Chapter 20
I ’ve just entered the lobby when my phone chimes.
Reid: Come to my office.
Come to his office? That’s it? This motherfucker. I'm a fool for thinking there was something between us at the Dreamhouse when there clearly wasn’t. But he's jerking me around and I'm over his dick-hole-ery.
Now I have to go be Miss Professional and pretend like my heart isn't being held together by scotch tape.
I drag my feet to his office.
“What, Reid?”
What he says stops my heart. “I want to take you to the ranch.”
A beat of silence is followed by ten more just like it. I stand there, blinking stupidly at the man.
“You.” I point at him. “Want to take me.” I point at myself. “To your ranch?” I point back at him.
“Set your things down and meet me out front. I’ll swing the truck around.” And with that, Reid leaves me standing in his office, brain short circuited.
Stunned, my feet lead me outside to his waiting truck.
He's staring at the front door, so the second he sees me pushing my way outside, he throws his door open and scrambles around the front of the cab and wrenches the passenger door open for me.
I look at him like he has two heads, maneuvering around him, careful to avoid any parts of our bodies touching, and take my seat.
He looks like he might throw up. He gently closes my door and returns to his side of the truck at normal speed. The tension in the truck is palpable. I can’t even begin to process what’s going on, but apparently, we’re going on a field trip.
The ranch is stunning. Reid is completely at peace here. His posture is more relaxed, his gate is loose and carefree—not marching and stomping around like I'm used to. Breathing the crisp mountain air is so cleansing. I immediately feel a difference in my body and stress level.
There’s something about being on wide open acres, among snow covered pastures, gorgeous cabins, and countless trees.
The air even feels cleaner than in town.
I take a moment and tip my face to the sky and breathe the freedom in and out of my lungs.
When I come back to reality, Reid is staring at me.
An indecipherable expression paints his face, almost pained. Does he regret bringing me?
My anxiety hijacks the moment. “Thank you so much for bringing me here, you didn’t have to.
I mean, not that you brought me here for me .
I’m sure you have better things to do. You said you wanted to take me to the ranch, but I’m sure you didn’t mean want like want .
Right? Jesus Reid, will you please say something and stop my rambling before I pass out? ”
Who am I? Freaking speed-talker Olivia? Am I even breathing?
Reid studies me and shoves his hands into his front pockets. When he does that, the denim pulls taught over his—no.
Bad Isabelle!
Do not look at his dick.
I snap my eyes away as he saunters over to stand before me. He's so close, the toes of our boots are nearly touching, and I have to tilt my head back to see his face. He’s lethal, silhouetted by the morning sun.
“I wanted to bring you here,” he says, emphasizing his intentions. Intentions that apparently involve him genuinely wanting me here.
“Ok.” It’s all I can get out. Long seconds of silence stretch between us, eyes never parting. “Thank you. I want to be here with you.”
His eyes flash with an indecipherable emotion. His jaw clenches—even beneath his thick beard I can see the motion. “Come on then,” Reid says as he turns around and tips his head for me to follow.
The ground is snow packed but well kept, as if a plow has been through recently. We parked in front of a massive cabin that looks like it could be over a hundred-years-old—beautiful in its antiquity.
Silently, Reid leads me around to the back side of the cabin and stops. He places his warm hands on my shoulders and angles my body towards one corner of the structure. Leaving one hand on my shoulder, he extends the other hand in front of me, pointing up to the roof.
His gruff voice startles me as he speaks close to my ear. His warm breath skates across the cold shell of my ear, sending shivers through my body, tightening my nipples.
“You texted me last week and I didn’t respond.
That morning the roof collapsed on this side of the main house.
It was all hands-on deck for the whole week to get it repaired.
We had to work as fast as we could because the nights drop below freezing.
My parents live in the house, and it’s been in our family for generations.
” He gestures to all the area that’d been repaired.
Realization and compassion flood my mind. James said something about Reid being needed at the ranch—this must be what he meant. Relief exhales from my lungs that he wasn’t ignoring me after all.
“It’s a shit excuse for blowing you off, Isabelle.”
“No! Reid, it’s fine!” I interject but he cuts me off.
“It’s not.” He turns my body so that I'm facing him. His arms are extended holding me before him. He scans my face with his brows deeply furrowed. “I’m sorry.”
I raise my arm in the cage between us and gently press my palm to the side of his jaw.
His flinches in surprise but I hold my position.
His beard feels nothing and everything like I imagined.
It’s bristly like I anticipated, but it’s also dense and almost plush feeling, compressing beneath my palm.
I can feel his jaw rhythmically pulsing—clench, unclench.
“Thank you. I understand now. The ranch is your heart, Reid. Your home. Texting your coworker is pretty low on the priority list.” I try to say it with levity.
He frowns deeper and I move to pull my hand away. One of the hands gripping my shoulder snaps up holding my hand against his face.
“You aren’t just some coworker to me.” He doesn’t elaborate, but the weight of his words settles in my soul.
Perhaps, we are in fact something far more.
After our intense moment behind the main house. Reid takes me around the property, winding to and fro. He walks me past James’s cabin and some guest houses before guiding us back to the truck. I'm secretly disappointed that the tour is over, but I'm grateful for what he’s shared.
“Thank you so much, Reid. This was nice.”
Confusion crosses his face. “Huh? Oh, we ain’t leaving. You look fucking freezing and the rest of what I want to show you is farther out. Figured I’d drive us past the pastures instead of walking.”
We drive through the ranch and stop in front of a small cabin with a gorgeous covered front patio. I wait for Reid to open my door and get out to look at the building in complete awe.
“Is this your house?” I ask, dumbstruck by how beautiful it is. I can feel Reid here. His presence wraps around the entire house. He comes to stand beside me, looking reverently at the cabin as well.
“Yep. My dad, brothers, and Grey helped me build it. Our parents gave each of us kids a plot of land to build on. Partially to keep us nearby, but also so we would feel invested in the ranch,” Reid explains.
We stand in front of the cabin for a couple of minutes, but he sees me start to shiver so he guides me to our next destination.
He leads me into an enormous barn. My boots crunch softly across the hay scattered floors.
This isn’t just a barn. These are Reid’s horse stables.
I can't take it all in fast enough. It’s huge, and so clean.
I know next to nothing about horses or their care.
But I can feel how much pride Reid takes in the stables and the animals inside.
He doesn’t say much as we pass from stall to stall, only small comments about the building, or what pieces of equipment are.
But I'm not listening. I'm captivated by running my fingertips along the stall doors and reading the names of each horse we pass.
I'm enraptured by the massive creatures. Reid stops in front of a particular stall. I read the nameplate and with glee, look up to find Maisey, Olivia’s precious horse.
“Well, hi there, girl. Haven’t seen you in ages.
” She nuzzles her nose into my outstretched hand, searching for treats.
“Why, yes. I’ve missed you too. I just saw Miss Olivia the other day.
She'll be so tickled when I tell her I saw you today.” I prattle on to the horse, looking at her adoringly.
I'm too apprehensive due to my lack of experience around horses, so I don’t try to pet her.
I’ve warmed considerably in the stables—they're gloriously heated. Reid must take incredible care of these animals. I find Reid gazing intently at me. He looks at me like I'm a puzzle he can’t solve. Does he want to? I’m not sure he'll like what he finds if he looks too hard.
But I find myself wanting to let him try.