Chapter 14
CHARLIE
Getting to know Olivia a little better last night made it more tolerable to have to do chores with her all day. Although I knew I should be keeping my distance, that wasn’t really an option, and strangely, I found myself kind of grateful for that.
At precisely four a.m., I knocked on her door, a smile on my face and a thermos in my hand. I heard a muttered curse from inside and chuckled, wondering if she’d thought I was going to leave her to sleep in.
The door opened and she squinted at me, her eyes bleary and her hair sticking up a little bit. Behind her, the room was still pitch dark, the drapes drawn and the bed unmade.
“Charlie?” Her voice was rough with sleep, so husky and sexy that I had to flex the muscles in my thighs. “What’s happening? It’s the middle of the night.”
“It’s not,” I corrected her gently. “It’s four. Good morning, Liv. Time to get to work.”
As I watched, realization sparked in her eyes and she groaned. Her brow furrowed as she blinked hard. “You’re serious?”
“Welcome to life on a ranch.” I held out the thermos. “At least I came bearing gifts. Don’t get used to it, though. Tomorrow, I’ll expect you to have coffee ready for me. Today was my turn.”
“It’s not even today yet,” she muttered, but then sighed and nodded. “Give me forty minutes and—”
“I can give you about five,” I countered. “Does that work?”
“Depends.” She squinted at me again but looked me up and down like she was sizing me up. “How long does it take to strangle someone?”
I chuckled. “You mean how long would it take you to strangle me? Forever. I don’t go down easy, City. You’re down to four minutes, by the way.”
Arching an eyebrow at me, she slammed the door in my face, then opened it again to grab the thermos and proceeded to make me wait a full nine minutes before she appeared again. I waited for her in my truck, sipping on a thermos of my own and feeling impatience tightening my muscles.
I was staring into the dark distance when I heard the passenger door opening, but I didn’t look at her. As she climbed in though, that faint jasmine scent of hers wafted through the truck and I nearly groaned.
“A truck, huh? I thought you guys did everything on horseback.” She sounded significantly more awake and happier than she had been nine minutes ago. “This is a welcome surprise, though.”
“We’re starting with the sheep this morning,” I said curtly. “Feeding and performing general health checks. They’re a few miles away. I thought you might appreciate not having to do that on horseback on your first day, but we can go saddle up if you’d like.”
“Uh, no,” she said quickly. “Feeding them, huh? Does that mean they’re not grass-fed like the cows?”
“Of course, they’re grass-fed,” I snapped. “Try to keep up, will you? Just like we have to make sure that the diary sheep in particular receive enough protein and fiber.”
“Dairy sheep?” She sounded confused. “I didn’t even know sheep made milk.”
“We produce everything we can,” I responded dryly, turning over the engine and taking off. “While we’re out there, we’re also going to be rotating them to a different pasture. Keep an eye out for anything that makes you think a sheep might not be completely healthy.”
“How am I supposed to do that? Listen for any sniffles or coughing?”
I sighed. “Well, usually, if a living creature is limping, bleeding, injured, or lethargic, it means there’s a problem.”
“Wow. That was slightly harsh. I’m totally out of my element, remember? I’m here to learn. You’re going to have to be patient with me.”
It was a sentence she repeated a few more times throughout the day. She kept a good attitude, but she definitely had a hard time with a few of the chores.
When it was just before noon, we were fixing a stubborn fence post. It started slanting like the leaning tower of Pisa again. I glowered at her and she glared right back at me. “Out. Of. My. Element. You’re not being very patient or a very good teacher. Maybe I should follow one of your brothers.”
“I’m the best teacher,” he growled. “You’re just not a very good student.”
“You might think you’re the best at everything, but you’re not,” she retorted.
I could have sworn I forced the post upright by sheer willpower on our next try.
Dusting off her hands, she took a step back to admire our handiwork. With a smile, she squirted some water into her mouth before pulling her phone out of her back pocket. “We need a picture of this.”
“We don’t have to take a picture of everything,” I argued, so tired of posing for pictures after every single step we took.
She gave me an exasperated look. “Yeah, we kind of do. This is about marketing, Charlie. That’s my game. Ranching is yours.”
“Except that you’re marketing my ranch, which makes it all my game.” I stared back at her, eager to see how far I could push before she snapped.
I knew it was coming. I’d been pushing her pretty hard all day, and while I’d been able to tell she was doing her best, I also knew her patience with me was wearing thin.
She’d been excited and open to learning at least. She had documented literally everything with her camera. She’d asked so many questions that it made my head spin, and she wasn’t turning out to be the worst ranch hand we’d ever had.
Ultimately though, she was a boss girl about to start running a multi-million-dollar company. She wasn’t just some random lady and I was impressed that she had handled all my comments and criticism so well all day.
As it turned out though, trying to tell her how to do her job was her soft spot.
After all morning doing chores, her skin had taken on a rosy hue and it was covered in a slight sheen of sweat.
