by Marla Monroe
Chapter Five
Monday morning Angela walked up to the ranch house where she was to meet Travis and Randy at seven. She stepped up on the porch with butterflies flitting around in her stomach. She had been up since five that morning, trying to prepare herself for whatever was to come and praying that everything would be fine despite her worries that the guys expected more than she was willing to give. With a final sigh, she knocked on the door and waited.
She heard booted heels crossing the floor before the door opened. Randy grinned and stepped back.
“You don’t have to knock on the door. You can come and go as you please. The office is right this way.”
He led her to the right where a door opened into a large room with several file cabinets and a large oak desk with a matching credenza behind it under a picture window. Two comfortable-looking chairs stood in front of the desk. She stopped beside the desk to wait for Randy to tell her where she needed to start.
“I think the first thing that needs doing is figuring out where we stand on paying bills. When I work in the office, I pay whatever comes in while I’m here, but I’m not sure what comes in and doesn’t get looked at between times. Travis will go through and pay the old stuff and leave the new stuff for later.”
“That could leave something to slip through the cracks and not get paid on time.” Angela nodded her head. “Okay. I’ll start with organizing the desk and locating all the bills. Do you write checks on the computer or by hand and what about record keeping? Where do you record your entries?”
Randy walked over to the computer on the desk and logged in. Then he pulled up a program that looked like it was made for ranching from what she could see of it. She hoped it wouldn’t be difficult to figure out.
“We’ll set you up with a password and then you can log in. It’s a very comprehensive program that has different uses all over the ranch. I’ll slowly show them all to you over time, but for now, you can concentrate on the overall bookkeeping part of it for us.”
He pulled back the office chair and waited until she’d taken a seat before he started again. “Okay, I’ve set your username as your name. All you have to do is choose a password when you get ready to. For now, let’s look over the program.”
For the next two hours, Angela sat while Randy stood over her, explaining how the program worked and what they normally did on a day-to-day basis. The phone rang off and on, but Randy ignored it, letting someone else pick it up since it rarely rang more than three times in a row.
A little after nine, his cell phone rang and he stepped across the room to talk to someone on the other end while Angela continued exploring in the computer. She felt like she had a pretty good grasp of how it worked and what they were doing as far as paying bills and the few payments that came in when they sold cattle. They also had a rather impressive stock portfolio that was managed by an outside broker. All Angela had to do was keep up with any dividends that paid out and move the numbers around when they made changes to the portfolio for some reason. She had never dealt with the amount of money that changed hands in the ranching business before. The store back in Belzoni had been small with a modest bottom line at best. This was almost overwhelming to her. Nervousness that she’d bitten off more than she could chew had almost led her to tell Randy she couldn’t do the job, but he kept assuring her she was doing fine.
She picked up the pad she had been making notes on and skimmed through it as Randy continued to argue with someone about a horse. She could tell he was aggravated, but he didn’t raise his voice or curse the entire time he was on the phone. She couldn’t help but wonder what was wrong. She heard him tell whoever was on the phone that he wasn’t interested before he disconnected.
“Sorry.” He walked back over to stand next to her. “So, do you think you’ve got a handle on that part?”
“I think so. Basically it’s like most accounting packages with some added bells and whistles to keep track of which cows you sell and which ones you buy. I can always ask if I have a question, right?”
“Right. How about some coffee before Travis shows up to go over the breeding entries and such?” Randy grinned down at her.
Angela struggled to keep the shock from showing on her face as she stood up. Breeding entries? What was she supposed to do with those? Giant butterflies resumed their winged flight inside her belly. She didn’t know the first thing about breeding cows.
“I’ve been dealing with most of the cash flow side of the ranch and Travis has been handling the paperwork and logistics for the actual running of the ranch like ordering supplies and keeping up with bloodlines. He’ll go over that part with you.”
They were drinking coffee at the bar, discussing how often they paid their accounts at various stores when Travis strolled in from a door off the kitchen. She gathered it led into a sort of mudroom since he wasn’t wearing his boots or jacket when he walked in. His weary expression seemed to brighten as soon as he saw her sitting with his brother. It sent a little thrill through her to know that he was happy to see her there. Once again worry nibbled at her insides.
“Hey there, Angel. How has your morning been so far?”
“Hi, Travis. Good. Randy made the program seem easy. Let’s just hope I absorbed enough to muddle through it when he’s not around,” she said.
“Don’t listen to her. She took excellent notes that I don’t even think she’s going to need.” Randy grinned over at her.
Travis poured a cup of coffee and eased onto the empty stool next to her. She couldn’t help but be aware that she was sitting between two very handsome, very virile men. They seemed to ooze testosterone and sexiness from their pores. The thought of losing herself between them nearly had her falling off the stool.
