“Hey, Brett. Are you still hiring for a housekeeper and a cook out at the ranch?”
He shakes his head, but his eyes tell me he knows where I’m going with this. “I never was hiring.”
His negative response doesn’t even faze me. “Well, I can just imagine how long it’s been since it’s been cleaned.”
“I clean it,” he says, not even offended.
“You’re a rancher. You don’t have time for that. Well, Heather here is new in town and she needs a job. Unfortunately, I don’t have any openings, but I talked to her, and I think she would be perfect for what you’re needing.”
He’s about to argue when Heather jumps up. “I can’t... I can’t go to his ranch.”
Brett stares at her, and he takes a few breaths before he says anything. “What’s wrong with my ranch?”
I hide my smirk. I was expecting him to walk away, but obviously he’s bothered by what’s going on with Heather, and he’s not going to leave her in a lurch.
The woman blushes prettily. “Nothing. I’m sure it’s a fine ranch.”
Brett snorts. “It’s not. It’s falling down around me. But you’d have food and shelter. You would just have to cook for me and two other guys. Maybe clean a little bit. I won’t be able to pay you a lot, but you’ll get room and board too. And you’ll be safe. No one will bother you out there.”
Heather was shaking her head, ready to say no the whole time Brett was talking, until he said the word safe. It’s then she stopped shaking her head.
“But I don’t know you,” she half whispers.
“I can vouch for him. He’s sort of grumpy, but he’s a good guy. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
She seems to be weighing her options. She pulls her shoulders back and lifts her chin. “I don’t know how else to say it, but I have to ask. Do you drink and have you ever hit a woman?”
Brett jerks back as if she slapped him. His face is covered in horror. “Fuck no. I’d never raise my hand to a woman, and I’d never let it happen around me either. I promise if you come work for me, you won’t have to worry about that. And yea, I drink, but not very often. And I don’t get drunk.”
Eddie walks up beside me and hands me the burger in a to-go box and milkshake in a Styrofoam cup. I hand them both to Heather. “Here you go, honey. Have Brett bring you to come see me the next time he’s in town.”
She looks at the food in her hands and back to me. “How’d you know I’d need it to go?”
I look between her and Brett and try to hide my knowing smirk. I seem to have a knack for these things. “I wasn’t positive, but I was pretty sure.”
Brett rolls his eyes at me. “All right, you ready... I don’t even know your name.”
She looks up at him. “My name is Emma... Uh, I mean Heather.”
Brett looks confused but nods his head. “All right, let’s go grab your stuff. See you, Violet.”
“Thanks, Violet,” Heather says. Or Emma. I’m sure there’s a story there.
Brett and Heather’s story is coming soon.
BONUS EPILOGUE
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About the Author
USA Today Bestselling Author Hope Ford writes short, steamy, sweet romances. She loves tattooed, alpha men, instant love stories, and ALWAYS happily ever afters. She has over 100 books and they are all available on Amazon.
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