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“I think I’ll run into town. We need a few things, and I should probably run by campus and pick up my books for the new semester,” I ramble on.
He grunts in acknowledgment, and I sigh.
“It’s crazy that this summer is almost over,” I comment. The beast shrugs, his massive shoulders bobbing up once before relaxing.
My heart withers away inside my chest, then drops to my stomach. I don’t know why I do this to myself. What was I expecting? For him to tell me he’ll miss me? Or confess his undying love for me? Yeah, right.
This unrequited crush of mine is getting out of control. I need to rein it in before I do something desperate like climb onto his lap and steal my first kiss from his tempting lips.
“Do you need anything from town?” I ask instead of straddling him.
“No.”
“Great,” I mumble to myself as I dry my hands off on the kitchen towel.
I leave Remy to his brooding as I head back to my room. I’m a junior at Sequoia University, and this job was only meant to be for the summer. I was hoping for a fun job to help me make some money. Instead, I became Remington’s housekeeper and spent my days cooking, cleaning, and trying to get the grumpy giant to say more than three words to me at a time.
I’m studying to be a teacher. I’ve always loved kids, and I’ve known since I was fifteen that I wanted to be a kindergarten teacher. I have two more years and then I’ll graduate and get to spend my days in a noisy classroom. It sounds like heaven.
I smile as I grab my purse from my dresser and head for the front door. I pause as I reach the porch, remembering the first time I came here.
I was excited to be close to my friend Monty while I was working at the Stud Farm, but I’ve only seen her a handful of times since I got here. That probably has something to do with her falling for her boss, Griz. He’s Remington’s brother and unlike Remy, is a total charmer.
I had asked Griz for directions when I first got here. The Stud Farm is huge, with a bunch of barns and houses and no signs. It makes being a visitor here hard.
Griz pointed me to Remy’s house, and I remember taking a deep breath, wondering if all the Ford brothers were that handsome.
Turns out, they are, but only three of the four are particularly friendly. My misguided heart picked the broodiest of the bunch to fall fast and hard for.
I was attracted to Remy since he first opened the door of his house, and I saw him for the first time. Monty told me he used to be a bull rider before he was injured, and my first thought at seeing him was that I felt bad for the bulls.
Remmington was so tough, so unlike anyone I had ever met. He exuded this strength and bravery without saying a word. He was so tall that he filled up the whole doorway, and I had to crane my head back to meet his dark brown eyes.
For a brief moment, he looked stunned to see me standing on his porch. I was frozen in place, taking in his expansive chest, stretching the material of his plaid shirt. When my eyes finally moved up to Remy’s, he was looking me up and down with something close to awe.
Or, at least that’s the version I like to tell myself when I’m huddled up in bed, wishing my grumpy beast were next to me.
As soon as I introduced myself as his housekeeper, the walls came back up. For some reason, I remember wondering if Remy would have been my friend when we were kids. I could have used some of his strength as a kid growing up in the system.
Nearly three months later, and I can definitively answer that question.
No, Remy would not have been my friend.
In fact, he doesn’t seem to have any friends at all. Remy has his brothers and that’s about it. I’ve heard Kai and Wyatt asking him about some guy named Wesley, who lives on a ranch somewhere in Texas, but every time I ask Remy about him, he just grunts or leaves. Maybe they aren’t such good friends after all.
That’s the thing about Remy. It’s impossible to read him, and even harder to get him to volunteer information. It took me two weeks to get him to tell me his favorite meal, and I’m his cook for crying out loud!
Sighing, I hop down the three porch steps and head to my car, climbing inside and blasting the A/C. I look back to the house and see Remy on the front porch. I didn’t even hear him come out after me. I guess I must have been lost in thought for the tenth time this morning. It’s becoming a real problem around Remy.
Our eyes meet and my breath stalls in my lungs. He’s so beautiful. I don’t think that he even realizes it, but he is. My eyes are drawn to his arms, which are crossed over his chest. Muscled forearms tense, as if he’s holding himself back from something.
Remy nods, his chin dipping the smallest of millimeters. Then he’s turning and heading across the field to his barn. I watch him go, my breath releasing from me in a huge gust.
I need to shake this fascination with him. He’s never going to be into me. I start the car and head down the driveway, but as I go, I know that I’ll probably always be a little obsessed with my grumpy boss.
TWO
Remington
