“That’s not true.”
“Really?” She tapped the toe of her boot against the grass and folded her arms over her chest. “Sterling drives you crazy. You met my sister for five minutes and dismissed her.”
“She’s ridiculous,” he argued.
“Maybe, but you don’t get to make that judgment based on listening to one conversation.”
“One was enough,” he said fervently.
“And worst of all,” she went on as if he hadn’t spoken, “you had me failing before this experiment even began, didn’t you?”
He shook his head. “I gave you a fair chance.”
“A chance, anyway. Hardly fair. Not if you already had me judged before I began.”
“I told you I thought you’d done a good job so far.”
“Aha!” She stabbed the air with her finger. “So far. Leaving me plenty of room to fail.”
“Look,” he said, clearly irritated, “you can’t blame me for making judgments. I’ve known plenty of women like your sister, and you come from the same crop, so to speak. Why should I believe you’re different?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Open your eyes, maybe?” This was just infuriating. Chloe was trembling with waves of indignation. Her whole life, she’d been the outsider in her family. The one who didn’t fit in. Didn’t belong. Now she found the place she wanted to be and still she didn’t belong. “Haven’t I done everything you and Mike have asked of me?”
“Yeah, you have.” He pulled his hat back on and lowered the brim over his eyes.
“I’ve mucked out stalls, fed cattle, fixed fencing, all without a complaint.” And she was damn proud of it.
“You have,” he admitted, and folded his arms across his chest too. Now they stood like bookends, facing each other, neither of them giving an inch.
“So if that’s all true, why do you still think I’ll fail?”
“Because you’ve been doing it for a couple weeks. Once the newness wears off, things will change.”
“Because I don’t care about my dreams as much as you did about yours?”
His lips twisted into a frown. “Dreams have nothing to do with this.”
“Of course they do!” She swept her arms out, encompassing the beautiful ranch. The life he’d built for himself because he’d dreamed it and made it happen. “This is what you did because of your dreams.”
“And it took me years, not weeks.”
“And that makes a difference?”
“It does,” he snapped. “When something comes easy, you don’t appreciate it as much.”
“Easy?” Hurt tangled in her chest, squeezed her heart and made her sound breathless. “I’ve been working my whole life to carve out what I want for myself. I’ve stepped away from my family’s expectations and started my own path, and you call that easy? My God, who do you think you are, anyway?”
“I know exactly who I am, Chloe,” he said softly. “It’s you I’m not so sure about.”
Another slap and this time she nearly staggered. She’d thought they had a connection. That they’d forged a bond of some sort during the two days they were trapped together during the storm. Since then, they’d built on that, or so she’d thought. These last couple of weeks at the Perry Ranch, Chloe had believed she’d earned his respect if nothing else, but apparently she’d been fooling herself.
“Easy,” she repeated, her voice a low throb of hurt and insult. “That’s what you said, right? That I would get my dream too easily?”
“Chloe—”
“You once said you admired how I went after my dream, do you remember?”
“Yeah, I do.” He shoved his hands into his jeans pockets.
“I’ve held up my end of our bargain, haven’t I?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve got what, another week to go?”
“About that.”
“Fine.” She breathed deep, drawing in enough air to feed the fire burning deep in her gut. “When the time’s up, you’re going to have to admit that I won.”
“It’s not a contest, Chloe,” he said tightly.