by Holly Rayner
“I do believe he thinks he’s going to get in on this meal if he sucks up to me,” Anne-Marie said, enjoying the cuddle anyway.
Kaled glanced back from the eggs he was scrambling and pointed the spatula at Buckle.
“I don’t think so, buddy. You’ll get cat food and you’ll like it.”
Buckle glared at Kaled, and Anne-Marie laughed.
“I think we have a new sheriff in town, Buckle. You better watch yourself.”
Buckle continued purring for a moment longer, but, as cats were wont to do, he got bored and soon jumped off her lap, heading to his own food bowl and meowing loudly in protest.
“You are impossible to please.” Anne-Marie sighed, rising and filling his bowl. As she did so, Kaled made them each a plate and set them on the table, taking a seat.
Anne-Marie joined him at the table, staring at him from beneath lowered lashes as she took a bite of her eggs. They were delicious, as always.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do when I have to go back to cooking for myself,” she said, and instantly regretted it. She didn’t want him to think she was goading him into staying. That would be impossible. Even Kaled had joked that giving up business for this quiet life would be a silly thing.
She took a sip of water before continuing. “Of course, who knows if I’ll even be here by then, right? Maybe I can hire my own personal chef once all this is over.”
Kaled was unusually quiet at her words. She wasn’t sure what he could say to that, anyway. Why was she being so awkward? She cleared her throat.
“Have you been able to get any business done while you’ve been here? I find myself feeling a little guilty that I might be destroying your empire for my own selfish purposes.”
Kaled had been staring off into space, but at her words his attention snapped back to her, and he took his last bite of eggs before replying.
“I’ve managed to keep up well enough. I admit it has been rather nice not having my phone on all day. I’ve actually managed to turn my brain off a few times during my visit as well.”
“Happy to hear it,” Anne-Marie said with a smirk.
She dabbed the corner of her mouth with a napkin and pushed the plate aside, standing.
“Well, here’s to another day. Shall we go see the damage?”
Kaled grinned.
“Let’s get to work.”
***
The day was spent clearing fallen branches and other debris. Kaled helped Anne-Marie get the horses out of the barn, and they were overjoyed to see Phoenix already dancing and prancing like a proper little pony. Kaled knelt down beside the foal and reached into his pocket for a sugar cube.
“Here you go, my little friend,” he said, and the horse eagerly nibbled the sugar from his fingertips.
“You better watch it,” Anne-Marie said, picking up another small branch and tossing it onto a pile. “If any of my horses have cavities, I’m sending you the bill.”
“It’s a fair price to pay to spoil my friends here,” Kaled said, giving Phoenix another pat before the horse realized she wasn’t getting any more treats and trotted off to find her mother.
Kaled and Anne-Marie worked side by side, cleaning, clearing and tidying. When the storm damage was all taken care of, they saddled up Sunshine and Daydream and headed back to the outer fence, where they were able to finish the patch job that would have taken Anne-Marie months to complete on her own. The sun had returned in full force, and by the afternoon any traces of rain had dried up back to dirt.
Anne-Marie stood at the outdoor faucet, running the water as she took a deep drink and splashed the sweat from her face. Kaled had gone back to play with Phoenix, as he had done during every break they had taken that day, and she took advantage of the opportunity to watch him from a distance.
His body was so large compared to the tiny horse, and he had to sit on the ground to really play with her. It was clear the two of them had an instant bond, and Anne-Marie laughed quietly to herself as she watched Phoenix dance circles around Kaled. His own laughter echoed across the grassy fields, warming Anne-Marie’s heart.
What would she do when he was gone?
In the late afternoon, Kaled insisted Anne-Marie take a break while he checked on the barn roof again. She frowned at that.
“I’m the one running this ranch, Kaled. I don’t want to send you up to the roof by yourself.”
“And yet you’re terrified of being up there. Learn to delegate, Anne-Marie. I can handle it.”
After another deep frown, Anne-Marie finally agreed to let him make any other necessary patches.
“I don’t want to hear any falling from the rooftop. Understood?”
Kaled’s eyes locked on her then, and he strode up to her until he towered above her, his expression smoldering.
“You’re worried about me,” he said. It was an observation more than a question.
Anne-Marie cleared her throat, standing a little taller. She was that much closer to his lips.
“I’m worried about the liability,” she countered, but even to her ears her voice was unconvincing.
Kaled’s expression was wry.
“Uh-huh,” he said, leaning in for a moment as though to kiss her.
Anne-Marie held her breath, waiting for it. But Kaled only nodded to her with a knowing smirk before turning and walking away. Anne-Marie stared at his retreating back, breathless. He’d won that round, but she would find a way to resist his charm. That was, if she still wanted to.
