Asher (Two weeks later)

“I thought you were going to the dance with the guys?”

The last thing I expected when I got back from the barn with my manager Jesse, was to see Clara lounging on the gingham covered glider on the porch, miles of creamy skin on display even in the moonlight.

She shrugged, looking adorable. And young.

“I didn’t want them to feel like they had to be good since I was there. Figured I’d stay here while you boys painted the town.”

Her smile was bright enough to make my heart skip but I shook it off. “Not my scene. I’m too old to be twirling a girl around a dance floor.”

“I don’t know, I think girls and women dig guys who dance. But if you’re too old,” she said and left it hanging in the air, a smirk dancing on her face. It faded at my dark look.

“Your dinner is in the oven and on the table Mr. Hawthorne.”

Ah hell, I did frown at her again.

“Asher. My name is Asher.” For some reason my words didn’t work around this woman and that had to stop. I couldn’t let myself get distracted again, especially by another city girl who wouldn’t make it a year on the ranch.

“Okay Asher,” she exaggerated my name. “I’ll see you around.”

“Wait.” I don’t know why I didn’t just let her walk away. Run upstairs and avoid me. Things would be easier. But I didn’t.

“I’m sorry. Not used to talking to many females these days. I could use a little work on that.”

“I’m sure most women are too charmed by your looks to be bothered by your awful manners.” Her smile said she wasn’t mad, but I did notice that it didn’t reach those sparkling green eyes. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” I couldn’t stop smiling at her misspoken words. The moment between us was tense, almost as though she wanted to say more but couldn’t or wouldn’t. I wanted to say a lot but none of it appropriate between an employee and employer.

She stood. “Go on and grab a shower, I’ll fix your plate.”

“I don’t need you to wait on me. You’re off the clock.”

She sighed. “I was only helping since you had a long day. Won’t happen again,” she grumbled.

Dammit I was messing things up big time.

“I’ll be back.” She nodded but said nothing else, instead she turned her attention back to the starry night and the cold beer clutched in her hands.

I showered quickly, pulling a plain white tee over my damp body and another clean pair of jeans. I paused in the kitchen and smiled. Clara had made my plate anyway, but set it on the table rather than have it waiting for me outside. I grabbed two more beers and joined her.

“You fixed my plate.”

“I did,” she answered, nose turned up.

“Thank you.”

Her shoulders relaxed a little. “You’re welcome. Asher.”

Damn I loved the way she said my name in that syrupy southern drawl that screamed long, hot summer nights. I dug in to the delicious chunk of lasagna she’d cut for me. It was full cheese and sauce and fresh beef straight from Hawkeye Ranch.

“Amazing,” I told her, pointing at the plate with my fork.

“Thanks,” she answered, seemingly amused by me. “Have you always been a rancher?”

My body tightened at her question. Not that she would have any idea how much I hated the subject.

“Nope. Until about five years ago, I was an investment banker in New York. I loved it and then I hated it. I’d bought this place a few years before I left as a vacation home, kind of a gentleman’s ranch. Then I moved here full-time and I haven’t looked back.”

“Wow you’re on a second career and I can’t even get the first one off the ground.” She sighed and propped her feet up on the bannister. “I think I’m jealous.”

I laughed a real full bodied laugh. Haven’t had one of those in a while.

“Don’t be. I came this close to a heart attack. Then I moved here and it wrecked my marriage.” I wasn’t all that sad about the breakdown of the marriage. But it did give me a taste of something I hadn’t experienced a lot of in my life. Failure.

“Well that sucks. Did you love her lots?”

“I thought I did. But we were comfortable together. Came from the same kind of background and did the same kind of work. It was convenient because we attended so many of the same events. But living out here with no buffer brought everything to light.”

“Well yeah, I imagine you’d need to have someone you can talk to out here, but what a view!” She shook her head, red curls falling around her bare shoulders, face radiant with her sweet smile. “I’ve been out here for an hour and I can’t get enough.”

