“Nothing’s bothering me. I’m just exhausted. It's not easy running a ranch, you know.”
Calvin took a gulp from the bottle and passed it back to me. “Bullshit. My guess is your head is filled with a pretty brunette.”
Hearing another man call her pretty should not have sent a spike of anger through me. She was a pretty woman. More than pretty. She wasn’t just a fucking smoke show. She was a wildfire with messy hair, attitude for days and those yellow boots remained a fixture in my imagination.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” We both knew I was lying, but maybe he would let me be.
Cal rolled his eyes and moved the folding chair to face me. “We all saw you at the harvest. Keeping her close, playing get to know you games. Rafe, you even smiled.”
“I smile.” Even to my own ears, I was being defensive. To make my point, I bared my teeth to him.
My friend shook his head. “God, that’s scary. And you never smile like you did around her.”
“How did I smile?”
“Like there’s nothing better than being around her.”
He was not wrong. “I cannot go there, Cal.”
“Why the fuck not?” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs, motioning for me to pass him the bottle. “Is this about that problem Tex mentioned that you also don’t want to talk about? Because the man did mention she could be a solution to that as well. It may not be a bad idea to take his opinion into account. He does have more intel than any of us could ever imagine.”
I took a long sip and passed the bottle back to him.
“I kissed her.” Though I wasn’t one-hundred-percent sure I was being entirely accurate. “Or she kissed me. We kissed. But…”
I couldn't explain the conflict ricocheting in my head. The whiskey didn’t help either.
Calvin finished the last sip of the bottle and set it down next to him. “But, what?”
“Cal, the ranch is in trouble.” I leaned back in the chair, aware I was just drunk enough to spill my secrets. “I have no idea how I am going to pay the property taxes next year. Then I have issues with the developer who is trying to buy the land.”
“Which developer?”
“The Argent Group.” I spit out the name. “Their rep, Vance Steiner, has been doing the studies, saying there’s water on the western property, the one they plan to build their resort on. According to his studies, the land has its own water, and won’t be dependent on me.”
We both knew what that meant. I relied on the income to keep my land profitable during lean times.
He looked over at me, his frown still firmly in place. “I understand the dilemma, but what does that have to do with Rory?”
“This is not the time to drag a woman into my problems.” I glared at him, hoping he would see things my way. “Certainly not one who is dealing with her own shit.”
The last thing I wanted to do was add to Rory’s troubles. Yeah, I needed to speak to her about the taxes, and we needed to come up with a solution that did not alienate the town against me. But it was as much as I was willing to put on her.
“You do realize the woman is a forensic accountant, right?” Calvin’s face held no sympathy for me. “She could literally find all the loop holes you need. And thinking she is anything less than capable of facing your chaos, is a gross underestimation on your part. We both know she’s a survivor. Even if she pissed off old man Miller.”
“You heard about that?” My lips lifted in a small grin.
“The whole town heard about it.” Calvin chuckled, shaking his head. “The man was not exactly quiet about it. At least, while he was focusing on her he wasn’t ranting about my wine making.”
“I don’t know. What if things don’t work out. Then I’m stuck working with an ex with a stubborn streak a mile wide.”
Calvin rolled his eyes once more. “And she’d be stuck working for a grumpy boss with a similar streak who doesn’tsmile. You’ll then both be stomping around the ranch glaring at each other. How different is it to what’s happening now?”
I raised a brow, aiming my silent question at him.
All he did was shrug. “The men talk.”
Yeah, they did. It was how I knew about Cal and Allie getting caught in the act in the barn.
