by Cora Davies
"Mixed signals, Herb." Hailey smiled.
"And I think he might have a thing for you." Herb changed his tone serious again. Just like Herb to find a time to be serious in the middle of a laugh.
Hailey shook her head. "He has a thing for getting an Oscar... which he is sure will happen if he gets the movie rights for my book."
"Does he know that Paul is Thomas?" Herb asked.
"Nope," Hailey said wrapping her arms around herself as the chill of the evening set in deeper. "But there really isn't a reason to tell him. He'll be gone in a few days and he won't have the rights. I'll never hear from him again."
"I don't think he believes that." Herb stuffed his hands in his pockets and started down the stairs just as Hailey swung open the front door. "Be careful around him, okay?"
Hailey rolled her eyes and waved goodbye to Herb before running up the stairs. It was late and both her mom and Chrissy were asleep. Hailey was a little surprised, she thought one of them would have stayed up to interrogate her about her date with Eric.
Meeting, not a date.
Hailey shut her bedroom door and leaned against the heavy wood. She closed her eyes and Eric's face popped up in her vision. Dreamy dark brown eyes, strong jaw, and five o'clock shadow. He touched her twice tonight, on her hand and on her cheek. Hailey touched both of those places and wished her own soft hand could be replaced with Eric's rough fingertips. So rough for someone who probably got manicures every morning. She giggled at the thought and was snapped back into reality.
Hailey was wide-awake from the excitement of the evening, and after peeling her dress off she turned on the television. While she brushed her teeth she flipped through the channels and found the opening credits to a movie she had not watched before. She crawled into bed just as the opening credits rolled by and all of a sudden Eric's face flashed on her screen. Her stomach did a weird flip flop. What was that?
That was the feeling that occurs when someone you just spent the evening with is on TV.
No... I think that was a little more than that. That felt a little like...
Don't say it! It was nothing, just shut up and watch the movie.
Hailey lay down under her cream colored comforter and fell asleep watching Eric James save the world, kill the bad guy, and get the girl. She just had to ignore that flip flop feeling that pounced on her every time he smiled at the camera.
***
Morning came too soon. The sunlight came too soon. The noise out in the yard came too soon.
Hailey squeezed her eyes as tight as she could against the offending light-maybe she could keep the day away. After all, it was Saturday. The weekend. The blessed blessed weekend. Her pages were in to Gretel. She had no priorities. No responsibilities. Except-she was a mom so there was always a priority. She was a ranch owner so there was always something that needed to be done.
She should ask Jason. She was sure he would need something. Jason. He had small projects he needed more help with before the season opened. More help. Oh no. Oh shit.
Eric Fucking James.
She told him to stick around. That actually happened last night. Did that actually happen? Please, tell me you remember the night incorrectly.
Moments slowly started to trickle by. She remembered. She remembered telling Eric she'd think about it. She remembered drinking. Drinking entirely too much. She might have been able to put alcohol away back in her day-but she was no longer that woman. She was tired. She was a mom.
Herb reminded her of that last night-as if she could ever forget that she was a mother. Herb. They had broken up. Herb. Good old reliable shoe Herb. Not a shoe, but dependable. The man she had spent the last six months with.
Eric was right though about Hailey and Herb. They both deserved happiness. There was love out there waiting for Herb... it was just not Hailey. It could not be Hailey. She already had her chance.
Too much had happened last night. But last night was over.
Time to face the day.
Hailey stood up and looked out her bedroom window. She saw Jason at the edge of the driveway talking to three men she did not recognize. She scanned the area but did not see Eric or his fancy rental car anywhere. Well, that settled that. His chance was over. Hailey smiled, but it felt forced.
Why was she forcing a smile? All she wanted since Eric showed up in her sitting room was for him to be gone and no longer her problem. And now he had blown the deal. He was no longer her problem.
