Chapter 6 #2
“I’m sorry about that,” she says quietly. “Richard’s always been an ass, but that was worse than usual.”
“You didn’t need to defend me.” I keep my voice gentle because her protective anger is both touching and unnecessary. “I can handle condescending rich guys.”
“I know you can, but I wanted to.” She looks up at me with something like wonder in her expression. “I’ve never cared enough about anyone to feel genuinely insulted on their behalf before.”
The admission surprises me more than it probably should. “Lindsay...”
“No, let me finish.” She takes my hand despite the public setting. “Watching him dismiss you like that made me furious in a way I didn’t expect. Not because I thought you couldn’t handle it but because he was wrong about you in every possible way.”
Before I can respond to that declaration, another voice interrupts our moment.
“Lindsay Caldwell gracing us with her presence.” This time, it’s a woman, blonde and polished, with beauty that comes from expensive maintenance rather than natural genetics.
Her smile is perfectly practiced, and her approach carries territorial undertones that make my horse shifter instincts prick up.
“Vanessa.” Lindsay’s greeting is cooler than her response to Richard. “How lovely to see you.”
“Likewise. Who’s this handsome stranger?” Vanessa’s attention shifts to me with predatory interest. “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced.”
“Josh Brennan.” I offer my hand cautiously.
“Vanessa Sterling, Sterling Agricultural Consulting.” Her handshake lingers longer than necessary. “What brings you to our little gathering?”
“Josh runs a sustainable farming operation,” Lindsay interjects before I can answer. “He’s here as my guest.”
“How wonderful that you have such...diverse interests now, Lindsay.” Vanessa’s tone suggests diversity isn’t necessarily a good thing.
“I remember when you used to date exclusively within our social circle. What was that charming phrase you used? Something about the importance of compatible backgrounds?”
The barb finds its target. Lindsay’s face goes carefully blank, and I realize Vanessa knows exactly which buttons to push.
“People change,” Lindsay says simply.
“Indeed they do.” Her smile turns sharper. “Some changes are more temporary than others. Enjoy your little walk on the wild side, darling. We’ll be here when you’re ready to come back to reality.”
She glides away before either of us can respond, leaving another uncomfortable silence in her wake.
“Friend of yours?” I ask dryly.
“Former colleague. We’ve never particularly liked each other.” Lindsay’s jaw is tight with suppressed anger. “She’s not entirely wrong, though. I did used to think compatibility meant similar backgrounds and social status.”
“What changed your mind?”
Lindsay looks up at me with vulnerability. “You did.”
The simple honesty of her answer makes my throat constrict. Before I can figure out how to respond to that, a third interruption approaches in the form of a tall man with prematurely gray hair and a spine so straight I think there might be a stick jammed up his posterior.
“Lindsay, darling.” This one doesn’t even acknowledge my presence, going straight for the double-cheek kiss that Lindsay tolerates but doesn’t return. “You look absolutely radiant. Rustic life must agree with you.”
“Hello, Preston.” Lindsay’s voice goes flat in a way that immediately puts me on alert. “Josh, this is Preston Whitmore. Preston, Josh Brennan.”
Ah. The art destroyer. This should be interesting.
Preston finally looks at me, and his assessment is even more dismissive than Richard’s. “Brennan. Are you in agriculture?”
“I am.”
“How...earthy.” Preston turns back to Lindsay without waiting for elaboration. “Darling, surely you’re not serious about this rural phase. Everyone knows you’re just slumming until you find someone appropriate.”
The word “slumming” lands hard, but not on me. Lindsay goes very still beside me, and I can practically feel the temperature drop around us. “Appropriate according to whom?” My voice is calm and curious, as if Preston’s insult is genuinely puzzling rather than offensive.
He doesn’t even look embarrassed at being called out. “Well, you know.” Preston gestures vaguely. “Someone from Lindsay’s world with compatible education, family background, and social connections. The usual requirements for a serious relationship.”
“Interesting perspective.” I maintain the same tone of polite interest. “What makes you think Lindsay needs someone else to define her requirements?”
He blinks, clearly not expecting the question. “I just meant...”
“You meant Lindsay’s judgment isn’t trustworthy when it comes to choosing her own partners.” I let that hang in the air for a moment. “That’s quite an assumption about someone who runs a multi-billion-dollar corporation.”
“That’s not what I said.”
“Isn’t it?” I tilt my head slightly. “You suggested she’s ‘slumming’ and needs to find someone ‘appropriate,’ which implies her current choice is both temporary and beneath her standards. That seems to question either her judgment or her honesty about what she wants.”
