“There’s no settling the debt your family owes mine,” I said to him.
“What’s going on?” Jake asked.
“This is Carter Allory,” I told him. “His family bought my parents’ farm and then shut it down. You know, the whole reason everyone in this town hates me and my family? That’s what’s going on.”
“Oh shit,” Jake said. “Hey, mister, you should get out of here before some of these guys find out who you are. People in this town bear a grudge. I won’t be held liable for anything they do.”
“Please,” Carter said, holding up his hand to stop Jake from continuing. “My family’s company has made some mistakes, but I’m trying to fix them. I know that’s easier said than done, but I promise I’m not my father. I want to do this a better way.”
I rolled my eyes and waved at him dismissively. “Fine, load the bags in the van. But if you think that’s going to make me forgive you, you’re out of your mind.”
Carter nodded and hefted the first bag of feed like it weighed nothing. For someone who probably worked behind a desk, he had some muscles on him. I doubted he would last a day on the farm, but he could sling feed bags well enough.
“Stack them right,” I told him, being bossy on purpose because screw him, that’s why.
“They are stacked right.”
“They’re going to fall over once the van gets moving,” I said, not even sure I was correct but enjoying myself.
“I don’t know how else to stack them,” he said in exasperation, running a hand through his hair. Mussed up like that, he only looked sexier. It was fun to see some of his polished exterior crack a little. Hard work could do that to a person.
“You stack them right on top of one another straight, not leaning over to the side.” I shook my head. “If this is too difficult for you, I can get someone else to help.”
Carter shook his head and started rearranging the sacks in the back of the van, grunting and sweating. I liked watching him, muscles flexing under his expensive shirt, a smudge of dust on his cheek. He almost looked like a regular guy.
While he worked, I sidled over to Jake, and we watched the billionaire CEO wrestle with chicken feed.
“Looks like you made a friend,” Jake said quietly.
I snorted. “Billionaires don’t have friends. People are just assets or liabilities to them. Numbers on a spreadsheet.”
“Sure, but do you think he’s telling the truth, about trying to run his family company better than his father did?” Jake looked at me. “He seemed sincere to me.”
I patted Jake’s arm. “That’s because you see the good in people. As for me, I’m going to need a lot more from him before I believe a word out of his lying mouth.”
“Trust but verify,” he said, nodding.
“Exactly. Talk is cheap. Let’s see if he’ll put his money where his mouth is.”
With all the sacks stacked in the van, Carter dusted himself off and walked over to us. “Okay,” he said, breathing heavily. “It’s all loaded up. Now will you give me a chance to talk to you? Come to the bar and have a drink with me.”
I smirked and shook my head. “Sorry. You took too long loading the chicken feed. I have to go. Oh, and I don’t go to the bar in town.”
Jake chuckled and walked back inside the store. I got in my van, slammed the door in Carter’s face, and drove off before he could say another word.
CHAPTER 4
CARTER
Ishowed up at Moe Randall’s pig farm thinking of Shelby Whitaker. Not because the pigs reminded me of her, but because I was curious if Moe would stick a gun in my face like she had. If he did, I doubted he would look as attractive.
The woman was a serious distraction. Back in Los Angeles, I generally went for model types with lip fillers and glued-on eyelashes. Plastic and shallow, just like the sex. Shelby was nothing like any of those women, but for some reason, I couldn’t stop thinking about her.
She had looked cute in her yellow raincoat, hands on hips in the rain, not charmed by me at all. People rarely talked to me the way she did, but I found it refreshing. But then when I saw her on her farm?
She was way too pretty to be a chicken farmer. The woman could be a model or a movie star, with her classic good looks, but she was hidden away from the world, content with working in the heat and the dirt all day.
No doubt, Shelby was a bit of a puzzle, and I was dying to convince her to have a drink with me. Too bad I was the enemy.
