“The loft takes up the entire floor of the building. That’s why. I know, it’s great, huh?”
“You know what, Sloan? I think it’s safe to say that you’ve finally made it as an actress. I mean, look around; this is what you’ve always wanted. This is it! I knew that last movie would be the right choice for you.”
I grinned. I’d recently been chosen as one of the actors in a big Hollywood production. I wasn’t the main actress, but I still played a very relevant part. Ever since then, my face had been splashed all over, and my name was being whispered by everyone. I’d been known in the industry for a while now, but this was the first time I’d ever known this kind of fame. I still couldn’t believe that I could now afford to live in such an extravagant apartment.
“Yeah, that movie was just what you needed. Okay, are you ready to go shopping?” she asked. “Whoa, hang on a second—is that a walk-in closet?”
I chuckled. “It is.”
“Okay, when can I move in? It’s not like you’re short on space.”
“And the closet is not full enough. Come on, let’s go. I’ll buy you a dress,” I said.
“You do that. I’ll buy the coffee.”
“Fair trade,” I said and laughed. Victoria had plenty of her own money, but it was fun to be able to buy things for her. And knowing Victoria, she’d choose the most expensive dress in the shop.
We made our way downstairs, and I called my driver to come and get us. He told us how beautiful we looked and then dropped us off at the mall. Victoria was addicted to shopping and knew exactly where she wanted to go. But the moment we got out of the car we were bombarded with people wanting my autograph.
“You’re even more beautiful in person,” a teenage girl gushed at me.
I smiled, thanked her, and signed scraps of paper or notebooks that they had found in their bags. One girl even asked me to sign her shoulder. She told me she was going to get a tattoo of it immediately.
“A tattoo!” I said to Victoria as we quickly ducked into one of the shops on her list. “Is that girl crazy? Maybe I should’ve talked her out of it. I was too shocked to say anything, though. What if I become some washed-up celebrity one day? She’ll have that to remind her of it all day.”
“Don’t you dare talk like that! You’re a great actress. And you always will be. Anyway, it’s a great compliment. You should be proud that someone wants to ink themselves with your signature. That’s super cool. Come on now, let’s get us some outfits.”
I watched as Victoria walked straight up to the shop assistant to ask if they could close the shop for half an hour. She had absolutely no qualms when it came to asking people for things. It was a trait I both cringed and admired of hers.
“People keep following us, you see,” she said and pointed to me. “And we’d love to try on some clothes with a bit of privacy. I am a big fan of this shop, and the last thing we want is people taking photos of us.”
“Oh no, that’s not necessary,” I said to the lady even though Victoria shot me an evil look.
“We don’t mind at all! Shop away,” she said as she went to put the closed sign on the door. “And it’s wonderful to meet you both. I hope you find what you’re looking for.”
Exactly half an hour later, we walked out carrying two bags each. Victoria had found a beautiful crimson dress that hugged her body tightly and showed off her figure. And she’d also found a long evening gown with a plunging neckline. I found a lovely light blue dress, which clung tightly at the top and flowed down to my knees with soft, overlaying fabrics. It was the sort of dress that made me want to twirl or dance.
“You look like a slutty Cinderella,” Victoria said, which almost made me put it back on the rack. But she insisted that was a compliment. She also made me buy a new bag even though I loved the one I currently had.
“You’ve simply got to stop using the same bag everywhere you go. At least alternate,” she said, and I finally caved in.
We spent the next few hours visiting various stores, and when we were done, I had enough clothes to last me a lifetime. Then, as promised, Victoria took me for a low-sugar, low-fat vanilla latte.
“How does this taste so good if it’s got none of the good stuff?” she said.
“Well, that depends on what their definition of ‘low’ is, I guess,” I said. Although I quickly regretted it as Victoria suddenly put it down. She hated to think that anything could make her put on weight, even though she was as thin as a rake. She could stand to put on a few pounds, really, but I wasn’t about to get into that conversation with her. “Nah, you can taste that it’s low fat. But it’s delicious, thankfully,” I said and I smiled when she picked up the drink again.
“You’re right. You really can taste the difference. There’s definitely no sugar in here. Maybe my body is just getting used to not having anything unhealthy.”
“I’m sure that’s it,” I said and smiled at her. “Thank you for getting me one. I love this place. Also, I think we deserve it after all the walking we did today. That was like a gym workout.”
“Yeah, that’s my favorite thing about shopping. It’s a chance to exercise as well buy clothes. It’s a win-win, really. I’ve got to say, I’m exhausted now.”
“I can’t believe I’m this tired from a day of shopping, but I have to agree with you.” I thought of my soft, king-sized bed and smiled. I loved that I could sprawl out on it. Every now and again I wondered what it would be like to share it with a man, but I quickly shoved that thought out of my mind. I was happy by myself. There was nobody to hog the blankets, for one.
After the latte, we called the driver and made our way back to my place. I peered out of the window and saw a few homeless people begging for money, and one curled up in his sleeping bag trying to get some rest. It was a sorry sight, but not one that was very unusual these days. I was seeing more and more homeless people in the area. Victoria groaned beside me.
