Chapter 6
CADE CROSSED HIS arms and leaned on the sill of the truck’s open window. “Hear me out, Emma. I don’t want anything but the truth between us.”
“What’s to stop you from lying? You don’t owe me anything,” she whispered.
“I want to be sure I don’t hurt you in any way.
” He leaned in, ran a hand around her neck and pulled her to him, kissing her lightly.
Her face was openly painted with surprise when he pulled away, but he didn’t pause, didn’t give her time to think.
“I was initially opposed to hiring you because I wasn’t convinced we could afford you.
Money’s tight after the outbreak we had last year that cost us so much in livestock and our own savings.
We pay our bills, but there isn’t much extra floating around after the last check is signed.
” What he said next was a personal revelation he hadn’t intended to make but one she had to understand.
“Also, I was, and maybe am, afraid that someone from New York wouldn’t understand our heritage or our way of life.
You’d come out here and do your advertising thing.
We’d not only lose our privacy but end up being put on display like some kind of specimen of days long past. It’s not the kind of attention I ever wanted to draw. ”
Her gaze softened. “I understand.”
“But that’s just it. I’m not sure you can.
I hardly get it myself, so how could I expect you to understand them?
” He strode away from the truck only to round on his heel and come back even faster than he’d left.
“I can’t lose who I am to this endeavor.
My brothers don’t think about it the same way because they have other identities.
Eli’s a lawyer. Tyson’s an accomplished horseman and has an up-and-coming breeding program gaining regional recognition.
Hell, even Eli’s fiancé, Reagan, is a large-animal vet. ”
“And what about you? Where do you fit?” she asked tenderly.
“I’m just me, and this is my place. This is where I fit.”
“Who are you, Cade?”
“I’m a simple cowboy, Emma. I’m the man who works for seventy-five dollars a day to make a little extra money now and again.
The man who’s up before dawn and typically isn’t inside until dusk.
The one who takes pride in a hard day’s work and a job well done.
The one who worries about keeping the ranch in the family, keeping that family’s collective head above water. ”
“Sounds like quite a man, actually.” Reaching through the open window, she gently rubbed his arm.
“I’m not entirely admirable,” he grumbled, stepping out of her reach.
She managed to get hold of his wrist and stop his retreat.
“No one I know is entirely admirable, Cade. People might act in what they believe is their—or someone else’s—best interest, but rarely do they consider every possible aspect, every possible result.
It just isn’t possible, but it doesn’t justify deeming my admiration of you unwarranted.
” Pausing, she searched his face. A flash of emotion passed through her eyes before she tipped her chin up and focused on him like he was the only person in the world. “Can I ask you something?”
“At this point, I’ll give you my statistics without batting an eye. I wear a thirty-five by thirty-eight Wrangler MWZ jean, size thirteen boots and a men’s tall shirt with an eighteen-inch neck. Oh, and I prefer boxer briefs.”
She grinned. “I already got a demonstration of that last part.”
“Suppose you did.”
“No, what I wanted to ask is if, having met me, you believe I’m the best person for this job.”
He hated himself for hesitating, but he wasn’t sure how to answer that.
Squeezing his arms lightly, she nodded. “Let’s get to the main house and talk to the rest of your family about whether or not I should be here, okay?
If you believe someone else would better suit your end game, I’ll gladly make some calls and find someone with more experience in this particular field. ”
Cade rounded the truck and hoisted himself into the driver’s seat. Resting his hand on the key, he shook his head, closing his eyes. “I don’t regret meeting you.”
“Meeting me and hiring me are two different things.” She started to reach for him and stopped herself, instead settling her hands in her lap.
“The point here is that the best marketing and public relations person never allows a client’s true self to become lost in a campaign.
We create plans that, in a very real way, exploit who you all are as both a group and as individuals.
We sell your surroundings, your core beliefs, the things that make you different from your competitors.
This may drive business to your doorstep, but I’m not sure you or your brothers realized what they were in for in hiring a firm like mine.
Or, in the end, whether it was something they want. ”
“Emma—” he started, but she interrupted him.
“In that case, the ranch never should have hired my firm and Michael never should have accepted the retainer or subsequent payments. But we’ll talk about all that at the house.
