“You seem awfully confident that I’m not going to find anyone better.”
She stood there, smiling at him, and he had no more to say on the matter.
“Fine. Grab your bags and follow me.”
She squealed like an excited teenager and hopped back to her car to get her things. Adam held his forehead in his hand and wondered if he was making a huge mistake. It didn’t seem to matter either way. She was offering to help, and help was exactly what he needed right now. It wasn’t fair to the animals to get stubborn about who was cleaning up after them and feeding them. The reality was that they needed to be fed and cleaned up after, no matter how proud Adam wanted to be about it.
He led his new employee behind his house to the detached apartment for staff. At least he’d been able to get that ready in time. He unlocked the door and turned on the lights. “It’s not fancy or anything,” he said. “Just a studio really.”
“It’s perfect.” She took a deep breath and spun around in the room. “I’m so excited. The bed looks really cozy.”
“The sheets are new,” he said, and then he wondered why he’d felt the need to boast about something. He added, “But the dishes are all old,” to balance things out again.
“Perfect,” she repeated.
“Remind me of your name,” he said, suddenly ashamed he hadn’t paid attention enough to remember it himself.
“Kyra,” she chirped. “Kyra Powell. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She held out a hand, and Adam automatically took it.
“I’m Adam Sage,” he said without any inflection whatsoever. He shook her hand and quickly let it go. “You can stay for the week.”
She squealed again and bounced in place.
“Just for the week,” he said with a glare he hoped communicated that her celebration was unfounded. “By then I’ll have found someone with more experience.”
“Sure thing, boss. Whatever you say.” Her smile looked like it was about to split her face in two. He’d never seen someone smile so wide in his life. In addition, she seemed to be holding something back, and he had to wonder what it was.
Within about ten seconds, he had his answer. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. Tentatively, he brought one hand around to her back to pat it once, not wantingto touch her more than necessary in case she got the wrong idea. She only squeezed him tighter.
Whatever idea she had, he had to admit, it wasn’t completely wrong. Her warm body pressed against his stirred something in him that he did not want stirred. No matter what, he wasn’t going to be that kind of a boss. So, he pushed her away and cleared his throat. “Listen, do good work, and maybe I’ll keep you on longer. But don’t get your hopes up. Also, I’m not easy to work with, and you might not want to continue regardless.”
“Oh, I doubt that very much,” she said, all sunshine despite the unpleasant expression he intentionally wore. “You seem like exactly the sort of person I love to work with.”
He couldn’t think of how to respond to something like that, so he just said, “Good,” and handed her the key to the apartment. “This is yours for now. I’ll give you a tour of the grounds tomorrow. Sleep well.” Then he turned to go.
On his way out, he heard her call after him. “Thanks, boss! You too!” And he shuddered at the sound of her voice at his back. For the rest of that night, he felt the warm imprint of her body against his. It wouldn’t fade, no matter how hard he tried to get his mind off the memory of that hug, and it was hours before he was finally able to fall asleep.
CHAPTER 5
ADAM
By the time the week was out, Kyra had completely moved into the detached apartment on the ranch. Another week passed, and Adam still hadn’t gotten rid of her. By the third week, he stopped giving interviews altogether. Keeping up the façade that he was going to replace her soon had become a waste of everyone’s time.
One day, after telling her to take the morning off, he realized he did need her help with something, and went to find her in the apartment. He knocked on the door, and when she opened it, he suddenly found he had forgotten what he wanted to say to her in the first place. He had never seen the little apartment behind his house looking quite like this.
She had to have gone to a store the day he sent her back to collect the rest of her things from her home. There was no way she had this many curtains lying around. And they fit the windows of the apartment perfectly. No, she had to have bought them. There was art on the walls and throw pillows, too. She even had a lacy tablecloth on the little table in the corner. The pillows on the bed were fluffy and new. She had certainly made herself athome. And she didn’t seem to be too strapped for cash either. He wondered why she had seemed so desperate for the job on day one.
“Interior decorating is not part of your job description,” he said with a scowl, “in case you thought it was.”
She glanced around the place as though she had never seen her own apartment before, then turned back with wide eyes and a mischievous smile. “But you might be less likely to let me go if you feel bad about the amount of money and effort I put into decorating this place.”
“You have definitely misread the situation if that’s what you think.” He stepped into the apartment but only by a foot or so. He didn’t dare invade her space any more than that. “And that still doesn’t explain why you’ve decorated the place like a lady’s boutique.”
“Have you considered the possibility that I just like the way this looks?” she said, planting her hands on her hips.
He crossed his arms and surveyed the environment again. “Don’t you think it’s a bit girly and delicate for the private quarters of a ranch hand?”
“Do you really think having ruffles on my curtains will affect my job performance?” She cocked her head at him and laughed. “So, anyway, what did you really come here to say? Surely it wasn’t to criticize my decorating. Do you need help with anything?”