That was more than Elena, my ex, had ever been able to say about the ranch. About the town of Rogue. She had made it explicitly clear what she thought of small-town life. Elena was having none of it, even at the risk of my health.

“Yeah I know what you mean. So many stars at night. Nothing like New York.”

“Or Atlanta,” she added. “My hometown though is just like this. Remote. Quiet. Small. Starry and green. Gorgeous.”

She sounded so wistful I believed she really meant it. But only as much as a person who’d been in the city for the past few years. A year or two in, she would be just like my ex-wife. Or the one short-lived girlfriend I’d had since then.

“Why’d you leave?”

She huffed out a laugh, but it was more bitter than nostalgic or amused.

“I wanted more opportunities. The only thing in Cranberry beyond Main Street is a dying factory or marriage and babies.”

Her words took me by surprise and I choked on my beer. “You don’t want marriage and babies?”

“Of course I do, but not with boys I used to babysit or I’ve known my whole life. I wanted to cook amazing food for people who would appreciate it. That was my big dream you know? A chef. I wanted that, thought I could have it.”

“You have plenty of time,” I told her because I believed that.

I’d gone into an industry that dealt in millions and billions of dollars so I’d made a lot of money and quickly. Between my own investments, trust funds and the ranch, money would never be a problem for me. But none of it came overnight.

“Nah, maybe I need to readjust my goals. Get a job as a cook. Period. Doesn’t have to be fancy or Michelin starred just…food.”

“I’ve tasted your food and it’s more than just anything. It’s an experience.”

“Careful Asher or I might think you actually like me.”

I frowned at that. “I do. Too much.” Damn, why’d I say that? I stood and reached for her. “Come on.”

She frowned, confused. “Where?”

I didn’t tell her, figuring she’d appreciate a surprise like this. Unless she really was a city girl, in which case she might just feel grossed out. Pulling her along, I savored the feel of her soft palm against my rougher one from five years of ranching work. It wasn’t easy work, it was damn hard, but it also calmed something in me. Settled me.

“Careful,” I grabbed her waist when she stumbled in the diming light, and I really shouldn’t have. Good Lord, she was soft and curvy and so damn lush.

She gasped when I tossed the barn door open, holding on to my arm as we walked to the back.

“Oh!” she fell to her knees in her sexy little dress, emphasis on little. “You’re a handsome fella aren’t you?” She cooed to the foal stumbling around his mama, just barely noticing the ranch manager off to the side. “Hey Jesse, life treating you alright?”

“As alright as I reckon it’s gonna get Clara.” She laughed and Jesse actually smiled—with teeth showing and everything.

“Glad to hear it. So, you guys don’t have a vet or something who does this?”

She might be small town, but I knew she’d never set foot on a ranch before a few weeks ago.

“We’re only here as a precaution. The horses know what to do. Doctors just get in the way.”

I watched as her mind processed that before another startlingly beautiful smile touched her mouth.

“I suppose that’s true. Good goin’ mama,” she offered to the tired black mare in the corner.

“Don’t get too close,” I told her, it came out harsher than I intended, and she shot me a glare. “If you get too close his mama might not accept him.”

She looked devastated. “Really?”

At my nod, she took a step back and I had to fight a smile.

This woman was going to be trouble. Pure and simple.

* * *

“Have you seen Clara?” I’d searched the house, the barn and even the paddock closest to the house in search of the curvy redhead, and she was nowhere in sight.

Bob Lee looked up with a grin. “She said something about pulling weeds, so my guess is that she’s over in the garden.”

It wasn’t so much a garden these days as a plot of land that used to be a garden.

“Thanks,” I bit out and turned to head toward the little plot of land Elena, and then Dolly had both wanted to preserve as a garden. The last thing I needed was another woman starting something she couldn’t finish. As I moved closer to the fenced off area, Clara came into view. Miles of creamy flesh on display thanks to a pair of frayed denim shorts. Her breasts shook brilliantly as she pulled up weeds, barely contained under the lightweight tank she wore. Rounded backside thrust in the air. Tempting me.

Torturing me.

