by Vivian Wood
Her father sank back into the chair. “I’ll talk to him. I’ve got a few questions for him myself.”
“All right then. I’ll head back and give Mom the good news. I bet it’s her and Martha crowding the window.”
“And little Annabelle Lee between them. That girl loves spending time with your mother, and Lily loves it too,” her father added.
Rose rolled her eyes. “I get it. Rex is a good man, he’s just got his nose out of joint about something. No need to get all schmaltzy.”
She shut the door on her father’s laughter and rode back to the ranch.
Lily was armed with a manila envelope, a pen, a great big smile, and some celebratory cookies Annabelle Lee had helped with. The little girl had a dusting of flour in her hair, a drop of cookie dough on her chin, and two cookies in her hand.
Rose hugged her mother.
“So, you’re signing? You’re investing?”
“Of course. From the looks of that cabin, I’d be a fool not to.”
Rose started going through the paperwork and her eyes glazed over at the legalese. She read the same phrase three times before turning to her expectant mother. “Ah… No offense to anyone here, but I’d be a fool to sign this without understanding what it means either.”
Her mother couldn’t quite keep the indulgent smile off her face. “You know where the fax machine is.” She had always praised Rose for her brains.
“And I’ll need some steaks for bribes,” Rose said, getting up from the table.
Her mother snorted.
“I’ll pay for them,” Rose called over her shoulder. She shut the door before her mother could lecture her about freezing good meat and the expense of shipping.
“I’m getting steak,” Jill said when Rose called her.
“Steak and some legal documents.”
“I love it. I’ll email you the translation.”
Jill was on the top of the list of people she’d miss from Boston. Rose always called her for advice. Jill allowed her to return the favor, taking Rose to auctions where Rose helped her make good investments. The bribes they exchanged felt more like a reason to get together. Jill never learned how to cook a steak and had no interest in remedying it. And Rose couldn’t finish a bottle of wine by herself. For the next bribe, Rose could set up a girl’s vacation and pay for Jill.
“That was fast,” her mother said. She was setting a pitcher of milk on the table.
“Jill approves of steak. I was thinking about planning a vacation here with friends.”
“Or maybe you could quit your job in Boston and move here, and they could come visit.”
Rose opened her mouth to make her customary protests, but Lily wasn’t going to stop talking to listen to her. “Look, would it be that bad of an idea to stay down here and keep an eye on your investment?”
No, it really wasn’t. While this wasn’t the first time her mother had tried to get her to move back home, this was the first time she’d had a really good reason.
“And it’s not like we don’t need your help around the farm. You know we can always use an extra hand. Plus, we think about leaving you this place…”
Rose picked up a cookie. “I’ll think about it.” The chocolate chips were still warm and melted, the buttery cookie perfectly crisp. It was kind of how Rose thought about her retirement. Nice, familiar, a reprieve after a life spent bustling around Boston.
Did she really want a frenetic city life?
No, but the same time too, she couldn’t think of giving it up entirely. She hadn’t gotten a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts thinking about money. Her MA in Art History and Advanced Certificate in Conservation (with an unofficial minor in Ken Perenyi) was funded by part-time jobs, scholarships, and money from back home. Memories of those days spent studying and sweating filled her with pride. Now she reaped the benefits of her labor, making good money. Most of the time she didn’t care, but she liked being able to buy her friends expensive gifts and help out her parents.
Rex Waits was a problem. The sexy fly in her ointment, if she wanted a lazy metaphor. And he wasn’t going anywhere.
Martha pushed the plate of cookies out of Annabelle Lee’s reach. It was plain to Rose, the little girl considered this place home.
The knot in her chest did strange uncomfortable things when she thought of Annabelle Lee losing that. Focusing her thoughts on the girl’s father wasn’t much better. The pressure fluttered. Rose took a moment to breathe and sort her thoughts.
Rex, and his daughter, stayed. She would have to get over it. She needed to know about the contract and more about Rex. Would he be okay letting someone else handle the PR work? Could he continue acting as the foreman?
