Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
CORD
"I look ridiculous, Cord," Cassia says, tipping her head way back to look up at me through narrowed eyes. "It's not even that cold outside."
"You look beautiful," I correct, tapping her on the nose.
She looks fucking adorable. Aside from her face, the rest of her is engulfed in my jacket.
I reluctantly let her wear her own clothes today, but only after fucking her on top of the washing machine.
My pretty baby likes the spin cycle. Now, she's dying to go see the ranch.
I'd rather keep her naked and on my cock all day, but then she reminded me that yesterday was Valentine's Day.
Apparently, orgasms don't count as gifts. But seeing the new calves does.
"I can't even see where I'm going," she complains, making me smile.
"No need to see," I say, scooping her up into my arms to carry her out to the barn.
I fucking love the way she clings to my shoulders like she's afraid I'm going to drop her.
That'll never happen. I've been dragging equipment around this ranch since I was a little boy.
She's the sweetest burden I've ever had in my arms, that's for damn sure.
The cuddliest too. "You shouldn't be walking on that ankle anyway. "
"It doesn't even hurt anymore." She snuggles right in anyway, content to let me carry her.
I think she likes it as much as I do, even though she'll never admit it.
Cassia is…fuck, she's everything. She's as fierce as she is sweet, as sassy as she is adorable.
If I can't convince her to stay with me at the end of the week, Cam is going to be pissed when I pack up and follow her to Seattle.
My whole life, I thought I'd die on this ranch.
This place has always been home to me. I thought I'd spend the rest of my life here, guarding this land and the herd like my father did, and his before him, and his before that.
But if Cassia isn't happy here, if she'd rather be in Seattle, I'll follow her.
To the ends of the earth if that's what she wants.
My home is with her now. My heart beats in her chest. I'll go wherever I have to go, do whatever I have to do to keep her in my arms.
When I pull the kitchen door open, a blast of cold air hits me in the face, followed by the disgruntled mooing of hundreds of heads of cattle shut up in the barns.
They'd rather be grazing than stuck inside, but cows freeze just like the rest of us.
And this ranch isn't successful because we mistreat our animals.
Any ranch-hand who tries finds himself out on his ass before the blood even dries on his face.
"Oh, wow," Cassia whispers, her breath steaming out before her. "It's so beautiful, Cord."
She's right. It is beautiful. Snow blankets the ranch, spread from one horizon to another in a sea of white.
Fences and equipment, even the barns and outbuildings are covered in a thick layer of the stuff.
It still drifts from trees, flakes floating through the air like leaves in autumn.
Toby has one of the younger ranch-hands on a plow, clearing a path between barns and the corral.
I make my way carefully down the porch, my boots crunching in the snow.
Cassia gawks all around us just like she did yesterday.
She's so curious, so eager to learn. A million different questions spill from her lips as we make our way toward the barn housing the pregnant heifers and the calves.
She knows a hell of a lot more about ranching than most people, but I already knew that.
Her books get even minute details right about this job.
Cowboys though…those she didn't get. We're possessive assholes, willing to fight and die to protect what belongs to us. Whether it's the ground beneath our feet, the cattle in our fields, or the women in our beds, we don't share and we don't back down. Not ever. She's getting it now.
I slide her carefully to her feet when we reach the barn and tuck her up against my side.
She cuddles up against me, letting me hold her as several of my men cast curious glances in our direction.
No one asks any questions or looks too long though.
I'm guessing Jace and Toby already spread the word that she's mine. They'll keep a respectful distance.
"This is the calving barn," I say, leading her inside.
It's warmer inside where heaters pump heat in to keep the heifers comfortable.
But this close to the end, they're never entirely comfortable.
Is any woman when she's ready to pop? Most of the heifers are quiet, content in their pens.
A few protest being shut up inside with loud complaints that others echo.
"Wow," Cassia whispers, stopping just inside the door. "It's massive."
"We calve out in groups of about three hundred," I explain. "Every cow in here will be delivering sometime in the next two weeks."
"Wow," she whispers again. "They all have their babies in here?"
"Preferably. You see how the pens are set up?
" I ask, pointing to the one closest to us.
"They usually start off in the larger pen outside, and then move indoors once it's time.
Inside the barns, the pens are about ten feet each, with a warming room for the calves.
They spend a day or two inside together before moving out into a smaller pen outside.
They're all inside now because of the weather. "
"Poor girls," she says, moving deeper into the barn. One of the heifers sticks her head out of the pen and nudges her, mooing softly. Cassia laughs quietly and stops walking. She sticks her hand out like she's going to pet her and then turns to look at me. "May I?"
"You can touch her, pretty baby," I say, smiling. "They're affectionate."
Cassia runs her hand over the top of the heifer's head, crooning to her. "Hey, mama," she whispers. "You're doing so good in there. Your little one will be here soon, I promise."
The heifer lows.
Cassia rubs between her ears for a minute, murmuring to her. I don't know if the others sense her presence or hear her calming voice, but they all settle, their protests fading to little more than the occasional huff of discontent.
"Come on, princess. Let's go check on the new calf," I say.
She pouts at me and then reluctantly lets me pull her away.
The newest calf is in a warming pen near the back of the barn, cuddled up in a thick swatch of fresh hay. She's all legs and head, sleeping peacefully with her mama watching over her. Jace says she was born late last night.
"Oh, she's so cute," Cassia whispers, staring in awe.
