The Sweet Life

by Dakota Star

  After packing and getting Alexis settled, Mitch joined her on the couch. He’d just brought out two cups of tea and settled next to her when her phone buzzed with an incoming text. She glanced down at it. John.

  “Is that Nicole? Tell her we’re doing it in the living room on the rug and you have no time to talk.”

  “Not Nicole. Nothing important. I can answer it later.” She put her phone aside.

  “If it’s work, I don’t mind.” His gaze turned inquisitive.

  Alexis wanted to be honest—she had nothing to hide—but discussing her past romance, if you could call it that, still embarrassed her. She dated John before she even knew her cowboy. “It’s this guy I used to date. Not anymore. Not since I met you, but that really hasn’t been so long when you think about it.” Her eyes darted to the floor. She feared his scrutiny, but lifted her head high, meeting his gaze.

  His eyes were stormy when they met hers. “If it’s a guy you used to date, as in past tense, why is he texting you?”

  She regarded her living room as if seeing it for the first time. Immaculate and beige, it was barren of anything personal except a photo of her parents. She focused on her bare feet. She shoved one into the soft strands of the rug. “He doesn’t know that I met someone else.”

  “Why didn’t you tell him?” His voice turned to stone.

  “I would have…I will. I mean, I just didn’t really think about him with everything else going on like the accident, and you being here.”

  “Well, you have time right now before I go.” His cowboy hat, which had until a minute ago rested next to him on the couch, now slapped against his thigh.

  She took a deep breath and sent him an appraising stare. His expression was bleak, his lips compressed into a tight frown. “Are you jealous?” The thought made her want to laugh.

  “Me? No. What’s there to be jealous of? Some city slicker who probably never wrestled anything into submission?”

  “You are jealous.” This time she did laugh. “I love it.”

  “Are you making fun of me?” The hat hitting his thigh became rhythmic.

  She put a hand to his broad chest and he leaned close. “No. I love that you care enough to be jealous.”

  “You love that about me?” he asked, his voice softening.

  “You have lots of good qualities.” She put her other hand on his heart. Its rapid pulse entranced and thrilled her.

  “And you love them?” He moved closer and his hand wrapped around her back, gently drawing her into him.

  “You could say that.” She nuzzled his neck, text completely forgotten. She wondered if it was the meds, but she felt good.

  “Do you love me?” He whispered the words in her ear. “Because I sure as hell know I’ve never felt this way about any woman, and I think I’m falling in love with you.”

  Alexis didn’t know what to say. She almost leaned back and retreated, not at all sure what she was feeling, but Mitch tugged at her heartstrings, and other areas of her body. Since she couldn’t say it, she hoped her actions would tell him all he needed to know. She kissed him.

  “Be gentle,” she said as he lowered her down on the couch.

  “Always.” His hand tickled her arm, moving slowly up toward her breast. “You’ll have a great story to share with your friends tomorrow.”

  “I think I want to keep this one to myself.” She let out a moan as his hand caressed her breast through her t-shirt.

  His mouth covered hers as his fingers moved lower, tracing infinity on her stomach. Instead of moving on top of her, he carefully guided them to the floor and lifted her on top, her knees straddling his hips. “You’ll need to lead today,” he said with a huge smile. “I don’t want to make your injuries worse.”

  “I’ll be gentle.” She unzipped his jeans.

  He gasped as she placed delicate kisses on his stomach. Her lips traced a path lower. She peered up at him when he went still.

  “What?” she asked, unsure about the emotions etched on his face.

  “I don’t know what to do. Every part of me wants to grab you, turn you over, and have my way with you, but I don’t want to hurt you.”

  This could be fun, Alexis thought. “That’s so sweet of you. I think you’re right. You should just stay where you are and don’t move. That way I’ll be sure not to hurt myself.” Her smile turned devilish. She laughed when her cowboy opened his mouth to say something, but when her hand moved under his jeans, words failed him.

  She took control of the rest of the evening and Mitch didn’t get on the road until late at night.

  Chapter Ten

  “Work sucks.” Alexis couldn’t believe the words came out of her mouth. By the expression on her friends’ faces, they couldn’t believe it either. The three had met for lunch so Alexis could hash out her confusion.

  Alexis had returned to work after her week off and a month had slowly dripped by since then. The time had been anything but pleasant or productive. Something had changed for her. The thrill she experienced each morning languished, the days turned long, and, while her boss praised her work on the dude ranch, she had trouble coming up with brilliant ideas or any ideas at all for new campaigns assigned to her.

  Jake Peterson had called her into his office upon her return. She was a little concerned that a representative from Human Resources also sat there, but Sam was only there to be sure it was medically appropriate for her to return. Then Peterson told her of some minor changes to the dude ranch campaign. Dr. Johnson had faith in her, Peterson said. He’d go with whatever she suggested.

  Now she sat in the breakroom with her two best friends, listlessly poking at the sandwich she’d ordered.

  “Earth to Alexis,” Jo Jo said. She’d recently had her hair styled and colored. It was now a beautiful honey blonde at the bottom. “What’s going on?”

