Chapter 28
After spending years worrying and carrying the weight of the ranch’s success on my shoulders, giving up some of that control is a blessed relief.
It’s also torture.
Trusting Belle and her plan to renovate and have a grand reopening goes against all my instincts.
There hasn’t been a day over the past few weeks that I’ve woken up without an alarm blaring in my head, telling me we’re spending too much money.
We’re taking too big a risk, and I’m going to lose what Dawn fought tirelessly to build. I’m going to lose my home.
And then, when I see Belle, smiling and animated as we work on each new project, the fear fades into a dull buzz. It’s hard to stay too worried when I’m in her sunny, passionate presence.
It’s hard to stay a lot of things around Belle. The hardest being staying away from thoughts of her lips and her soft skin and the plush give of her body pressed against mine.
I’ve tried. Stars, I’ve tried. I’m jerking off more than I did when I first discovered the concept, desperately trying to stave off any inappropriate reactions to my pretty human business partner. To my friend.
Haven’t been able to get her calling me that out of my head even though it was weeks ago. It’s pathetic how much it touched me, even though it was directed to both me and August.
I’ve never had an easy time making friends. I have plenty of acquaintances who are pleasant enough, but Dawn and August are the only two people in my life who I let close enough to be true friends.
Against all odds—and my initial attempts to scare her off—Belle is my friend. And while she’s developing connections with others around the ranch, I recognize she needs my friendship as much as I need hers. Which is even more motivation to lock down any attraction or desire I feel toward her.
A friend doesn’t stare at her ass every time she walks away.
A friend doesn’t think about the taste of her mouth and the way she teases and glares at me when I come.
A friend keeps things friendly.
So when I find Belle dozing off on her porch, laptop and Doodle fighting for space in her lap when I stop by to see if she’s eaten, my first instinct shouldn’t be to scoop her up in my arms, carry her inside, and set her on her bed with a kiss so she can rest while I fix her something to eat.
Or to at least stroke the wisp of hair that’s stuck to her cheek away and stare at how damn beautiful she is without risk of her catching me.
How can a face that filled me with rage only months ago make my heart swell until my chest feels like it’s going to burst with all the things I feel for her?
The porch step squeaks as I approach her, and she jerks awake, which startles Doodle off her lap with a disgruntled cluck. The bird stares me down with what can only be described as contempt in his eyes, and I brace myself for a rooster attack for daring to disturb him.
“Sorry, baby,” Belle coos, scooping him back up before he can go on the assault. He settles back in, but still watches me with disdain.
The smile that spreads across Belle’s lips as she turns her focus on me makes my breath hitch. “Hey.” She yawns and stretches a little. “Did I miss a meeting?”
Her voice is rough from being pulled from sleep. It’s how she’d sound if she woke up next to me after a night where I didn’t let her get much rest. My damn dick likes that inappropriate thought way too much.
“Nope, you didn’t miss anything except dinner.” The dining hall is currently covered in tarps and half-painted, but since the weather’s nice, most of the staff has been meeting to eat together out by the fire circle.
“Ah, damn.” She pats Doodle’s head. “I haven’t had time to get groceries, so I might have to cook you up tonight.”
He clucks at her softly, unbothered.
“That’d get rid of one of the biggest pains in my ass if you did,” I say with a half-smile.
“What’s the other? The stick you keep shoved up there?”
I pretend to glare at her, loving her teasing. “No, it’s you.”
Belle snorts. “Well, too bad for you neither Doodle nor I are actually on the menu.” She gives the rooster a gentle squeeze. “You know I’d never eat you, don’t you? No, you’re my precious angel, aren’t you?”
“More like a demon,” I grumble. “Makes sense that you two get along.”
“I won’t have you come to my house and slander our names! Begone, lest I sic my vicious attack chicken on you.”
Doodle crows as if on command, and I suppress a shudder at the memory of him clawing the shit out of my face.
“Apologies, darlin’. I don’t want any trouble with you or your cock.”
Belle chuckles, her eyes sparkling in the dim porch light. “Good.”
She moves her laptop to the table beside her and sets Doodle down on the porch, then stands. I hold completely still as the rooster walks toward me, bracing for trouble, but he just side-eyes me before fluttering down the stairs and walking off toward the treeline.
“That bird is even weirder than you are,” I mumble, shaking my head at the sight.
“He is, but that’s why I love him,” Belle says with a fond shrug.
A few moments pass in silence as I resist the urge to drink in the sight of Belle in her tight denim jumpsuit that’s become one of my favorite outfits of hers because of the way it hugs her low belly and thighs.
“So, uh, any other reason you stopped by than I missed dinner?” she asks, rolling her shoulders.
“Are you sore?” I frown when she winces a little. She spent all day yesterday helping to clear out the shed by Penny Pond to prep it for converting into a changing area for guests who want to go for a swim.
“Why, are you offering to give me a massage?” She says it flippantly, as if it would be a hardship for me to put my hands on her.
