I stop her before she can say anything else, “Don’t make me say it twice or the iPad goes away for two days.” I feel bad for being so curt with her, but I don’t want her hearing any of this and worrying about it.
She looks at the woman and then at me again, my gruffness is confusing her and I see the hurt in her eyes. Guilt twists my insides to see that look on her face, I’ll apologize to her later. Her eyes go to the floor sending my guilt level into the red, and Marley steps out of the tack room and puts her arm around her to guide her and the horse to his stable.
When they are all out of earshot, I turn to the tiny tornado who just ruined our afternoon with my shoulders squared. Keeping my voice low, I say, “Leave. We’re not interested in selling and that’s the last we’re going to talk about it.”
Her smile falters for just a second, but she takes a step toward me and clasps her hands, “Mr. Harlow, I think we got off on the wrong foot. It was not my intention to make you angry.”
I cut her off, “I know what your intent is. We politely let you know we’re not interested by not answering any of those letters. The right foot would have been for you to accept that, and not come to our home.”
Taking another step toward me, her head tips back to look up at my six foot three, she’s almost like a doll. The friendly smile never leaves her face and her eyes lock on mine, she lowers her voice like she’s telling me a secret. “What if I can double the last offering price?”
“Lady…” Just as I start to give her a piece of my mind, I hear my brother walk into the stable leading Felix.
“There’re ‘No Trespassing’ signs posted on the fences around our property. I’m putting you on notice, you’re trespassing, and I am nicely asking you to leave our property before I call the sheriff.” Mason’s voice is calm as he walks Felix to the door of the grooming stall and loops the reins on the door.
She digs in her giant bag that’s hanging from her shoulder and pulls out an envelope to hold out to me; I look at it, but I don’t reach for it. Her eyes move between me and Mason and then she looks around before she steps to one of the shelves on the outside of the tack room and sets the envelope down with a pat of her fingers.
“I have a proposal here I would like for you to look at, I’ll stop by tomorrow and see what you think.” She holds her hands up in surrender. “Just a simple conversation.” She looks at Mason, but behind the pretty smile, I see her swallow nervously.
That small betrayal of nervousness behind the dazzling smile makes me look at her more closely. What she’s doingtakes guts and as I move my gaze over her face, I realize I feel a little sorry for her. But that’s what they want, isn’t it? Why would they send her by herself? Just thinking about what could happen to her if we were not good people sends tension up the back of my neck, tightening the muscles there.
What if she had approached the wrong type of people?
In my peripheral, I see Mason cross his arms over his chest and stand in his usual ‘at ease’ stance with his hands under his armpits. “Don’t come back.”
She clasps her hands together, fingers laced, under her chin and pastes on the smile again as she takes a step back while looking between us. Unclasping her hands, she points at the letter and says, “Just take a look at it. Please.”
Neither of us says anything as she pauses, her eyes moving from Mason to me, and then she turns on her heel and walks out of the stable. She shoves her hands in her coat pockets as she walks, making it hug the curve of her hips and the little bubble of a butt, just the perfect size to hold on to.
Fuck me, where did that come from? I quickly look away.
I turn to Mason, and he shakes his head, “Can you believe that?”
Flicking my eyes in her direction for a moment, I watch her little body walking to her rental car and take a deep breath, “Nope.”
CHAPTER FIVE
ELLY
“I DON’Tknow why you try so hard to prove yourself to that man, Elly, you graduated with honors and could probably get a damn good job anywhere in the damn country.” My best friend since high school, Thalia, just listened to the recounting of my encounter at the Harlow Ranch.
She was more interested in my encounter with the tall, god-like man who made my center clench when he stepped out of that barn room. I don’t think I’ve ever had that kind of reaction just from being in the presence of a man.
When that gorgeous man stepped around the door, goosebumps spread across my skin, making all the hairs on my arms stand up. He was well over six feet tall with a chest nearly as wide as the door, and the cowboy hat made him look closer to seven feet than six.
If I had to guess, I would say he is about thirty, his beardand mustache trimmed and shaped perfectly around his sharp jawline, giving him the sexy-rugged look.
The visceral pull I felt to him was overwhelming, and I had to push it down to focus on the reason I was there. His energy was reaching out to me and he felt so warm, domineering, and do I dare say… safe? All at the same time.
And tall.
Damn, he's tall.
Maybe it’s because I can only reach the bottom shelf in the kitchen cabinets before I need a step stool that made him look so big to me. My smallness, in addition to my lack of penis, makes men in the business world second-guess me at every turn, and it infuriates me.
The disappointment I saw in his hazel eyes when I introduced myself sent my heart into my stomach. It made me wish I could take my name back for just a few seconds more to bask in the cloak of his warm energy, which quickly turned cold the second I said my name. It was like someone shut the door on the sun, leaving me in the dark.
His big, rough, warm hand dropped mine like I was wrapped in razor wire and he wanted nothing to do with me. His revulsion only reinforced the regret and anger I feel for the reason I’m here.