With nothing to busy herself with, Anne-Marie headed into the house and stood for a moment in the living room, not used to being idle. She considered heading to the barn to join Kaled, but decided against it. Not only was she in serious danger of succumbing to her lust for him, but he had also made it very clear that he wanted to work on the roof alone. He hadn’t been wrong—the thought of being up there again made her stomach squirm.
Her gaze landed on an old photo album beneath her coffee table, and she walked over to it, picking it up and taking a seat on the sofa. She leafed through the pages, watching her young parents as they successfully managed the ranch while raising a small child—her. She looked at their worn, happy faces, and in that moment she missed them more fiercely than ever.
“What should I do, you guys?” she asked one of the pictures, in which her father stood with an arm around her mother’s shoulder, both of them in jeans and flannel.
“Can I give up everything we’ve worked for, everything I am? Am I the failure that loses our family’s land just to sell it to Qarali Oil?”
Anne-Marie’s eyes welled with tears at the thought. She had fought every day of her life to keep the ranch running. She couldn’t imagine giving it up, much less to be completely destroyed by a company digging for a dying resource.
A tear rolled down her cheek, and she wiped it away. She was so unsure about what the future would bring, but it was obvious that having time to think about it wasn’t helping.
Placing her fingertips to her lips, she pressed them against her parents’ faces before closing the album and replacing it where she’d found it. She took some time walking around the house, memorizing every detail. It was clear that Kaled was up to the task of working the ranch, but would he be convinced of its true value?
Was there still a way for her to save the ranch, and her heart?
As the sun sank toward the horizon, Anne-Marie stepped back outside. Kaled was on the other side of the roof, nailing some boards in. His hammering echoed across the fields. Anne-Marie headed in his direction, stopping beneath where he stood.
“Hey there!” she shouted up.
Kaled’s handsome face came into view over the edge of the barn, and Anne-Marie’s stomach dropped.
“Please be careful,” she said, wringing her hands.
Kaled grinned. “I’m fine. I’ve got a good grip here. Now, how can I help you?”
“You can be done. You’ve done enough today. Come on down and let’s celebrate the end of a rough and
tumble week.”
“Fair enough. I’ve just replaced a few rickety tiles, so your roof here should be good for a while—though it’s likely a full replacement will be in the works.”
“Fantastic,” Anne-Marie mumbled, thinking about the cost of roof repair.
Kaled’s face disappeared, and she heard him walking along the stretch of the rooftop, her ears straining to ensure that she didn’t hear a slip, followed by a loud crash. When his steps disappeared, she walked to the front of the barn and waited for him to appear, which he did moments later.
“Now, what’s this about celebrating?” he asked, wiping his hands on a dirty cloth.
“It’s Friday night. We’ve accomplished more this week than I have in months. What do you say to having some barbeque, some beers and a bonfire?”
“The three Bs. I like it. Let me get cleaned up and then I can help with the cooking.”
Anne-Marie nodded, and her stomach rippled with butterflies. She had always loved bonfires, but getting to share one with a handsome man would be an entirely new experience.
One she had daydreamed about since she was a little girl.
She headed over to the stone fire pit and began assembling a pile of logs for the evening’s festivities. Once she had enough, she made her way to the ranch house and into the basement, where her collection of beer and the meat freezer were. She collected a fair amount of meat and beer, hefting it all up the stairs. When she reached the door, Kaled was walking in, and he opened it for her.
“Woah, there. That’s quite the pile. Why don’t you let me help you with that?”
Anne-Marie’s first instinct was to say no. She was so used to rejecting help from others, to just getting things done on her own.
This time, though, she let herself be helped, and Kaled grabbed her entire load and took it over to the fire pit himself. Anne-Marie followed close behind, stepping up to the grill and firing it up.
The sun was melting into the horizon, casting a lightshow of magnificent colors all across the Texan sky.
“Would you look at that?” Kaled said quietly, staring out into the distance.
“Nothing beats the sunset after a storm,” Anne-Marie said, setting the meat out ready for cooking.
Kaled turned back and joined her, checking out the provisions.
“I can cook these, if you want to get the bonfire started,” he said.
Anne-Marie nodded, leaving the ribs in his capable hands as she piled the wood up and placed kindling at the base to get it started. She lit a match and held it to the brush, enjoying the scent of fire paired with dusk. Not a moment later, her fire was licking the air, healthy as could be.
Anne-Marie ran over to her porch, grabbing a cooler from underneath and tossing the beers inside, pulling two off the ring before closing the lid. She popped one open and took a sip, the bubbly brew dancing along her taste buds.
She walked back over to Kaled and handed him a beer, too. He cracked it open and took a sip before flipping the ribs over on the grill.
“Those will take a little time to cook,” he said. “Shall we take a seat?”
