Chapter Four
Cheryl
“Where are we going?”
She frowned as Rowe came bounding out of the house behind her. “What do you mean?”
He pointed at her big boots, thick pants, goggles, and winter hat, which was currently squishing her hair flat against her head, much to her dismay. “You’re going somewhere.”
“Correct.”
“So where is it?”
“I am going to finally tour the property. Tour the fences and just get a feel for everything as best I can.” She frowned. “It took too long at Palin’s to get me up to speed, since he had absolutely nothing ready for me.”
Rowe laughed. “Sounds like Palin. Always diving in headfirst, never giving anything any real thought.” He paused for perhaps a nanosecond. “So how are we doing this tour? It’s not walking, is it?”
“No,” she said slowly, allowing her disgust at the idea to show.
“Thank goodness for that.”
She had to admit, he was growing on her. They’d spent much of the rest of the morning poring over property maps and anything they could dig up to show when the land had last been truly worked, and what the owner had planted on it. They’d also begun drawing up lists of buildings that needed serious structural inspection, giving everything a priority for when the workers arrived the next day.
Rowe had been a major help in that. He’d revealed a significant amount of expertise in general construction knowledge, pointing out issues she’d not noticed, including a foundation crack in one of the silos that could be the biggest project of them all. She’d never admit it out loud, but she was glad to have accepted his help.
Having him around to look at when she grew tired or frustrated wasn’t too bad either, though she’d attempted to keep most of her peeks short and timed for when he wasn’t looking. It was tough, because he was extremely easy on the eyes. The body of a god, and he only seemed to wear tight-fitting shirts and jeans that made her understand a lot about why guys enjoyed girls in tight jeans. He had buns of steel, she was sure of it, even if she didn’t have the guts to grab them and find out. Though she had begun to think he’d be okay with it if she did.
Maybe one day.
“Palin has loaned me an ATV,” she explained, heading toward the smallest of the three barns, where it was stored.
Rowe fell in beside her, but he didn’t say anything. He couldn’t actually think…
“You’re not coming with,” she said firmly as they reached the barn doors.
He casually pushed the sliding door open with one hand, his attention elsewhere. Cheryl gaped in astonishment. She’d needed both hands to do it herself, and even then it had been a struggle until she could put her body behind it. It wasn’t just her being weak—which she admittedly was—but the doors were heavy! Yet he hadn’t even seemed to notice the weight. Maybe his muscles were more than just for show.
“I most certainly am,” Rowe countered.
“It’s not even a two-seater.”
“Sure it is. Look,” he went over to it, hopped on, and indicated the slightly raised bump behind him. “See. You go there. Just hold on to me. That’s what it’s meant for.”
Cheryl shook her head. It was like fighting an avalanche. He just couldn’t be stopped. “I’m not riding behind you.”
“It’ll be fun. Come on.” Rowe was smiling again. She hated it when he did that.
When he wasn’t smiling his face could almost become dour, lifeless, and without any enthusiasm. His facial structure reminded her of stereotypical royal personage in public, unable to show any emotion. Yet when he smiled, revealing perfect rows of teeth, his entire being lit up with energy and personality. It was as dramatic a transformation as any.
It also made it nearly impossible for her to say no, something that irked her intensely. She barely knew him, and already he was holding some unseen power over her that prevented her from being apart from him.
“This place is nearly three thousand acres in size. It’s going to take us a long time. I don’t intend to spend all afternoon holding on to you.”
She flexed her fingers, wondering if she was making a mistake in fighting him over this. Would it be such a bad thing to have to hold on to that firm body all day? Leaning her head on his back when she got tired, and feeling all his muscles pressed up against her? There were worse things to do in a day.
Rowe didn’t say anything, he just fired up the ATV and waited for her to climb on.
“Don’t you want goggles?” she asked. “Or warmer clothing? How are you not freezing?”
“I’ll be fine,” he said, raising his voice to be heard over the chortling engine of the off-road four-wheeler. “Now climb on.”
Cheryl snagged the sole helmet that was hanging off the backrest and pulled it on, mourning her hair as it was smushed even more. “Fine. Let’s…ack!”
