Chapter 17
Belle blanches when I call over to her. “What’s wrong?”
Shoot, I sounded a lot harsher than I meant to.
It’s possible that whatever is happening is a bug and not Belle’s fault. Or maybe Marcie clicked the wrong box and accidentally changed the settings.
I really need to learn more about how our system works. Even when Dawn’s health was declining, she was still mentally sharp, so she kept doing the bulk of the computer work. I thought I’d have more time to have her teach me before…
I swallow against grief and frustration, attempting to smile at Belle. “Something is off with the booking system.”
Her brow crinkles. “The booking system?”
I gesture for her to come behind the reception desk and see for herself.
Belatedly, I realize it’s a tight fit with three of us.
I step back to make as much room as possible, but Belle still brushes against me as she moves to look at the monitor.
She glances back at me over her shoulder with an apologetic smile, a flush rising on her cheeks.
“Marcie, you mind showing Belle what you showed me?” I prompt, and the older human nods, clicking on our booking calendar, which expands into a detailed view.
There’s a beat of silence where I wait for shock or understanding that she messed something up to set in, but Belle stares at the screen blankly.
“I’m not sure what the problem is. Do you not like this booking system? I haven’t touched this part of the website yet, but if you want me to look into other options, I can.”
“Might be for the best, since this one appears to be broken,” Marcie says.
Belle leans forward to get a better view, and her sparkly pink denim-clad ass brushes against my thigh. I inhale sharply, my perverted thoughts instantly going to how she was bent over, ass pressed against that minotaur dancer.
She jolts back upright with a small squeak. “Sorry!”
“Oh, there’s nothing to apologize for, dear. It’s not your fault it’s broken,” Marcie says, oblivious to the tension between me and Belle.
I clear my throat. “Marcie, it’s a bit cramped back here. Why don’t you grab some lunch while I discuss this with Belle.”
“Alright!” she says brightly, pushing up from her chair. “I hope it’s meatloaf day.”
I don’t have the heart to tell her that the only reason our cook made meatloaf in the past was because we had a bunch of human guests staying with us. There won’t be another meatloaf day until that happens again.
Once Marcie is gone, I motion for Belle to sit in the chair Marcie vacated.
She frowns at me. “Seriously, Cal, what’s the issue? I may have fucked up with our socials, but I promise I didn’t mess with the settings for the booking system.”
“I’m not blaming you for this—Wait, what do you mean you ‘fucked up with our socials’?”
Belle’s plush lips part, and she hesitates for a long moment before replying. “It’s no big deal. It’s kind of funny, actually. At least I hope you’ll laugh and not hate me.”
“Belle.” I level her with a stern glare. “What did you do?”
She focuses on the computer screen, pointedly not looking at me. “Can you please tell me what’s going on here first? After all, a viral video is a lot less important than making sure the booking system works.”
“A viral video?” I can’t keep the spike of alarm out of my tone. “Please tell me it’s not a video of something bad,” I groan.
“No! Not bad. At least, not what I would define as bad. August thinks it’s great, and really his opinion on it matters more than mine.” She shrugs and clicks on a block on the calendar. “Whoa, it looks like we’re booked solid next weekend.”
“Yeah, that’s the problem,” I huff.
Belle swivels in the chair, a frown settling on her far too pretty face. “Why didn’t you tell me? I made plans with Remy’s D&D group to come help tear down the wallpaper in the lobby in exchange for free dinner before game night.”
She told me about that, and I recall getting distracted by jealous thoughts of her joining the gaming group and getting closer with Remy and his friends.
I was already in a weird mood after August told me that Dutch had brought her into town to pick up her car.
I would’ve taken her, but she didn’t even ask me or give me the chance to offer.
“Don’t worry. Like I said, that’s the problem.” I lean over to take the mouse, doing everything I can not to make contact with Belle, but her breath still hitches at my proximity.
“See? Next weekend is booked. Almost all the following weekend, too. And there are some reservations for the summer that popped up overnight. There’s obviously a bug that’s making fake reservations. Or maybe a bot? Can bots do that kind of thing?”
“There should be a verification system to prevent bots from using the form.” Belle’s eyes widen as I show her all the new reservations. She clicks through to look at the details of the reservations one-by-one.
Slowly, she turns away from the computer to face me, a slightly shocked smile spreading across her lips.
“What’s so amusing?” I grumble, trying to ignore how my heart flutters at her smile.
“Cal, it’s not a bug. These bookings are real. They all have a deposit paid on them, credit card info, and contact details.”
My stomach flips with a surge of excitement and disbelief. “You’re sure?”
Her grin widens, and she nods. “If you want to be extra sure, have Marcie call guests under the guise of helping to improve their upcoming stay to verify they’re real.”
“I’ll be damned…” I stare at the computer screen and take in what I didn’t notice before in my panic. Real names. Real deposits. “How on earth did this happen?”
Her smile flickers, the anxiety I noticed behind her eyes earlier returning. “Well, remember how I said there’s a viral video? I’m pretty sure that’s what happened.”
My ears flick with agitation and confusion. “What kind of video would convince dozens of people to come to the ranch out of nowhere?”
