Best Friends Forever

“Well, this one’s not,” he answered with a laugh, pointing to the empty stool on my other side. I grabbed my bag and quickly moved it to that seat so he would get the hint, but instead, it only made him scowl and clench his fists.

“Sorry, but like I said three times now, I’m working here. I don’t really have time for small talk... or your idea of airport fun.” I went back to staring at my computer screen intently, sending the clear message that I wasn’t going to be disturbed.

“There’s no need to be a bitch, you know,” he snarled close to my ear. “An ugly cow like you should be so lucky that a guy like me was willing to give you a few minutes of my time.”

He stomped off, and I stared at his retreating back to make sure he left the restaurant. His hateful words stung for about five minutes, then a weirdly peaceful feeling erased them as images of last night came to mind. There was a time when that cretin’s words would have reduced me to a puddle of self-conscious tears, but the memory of Colt holding me, kissing me passionately, asking me to stay, all made me smile. A smoking hot billionaire cattle rancher wanted me to attend an event with him. The insults hurled at me by some middle-management nobody looking for a quickie in the airport bathroom just didn’t hold any weight, knowing that Colt had desired me. Even if it wouldn’t last.

The only rain on that parade was knowing that I wanted him every bit as much…but I couldn’t have him. Diana would strangle me with my own camera strap for fraternizing with the interview subjects, after marching me down to HR to have me fired and escorted from the building, that is. Then there was my brother to think of. Bryant—and probably my parents, too—would go ballistic. It would mean the end of his lifelong friendship with Colt over the violated trust, and would make every interaction with our families awkward and distant.

And then there was Colt. I had to admit, there hadn’t been any wild declarations of love or confessions about how he’d always cared about me. We’d had one incredible night together, followed up by some great morning after sex, and he happened to mention this ball he had to go to. That was it. He never said anything about the long term, so I wouldn’t either…even to myself.

I blinked my eyes against the tears that threatened to well up, and got to work. Of all the articles I’d ever written in my short but adventurous career, this one was probably the easiest. Every room in Colt’s house, every stylized feature, was burned into my memory. I’d either seen them a thousand times over the years or I’d just come to appreciate them for the first time, but either way, I could picture them in front of my closed eyes without even trying hard.

By the time my flight was ready to board, I’d worked out a first draft and sent it off to the editor. It was strange how weightless I felt after sending it, as if the only thing I had left to do that tied me to Colt was that story. But with it gone and out of my grasp, so was Colt.

Chapter 11

Colt

“Boss? Hey, boss man! You hear me?” the foreman asked. I blinked rapidly and looked over at the neatly stacked rounds of hay. Oversized shipping crates dotted the pasture where the hay had been growing only yesterday, and heavy equipment stood scattered around, ready to get digging.

“Uh, yeah. It all looks good. Let’s get started.” I approached the first crate and helped my crew unbox it with crowbars.

After one crate was opened and its contents laid out, it was on to the next one. Each crate took us more than an hour to open, unload, and clean up, and with twenty crates scattered across the field, I would have plenty to keep my mind off of Meredith for the foreseeable future.

We worked for the entire day, only stopping for water breaks and a quick lunch before getting back to work. Little by little, each crate was emptied after the crew split up to make the work go faster. And every time I thought I had put last night behind me, something would break my concentration. It might be the sunlight reflecting off the field that made me think of her hair, or the way someone said my name when I wasn’t paying attention. Even the feel of the soft leather on my tool belt in some small way thrilled me, making me envision her soft milky skin with my scarred hands pressed against it, digging in deep until she cried out in pleasure…

Get it together, I warned myself. She’s gone, and you’ve got work to do.

“You lost somewhere, boss?” the foreman asked, coming up beside me and grabbing a bottle of water from the cooler. He tossed it to a guy behind him and jerked his

head, sending the younger man away. “You don’t seem to have your head in this.”

“No, I’m fine, Remy. Just thinking, that’s all.”

“Thinking about ripping out a whole chunk of your winter feed supply to put in a solar farm? Or you thinking about a cute little redhead who came out to see you yesterday?” the older man teased.

I whipped around to look at him, making sure he wasn’t suggesting anything untoward about Meredith, but his expression was more of a sympathetic smile than something lewd.

“No reason it can’t be some of both, I suppose,” I finally admitted. “How’d you figure she was something I might have my head muddled with, though?”

“Well, that Mrs. Claire who works up in the house is a true gem, but when she walks in on you with a girl over your shoulder, she’s gonna talk about it… loudly!”

“Oh great! Now everyone is talking me up?” I looked around at the crew where they stood in clusters, grabbing a water break.

“Now hold on, she wasn’t telling everybody. Just me. Um, when I came up to eat my breakfast with her this morning.”

It took me a second, but I opened my eyes wide with surprise when I finally got around to figuring out his meaning. The foreman and the housekeeper were an item?

“Why Remy, you old dog!” I said, laughing and lightening my mood immensely. “Well, good for you. There’s some kick left in you yet. You just make sure and treat Mrs. Claire right!”

“I aim to, boss. Been after her for a while to let me fix the name after the ‘missus,’ but she says as much as she’d love to, she can’t leave you on your own while she goes off to go tend someone else’s house.”

“Well, there’s no need of anybody leaving,” I answered quickly, imagining not only losing two of the most important people on this ranch, but realizing that my ranch and I were standing in the way of their happiness. Somebody should end up with the fairy tale around here, even if it didn’t look like it would be me. “Just tell her I said she’s fired, then she won’t have to worry about me anymore!”

“Oh, don’t do that now, boss! She’ll have my head!” Remy said, horrified.

“I’m kidding, you old goat. You know I could never get by without either one of you around here. But if it helps, you have my word that it wouldn’t be any burden at all if she did a little less looking after me.”