He completed the look with a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses and a large cup of iced coffee in his hand. I was somewhat relieved that I couldn't see his green eyes behind them. Looking into those eyes mere moments after my inappropriate dreams of him, while my body was still returning to normal after my orgasm, would've rendered me unable to speak.
"The fuck are you doing here?" I demanded, suddenly aware of my bralessness and crossed my arms. I felt stark naked standing in front of him.
"I came to work," he said simply. "Almost got started without you, which probably would've been a bad idea since I don't know the first thing about farming."
"Excuse me?"
I had to be hallucinating.
"I heard you needed extra hands," he said. "I had a free day, thought I could use some exercise and sunshine so here I am, being a good neighbor."
The gears in my brain turned as I stared at him, trying to figure out what kind of game he was playing. Did he think being friendly would make me more likely to sell the land to him? Or was he trying to infiltrate my business somehow and see how he could just take the land from me?
"No."
I set my hands on my hips, squaring my jaw and giving him my best pissed-off look.
"That's not why you're here. What's this really about?"
His shrug was infuriatingly casual and calm.
"I just told you, Pepper. There's no angle, I just want to help. If I'm going to be a part of this community, I might as well help out my neighbors."
If only I could see his eyes, surely I'd be able to tell that he was lying.
But it would also be harder to tell him no.
A sudden, snorting sneeze caught my attention. Leaning my body to see where it came from, I saw Bonny lying on the porch. She lounged halfway under the bench, halfway under Reagan's legs.
Bon-bon, you traitor! I thought. You were growling at him two days ago! Why are you suddenly so friendly?
As if reading my mind, Reagan produced a baggie of dog treats from his pants pocket. Bonny immediately raised her head and started wagging her tail.
"My old boy Hank used to go nuts for these before he passed," Reagan said as he fed her one and scratched her ears. "He was a pit bull too. I rescued him from a dog fighting ring."
"Sorry for your loss," I muttered before clamping my lips shut.
Damn it. That was a glaringly obvious ploy to tug right at my heartstrings. Why did I have to care about animals so much?
"It's alright. He lived to a happy, comfortable fifteen years of age." Reagan chose that moment to push his sunglasses on top of his full head of rich, brown hair. His green eyes glittered brightly in the bright, indirect sunlight, so much that I could see the multicolored flecks in his irises.
"So, you giving me a job or not?"
I shifted my weight, still trying to resist him but I was losing the battle fast and we both knew it.
"Something tells me you're not exactly in need of a job," I said.
He shrugged again.
"Maybe not, but you do need some extra muscle," he pointed out. "Nothing against Maddy but I could probably move more crates of apples than she can."
Of course. Sweet, unassuming Maddy told him about my flaky seasonal workers. I should never have left her alone with him.
I really did need the muscle though, as much as I hated to admit it. And he evidently carried it in spades. Would it be so bad if he helped me catch up from oversleeping?
“Okay, here’s the deal,” I said, trying my best to sound tough and bossy. “We’ve got to work fast but with the sun already so high, we’ve got to stay hydrated. Breaks are gonna be short and only when necessary.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Reagan rose to his feet with a grin. “Put me to work.”
My breath hitched in my chest as he stood before me. He was so close, closer than he ever stood before and smelled wonderful, like Irish Spring soap and raw, male musk. It was a pity he’d be smelling like dirt, sweat, and manure in a few short hours.
“One last thing,” I said, trying my best to hold my ground as he towered over me. “Shit’s gotta get done and it’s gotta get done correctly. I can’t afford to lose crops to newbie mistakes. If you’re slow or you keep screwing up, I have every right to terminate you. Are we clear?”
“Crystal,” he replied without hesitation.
“Good.”
I sat down on the bench and paused for just a split second. My eyes were at the same level as his crotch which was mere inches away. My clit pulsed with the dream of him fucking me etched firmly into my mind and I hoped he didn’t notice my face reddening even more.
“Let’s get to work,” I said as I pulled on my boots.
CHAPTER SEVEN
PEPPER
I really, really didn’t want to admit how hard and efficient of a worker Reagan was. But he was one of the best farmhands I’d ever seen. Even when my dad was running things and he hired people who’d been doing farm work since they were kids.
The delivery trucks for Leonard’s and Dahlia’s arrived early, so I started scrambling to get those orders out. While I precariously wheeled a hand truck stacked too high with crates, Reagan squatted and lifted a stack of equal size with his bare hand while barely breaking a sweat.
He learned quickly and was soon harvesting ripe heirloom tomatoes faster than I’d seen anyone do it. I was probably slower than normal because I kept watching him, but he was laser-focused on what he was doing. It didn’t matter if he was lifting, picking, or carrying, he gave his all to everything he did.
At some point, I wondered if that was the reason he became so successful.
Nah, he’s just trying to kiss ass for whatever ulterior motive he has, I told myself.
I wondered how long it would take for him to start complaining about the heat and the dirt like the preppy rich boy I expected him to be. But he never did.
His jeans and shoes got just as dusty as mine, if not more. Anything that was remotely heavy for me to lift, he took from me to carry himself. He guzzled down water on our breaks and wiped the sweat from his brow but never complained once.
