with this stuff.”
Even at seventy, Sterling Perry was an intimidating figure. His brown hair was graying at the temples, but that was the only sign that he’d surrendered to the years. Liam waited for the man to respond, even though he was pretty sure what he’d have to say. He wasn’t wrong.
Sterling frowned. “Mike Hagen isn’t foreman until you’ve completed your debt to me, Liam. You’re almost clear of it, so just do your job when I tell you to do it and we won’t have a problem.”
Liam was caught and he knew it. He’d given his word to work off his debt to Sterling, and until the old man told him it was paid in full, Liam didn’t have a choice. Which the cagey old bastard knew.
When Sterling picked up the phone and started dialing, the dismissal was apparent. Liam had to swallow back his anger. There’d be no argument here. Sterling ran his ranch like a kingdom, and like any good king, he didn’t take any crap from the peasants.
So it looked like Liam was going to a party.
Frustrated, angry and ready to bite someone’s head off, Liam stomped out of the office and got halfway down the hall before Esme Perry stopped him.
“Wow, Dad has quite the effect on you.”
He turned his head To look at her. “Not in the mood, Esme.”
“This about the big engagement party?”
“You know about it?” He turned to watch her stroll down the staircase as she had the last time he’d had a meeting with Sterling. The one that had gotten him into this whole mess. “Do you actually lurk on the staircase waiting for me to get in a fight with your father?”
She laughed a little. “Believe me, I have better things to do. As for this party, everybody knows about it. Supposed to be a big event. The Hemsworths aren’t known for their subtlety.”
“Great. Are you going?” he asked, thinking if she was, then he didn’t have to. Who better to represent the Perrys than one of them?
“Oh, hell no,” she said, laughing. “It’s all on you, Liam. You’re the representative this time.”
“Lucky me.”
“No, lucky me,” she said. “Ellen Hemsworth is a silly twit. She gives me a headache.”
“She’s a piece of work all right,” he muttered, remembering the woman hopping up and down waving a gigantic diamond in the air. Then he remembered Chloe standing there in her jeans and boots, looking and acting nothing like her sister.
“Thank God all Chloe shares with Ellen is a last name,” Esme said, as if reading his mind. “She’s smart. Capable.”
“Yeah,” he murmured reluctantly. “She is.”
“I like her.”
He heard the curiosity in her tone. Liam shot her a look. “Is there a point to this?”
“Do I need one?” Esme laughed and shook her hair back from her face. “Honestly, Liam, I’m not blind. And I do live here. I’ve seen the two of you together, and you look pretty cozy to me.”
Liam shouldn’t have been surprised that people at the ranch—Esme and her father included—had noticed he and Chloe spending time together. But it irritated him just the same.
“People pay too much attention to things that aren’t their own business.”
“Probably, but where’s the fun in minding my own?” She came down the last of the stairs and looked up at him. The amusement on her features faded away at the look in his eyes. “Trouble in paradise?”
He glared at her. They might be friends, but he wasn’t the kind of man to talk out his problems and have someone pat his head. He didn’t do “sharing.” “Leave it alone, Esme.”
“God, you’re a stubborn man,” she said with a sigh. “Okay, fine. No more talk about Chloe. Back to the party. Just relax about it, Liam. You’re almost finished here at the ranch. What’s one more event? You’ve only got what? One week left?”
“Little less.”
She smiled. “Well then, you’ll soon be free.”
“Yeah, guess I will,” he said.
As free as he could be with Chloe’s camp at his ranch and him having to see her at least once a month. He didn’t know what the hell he’d been thinking, offering up his ranch for her cowgirl camp. If he hadn’t, she’d have set up shop here at Sterling’s place and he wouldn’t have had to see her again.
And he suddenly didn’t know what would be worse. Seeing her a lot. Or never seeing her again. Hell, there was just no way to win here.
So she’d have her camp and they’d be...strangers who’d seen each other naked. No problem.
“Now that’s interesting,” Esme mused, tapping one finger against her bottom lip.
“What?” Wary, he gave her a hard look.
