Chapter Twelve
Several weeks went by. Their relationship grew steadily. No more talk was made about him buying the ranch, and Victoria was heeding his warnings about safety. At least he thought she was listening to him until he got a call during one of the busiest times of the year.
“Mr. Cole, this is Tomas over at Robertson Ranch.”
Cole smiled and wiped his sleeved arm across his face, cleaning some of the sweat and grime away before it burned his eyes.
“Hello, Tomas, what can I help you with today?”
“You know we’re tagging the calves today.”
“Yes, we’re doing the same thing.”
“We have such a small crew here. We need everybody for this.”
The tone of Tomas’s voice told him he wasn’t going to like what he had to say.
“Go on.”
“It’s Miss Robertson. She knew she couldn’t help with the tagging because she’d just be in the way.”
Cole couldn’t hide his frustration. “Tomas?”
“She’s out in the hay field picking up the bales we cut yesterday.”
Cole shook his head in confusion. “One more time.”
“She’s in the field picking up the bales of hay by herself, and I’m afraid she’s going to get hurt, Mr. Cole.”
Cole pinched the top of his nose where an angry pain was starting to grow. “I’ll be right there.”
“Do you want me to try again to get her to stop?” Tomas asked.
“It sounds like you already have.”
“Yes, sir, twice. She just tells me not to worry, that she’s being careful.”
“No, don’t try to say anything, just try to keep an eye on her until I get there.”
“Absolutely. Thank you, Mr. Cole.”
Cole yelled for three of his ranch hands.
Thankfully, they were done with tagging, or he wouldn’t be able to pull them.
They took off down the driveway in two trucks, spewing gravel.
They made it to Robertson’s Ranch in record time.
Cole couldn’t get the picture of one of those bales falling on her.
They weighed more than her and would seriously hurt her.
Cole waved at Tomas on the way past the corral where her men were working. His heart nearly stopped when he caught sight of Victoria sitting on her bottom on a makeshift ramp and slowly pulling a bale up inch by inch.
“Goddamn woman,” Cole said through gritted teeth and a shaky voice. Fuck, he hadn’t been this pissed in years and knew she was just asking to be spanked for this.
“You and the guys finish picking up the bales in this field, take the tractor with the trailer to the barn, then head home.”
“You got it, boss.”
Cole parked his truck and got out. She continued to wrestle with the bale, oblivious that he was behind her. His mouth twitched at some of the colorful curse words she was using.
Victoria screamed when Cole walked up beside her on the trailer.
They both watched as the bale she’d just about had on the trailer slid back down to the ground.
A few other guys whom Victoria hadn’t yet met walked to the bales in the field around her.
“That’s just not fair at all,” Victoria said in disgust as one of the guys picked up the bale and then threw it to another man who had climbed on the trailer behind her.
She hadn’t thought they could hear her over the motor of the tractor.
A deep blush crept over her face as they all laughed.
Well, everyone except Cole. He stood a few feet away with his arms crossed and a look that would cower anyone.
Everyone but her. Victoria pushed herself off the trailer to stand in front of Cole and brushed the bits of hay stuck to her bottom. She smiled brightly up at Cole.
“Hi.” Her stomach twisted when a muscle started twitching on the side of his cheek. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m torn right now.”
Her smile started to slip with the tone of his voice.
“About what?” she asked, raising her hand to shield her eyes from the sun and better see his expression.
His hands went to his hips, he narrowed his gaze on her, and he sucked in his bottom lip. She thought he looked as if he were trying to gain control.
“I don’t know if I want to carry you up to the house and whale on your ass there or spank you here.”
Victoria gasped, and her hand dropped. She stared at him wide-eyed for a moment. “What? Why?” she screeched.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Cole yelled.
Victoria cringed, and the men behind her stopped in shock before turning back when Cole sent them a volatile look.
Victoria’s chin went up, and she crossed her arms. “I’m sorry, but you’ll have to explain,” she demanded in a petulant tone of voice.
