by L. T. Marie
Coal wanted to share Angel’s enthusiasm, but the day and the conversation had worn on her. Nothing could change the fact that her dad would be looking over her shoulder every chance he got. All these damn stipulations to make sure he could keep her in check. To make sure she lived by the family’s rules—as unconventional and archaic as they were.
After ordering two hamburgers and a side of sweet potato fries, Coal rested her arm on the bar and laid her chin in her hand. She was so deep in thought trying to figure out a way to get out of her current predicament that she didn’t register the person reaching in front of her to grab a menu until that person was practically leaning on top of her.
“Excuse me. Sorry. Didn’t mean to bump into you.”
“No problem,” Coal said and spun in the stool to find Jay DiAngelo standing before her looking all dusty and dirty and downright appetizing. Jay’s hair was disheveled and damp, evidence of wearing some kind of hat. Her black racerback T-shirt clung to her torso like a second skin showing off small, firm breasts and defined deltoids, no doubt from hours of working with heavy tools. Her powerful thighs were clearly outlined underneath a pair of snug jeans that hung over a pair of black work boots. But what paralyzed her from speaking was the color of Jay’s eyes. Even in the dim lighting they flashed a brilliant amber and the more Coal sat there dumbstruck, the darker and more dangerous those eyes became.
“Hi.” Jay extended her hand in the awkward silence. “I’m sorry we got off on the wrong foot earlier. I’m Jay DiAngelo.”
Coal stared at Jay’s hand like it was a hot burner, scalding her if touched. She remembered the feel of that hard body from earlier and couldn’t risk not reacting if she touched her again.
“Look.” Jay slowly pulled her hand away and tucked it into the pocket of her jeans when Coal didn’t extend the courtesy. “I hope I didn’t hurt you earlier?”
“I’ve been thrown harder from my horse. Let’s forget it, okay?” Coal knew she was being short, but the woman did strange things to her, and she couldn’t risk staring into that warm gaze much longer without melting into a huge puddle. She turned back around to focus on her beer instead.
“As long as you’re sure.” Jay placed her menu back into one of the holders. “I’m glad you’re all right. Have a nice weekend.”
“Wait!” Coal spun back around causing more than just Jay’s head to turn in her direction. “I thought you were going to order something?”
“I was, but I don’t think I’m hungry anymore.”
“You don’t think? You mean you’re not sure?”
“Actually,” Jay’s charming grin returned and she took the menu away from Coal, slowly slipping it out from between her fingers. “I’m starved.”
Oh, God. She’s flirting with me! In that instant, Jay reminded Coal of a person from her past. The cocky grin. The flash of interest in her eyes that ignited the irises. Oh yeah. She knew that look, but this time, she refused to allow it to affect her. “Try the hamburger. It’s the best thing on the menu.”
“Thanks for the tip.” Jay’s grin faltered, and she didn’t appear quite as confident. “Oh, and thanks again for giving us the job. The list your mom gave us is impressive.”
“It is a lot,” Coal said, glad to have moved onto a safer topic. “It started out a lot smaller, but you know how it is.”
“Sure do. So, are you really okay? I know I keep asking, but you did hit the ground pretty hard.”
“Please, don’t worry about it. I fell on my ass, which meant I was cushioned well.”
“I doubt that,” Jay said.
“You can’t help yourself, can you?”
“Is that a trick question?” Jay’s grin made them both laugh. “And actually, I’m only trying to make polite conversation. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
“You didn’t,” she lied.
“Good, because I’m harmless. I’m glad I ran into you because I was meaning to ask where you’d like us to start first?”
“Good question. Does it really matter?”
“To some it does. A complete remodel is a huge stress so if there’s a space you’d like us to work on first to help take away some of that stress, it will help keep you happy, which will make our job easier.”
“I never thought of that. Let’s say, I’ll have you start in the bedroom first.”
“What a great idea.”
When Jay’s eyes flashed again, Coal was thankful that the waitress picked that moment to return with her meal. Jay DiAngelo wasn’t just a handsome contractor. She was charmingly dangerous, and Coal was in for a long few months. “Good, then everything’s covered.”
“Sure,” Jay said but with a little less confidence. “Enjoy your meal and I’ll see you on Monday.”
Jay moved to the opposite end of the bar just as Coal picked up the beer list and pretended to be engrossed in the choices. Did I really just say the bedroom is where I want you to start? She tried not to appear too obvious as she looked out of the corner of her eye at Jay leaning quietly against the wall closest to the front door. She’d never met anyone who had this type of effect on her. Jay was a walking orgasm, and damn, she knew she hadn’t been laid in a while, but these reactions to a woman she had just met were bordering on ridiculous. She was twenty-seven, not seventeen!
“What did I miss?” Angel asked. She looked over Coal’s shoulder and smiled as she returned to her seat.
“Jesus!” Coal jumped as if shocked. “You almost gave me a heart attack.”
“Don’t think I could claim responsibility for that. Do you know her?”
“Who are you talking about?”
“Oh please.” Angel rolled her eyes. “You think I didn’t notice tall, dark, and absolutely butch standing over there by the window? I saw you two talking. Well, flirting was more like it.”
