Chapter Five: Sydney
After Cole’s swift exit, I stood in the kitchen for a few minutes trying to figure out what had just happened. One minute he’s a total douche and the next he’s offering to buy me groceries. I don’t get it. I shake my head and go back to my room and get ready to take a long, hot shower. My skin feels gritty and my hair is a mess but I was too damn tired last night to care.
I step into the large guest bathroom and marvel at the design. It definitely doesn’t seem like something a gruff rancher would put together. The shower is large enough to fit four people and has jets coming from every direction. I turn the water as hot as I can stand it and step under the spray. I lather my hair and sigh as the suds roll down over my body, following them with my hands.
My nipples spring to life under my fingertips and I give each one a little tweak. It’s been way too damn long since anyone’s hands but my own have been on my body. I stand under the spray and imagine that I’m not alone in the shower.
I press my back up against the cool marble wall and lift a leg to rest my foot on the shampoo niche. I imagine Cole kneeling in front of me and my pussy begins to throb, flooding my belly with warmth. I slide my fingers through the dark curls and insert two of them into my aching center, gathering the thick juices on their tips. I close my eyes and massage my clit with my slippery fingers, while my other hand kneads a breast. Within a few short minutes, I come hard, biting my lip to keep from crying out.
As my orgasm fades, I slump against the wall and sigh. Maybe now that I’ve taken care of myself, I’ll be able to look at Cole without drenching my damn panties.
After my shower, I decide to do a little exploring around the ranch. I throw on a sun dress and a pair of slip-on Sketchers and go to the kitchen. Cole told me to make myself at home, so I grab a bottle of water from the well-stocked fridge and head out the back door. I see a barn about a hundred yards from the back of the house and decide that’s as good a place as any to start.
Growing up in Chicago, I can honestly say I’ve never seen a cow in the flesh. The closest I’ve come to one of the enormous animals is between two halves of a grilled ciabatta bun at my favorite restaurant. Complete with pickles and onions. Now that a bunch of them are looking at me with their big cow eyes, I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to enjoy another burger again.
Up ahead, near the entrance to the barn, I spot Luke wrestling with some large burlap sacks. I pick up my pace a bit and wave to him as I get closer. He smiles and waves back. He is definitely good looking in his own right, and he puts me at ease, but he’s no Cole.
“You look awfully overdressed to feed cattle,” he calls to me as I grow nearer. “I mean, Aunt Nora told you about our arrangement, didn’t she?”
I stop in my tracks and look at him, blinking rapidly. He doesn’t really mean-?
Luke takes one look at my face and bursts into a fit of laughter. “Oh man, if you could see your face right now!” he hollers, slapping his thigh with a meaty hand. “I’m totally joking,” he finally sputters, through his giggles.
I put my hands on my hips and kick a clump of dried grass at him. “You are not funny,” I say, though I can’t help my mouth from twitching. He really had me there for a minute.
“I’m sorry, I just couldn’t help myself,” Luke says. “We don’t get too many pretty ladies around here. Actually, now that I think of it, we don’t get any.”
Before I can say anything in response, Cole stalks out of the barn and fixes a dark gaze on his younger brother. “Luke, we have a lot of cattle to feed. Quit screwing around,” he barks before stomping back inside.
“Is he always like that?” I ask, watching his perfect ass as he goes.
“You mean a crabby sonofabitch?” Luke says with a smile. “Yeah, kinda. Listen, it’s not personal, he just takes the business very seriously is all. He’s the oldest and so he’s always been the one to take care of all of us. It’s a hard thing for him to give up. Don’t sweat it.”
I nod and let Luke get back to work after asking if it would be alright if I walked around a bit. He tells me where the gardens are and which areas to avoid due to the electrical fencing and then he leaves me to go back to his duties.
I stroll around for a while, looking over the pastures that stretch farther than my eyes can see. I realize how daunting it must be for one man to feel like he has to take care of all of this. Being the one in charge is never easy, but in this open environment where you have little control over predators, weather, and market, it must be even harder. I find myself feeling a little sympathetic toward Cole.
I shake my head and continue to walk on, taking in the perfect order of the ranch. I wander over toward where Luke said the garden was and I stop short. I had been expecting a vegetable garden, but instead what I find is a magazine-worthy flower bed. Several rows of meticulously groomed Marigolds, Phlox, and Columbine stretch out in bright colors, surrounded by strategically placed rose bushes in reds and golds.
I take a deep breath an inhale the scents as I carefully tiptoe through the neat aisles. All of a sudden, a thought pops into my head. Luke said there were no women on this ranch, so that would mean that either he or Cole had planted this garden. Seeing as Cole was the one in charge, I realize this work of art must be his doing. Cole Parker is quickly evolving into quite the complicated character. Though he’s rough around the edges, anyone who keeps a garden this vibrant and beautiful, must have a soft center. I groan inwardly to myself as I realize I’m starting to like this guy.
“You like it?” a deep voice says from behind me.
“Yes, it’s breathtaking,” I say, turning to see Cole watching me from the end of a row.
“Aunt Nora always kept a nice garden when we were growing up and I used to sit and do my homework in the rows when I was a kid.”
“Well if hers looked anything like this, I can see why you’d be drawn to it,” I say.
Cole nods and looks at me a for a long minute. The intensity of his eyes on me forces a bead of sweat to roll down between my breasts and my nerves begin to hum. I shift unconsciously from foot to foot, unable to look away from him until he finally breaks the spell.
“I’m going in to get some lunch, are you hungry?” he asks.
I nod my head vigorously and follow him up to the house, my eyes glued to his ass the whole way.