9. Nice Try
NICE TRY
Marlon.
“If your daughter is not through that door in the next five minutes, I’m shipping her ass back.”
I stood behind my desk, phone pressed to my ear and eyes on the hallway.
Dillon let out a short laugh on the other end. “Wow. When I called to ask how she’s doing, I wasn’t expecting this.”
“She’s a pain in my ass is how she’s doing.”
“That bad?”
“Yes.” I didn’t hesitate. “She’s late. She doesn’t listen. And she hired somebody to do the work I gave her.”
There was a pause.
“She did what?”
“TaskRabbit,” I said flatly. “Got a man in her office right now doing her job.”
Dillon exhaled slowly. “Yeah. That sounds like Aurora. Wolf—”
“No,” I cut in. “If she doesn’t want to be here, I’m not wasting my time.”
“She wants to be there,” Dillon argued. “She just doesn’t know how to act.”
I glanced at the clock on the wall.
Two minutes.
“That’s not my concern.”
“It is now,” he pushed. “You agreed to this.”
“I agreed to teach her.” I clarified. “Not babysit. She’s not a child, even if she acts like one and I’m not holding her hostage. Ship her ass to Milan like you were supposed to and just wire me the money.”
Dillon was quiet for a second. “She’s not used to being told no.”
Duh!
“Give her a chance,” Dillon continued. “She can work hard. Just push her, don’t break her spirit.”
“Dillon. I can not deal with a bratty, lil’ know it all. I don’t know how you run things back home but here it’s my way or the highway.”
“You a drill sergeant now?”
“If I gotta be,” I looked out my office window at the fields. It looked like rain coming in. Maybe we should do a half day. “Why are you calling me to see how she’s doing anyway? Shouldn’t you be calling her?”
I heard movement on the other end. “She’s not talking to me right now.”
“Lovely.”
“Stop,” he said. “She’s just upset with me right now. Give her a week.”
Oh, please.
“You got a lot of patience with her.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“And that’s exactly why she thinks she don’t gotta earn nothing.”
Dillon sighed. “Wolf—”
I looked at the clock again. Thirty seconds.
“Like I said, if she’s not through that door—”
The handle turned and I went quiet.
The door opened and she walked in, late and out of dress code.
Skin tight dress with high heels, hair done up and that fucking rat dog in her arms like she was walking into brunch instead of work.
On the other end of the phone, Dillon exhaled slowly. “…she there?”
I kept my eyes on her.
“Yes,” I said, voice flat.
“Good,” he replied, the line went dead.
I lowered the phone and set it on the desk with care, my attention never leaving her.
“Aurora,” I said evenly. “What are you wearing?”
She stepped further into the room, completely unbothered.
“What do you mean?”
“Your outfit.”
She glanced down at herself. “What about it?”
“It’s inappropriate.”
She looked back up at me, unimpressed. “Is it? My cleavage is covered.”
“It’s inappropriate,” I repeated. “Go see if Lavender has a sweater or something.”
She let out a loud, dramatic exhale, shifting her weight like I was asking too much of her.
“Oh my God, Marley. It’s just arms and legs.”
“I’m not arguing with you, Aurora. This is wildly inappropriate and don’t even get me started on the rat.”
“Service dog.”
My eye twitched. “Go get covered up. Now.”
That should’ve been the end of it but of course, it wasn’t.
She didn’t move. Instead, she stepped closer.
“You know,” she said softer. “I think it has nothing to do with how I dress.”
I stayed still, letting her talk.
“I think,” she continued, tilting her head slightly, studying me. “Subconsciously, you still wanna fuck me.”
I kept my face blank.
“But you feel guilty about that,” she went on, closing the distance enough to test me. “So instead of dealing with it, you’re taking it out on me.”
“That so?”
“Yes,” she said, holding my gaze. “That’s exactly what I think.”
I watched her for a second then cleared my throat.
“Well,” I said calmly, “last time I checked, it was you who offered to take up space in my bed again. And I turned you down.”
Her expression dropped.
“So, Ms. Rodriguez,” I continued. “If I wanted to sleep with you again, I would’ve.”
I let that sit for a second. Her lips parted, but I didn’t give her space to jump in. Then I leaned just slightly closer to make my point clear.
“You’re not slick,” I added. “You’re testing me and right now? You’re failing.”
Silence settled between us letting me know I guessed right. Then I stepped away.
“Now,” I said, picking up a file from my desk, already moving on, “go find Lavender and a sweater. Then go sit in your office and do the work you were assigned. Get rid of the TaskRabbit, Rabbit.”
“No.”
“Excuse me?”
She changed her approach quickly.
“Yesterday, Lav said you’d show me the vineyard,” she declared. “So… show me around.”
This fucking girl.
“Aurora, what you’re wearing ain’t appropriate. You won’t be comfortable out there.”
