Chapter 8
CARTER
Iwas up early the next day, and as I got ready in my room at Honeyrose House, excitement flared through me. I had a long day of work ahead of me, but I would also be spending the day with Shelby, which was what had me vibrating.
That woman was stuck in my head like a catchy song on a loop. When she smiled at me, it was like the sun coming out, but she didn’t smile at me often. I was hoping to change that.
The fact that she had agreed to meet with me again today was progress. I wasn’t about to count my chickens before they hatched, but I felt like I was breaking through her stubborn outer shell. Sure, she was putting me to work again this morning, but I was more prepared for it today.
After she had dismissed me the day before, I had driven over to the feed store, where they sold work clothes. They sold everything there, really, like a one-stop shop for the folks in Ferris. Jake had seen the state I was in and he had taken pity on me, helping me pick out some clothes.
I wasn’t sure about the style but he promised me they were sturdy, comfortable, and wouldn’t restrict my movement. If Shelby had taught me anything in the short time we had known each other, it was that I should trust the people who knew more than me.
After a shower, I got dressed and looked at myself in the mirror.
The man staring back at me wasn’t the same man who had arrived in Ferris barely a week ago.
I needed a shave but the scruff looked right with the rest of my vibe.
I wondered if Shelby would like me better this way, and then I wondered why the hell I cared.
To be fair, I always paid attention to my appearance. CEOs needed to look the part. But I never tailored my look to impress a specific person. Shelby was different. Or maybe I was different, although I dismissed the idea as ridiculous. I had only been here a week. Change didn’t happen that fast.
Brushing those thoughts aside, I decided not to shave. She would like it better. I was sure of it.
I strutted out of my room feeling good. The wardrobe I had brought with me had been the wrong choice to make friends with the farmers here. It should have occurred to me sooner to buy clothes that would help me fit in. At the very least, someone on my PR team should have thought of it.
I drove out to Granny’s Acre Farm, eager to see her reaction. She was going to flip when she saw me, looking rugged and ready to work. I wouldn’t be a joke again today.
As soon as I got out of Tyler’s truck at Shelby’s, she took one look at me and started laughing. “What the hell are you wearing, Carter?”
It stung. I looked down at myself, confused. “What?”
“Overalls?” She giggled even harder, covering her mouth.
“Yeah, what’s wrong with overalls?” I tugged on the straps. “These bad boys aren’t going anywhere. And I have a T-shirt on under.”
Shelby wiped at her eyes. “I mean, there’s nothing wrong with them. I just never thought I’d see you in something like that.”
I shrugged. “Me neither, but if I’m being totally honest, these are the most comfortable goddamn things I’ve ever worn.”
She laughed again but I noticed her eyes studying me, like she was seeing a new side of me. “Yeah, overalls are super comfy,” she said.
I gave her a little spin to see the back, too. “They’re like if an apron grew pants at the bottom. I’m in love.”
“Looks like you’ve found yourself a new look,” Shelby said with a smile that stopped my heart.
Feeling suddenly vulnerable, I looked into her eyes. “Do I look silly?”
Her smile widened. “Yes.”
I grinned back at her. “I don’t care. I might never go back to wearing a suit.”
“Why not combine the two?” She shrugged. “Maybe you can have them make an overalls suit, to be worn with a jacket of course. You want it to look classy at the opera.”
I paused. “I know you’re joking, but I know some fashion people. We could make this happen. I can have Emma wearing one on the red carpet by next week.”
Shelby narrowed her eyes at me. “Which Emma?”
“Take your pick,” I said.
She rolled her eyes and walked away, not waiting to see if I was following. “I’ll leave that to you. Right now, you’re feeding the ducks.”
“Oh, that sounds fun.”
She grinned at me in an evil way I didn’t like. “We’ll see.”
I trailed behind her, watching the sway of her hips. Shelby was just in regular jeans but she filled them out nicely. She had to own some overalls. Maybe if I asked nicely, she would put them on for me.
I doubted it. She would probably spray me down with a garden hose and call me an asshole. Weirdly, I kind of liked how mean she was to me. Too many people in my life were suck-ups who only wanted something from me. All Shelby wanted from me was to leave her the hell alone.
It made me want her even more.
Sadly, she led me to an open duck pen instead of her bedroom. On the plus side, though, ducks.
“Khaki Campbell,” Shelby said.
“Gesundheit.”
“No, that’s the breed,” she said. “Great egg layers.”
I nodded in their direction. “Ladies, can I interest you in breakfast?”
