by Jaci Burton
The first thing he’d needed to do was find out what she liked in the way of food. He didn’t want to fix her a steak only to discover that she was a vegetarian. Though he’d noticed she had eaten eggs and sausage for breakfast at the Bellinis, so he knew that wasn’t the case.
Still, it wasn’t in his nature to assume anything, so he’d texted her this afternoon to ask if there was anything she disliked or couldn’t eat. She’d told him she liked all kinds of food and she’d be happy to eat anything he made.
His kind of woman.
He took the truck into town and went to the grocery store, selected the items for the meal he intended to make tonight, then headed back to the ranch. He stopped at his parents’ house to pick up his dog, Homer, then drove to his house.
Once inside the house, Homer shook off the snow, dashed over to his dog bed in front of the fireplace, grabbed his stuffed bunny in his mouth, turned around three times, then lay down and promptly went to sleep.
“I know, buddy,” Clay said, looking down at his dog. “You missed home, too, didn’t you?”
Homer had no response, but Clay knew the dog agreed.
He put the groceries away, then looked around the kitchen and living area and grimaced.
Okay, so the house needed some cleaning. He looked at his phone to check the time. He’d told Alice he’d pick her up at six, which meant he had four hours to run food out to the cattle, then clean the house.
He totally had this under control.
He climbed into his truck and drove out to the hay barn. He and a few of the hands loaded the hay, then delivered the bales to the south pasture near the windbreaks where the cattle were located. They dropped the bales and laid them open, then checked to make sure the ponds weren’t frozen so the cattle had access to water. Since the snow was too deep to ride and check the herd, Clay and his team did a slow drive around to make sure all the cattle in this pasture looked healthy.
“Hopefully, the snow will melt soon enough and the sun will come out so the cattle can get back to grazing,” Arnie, his main foreman, said.
Clay nodded. “Forecast calls for a warm-up within the next couple of days.”
Clay’s hopes were up. Cattle foraging on pasture was the best thing for them, especially the pregnant cows.
The run through showed all the cattle looked fine in this pasture. Dad had driven the northern pasture earlier, and the team had checked them all.
Western pasture was next. Fence was down in one section, which meant several strays had straggled loose. Dropping the hay should bring them back in, so they did that first.
A couple cows came back as soon as the hay appeared. Clay smiled.
Nothing like the dinner bell to bring hungry cattle running.
That left only one stray wandering—a young calf. Two of the trucks surrounded the calf and herded it back toward the open fence. Once it made it through, Clay and the hands jumped out of the trucks and began repairing the fence.
The sun might be out, but they were still standing thigh-deep in snow. By the time they finished rewiring the fence and attaching it to the post, Clay couldn’t feel his feet. So he was frozen on his bottom half and sweating on his top half.
Hell of a day.
He got back home, toed off his boots at the front porch, then went inside. He grabbed a glass of ice water and downed it in a few swallows. Homer wanted outside, so he let him out the front door, knowing his dog wouldn’t wander far.
Then he vacuumed the floor, mopped, and cleaned the bathrooms, changed the sheets on his bed, and ran the duster over the furniture. He did some prep work for dinner, then scrubbed up the kitchen.
Now he was sweating all over.
Homer barked at the door, so he grabbed a towel to wipe down his wet dog, put food in his bowl, and made sure he had fresh water.
Clay went into the bathroom and took a shower, pulled out clean jeans and a long-sleeved henley and looked at himself in the mirror.
He was a damn sight cleaner than he’d been when he’d stepped into the house earlier. Smelled better, too. He went back into the kitchen and grabbed his phone. It was time to go pick up Alice.
Despite this not being a date, he wanted everything to go well tonight. He wanted her to like his house, and his dog. And the food he was going to cook.
Why did he care, though?
Good question. One he didn’t have an answer for. And it was probably best he didn’t think too hard about it.
So . . . just dinner, and something to entertain Alice. That was all.
He grabbed his keys and his coat and headed out the door.
* * *
* * *
Alice had spent a ridiculous amount of time staring at the meager contents of her closet before deciding on her dark blue skinny jeans, an oversized light gray sweater and the gorgeous brown leather boots Erin had loaned her to wear tonight.
She’d showered and blow-dried her hair, put on a tiny bit of makeup since they were just doing dinner, then packed her laptop in the bag. She walked downstairs, pulled her coat from the rack and went to the front door.
“You look so pretty,” Brenna said. “Going over to Clay’s for dinner tonight, I heard.”
She nodded. “We’re going to work on finding a match for him.”
Erin wandered out. “I hope this works out for him—and for you.”
“Thanks. I take my job very seriously.”
“I’m sure you do. And I think this one will be successful.”
It was so sweet of Erin to think so highly of her, considering she barely knew her. “I appreciate that.”
She saw a black pickup truck pull into the driveway. “I assume that’s Clay?”
“It is,” Brenna said. “Have fun tonight.”
“It’s just work.”
