Page 41 of Love Unforgettable
Chapter 14
Cole
It took some sweet talking, but I convinced the girl at the front desk of the vet’s office, Anna, to let me pay for Lexie’s dog’s medical bills. Since they’re one of the few vets around who also treat farm animals, I figure it’s smart to get in good with them from the very beginning. I’ve got a few hundred head of cattle with no particular breeding season, so calving happens year-round. Couple that with twenty-seven horses, a herd of goats, a few dozen chickens, as well as a peacock, and I’m bound to need the doc soon and often.
I liked running into Lexie at the Mexican restaurant with her friends. A lot. Granted, I’ll have to get used to living in a smaller town and running into people I know. Which can either be a good or a bad thing. I didn’t expect to feel all uncomfortable and dumbfounded-like just by seeing her. One look in those big blue eyes and I’m no better than an eyeless needle, I swear. Couldn’t even come up with the words for a proper conversation when I first saw her at her table.
If that wasn’t bad enough, I snuck out after my meeting without saying a word to her. Then hung around her car like a teenage boy trying tocasuallyrun into his crush after school. Flubbed that interaction up good and, sure enough, she was out of there faster than a sneeze through a screen door.
Now what, Cole?
I throw some tools in a saddle bag and take one of the horses out to the northwest side of the pastures. I thought I saw a few of the fences leaning a bit when Earl and I toured the ranch. Never mind that’s the side that borders Lexie’s property and that it’s entirely possible I’ll see her while I’m out there. I’m a rancher. And this is all about the fences.
I take my personal horse, Captain America, and let him run at a full gallop once we clear the gates to the pasture. I haven’t been on him in a week, I’ve missed it for sure. It doesn’t take us long to get to the northwest edge of the property. Once we do, I can see why Bette Davis was drawn to Lexie’s property. From this vantage point, it’s like a water color painting from an art book. Rows and rows of grape vines with varying shades of greens and the ever so hidden purple, the large winery buildings in the distance, and much further in the distance, the varying heights of mountain peaks.
I dismount and let the Captain graze while I check on the fencing that didn’t need immediate attention. The problem with trying to find work to do that may not exist, is that you find work to do that does exist and then some. Before long I’ve stripped off my shirt, gone through a whole bottle of water, and am starting to regret beginning this project.
Until I hear the ATV coming from the west. I pull my hat off and wipe my brow with my forearm, squinting for a better view. I’m not disappointed to see pink hair flying in the wind, heading my way.
Lexie pulls up to her side of the fence after a minute or so and climbs off the four-wheeler. I can’t see her eyes behind her sunglasses, but she’s dressed in some kind of combat boots, jeans that hug her ass in a spectacular fashion, and a tight t-shirt. Her hair is straight this time, and wind-blown. I have to admit, I’m fascinated by the color. Not that I haven’t seen colored hair before, I think it’s just that it’s on her, I’m intrigued by everything about her.
“Mornin’,” I say.
“Good morning,” she says. “I wondered if that was you.”
“It is. And may I say you look lovely this morning.”
“Thank you,” she says.
I wonder if I should put my shirt back on, until I see her head tilt down slightly and stop her gaze at my chest. Her lips part and, if I’m not mistaken, her breath catches.
Thank God for strenuous labor and the muscles it brings.
It takes every ounce of effort I have not to flex for her. “How are you? How’s Sasha?”
“Uh . . .” She shakes her head. “Yeah, we’re both good. She’s a tough cookie. Plus, I think she’s digging the pain pills.” She giggles at her own joke, so I laugh as well. “You doing okay?” she asks looking down at the ground, then back up at me again.
“I’m doing real good. Just fixin’ the fences. Making sure no one gets out again.”
Idiot, Cole, why’d you bring that up?
“This little fence keeps them in? I thought it would be a bigger fence,” she says.
“Well, yes, it’s a taller fence where the horses are, this is the pasture for the cows, so this fence is for them. They won’t jump it.”
“So, you’re not really fixing it to keep horses from coming at my vines, it’s so cows don’t.”
“True.” Feeling hot all the sudden, I pull my hat off and swipe at my sweaty head with my forearm again. “I . . . uh . . . I don’t know why I said that. It was stupid,” I say. She laughs again.
“Do I make you nervous?” she asks, standing up straighter.
Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin’ it back in, Cole.
Aw, fuck it. Just tell her how you feel.
“Yeah, sweetness. You do.”
“Wow. That is so awesome. Why?”
