Chapter Four

Lucy

I never thought I’d be so happy to roll out of bed before five in the morning. Monday, it had seemed an absurdly cruel hour and I was considering quitting the job before I even got in the shower.

Today, four days into my new job, I had the coffee brewed when I woke up, and had my hair pulled back in a French braid and a dress on before the sun even came up over the hill. I hadn’t cared this much about my appearance since I landed in this silly town. Today life in Sunnyvale seemed…well, sunny!

I had the hots for my boss. It was stupid. And cliché. And stupid. I was aware of this. But when I thought about that drawl that seemed just a little out of place, and those turquoise eyes, and those dimples….ugh….those dimples! I couldn’t bring myself to care how stupid or cliché it was. If my little crush on the boss fantasy made life here a little more bearable, it wasn’t going to hurt anybody. Nobody had to know.

At five after five I was ready to walk out the door. The ranch was a good twenty minute drive from my little apartment in town, but there was one stop I had to make first.

Mike wouldn’t be thrilled with the small act of rebellion I was planning, but he was going to have to get over it. Blondes did not have more fun, and I hated being one. With the new job keeping me out of the public eye more often than not, I just wanted a little piece of myself back.

With that mission in mind I drove to the only store in town that was open this early, and made a beeline for the beauty section. My heart skipped a beat when I held the box in my hands. Revlon Colorsilk #46. Medium golden chestnut brown. It was a full shade or two lighter than my real color, my only concession to Mike and his rules. I kinda loved the old guy. I didn’t want to give him a heart attack. I just wanted to like what I saw when I looked in the mirror.

I clutched the box to my chest as I made the short trip to the register, looking around nervously. I felt like I was buying condoms or a pregnancy test from the way my heart was pounding and I was praying I didn’t see anyone I knew.

I didn’t. Thank God. And once the box was safely tucked into a plastic bag in the oversized purse I had picked out for today solely for this purpose, I knew I was home free.

I scurried out to the car, stashed the goods in the glovebox of the old clunker Mike and Betty had sold to me for a steal, and hauled ass out to the ranch. Hair dye was important, but I didn’t want to be late and pass up a chance to see Blaze. Especially if he came to the door shirtless again.

His shirt was on, but not buttoned. I’d take it. His chest hair glistened in the sunlight and I realized it was wet from the shower. He must have just gotten out.

The thought of Blaze in a hot shower had my own temperature rising. I wondered if the rest of his body was as nicely chiseled as his chest and abs were.

“Morning.” He nodded with a knowing grin. I realized I’d been caught staring. Kill me now.

“You know, some people consider it to be proper etiquette to be fully dressed when they answer the door,” I teased sassily as I entered, closing the door behind me, and leaning against it. I had no choice. He was standing directly in front of me, nearly half naked.

“Those people are boring,” Blaze said with a grin, while his fingers worked the buttons on his plaid work shirt. Longing ached in my belly as I watched his skin disappear, bit by bit. Holy fuck, I needed to get laid apparently. I had never in my life felt this hard up over a man I barely knew.

“Boring, huh? Well, we can’t have that, now can we?”

“No, Ma’am,” he responded with a wink, as he walked out the door, still buttoning the top button on his shirt. Damn. Time to get to work.

****

Lucy

Hours later, I stared at my newly brunette reflection in the mirror and wondered if Blaze would get mad at me for dying my hair during work hours. Dinner was roasting in the new crockpot, potatoes were peeled and ready to go. Eight bag lunches had been made and set out in a cooler on the porch per Blaze’s instructions so he could swing by and pick it up in the truck later on his way out to the trails. It wasn’t like I had dyed my hair instead of working. I just hadn’t been able to wait another second to feel like myself. Being a blonde was supposed to be more fun, but I just felt like an imposter. Staring at my brunette self in the mirror, I felt sexy.

I wonder if Blaze likes brunettes.

The front door slammed shut and I jumped. Sweeping the empty box and the leftover dye into the bathroom garbage, I pressed against the door and tried to catch my breath. Blaze wasn’t supposed to be home! It wasn’t even lunchtime!

“Lucy? Lucy, Are you here?” I heard him yelling for me as he stalked through the house. “Lucy?”

Shit. “I’m uh, in the bathroom! I’ll be out in a second!” Having no other course of action, I pulled my hair into a ponytail, put on an innocent smile and pulled open the door. Maybe he wouldn’t notice.

He was leaning against the kitchen counter, casually sipping a cup of coffee.

“Hi.” I stood in the doorway. “Is everything okay?” Did somebody get hurt? Is it one of the cows, or horses?”

He shook his head slowly back and forth, looking at me with an odd expression. I held my breath.

