Western Pleasure (Colorado Cowboy Series)

by Mascaro, Christina

  Once again, she could vividly see his eyes underneath his black hat, his evening stubble curving and tracing the line of his jaw, and his pink cheeks coloring him beyond your typical romance novel cover image. She could see his lips, pale pink from being cold, and the way he gave her dog an affectionate ear tumble. He is too skinny to be hot.

  Frustrated, she forced her eyes open and saw Charlie staring at her, his chin on her belly, his eyes gleaming with excitement. He could tell her mind was active and reeling.

  “Charlie, you’re supposed to be tired,” she mused out loud. He perked his ears at the sound of his name, and then lowered them when he realized she wasn’t moving. With a sigh, Zoë changed the channel on the television, and threw herself back on the pillow wishing sleep would come without the high-def images of Logan.

  Chapter Two

  Zoë sat on the armchair in the main lodge, looking around. She was wearing a long sleeved shirt, jeans, and her hiking boots and she was still slightly cold. Despite entering the summer season, she wasn’t used to it being less than seventy degrees.

  The sitting area was large and grand, a fireplace that was empty and clean, and again, bear and moose pillows dotting the furniture. She patiently wiggled her legs to keep her blood flowing, and was slightly irritated when she saw Logan appear from a hallway.

  Seriously? I hope this guy isn’t the general manager. Where the hell is the owner? No wonder why they called me to help manage this place. She watched him approach her. She gave him another glance, noting that he was wearing his dirty cowboy boots again, what looked like pressed wrangler jeans, and that stupid black cowboy hat.

  “Well, I know we kinda asked you to be here to manage the office, but we’re a little late on hiring some wranglers. I hate to ask, but can you help me out with the horses?” Logan offered her a work vest. She stood up.

  “I guess, I mean…as long as it’s ok with the owner? Is he even here?” She took his offer of the vest and zipped it up, finding a pair of work gloves in the pocket. Logan gave her a half amused smile, and started walking toward the back of the lodge.

  “We need your help with the horses. You’re going to find that your position is a little bit of a jack of all trades,” he glanced over his shoulder to make sure she was trailing him. “That’s ok, isn’t it?” He stopped at the doorway. She didn’t answer him, pushing through the door behind him.

  She squinted at the bright sunlight, ten o’clock in the morning. Immediately, the horses began to run up to them. He had about forty or so in the pasture, all big, beautiful, and well kept. They all began to nuzzle her and pick at her pockets, and she laughed, pushing them away.

  “Don’t let them do that. I’m trying to train them to respect your space,” he warned, pushing through the crowd, searching for a few particular horses. “We need to grab eight for the farrier. He’s going to be here today and start shoeing these guys. Start with the grays,” he pulled the halters off the hook from the side of the lodge. He gestured to his left, pointing to the large barn.

  “Over there is the barn. I do not rush the horses at the barn. Around here, we take them one or two at a time. Don’t take more than you can handle, if you’re slow, you’ll get faster but I’m not going to be paying medical bills for you thinking you can handle more than you can,” he handed her two halters.

  Zoë pursed her lips slightly, accepting the halters and approaching the grays. Surprisingly, they were well behaved and were easily caught unlike the usual ranch horse. She had both grays in her hand and led them to the barn, glancing around to see where Logan was. Disappointingly, he had his back to her, not noticing how well she had accomplished her task.

  She tied the horses up to a tie-down, and threw open the door to the pasture, startling slightly when Logan stood before her, a horse in each hand. He paid no attention to her, gave her no special notice and kept walking forward, expecting her to get out of the way for the wide load coming through the door.

  Again, with disappointment, Zoë shuffled around the grouping and looked around at the other horses. Stop obsessing. You aren’t here for a relationship. You are NOT here for sex. You are here to learn how to be independent of the male race. Zoë scolded herself.

  “Who next?” She called out to Logan.

  “That big sorrel, and that little black,” he tried to point them out. Zoë retrieved two more halters, and wandered out into the pasture to retrieve the two. The horses immediately trotted up to her, and fifteen horses surrounded her. In the process of pushing through them to find who she was looking for, she bumped into Logan’s arm. He glanced down at her, and she suddenly realized how small she was in comparison to him. He barely budged when she knocked into his arm, and he was surprised to see her nudging him.

  “Sorry,” her cheeks flushed, and he gave her an amused glance.

  “Here,” he handed her the two horses he had corralled, and nudged her toward the barn. Embarrassed, she accepted the fact that she hadn’t accomplished what he had asked and walked quietly with the horses to the barn.

  She was surprised when she walked in and saw another young woman standing inside the barn, welcoming in the farrier.

  “Hi there, you must be Zoë,” the girl stuck out her hand. Zoë halted in her tracks and looked at the girl. She seemed friendly enough, but there she stood in her tight jeans and white sweater, a pair of fancy cowgirl boots pulled over her tight jeans, and her blond hair perfectly perfect, no static and not a strand out of place. Her skin was fair and her face was bordering on round, but she was still a classic beauty.

  “Yeah, I am,” Zoë smiled. “Did you want me to tie them up or leave them in a stall?”