Her attention turned to Jason as he led the men closer to her house. What was the project they were working on? He said mending fences, repainting the barn maybe? This past winter had been rough on the paint and it was skating that thin line between rustic and trashy. Her roaming eyes caught on one of the men down below. He seemed older than the other two and she could not see his face under his large cowboy hat. What she did notice were his muscles... they were larger and more defined than the other two men. Also, he walked with more confidence than the younger two men. She could not help but trace his body with her eyes, trailing down his large shoulders, down his ripped chest, and down his muscular legs in tight jeans.
What the hell is wrong with me? Hailey felt her face redden even though no one had caught her staring at the man. She had been single for all of eight hours and she was already checking men out. Of course, even when she had been dating Herb they had not really been a couple. So, it was natural that her womanly urges would start showing up sometime.
Jason looked up at her window and waved.
Hailey waived back.
Better ogling a cowboy than Eric Ja-
The cowboy turned around and followed Jason's stare. He pulled his hat down off his head and looked up at Hailey's window. It was him. Eric James. Hailey grabbed both corners of the tan curtains and yanked them shut.
CHAPTER NINE
Jason squinted at Eric. "You sure she knew you were coming there, cowboy? She didn't seem too excited to see you."
Eric turned away from Hailey's window and faced Jason. He noticed the other two temporary workers, Ted and Bill, had finally stopped gawking at him and were looking around the ranch. "She knew I was coming. She probably just didn't think I'd show up."
"Uh-huh." Jason pinched his chin and looked at Eric one more time. Eric could tell what the man was doing. He had seen it hundreds of times. Jason was sizing him up. Seeing if he could take Eric if the situation arose. It was a completely normal territorial thing men did, and Eric was not concerned in the least about Jason. Most of the time when men came to Eric looking for a fight it was to prove to themselves that they were as strong, if not stronger, than someone who paid thousands of dollars a week for a personal trainer. Eric was sure he'd win in a fight between himself and Jason but he hoped the old man would not make him have to prove that. The way Hailey talked about him, Jason was basically a member of the family. She would probably not take kindly to Eric kicking his ass.
Jason stopped giving Eric the once over and pointed towards a few cans on the ground. Eric and the other two men picked them up and followed Jason to the barn. They were repainting the barn, mending fences, and clearing some of the excess animal shit that was hiding under the snow in the fenced in areas closest to the house.
"The season opens soon, and we need her looking good to go," Jason said patting the side of the barn.
"What kind of season?" Eric asked. Bill, the temporary worker with frizzy red hair and a thin mustache that it looked like he was having trouble growing in, snickered at Eric's question. "I'm not from around here, I don't know what you guys do for a season. What does the ranch do? Do you cook the sheep?"
Jason sighed long and deeply as Eric waited for his answer. "The sheep, goats, and alpaca are for yarn. We also sell the goat's milk. There are riding lessons. Small petting zoo for the children with some of the younger and older animals. We don't cook the sheep. The pigs are for slaughter but the meat stays here at the ranch-we do a few cookout parties. And the chickens and their eggs are sold year round at a
small store in town."
Jason did not look at Eric as he answered him and Eric could not help but wonder what he had done to make the old man mad. "So why do you do all these odd projects in the spring?"
"Snow's gone. Sun's out." Jason tossed a paintbrush to Eric. Eric forced himself to listen as Jason gave the three men directions on how to paint the barn even though Eric thought it honestly could not be too hard. When he was done the three men stood there for a moment, finishing their cups of coffee and looking the barn up and down.
"You ever painted anything before?" Ted, who looked like he had spent too much time in a tanning bed, asked Eric. Eric shook his head. "You're probably going to get paint on your clothes, you shouldn't have worn good stuff."
Eric looked down at his jeans and t-shirt. They were brand new, and probably cost more than the barn itself did, but he shrugged.
"Pretty boy probably doesn't care," Bill said.
"You guys give Jason your real names?" Eric asked. They stared at him as if he had not asked them the question in English. "No really? Ted and Bill? Do anything excellent lately?"