” She leaned her head against the doorframe and took in the vast landscape.
But the truck’s engine remained off, ticking as it cooled.
“Seriously, Cade. Let’s go. I’m at the point I have to determine whether I should be sending initial impressions to the staff assigned to this project or call the airline to change my return flight to tomorrow. ”
From the corner of her eye, she watched him study her.
She sat there and let him, too tired to fight with him about finishing the trip, getting this over with.
Because when the brothers realized it would be their images, their lives plastered over the pages of both print and digital media versus that of models and Photoshopped backgrounds, that they’d be approached with all kinds of offers if they all looked as delicious as Cade?
Chances were beyond favorable that she’d find herself in New York by noon tomorrow.
His voice split the darkness with a ferocity she hadn’t expected. “You’re the one who came out here and said you’d do the two weeks to make sure we’re ready for guests. You leave now—we’ve got no one to make sure this goes off without a hitch.”
Twisting around on the leather seat, she was shocked to find him out—scowling her. “Pardon?”
“If I have to, I’ll call you on your word. ‘Love or loathing’ ring a bell?”
Stomach knotted, she gave a single nod. He’d mentioned he was worried about the money.
She refused to consider what he might do to save some cash, how far he’d take it to win their silly bet.
“The bet is off. If your brothers decide hiring my firm was a mistake, I’ll refund the money you’ve already paid. ”
His eyes flared, and then faded to a flat blue. “That’d be right kind of you.”
“Isn’t that what you’re after? Some reassurance I’m not going to run off with your money?
We have a contract, Cade. I’m sure that Eli, being a lawyer and highly skilled negotiator, went over the terms thoroughly and built in an exit clause for either or both of us.
” She tried to smooth her spiky hair into some semblance of a professional presentation.
Taking a moment to collect her thoughts, she shifted her body so their shoulders were square.
“But until we’re sure exactly how the rest of your family feels about me executing my obligations, we have nowhere to go but forward. ”
With that, she settled into her seat and waited for him to start the truck so they could get this over with.
CADE PARKED IN front of the main house. The porch light was on, the sounds of construction absent due to the late hour. Rounding the front of the truck, he opened Emma’s door and helped her down before retrieving her luggage from the crew cab’s backseat.
“Thought you’d forgotten your way home when you didn’t...
” Eli called as he opened the front door, his wide-eyed gaze skipping from Cade to Emma.
By the time his eyes rested on Cade again, his face was cool, emotionally detached, even.
“Ms. Graystone, I’d like to invite you inside.
Reagan!” he shouted, never looking away from Cade. “You, I’ll talk to in the barn.”
Yep. Conversation would be held in the language of fists with subtitles provided in English.
Emma stepped forward, holding a hand out to Eli. “Mr. Covington, it’s nice to meet you.”
Furious, but stumped by years of professional protocol, Eli shook her hand. “And you as well, Ms. Graystone.”
“Please, call me Emma.” She gestured between herself and Cade. “I realize we’re a mess and it would be very easy to make improper assumptions, but allow me to reassure you that it’s not what it seems.”
She met Eli’s silent, questioning stare with cool confidence.
Emma pressed on. “Cade stopped at my request to help an elderly couple with Ohio plates during the middle of a thunderstorm. He got out in the torrential rain and, not wanting to be the diva who’d ask him to stop yet not offer to help herself, I followed.
” She shook her head and smiled in a self-deprecating manner.
“Being from Manhattan, I would have been highly efficient in hailing them a cab. I’m sure you’re stunned to learn there were no cabs available tonight. ”
“This true?” Eli directed the question to Cade.
“If you’re questioning the woman’s account, you should ask her, not me.”
Emma stepped forward again, the movement somehow more authoritative that the initial steps she’d taken.
“There are many things I’ll tolerate, Mr. Covington.
Asking your brother if I’m lying while I’m standing right here?
That isn’t one of them. If you have an issue with the information I’m relaying, I’d ask—and expect—that you have the courtesy to address me directly. ”
Cade nearly swallowed his tongue. She hadn’t denied lying to Eli but had efficiently and politely demanded his respect.