Rose spent the rest of the day churning over scenarios in her mind while she kept herself busy. She was on Apple quite a bit, keeping an eye on the cattle and tracking down a lost goat. Then she helped tend the horses.
All the while, the same thoughts chased around in her head: Rex was perfect for the job, except when he flaked. Why did he flake? Why did he have to look like demin-covered bliss? Why did he have to smell like every erotic dream she’d ever had? Why did she keep thinking about his perfect ass? Why did he flake?
Round and round, up and over, just like a bit of dust caught in a crack of sunlight in the barn.
Lost in her thoughts, she fell into the rhythm of making dinner with Martha and her mother. The two older women exchanged knowing glances, agreeing to leave Rose to her counsel.
When Martha left to get another jar of molasses from the cellar, Rose cornered Lily. A deep breath and a few sentences was all it took to express her doubt in Rex’s role there. Lily patted her arm and reassured her that Rex was quite capable, despite his actions earlier.
So, her parents had discussed it and were presenting a united front. Unsure of whether to be relieved or worried, she headed out to the garden to pick some peas for dinner.
She was sitting in the sun shelling peas when a shadow darkened her seat on the porch. She looked up, blinking, to find Rex frowning down at her.
“Sorry,” he said, sidling out of the sunshine. He looked from the basket to the ground to the colander. “Ah, mind if I sit down?”
A touch of pity tugged at that knot in her chest. “Sure.”
His nervous energy redirected itself to his hands. They sat in silence, Rex crumpling a leaf between his fingers and Rose busy with her peas. Her curiosity was nibbling away inside her, but the way Rex was acting, if she started asking him questions, he’d get spooked.
He took a deep breath and said, “You look like my ex-wife. I divorced her after she left me for her hairdresser. She doesn’t care about our daughter.”
“Oh,” Rose said. Things were starting to make sense now.
“Nancy was just my type.”
Rose tried very hard to keep the smile off her face, reading between the lines of that statement.
“Before she left, she made sure to…to hurt me, humiliate me.” He sat up, rubbing his chin. “I haven’t really talked about this.”
Unsure of what to say, Rose touched his shoulder.
He relaxed. “Today, you crying, it just reminded me of her leaving. That’s why I…”
Rose sighed in relief.
“What?” He twitched under her hand.
Oh Christ, he was pouring his heart out to her and she was just sitting there. “Thank you for telling me this. To be honest, I was worried, given the fact that we’re going to be investing in this place together.”
“I didn’t scare you off then?” He turned to look at her, a glimmer in his eyes and a smile on his lips.
Rose’s chest gave a sluggish lurch and something unraveled as she stared into his open face. She had to look away. “No.” Her phone chirped: Jill’s special ringtone. She’d gone through the contract.
“Do you need to get that?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she said, wanting him away from her.
Rex held out his hand, and she shook it. His palm was warm
and rough and the part of her brain she couldn’t control was wondering about what it would feel like for him to keep touching her, to trail his fingers up her arm, to her shoulder, her neck. With a flush of heat, she realized he might be thinking about the same thing. She was his type after all.
* * *
Rex wished he knew the name of whoever had messaged Rose. He’d like to send him or her something nice: Flowers, a fruit basket, cigars, some token of appreciation for the pretext of getting out of there.
He still had to digest most of his conversation with Tad, where the only explanation he had offered for his behavior was that Rose was the spitting image of Nancy. There had been more said, including a request to clear the air with Rose, which he’d done.
And then he’d stared into her eyes like a moon-struck fool. What had he been thinking? God, how he wanted to press his lips against hers. That’s what. He had to stop himself from fantasizing about it. Rose had been warm and friendly and sympathetic. Now that she understood, she would probably invest. Things were looking good.
