I’m a jerk, but she still likes me.

Beau

Charlotte smiles with relief when the wheels touch the ground in the sleepy town of Cascade Montana. I want to make her smile like that everyday forever.

That thought shocks the hell out of me.

Women are nothing but a memory past the sunrise. I prefer my conquests leave my bed right away when I’m finished with them but that’s not always possible when you live on a sprawling ranch with unpredictable weather and black as night nights. I’m not a monster. I don’t want a woman getting lost on unfamiliar roads or freezing to death in the winter when her car breaks down. On occasions like those I’m willing to share my bed until morning but as soon as my eyes open I’m making sure she gets home.

I’m convinced the term no strings attached was coined for me in particular.

But with Charlotte its’ different, I would never consider her a conquest or another notch on my bedpost. She has an alluring innocence about her that makes me want to treat her carefully. It isn’t that she is weak or fragile, she’s spunky and intelligent and independent but the sign hanging out front definitely says handle with care.

“You ready for the best breakfast to ever grace your mouth?” I ask her when we pull away from the airport in our rented Subaru. Her stomach growls loudly at the exact moment I ask her this question and we laugh. Things are going well so far, I was a little worried when I learned she’s afraid of flying. We got through it fine and she even seemed to enjoy herself after a while until we were about to land and she could see some of the devastation on the ground left by the same tornado that took her home.

Cascade suffered some minor damage but the surrounding areas were much worse like Charlotte’s ranch. When she wondered out loud about the distance a tornado could carry debris and asked if I thought if part of her ranch could be down on the ground here, I knew we had to switch our focus. Her voice was full of the sadness I heard the day I found her sitting on her truck surveying her families land, the day she went to say goodbye.

“I think that’s a yes. How far is it to the hotel?”

“Not far, about ten minutes, you gonna last?”

“I’m a poor college student remember? I’m used to coffee for breakfast, or on good days, I eat a bowl of cereal.”

“When you come home that’ll have to change. You can’t work all day with animals on the ranch with a cup of coffee in ya.”

“I know, I miss my mom’s big country breakfasts believe me. She makes the best scrambled eggs, they’re all fluffy and perfect, and oh, her bacon, my god her bacon is to die for. It’s thick cut and crispy and the whole house smells of maple and bacon.” She moans at the thought of her mother’s breakfast. My cock twitches in response to the sexy sound and my mind begins to wander to places far from food.

“Did she teach you how to cook?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Maybe someday you can make one of her famous breakfasts for me?”

She glances at me and back to the road stretched out in front of us.

“Maybe.”

Her answer is light, but I think she understands my insinuation that there will be a day when she will wake up in my bed hungry for breakfast and better yet hungry for other things.

“You want to listen to music?”

She worries her lip and thinks. It wasn’t a thinking kind of question. “A simple yes or no will do.”

“No. I’d rather talk about your plan.”

“You don’t want to wait until we eat first?”

“No, I’d like to talk about it now.”

“Okay, shoot, what do you want to know?”

“The obvious first, how are you planning on convincing your dad to let my parents live on your land?”

I shake my head. “You weren’t listening yesterday were you?”

“Yes, I know you said the land will be theirs but what are you going to tell your dad?”

“I’m not going to tell you exactly, all you need to know is the land will legally be theirs and everything on it, including the house, when all is said and done.”

“What do you mean, you’re not going to tell me exactly?”

“What I mean is, I have it covered and you don’t need to worry about the details.”

“I do worry about details though, it’s kind of my thing. So, it would make me feel much better if you would tell me.”

I sigh and adjust in my seat. I don’t want to tell her that I’m planning to blackmail my father with something from our past to get his signature on the deed to that property. First of all she would refuse it if she thought it was going to make a rift between my father and I, which there is already. And second I don’t want to get into details about my ammunition; it doesn’t paint a very pretty picture of my dad.

“This is why I wanted to wait until after we ate breakfast. You’re hungry and it’s making you cranky.”

Her head jerks back and she cocks it to the side looking at me like I’m full of shit and she would be right.

“You don’t know how I am when I’m hungry, you don’t know me at all. Incidentally that’s another thing I wanted to talk about. Why are you willing to stick your neck out for us?”

“I don’t need to know your deepest darkest secrets to know you’re hungry Charlotte. And I’m doing this because I like you, and your family could use a leg up right now, simple as that.”

“You like me how?”

“I don’t follow, what do you mean?”

She huffs and that tiny show of frustration is so incredibly sexy it makes me want to pull over and kiss her right here and now.

“I mean do you like me as a friend, a co-worker or a woman?”

“Um, how about all of the above?” I ask confused by this supposed clarification.

“Beau, what I’m trying to say is, are you asking for something intimate in return for this land and house? Because I’m not for sale unless you have an animal that requires a vet.”

Now I’m insulted. I steer the SUV onto the shoulder and put on my emergency lights because this is an emergency.

“How have you taken a kind act of generosity and twisted it into me wanting you to prostitute yourself for a house and land?”

Her big baby blues went wide the moment I pulled off the road, and now her mouth is hanging open so wide I gently hook my finger under her chin to close it.

“I… I don’t know. When you put it that way it sounds really bad. I just want to be sure you’re not expecting anything from me that’s all.”

“It sounds bad because it is bad. Do I look like the kind of guy who needs a prostitute?” My hand is still cradling her chin and I grip it firmly with my question.

“No, that’s not I mean.”

“Well that’s what it sounds like.” Her hand comes up to my arm and I loosen my grip on her face.

“I just wanted to be clear that I have nothing to give you in return for your generosity. Not money, not time, not…”

“Sex,” I finish for her.

I still have ahold of her chin but her eyes dart away.

“Charlotte I do not expect anything in return other than your services as a veterinarian on my ranch. That’s it, no other strings attached. That being said I do like you and I might want to take you to dinner sometime but I don’t expect you to put out after said dinner.”

“Okay.”

“So, we good?”

She nods, “I’d like to hear you say it.”

“We’re good.”

“That’s better.” I slide my hand up her jaw and tuck a few wayward curls behind her ear while I hold her gaze. “You’re beautiful Charlotte Deardon, not very smart, but beautiful.” Her mouth falls open again and I laugh, she’s so easy to mess with.

“You’re a jerk.”

“But you like me anyway. Come on, I’m starving.” I put the vehicle back into gear and pull away from the curb onto the nearly deserted road right into the bright sun. I switch on the radio to the local country station. After a few miles she starts to hum along with the music until we arrive at the Belfair.