“If you think it’d help, sure.” I mentally curse myself at how husky my voice sounds. “Don’t want you to not be able to work, so it’d only make sense to help out,” I add quickly.
“So practical.” Belle shakes her head. “I’m fine. If it hurts me more tomorrow, then maybe I’ll take you up on that. But some stretching before bed should help.” A soft dusting of pink appears on her cheeks.
Damn, I’ve made her uncomfortable. She’s trying to keep things friendly, and here I am offering massages.
I clear my throat. “Anyway, I didn’t come out here to be your personal masseur. I wanted to…”
Why the hell did I come over here, other than the desire to see her and make sure she’s okay?
“I wanted to, uh, check in and make sure you’re not working too hard. That you’re taking breaks.”
Belle quirks a brow at me. “You saw me napping on the porch. I’m definitely taking breaks.”
“Falling asleep because you’re exhausted doesn’t count as a break,” I say, leveling her with a stern look. “I need you to take care of yourself so you don’t burn out.”
She huffs, placing a hand on her hip. “You’re one to talk. When was the last time you took a break for anything besides a meal? Or woke up later than 4 am? You need to sleep!”
I scowl, suddenly feeling defensive. “I have too much to do to sleep in. How do you even know when I’m waking up?”
“August told me. He’s worried about you. Says you’re still up working when he goes to bed around midnight, and up before dawn.”
“August needs to mind his own damn business,” I grumble. “I’m fine. I’m resting enough.”
Belle glares at me. “Then so am I.”
My desire to keep Belle happy and not overworked wars with my stubbornness about my workload, but the dark circles under her eyes tip the scales.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I sigh. “Fine. We both need more rest. I’ll take a break if it means you will.”
Belle’s expression softens. “Well…okay. I guess that’s acceptable.”
She glances down at her laptop and frowns. “Though August might have to steal my devices again, because if you leave me alone with my phone or my laptop, I won’t be able to keep myself from working.”
I’m the same way. If I have spare time, I’ll fill it with work.
“What if we do something together?” It’s a terrible idea to offer to spend dedicated alone time with Belle, but the words are already out of my mouth.
Her lips curve. “Like what? I don’t think The Rodeo is coming back into town anytime soon.”
I chuckle. “Doesn’t have to be something like that. We could stay on the ranch, but maybe…have a picnic? Go out and look at the stars?”
It doesn’t escape me that the first two things that came to mind sound more like dates than a friendship activity. I shrug, trying to play that off. “Doesn’t really matter what it is, just something that gets us to stop working for an hour or two.”
“I overheard Marcie telling Wylie that there’s a full moon tomorrow night…” Belle looks up toward the sky, which clings to the last vestiges of daylight.
“Oh yeah?” I ask, shamelessly taking the brief opportunity to look at her instead of following her gaze upward.
“I wouldn’t mind going out to look at it together,” she says softly.
“Alright then.” My heart beats faster when she looks back down and her eyes meet mine, something potent passing wordlessly between us. Something tempting and dangerous, but it’s too late to take the offer back without hurting her feelings.
I need to change the subject. Anything to dispel the tension. “So, uh, did you hear about Dutch?”
She blinks. “What about Dutch?”
Shit, this probably isn’t the best way to bring the news up. He probably wanted to tell people himself. “Oh, well, he’s leaving. Gave me notice earlier today. Seemed upset about it, but I guess there’s something going on with his boyfriend and he needs to go be with him.”
“Oh god, I hope everything is okay! Do you think his boyfriend is sick?”
Her concern only makes me appreciate her more. “I didn’t want to pry too much, but seemed to me more like a relationship issue than anything dire.”
“Ah. Okay, thank goodness. I mean, that’s still bad, but not terrible.” A beat passes, and Belle frowns. “What are we going to do? We need someone to run the stables.”
I had the same reaction, but staff coming and going is part of life.
“I’ll figure it out. I already need to hire some extra staff for the reopening, so what’s one more?
” I try not to wince at how much said new hires are going to cost. If none of the loans come through, I’ll have to give in and let Belle set up a crowdfunding campaign for the ranch.
We’ve already exhausted both our savings, plus what I reticently accepted from August.
She nods. “True. I’ll talk to Dutch about what his job entails and set up a job listing.”
That’s another thing on my ever-expanding list of things I appreciate about Belle. She doesn’t wait for me to ask her to help, because god knows I rarely will.
“Sounds good, thanks.”
“Well…” Belle glances toward the door. “I should probably go figure out something to eat for dinner.”
I want to offer help. Invite her to my cabin and cook her something. But I’m already struggling with keeping things light and friendly tonight, so I nod. “Right. See you in the morning.”
The way her tongue darts out to wet her lips before she says goodnight is going to star in my dreams tonight. As is the way her peachy ass looks in that jumpsuit as she turns away to open the door.
I walk back to the cabin, wondering when this whole keeping things friendly and professional is going to get easier. Because so far, I only want her more with each passing day.