CHAPTER ONE
Millie
I knew trouble when I saw it, and Drew Weston was trouble, a whole six feet and two hundred fifty muscled pounds of it. My eyes stayed glued to the big picture window that overlooked the front yard as my daddy walked up to him. It wasn’t every day that a man like Drew showed up at my house.
I had known him from high school, and though he was handsome as hell, he had the temper of a wild stallion. The thought of him ravaging me until I was nothing more than a heaping mess had crossed my mind a time or three.
What the hell?
Obviously, the attraction was there, but I knew better than to cross the line with a man like him.
“Seriously, Millie, get away from the window,” my sister, Nora, whisper-yelled at me as she fixed Daddy up breakfast. It was just him, Nora, and me living in this giant farmhouse now.
Momma had passed away from breast cancer months ago, and it was rough keeping things going. Hell, sometimes I wondered how we managed all of it—the cooking, the cleaning, the farming. It was yet another reminder of how much Momma was still needed around here.
“I’m nineteen, Nora…” I gave her the same snarky attitude she gave me, my eyes moving from the window to her displeased face.
“Nineteen doesn’t make you old enough to be eying up the new help.” She narrowed her dark eyes. Her words vibrated through me, knocking something loose.
“New help? Daddy didn’t hire Drew, did he?” I questioned. Drew had always sparked a curiosity deep in my belly, and parts of me were scared of him while others tingled at the sight of him. Nora stared at me for a long second before answering.
“Rider just quit, and Leo is struggling to stay on top of everything. Daddy needed the help or he was going to have to sell some of the property.” I could hear the anguish in her words. Nora and I didn’t know what we were going to do with the farm once Daddy passed away, but we knew we didn’t want the land going to no city folk so that they could build another strip mall.
I frowned. “Why didn’t y’all tell me that?” I had been attending classes at the local technical college in town, and I was sure that was half of the reason neither Nora nor Daddy had said anything.
Nora shrugged. “We didn’t want you to worry, and plus it ain’t your problem. You’ve got enough on your plate with exams and—”
“You’ll fit right in, Drew.” Daddy’s voice carried up the porch and into the kitchen where both Nora and I were. Fire filled my belly for some strange reason as Daddy and Drew both entered the space.
“We’ve got a new worker, girls. This here is Drew Weston,” Daddy introduced us, though I already knew Drew. His dark, brooding eyes pierced mine, sending shivers down my spine. He was rugged looking with a slight scruff that marred his chin and cheeks. His jaw was tight, as if he was grinding his teeth together, and his well-built frame was giving off a vibe that said do not approach me.
I wanted to laugh.
“Nice to meet you, Drew,” Nora greeted him with a smile before nudging me in the side. I should’ve said the same thing as Nora, but I wasn’t the good girl. I wasn’t the one who listened to every word Daddy spoke.
Instead, I gazed up at Drew, his eyes seeming to grow darker, and then I realized that everyone was staring at me, waiting for me to stay something.
“Yeah, nice to meet you,” I mumbled as I plucked a piece of bacon off a plate that Nora had placed on the table. She gave me the Wicked Witch of the West eye, but I didn’t care. She couldn’t scare me.
“Drew here says he went to school up at Croc High.” Daddy’s eyes shifted between the two of us, and suddenly it started to get awkward, the air becoming charged.
“Oh, yeah. I don’t really remember him.” I shrugged, playing it off. I could see the flame in Drew’s coffee brown eyes flicker. He didn’t like the idea of a woman not remembering him.
“Hmm, well that’s too bad. He’s a member of the family now, so you’ll need to treat him like one.” I couldn’t hide the shock as my eyes grew to the size of saucers. Daddy’s voice told me his words were final.
“What do you mean?” Confusion laced my words as Drew and Daddy took a seat at the circular dining room table.
“What he means is I’ll be staying with y’all for a while. If that’s okay?” Drew’s voice was low and gravelly, like sand running through rocks. It made my body tingle and my thighs warm. He couldn’t mean what I thought he did, could he?
“Don’t be talking any nonsense. We talked about this a few minutes ago. You’ll stay here so long as you offer help.” Daddy’s voice held a warning, and the look on his face all but dared Drew to push the matter.
“Yes, sir…” Drew didn’t question or gripe another moment about the conversation. He just went about making himself a plate, just like Daddy. I, well…I stared in amazement at them for a long moment before taking the seat directly across from the new help.
“How are classes going?” Daddy jumped right into another conversation as if the last one had ended already.
“They’re good.” I couldn’t take my eyes off Drew. His large hands tightly gripped the fork, and I wondered for a second what it would feel like to have his hands gripping me.
“That’s good, sweetheart. Keep up those grades and you’ll be a Veterinarian, in no time.” I smiled, nodding my head yes. I knew what it took to get the job I wanted. It was Daddy who didn’t. He thought I could take a two-year degree course and be done. What he didn’t know was that I had years of schooling to go to.
“Vet? You like animals?” Drew piped up, one thick eyebrow rising in question. I licked my lips. The tone of his voice was condescending, and I wondered if Daddy or Nora could tell.
I narrowed my eyes, grabbing another slice of bacon. “Yeah, I like animals. If I didn’t, I don’t think being a veterinarian would be a good idea, right?” My response was a bit smart-assish, but it was the least I could give him for talking to me in such an asshole manner.
Daddy cleared his throat, and Nora’s eyes went wide.
“I suppose so. Though, I think you need, like, six…” I cut him off that second, refusing to get into this conversation with Daddy so early in the morning.
“I know how long it’s going to take and the kind of grades I need. There ain’t no need to put your nose where it ain’t needed.” I huffed, narrowing my eyes further. He smirked--actually fucking smirked—and a smidge of his perfectly straight white teeth appeared out of the corner of his mouth.
“Millie Louise…” Daddy raised his voice, and I shoved from the table, my appetite long gone now. Drew had ruined breakfast for me, and I had a inkling that he would ruin other things for me as they came along.
“It was nice meeting you!” Drew hollered as I shoved from the table and slipped through the screen door, my boot-covered feet carrying me out toward the barn.
I needed a couple of seconds to get my emotions under control, and then I would apologize just like the young lady I was. Dust kicked up as I ran down the path and into the barn. I climbed the creaky ladder to the hayloft and settled onto one of the bales as I tried to calm my erratic heartbeat.
I had never reacted so rudely toward someone, and especially not in front of Daddy. I threaded my fingers through my hair. It occurred to me then, as I stared off into the rising sun, that I had let Drew get the best of me. I had fed right into his meddling, and now I was the one who would have to explain my behavior, not him. I squeezed my eyes shut and sucked in a deep breath, the smell of hay and fresh air filling my lungs.
He wouldn’t be staying forever. Not if I had something to do about it.