At dinner, Rex did his best not to notice how good things were looking. Rose smiled like her heart was twenty times lighter. She loved her family and the Crown of Thorns Ranch. Now that she knew everything was okay, she could relax. You could see it in the way she leaned her elbows on the table, hear it in her laugh. Her eyes caught his and her cheeks flushed red.
He felt the heat too. The wound Nancy left was raw, but after talking about it, he knew he’d get over it. He also knew it would be harder to fight his attraction to Rose. She’d been glorious, sitting in the sun, her strong hands only stilling in their work to comfort him.
It was what he’d wanted his marriage to be. A steady woman to love at his side. Not perfect—Rex wasn’t a fool—but close enough. After fights they’d make up, and when words failed, a gentle touch would suffice.
Lily slapped some mashed potatoes down on his plate and he jumped.
Was it possible, even though he was a bit of an emotional mess, that Rose felt something too? She snuck a glance at him and he looked down at his food.
Annie elbowed him in the ribs. His daughter was good at that, bothering him when he spaced out.
He focused on his meal, afraid that everything was written on his face. If he kept up like this, he’d be having another awkward conversation with Rose. One where he blushed a lot and mumbled. Tad would probably want in on the action.
The barbecue lurched in his stomach. He had the sinking feeling the battle was already half lost. Annie poured him a glass of milk. He drank it and excused himself from the table. Rose looked up from her plate, a worried frown on her face.
“Dad’s stomach just bothers him sometimes,” Annie told her as he left the room.
He was going to buy Annie that cowboy hat she’d been pestering him for. She’d covered his second, no third, emergency retreat of the day with the grace of someone three times her age.
Rex paced around his room until his stomach settled. He needed a shower. The hot water soothed the tension from his neck and shoulders.
It had been a long day. Tad had demanded Rex be willing hire someone to take on the PR work if he couldn’t handle it. He had readily agreed.
He was relieved that, after running out earlier, that was the only concession his boss wanted. After all, Rose hadn’t signed anything yet.
Rose.
It was out of the frying pan and into the fire for him. His hostility had been a wall around his heart, and still, he’d been peeking over it, marveling at the beautiful woman who’d flown down from Boston and into his life. Now, he didn’t even have that solid stone protecting him, just the knowledge that one didn’t mix business and pleasure, to which part of him argued that while he did want to pleasure Rose, he wanted much much more from her.
Annie was flopped on the couch, half-asleep in front of some cartoons when he got out of the shower. He prodded her to brush her teeth and change into her pajamas before he tucked her into bed. She gave him a big sleepy smile and said, “I love you, Daddy,” when he kissed her goodnight.
“Love you too.”
He’d just settled on the couch with a paperback when a soft knock sounded on his door. Rose was there, a sheath of papers in one hand, two beers in the other. When her mouth dropped open, he realized he was only wearing sweatpants.
“Ah… If this is a bad time…” Her cheeks blazed red as she stared at the floor.
“No, it’s fine. Please, sit down. I’ll just go grab a shirt.” His hands were shaking as he opened his drawer.
Rose was in his quarters, on his couch. She was waiting for him.
He shook his head. If he didn’t get control of his thoughts, he’d have to put on a different pair of pants, as sweatpants were not known for their discretion—at least when it came to revealing a man’s state of arousal. Just to be safe, he put on a pair of briefs.
By the look Rose gave him when he returned, he’d taken too long. The papers were spread out on the coffee table, the beers open and waiting for them.
“So, my lawyer friend back in Boston looked over the contract for me and she says she wants to marry you.”
Rex made a choking noise. Rose handed him a beer.
“If the business fails, the financial liability will go to you and me, leaving a portion of money aside for my parents’ retirement.” She smiled at him. Her brown eyes were so warm. He could her gaze like sunshine, all over his skin, on his chest.
He took a gulp of his beer. Businessman, he was a businessman doing business things, but goddamn was it hard.
Rose cleared her throat. “I hope you don’t mind I asked someone to look at this. I never sign anything I don’t understand.”
