Chapter 8
8
Mateo
M ateo couldn’t stop thinking about the conversation he’d had with Nikki on that first night. He’d made a couple attempts to speak to her again over the next week so they could clear the air, but every chance he got was thwarted.
Sometimes, she slipped away like she had that night. Other times, they were interrupted by Mark or Jason. And occasionally, Daniel—who couldn’t read the room.
Nikki’s ex was an idiot. How could any man not see the treasure they had in a woman like her? These days, most of the women Mateo had come across were vapid more often than not. People were judgmental and conceited. They married for two reasons—money or a trophy.
Caroline had proved that to him from the beginning; he just hadn’t realized it until it was too late. She had actually done him the best favor by failing to show up for their wedding ceremony. Good people were hard to find and even harder to keep. Whoever this Dennis guy was, he didn’t deserve Nikki.
And you do? the voice in his head seemed to ask.
Mateo pushed that thought away as quickly as it had come. As far as Nikki was concerned, she could be his friend—she was his friend. And he didn’t want her thinking that she was worth less just because some guy didn’t want to stay with her.
Two guys , he reminded himself. Idiots. The both of them.
He stood in the back of the cafeteria at breakfast, watching the men that Daniel oversaw eat their first meal of the day. He was determined to speak to her, and the only way he saw that happening was if he started eating some of his meals here with the other men in his employ. Sophia seemed to be the only one who noticed that he had been missing from the occasional meal with the family, but she’d been smart enough not to mention it outright.
Daniel was the last to arrive, and he stopped short as he entered the building. “What are you doing here? I thought you were going to be taking a drive to the city first thing this morning.”
That had been something on his list, but he’d opted to postpone it. The supplies he needed in the city weren’t going anywhere.
He flashed Daniel a smile. “I wanted to eat breakfast with you—touch base on how your side of things is going. Seeing as you usually eat dinner with Aria and breakfast with your family…” Mateo wasn’t going to admit he’d overheard Daniel telling some of the guys that he’d be here before breakfast ended so they could get an early start on herding some of their sheep to one of the Callahan pastures. They were also doing a trade. Mateo needed a good, strong bull for his cows, and Zeke was interested in adding to his livestock.
Daniel appeared confused for all of a second before his eyes darted to the swinging doors that led to the kitchen. Then a smile stretched across his face. “I have a feeling that this has more to do with you seeing a certain someone.”
Mateo rolled his eyes. “If I wanted to see a certain someone , I would just pull her aside and talk to her.”
“So why aren’t you doing that?”
Because if he pulled her aside to talk to her in an official capacity, he didn’t think it would be appropriate to tell her that the men in her life were jerks and she was better off without them. But if she managed to walk past him and he could strike up a conversation, then that would be a different matter altogether.
Daniel didn’t need to know any of that.
Mateo ran a hand down his face. “What’s the plan with the sheep? I know you wanted to transport them in trailers, but since we couldn’t acquire them, the job is going to be more difficult.”
“It’s nothing I can’t handle,” Daniel said, moving farther into the room toward the table where most of the food had already been set out. Good. He could tell when his choice in conversation was being forcibly changed.
There were a lot of things Mateo liked about Daniel, but his ability to move on to something else was one of the best.
They dished up some breakfast, and Mateo chose a table closest to the kitchen in case Nikki made an appearance. He needed to talk to her.
That’s not true, and you know it , that little voice chided. Besides, Nikki doesn’t want to speak to you. If she did, she’d be easier to nail down .
Mateo’s focus drifted from the kitchen doors to the man seated across from him. He found Daniel smirking like he knew a secret and was about to crow it to the whole world. “You like her.”
“What?” Mateo scoffed.
“How long?”
“What do you mean, how long?”
Daniel leaned forward, and his voice lowered. “Come on, man. You can’t tell me that you don’t. You literally moved her into your home.”
“She has her own space. It’s upstairs, and my room is downstairs. It’s hardly inappropriate,” Mateo insisted a little too defensively.
“It’s okay that you do. Even Sophia thinks so. But you have to tell me how long it’s been going on.”
Mateo didn’t think it was possible, but Daniel looked even more like he was conspiring with someone. It was near impossible to hear his next words over the hum of voices in the cafeteria.
“Were you two already talking before she came here? I won’t breathe a word to anyone.”