Erin’s lips curved. “Sure it is. But have an enjoyable dinner.”
“Thank you. I will.”
She put on her coat and went outside. The sun had already gone down, so it was cold. She pulled her coat tighter around her. Clay had already gotten out of the truck, and once again she was struck by how very . . . big . . . he was. He loomed so large as he stood in front of the oversized truck, his thick coat unbuttoned, his cowboy hat making him look so imposing.
And yet, once he smiled at her, he put her instantly at ease.
“Hey, Alice.”
“Hi, Clay.”
“Let me take your bag.”
“Thanks.” She handed the bag over.
He took hold of her arm. When she looked over at him questioningly, he said, “The walk has been shoveled, but it’s still icy out here. I don’t want you to slip and fall.”
She blinked, still not used to the chivalry she’d experienced from him. After he walked her over to the passenger side of the truck and held the door open for her, she climbed in and turned to face him. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure.”
Even the sound of his voice was a turn-on. Deep and rough, kind of like the very end of sex, right when you’re ready to—
Don’t go there, Alice.
She straightened, determined to banish all thoughts of Clay and sex from her head.
Tonight was all about business.
He had left the truck running, so it was nice and warm. She’d noticed he’d turned on the butt heater on her side, so even her ass was getting warm.
Then again, she’d started heating up the moment she’d laid eyes on him looking all cowboy-like leaning against his truck.
And there you go again, Alice. Knock it off. He’s not yours.
Message clearly delivered, Inner Voice.
She blew out a breath.
“Too warm in here?”
It was too warm inside of her panties. Not in the truck. “It’s fine. Thanks for turning the heater on.”
“Not a problem. When the sun’s out during the day, it’s not too bad. But at night it’s been pretty cold.”
He put the truck in gear and pulled around the circular drive. Alice leaned back and looked at the scenery, something she hadn’t been able to do since she’d arrived and promptly gotten snowed in. Clay made a left-hand turn at the entrance to the vineyards, then headed down a long road that had been recently plowed. Now that she was out on the road it was very clear to see how much snow had fallen. Pushed off to the side, the snow was piled in high drifts.
“Wow. It really did snow a lot.”
“For us, yeah. It was way more than we typically get.”
“Do you think the vineyard will suffer any damage?”
“Doubtful. They knew bad weather was coming, so they took precautions to keep the vines warm.”
“That’s good to know.” She’d grown to care for the Bellini family, and she’d hate to think this epic snowstorm would affect their livelihood. “How about your ranch? Everything okay there?”
“Everything’s fine. We had to repair some fence damage, but we made sure all the cattle had protection, and while the snow’s covering the ground we’ve been feeding them hay and extra nutrients.”
“Oh, that’s interesting. I have no idea what goes into being a cattle rancher. I’m sure each cow is worth quite a bit of money, so you wouldn’t want to lose a single one of them.”
He nodded. “Not just monetarily. We care about each one. We bring them into the world, so we care for them until it’s time for them to leave. We aim to keep them healthy.”
“Until they become steak or hamburger?”
He shrugged. “It’s the way of life, Alice. You eat meat, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then you know cattle becomes food, unless they’re dairy cows. But we’re not a dairy farm.”
“I understand. It’s not my place to criticize what you do. And I wasn’t. I’m sorry if you feel that I was in any way.”
She should just keep her mouth shut. She knew nothing about his business. But that was part of her going to his house tonight, to his ranch. To find out more about Clay Henry the man, and the rancher.
She couldn’t very well match him up with his perfect woman until she knew more about him.
And she never passed judgement on any of her clients, no matter their job.
He stopped at an intersection, though there were no other vehicles, so he eased forward and continued on down the road.
“How long has your family been in the cattle business?”
“My great-grandfather settled the land in the early nineteen hundreds, bought a few head of cattle, then expanded from there, buying more land.”
“How many acres do you have?”
“Roughly a thousand.”
Her eyes widened. “Wow.” She paused for a few seconds. “Is that a lot?”
He laughed. “It’s above average.”
She could well imagine everything about Clay was above average.
There you go again, Alice. Do we have to keep having this conversation?
She winced. No. I’ll be good. “I can’t wait to see it.”
“Maybe I should have brought you here during the day. You could have ridden along with me today to feed cattle. You could have helped repair fence.”
“Yes, I’d be awesome at that.”
He glanced over at her. “I don’t know. I’ll bet you could do just about anything.”
She appreciated his confidence in her. “Thanks. I’d like to think so. I’m not entirely useless. I did build a bookshelf by myself. Fixed a broken toilet. Installed a ceiling fan. I’m not the type of woman who’s afraid of getting dirty.”
“Is that right?” He turned left past some wrought-iron gates and down a long driveway. “Maybe we should see just how dirty we can get you.”
Don’t do it, Alice. Don’t let your mind go there.
She sighed, then looked at him and smiled. “Sure. That could be fun.”
