“Lily-Grace!” she heard Jesse call after her. She didn’t stop though, even with the deep baritone of his voice sending shivers all over her body. She walked a little faster, her heels clicking across the floor as she gave the girl behind the desk a brisk thanks. The valets had her car waiting right where she left it.
“Thanks so much.” She quickly hopped back behind the wheel just as Jesse came rushing through the lodge doors. He called out her name, trying to get her to wait. No chance of that happening. She looked carefully up and down the drive before she pulled back out toward the exit. If things went her way, she’d never see Jesse Pleasant again.
Chapter 3
Jesse sat at his desk, staring at his closed door. His meeting with the team from ANWF had gone surprisingly well. Especially after the unexpected appearance from Lily-Grace LeRoux. He’d given them the brief rundown of why she’d been so upset, and they couldn’t seem to care less. They were worried about real scandals hiding in his closet. Not an argument between him and his grandmother’s lover’s daughter.
They seemed more concerned with the fact that he was single than that fact that a woman had stormed in before they could really get started, and threatened to own his whole ass if he didn’t get it together. Jesse believed her. There was no doubt in his mind that Lily-Grace would find some way to sue the ranch right out from under him, all over a minor fracture.
Okay, maybe it wasn’t fair to downplay Mr. LeRoux’s injury. Jesse had had no intention of actually hurting him. And even though he didn’t actually lay a finger on the man, he loved his own grandmother enough to know that he’d considered choking an old man to death for kissing her. Barging into a meeting would have been a mild response to Miss Leona actually being hurt.
Lily-Grace LeRoux. Jesse couldn’t believe it was actually her. He wasn’t surprised when she’d left town to go to a prestigious boarding school. She’d always been smart, and while Jesse had had his own issues with growth spurts, middle school hadn’t been kind to Lily-Grace in other ways. Jesse’s size had been seen as an asset to coaches across the state. Lily-Grace had also been tall for her age, but she was terrible at sports and her vitiligo made her a target for everyone with something shitty to say. He wasn’t surprised she’d left town at all. He was shocked she was back.
Jesse let out a deep breath and fought the urge to loosen his tie. He had a lot to consider. Cynthia and her team liked what they saw in him, and pending a more intensive vetting process, they really wanted him to consider running for the soon-to-be-vacant seat for the eighth district of California. Jesse had a lot to consider, but ever since he’d sent them on their way, all he could think about was the fiery look in Lily-Grace’s eyes when she came bursting through the conference room door.
He had to see her.
Jesse sprang up from his desk and started gathering his things, including his black Stetson from its hook on the wall. He cut off the light and stepped out into the small reception area between his and Zach’s offices. Erin, their new receptionist, looked up at him with a bright smile as Clementine army-crawled out from under the accent table against the wall.
“More wedding stuff?” Erin asked.
He left at the same time every day, 5:37 p.m. on the dot, but this week he’d told Erin to expect his schedule to be a little irregular.
“Actually, I have to go meet a friend,” Jesse lied. Erin’s smile widened with unease as her eyebrows crept up. Everyone knew Jesse had no friends. Not really.
“Well, have fun with your friend. You have a ten a.m. tomorrow with Dr. Vasquez.”
“I will be there. Thanks, Erin. Come on, Clem.” He snapped his fingers once, and his trusty sidekick fell into step right beside him. He let Clementine lead the way down the stairs. People loved Clementine. Maybe he should bring her with him when he went to sort things out with Lily-Grace.
He rounded the corner and almost walked right into Delfi Hernandez, the ranch’s GM.
“Jesse Pleasant. Just the man I was looking for. Hey, Clem.” She gave the dog a playful scratch behind the ear before she looked back up at Jesse with a deep sigh.
He wasted no time waving her off. He knew exactly what she was going to say. “Tell Naomi it’s okay. Seriously.” The poor girl had burst into tears the second she realized that Lily-Grace wasn’t a part of the group from ANWF. Normally Jesse would have been annoyed. All the employees had been well versed in ranch security and procedure, but this one was all on Lily-Grace. She knew exactly what she was doing. Naomi got a pass on this one.
“Oh, she’s a wreck. I sent her home. I’ve never seen anyone more disappointed in themselves.”
Jesse fought the urge to roll his eyes. “It was an honest mistake. She’s on the schedule tomorrow, right?”
“Yes.”
“Great, I’ll talk to her. I gotta go.”
“Wait, Jesse. I just got a little bug in my ear about Dr. Vasquez.”
“He’s coming by tomorrow at ten. What’s going on?”
“Word on the farm is he’s retiring.”
“Fuck.” Jesse let his head fall forward.
“Yeah.”
Dr. Vasquez had been working with the animals at Big Rock since Jesse was a kid. He had a great rapport with the whole staff, and Jesse had never seen anyone with such a gentle hand when it came to the horses and dozens of other animals they kept on the ranch. The man was punctual and thorough, and most of all Jesse knew he could trust him. Finding someone new was not something Jesse was looking forward to.
“Does Felix know?” he asked. Their ranch foreman would have feelings about this.
“Not sure.”
