It was around dinnertime when we showed up at the ranch, pulling down a long drive off of a country road to a mansion that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. There were several houses scattered around the property, which seemed to stretch for miles. There were stables just behind the mansion, and I could smell the horses as we walked up to the front porch. I had never been to a ranch before, never been on a farm. I was a city girl through-and-through, and based on Cooper’s smirk I could tell that he had known it the minute we stepped off the plane.

I was nervous as we stood on the porch, though it looked cozy inside the mansion, with a warm, bright light shining through the window at the top of the door. The air was muggy and hot, thicker than I was used to, and I was glad when the door opened and I could feel the air conditioning on my skin. I stood behind Cooper, nervous and shy as a woman threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight.

“Cooper,” she said, stroking his hair as if he was a child. “My baby boy.”

“Hi, ma,” Cooper said, looking slightly embarrassed but with a bright smile on his face as he looked down at his mother. She frowned at him, looking over his body.

“You look thin. You work out too much. Girls like a little chub on a man, don’t they?”

“Oh,” I said when I realized she was looking at me. “Oh, yeah. I like chub.”

Cooper laughed, raising an eyebrow at me, and I blushed.

“Who is this, dear? Your new girlfriend?”

“I’m not his—”

“She’s the one I told you about on the phone, ma. She works at Maverick.”

“Oh, the girl who is here to judge your work. Well, let’s hope you don’t scare her off,” his mother said, inviting them in. She looked over her shoulder at me as we walked through a hallway toward the sound of pots and pans, dishes being washed in a sink. “What’s your name, honey?”

“My name is Violet,” I said to her.

“My name’s Marie, but everybody calls me ‘ma,’” she said. “Even the old folks down at the store, for whatever reason.”

I cleared my throat. “It’s nice to meet you, Marie.”

She smiled at me, pushing through a swinging wooden door into a big, old-fashioned kitchen. There were two men in there, both of them slightly older than Cooper, and a young girl who was probably six or seven.

“Hey, Coop,” said one of the men, clapping Cooper on the back. “You’re back.”

“Hey, Bradley,” Cooper said. “For a little bit.”

“Who is your friend? New girlfriend?” the man asked. Cooper sighed in exasperation.

“She’s an employee,” he said.

“I am not your employee,” I said to him. He gave me a look and his brother grinned brightly.

“I’m Bradley,” he said, then gestured to the other man. “This is Kyle.”

“Hi,” Kyle said, reaching out to take my hand. I shook it, greeting him, then looked at the little girl. She was looking shyly at Cooper, but had a delighted smile on her face. He knelt down to look at her.

“Hey, Susie Q,” he said, smiling at her. “How’s my girl?”

Her face broke into an even bigger smile, and she threw her arms around him. Cooper laughed and spun her in a circle, then set her down and ruffled her hair.

“This is Susie,” he told me. “Susie, this is Violet.”

“Violet is a princess name,” Susie said, looking up at me. “Are you a princess?”

“Oh, no, I’m not—”

“Of course she is,” Cooper said. “Doesn’t she look like a princess?”

“Mhm,” said the little girl, her eyes bright. I had to smile at her.

“Thank you, Susie,” I said. She put her hands on Cooper’s face, mashing his features.

“Will you read me a bedtime story, Uncle Coop?” she asked.

“After dinner,” he promised, ruffling her hair again. When he turned his eyes to mine, there was a look of pure joy on his face. I could tell how much his family meant to him. It made something within me warm to him, despite the fact that we couldn’t seem to get along.

After a few minutes, his mother ushered us into a large dining room, where the seats at the table were already half-full. Everybody’s eyes seemed to turn to me as we walked in, and I blushed underneath their gaze.

“New girlfriend?” a woman asked.

“Jesus Christ, no,” Cooper said adamantly. “Would you guys shut up?”

The woman laughed. “What do you expect, Coop?”

Cooper grumbled, sitting down at the table.

“Violet, these are my sisters, Abigail and Jane. This is my other brother, Peter.”