They passed a beautiful two-story home, all brick, with a huge front porch and gorgeous trees and bushes all around it.
“That’s my parents’ house,” he said.
“It’s lovely.”
“It started out as my grandparents’ house. After my grandpa died, my parents moved in there with Grandma to help take care of her until she passed. Then the house became theirs. They’ve made improvements over the years to the inside.”
“I’d love to see it.”
“Sure. I can take you by sometime.”
She laughed. “You make it sound like I’m going to be around forever. The wedding is Saturday, and then I’m gone.”
He glanced over at her, and she could have sworn she saw a hint of . . .
Of what? Regret? Sadness?
That was ridiculous. They barely knew each other. They weren’t dating. They weren’t a couple. Plus, he was more or less a client now, and she never mixed business with pleasure.
And that twinge of regret she felt could just damn well go away. She was never going to live in Oklahoma. The very idea of it was ludicrous. She’d spent years building up her business in Los Angeles. She was thriving there. She loved it there. She was a big-city girl, and this place was as small-town as it got.
He turned down another road—God, was their ranch a small city or what? It felt like they’d traversed another couple of miles since he’d pointed out his parents’ house.
But he finally pulled down a drive and up to a beautiful one-story ranch house with gray brick and dark gray shutters and a beautiful roofline and the most expansive front porch she’d ever laid eyes on.
If Alice could pick out her ideal house, this would be it. There was space to hang plants in the summer, and there was a ceiling fan on the porch, and a swing, too.
She unbuckled her seat belt and just . . . gaped as Clay came over and held out his hand to help her out of the truck.
She made her way up the steps, wishing it were summer so she could see all the greenery that certainly bloomed all around the place. As it was, even with the snow, the place was stunning.
She heard barking coming from inside the house, and when Clay opened the door, his first words were, “Homer, sit.”
A beautiful yellow Labrador retriever parked his wiggly butt on the dark hardwood floor, his tail wagging furiously.
“May I pet him?” Alice asked.
Clay closed the door and nodded.
Alice crouched down. “Who’s a good boy? Are you a good boy, Homer?”
Clay said, “Okay,” and Homer ran over to Alice.
She loved animals and was sad she wasn’t allowed to have them at her condo. “Aren’t you just the sweetest boy, Homer?”
“Keep that up and he’ll try to hide in your suitcase and go back to LA with you.”
She laughed and stood. “I’d love it. The condo board would evict me, though.”
“Obviously, they don’t know what’s good in life.”
“That’s for sure.”
“Here. Let me take your coat.”
She turned around and he pulled the coat from her, then hung it up on the hook by the door.
She finally got a look at the main living area of the house. It was open and warm, with a fireplace and a huge living area with a vaulted ceiling. There was a big-screen television above the fireplace, warm brown leather couches and one very nice light blue chair that had a throw over the arm.
But something was missing.
“There’s no Christmas in here. No tree, no decorations.”
He smiled. “My parents have that taken care of.”
“But this is your house. Shouldn’t you have all that, too?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I just . . . didn’t get around to it.”
“Huh. Okay.”
&
nbsp; He hung his cowboy hat on the rack and dragged his fingers through his hair. “Come on into the kitchen and we’ll have something to drink.”
She followed him into an expansive kitchen with maple cabinets, a beautiful cream-colored granite countertop and a huge island. Like . . . a huge island.
She arched a brow. “Planning on ten kids or do you just have hordes of friends?”
He laughed and reached into the wine fridge to pull out a bottle of Riesling. “I do want a lot of kids. How about you, Alice?”
“I was an only child. A lonely one. My entire childhood I wished for siblings, but my parents decided to only have one child. When I imagined my life, I always envisioned myself with at least four kids.”
He nodded and uncorked the wine bottle, then pulled glasses from one of the cabinets. “Same here. My parents tried for more, but it wasn’t meant to be. Fortunately, I had the Bellini sisters as pseudo-siblings, and I made lots of friends in school.”
“Which isn’t the same as growing up with brothers and sisters of your own.”
He poured the wine and handed a glass to her. “No, it’s not. I don’t want my kids to grow up without siblings to fight with, to argue with, to share life with. I want a houseful of kids running around here.”
She smiled, imagining little feet scampering down that long hall and jumping on the furniture. Jumping on Clay’s lap. Her heart did a little squeeze at the thought of children with his dark blond hair, his smile.
Maybe his blond hair and her blue eyes. What amazing babies they could make together.
Whoa.
She took a long swallow of wine, and looked up at Clay, who was watching her with curious interest.
Was he thinking the same thing? Combining their DNA into making babies?
Her body heated at the thought.
“Why don’t you show me the rest of your house?” she asked, hoping to defuse the sudden flare of desire and thoughts of a future with him in this house with children and . . . what on earth was wrong with her?
“Sure. Grab your glass.”
She did, following him down that hallway where . . . someone’s future kids would be running around.
“Half bath on the left here.”
She smiled politely. Even the half bath was perfect.