“We were not flirting,” Coal said under her breath, hoping Jay couldn’t hear them.
“Tell it to someone who will believe you. I also noticed you can’t keep your eyes off her. So what gives? And put your eyeballs back into your head before I have to pick them up off the floor.”
She didn’t want to get into a long discussion over a woman she secretly wished was a choice on the dessert menu, so she only told her what was relevant. “My mom hired her to help with the renovations on the house. She starts Monday.”
“Really.” Angel’s voice dropped in pitch. Apparently, she liked what she saw too. “So how’s her…uh…work ethic?”
“Stop that. And I know nothing about her.”
“Semantics. You’re going to get to know her. Tell me you’re not interested?”
“Fine. I’m not interested.”
“Would you be mad at me if I was?”
“Suit yourself,” Coal said, keeping her eyes pinned to her beer.
Why should it matter if Angel was interested in Jay? After all, Jay DiAngelo was nothing more than a distraction. And with the current mess she was in, she couldn’t afford to have any other curve balls throw her off her game. At least, that’s what the practical side of her brain was telling her. The other side, the primal side that wanted to eat Jay alive until not even her bones remained, was shouting at Angel to keep her damn hands off!
“You’re lying,” Angel nudged Coal with her shoulder. “And I was kidding. You don’t have to be on guard with me, sweetie. I’m not your family. I love you, no matter what.”
“I know,” Coal said. She wrapped one of her arms around Angel’s shoulder and tugged her close. “But you’re wrong about one thing. You’re more my family than my own family.”
The sound of the door chiming forced her to turn around to find Jay was gone. Probably best that she no longer had the distraction. And maybe if she sat there long enough, she’d begin to believe it.
Chapter Four
Coal sat stiffly in front of her father’s antique mahogany desk, but as far as she was concerned, it might as well have been a firing squad. The stench of stale cigar smoke permeated the ai
r, and as the red leather chair engulfed her, memories from her childhood came roaring back of all the times he’d lectured her in that very spot.
She had been in the middle of giving Dax a bath when he’d had his office assistant summon her to his home office. She hated being called to the office because she could never remember a time where being in that room meant that anything positive would happen. From the anal look on her father’s face, she doubted today would be any different.
“Hey, Dad. Beverly said you wanted to speak to me?”
“Coal, sit down,” her father said without visually acknowledging her.
“I am sitting down.” Even after all this time, he still couldn’t look at her. He sat rigidly in his executive leather chair, representing everything she’d come to resent. And if it weren’t for their subtle similarities, the high eyebrows and straight nose, the kind that parents passed on to their children, she’d have her doubts that this man was actually her father.
Her father was just as he appeared to be, a conservative, uptight human being with distaste for anyone who didn’t see eye to eye with him on what he considered issues of moral importance. He’d spent many years serving on the California Supreme Court as one of their most respected judges. People admired his decisions even though her gut told her some decisions weren’t always based on the law. With talk about his possible run for governor next year, all eyes were on every case he presided over.
She impatiently waited while he finished signing a few more of the legal documents that currently held his attention. A particular document caught her interest, something to do with gay marriage, but he quickly closed the folder before she had a chance to finish reading the heading. Without so much as offering her a passing glance, he swiveled toward the large bay window and looked out over the garden. Except for the slight graying at his temples and a few more worry lines around his eyes, there were no other outward signs that he had recently turned sixty-three.
When he finally turned in his chair, he narrowed his steely gray eyes in obvious disapproval. “Coal, you really should eat more. How are you ever going to meet a man who finds you attractive if you remain so thin?”
Fucking unbelievable! Trying to keep the venom out of her voice, she did her best to match his neutral tone. “I’ll take that under advisement, Dad. But as you know, that will never be an issue for me. I doubt you called me up here to discuss my eating habits and my weight, so what gives?”
“Watch your tone, Coal,” he warned her. “I called you in here because we haven’t talked since the will reading. I wanted you to know that I stand by your grandparents’ decision. It is not my intention to take control of the ranch, but I will if you see fit to carry on in an un-Davis manner.”
Yeah, I kinda got that. “That’s great, but we already had this conversation. Anything else, because I got a lot to do before work tomorrow?” Coal wanted to scream. She wanted to throw something. But visions of choking him until the smug look slipped from his face were consuming most of her thoughts.
“Let me make it clear. This family is going to come under a lot of scrutiny in the next few months because of my possible run for the governorship. So you need to consider your actions very carefully from now on. I’ll be watching you closely, so I don’t expect any more of this nonsense from you. You have a responsibility to this family, first and foremost, and I expect you to meet that responsibility head on. You are a Davis, and I will expect you to act as such.”
Coal pushed out of her chair and stormed to the other side of the room. “I have always taken my responsibilities seriously, especially when they have concerned this family.” If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be standing here taking this shit from you.
“If that’s true, then as a member of this family, I will expect certain things from you.”
“What things?”
“For instance, I will eventually expect you to get married and have a family.”
“You’re joking, right?” How dare he ask that or anything more from her? Like they hadn’t already taken enough.