Clearing my throat a few feet from her, I needed a moment before I could speak.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Of course since the woman muddled my brain, I barked at her. Again.

Startled, she up at me, one red curl dangling between narrowed green eyes. “Playing in the dirt, what does it look like?”

I smiled because I can’t remember the last time a woman other than Dolly and my mother gave me a hard time. Most women bent to my will, complimented me and tried to stroke my ego because I’m wealthy and own a pretty large spread. Not Clara though.

“This isn’t part of your job.”

She sighed and leaned back to sit on her feet before settling her gaze back on me.

“Yes, I know that Mr. Hawthorne, but it’s nice to have fresh herbs and veggies if you can, and this is already here. Just needs some TLC.”

That garden wasn’t the only thing in need of some TLC, I thought to myself, eyeing the milky white cleavage on display.

“Is that alright?” Her voice sounded impatient but her face revealed none of that.

“As long as you make sure your actual job is done first.”

Rolling her eyes, she turned back to the weeds, yanking with surprising strength.

“Lunch is ready to go, a load of laundry is washing and drying and the whole house is clean. Was there anything else?”

I was too caught up in the sight of her hips moving as she worked, her soft skin dotted with freckles, to realize she’d asked me a question.

“What?”

“Anything else?”

Was there?

“Yep. I need to head into town to pick up a few things and I want you to come with me. You need to meet Cal Montgomery from the grocery store so he knows you’re working for me now.”

Clara thought it over as her eyes swept over the garden, and then she pushed herself to standing and nodded.

“I’ll be ready to go in ten minutes.”

I didn’t believe that for one second. Every woman I had ever met in my life took at least an hour to get ready. So, I took my time, showering and changing before checking a few emails and then heading downstairs.

“There you are.”

She looked up at me but her gaze was hidden behind a pair of huge purple sunglasses that matched the sexy but sweet sleeveless dress she wore.

“Been here waiting on you,” she muttered and stood, jogging down the steps and making her way to my truck. “I said ten minutes Mr. Hawthorne, and I never say things I don’t mean.” She hopped in the truck without my help and slammed the door a little harder than she needed to.

I thought I would use the ride to town to find out how she really felt about working for me.

“So, how are you settling in?”

She looked over at me with an unrecognizable expression on her face. “Great. The room is more than I thought I’d have and the house is beautiful. The guys are easy and very grateful so, pretty good.”

“And your boss?” I probed.

She shrugged and shot me a smile. “He’s a little gruff and I think he’ll be happy to see me gone, but he’s not so bad.”

“I don’t dislike you,” I told her when I pulled up in front of the feed store and hopped from my truck.

She slid from her seat and shut the door before smoothing the light fabric of her dress over her body.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to pretend. It’s fine. I’ll do my job because that’s what you’re paying me to do.”

It really grated on me that she genuinely thought I didn’t like her. Because I did. The problem was that I was too damn attracted to her. That annoyed the heck out of me and I ended up taking it out on her.

Even as she followed me around the feed store, I could feel the heat of her body behind me. The scent of peaches wafted under my nose with every flick of her hair, and damn when she’d accidentally brush against me, hell I had to pull out rodeo stats just to keep my body from betraying me.

By the time we finished up at the feed store and bought a few more seeds for the garden at Clara’s request, my body was overheated.

“We can walk to the supermarket.”

She nodded but said nothing.

“I don’t dislike you,” I told her again. It bugged me more than I thought, apparently.

“Okay.” Her tone said she didn’t believe me.

“I don’t. I actually like you Clara.” I winced at my own words, not at all conveying what I needed her to get.

“High praise,” she murmured.

I couldn’t help it. Reaching out I grabbed her arm until she faced me.

“I like you Clara, alright?”

Her mouth turned up into the tiniest smile I’d ever seen and she patted my arm, searing me and causing my blood to flow to my crotch at her touch.

“Sure Mr. Hawthorne. Say it without that grumpy frown and I might believe you one day.” She walked inside, hips swaying beneath that purple dress in a way that tempted a man to forget he was a gentleman.

Yep. So much damn trouble.