  “Sorry. I was thinking about the dude ranch meeting with Peterson. I can’t believe that Mitch and his dad decided to go with my campaign. He was so mad about it initially.”

  “I’m sure your near-death experience had something to do with it,” Nicole said before taking a sip of her water.

  Alexis took a bite of chicken salad sandwich, mulling over her ideas before answering. “My life was never in danger. It’s a broken wrist. It can’t be that.”

  “You were in an accident,” Nicole persisted. “That brings people clarity. Or it should.” She stared pointed at Alexis.

  “I have clarity!” Alexis said.

  Both of her friends looked disbelievingly at her before returning to their food. And by the end of the meal, they had all decided that Alexis needed a change. A big change.

  ***

  It took an additional week at work, meeting with her boss and Human Resources, but they gave her a leave of absence. She talked with Mitch and his dad, and they offered her a job as a wrangler for as long as she wanted so she could really learn the business of the ranch. Mitch wanted her to stay with him, but she wasn’t sure that was smart. Moneywise, the change would be a challenge, but she had enough savings to pull her through.

  She was packing for the ranch and dealing with last minute condo issues when someone knocked on her door, startling her. Somehow, the person had bypassed the intercom system at the front door. She peered through the peephole and found herself further confused and concerned. Nate stood there.

  She reluctantly cracked the door open. “What can I do for you, Nate?”

  He held up an exquisite bouquet of yellow roses. “I heard you were leaving and I wanted to see how you were. I brought you these.”

  “Thank you.” She really didn’t want to let him in, but it would be rude not to accept the flowers, especially if he had seen the error of his ways. Alexis hadn’t had the chance to follow up with Human Resources about him after the accident. Maybe they had taken him to task over the incident and he wanted to apologize. “Come in, I guess.”

  She opened the door and he stepped through. With a smile pulling back his thin lips, revealing h
is all too pearly white teeth, Nate handed her the flowers. “For you.”

  “Thanks again.” She closed the door behind him and moved to the galley kitchen to find a vase and put the roses in water. He followed behind her and made himself comfortable on one of the stools that perched under her white kitchen island.

  “How’s work?” She tried for small talk as she thought of a way to move him back to the door. She really didn’t want to have to offer him a drink.

  “That’s why I’m here.”

  “Really?”

  “Now that you’re on a leave of absence, there should be no reason you and I can’t get together. No one will think the worst of you. No one will even have to know.”

  Alexis was flabbergasted. Definitely no coffee! “I think you need to leave. As I told you at work, this thing you think we have is never going to happen for so many reasons. First, you’re married, second, I’m not at all attracted to you, and third, you’re an ass. Please get out of my house.”

  “And you’re a bitch. You think you can do better. You just threw away your career and now you’re throwing away your last chance with me.” His face turned the color of a plum.

  She laughed at his hubris. “I wouldn’t touch you if you were the last man on earth.”

  He lunged at her, but instinct and the self-defense class she took when she first moved to the city helped her evade his grasp. She pushed him out of the way. With his back to her, legs spread for balance, she aimed a deadly kick to his balls. Nate staggered, floundering forward, luckily in the direction of the door, which she pushed him out of. Slamming it behind him and locking it securely, she yelled through it, “If you ever come near me again, it won’t be Human Resources, I’ll call the police and press charges.”

  She heard him stagger off down the hallway. It was only when the adrenaline wore off that her ribs and wrist started to ache.

  The pain irritated her more. She dialed Nicole’s number. Her friend would know some additional ways to make Nate suffer.

  Chapter Eleven

  “You’re doing it all wrong,” Janine said.

  “Sorry.” Alexis glanced at the saddle she had placed on the horse’s back. She had the thick pad under it and tightened the girth the way Mitch showed her. The stirrup was strung on the saddle horn so as not to dangle and whack the horse on the side. “What do I need to change?”

  The look on the wrangler’s face was that of someone who had to clean up vomit from the bathroom floor. Janine undid the girth, pushed the saddle and pads up two inches, and then redid the girth. It took less than a minute, but Janine shot her the evil eye when she sashayed away, saying, “The saddle was much too far back.”

  A blush crept into Alexis’s cheeks. “Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.” She whispered the words to herself.

  It was Memorial Day weekend and guests packed Sweet Life Dude Ranch. After three months of learning about how the ranch worked, today was her official first day as a lead wrangler. Now that her cast was off and her ribs were healed, she could manage a full day outside with only a few limitations.

  Prior to this, she’d spent a lot of time working the front desk or in the office with Mitch and his father learning about the dude ranch, the financials, and seeing all the work that had gone into making the ranch at least break even every month. Mitch’s dad had shown her pictures of the place when he first bought it, and Alexis couldn’t believe how much work had already gone into some of the restoration. Together, they came up with a new strategy to rebrand Sweet Life Dude Ranch that would make everyone happy. She had definitely not given Mitch and his dad enough credit for all they had done to turn the ranch around.

  After a couple months, Alexis realized she preferred the fresh air and starry nights to the city smog. She enjoyed country life more than she thought she would, and while some of the chores around the farm could be tedious, there was always something new to learn, a task to conquer, or a place to explore.