“You know, everyone always feels sorry for the homeless, but that’s just because they’re too afraid to speak the truth. They’re homeless for a reason. They’re just lazy people who have done nothing with their lives and are too afraid to work hard. Now they stand there and expect us to give them money? I mean, we work hard to be where we are. It’s disgusting, honestly.”
I looked out the window and saw an old man standing with his arms outstretched. I didn’t look at his face. If I did, I knew all I would see was desperation. I had learned the hard way that it was sometimes better just to look away. I sighed.
“Yeah, you’re so right. We’re lucky.”
“Working hard is not luck, Sloan. We deserve this,” she said with so much determination that I knew she believed every word of it. Clearly, Victoria had never known what it was like to be desperate.
I thought about how many bags of clothes we’d piled into the back of the car and nodded. “Yeah, we do.”
Chapter Three
Brady
When I got to the ranch again that morning, I saw that Harold was waiting for me. He’d been there on Monday, and I hadn’t expected to see him until the following week.
“Hey, Harold. Good to see you. I didn’t know you’d be here today.”
“Impossible to slack off with me as your boss, isn’t it?” he said and laughed. “Luckily, I know you wouldn’t slack off. Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I called that friend of yours today. Trace, or whatever his name is.”
I laughed. “Yeah, it’s Trace. Why, what’s going on?”
“Weird name. Well, I needed some extra work done on the ranch today since one of the other workers called to say they weren’t coming. I remembered him saying the other day how he could use some extra money, so I invited him over.”
“Oh yeah? And he actually agreed?”
“You say that like it’s a big thing,” Harold said.
“Oh, you know Trace. He’s more into partying than working. If he could make money from going out and partying, he’d be the richest man alive.”
&nb
sp; “And if partying made you money, then you’d be the poorest.”
I chuckled. “You got that right. But yeah, I know he needs the extra cash, so he’s probably really glad that you called.”
“He seemed delighted at the getting some work. Anyway, he’ll be here soon. I just wanted to let you know. I wish I could hang around, but I have a few things to do today. Make sure he works hard, okay?”
“No problem! That I can definitely do.”
I chuckled to myself as I walked off. I could’ve easily done the work without Trace, but I wasn’t complaining. It was nice to have the extra hand although I wasn’t sure how much help he would be. Trace was great when it came to rodeo, but not so good with any other work. If it was my ranch, I would never have let Trace in, but Harold had enough money to not really care. And if Harold wanted to spend his money to make my life a little easier that day, I wasn’t going to complain.
I heard Harold’s car drive off and I made my way to the barn to get to work. About an hour and a half into work, I heard Trace pull into the driveway. He always drove his car like he wanted everyone to know he was coming. The car screeched to a halt, and I shook my head. I wiped my hands on my jeans and went out to greet him. For a while, I had thought he might not show up, after all, so it was a surprise to see him.
“Trace, you’re late!” I said.
He grinned. “What are you talking about? This is way too early.”
“Maybe for you, but I’ve already been here for an hour and a half, and up even before that. You are very late. What are you wearing? You’re going to get filthy; you know that?” I said as I indicated at his nice jeans and his crisp white shirt. He’d obviously not given a lot of thought to his day.
He shot a smile at me. “I was kinda hoping you could do the work and I could sit and talk to you. Keep you company and all that. Come on, what do you think? I’m great company to have around, and I can spend the day motivating you.”
I burst out laughing. “You really thought that? You clearly don’t know me well at all. And that puppy dog face might work well with the girls, but it won’t work on me. No way. If I’m going to work hard, then so are you. Anyway, you’re in luck, because there are some other clothes inside that you can put on.”
He sighed and took off his sunglasses. His eyes were bloodshot, and his hands were trembling ever so slightly as he placed his sunglasses on his head.
“Trace, are you still drunk?” I said and leaned in to smell him. I crinkled my nose at the sweet smell that was emanating out of his pours. “Gross. You are. You’re either still drunk or incredibly hung over. Didn’t you know you were coming to work today?”
“I did know that I had work today. Harold called me early in the evening. And I had every intention in the world of staying home. I promise you, I had even planned to get a pizza and watch a movie.”
“Okay, so then what happened? Because you sure as hell didn’t get red eyes from eating pizza and watching movies.”
He sighed. “But then Travis called and asked if I wanted to go out with him. I told him that I had to stay in, but then he promised me it would just be one beer.”
I raised my eyebrows. “And you really believed him?”
He shook his head. “No, I didn’t believe Travis, but I did believe that I had it in me to just go for one beer and go home. That was most definitely what I set out to do.”
“That clearly didn’t happen,” I said as I threw him another shirt.
He pulled off his nice shirt and hung it up, and then put on the one I gave him. That shirt had also been white once upon a time. It had just been washed, but it no longer looked like it used to. It was a ranch shirt, through and through.