Scowling, Mateo leaned forward so his face was far too close to his friend’s. “I don’t know what Sophia has told you, but you’ve got it all wrong. I assure you. Nothing is going on with me and her. And I don’t have feelings for her, alright?”
“Who says you have feelings? I want to know about your crush.”
Mateo raised his hands into the air with exasperation. “I don’t have a crush on her,” he said a little too loudly—okay, far too loudly.
The quiet hum of voices abruptly died down. Mateo glanced around to find most of the men in the room looking their way. Worse than that, the object of his interest stood on just this side of the swinging kitchen doors with a platter in hand and her focus locked on him. The expression she wore was completely unreadable.
Did she know that he was talking about her? He sure hoped not. That wouldn’t go over well at all.
Whirling back to Daniel, Mateo wasn’t surprised to find that his friend was laughing quietly under his breath. Mateo pointed an accusatory finger at him. “You and your fiancée and my sister need to stop gossiping about stuff you know nothing about.” He pushed away from the table and shot to his feet.
Without really knowing what he planned on doing, he headed for the kitchen.
Nikki had disappeared behind those doors. And while he knew it was unwise to go seeking her out after his little outburst, he couldn’t bring himself to care.
He pushed through the swinging doors and plastered the smile he was so used to wearing onto his face. “Hello, Nikki,” he drawled.
She looked up from where she stood at the sink, rinsing bowls from what had likely held pancake batter. “Is there something you need, Mr. Palmer?”
Why did he suddenly hate the way she said his name like that? Mateo fought the urge to drag a hand through his hair and insist she call him by his first name. That wouldn’t be wise at all.
“I was wondering if you needed anything from the city. You mentioned that you’d be putting a list of supplies together. Now that you’ve been here for a week?—”
Her expression brightened, and he found himself wanting to be the sole person who could do that to her. “Actually, yes.” She pulled back from the sink and wiped her hands on her aprons. “I have a list of things we need, but I’ll need to go with you. How long do you plan on being in the city? Do I have time to put together a quick lunch for the guys? Or will we be back in time?”
“There’s a chance we could get back in time, but that depends on you.”
She frowned.
“Your list. How big are we talking here?”
She smiled, and it felt like she could light the whole earth with it. “I already did some research. There’s a restaurant supply store in Colorado Springs that should have most, if not all, of the stuff I need. After that we can get the fresh produce from the local markets here.”
“Then I don’t see why we couldn’t make it back for a late lunch.”
“But Mom, I thought today you said you’d let me see some of the horses.” A small voice came from the corner of the room, and Mateo shifted his attention to the source. Paxton stood, frowning, his colored pictures in his hands.
Nikki gave him an apologetic smile. “I know, sweetie, but we talked about what it means for us to be here. This is my job?—”
Mateo moved past Nikki to crouch down in front of the boy like he had that first day they’d arrived. “Have you ever ridden a horse?”
Paxton shook his head, and Mateo fought the instinct to shoot his mother a surprised look. But he had to remind himself that, up until recently, she’d been living in the city. Why would she have any reason to take the kid riding?
He grinned at the boy and chucked him under the chin. “I’ll tell you what. After these errands, I’m more or less free today. I’ll take you to meet all the horses you want. Then maybe, if your mother is okay with it, we can go riding. How does that sound?”
“But he doesn’t know—” Nikki started to argue, but Mateo cut her off.
“Anyone living on a ranch should know the basics about riding and controlling a horse. As Paxton is currently a resident, it’d be my pleasure to teach him a thing or two about riding.”
Nikki’s hesitation cut at Mateo. Was she actually worried that he wouldn’t take care of her boy? Or was this something else? Her eyes found his, delving deeper, stirring a vulnerability within him. “I’m really busy, Mateo. I can’t be there to supervise.”
“Who said anything about you supervising? The kid can’t spend his last summer before kindergarten holed away in a kitchen coloring pictures. He should be out there in the world getting scraped up and learning what it means to be a cowboy.”
Pure and utter excitement filled the boy’s features. He looked up at his mother with a wistful kind of longing, and Nikki was clearly losing her will to fight him on this. When she heaved a sigh, both Mateo and Paxton grinned like they’d just won the lottery.
Mateo turned to Paxton and offered his fist. The kid bumped his against Mateo’s, and there was no missing the smile that tugged at the corners of Nikki’s lips.
Winning.