Neither answered, but instead took cans of paint and equipment to the other side of the barn where Eric could no longer see them. So much for making friends. They did not even laugh at his joke. Eric took a position at the barn that would allow him to see Hailey's house. He wanted her to see that he was trying. But more importantly, he realized, he just wanted to see her.
He could not sleep last night thinking about her. He had overheard Herb talking to her right before he walked up and Eric had to hold back a strong feeling in his fist. The thing had a mind of its own and always got Eric into trouble. His fist was begging to plant itself firmly in Herb's face. Of course, the man was about half his size and Eric would have fucked himself over if he had done that. Hailey would probably never talk to him again if he had done that, and he certainly would have lost any chance at getting the role.
Eric talked himself out of hitting Herb by saying Hailey was the kind of woman who liked to take care of herself. If she had felt threatened or hurt by Herb's words, she would have asked for his help. She did not, and Eric needed to step aside.
Eric thought he saw the curtains to Hailey's room flicker again as if they were going to open, but nothing happened. He could not see her face this morning from his distance from her window. He could make out her red pajama pants and a black shirt that clung to her womanly curves. Maybe that is why he did not see her face. He was so busy focusing on that body. Those curves would feel good against his body and not stab him like Sandy's protruding bones did during sex.
Whoa, where did that come from? Eric shook his head and went back to his work. He willed himself to concentrate on the reddish brown color of paint, and not on the beautiful woman upstairs.
A short while later, the front door opened and a woman stepped out. Not Hailey, but her mother Rebecca. As she walked over Eric appreciated how much her daughter looked like her. If Hailey looked like her mother when she was that age, well, Hailey would be just as beautiful as she was now. Rebecca approached the group and Jason broke away to greet her. She stood on her tiptoes and gave Jason a quick kiss and Jason looked around as if making sure no one noticed. Eric bit back a laugh as the man made eye contact with him. Old dog.
"Got some snacks here for them if they get hungry." Rebecca pointed to the basket she had just set on a picnic table. "Some cold waters in there too."
"Thank you, Miss. Rebecca," Jason said. Eric noticed his voice was always the same. Real quiet and steady. He liked that. He might pick it up for Thomas if he got Hailey on his side. "I was wondering if you could pass on some papers to Herb the next time he stops by for Hailey. Got some ideas about moving some of the money around. Might open up to getting some more livestock."
Rebecca looked around and lowered her voice, but still spoke loud enough that Eric could hear. "Herb won't be stopping by anymore for Hailey."
"That so?" Jason asked. Eric slowed his work down to a minimum to ensure he could hear everything they said.
"Yeah, they got into it real good last night I guess. Then he broke up with her." If Eric was not mistaken Rebecca smiled when she said this.
"He broke up with her?" Eric asked feeling surprised. If anything Hailey should have broken up with Herb after the way he spoke to her. Eric felt awkward as everyone's gaze turned to him.
"Mr. James, you here to work or gossip?" Jason asked. Eric went back to his work, pretending not to listen in anymore.
"It's a good thing, I always thought they were an odd pairing," Rebecca said.
"Mmm," Jason answered scratching his chin.
"Only thing that bothers me is she won't have a man around if those letters get any worse." Rebecca's voice trembled when she said this, and Eric's curiosity peaked.
"Won't come to that now," Jason grunted as he picked up a tool Eric did not recognize and went back to working at the side of the barn. Rebecca turned to Eric with interest in her eyes.
"What are you doing here Eric James?" she asked cocking her head. "Do you work here now?"
"I'm trying to convince her to sign over The Passenger's Control movie rights," Eric said and Jason snorted.
"Think Hailey's just found herself some free labor," Jason said. Eric shrugged his shoulders as Rebecca walked back to the house. Eric wished Hailey would come check in with them, too.
