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I squeezed the paper cup so hard that the hot liquid spilled over the top and burned my hand. With a hiss, I jerked away.
“Easy.” He grabbed my hands and dabbed some napkins in his water glass. Pressing the cold compress against my skin, he locked eyes on me. “I can see that you plan on treating me like a stranger, but we’re not strangers, Jillian. You have a role to play, and it won’t work if you’re so cold to me. Feel better?”
His touch soothed me. Nodding, I pulled away. “Last rule. Don’t bring it up, okay. Please. I won’t be able to handle it.”
Inhaling sharply, he immediately looked away. I thought I was going to cry right there at the table, but he finally nodded. “That’s one rule I definitely won’t be breaking. I assume that you need to give your boss notice. Let me know when you can get away. I’ll give you directions to the ranch. I’ll be expecting you.”
He could barely even look at me as he got up and walked out. For all his teasing and charms, he still hadn’t forgiven me.
The next few months were going to be hell.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Brendan
The early morning birds sang their hearts out as I hauled the bale of hay off the tractor. It was the last load, and my manager cut the engine. Leaping out of the seat, Ben stretched and rubbed his eyes. I’d known Ben most of my life. He’d been a ranch hand as a teenager when I was a kid. He lived for the horses here, and I’d never known the man to show up to work tired.
“Late night?” I teased as I plunged the pitchfork into the ground and hopped up to the bed of the trailer. Off in the distance, a few mares were already heading our way.
“Not exactly,” Ben grumbled. “I went out for a drink last night, and Debra was already there. She was getting into trouble again, as usual.”
It was all I could do not to laugh. Debra was a new hire. She’d been working for us for six months, and she was the most talented horse trainer I’d ever seen. She spoke their language, and they listened to her. She could read their strengths to make sure that we worked with the horse’s natural talents.
She was also a knockout beauty. In her late twenties, she knew how to fill out a pair of jeans and made flannel look sexy. Every man on my payroll lusted after her, and it made Ben’s job that much harder, but for all of his bluster, I could read the man. He wanted her just as badly as everyone else, and she wanted him too.
It’d make my life easier if they’d both just admit it, but Ben was in his forties, and he just couldn’t get over the fifteen-year age difference.
“So, her getting into trouble explains why you’re yawning so much?” Lana, one of my favorite retired American Quarter broodmares, nosed at my pockets for treats before snorting in disappointment and meandering over to inspect the bale of hay. She was the leader of my girls, and I’d forced my father to retire her two years ago. He wasn’t happy about it. She’d produced some great foals, but she deserved to relax.
“Someone had to bale her out of trouble. You’d be pissed if she couldn’t come in today, especially with your secretive meeting. Want to tell me what it’s about?”
“I will.” Glancing at my watch, I grimaced. “But it’ll have to be with everyone else because we’re going to be late. Take the tractor back to the barn. I’ll make sure that the contractors have started on the new stables, and I’ll meet you back at the house.”
With another yawn, Ben nodded and hopped back on the tractor. Yesterday, the contractors were almost two hours late, and I’d been furious. Jillian was supposed to be arriving today, and I wanted all major work to be well underhand when she got here so I could focus on her.
Getting her to agree to come here after her finals were complete had been the first hurdle, but I had no idea if she was going to play well with others.
Thankfully, the construction workers were already at the stable when I arrived, although they were slow to get moving. My presence lit a fire under them, and I studied how far they’d come. With any luck, they’d be finished in a week, which was good because I had a major auction I wanted to attend at the end of the month, and I wanted this stable ready.
Kim, Ben, Gordon, and Debra were already at the kitchen table as well as Mickie, my horse groom. As usual, Mickie was flirting with Debra, and she wasn’t doing anything to deflect him. I could see the anger welling up inside Ben, and I cleared my throat.