Around the hottest part of the day, he paused during tilling fresh compost into the soil and started unbuttoning his shirt.
Please don’t, I begged silently. Please don’t do it…
He did it.
He took his shirt off and draped it casually over the fence post while I jerked my eyes away, my core pulsing vigorously and my whole body heating up even more under the baking sun.
But I couldn’t not look at him. That would make it too obvious.
But it was too late. I already saw.
And he knew it.
“You’re gonna get burned,” I warned him, trying to stay focused on my own tilling.
“I’ll be alright.” I could hear the smirk in his voice as he picked up his hoe again and got back to it.
He wasn’t just ripped hunks of muscles, his body was beautiful. Bronzed from being kissed by sunlight and artfully sculpted from hours of hard work. Faded tattoos lined his bulging shoulders but I didn’t dare look closer to see what they were. Scar tissue, several shades lighter than his tan, dotted along his ribs.
It appeared my perception of Reagan Sells was slightly off. He didn’t grow up in an untouchable, gold-plated bubble like I originally thought. Something touched him, scarred and scratched him.
We finished not only early, but ahead of schedule. I couldn’t remember the last time I had such an efficient work day. This would probably be the biggest yield we had in years because nothing would be left to over ripen and rot.
“Thanks for your help,” I said, awkwardly looking away as Reagan put his shirt back on. “I guess I should pay you for your efforts.”
“Nah, don’t worry about it,” he replied, clasping the last button just under his collarbone. “Consider it a favor.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“I don’t like that. That means I’ll owe you something.”
“Yeah, so?” he
pressed teasingly.
“So?” I repeated. “I don’t like being in debt to people. I’d rather just give you cash up front.”
“I don’t need cash, Pepper.”
I crossed my arms, my original anger at him returning.
“Right. I know what you need.”
"Oh, do you?"
His lips pulled into a playful smirk that quickly turned into a bite of his lower lip.
Goddamnit. I walked right into that innuendo but I couldn’t back down now. I hardened my expression, trying to ignore that my body felt aflame once again with heat and sensitivity.
“I really appreciate you putting in work today,” I said bitingly. “But you’re not getting my land. I don’t know what you’re trying to accomplish by doing this, but I’ll tell you right now-- it ain’t gonna work.”
“I know,” he said with more than a bit of exasperation. “You’ve made that perfectly clear, Pepper.”
I blinked, stunned.
“So what do you want?”
“I’m building a Cloverville development regardless of where exactly the plot of land is,” he said. “We’re likely to run into each other a lot and I truly just want us to be friendly, like I told you this morning.” His eyes focused sharply on mine. “There’s no other angle here. I’m not trying to pull a fast one on you. But in the event I need help from a neighbor, can I count on you?”
I stared at him for what seemed like an impossibly long time. I just could not figure this guy out. Was that really all there was to it?
“Depends on what kind of help you need,” I said cautiously.
“I’d never ask anything immoral of you,” he replied with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “Or anything you couldn’t handle. But we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
I was still highly suspicious. But if he wouldn’t try to buy my land anymore, that was what I wanted right?
I nodded my head slowly.
“Okay, then.”
“Great!” he grinned. “Same time tomorrow?”
“Uh, yeah,” I stammered, taken aback. “If you’re up for it. I should have Maddy and a few other people here tomorrow.”
“Alright, see you then.” He turned toward the driveway and gave Bonny one final scratch behind her ears. “Have a good night, Pepper.”
And just like that, he left. With seemingly wanting nothing from me, which I just could not bring myself to believe.
I decided against having an edible after that. I was already far more confused than how I woke up that morning.
CHAPTER EIGHT
REAGAN
I chose my closest home that night, my San Francisco penthouse in Pacific Heights so that I could be back to help Pepper early in the morning.
Peeling my sweaty dirty clothes off, I left them in the middle of the floor of my wide master suite and headed to my granite, walk-in shower.
The tiles were cool against my sore feet. Jets released streams of hot water from the walls and the enclosed room soon filled up with steam.
I rolled my shoulders and neck as the luxurious heat slowly seeped into my muscle tissue.
I'd be sore tomorrow. Not badly, but I'd feel it. Today I'd worked muscles that hadn't gotten a good workout in a long time. Even with my constantly evolving lifting routines in the gym, nothing targeted those smaller, subtle muscle groups like good, old-fashioned hard work.
I smiled to myself as I stood under the main stream of water, letting it massage my neck and back.
Pepper really didn't think I could handle it. I saw the surprise in her eyes as I did everything she asked me to and then some.
If I had to be honest, I enjoyed it.
The most physically satisfying job I had was working in an Oakland warehouse. That was my last punch-in, punch-out job before I flipped my first house and wove magic that seemed to create money out of thin air.
Money was a struggle my whole life before taking a leap and starting this business and I'd never let it get to that point again. But sitting in an office day after day and watching other people work for me was boring. It felt good to get my hands dirty again.
And seeing Miss Pepper get dirty wasn't bad either.