Hailey and Herb broke up last night. His thoughts turned back to the previous evening and attempted to remember everything that happened through the alcohol haze. He remembered dancing with those other women. Hailey sitting at the table watching them. Then Herb was there. He looked angry. No. Herb looked disappointed. Eric snorted a little as he realized Herb looked like a pissed off dad picking up his teenage daughter from a party that had gotten out of control. Hailey was not even out of control. She was pretty damn in control. In control of everything around her. Hailey seemed to control his heartbeat, his lungs, and the whole world when she was around. How did she do that? He'd mark it up to being the trick of a writer. Someone who commanded worlds for a living.
Before Eric knew it, the morning had passed by and he had not seen Hailey. But he had finally made friends with the two young guys out here working with him. Jason seemed happy with his work and did not appear to be as angry with Eric as he had been first thing that morning. Of course, give him time, he'd probably find a reason to hate Eric again. It was lunchtime and Jason disappeared, leaving the three men under a tree with lunch and the promise of a one-hour break.
Eric finished eating his turkey sandwich and looked back to the house. Hailey was sitting on the porch alone with her laptop. She wore large sunglasses and her hair pulled into a knot on top of her head. Eric stared at her for two beats. She was facing him but he could not figure out if she was looking his way over the laptop's screen or if she was actually working.
"I'll be back," he told the other guys, then stood up wiping his hands on his pants, and crossed the field to Hailey's front porch. As he approached she lifted her head up and he was sure she was staring at him now. He approached the porch and leaned on the railing. "Is the help allowed up here Ms. Rogers?"
She slowly set her laptop on the table in front of her and he noticed she had a tear in the right knee of her jeans. She had on an old Nirvana shirt, and he smiled. He did remember that conversation from last night. "Don't call yourself the help. It has yet to be seen if you're helpful."
The words were cruel, but a smile played across her lips and he fought back another urge to kiss her. He felt like last night was an evening full of urges to kiss her. She indicated the wicker chair across from her. He climbed the stairs and sat down as she slid a glass of water across the patio table. "I just poured it, but it looks like you could use it more than me."
"Thanks." Eric lifted the glass to his lips. He had not noticed how hot he was, how thirsty, but he drained the glass in almost one gulp. "I thought it was supposed to be cold in the spring up here."
"Maybe
. If you aren't working in the sun." She shrugged. A strand had fallen loose from her knotted hair, and he remembered tucking her hair for her last night. Her skin was so soft. He wondered if he touched her again, would they feel that shock? "It is a little unseasonably warm."
"Jason thinks I'm just here for free labor," Eric said. "He doesn't think you're considering signing over the rights to me at all."
"Oh?" The way she answered him drove him nuts. She was not going to be easy to break. And he was not used to having to break anything.
"He also seems to hate me." Eric watched Hailey's face for any change of expression, but there was none. "And he talks slow and quiet all the time, no matter what he is saying. Just like this."
Eric did a short impression of Jason telling them how to paint the barn then switched over to telling Eric off, all in the same tone. Hailey laughed.
"You have that down perfectly." She was smiling and though her eyes hid behind her sunglasses he could feel the warmth in them.
"I heard you and Herb broke up," he said, wanting to pull emotions from her. But she laughed instead.
"Wow, word travels fast. Did you hear it from the chickens or something?" Hailey asked, still laughing. She took her sunglasses off and he was surprised to find she did not look tired. She also did not look like she had any makeup on. Another first for him delivered by Hailey... A woman caught outside without wearing makeup.
"I'm glad." Eric lowered his voice and Hailey stopped laughing. She studied him, and if he was not mistaken her eyes traveled to his chest for a moment before resting back on his face. She looked suspicious.
"Why?" Hailey almost seemed to whisper. He wondered if beneath it all, could she be interested in him as well? It was not something he normally had to think about. He usually just knew when a woman wanted him. And most women he met, did want him. Hailey had seemed off limits and uninterested since the moment he showed up. But something in the way her tongue darted out and licked her bottom lip, almost discreetly, and almost too fast to notice just then persuaded Eric to test the waters.