“Sure,” Anne-Marie said.
There was one long log by the side of the fire, and it was the only available place to sit. Sure, Anne-Marie could have brought some chairs out, but where was the fun in that?
Taking a seat, she was secretly elated when Kaled sat down close to her, his long legs stretched out before him.
“This has been an amazing week,” he said, taking another sip of beer as he stared into the dancing flames of the bonfire.
Anne-Marie grinned at him. “We’ve gotten under your skin. Admit it, you like country living!”
Kaled smiled as he cast her a sideways glance. “Now, now, let’s not go that far.”
“Oh, come on. You know you’ve had more fun this week than you’ve had in a lifetime of stuffy business meetings.”
Kaled shrugged. “All right, maybe this has been more fun than I anticipated.”
“Than you anticipated? You mean when you begged me to accept more money just so you wouldn’t have to do it?”
Thinking back on their first real meeting, Anne-Marie had to smile. That stuffy, obnoxious businessman who had sat in her living room was nothing like the man sitting next to her now. Kaled was relaxed, kicking back a beer in jeans and boots, just like anyone else in town. He fit so easily into her life. It was shame he wasn’t meant to stay in it.
Kaled’s grin was playful as he continued to gaze down at her. “I suppose I was a bit overdramatic about the whole thing, though I had my reasons. Anyway, the landscape is truly captivating, and it is quite beautiful.”
“Perhaps too beautiful to desecrate with an oil rig?” Anne-Marie asked.
She hadn’t broached the subject of his true reason for being there in some time, and as her time ran out she realized she needed to see where he was at on that topic. Would she be able to change his mind before it was too late?
“Well, now, that is to be determined, isn’t it?” Kaled said, and Anne-Marie frowned. “I’m going to go check on that meat,” he said, standing, and leaving a cavern between them as he made his way toward the grill.
Anne-Marie hugged her knees together, staring at the fire. Her emotions were a complete and total mess. On one hand, all she wanted to do was convince him that he shouldn’t buy up her land. On the other, all she wanted was to find a way to keep him on her land so she never had to let him go. Her heart was fluttering with contradicting emotions as Kaled returned with two plates full of ribs.
“Not exactly date food, but I suppose we’ve been through enough to eat ribs in front of one another,” Kaled said, handing her a plate.
Anne-Marie’s lips curled up. “Are you saying we’re on a date right now?” she asked.
Kaled’s cheeks turned red. It was apparent even beneath his olive skin in the starlight.
“I’m just saying ribs are messy,” he said, looking to the side, and revealing his lie in the process.
Aha! Anne-Marie thought.
Deciding not to tease him any further, she pulled a perfectly cooked rib from the rack and began to nibble it more delicately than she had in her entire life. While she was comfortable around Kaled, she didn’t want him to see her with a face full of barbeque. She noticed he was being equally as delicate, and she couldn’t help but laugh.
He looked down at her with knit eyebrows. “What?” he asked.
“Nothing. It just really feels like a date now. I’ve never seen a man eat ribs with such careful precision.”
Kaled’s smile was self-deprecating as he gazed down at her, their faces inches apart. “Well, I do have to say that more than anything, more than the horses and the scenery and the ties back to my past, I have enjoyed spending time getting to know you best of all.”
Anne-Marie gazed up into his dark eyes as the stars twinkled around them. She carefully set her plate down, not breaking eye contact with him. Beneath the stars, with the fire before them, she couldn’t resist the temptation of him anymore. Slowly, achingly slowly, she kept her eyes on his as she tilted her face up, closing her eyes only when she captured his lips with her own.
After a single, blissful moment, she pulled back, glancing at the ground.
“I’m sorry,” she muttered, thinking she had overstepped.
But then she heard Kaled’s breathing quicken, and she felt his fingers gently take her chin and tilt her head so she was looking back up at him. His eyes were like fire as he gazed down into hers, and she found acceptance there, and something much more lustful. This time, it was he who leaned down, and when he captured her lips with his, it was with far more passion.
Wrapping his arms around her, Kaled kissed her deeply, the heat of him sinking past her clothes and into her very soul. They kissed until Anne-Marie could hardly breathe, her body aching to take it a step further.
“Would you like to come inside?” she whispered, breaking their embrace.
Kaled pressed his forehead a
gainst hers as he nodded, unable to speak as he comprehended the full weight of her words. Then he bent and lifted her into his arms, swinging her up into the air as he carried her across the threshold and to her bedroom as quickly as his legs could carry him.
As the moon rose into the sky, Kaled and Anne-Marie made deep, passionate love on her bed. As the night wore on, they fell asleep wrapped in each other’s arms, safe and content, just as Anne-Marie had dreamed.
FOURTEEN