Some of them quacked, but they had been doing that the whole time. Still, no one could stop me from counting it as a response.
“Alright, lover boy. I need you to go in that barn over there.” She pointed to it. “Grab a sack of feed and bring it back out here.” She pointed down at her feet. “Do you think you can handle that?”
I met her gaze. “Well, when you ask nicely like that, sure.”
She grinned at me. “And make it snappy.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I could have sworn I saw her blush, which added a bounce to my step. That had felt an awful lot like flirting, and while I might not know shit about farming, I knew how to make a woman melt for me.
In the barn, I slung the bag of feed over my shoulder and strode out like a hunter returning with my kill. “Where would you like me to put it?”
Shelby rolled her eyes. “I already told you. Bring it over here and open it up.”
I hefted the feed bag up and placed it at her feet. Her unimpressed look as she watched lit fires inside me. It drove me to impress her, to wipe that judgmental expression off her face and replace it with desire.
To do that, I had to show her I could hold my own on the farm. Step one toward doing that was opening up my sack. I examined the burlap sack at my feet and frowned. “How the hell do you open this? Is there like a perforated edge or something?”
Shelby shook her head at me, took something out of her pocket, and flicked open a sharp-looking blade. “There’s a perforated edge once you make one.”
She sliced through the thick burlap with ease, and I stood back to watch her with awe.
Shelby was a take-charge kind of woman and she wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty.
That already made her fascinating to me, but on top of that, she looked cute as fuck doing it all.
I had never expected to get turned on by a knife-wielding farmgirl, but life had a funny way of surprising people.
Shelby folded her knife closed and stowed it back in her pocket. Then she gestured at the open bag. “Now take that in the pen and load up the feeders.”
“No sweat.” I grabbed the feed bag, careful not to spill anything. She opened the gate for me, and the moment I was inside the pen, a horde of ducks swarmed me.
“What the hell?” I tried to hide the panic in my voice, but the little shits were all around my feet, making me afraid to take a step for fear I might hurt one of them. But they were pecking at my boots and my denim pantlegs, pulling on my laces, and quacking threateningly.
“Shelby, help.”
“Relax,” she said with a laugh. “My girls know it’s feeding time. They’re just hungry.”
“They’re stampeding,” I said.
Unable to move, my balance faltered. I didn’t want to step on any animals and falling over on top of them would be even worse. Unfortunately, I was in definite danger of toppling over like a chopped-down tree.
I needed to grab onto something or I would fall, so I threw the feed bag as far as I could, which wasn’t very far since it was open, and I grabbed onto the gate just behind me.
“Bad bunny!” Shelby admonished. “That feed is expensive. And that’s too much food. You’re going to make my ducks fat.”
I shot her a glare. “Aren’t fat ducks good?”
“Maybe if you’re going to eat them, but my girls lay eggs.” She shook her head at me like I was a fool. “So I want a nice, healthy duck.”
My mind briefly switched the word “duck” with “dick” and I had to suppress a groan. Then I switched “duck” to “fuck” and I needed a cold shower. Shelby drove me crazy in a way women never did. She had me thinking crazy stuff, throwing me off balance as much as the duck army had.
I thought coming out to the Kentucky countryside was supposed to be simple, but so far, it had been nothing but complications.
Somehow, I kept my expression calm, but inside, I was getting all hot and bothered. When she talked to me like that, it awoke a beast in me. I wanted to show her exactly what I could do.
I could quiet her pouty mouth with a kiss, throw her over my shoulder like a sack of duck food, and tumble into bed with her. Shelby would be shouting my name in ecstasy instead of saying it with annoyance.
She came into the pen and shouldered past me. The ducks parted for her and she picked up the bag to salvage whatever feed was left. Then she shoved it against my chest. “Put the rest of this in the feeders, and try not to screw it up.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Shelby scowled at me in response, and I wanted to take a picture and make it my phone’s wallpaper.
After the duck-feed debacle, things went more smoothly. With an extra pair of hands, we wrapped up her work for the day before noon. I could tell she wasn’t used to being finished this early.
“Come have lunch with me,” I told her.
It took more begging than I was proud of, but eventually she agreed. We would be driving into town separately, since she refused to ride in Tyler’s stink-mobile.
I met her at the diner in town, which she had insisted upon. Her friend Dora Lynn ran the place and Shelby said people didn’t bother her there or Dora would run them off. My heart broke for the gorgeous little farmgirl who was squaring off against the whole world.