“Problem?” he asked. He was getting more used to her. At least he no longer had flashes of their night together every single time he saw her. Still, it happened way more than he was comfortable with. She’d move a certain way or say something and he’d be staring at her mouth remembering—
“Yes. Why is there such a large order for oats? And look at this.” He walked around behind her to look at the screen as she pulled up another file and clicked it open.
“What is it?”
“It’s a second set of books. With a whole lot of orders that I don’t think are necessary.”
“Oh.” He gritted his teeth, seeing how much money their bastard of a ranch manager had drained from their accounts. Marshall had told him but seeing it in black and white made even more of an impact. “We told you that we had to fire the last manager, right?”
“Yes. You mentioned it that first day. I gathered it was bad but I had no idea it was this bad.”
“Yeah.” He shook his head, wishing he had five minutes with the asshole. “Bastard ripped us off big-time. You can see why we put such importance on a spotless record.”
“God, yes. As soon as I can I’ll come up with a monthly order that will save us some money.”
He liked that she said us. “That would help. Marshall and Damaris are doing well, but this put a wrench in the plans to expand.” Which was another reason he’d taken the endorsement deal from Kelly Boots. It was a hell of a sweet deal. That money would help a lot with the ranch, especially since he wouldn’t have any more rodeo winnings for a while yet. There was no guarantee that he’d make much money once he did get back to it.
“I imagine so. Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Is this person in jail?”
“No, but he’s awaiting trial for embezzlement.”
“Good. I hope they throw the book at him.”
Chase smiled. “I like a bloodthirsty woman.”
“I can’t imagine having someone who works for you turn out to be so untrustworthy.” She shook her head and a grim expression came over her face. “There are a lot of untrustworthy people around, though.”
“Like the rodeo cowboy?” he couldn’t resist asking.
“Yes, like him.”
She looked at him and suddenly he was back at the Neon Moon, dancing a slow dance with Ella plastered up against him. Wondering what it would be like to undo her braid and have all that gorgeous blonde hair cascading over them. It must have shown in his eyes.
“Don’t, Chase.”
“I didn’t do anything. Or say anything,” he protested.
“You thought it.”
“Yeah, well, I can’t seem to help that. Besides, how do you know what I was thinking?”
She was silent for a long moment. “Because that’s what I was thinking about too.”
Just like that, he got hard. “I don’t suppose—”
“No. That would be a bad idea. A very, very bad idea.”
She was right, of course. The knowledge didn’t make him any happier. “Forget I said anything.”
She smiled. “You didn’t. So there’s nothing to forget.”
“Nothing except that night.”
Ella turned back to the computer and started talking about supplies. He left her to it and went down to the barn. He wanted to kick his own ass. That had been too damn close. But the more he acknowledged that Ella was off-limits the more he wanted her. Maybe that’s all it was. He wanted her so badlybecausehe couldn’t have her.