“I’ll manage.”
She wasn’t asking, she was pushing. Testing how far she could go before I pushed back harder.
Fine.
I studied her heels, dress and hair. Maybe this was a way to teach her hard headed ass a lesson.
I nodded once. “Aight.”
“Aight?” She echoed.
I turned and walked away from her, pushing open the side door of my office that led out to the stables.
The shift in air hit immediately with a cooler, heavier scent of hay and earth.
“Let’s go.”
Without hesitation, she walked closer.
“Aht, aht, aht. The rat can’t go.”
“What? Why?”
“You stupid or something? Dogs can’t eat grapes. I don’t want him running off, eating the product, then dying and you blaming me.”
She scoffed. “Chewy doesn’t run away. And you don’t care if he dies. You just don’t want him messing up your precious produce.”
I smiled lightly. “The dog stays.”
“Ugh!” She stomped away. “Give me a second.”
Satisfied, I start preparing to go out myself but she comes back maybe a minute later.
“Alright, let’s go.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “Where’s the mutt?”
“First of all, I didn’t spend $10,000 in vet fees on that pure bred for you to call him a mutt.”
TEN THOUSAND?!?!?!
“And secondly, TaskRabbit is watching him.”
“Seriously Aurora? You brought him here. He’s your responsibility.”
“What? I gave him like $100. It’s fine.”
“That’s not the—” I stopped myself and breathed in. You know what. If the man wanted to be her servant, let him. I don’t even blame her for taking advantage. When you find an ass, you ride it.
“Let’s just go.” I put my coat on and walked through the side door. “I better not smell any shit when I get back.”
“Oh please, Marlon. Your office is next to a damn stable.” She followed behind me with her heels clicking at first, then slowing once we stepped onto the packed dirt.
I know them stilettos was digging into the ground. I bet it tore her ankles up. A part of me was tempted to look back but I stayed focused.
Out in the stables, everything felt different. The horses shifted in their stalls, the soft sounds of movement and breath filling the space. Aurora didn’t hesitate now, moving straight to Titan.
“Hey, boy,” she greeted, reaching up to stroke his face. “Remember me?”
Titan leaned into her touch calmly, then closed his eyes. She closed hers too and rested her forehead on his.
I watched that.
After Titan, she turned to the larger stall. “And you must be Spades.”
I moved in then.
“Careful, he’s—” But I stopped mid-sentence. Spades didn’t move. He just stood there, letting her get close. “—aggressive.”
She glanced back at me over her shoulder, unimpressed. “No. Spades is a sweet boy. Ain’tcha?”
He just let her rub his face.
Asshole.
It took me three years to even get near him after Alice died. But, I guess Aurora does look like her in a way. I walked over, placing my hand along Spades’ neck. He stayed calm.
“He isn’t usually,” I said.
She kept her hand on him, her tone quieter now. “…Lavender says he used to belong to my mother.”
That made me freeze.
Come on, Lav.
“Yeah,” I said after a moment. “She helped birth him. Right in this barn.”
Aurora’s expression shifted slightly as she noticed my stiffness.
“You two must’ve been really close.”
I looked away, changing the subject. “Ready to ride him?”
Her head snapped toward me. “Huh? What? I can’t ride in this dress.”
I gave her a knowing but flat smile. “Really now? How are you supposed to see the vineyard then?”
She stared at me like I had lost my mind.
“Come on, Marlon, don’t be ridiculous. Surely there’s a golf cart or something.”
“Nope. The team uses ATVs,” I said, already reaching for the tack. “But they’re dirty as shit and slower than the horses. And it looks like rain. Muddy patches make it difficult to ride in.”
She glanced up at the sky, examining it for herself . “Seriously?”
“You could always walk,” I added, looking down at her heels. “Doubt you’ll get far in those.”
She opened her mouth, then closed it again.
“I—” she exhaled sharply. “I hate you.”
That got a real smile out of me.
“Come on,” I said, tightening the reins. “I’ll let you sit up front.”
She looked between me, the horse, and her outfit like she was weighing her pride against her common sense.
Will she admit defeat or let me have this round?
With a sigh, she caved. “Got any riding boots?”
“Nah.”
“Fuck.”
“A horse this pretty shouldn’t be trekking through mud in this vineyard.”
Her voice carried just enough attitude to let me know she still was in a mood.
Spades moved steady beneath us as we rode through the rows. The vineyard stretched wide on both sides with long lines of vines, thick with grapes, leaves brushing against each other in the breeze.
The ground shifted under his hooves, packed dirt breaking into softer patches where water had settled from earlier irrigation. Workers moved further out, some bent over the vines, others hauling crates, nobody paying us much attention.
“A horse is a horse,” I said. “Everyone here has a job to do. Including you.”