  If only she felt as competent as Mitch and Marty told her she was. For the first time in a long time, Alexis wasn’t the star on the job.

  Now that all the horses were saddled and ready, Alexis worked with the visitors to find them the perfect mount. She loved most of the guests, but enjoyed the children most, something she also did not expect.

  Alexis mounted up after all the guests and went to the front of the line. She gave the safety speech, made contact with the other wranglers, and began the walk into the woods.

  “You’ve got a dangler, Alexis,” her two-way radio blurted. A dangler meant that one of the guests was leaving the reins too long. The horse could get tangled or trip on them.

  She held up a hand, signaling a stop, and shouted the same. She turned Blaze to see who needed help.

  The child, looking small even on the pony, wore a helmet that slipped down, nearly covering his eyes. He was having trouble seeing and had let the reins loosen as he struggled to keep the riding helmet up.

  “Hey, buddy,” Alexis said as she pulled Blaze next to the boy. The pony nipped at her. “Stop that, Snowflake.” She swatted at the short, fat pony who, while white, was anything but delicate.

  The boy giggled. That was a good sign. “My hat’s too big.” He pushed it up and down.

  “Let me fix that for you.” She reached over, unclasped the helmet, and then adjusted the straps inside. When she set it back on the boy’s head and strapped it under his chin, it stayed on his forehead. “Better?”

  He nodded vigorously. The helmet didn’t fall into his eyes.

  “Now, you have to promise me that even if your helmet gets loose again, you’ll keep a hold of the reins here.” She tightened the reins for the boy and placed them in one hand. “You have the other hand free if you need it.”

  “Okay.” The boy bounced in the saddle with excitement.

  “First time on a horse?” Alexis asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Then here’s what you need to know. Keeping a good hold on the reins is important. They tell the horse where to go. Can you do that?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good boy. Let’s get this walk started.” And she did. The walk went fine. She led the beginners through the woods at a leisurely pace. No one complained and, more importantly, no one fell off.

  ***

  The next week, Alexis had the weekend off. She planned a Saturday visit into New York to meet with her girls and shop.

  They window shopped and gossiped for a while before entering the upscale lingerie shop on Madison Avenue with large windows and lots of lace.

  “This is most definitely one thing I miss about the city. The coffee is good on the ranch, but I miss walking out my door and having everything I want in a two-mile radius.” Alexis ran a hand along the delicate fabric.

  “Is the honeymoon over, sweetie?” Nicole asked.

  “No!” Alexis turned to face her friends. “Mitch more than makes up for the stuff I miss. That’s why I want to buy something sexy for the weekend and show him how much I appreciate all he’s done. Mitch said he was going to get something special for me too.”

  “A ring?” Nicole clapped her hands together.

  “Too early for that,” Alexis said.

  “Never say never. Anyway, even if there is no ring, you’re cohabitating. How is living together going? Do cowboys have any interesting habits we need to hear about?” Jo Jo picked up a patterned bra and held it up over her shirt.

  “So far so good. Mitch and I get along great.”

  “Why don’t you sound happy?” Nicole dragged Alexis to the teddies.

  Alexis looked through the rack, pulling out a gold embroidered jumpsuit with a high leg and a classy black silk teddy.

  “Pretty.” Jo Jo nodded in approval. “What gives at the ranch?”

  “I’m not sure the staff likes me. And I keep messing up. I’ve always been good at my job, but I feel like I’m failing.”

  “There’s no way you could fail, unless you decide not to try both of those on.” Nicole grabbed Alexi
s’s elbow. “Follow me. I know where the dressing rooms are.” She grabbed a floral patterned bra to try on.

  Alexis bought both the gold and the black outfits and then ate too much at her favorite restaurant as her friends filled her in on more gossip from work. One great piece of news, Nate was fired for inappropriate behavior with an intern.

  She felt a pang of sadness as she dug into her lobster roll, something not available in the dude ranch dining room, and even felt tears form when she said goodbye to her friends much later that night. But more than anything, Alexis was excited to return to Mitch.

  Alexis made it back to Mitch’s house a few minutes before three in the morning. She changed into her new gold jumpsuit and headed into the bedroom, only to find Mitch in a deep sleep. She cuddled next to him and planted a light kiss on his neck, but he didn’t stir.

  With a deep sigh, Alexis snuggled close and fell asleep next to him.

  She was surprised when he woke her up extra early in the morning. “I like this.” His hand traced the fine flowers embroidered on the gold material.

  Her body longed for both Mitch’s touch and a few more hours of sleep. “It’s Sunday.” She moved closer to him. “We’re supposed to sleep in.” The air conditioning on full blast made his warmth all the more inviting.

  “Get up.” Mitch tickled her gently. “I want to show you something.”

  She glanced out the window. “It’s still dark.”

  “You’ll survive. I promise.” His hand tickled her slender stomach. “I could just keep you in bed and find other ways to wake you up.”

  “That sounds like a nice option.”

  His hand whacked her butt. “But I really need you to see this. Out of bed. And then I have some other surprises for you.”