Preston’s face is beginning to flush. “I was simply pointing out the obvious differences in background...”
“Which differences concern you most? The fact that I work with my hands, or that Lindsay chose me despite having access to men like you?”
The question hits its target. His flush deepens, and his carefully constructed superiority begins to crack. “I think there’s been a misunderstanding...”
“I don’t think there has.” My smile is perfectly polite.
“You made your position quite clear. You believe Lindsay is too good for me, which is probably true, but you also believe she’s too stupid to recognize that fact, which definitely isn’t.
It must be frustrating to discover intelligence and good judgment led her away from men who share your particular worldview. ”
Preston opens and closes his mouth several times without producing sound. Finally, he manages a weak “I never...” before retreating into the crowd.
Lindsay stares at me with something approaching awe. “That was...”
“Satisfying?” I suggest.
“I was going to say devastating, but satisfying works too.” Her smile is brilliant. “How did you do that?”
“Same way I handle difficult horses. Stay calm, let them reveal their own weaknesses, and then use those weaknesses to guide them where you want them to go.” I shrug. “Preston made it easy by assuming I was too stupid to understand what he was really saying.”
She’s beaming with approval. “Remind me to never underestimate you in an argument.”
“I’ll try to give you fair warning if I’m about to dismantle your position in public.”
Lindsay’s laugh is genuine and delighted. “Deal.”
The rest of the evening passes more smoothly, though I continue to catalog exits and feel restless in the crowded space. By the time we make it back to Lindsay’s apartment, my head is buzzing with conversation. and my feet ache from dress shoes.
“How was that?” she asks as she kicks off her heels with obvious relief.
“Educational, exhausting, and definitely not my natural habitat.” I loosen my tie. “Do all your corporate events involve that much barely concealed hostility?”
“Only the fun ones.” Her grin is mischievous. “You handled it perfectly, by the way. Better than perfectly, actually.”
“I spent the whole evening calculating how many cattle could graze in that lobby space,” I say with a rueful grin. “About forty head, assuming they didn’t mind the marble floors.”
Lindsay stares at me for a moment and then bursts into laughter that quickly escalates into full-body giggles. She laughs until tears stream down her cheeks, and I end up joining in despite not entirely understanding what’s so funny.
“That’s...” She wipes her eyes, still chuckling. “That’s the most perfect response to corporate excess I’ve ever heard. Forty head of cattle in the Roosevelt Hotel lobby.”
“Forty-two if you moved the registration table,” I clarify, which sets off another round of laughter.
When she finally calms down, Lindsay looks at me with an expression that makes my pulse accelerate. “You know what I realized tonight?”
“What?”
“I’ve been looking for someone who could handle my world without being absorbed or intimidated by it. Someone who could hold their own against people like Preston and Richard without becoming like them.” Lindsay steps closer, and I smell her perfume mixed with her natural scent. “I found him.”
Her words make my throat constrict. I reach up to brush a strand of hair from her face, marveling at how someone so strong can look so vulnerable in this moment.
“Your world isn’t as foreign as I thought it would be.
The people are different, but the principles are the same.
Know your strengths, respect your opponents, and never let anyone convince you that you’re less than you are. ”
She nods as she reaches up to undo my tie and pull it off. “Is that your ranch wisdom?”
“That’s just life wisdom.” I pull her closer, and she comes willingly. “I still prefer conversations that don’t require calculating the political implications of every word, of course.”
“We can’t all have the luxury of brutal honesty,” she says with a smile that’s both teasing and wistful.
“Maybe not, but we can choose when to use it.” I kiss her forehead gently. “Like tonight, when it mattered.”
Lindsay settles against my chest with a sigh that sounds like contentment. “Thank you for coming with me. I couldn’t have handled Preston and the others nearly as well on my own.”
“You could have handled them just fine. You’ve been doing it for years.” I stroke her hair, enjoying the simple intimacy of holding her in the quiet apartment. “I’m glad I could be there anyway.”
“So am I.” Lindsay tilts her head up to look at me. “Ready for day two tomorrow?”
“I can’t promise no more calculating livestock capacity in inappropriate venues.”
“Whatever gets you through the ordeal.” She kisses me lightly before stepping back.
I want to pull her closer, but we’re not rushing this.
I have to sternly remind myself of that to keep from calling her back as she heads to her bedroom.
I follow, veering to the guest room. I’m taking off the suit jacket when I realize somewhere between the drainage ditches and the corporate politics, I’ve stopped thinking about our relationship as temporary.
This feels like something that could last, and I hope it does.