“Did you do something to your hair?” His head cocked to one side as he frowned at me. “I didn’t notice this morning. I’m sorry.”

God. The man had known me all of five days and he was apologizing because he thought he missed me changing my hair. On one hand, I could totally play it off, and be home free. On the other hand, swoo-oon! Was this man for real? He actually looked slightly guilty that he might have missed something important.

“I just did it!” I blurted, unable to stop myself. So much for home free. “In your bathroom. Just now. I’m sorry. I bought it this morning, and I fully intended to wait and do it once I got home, but I just got so excited, and I couldn’t wait. There’s already beef stew in the crockpot for tonight, and the lunches are packed, and I found a recipe to make muffins for tomorrow’s breakfast. I still have biscuits to make, but it won’t take long.  And then I was going to sweep and mop the kitchen and clean the bathrooms.”

He hadn’t said anything, and I couldn’t interpret his bemused expression, so I just kept talking, afraid of the silence. “I’m still going to. Clean, I mean. And make biscuits. And maybe even dessert, if there’s time.”

I had to stop then, before I talked myself into something I wasn’t prepared for. I hadn’t planned on making dessert.  “I’m really sorry,” I offered, clamping my lips tightly shut, so I wouldn’t keep rambling. I tended to do that when I was nervous. This man, he made me nervous as hell.

“You dyed your hair just now? In my bathroom?” He repeated slowly, his mouth turned into an odd smirk.

I nodded, fighting the urge to fall all over myself apologizing. My heart was in my stomach and if I started talking again, I might not stop.

“Naughty.” His brow quirked, and he folded his thick muscular arms over his chest as he stared at me.

“I’m sorry!” I squeaked, unable to help myself.

Using his feet, he pushed himself away from the kitchen counter, and walked towards me.

It took everything I had to keep my feet firmly in place. His gaze was smoldering and hard, and I wanted to create distance between us, going backwards with each step he took towards me.

But I didn’t. I stayed lodged in the doorway, leaning against it for support, and soon he was directly in front of me, so close I could feel his breath.

He reached behind me, and freed my hair from its holder with one quick tug, letting it settle in loose waves around my shoulders.

I gave a soft gasp at his forwardness, not because I was offended, but because he was so damn sexy.

“Brunette, huh?” He smiled, pacing in front of me as if to examine it from all angles.

I didn’t speak. I couldn’t.

“You look good as a brunette,” he mused. “More confident. Happier. Sexy.”

A shiver went down my spine as I tried to stay an outward reaction. My boss, my hot as fuck boss, to be exact, had called me sexy! And he did not look like he wanted to fire me. No, he looked like he wanted to do something else entirely.

“Thanks for your approval, but I didn’t do it for you. I did it for me. I needed a change.”

He chuckled. “No, but you did it on my time. In my house. So, I should at the very least get to have an opinion.”

He had me there. Sort of. I crossed my arms over my chest and scowled at him. “I said I was sorry. It won’t happen again.”

He sighed. “I’m not mad, Luce. This job has long hours and a lot of free time. As long as my men are getting the meals I hired you to cook, I don’t care what you do in the interim. As long as it’s legal, of course.”

“Oh,” I faltered. This whole exchange had bounced from stern, to flirty, and back to stern, and now he was just being nice. I was so confused. “Okay, then. Thank you. Why did you come home? You never said? Is there something you need? Did I forget something?”

His eyes narrowed, and pinned on mine.

“You. I needed you.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Rusty is absolutely going to kill me when he finds out about this, but I’d kill myself if I didn’t say something and at least know I tried.”

“Okaaaay…”

“I’m attracted to you, and intrigued by you, and I want to get to know, you and not just as an employee either. It’s been a long time since I felt anything like this, and now that I do, I can’t stop thinking about it. When I’m around you, I feel this…heat. If you don’t return my feelings, say so. No hard feelings, and I will leave you alone, and go back to being just your boss and never mention it again.” He brushed my face with his knuckle, grabbing a stray lock of hair, and tucking it behind my ear. “But, I think you do, don’t you?”

Every drop of moisture in my throat had dried up as he spoke, and I had a hard time finding words. When I spoke, it came out in a dry, raspy whisper. “Yes, Blaze. I do.”

And then that smile. And those dimples. I could die a happy woman every time he flashed those dimples in my direction.

“Good,” he murmured, taking my hand, and kissing it softly, just as he had done on my first day. “Tomorrow night. Dinner. I’ll pick you up at eight.”

And with that, he turned, and strode out, leaving me to melt in a puddle as I watched him depart.

I had a date with my boss.

My hot boss.

Between that and the hair, Mike was going to have a complete conniption fit.

I didn’t care.