"Dad!"
Ah, that one word. Even in her annoyed voice, it still made my evening a whole lot better. I chuckled and tossed a smile at my daughter. "Honey, I can assure you that I'm an expert on what guys think, and I always liked girls without makeup."
"What about Violet? You think she's pretty, don't ya? She wears makeup."
All I could do was sigh. Yeah, my daughter had reached that age where my options were to jump out of the frying pan and right into the fire. "I think she's a very elegant woman, but how pretty she is has nothing to do with how smart she is. Faith, looking good will only get you so far, but - "
She cut me off. "Mom says that if I'm pretty enough I won't have to work. I'll just get married. Then none of this school crap will matter."
"She what?!" I slowed down to make the last turn - and wished I had at least one more block. "Honey, getting married isn't about getting paid. It's about falling in love and finding someone you want to spend the rest of your life with. Getting a job is about paying the bills and hopefully finding something you have a passion for."
"So feeding the cows is your passion?" She rolled her eyes. "Don't think so."
"No, taking care of my daughter is, and feeding the cows lets me do that." I eased the truck into Meredith's drive. "Faith, don't ever think that you need anyone else to make it in this world, ok? Look at Violet. She's not just pretty, she's also strong, smart, and she's going to reopen Southwind."
"And her husband?"
"That guy is not her husband. He works with her, I think, but they aren't married. He's also helpingher,not the other way around. Trust me, Violet Dawson is not the type of lady to wait for someone to come take care of her. She does it herself, and that is why she's famous."
"Oh." She bit her lips together and thought about that. "I still hope she shows me how to fix my makeup and look pretty. Hey, pet Cricket for me?"
"Sure thing."
And with that, she grabbed her bag and hopped out, waving one last time before she jogged up the stairs. I sighed, waiting a few minutes to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything, then backed out. I was being a bit of a hypocrite, but it was for a good reason. I didn't want to shatter all of my daughter's dreams with the hard reality of raising a family. Kids weren't cheap, jobs didn't come easy, and if keeping her happy meant making sacrifices, then I'd gladly make them.
Like talking to Violet again. I just hoped I'd be able to avoid her partner, but at least it sounded like the guy wasn't staying. That made turning my truck toward Southwind a bit less painful. If I could just get my horses fed and get out of there, maybe I could even avoid another blow up.
Idling slowly up the drive, I was surprised to see so few lights on in the house. A dim glow came from Violet's bedroom, but the entire downstairs was dark. Not that I'd think about what that implied. It was also one more reason to avoid the house and head straight for the barn. Maybe I even closed the door to my truck a little softer than normal, too, but it was just coincidence.
First, I checked the stalls. I hadn't wanted to clean them that morning, which meant I had some catching up to do. I made my way to the back of the barn and found the wheelbarrow, then set to work. I didn't need to turn on the lights for this, and that would only attract attention. With the barn doors open, the moon was bright enough to make it easy, and the size of my horses' turds were hard to miss.
Physical work had always kept me grounded. While my body did its thing, my mind was free to roam. Right now, it was on how to make amends after my week-long tantrum. I wasn't convinced Violet would forgive me. Oh, she'd play nice enough because she needed her hay cut, but that was very different from forgiveness. It was also a real long way from where we'd left off. Man, that bikini had been sinful, and the way that woman kissed?
I was so lost in the memory that the sudden brightness in the barn made my body jerk in shock. Blinking against the glare of the overhead lights, I tried to catch up. Then a man chuckled.
"Sorry, cowboy. Figured it might be easier if you could see."
Ashton. The very last person in the world I wanted to see. Looking just as pretty as he had the last time, Violet's partner stood in the aisle in dark skinny jeans, pristine running shoes, and a shirt that proved he was at least as broad as me. No wonder the asshole could throw a punch. Everything about this prick screamed that he thought he was better than the people out here.
I just kept shoveling. "I was doing ok, but if you want to run up her power bill, that's cool."
"Look," Ashton said around a sigh. "I said I'm sorry, man. I shouldn't have suckered you like that, ok?"
"No," I growled, finally looking at the guy. "See, that's where you're wrong. I don't know what's going on between you two, but treating her like she's some object? Not cool."
Ashton nodded. Sucking at his teeth, he actually nodded as if I'd made a point. His words confirmed it. "You're right. She and I aren't used to thinking like that, but I can see how you are, and you're right."
"Uh." Yeah, that wasn't what I'd expected. "Dude, whatever you do to get your kicks is your business. Just leave me out of it."
"Ok, two things you need to know," Ashton said, making his way to lean over the stall. "First, Violet's a lingerie model. She's perfectly ok with how she looks, and a ton of people get the privilege of seeing it every day. Second, I just take the pictures. Nothing about that is some kind of kink. It's just work. She's the model, we needed a spread for the fall catalogue that's about to come out, and I wanted to make sure she was in it."
"Yeah, she told me."
Ashton just shook his head. "She told you what she does for a living, maybe, but it didn't sink in." He took a deep breath and tried again. "I'm not sleeping with her. We're partners, man. The business type. She owns almost half of Risqué Lingerie. I got pissed because you said I was treating her like shit. You got pissed because you thought I was. We're both wrong, ok?"
"You're not sleeping with her?" I couldn't quite wrap my mind around that.
Ashton chuckled. "See, that woman is my best friend. Now, I'm well aware of how hot she is, but we have an agreement. She's the only person in this world who won't judge me. I'm the one she knows won't judge her. Add in a layer of business to that, and romance would be a very bad idea."
