“Weight has always been an issue for me,” I said with a sigh. “I’m sure you’ve noticed.”
“I haven’t,” he said gruffly. “Your body is perfect.”
I nearly choked on my latte. “I carry more weight than what’s appropriate for a woman of my height.”
“Who gets to decide what’s appropriate and desirable and what isn’t?” he grouched. “You look beautiful and healthy. Drink the damn latte.”
Okay, they weren’t exactly sweet words, but to me, it was one of the nicest things a guy had ever said to me.
I didn’t for one moment think that he meant that he was attracted to me, but it was still anicething to say.
“How are you feeling?” I asked, knowing I should have asked that question before now.
“Like I got run over by a Mack truck,” he admitted. “I’m not miserable and my fever is down, but I’m not going to be getting much work done today. I’m going to need to get dressed and check on the horses.”
“They’re fine,” I assured him. “I checked on them last night. They’re blanketed, fed, and cozy. I’ll run out and check on them again later. That’s quite a barn setup you have, and your Arabians are stunning horses. I take it you and Asher are going to start small on your breeding operations.”
There was only a breeding stallion and two mares in the barn so far, plus a very large and handsome quarter horse gelding that I assumed was the horse that Cole used for normal riding.
He nodded. “I’m breeding Arabians, and Asher is going to breed thoroughbreds. It’s not something either of us are doing for profit. We always dreamed of breeding horses when we were young. We decided to make it a reality. It’s better to start small and grow slowly. We want to turn out champions. I just got my stallion out of quarantine from the Middle East. The mares were selected carefully, closer to home.”
“So now that you’ve sold the technology company you built into a giant, are you retiring to breed horses?” I asked curiously.
“Hardly,” he replied drily. “Offloading our tech company took some of the pressure off Asher and me, but we have a shitload of other interests and investments all over the world.”
“Will you miss being involved in that company? You spent most of your adult life building it into the most successful tech company in existence.”
Cole leaned back against the headboard and stretched his legs out on the bed. “No,” he said succinctly. “We thought about just putting a CEO in to run the company instead of selling, but I think Asher and I were just done. The company had been built to be the best. There was nothing else for us to do there. There was no real challenge left. I think we were both ready to move on.”
“I saw what looks like a really nice home office here,” I commented.
“I work mostly from home now,” he confirmed. “I have to travel occasionally for my business interests, but I’m set up to do what I need to do here now. Actually, I was thinking about getting your number to call you before I got sick. I could use your professional help on a few possible investments. I know you’re probably pretty busy, but I could use some research and reports.”
“You don’t have other companies that can do those for you?” I asked, surprised.
Yes, I was well-known in my field, but Cole was a billionaire with tons of contacts.
“None that are as good and as accurate as you are,” he stated. “Even if I wasn’t acquainted with you personally, I’d know you by name and your business reputation. Your analysis and predictions have never been wrong.”
I shrugged. “I put my heart and soul into all of my research and my reports. I pore through tons of data, but I also try to look at all the different angles.”
“Which puts your reports in high demand,” he reasoned. “If you have some time, I could use a few detailed reports.”
“I’m busy,” I admitted. “But I’ll have some time to take a new client in a week or two. Will that work?”
“Sounds good,” he agreed as he looked out the window. “I think you’re going to be stuck with me for a little while longer. This storm isn’t letting up, and we got dumped on. You’re not getting out until they clear the roads.”
“The storm is supposed to let up this afternoon,” I mused. “Hopefully, they’ll get the roads cleared by morning. I wish I had my laptop, but I’ll find things to keep me busy here. I’ll get your sheets changed and heat up some of Millie’s chicken noodle soup for you.”
“I already had some for breakfast. I woke up hungry,” Cole told me. “I’m not feeling like running any races, but I can cook us some dinner later.”
I shot him a surprised look. “You cook?”
He shrugged. “The basic stuff. I learned to be self-sufficient pretty early in my childhood. I had to take care of myself. I think Asher is going to hire a housekeeper, but I just have someone who cleans for me. I don’t mind taking care of the daily stuff myself.”
My heart melted. Sadly, with an alcoholic father and no mother, he and Asher had probably had to fend for themselves at a really early age.
“I’ll cook,” I said softly. “I think you should rest. You’re not over this virus yet.”
