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“Oh…” Rose fills the awkward pause. “That’s… that’s a very rewarding job, Eli.”
He nods and also turns his eyes to the table.
Rose turns to me. “And your parents, Hudson?” she asks sweetly. “Where are they?”
I grit my teeth. But before I can snap that not everything is up for discussion, Katherine cuts in. “Oh, lookie! They have oysters! I love oysters!”
“Oysters make you horny, Miss Katherine,” a coy voice purrs from the side of the table.
All our heads jerk up at the familiar voice, and my jaw drops to see Connor leering at us. Confused, I look toward Katherine, who pales.
I realize then that she deliberately excluded him. This dinnerisabout the property. I knew it.
“What is all this?” Connor demands, reaching for an empty chair from a nearby table to seat himself among us. “Are you having a party without me?”
He pretends he doesn’t care, but I’ve known Connor long enough to know all his tells. He’s pissed and upset by this blatant exclusion. I don’t blame him. I’d be offended, too, if I were standing where he is.
“Of course not, Connor. It’s more of a business meeting,” Katherine replies, unabashed on the outside. But I also know her well. She’s flustered by his arrival.
“Business meeting?” he echoes, cocking his head curiously. “Oh, this I must hear then.”
“We would have called you, Connor, but it’s really not social,” Rose reassures him, sounding guilty as Katherine looks at me.
Connor’s face hardens, his distrust mounting with every word they speak.
They’re not making this any better. Katherine should just tell him the truth and get it out there already. But I’m just as complicit in this drama as Katherine and Eli… and now Rose, I suppose.
“You’d be surprised what I find entertaining. I was just on a date—dull as dirt. I was about to call it a night, but this little chat's got my attention more than anything else today.”
He flashes a smile that doesn’t meet his eyes, and I swallow a groan. There is no graceful way out of this.
Katherine lowers her menu and shakes her head. “Well, I suppose we may as well get on with it, then, instead of dragging it out. Connor, your ranch is so much bigger than Eli’s and Hudson’s, so we didn’t think it was right to burden you with this.”
“Okay,” Connor growls. “But I might still be interested.”
Our waitress approaches the table, but I wave her away, asking for a few more minutes. We all lean in to listen to Katherine.
The women exchange a glance, and I wish they’d get on with it. Every second is making me antsier, especially now that Connor is here… and Rose’s vanilla citrus perfume is wafting back into my subconscious again.
Fuck… She smells so good.
“Rose made a very interesting proposal, which I hope you will help her with,” Katherine says without preamble.
“Well, I didn’t really—” Rose tries to cut in.
“It’s all right, dear. I’ve known these boys since they were in diapers. It’s best to just speak to them straight, right, boys? No beating around the bush.”
“Yes, ma’am,” we choir.
Rose flops back in her seat, looking uncomfortable. Her verdant eyes lock onto mine, and she offers me an awkward smile, which I almost return before Katherine utters her next sentence.
“She’s going to restore the BB—into a dude ranch.”
Rose nods eagerly and begins to launch into a lengthy explanation of her idea, how she wants people from all over to come and enjoy the “full Montana ranching experience.”
When she finishes talking about her marketing plan, no one speaks, and we all stare at Katherine as we wait for the punchline. When she doesn’t continue, Eli ventures the tentative first question in his typically diplomatic fashion.
“Rose has experience with construction?” He sets his steely eyes on her.