“I better get out there and get some work done,” Randy said. “I’ll see you around noon, honey. Travis will take good care of you. Just don’t let him get started on his favorite topic of breeding programs when he starts on the breeding part of the package or you’ll never get anywhere. He’s sort of obsessed with it.” Randy winked at her as he walked off.
“Don’t listen to him. Keeping good breeding records means the difference between quality beef and sick cows. Come on. Let’s take this into the office.” He stood up and waited on her to get down as well.
She followed him back into the office and settled back in the chair as Travis leaned over her to bring up the breeding program. The scent of horses, fresh air, and male musk filled her, making it difficult for her to concentrate on what he was saying at first. Angela struggled to ignore how good he smelled. It played havoc with her emotions since she’d had a similar reaction to his brother not an hour before. Guilt laced with discomfort edged out her anxiety about mastering the breeding program.
Angela took copious notes as Travis went over everything. He was actually an excellent instructor. He reviewed what he had already gone over before moving on to something new, giving her a chance to be sure she’d made notes on each step. When they had completed the program, he stepped back and grabbed a folder from the filing cabinet.
“This is last year’s entries. Why don’t you look through them and familiarize yourself with what the final result is, and I think you’ll have it down just fine. Remember, I’ll be giving you the information when we actually start the process and then the results and progress as things go along.”
“I never knew there was so much that went into raising cows.” She shook her head as she studied her notes. “I mean, I just thought you gave them food and water and sold them once they grew up.”
Travis chuckled. “It’s a little more complicated than that. If we didn’t make sure to watch the breeding, we could end up with too much inbreeding, which leads to increased miscarriages and stillborn calves, not to mention all the health issues that come up. That means keeping up with their inoculation records as well.”
“Okay. I have a lot to learn about this side of the business. What else do I need to know how to do?”
�
�Let’s go over ordering supplies and how we handle that. We actually keep an inventory of what we have on hand and log in what we use or receive each day. That way, figuring out what we need to buy every week or month isn’t as big of an issue. We can look at what we’ve been ordering and decide if that will work for the next order.”
Angela nodded. “It would help to decide from one year to the next what you might need in the future as well. Like when you normally need more feed because of cold weather. I get it. That’s really pretty smart. I never would have thought an inventory system would work for a ranch. I mean, who keeps up with how many bales of hay they have stacked somewhere?” She smiled and continued to read over her notes.
By the time noon had arrived, Angela felt as if she had a pretty good idea of how things worked and what her job would consist of on a daily basis. Besides the computer programs and the filing system, she also learned how to work the radio to locate various ranch hands and was given a cell phone for the ranch with everyone’s number programed into it. That way she could reach anyone she might need unless they were in the extreme north or northwest area of the ranch. There all of the signals were weak.
“Come on, Angel, lunch time. We’re in charge of making sandwiches today. Do you want to be in charge of the condiments or the meat?” Travis asked.
“I’ll handle the meat. I don’t know what you like on your sandwiches yet, but I can add the meat I think.”
Travis quickly washed his hands when they reached the kitchen and while she did the same, he pulled out all the fixings for ham sandwiches. They quickly got into a rhythm and had eight sandwiches ready by the time Randy walked in thirty minutes later.
They ate at the table with a pitcher of tea and the plate of sandwiches along with a bucket of store-bought potato salad. Angela made a mental note to make them a batch of homemade potato salad when that ran out. It would taste a lot better in her opinion and wouldn’t take long to whip up. Once the men had finished eating, there were three sandwiches left over. They wrapped them up for an afternoon snack.
“Okay, Angela. You have our cell phone numbers and the radio if you need anything. As far as the phone goes, just take a message unless it’s family or an emergency of some kind.” Travis walked with her back into the office.
“I think I have it. What time do you normally come back to the house in the afternoons?” she asked.
“You’re finished at four, Angel. Don’t wait around on us. We might be in by then or it might be closer to five or so before we finish.”
“Okay. Do I lock anything up when I leave?”
“Nope. No need to around here. Just log off the computer before you go.”
When she nodded and started to walk around the desk to sit down, Travis surprised her when he pulled her into a quick hug.
“You have no idea how glad we are to have you here, Angel. Hope the work doesn’t run you off.” He let her go and walked out of the office before she could form a coherent reply.
Damn, they were going to drive her crazy. She sank down onto the office chair and stared at the screen saver of a newborn calf for several minutes before she snapped out of it. It would probably take her all afternoon just to get the paperwork sorted into stacks that made sense. She needed to get started, especially if she planned to start dinner for the men. Even though she knew it was asking for trouble, Angela couldn’t help but feel sorry for their lack of cooking skills.