"You want to keep her, don't you?" I ask, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her up against me from behind. She melts into me, letting me hold her.
"Maybe," she whispers, making me smile.
"What would you name her?" I ask, curious as hell.
She thinks about it a minute. "Is she Hamburger's?"
"Probably."
"Patty," she says immediately. "I'd name her Patty."
Fuck, I love her.
* * *
"What are you looking at over there?" I ask, watching Cassia with a grin on my lips. She's cuddled up in the corner of the couch with her phone. She keeps peeking over at me when she thinks I'm not looking and giggling.
"Farmers Only," she says without missing a beat.
I growl a warning, setting my laptop aside. "You're itching for another lesson, aren't you?"
"I'm just kidding!" she cries. "It's just my reader group, I promise!"
"Show me."
"What? No way." She clutches her phone to her chest, her eyes wide with horror. "Women only, cowboy. You're not allowed to see what happens in my reader group. It's against the rules."
"You are itching for another lesson."
"I'm serious," she says. "I don't let men in my reader group. They're gross to the women and that makes me mad. I don't like it when people make my readers uncomfortable."
"You think I'd make them uncomfortable?"
She eyes me up and down, looking at me incredulously. "Um, hello? Have you met you? You're hot and bossy, and you say whatever you want to say. You probably wouldn't mean to make them uncomfortable, but we can't talk about sex things if you're in there."
Well, shit. Now I really want in that fucking group to see what sex things she's talking about with her female readers. If it's other men, I will be spanking her pretty little ass. And then fucking her until she forgets other men even exist.
"Tell you what," I drawl, closing the lid of my laptop and placing it carefully on the coffee table. "You come over here and show me some of these sex things, and I'll think about letting you keep me out of this group of yours."
"Fine," she says, her eyes heating. "But I need five minutes to finish this post."
"Two."
"Three."
"One."
"Two! Two minutes!" she cries, making a show of going back to her phone.
I chuckle, shaking my head. And then I watch her, fascinated by every shift of emotion across her face.
She's so expressive. For the first time since Cleary moved out, this house feels alive again.
It's not silent and cold, but warm and bright, full of laughter.
That's all Cassia. She's a breath of fresh air… a goddamn revelation.
"Holy crap!" she squeaks, sitting upright.
"What?"
"Someone just posted pictures of my friend, Mina, and Palmer—the football guy—in the hot tub at the resort," she blurts, her eyes wide. "I have to let her know. She's going to freak out."
"The football guy? You mean Palmer Mitchell?"
"Yeah, him," she says, tapping out a text. "Poor Mina. She is not going to like this at all."
"I take it this is new for her?"
Her cellphone lights up in her hand before she can respond. She swipes to answer before it even makes a sound. "Mina, where are you?" She listens to whatever her friend says, her expression tense. "There are photos. Don't freak out. I'm at the ranch with this crazy cowboy and just saw them online."
"Crazy cowboy?" I mutter, narrowing my eyes at her. She's definitely itching for another lesson.
She ignores me, naturally. I'm not even mad though.
She's focused on her friend, worry evident in her expression.
Fuck, she's the sweetest little thing. I think she'd crawl through hell for her friends if they asked it of her.
It kills me to know no one has been taking care of her the same way.
I'm guessing she hasn't even told me half of what her mother put her through…
still puts her through. I doubt she's told her friends the whole truth either.
"You, sweetie," she says to her friend, her voice soft and full of concern. "I wanted to tell you before you saw them yourself."
How anyone can look at this incredible woman and see anything less than perfection is beyond me.
She's been in my life for a matter of weeks, and she's already the best part of it.
If her mother doesn't appreciate her for the treasure she is, I will.
I'll worship at her feet, remind her every fucking day that she's exactly who she needs to be.
"You and Palmer in the hot tub," she says and then pauses to listen. "I just texted you the link." She listens again, frowning. "I still can't get out because of the storm yesterday, but I'll hike the whole way back if you need me, okay?"
My brows rise toward my hairline. Hell no.
She isn't hiking anywhere. I don't know how long she was in the woods before she wandered onto my property yesterday, but she won't be venturing back out into them anytime soon.
Much longer out there, and I'm not entirely sure she would have survived.
My pretty baby was not built for the outdoors.
She was soaked and injured before Hamburger's mean ass ever got to her.
If she needs to go, I'll be taking her. She can comfort her friend, and I'll wait patiently in her room.
Until I've got my ring on her finger, she won't be leaving my sight.
She hangs up a moment later, dropping her phone beside her.
"Poor Mina," she sighs. "Why can't they ever just let people have their privacy?"
"Because they suck," I say, climbing to my feet. "Do you need to go back to the resort, princess?"
"No. Not yet, anyway," she says, leaning her head back against the couch to look up at me. "The other girls are there. She'll call if she needs me."
"Good," I grunt, prowling toward her. "Then I have plans for you."
"Sex isn't plans, Cord," she says, laughing quietly when I lift her into my arms.
"I'm not talking about sex, smart ass. I'm putting your sexy ass in the tub to soak.
While you do that, I'm cooking dinner. Then we're going to cuddle by the fire and you're going to tell me all about this book you're writing about me.
" I brush my lips against hers, nipping gently.
"And if you're really good, then I'll let you choke on my cock before you remind me how good you sound screaming my name. "
"Cord," she moans, stealing another little piece of my heart.