Daddy's Virgin (A CEO Boss Romance Novel)

“It’s not that,” she said. “But opening a gallery has to take a pretty decent amount of money, I would think. You need to get the space for it, and there’s nothing perfect for a gallery in town already. That means buying land and building a new structure, or else really paying to modify some building that already exists. And then you’d have to pay all the artists so that you had things to put inside the gallery. Then there’s marketing and all of that, and you don’t know how long it could be before the place really starts to take off with tourists.” She paused. “Gosh, I?

??m not trying to sound so negative about it. I’m just being practical.”

“Yeah,” I said, frowning. “I mean, I thought about that stuff. But don’t you think it would be a great idea? That’s kind of my first question, before I start thinking about the logistics of it.”

“I think it could be a really great idea,” Julie said. “And, it’s totally something that I could see you doing. You love this place more than you admit.”

I snorted. “I’ve never said that I didn’t love this place,” I said. “I just don’t want to work on the Lazy J for the rest of my life. You know that’s not the kind of thing that I’m interested in.”

“I know,” Julie said. “It did always seem like you were trying really hard to get out of here.”

“I just wanted a little space,” I said, shrugging. “Don’t get me wrong, I love my dad, but he definitely wanted me to take over the ranch, and he was starting to give me more and more responsibilities. You know that.”

“I know.” Julie paused. “Have you told him about your idea for the gallery?”

“I just woke up,” I told her. “Literally the first thing that I did was call you.”

“Hmm.” I could tell she was frowning. “You probably want to think about where you’re going to get the money from before you talk to him about it. Otherwise he’s going to think you’re asking him to sell the ranch or something like that.”

“I would never do that!” I protested.

“I know that, and you know that,” she said. “I’m sure that your dad knows that as well, if he really sat down and thought about it. But I also know your dad, and I know how much he wants you to be happy. I wouldn’t put it past him to sell the place without asking you, just because he was so sure that it was the only path toward realizing your dreams.”

I laughed and shook my head. “You’re right.” I bit my lower lip. “I’m not sure where I’d get the money from. Dad makes some decent money with the ranch, but most of it goes back into operational costs and updates and everything else. Even if he sold the place, it probably wouldn’t be enough to support him comfortably and allow him to invest in my gallery.”

“What about the bank?” she asked. “You aren’t the type of person to rack up big credit card bills, so I assume your credit score is probably pretty good. Could you get a loan from them if you wrote out a proposal for the gallery and got some artists who would be interested in it, do you think?”

“That might work,” I said slowly. “It would be almost like buying a house at that point. And, I know that they would probably give me a loan if I was going to try to buy a house. I know a bunch of friends who have taken out loans for things like that.”

“You might need to have another job lined up, too,” she cautioned. “At least something part time. They’ll want to know that they can trust you to repay their money and all of that.”

“I’m going to get on that today,” I vowed. “I’m sure there’s somewhere in town that will hire me.”

“Lydia was looking for a new waitress over at the diner,” Julie said helpfully. “I know it’s not the best job ever, but at least it might pay decently. And with all of the out-of-towners coming through, maybe you could find some way to advertise the gallery to them once it’s up and running.”

“Awesome, thanks,” I said, smiling already at the thought of the gallery being up and running. “Hey, listen, I’m going to go tell Dad about it and see what he thinks. But thanks for being my sounding board.”

“Anytime,” Julie said. “Good luck, and let me know how it goes, okay?”

“Yes. Of course.” I started to say goodbye, but she cut me off.

“And Vanessa?” There was a hint of humor in her tone.

“Yeah?” I reached up and ran my fingers through my tangled locks. “What’s up?”

“No more calling at ass-dark thirty. Okay?”

We laughed and said our goodbyes. Definitely not a morning person.

I hopped out of bed and threw on a clean dress, pulling my hair back into a ponytail before bounding down the stairs. Dad wasn’t in the house, so I headed out to the stables, wondering if he was already at work around the ranch.

Instead of Dad, I found Trethan. He was standing with his back mostly turned toward me, a pitchfork and a pile of dirty hay next to him, where he had clearly just finished mucking out the stables. He had his shirt off, and there was a thin sheen of sweat covering him already, despite how early in the day it was. It was far from being hot yet, but I supposed if he’d been working all morning and using his muscles, he was probably pretty warm.

As I stood there, he lifted a pitcher of water from under the water spigot and poured it over himself. He shook the water out of his eyes, and I watched the last of the water droplets trail down his chiseled chest, following the planes of his muscles and tracking lines down his skin.

The sudden urge struck me to step closer to him, to chase those drops of water with my fingers or even (the thought made me blush) to chase them with my tongue, pressing kisses down the length of his torso. He looked practically god-like, all tanned and tattooed, standing there in the sun. I shivered with lust at the thought of him turning and seeing me, reaching for me, pulling me close to him.

He would be a demanding lover, I guessed. He would know exactly how he wanted me and what he wanted to do to me. He would thrust without mercy, his expert fingers finding all the spots of pleasure along my body, teasing little moans and whimpers from my lips.