Belle pulls her phone out of her jacket pocket. “Probably easier to show you than to explain.” Her cheeks turn a bright red as she turns the volume up on her phone and hands it over to me.
I hear August before I see him. “That’s such a good girl,” he purrs in a deep, resonant tone.
On screen, he’s cradling one of his hens.
The video cuts to him gathering eggs and continuing to ‘sweet-talk his ladies’, as he likes to call it.
His shirt looks like it lost a few buttons.
One of the goats probably stole it off him, as they’re wont to do.
“I don’t get it.” The video loops back to the beginning.
“Oh, thank god,” Belle says with a heavy exhale. “So, you understand I didn’t mean for it to be…I didn’t realize it was so…”
Why is she squirming?
Why does this video have more than half a million views??
Do people really like chickens that much?
“Realize it was so…?” I prompt.
“Sexy,” she mumbles.
My brows shoot up. “Sexy?”
“Yeah, it seems I accidentally stumbled into making a thirst trap. Read the comments.”
I tap to open the comment section of the video, my eyes nearly bugging out of my head when I see the top-liked ones.
I’ve never wanted to be a chicken more in my life.
Why is this video 5 hours long?
Taurus Ranch?? Please tell me that the place is staffed entirely by hot cow men.
If he touched me like that, I’d definitely be a good girl and give him one more.
Does a stay on the ranch come with a private tour of the coop? Asking for a friend.
I scrunch my eyes shut when I get to a comment calling August “cow daddy”.
“I’m sorry,” Belle groans. “I truly thought it was a cute way to show off a part of the ranch. I talked to August about it as soon as I saw the views explode, and he doesn’t mind. He, uh…he actually said we should make more videos.”
That makes me snort. “I bet he did.” Knowing him, he’ll want us to start calling him cow daddy. I sigh. “Is this the only one that’s gotten this level of…interest?”
Belle grimaces. “Well, uh, no. This one has the most views, but there’s also one I took of Wylie with Undertaker, and there’s been a similar reaction.”
I scrub a hand across my face, trying to process the back-to-back news that the ranch has a surge in bookings and that surge is because Belle posted accidental thirst traps of our staff.
“I’m sorry, Cal. You trusted me with this, and yes, it’s gotten us a lot of attention, but I never meant to—” She clears her throat.
“I don’t want you to think that I’m objectifying minotaurs.
I never would’ve taken you to that show if I’d known what it was!
I know you laughed it off, but I’ve been mortified, and this only makes things worse.
Not that it’s about my feelings, shit, my feelings on this don’t matter.
Yours do.” She clasps her hands together in her lap and lowers her gaze. “I’ll be quiet now.”
I’m at a bit of a loss for words, so I glance back down at the phone and read more comments, then navigate to the video of Wylie with the horses. As I continue to read, something settles in my chest.
Sure, people are horny and a few comments are borderline offensive, but it’s not all thirst. Some people are talking about how they’ve always wanted to visit a ranch and how beautiful it looks. Others say that the ranch’s name is clever, and that they’d love to support a minotaur-run business.
Huh. This could work. This could be exactly what we need to turn things around.
Belle is practically squirming in her chair as she stays silent. An evil part of me wants to tease her about this, but I put her out of her misery.
“Looks like we’ve got a lot of work to do before the weekend. Think you can see if the D&D group can help earlier? I’ll supervise the lobby sprucing if you call and see if they’ll expedite the furniture delivery.”
She blinks at me. “You’re not mad?”
“Mad? Hell no. This is the best opportunity this ranch has had in ages. I’m not going to waste time fussing about some weirdos on the internet calling August a cow daddy. If any of them come here and act up, we can handle it.”
“Oh. Well, okay. I should probably still check in with Wylie about his video…”
I nod. “Good thinking. Don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable. Though he’ll be insufferable when he finds out how many people think he’s cute. Probably better to stick with August for your videos for now so the young ones’ heads don’t get too big.”
I should leave it there, but words keep spilling from my mouth unbidden. “You can take videos of me if you need some variety.”
Belle’s eyes go comically wide. “Of you?”
I shrug, mentally kicking myself for the offer. “Yeah. That way we’re not sexualizing our staff and things are more above board.”
She looks at me like I’ve grown a second set of horns, and my tail flicks in agitation. “What, you think I’m not attractive enough for your thirst traps?”
Belle opens and closes her mouth a few times, cheeks a bright red.
“Don’t answer that.”
“O-okay.”
God, I’m making a fool of myself. I clear my throat. “We’ve got a lot of work to do if we don’t want to turn new customers off.” I cringe at my wording. “If we want them to have an enjoyable experience and leave decent reviews, I mean.”
“Right. Yeah. Wow, okay. Should we have a staff meeting and make a game plan? There’s only so much we can do in a few days, so we’ll need to prioritize things.”
“Yeah.” Adrenaline and excitement course through me. For the first time in ages, thinking about the ranch energizes me rather than drains me. I can’t help the laugh that bursts out of me, renewed hope swelling.
Belle’s brow furrows. “What?”
I grin and place a hand on her shoulder. “Good work, partner.”