By the time four o’clock rolled around, she had everything sorted and ready to work on the next morning. She was relieved to find that none of the bills were past due, but there were two that would be if she didn’t get checks signed either that night or the next day. She would need to ask if they planned to hand deliver any of them or mail them all.
After making sure to log off the computer and secure all the stacks so that they wouldn’t accidently get knocked off the desk, Angela hurried into the kitchen to wash her hands. She quickly explored the freezer, fridge, and large walk-in pantry she had located to figure out what her options were. She settled on meatloaf with creamed potatoes and peas. It would be a good meal that would probably leave enough leftover meatloaf for sandwiches the next day for lunch.
By the time the men stomped in the back door, Angela had the meatloaf in the oven and the potatoes boiling. She worried they would be upset that she’d made herself at home in their kitchen. Instead of being angry, they just stood there with their eyes closed, inhaling the scents of cooking as if it were the best smell in the world.
“As much as I can’t wait for dinner to be ready, you shouldn’t have cooked, honey,” Randy said. “You’ve already put in a full day’s job in the office.”
“Shut up, Randy. I’ll make sure we pay her for the overtime. It smells like heaven.” Travis walked over to peek in the stove.
Angela popped him with the dish towel before she thought about it. “Don’t do that, you change the oven temperature when you open the door.”
He grinned when it dawned on her she’d just popped one of her bosses with a towel. Travis stalked toward her in long strides. Angela backed up until she was flush against the wall.
“Randy?” She looked over Travis’s shoulder at his brother. “What’s he going to do?”
“Don’t know, honey. Guess you’re going to have to ask him yourself.”
“I’ll tell you what I’m going to do, Angel. I’m going to turn you over my knee for popping me with that towel.” The serious expression on his face didn’t ring true with the amusement she saw in his eyes though.
“Now, Travis. I didn’t mean anything by it. I just reacted like I did when I cooked back home.”
“Maybe you should cut her some slack, brother. It’s obvious she’s sorry for doing it.” Randy had moved to stand next to Travis.
“What do you suggest instead? I can’t let her get away with it. If I do this time, what’s to say next time she won’t do something else like pinch me on the ass?”
“Well, you do have a point there.” Randy leaned closer as Angela tried to control her breathing.
What where they doing to her? She felt as if her heart was going to pound right out of her chest. She resisted the urge to close her eyes. Instead, she lifted her chin and tried to act as if she wasn’t the least bit affected by their teasing and close proximity. In truth, she’d never been as aware of a man in her life as she was now, boxed in by these two cowboys.
Travis’s eyes flashed when her chin went up. Both men edged closer. She immediately pressed her hands against their chests in an effort to stop them. All it did was make her even more aware of their hard, sculpted chests and the heat that radiated from them. They both leaned in toward her, their eyes darkening in passion. Angela couldn’t stop her body’s reaction to their nearness. Her pussy dampened with need.
Hot, wet lips pressed against her cheeks from each side as they rested a hand on either side of her waist and pulled her toward them. All rational thought flew from her mind as female hormones took over so that she leaned into them. For a few brief seconds, all reason left her and all she could do was feel. Then reality snapped her back into the present with the dinging of the timer that the potatoes were ready. She jerked back against the wall even as she pushed at their chests to make them back away. Shame flooded her as heat raced up her neck to flash across her face.
“I’m not sleeping with you just because you gave me a job.”
Chapter Six
Travis’s jaw dropped as he took a step back. Things had gotten out of hand. They were moving way too fast and pushing her. He closed his mouth and tried to rein in his desire that threatened to ruin everything. He knew without a doubt that she was the one for them, but they had to get her on the same page before they scared her away.
“Angela, we’re sorry. We didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.” Randy had stepped back as well and had his hands out by his sides. “I think something is ready over there on the stove. Let’s start over, and we promise to back off, okay?”
I wasn’t thinking. That’s the whole damn problem. I know she’s right for us, and I just want to get to the good part of holding her and making her happy.
He watched as Randy walked back over to the stove and cut off the potatoes that were boiling. He stepped to one side and let Angela slip between him and the bar. He couldn’t help but inhale the sweet scent of her that must have been a combination of her shampoo and something fresh and clean smelling even after a long day working in the office.
When she reached the stove, Angela reset the clock and started buttering rolls. He didn’t pick up any further nervousness from her, so he relaxed and nodded at his brother who had positioned himself on the other side of the bar with a beer. Travis grabbed one for himself out of the fridge and leaned against the cabinet next to the doorway leading into the laundry room. It was actually a laundry and mud room combined where they entered from outside and pulled off their boots and coats before walking into the kitchen.