“No, no of course not,” Rex said. He wished he could excuse himself for a five minute cold shower. “In fact, I’d rather have a shrewd business partner.”
Rose nodded. “So, I’ll be the silent partner, and it looks like in two years I have the option to switch to a more active role?” She arched her brow at him and he explained.
“Your parents wanted me to put that in there. It’s actually every two years.” Rex knew it wasn’t his place to meddle in family affairs, but he couldn’t quite keep his mouth shut, not after seeing how much the whole ranch lit up like a Christmas tree with Rose around. “You know, I think everyone, your friends and your family, want you back here.”
She glared at him and he shrank in his seat.
“I know, I know… You’ve heard it before and besides, it’s not my place to say anything,” he said. And did he really want her to stay?
She didn’t reply as she started signing the papers. Rex stared at her, her soft lips and graceful neck, her ears that he wanted to nibble, the short dark curls he’d like to wind around his fingers. He wanted to taste her mouth, kiss her gentle face, and continue on to less PG-rated activities.
Rex felt himself firming up and he tried to think of something unerotic—football, accounting, decorating. Ah, decorating. While Rose signed, Rex catalogued the contents of his quarters.
The furniture was a hodgepodge of used items and new things. Annie had a new bed and there was a new stand for the TV, both from Ikea, but the TV itself and the couch they watched it on were pretty old. All the decorations were landscape pictures from manufacturer’s calendars. There had been cowboys up as well, but Annie had confiscated them for her room.
“All done,” Rose said, handing him the pen.
Their fingers touched for a moment and Rex felt like a teenager. Just that brush of soft skin on his was enough to set his heart pounding. He thought of lamps while he signed and initialed and dated the paperwork. The lighting in the room was functional, rustic in a different way than the guest cabin. He was so focused on keeping his mind off of Rose that he managed to sign his name as “clamp light,” as that was what they were currently using as a desk lamp.
Rose frowned, then coughed, then laughed. “Is there something you’re not telling me, Rex?”
Not re
alizing his error, he just looked at her and wished he hadn’t. An amused Rose was a very tempting Rose.
She gestured to the paper. “Like that your parents were on acid when they named you?”
Rex scowled. “At least I got the date right.”
Rose covered her mouth as she laughed. “I’m sorry. I’m guessing Annabelle Lee’s asleep, and here I am making all this racket.” She stood up, the delighted grin still on her face. “We’ll finish this up tomorrow.” She patted his shoulder, an absent gesture, but he burned.
Later, in his room, he still burned. He touched himself, thinking of Rose’s sunshine smile, her vanilla scent, her cherry lips.
He knew it was the wrong thing to do, but he couldn’t help himself. He was falling for Rose.
* * *
Don’t think about his chest. Don’t think about his chest. Think about his broad shoulders and big strong arms and that trail of hair on his perfectly toned stomach instead. Shit, no, that wasn’t helping either.
The knot in Rose’s chest twisted and squeezed. It had been bucking since Rex had answered his door looking completely edible. She had taken the minute while he got dressed to try and calm down. Even holding the thudding in her chest wouldn’t slow it down. It felt like pins and needles, the first tingle of life returning to a sleep-dead limb.
Was that what was happening? Was Rex prying her heart from its stony tomb? And—more importantly—did she want him to?
She was up all night, tossing and turning with too many questions. When the light in the room turned gray, she got up, not wanting to stare at the ceiling anymore.
Her mother was in the kitchen, a cheery smile on her face, the coffee already brewing.
“Rough night?” she asked her daughter.
Rose took a moment to look at herself in the back of spoon. Glassy eyes, bags under them, and crud stuck to the corner of her mouth. “Yup,” she said. There was no point in lying after all.
“So, what do you think about changing this place’s name to the Crown of Thorns Ranch and Resort?”
Rose smiled as her mother set a cup of coffee in front of her. It was sweet and milky, just what she needed after a sleepless night. “Well, we’re just working on getting the paperwork signed.”