She’d pulled her hair up into a knot right on top of her head, the strands closest to her scalp a little damp, but she was more beautiful to me than ever.
In a cropped white tee, denim shorts, and those boots that were no longer shiny and brand new, indignation flashing in her eyes and a scowl tightening her features, she was dangerously gorgeous. She pointed a finger at my chest.
“You have been a complete know-it-all the entire day, and I’ve taken it. I’ve taken it all because I’m here to learn, regardless of what I think of your teaching methods, but you do not get to decide how I’m going to do my job.”
“We’ll see,” I said, unwilling to back down even though I knew she was right. “You do realize you just taught me exactly how to push your buttons, right?”
She huffed out a breath, but her features transformed as she looked into my eyes. Suddenly, she looked a little amused and a little sultry. “Yeah, I know that, Cowboy, but I already knew how to push all of yours. It seemed like a fair trade.”
As she said it, she brushed past me, running her fingers ever so gently down my arm. An involuntary shudder worked its way through me, my body suddenly aching for her to touch me again. My eyes narrowed in a piercing glare at the fence post.
Frigging City Girl.
I blew out a heavy breath and finally spun to join her at the truck. We drove to the barn for lunch, neither of us saying much as we headed back. As if she’d heard the direction of my thoughts, she turned to me as we drove under the arch with “ANDERSON” emblazoned on it.
“So, all this property you’ve got isn’t just one ranch,” she said slowly. “You’ve actually got a whole bunch of ranches?”
“We do. Where we are now is the original Anderson Ranch, where it all started, but as time went on, our family acquired property all over the state. That expansion is what has made us one of the largest in all of Texas.”
“Wow.” She turned toward the window, her gaze focused on the rolling fields we drove through until we came up on the barn. “I feel like we got a lot of work done today. Am I right, or am I just a newbie?”
I chuckled. “It’s only lunch time, Newbie. There’s a lot more work to be done after this. Still think hot yoga is as good of an appetite stimulant?”
She grumbled a bit but finally sighed and shook her head. “No, definitely not. I think I understand why you guys eat so much now.”
I chuckled and patted my flat stomach before I opened my door. “We need to keep our energy up, even if what we do doesn’t necessarily improve our flexibility.”
Her jaw dropped and I laughed, climbed out of the truck, slammed my door, and jogged around to get hers. She rolled her eyes at me again but didn’t complain this time. She fell into step behind me and frowned when she saw how many of our staff were already gathered at the table.
“Wait a second, this isn’t just a family lunch?”
“It is a family lunch,” I said. “It simply includes our extended family as well. Everyone who works here becomes part of our family, Liv. You might do well to remember that for all your marketing ploys.”
She pursed her lips but didn’t say anything since we were coming up on my dad. He’d saved her a seat with us at one side of the table. He passed over some plates and waited until we’d dished up before he eagerly started grilling her.
“What did you think?” he asked. “How was your first day as an Anderson rancher?”
The thought of her as an Anderson sent a bolt of electricity through me—and it wasn’t entirely unpleasant. I tore a chunk of my biscuit off with my teeth and chewed hard, trying to distract myself before I said something I would regret.
Beside me, Olivia beamed. “It was amazing. Getting to spend the whole day outside like that, tending to animals and the land? I loved it.”
The sincerity in her reaction surprised me, and even Dad seemed genuinely happy about her enthusiasm. “That’s wonderful news. I’m curious to hear your perspective on what should be filmed for marketing purposes next time you come out here?”
Wait. The pictures she’s been taking aren’t the filming?
“Well, I’d like to include a little bit of everything, actually,” she said. “I think we should get some video of all of you just going about your day. I took the most incredible photo last night of a cow licking Charlie’s cheek. I’d love to use that.”
“No,” I said.
Dad frowned at me. “Why not?”
“It’s private, and I looked like a drowned hick.”
“You don’t have to love the ideas for them to be great ones,” Olivia said sweetly. “Using that picture just so happens to be one of the greatest.”
Dad smiled. I stared back at her, recognizing the challenge flashing in her eyes, and couldn’t help a smile of my own. “You sure do have a backbone. For a city girl, anyway.”
She chuckled and tucked into her food. Dad moved his attention to one of the wranglers who’d come over to talk to him. After lunch, we set out for the afternoon chores. By the time we got back to my place after dinner, she seemed exhausted.
Heading up to her room with no more than a tired wave at me, she disappeared upstairs. I felt like I could finally breathe again. Dallas was in the kitchen when I got there, a beer for each of us in his hand.
“How’s it going with the New Yorker?” he asked me.
I darted a glare at the ceiling, keeping my voice down just in case she decided to come back for something. “That girl is driving me crazy, man.”
In all the ways, but I didn’t say that part out loud. The last thing I needed was to try to explain that darn pull I felt to her to Dallas when I was still trying to figure it out myself.