“Hi,” they all said, a chorus of voices and curious looks. I looked down at the food on the table, two whole roast chickens, a giant bowl of mashed potatoes and a boat of thick, rich gravy. Everybody started to serve themselves and I took as much as I could without feeling self-conscious. All of them seemed to be in good shape, probably from years of working on the ranch. Cooper himself was in excellent shape, too—I had been able to tell by looking at him that his body was immaculate, something that I tried not to think about no matter how good he looked.

“So what are you back for? I didn’t think you were coming until Christmas.”

“Dirk wants to send me away. He wants me to run the business branch down here.”

“And you don’t want to,” Kyle said. Cooper shook his head.

“I don’t want to sell, though, either. I won’t. Dad made me promise not to.”

I felt guilt spread through me when he said the words, knowing that I was going to have to try to make him break his promise. It was strange to be sitting here, being welcomed into his family even while I carried an ulterior motive. It made me feel even more guilty, but I was careful not to let that feeling show on my face. The last thing I needed was for anybody in his family—including Cooper—to become suspicious of my intentions. I kept a calm, happy smile on my face instead, washing away the worry that I knew would be there if I didn’t try to push it back. I had never been a good liar, even when I was a kid.

“So don’t sell,” Abigail said, shrugging. “Fuck ‘em.”

“Abigail,” her mother said in a chiding voice. “Not at the table.”

“Sorry, ma,” Abigail said, grinning. Cooper clicked his tongue.

“Susie is right here,” he said, gesturing to the little girl.

“Mommy says I can’t say that word,” Susie said.

“Mommy is right,” said Cooper’s mother. “That’s a filthy word and you should never say it.”

Abigail rolled her eyes.

“So if you two aren’t dating—”

“We’re not,” said Cooper.

“Right. You’re not dating. So what is she doing here?”

“She’s here to evaluate my performance,” Cooper said.

“She doesn’t seem very impressed so far,” Abigail said, nodding to me with a knowing look on her face. “I don’t think she likes you very much.”

“I like him,” I protested weakly, but the other woman just laughed.

“None of us like him, either,” she teased.

“I love Uncle,” said Susie, getting up from her seat to wrap her arms around him. “He promised to read me a story.”

“Eat your dinner, Susie,” Jane said sternly. Susie went back to her chair, pouting, and everyone turned their eyes back to me.

“Where you from, Violet?”

“New York,” I told her. “City.”

“Ever been out to the country before?”

“No,” I said, blushing. “But I think I can handle it.”

“That’s what the last girl said,” Bradley told her. Cooper looked over at me, studying my face.

“I think this one has a little more backbone,” he said. “She likes to argue.”

“Everybody argues with you, Coop,” Abigail said. “Because you never shut up.”

“You’re one to talk,” Cooper shot back. “You—”

“No bickering at the table. We have company,” said Cooper’s mother, who turned to look at me. “Sorry about them, honey. They fight like cats.”

“That’s because he’s annoying,” Abigail said, though she had a playful smile on her face. Cooper shot her a look and she leaned over the table, rubbing his head with her knuckles.

“Geek,” she said. Cooper laughed. When dinner was over, everybody got up. I felt full and comfortable, glad that I hadn’t been too nervous to speak at dinner. Overall, as Cooper led me to my room, I felt like I had done a good job blending in. I was excited to see the business office the next day, and I found myself in a good mood as Cooper opened the door to a large, comfortable-looking bedroom.

“Hope this is good,” he said to me, meeting my eye.

“It’s perfect,” I said. It was hard to look away from him, with his blue, piercing gaze. He smiled at me.

“Get some good rest tonight,” he said. “You’re going to need it.”

“What does that mean?” I asked him. His tone was ominous and foreboding. But he only smiled at me, trying to disarm me.

“I’ll see you in the morning, Violet,” he said to me softly, and slipped away.

It took me a long time to fall asleep that night. I felt strange, even guiltier about what I had to do after seeing Cooper with his family. He obviously loved them and was devoted to them, and I could only assume that extended to his father and the promise that Cooper had made.