  “Well, my name’s Holly. Did Logan tell you about me?” She gave her a wide smile.

  “Um, no, but I got in late last night, and just started pulling horses this morning,” Zoë faked an apology.

  “Well, go ahead and tie the horses off. I’m sure Logan won’t need you any more today,” Holly offered her a crosstie. Zoë clipped in the horses and stepped off to the side.

  “Hey, I’ve been waiting all morning for you!” Logan yelled from the back of the barn. Holly’s face lit up when she saw him.

  “Yeah, sorry. Had to attend to a little business before coming in. Settle up the hay delivery because you didn’t do it.” Holly brushed past Zoë and hooked her arm through Logan’s. Zoë turned her eyes to the ground, and kicked at the dirt a little. For someone she wasn’t interested in, it bothered her to see Holly so close to Logan. You must be the resident flooz. Zoë noted with irritation.

  “Hey, take care of these horses while I get Zoë settled into the front and help her out with the desk for a little. Once she’s good, I’ll come back out,” Logan handed Holly the two lead ropes he was holding and motioned toward Zoë. “That okay?” He looked at her.

  “Yeah, that sounds great. Just point me to the computers and I’ll start setting up scheduling, and whatever you need,” Zoë gave a wane smile.

  Logan swept past her and headed toward the front of the lodge. Zoë stepped out into the sunlight and noticed that next to her car were a few others. Logan threw open the door and waited for her to enter, and she stopped, waiting for him.

  “Well, go in,” he gestured through the open door.

  “Oh,” she walked through the door, shocked.

  “Don’t men open the door for women where you come from?” He let the door shuffle shut and caught up to her. Zoë didn’t answer and waited for his instructions on what to do. “C’mon, let’s go,” he adjusted his hat again. He led her down a back hallway to a laundry room.

  “As the office manager, you’ll be expected to keep on top of the lodge staff. The wranglers will be left up to me with the exception of guest relations. When it comes to the horses, that’s my job. But anything regarding any customers is yours.” He pointed to the laundry facilities. “We have a pretty large maid staff in the summer. Most of them are already hired in and arriving between now and the day we open. This place is
off limits to guests.” Logan closed the door and led her further down the hallway.

  “Do I need to schedule them?” She asked.

  “No, there’s a supervisor for that. I’m in charge of most of the supervisors and you won’t have to worry about scheduling. Like I said, your job is keeping our marketing and customer service up to date, as well as keeping our guests happy.” He pushed through a doorway to a clean kitchen. “This is our kitchen. We don’t have room service, and we don’t do lunch or dinner. We do offer breakfast, and there’s a weekly menu that we’ll put out for our guests. It’s a buffet style breakfast. They sit, we serve, but there’s very little choice involved. It’s too expensive to have a restaurant. We’re only open for breakfast until ten thirty, after that, kitchen is closed. If there are leftovers, employees can help themselves.” He exited the kitchen and backtracked down the hallway.

  “The main level has guest bathrooms, a few offices, the kitchen, laundry, front sitting area, and a large dining and reception area. There are two floors above us, all guest rooms and an elevator at each end.” He pointed, while leading her back behind the guest desk. She followed up, and he unlocked a door and handed her the key. “This is the only key. It’s yours. If you make copies, keep track of where they go. It’s your responsibility.” He flipped the light on to the office, and she noticed it had boxes and piles of supplies.

  “If you need something, I suppose let me know. I haven’t been in this room for over a year, and to be honest, I have no idea what the last person who was here was even doing.” He poked at a pile of scrap paper. “Honestly, I’m not sure if they were even doing anything.” Logan frowned.

  “Do I have a budget?” She sat down in one of the chairs at the desk. “No. If you think you need it, we’ll discuss it.”

  “Okay,” Zoë said slowly. Logan watched her carefully. “Good. Well, can I just, move things around a little?” She asked him.

  “Yeah, whatever you like. Your place for now.” He pulled a piece of paper off a bulletin board that had a list of her responsibilities. “I have no idea if this is complete or not, but this is what last year’s girl put together.” He handed her the sheet of paper. “We may need to add some things to that list, but for the most part it lets you know what days most things need to be done, when it’s due, like collecting time sheets or when some of bigger things are due.” He plucked the sheet out of her hands and pinned it back up. “Any questions?” He made a beeline for the exit.

  “No, I don’t think so,” she shook her head.

  “Good. I’ll be out at the barn with Holly then,” he disappeared.

  Holly, huh. Wonder if they’ve slept together. Zoë wondered as she frowned at the mess. Not that it matters. If they have sex, then they have sex. I’m not here to have sex with anyone. She began to create a clear space on the desk for her to negotiate through the piles of ‘stuff’.

  The room had absolutely no décor, and it didn’t have any shelving to put away papers, books, notepads, or organize office supplies. No wonder this place was a mess.

  There was a knock at the door and she looked up, her heart fluttering with disappointment when it was someone she didn’t recognize. “Miss Zoë, I’m Josh. I’m kinda the maintenance guy, kinda the guy who just helps. Logan’s kinda busy right now, but he sent me over

  to introduce myself,” he stuck out his hand. Zoë jumped out of her seat and rushed to be friendly.