“Nah,” he said. “It didn’t work. And I was doing so well at first. I was honestly going to go home. I had the one drink with him and then told him that I better get going. Then these two girls walked in, and there was no way I could leave. I thought one more drink wouldn’t hurt. Travis bought us all a round of drinks, and then I felt bad, so I bought everyone a round after that. And by then I was just having too much fun to leave. You know, sometimes it’s just worth having fun and suffering the next day.”
“Ha, good luck with that one. You’re going to suffer badly today. Tell me later if you still think it was worth it.”
“Yeah, but I have the number of the most gorgeous girl in the world on my phone. So really, I don’t think I’m suffering at all. I told her I was coming to work on the ranch today and she said she thought it made me more handsome.”
“Seriously? These women that you hang out with don’t exactly sound like they’re the smartest.”
“That’s okay,” he said honestly. “I’m not after their brains. Now, when are you going to come out with me? How many times do I have to ask you? You should have some fun. You work too hard!”
“You didn’t ask me last night.”
“Would you have come?”
“Not a chance,” I said and chuckled.
“You see! I knew you wouldn’t. You never come, even when you don’t have to work the next day. Come on; it’s a lot of fun. I know some great places, and I can introduce you to some gorgeous girls. And isn’t it about time you started sowing your seed?”
“Sowing my seed? Did you seriously just say those words to me? I’m going to pretend like I didn’t hear you say that. I’m more than happy with my life, thank you very much. And I’m not looking for anyone. Especially not a girl that spends all her time drinking at a club. I’d rather make money than spend it, anyway. I don’t even want to know how much money you must’ve blown last night.”
He laughed. “What’s the point in making money if you’re not going to spend it? That doesn’t make any sense at all. You sure have a funny way of looking at life.”
“Me? I think you’re the one with the funny outlook. Now, come on; let’s work. I need you to help me with the baling of this hay.”
“Don’t I even get a cup of coffee yet?” he pleaded.
“Two hours of solid work, and then I’ll reward you with coffee.”
“Man, you’re worse than Harold. Fine, show me what to do,” he said.
I chuckled to myself for the next two hours while Trace complained about how much work I was giving him. He kept muttering under his breath and swearing at everything he had to do. I couldn’t help but laugh, and when the two hours were done, I took him inside to make some coffee. He stood by the fan while I put the kettle on.
“You’re a tough boss,” he said.
“And you’re a terrible worker! Although you’re going to thank me. I think you sweated out most of that alcohol.”
“Actually, I think you might be right. I definitely feel better. Tired, but better. I cannot believe you do this every day. And you still make time for the rodeo. No wonder you don’t have a life.”
“This is my life,” I said. “And this is what they call ‘working hard.’”
He groaned. “I don’t think I could do this every day. I’ll stick to the rodeo work, thank you very much.”
“You’re lucky you’re good at it.”
He grinned. “And the ladies love it.”
I shook my head and handed him a cup of coffee. “Here, drink up. You’re going to need the caffeine. We have another two hours to go before lunch time. And then another three hours after that until I let you go. It’s a long day, and we have a lot to do before the end of it.”
“Seriously?” he said. “I thought we were almost done.”
“Almost done? We’ve only just begun. And I’m honestly not making you work hard as a joke. I got to work earlier than you, and I’ll leave later than you. This is ranch life. When you have the best sleep of your life tonight, you can thank me.”
“I think I prefer falling asleep after too much alcohol.”
We spent the rest of the day joking around and working. Trace definitely worked harder than he did on most days, and I could see the exhaustion on his face. I probably worked less than I usually d
id simply because he was constantly stopping me to ask for a break. But since he wasn’t there every day, it was actually sort of nice having him around. It reminded me a little of when Grant used to work with me. Although Grant actually wanted to do the work. When the day was finally over, we made our way to the kitchen where Harold was waiting for us.
“Ooh, we get beer?” Trace asked when he saw the beers on the table.
“We do. Aren’t you sick of drinking?” I asked him.
“Are you kidding? You said it yourself: I sweated all that other alcohol out. I deserve this.”
“You’re right. You do. Thanks for helping me today,” I said to him. I looked at Harold, and I pulled a face.
Harold chuckled. “Tough day out on the field, huh?”
Trace nodded. “Yeah. And Brady was not easy on me.”
“Good, that’s what I like to hear. Brady is better at this job than most people. I think he might even be better than me. Well, here we go, son. Here’s your pay,” he said and handed Trace an envelope filled with cash.
Trace’s eyes brightened. “Okay, beer and money. Now we’re talking.”
“Oh, by the way, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about, Brady. I got a very exciting phone call today.”
I took a sip of beer. “Oh yeah? From who?” I couldn’t imagine what phone call would ever be classified as exciting.
“You won’t believe this one. But I got a call from a big movie producer. Just like that, completely out of the blue. It took me by surprise.”
“What? Why?” I asked.
“Turns out they’re looking for a farm to use for their next production. The whole thing is going to take place on a ranch or something. They did a lot of research, and they decided that mine would be perfect for the storyline. I couldn’t believe it. Honestly, at first I thought it was a joke. But it’s the real deal. Can you imagine it? A movie set on my farm!”
Dirty Cowboy (A Western Romance) (The Maxwell Family) Page 2