My dick twitched and immediately stiffened at the memory of her bending over and kneeling as we worked today.
I thought of her kneeling right then in the shower, looking up at me with her mouth open and waiting for me to lay my cock on her sweet, soft tongue.
It got even harder and I released a groan.
Damn, I'd love to see her naked. Her body was strong but not in a bulky, masculine way. I nearly found myself drooling at her shapely ass and thighs as she squatted those crates of apples. Watching her work was sexy in ways I never even knew was possible.
And she apparently had no idea either. She just ran a tight ship and got shit done. I liked that about her.
I shut the shower off and the cool air outside my master bathroom was like a dose of reality.
Why was I putting so much of myself into this? I never tried so hard to get a girl into my bed before. I never needed to. Any number of beautiful, intelligent women would hurry their eager, perky asses up to my bedroom at the push of a button. So why was I so stuck on Pepper Sage?
Maybe because she was the first girl I wanted that didn’t want me back. At least not overtly, desperately.
With Pepper’s killer ass still etched into my brain, I fell into a deep sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
I woke up shocked to feel well-rested and to find out that I got a full, uninterrupted six hours of sleep.
How long has it been since I slept so well? I wondered as I pulled on a fresh pair of jeans and a shirt in the early morning darkness. It had been so long since I worked my body instead of my mind. Unless I drank a good amount of Scotch, it was impossible to shut my mind off when I went to bed at night. Sleep was always a fitful, restless battle.
With a quick splash of cold water on my face, I was dressed and out the door. I decided on my Bentley SUV for the drive out to Pepper’s and realized I was looking forward to the day.
A typical day for me consisted of boring meetings with stuffy old men, wearing stuffy clothes, and trying not to run into women I’d slept with at one point or another.
Working with Pepper felt like a vacation of sorts. The kind where the day goes by in a flash because you’re so busy having fun, jamming as many action-packed activities into one day as you can, then going bed totally spent at night.
It was a three-hour drive from my place to Cloverville. A helicopter would have been faster but she didn’t seem too happy about it when we first met. And anyway, I wanted to enjoy the scenery up close this time.
I stopped for coffee and pastries at the local Cloverville roastery in town before heading up to Pepper's farm, where I arrived just before sunrise.
A warm glow came from inside the windows of her house.
So she's awake this time, I thought.
The moment I pulled up and opened my car door, Bonny burst through the doggie door with her tail wagging violently as she ran up to greet me.
"Hey girl, calm down," I said, keeping the food out of her reach as she stood on her hind legs to put her front paws on me.
She reminded me so much of my old boy Hank, who was probably my best friend in life to this day. My heart even tugged a little. I missed him.
But I couldn't help but smile as I scratched Bonny's ears and made my way to the front porch. If she approved of me, maybe her human would too at some point.
"I almost didn't expect you to show," came Pepper's voice from the doorway.
She looked wide awake, alert and ready for the day in her signature flannel shirt, jeans, and boots. This time her hair was pulled up in a bun, that sexy messy kind that left several long wisps of hair falling around the sides of her face.
"Why's that?" I asked. "Looks like I'm the first one here."
She shrugged nonchalantly but I could still see the skepticism in her eyes. She didn't
trust me. She thought I was being shifty and doing this for some ulterior motive.
And maybe in the beginning, I was.
Maybe I could still learn something from her that would be useful in my future business endeavors in this town, but nothing that I would do at her expense.
I learned early on to not make enemies in this business. You never really knew how many bridges you burned by screwing smaller businesses over. Collaboration and long-term planning were the keys to success.
I wasn't exactly sure what my long-term plan with Pepper was yet, but I definitely didn't want her as my enemy.
"Coffee? Croissants?" I asked holding up my tray from the coffee shop.
She looked torn, as if even accepting my offer of breakfast would be trusting me too much.
"Sure, thanks," she said finally.
We sat on the bench on the porch, munching and sipping with Bonny at our feet as we watched the sun rise.
"Ever ridden in a hot-air balloon?"
Pepper seemed taken aback by the random question.
"No. Why?"
"Just wondering. It's incredible to go up in one at sunrise or sunset. A business like that would do really well out here." I winked suggestively at her. "Also a lot more peaceful than a helicopter," I added teasingly.
"Are you ever not thinking of potential business ideas?" she asked with a wry smirk.
"Rarely," I admitted. "That's what my life has become. Actually, working here yesterday was the first chance I had in a long time to get my mind off things, which I think was good for me."
Pepper's eyes suddenly flickered from my face to her driveway, where a cloud of dust kicked up from the approaching car.
"Looks like Maddy and her friends are here," she observed, standing to her feet. "Let's get to it."
I polished off my coffee and followed her off the porch, Bonny happily trotting alongside us.
When Pepper made quick introductions, Maddy almost didn't recognize me from the farmer's market since trading my suit for a T-shirt and jeans. There was little time for chit-chat as Pepper went into boss-mode and had us grab step ladders and buckets from the barn. We'd be picking apples, peaches, and plums from the orchard today.
Cocked and Loaded: A Billionaire Romance (Small Town Bad Boys Book 4) Page 4