There was a knock at the door a few hours later, and when I opened my eyes, I saw only a faint light streaming through the window. The sun wasn’t even up yet, and my eyes were still swollen with sleep as I got up, grumbling. I went to the door, throwing it open to see Cooper standing on the other side with a smirk on his face.

“You ready?” he asked.

“Ready for what?” I asked grumpily, rubbing my eyes.

“Time to work,” he said, looking me over in my nightgown. I flushed at the look on his face, one of heat as he studied my body, the outline of my breasts under the flimsy fabric.

“We’re going to the office?” I asked him.

“Nope,” he said. “Not yet. Better put on some casual clothes. Don’t wear a dress right now.”

“What are you talking—”  I began, but he cut me off.

“I’ll see you downstairs in the dining room for breakfast,” he said, and disappeared from the room. I was left standing there, half-asleep. I mumbled a curse under my breath as I got dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, slipping into a pair of boots I was glad that I had thought to bring with me. I went downstairs to find that the table was already covered in breakfast foods, from pancakes to sausage and eggs heaped on a massive plate. Cooper was already serving himself. I sat down across from him and did the same, eating in grouchy silence. When we were finished, he got up, stretching.

“Let’s go,” he said. I put my fork down and followed him outside, where it was already hot and muggy. The heat made sweat bead up on the back of my neck as we walked toward a large barn.

“What exactly are we doing?” I asked him, looking around the farm. I wasn’t used to the hot air, nor walking up such a steep slope.

“Milking,” he said simply.

“What?” I asked dully, stopping in my tracks. “We’re doing what?”

“There are three cows to milk. Nobody else wants to do it. They make me do it every time I come to visit.”

“Why am I out here?” I asked. “I could be sleeping. I don’t even know how to milk a cow. This is not part of why I came here.”

He laughed, shaking his head. “This is part of the business, darlin’.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you’re going to learn how to milk a cow,” he said, gesturing me to move forward. “Let’s go.”

I followed him to the barn, watching as he pulled the heavy door open. The smell of cow immediately hit me, potent and disgusting, and I wrinkled my nose as we went inside. He looked at me with amusement on his face.

“Don’t tell me you can’t handle this,” he said.

“I’m fine,” I told him, trying to keep the revulsion from my face as we approached one of the cows in her stall. She turned her head to look at us with her big brown eyes, fringed with thick lashes. She was brown all over, with white spots on her large body. To my surprise, the cow leaned forward and nuzzled Cooper’s shoulder.

“I didn’t know cows did that,” I said to him.

“This is Angel,” he said. “I delivered her. She knows me.”

“You delivered a baby calf?” I asked him.

“Yep. Standard work around here,” he said.

“Don’t you have employees?”

“Some,” he said. “But they only come in four days a week. We do our own thing the rest of the time.”

“I see,” I said. He opened the stall door and I shrank back as he led the massive animal out.

“Go get that bucket,” he said, gesturing over to the pail. I grabbed it and brought it over to him.

“Wanna do it?” he asked, looking up at me as he wrapped his hand around a teat.

“No,” I said, shaking my head. He chuckled and began to milk the cow, his hands moving easily. I watched him, the patience on his face, the diligent way in which he worked. When he was finished, he put the bucket on a table in the corner of the barn, then put Angel back into her stall.

“You’re next,” he said. I stared at him in shock for a moment.

“What?” I asked him.

“I’m not going to milk you,” he said, bursting into laughter. I couldn’t help but to laugh, too, blushing in embarrassment.

“Of course,” I said. “But I don’t—”

“This is necessary if you want to see the business branch,” he said to me.

“Why?”

“Doesn’t matter,” he said. He pulled the next cow out of her stall and I sat down at the stool. Once I got started, doing the job wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. I felt his eyes on me as I got into the rhythm of it, the cow’s big warmth and soft eyes soothing and comfortable. When I was finished, he did the third cow, and we walked back to the house together to clean up.

“Now we go to the office?”

“Nope,” he said. “There’s still a ton of stuff to do. I’ll have to show you around the coop and the stables.”

“But—”

He put his finger up to cut me off. “No buts, Violet.”

I sighed, giving in, knowing there was no use arguing with a man who was used to always getting his way.