“Well, for a soon to be free man, you don’t look real happy about it.”
“I’m plenty happy,” he snapped.
“Yes,” she said with a grin as her eyebrows lifted. “I can hear that in your carefree tone.”
She stood there, looking cool and pretty and amused, and that just fried Liam’s ass. Friend or no friend, he wasn’t going to be her entertainment for the day.
“Damn it, Esme, I’ve got work to do,” he ground out, then stalked down the entry way and out the front door, Esme’s laughter following after him.
He needed some damn air.
* * *
Chloe was bored to tears.
Her sister’s engagement party was like every formal event Chloe had ever attended. And it proved why she’d always hated them. It was crowded, noisy and sure to make her want to run away in under an hour. She’d been there only forty-five minutes and she’d started checking out the closest exit. No one would even notice she was gone. Since she was in the big backyard with most of the crowd, all she’d have to do was slip out the side gate and get one of the valets to bring her car around.
Then she sighed. She wasn’t going to run and she knew it, in spite of how much fun it was to plan her escape. Having family wasn’t always easy. Ellen was silly, too young to get married and in no way ready to be an adult, but she was also Chloe’s sister, so here Chloe would stay. She just hoped the waiters kept the champagne coming.
The band was tucked into a corner near the custom patio, playing classics from her father’s generation. There were a few couples dancing, but most people were huddled in groups, lost in conversations that seemed to ebb and flow around her like waves on the ocean.
Chloe took a sip of champagne and looked at the party through the critical eyes of an event planner. There were twinkling white fairy lights strung in the trees and across the open spaces. Tables and chairs were set up haphazardly, and waiters wandered the yard offering trays of canapés and drinks.
If she’d been designing the party, Chloe would have arranged the tables in a half circle, giving dancers more room to move. The lights wouldn’t have been twinkling, and the waiters would know to crisscross the yard to make sure everyone was covered.
But her father hadn’t bothered to ask her to organize the event. Mostly, she thought, because he didn’t want to help her be a success. He wanted her to fail spectacularly so she’d fall back into line with his plans for her life. He’d had her office fixed so quickly, because how could she fail if she didn’t have an office to work from? Besides, what would people think if Chloe�
��s father allowed her to work in some dismal, dank building? Oh, she knew how her father thought. What he expected of her and she knew that part of his disgust with her “little” business was the idea of her making customers out of his friends. Working for people he socialized with.
“And, this is getting you nowhere, Chloe,” she murmured and took another sip of champagne. She’d give the party another hour, and then she’d leave. Go back to the Perry Ranch. Back to the house where she and Liam were living like strangers.
Chloe stared across the manicured back lawn to where her sister and Brad were accepting congratulations from the adoring crowd. At least Ellen looked happy. Chloe hoped this marriage would work out, and maybe it would. The happy couple wanted the same things, after all. Prestige and pretty lives.
As her own heart was aching, she thought that maybe it was better to live Ellen’s way. Don’t expect too much and then you’re never disappointed. But you were never really happy, either. So did you risk the hurt for the chance at happiness? Or was it better to just take what was offered and convince yourself you were satisfied?
Another sip of champagne and she pushed her thoughts aside. She’d have lots of time to consider what she’d done or should have done. Years. Because she couldn’t imagine ever feeling for anyone else what she did for Liam. How could she try to find love with someone else when her heart would always be with him?
“Looks like some dark thoughts for a party.”
She jolted and looked up into Liam’s lake-blue eyes. She hadn’t heard him approach. Again. “You know, being stealthy is really annoying.”
He gave her a half smile. “I’ll work on that.”
God, he looked wonderful. Black dress Stetson, a tux that had clearly been tailored to fit his muscled, rangy body and gleaming black boots. He looked the image of every romantic cowboy fantasy. And he was staring at her as if he wanted to take a bite.
She shivered and wished he would.
“What’re you doing here, Liam?”
“Sterling sent me as his representative,” he said, glancing around the massive yard and all the people gathered there. When he looked back at her, his gaze swept her up and down.
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