  “Great! You’re the only one I’ve met so far,” she gave a lopsided grin.

  “Oh, that’s normal. Most of the staff doesn’t get here until right before we open. Logan needed someone in the office because the last person walked out in a hurry and left it like this,” Josh explained. “They weren’t too good with the customers anyway. Logan has been looking for the right person who understands people but understands our business as well.” Josh sat down on one of the extra chairs.

  “Oh. Well, is there anything else in storage? I mean, it looks like this place was used as an office supply storage dump, but is there a place where the furniture was kept?” She asked, straining her voice to be as polite as possible.

  Josh started laughing. “No ma’am. This is it.” He grinned. “Why, you think you need something?” He stood up. “C’mon. I’ll take you to our extra furniture,” he waved her to follow. Zoë didn’t miss the opportunity and followed him toward the back of the lodge.

  As she walked behind him, Zoë tried to guess his age. He wasn’t bad looking and at most, had to be younger than her. He wore jeans, a t-shirt, and a pair of work boots. He seemed to know his way very well, and he pulled a ring of keys off his belt and opened the door. It was cold and drafty when he turned on the light, but he pointed things out to her.

  “This is all our spare furniture, or furniture that needs be fixed or replaced.” He pushed a few dressers to the side so she could stand next to him. She glanced at the stacks of end tables, dressers, bed frames, and lamps stacked high, lopsided, and stuffed wherever it could fit. “If you want any of this, no one is going to miss it.”

  Zoë glanced around. The office had stacks and reams of paper, scraps, tape, catalogs, four computers set against the walls, and was roughly fifteen by twenty, which was a large space to fill. There was only one desk, some odd chairs, and that was it.

  “You see anything you want?” Josh prodded. Zoë smiled.

  “Yes. Is there a limit?” She was curious. He laughed at her. “No. Whatever you want. Let’s grab and go,” he offered.

  “Good. I want that spare loveseat, three end tables, the coffee table, and two armoires. Is that okay?” She poked around a little more. “That it?”

  “Can I have those two tables?” She pointed at the back of the room.

  “Whatever you want. I’ll start bringing the stuff to you,” he elbowed her. She flushed and backed out of the room, hurrying back to the office. She could tell that Josh was attracted to her. Feeling a little lighter in her step, she went to the task of arranging the furniture that Josh was delivering to her.

  After an hour, the furniture was in place, wiped down so it was clean and dust free, and she began to organize. After three hours, past lunchtime, she had forgotten about Holly and Logan, and the office was organized. She placed the loveseat and coffee table in the middle of the room and on the coffee table was a pile of stuff she wasn’t sure needed to be thrown out, kept, or had meaning.

  The TV armoires had offices supplies organized and in the bottom had ledgers and catalogs propped. It was all easy to find. With a little rearranging, she had the two tables brought in and set the computers up, put the newest on her own desk, and put the spare at the front check-in desk. It would only improve as she made the office comfortable, but by early afternoon she felt pretty done.

  “Wow, you’ve been busy,” Josh interrupted her. She looked up.

  “Yeah, this is my thing,” she shrugged. “I like organizing.” She smiled.

  “I can tell,” Josh came in and made himself comfortable on the loveseat. “This place is ready for an office party. Looks nice.” Zoë sat down in a spare chair across from him. “So tell me, where are you from?” he asked her.

  “I’m from Michigan. Or, I went to school there and ended up staying there after I graduated. I’m really from Virginia.” She nodded. “Wow, so what are you like…here until you find a better job or something?” He searched her.

  “Or something.” She said slowly. “I just needed to take a break from what I was doing. I had a pretty decent job, and felt like it was time to change things up,” she explained.

  “Well, you know what they say about the mountains. Once you come, you’ll never leave,” he joked. Zoë didn’t respond. Josh didn’t seem to notice her thoughtfulness, and went right on through to why he was there. “Didn’t know if you had a chance to see town, but was wondering if you wanted to hit up one of the bars tonight? Meet some other folks in the area? Some of us will be going up to the Rock Inn to have a few,” he offered. Zoë notice the slight shift in
his voice.

  “Oh, gosh, thanks, but not tonight. I’m still kinda getting settled in, but maybe in a couple nights? It would be really nice to meet more people who work here, and in town and stuff. But tonight just is…just kinda rushing it,” she stuttered, trying to smooth over her intentions without making him feel bad. Josh didn’t seem to notice.

  “No sweat. We go out a couple nights a week. Let’s make plans to go a little later this week then,” he stood up. She agreed. “Yeah, later this week for sure.” She nodded with encouragement. Josh grinned and left her alone again.

  For the rest of the day, Zoë was left to herself to get the office up and running. It was easy work for her to start up the computers and network them together, but navigating the files on the computers was another thing. She was pretty sure she was going to have to create a system over the next few days and devise a plan on how to stay on top of the files. She wasn’t sure why there was such disarray when it came to the computer tasks, but it was something she enjoyed doing anyway, so she was slightly excited to be bringing her skills to the table.