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Even something as trivial as whether or not they should offer mountain biking as an activity for their guests.
"It makes my stomach clench just thinking about it," Paulina said as she chewed her steak hard enough to grind it into a fine paste. "I know exactly what they're going to say. 'Why does anyone need to ride something other than a horse?' And then they'll talk about how the bikes will scare the horses and that's a liability." Her fork landed on her plate with a clatter. "It shouldn't have to be this hard."
JT agreed, and it certainly wasn't what he'd envisioned when he'd negotiated his new position. Up until JT, there had never been a single person that oversaw all the aspects of their business. For three generations, the areas of responsibility had been divided among—and carefully guarded by—different family members.
Which worked great when everyone was getting along and pulling their weight. But if not? Suddenly there were no clean napkins for the restaurant because Jack's wife Aunt Susan, who ran the laundry, was pissed at Mike's wife, Aunt Wendy, who helped out in the restaurant.
As General Manager, JT oversaw the business as a whole, as well as the people who were in charge of its different aspects. He quickly discovered that it was one thing to manage a bunch of strangers, but another thing entirely to be the boss of relatives who were older than you, had been working there longer, and prided themselves on the fact that the ranch had barely changed in the nearly one hundred years it had been in business.
In his three years as General Manager, JT had managed to make a few changes like opening up the ranch as a venue for weddings and corporate retreats, and getting a liquor license so they could serve alcohol in their restaurant. Although each one made obvious financial sense, as proven by the increased revenue over the last few years, convincing the old guard had been a near Sisyphean task.
"Speaking of talking to Dad and the uncles, have you talked to them about the new construction yet?"
JT felt his shoulders tense at the idea. Of all the changes he'd made so far, this was going the hardest to get them to buy into. Even if the numbers showed that building two more premium cabins would increase guest capacity, and therefore guest revenue, it would cost money.
And if there was one thing the Osborne family liked less than change, it was spending large sums of cash.
"Not yet. I still need to get with Liam so he can give me solid figures on what it would cost to build, and I need to run the numbers out a few seasons to show how long it will take to earn back the initial investment."
"Is that how you talk to your girlfriends to get them all hot and bothered? All spreadsheets and ROI?"
He grimaced. "My sister shouldn't be talking about me getting anyone all hot and bothered."
"It's not like you even have to try that hard," she continued. "That blond over there," she pointed her chin to his left, "has been staring at you this entire time."
He shot her a glare. "I'm sure that's not true."
"I mean, I feel kind of insulted. I could be your girlfriend, for all she knows. And then there's Colleen..." she said with an exaggerated waggle of her eyebrows.
"Told you I'm not going there." He pushed back from the table and excused himself to go to the restroom.
Although the crowded bar kept Colleen busy, her gaze kept drifting back over to the table where JT sat with his sister. From the looks on their faces the conversation was serious, although every once in a while he cracked a grin at something Paulina said.
And every time he did... holy moly. The way his blue eyes crinkled at the corners and his straight white teeth flashed against his sun weathered skin… If that wasn't enough, there was his body, all tall and rangy and finely honed from physical labor. She watched as he got up from the table and headed for the restrooms, unable to tear her eyes away from the hard outline of his butt through the seat of his well-worn Wranglers.
She supposed eventually she'd get used to this new hot version of JT, but for now it was hard to keep her stomach from doing flip flops every time she looked at him.
"Talk about ugly duckling to a swan, right?"
Colleen's gaze jerked guiltily to Molly who told her she needed two gin and tonics and a pint of Hefeweizen.
"Don't be embarrassed," Molly said.
Colleen silently cursed her Irish complexion as she set about filling Molly's order.
"Practically every woman who sees him dreams about fulfilling her hot cowboy fantasies." She leaned in closer. "And from what I hear, he's taken plenty of them up on it."
Colleen crinkled her nose as she poured gin into two ice filled highball glasses. "It's weird to think of JT as a player."
"I wouldn't say he's a player, exactly. But he's single and hot and doesn't have to work that hard." She let out a little laugh. "Case in point."
Colleen followed Molly's gaze to where JT stood just outside the little vestibule leading to the bathroom. An attractive blond in her thirties smiled up at him, back carefully arched so the full breasts, barely contained by her turquoise tank top, were on prominent display.
To his credit, JT's eyes stayed mostly above her neck as he smiled and nodded politely. He did, however, take the cocktail napkin the woman pressed into his palm before he returned to his table.
"Look at that. Doesn't even have to work for it."
"Well he's certainly working with a lot of good raw material," Colleen said as she watched him walk back to his table. She wondered what it would be like to get a closer look. And feel.