Cole took a deep breath, hoping to control his overwhelming need to yell at her, then lay her down and dive as deep as he could inside her.
He needed to feel as close to her as possible because even though he saw she was fine and not under bales of hay, the fear he’d felt since getting the call from Tomas was still riding through his nerves.
“Tell me why you were out here doing the job that usually takes three or four men, preferably, to do?”
“My men were busy, and this needed to be done. I thought I’d do what I could until they could finish.” She threw an arm out, indicating the trailer. “See how much I got done by myself.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a few moments before he spoke.
He looked down into her upturned face and felt his heart tighten.
He looked at the trailer where she had dragged seven bales up onto it.
Although he was furious that she put herself in danger, he felt pride that this little woman, who clearly had to struggle to get a bale up, didn’t give up.
She stood in front of him, in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, dirty, with bits of hay stuck in her braided hair.
There was nothing to keep him from falling head-over-heels in love at that very moment with this sweet, small, beautiful, spirited woman.
That made the fear turn into a desperate demand to feel all of her.
Cole growled and bent, putting his shoulder to her midsection and picking her up in a fireman’s hold.
“Cole,” Victoria shrieked. “For God’s sake, what are you doing? Put me down.”
“Okay,” he said and kept walking toward his truck.
He dumped her in the driver’s side front seat and pulled off her gloves to see her hands wrapped in bandages.
He bit back a howl of pain at the thought of her being injured.
He unwrapped them to find them raw and red with blisters.
“This makes me so angry. Your little hands should not have calluses and blisters. Look how red they are, when they should be white and soft.”
Victoria tried to pull her hands back. “What do you expect me to do?” she asked in frustration.
Cole’s gaze locked on her for a long moment.
His eyes ran down over her body. She had jeans and boots on, but she paired them with a pink t-shirt and put a bow on the end of her braid.
She was so blatantly female. She did what needed to be done, but from what he could tell, she didn’t take pleasure in it.
Now, when she was working on a meal or in the garden, her face was lit from the inside.
He had her pegged but needed to confirm his assessment of her.
“Tell me this, baby. How did you see your life going when you were a child?”
Victoria looked confused. “You mean, what I dreamed about being when I was an adult?”
“Yeah.” He captured her hands again and held them gently.
She looked undecided for a moment, then shrugged. “I know this is old-fashioned, but my ultimate dream was having a family of my own and living on a ranch or farm.” Victoria looked away and bit her lip.
“Is there more?”
She sighed. “I wanted just to be a wife and mother.” Victoria smiled jokingly. “Amazingly, I am very girly. I’ve never wanted to do hard labor.”
“Like you’re doing today?”
“Yes.” She nodded.
“So, you’re not one of these libbers?”
She laughed and shook her head. “No, I’m probably more traditional than you are. I like being a woman and being treated like one.”
Cole’s heart jumped in his chest. How long had he been trying to look for a woman like this, but everyone he had met wanted a career or didn’t want kids?
For some reason, they would get upset if he tried to open a door for them.
The women would act like he was insulting them, instead of just wanting to treat them right, like he was raised to do.
“I like knowing this about you.”
Victoria shrugged a shoulder as a blush stained her cheeks.
Cole pushed her over and got in. He turned the truck toward her house.
He was going to show her, without words, how much she meant to him. He wanted desperately to tell her of his love but didn’t know if she was ready to hear it.
He pulled up beside the house and parked. Without a word, he got out and came around to help her down. Together, they moved through the house to the upstairs hall bathroom.
Cole started and adjusted the water in the shower before he pulled off her clothes and then his own. He waited until she put on a cap to keep her hair from getting wet, then pulled her in after him. He quickly washed her and then himself, dried them both, and carried her into the bedroom.
The rest of the day and night, he spent loving her, only stopping to feed her dinner. It was deep into the night when he finally let her sleep.