Her father looked at her over his reading glasses, clearly not understanding her sarcasm. “If you’re asking me if I’m serious, then the answer would be, yes, I am.”
Feeling the words as though he had slapped her in the face, she gritted her teeth in an attempt to rein in her temper. In fact, a slap would have been preferred over what he was suggesting. “I have a newsflash. Unless gay marriage becomes legal in the State of California, which I don’t see happening anytime soon, I can’t see marriage as a possibility for me. Unless you know something I don’t?”
Her dad narrowed his eyes. “How dare you!”
“How dare me? I’m only considering these ridiculous terms because I believe that Grandpa’s work was important, unlike you who has no moral conscious and would have no problem destroying other people’s lives because I don’t fit the family mold. But I will not allow you any more control of my life. If the fact that I’m a lesbian ruins your political plans then that’s your problem. But I will not”—Coal leaned toward him and slammed her palm onto his desk—“subject myself to any more lectures from you on this topic. Case. Closed.”
“You will not speak to me in that tone.” He rose to stand toe-to-toe with her. “And you will never use that word in my presence again. The only term that applies to you in this house is ‘daughter,’ and even that is a cause of shame for me now. You will honor this family or that ranch is history. That I promise you.”
Coal refused to release his unwavering gaze, and her jaw ached from grinding her teeth. “Anything else?”
“No. Just as long as we understand each other.”
“Actually, I will never understand you. Ever!”
She raced down to Dax’s stall, slamming the door so hard it threatened to rip from its hinges. Wood chips flew in all directions, spooking Dax into the far corner. Pacing wildly, she looked for something to throw. When she heard footsteps on the stone path, she turned to find her mom in the doorway.
“What’s wrong?” her mother asked.
“Did you know, Mom?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. All I know is that I saw you nearly destroy the barn door so I came to see what’s going on.”
“Did you know why Dad called me to his office today?”
“Put the pitchfork down and stop acting crazy before you give Dax a coronary,” her mother said. When Coal complied, she took another step closer. “I knew he wanted to talk to you. Tell me what he said.”
“Screw said. How about told? He expects me to get married. Have kids. With a man! I just don’t fucking get it. Why can’t he love me for who I am?”
“Are you sure you didn’t misunderstand his intentions?”
“No, Mother. I know damn well what his intentions are.”
“Honey, he’s been under a lot of stress since his parents died. And now with the added political pressure, I’m sure he didn’t mean any of it.”
“Jesus, Mom!” Coal combed her hands through her hair, grabbing two fistfuls in aggravation. “You’re always covering for him. He meant it…every word. I don’t know if I can do this. I want to carry on Grandpa’s work. I really do. I just don’t think I’m strong enough to share the responsibilities with Dad.”
Her mother pulled Coal into the comfort of her arms and kissed her on the temple. “You’re the strongest person I know, honey. If anyone can do it, you can. But right now, it sounds like you need a break.” Her mom made two clicking sounds with her tongue, and Dax responded by making his way cautiously toward them. “Take Dax for a ride.”
“I’m not in the mood.”
“It wasn’t a request. You both need to calm down after your tirade, and you know it will make you feel better. Besides, it will give me a chance to talk with your father.”
“Do you really think you’re going to change his mind?” Coal said. She kept her voice low, careful not to spook Dax again. He lowered his head so that she could put her arm around him, an
d as she began to stroke his nose, she could feel his calming effect already on her. “Be realistic. He hates me.”
“Don’t confuse stubborn pride for hate. You two are more alike than you think, which is the reason you’re always butting heads. Now go. Let me worry about him.”
“Come on, Dax.”
The farther they raced through the open pastures and the more distance she put between herself and home, the more the tension eased from her body. Her mother had been right. Riding always gave her time to think. But tonight she’d need more than her steadfast stallion to take her mind off her troubles. What she needed was a friend and a few strong drinks. And she knew just the person to call.
*
“He said what?” Angel yelled so loudly into the phone that it ratcheted Coal’s headache up to migraine status. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding!”
“I wish I was.” She rested her head in her hands and closed her eyes, the stress of the day finally zapping what remained of her energy.
“What an asshole. I mean, I know he’s your father, but damn.”
“You’re not offending me. He is that and much more, but that’s not why I called. I need a drink.”
“We both do,” Angel said in a much happier tone. “Spice it is.”
“Angel, we can’t. If someone recognizes me, the ranch will be sold to the highest bidder.”
Spice had been the go-to place ever since they had been old enough to drink. It had been a small, family-owned restaurant before it was converted into the only lesbian bar in the entire South Bay. Women of all types frequented the bar, looking for a good time in more ways than one.
“Stop worrying. It’s so far out of this snobby town that no one will recognize you. Besides, you’ve seen the kind of people that frequent that club. They’re lucky they can afford a beer let alone a mansion. Come on,” Angel urged playfully. “I’m not talking about someone to share a U-Haul and a turkey baster with. And don’t you dare tell me you’re going nun status.”
Coal laughed. A career her dad might actually be proud of. “Of course not. But until—”