Rowe didn’t wait; he released the brake and the four-wheeler shot forward and out of the barn as she flailed, only one hand locked in around his stomach. Incredibly firm abs slid up and down under her fingers. Even through her gloves she could feel the outline of each muscle. It was glorious, and all the push she needed to get her other hand locked in around his waist.
They headed down the laneway to the road first. A path ran on the inside of the fence all the way around the property, so she’d been told. Nobody seemed to know for certain, so that was a part of her reason for going out today. While they didn’t have any animals on the farm, the fences were also intended to keep others out. With several large dairy and beef farms nearby, that was a big worry.
To her utter dismay the ride was made in complete silence. Speaking over the rumble of the engine would have been irritating, yes, but her head was close enough to his to make it doable. So why wasn’t he speaking?
Maybe I should say something. But what? What do I talk about? Her mind raced, attempting to come up with a conversation topic, but she kept discarding everything as being silly or inappropriate. She needed to establish that she was a professional working woman, not a flirt.
The four-wheeler climbed a gentle hill as the property sloped upward at a very mild incline as they headed toward the northern border of the property. All at once they crested a rise and Rowe brought the machine to a slow, rolling halt.
Cheryl was about to ask what was going on when the wind from their passage broke, and her nose was suddenly flooded with a pheromone-rich smell of fresh mountain air, wood, and something else. Something masculine. It was Rowe. That was his scent, all of it mixed together, and she was smelling it. The close proximity to him meant she couldn’t ignore it even she’d wanted to. Which she didn’t. He smelled good.
“What’s going on?” she peered to the side of his back, looking up the border.
Rowe slipped from the machine and started walking around, looking at the ground, but her attention was pulled to the path ahead of them. It was blocked by growth. The forest was encroaching onto the farm now, having swallowed up the fence long ago. This part of the land hadn’t been worked in many years. Small trees were sprouting up in the path and even on the farmland itself. Shrubs and undergrowth were following just as rapidly.
“This is going to need to all be cleared,” she said, pulling out her phone and making notes to herself. It was the first issue they’d encountered, much to her surprise. Given the way the rest of the property was lacking in care, she’d expected the fences to be a disaster. But it seemed the previous owner had still valued his privacy at least. Except up here at the forest edge. Maybe it had just been too much work for him.
“What are you doing?”
Rowe was busy wandering around the edge of the forest—the real edge, not the bit that had grown across the trail and onto the farm. He didn’t respond at first, so intent was he in what he was looking at.
“Rowe? Am I talking to myself?”
“Tracks,” he called back. “I’m looking around at tracks.” He waved a hand at some unseen marks on the ground. “Wolf.”
A chill ran down her spine. “There are wolves here?’ Cheryl started peering into the forest, gripping the phone tightly in her hand. Everywhere she looked there could be a fearsome predator lurking, ready to explode and attack without any warning.
Rowe picked up on her nervousness and came over to her. “You have nothing to fear with me around,” he stated with ultimate authority. “Trust me. I just needed to see what the deal was.”
“Well, did you see any?”
He shrugged. “I saw a wolf when I landed yesterday, but it ran off. There are more tracks here, but for the most part they stop on the edge of the property.”
Cheryl wasn’t overly reassured by his statement of “for the most part.” That meant some didn’t stop there. Some went deeper into the farm. Toward the ranch. She frowned.
“What do you mean ‘when you landed’? Did you come by helicopter? It must have been an awfully silent one, because I didn’t hear a damn thing.”
Rowe flinched. “Uh, I meant arrived.”
Her brain was in full sleuth mode now though, his odd wording making her suspicious. “How did you arrive, by the way? I didn’t see another car.”
“Palin dropped me off,” he said with a wave, swinging a leg over the seat in front of her.
Before she could ask any more questions he revved the engine, forcing her to grab on to him once more before they took off. Not that she minded. He felt good against her. His strength was reassuring after the revelation that wolves might be stalking her in the house at night. Cheryl decided she was never going outside after dark again. Alone at least.
The rest of the perimeter check passed uneventfully with most of her time spent clinging to his back. She enjoyed the feel of his muscles and the unusual amount of heat that he discharged, helping to keep her warm as winter made it known it was coming closer.
She didn’t want the day to end.