Page 60 of A Rancher's Love
“Poor, baby.” Her fingers damn near twitched with the urge to head over there and give him a neck rub. “How’s it going, though?”
He drank half a bottle of water before responding. “Good, I think.” Tucker leaned forward on his elbows, considering hard. “Let’s see. You said for OperationProve Itwe got to bitch about one thing and celebrate one thing, right?”
“Top points, Mr. Stewart,” Ginny said. “You bitching or cheering first?”
“Both at the same time. Silver Stone operations are set to run like clockwork. Which means there’s a lot of people who really know how to do their job well.”
Ginny made a face. “This sounds ominous.”
“Yeah. Part two, there’s a few people who don’t know how to do their job, but they’re pretty damn sure they do, so I’m anticipating a few fights in the future.”
Which was one of the things they’d talked about. “You’ll manage them.”
He shrugged. “I will. I would prefer they got their shit together instead of having to fire them.” He looked her over. “How about you? How are you conquering your project?”
She caught him up with her ideas for the greenhouse. “My thing to celebrate? I made a plan. I’m not going to be a garden goddess anymore.”
He blinked. “Really?”
“Really.” It had taken putting everything down on paper to see it clearly. “Not a kitchen garden goddess, at least. I’m diving into specialization. Herbs—for teas and cooking to begin with, then branching into bath and beauty products.”
“Good for you,” he said with approval. “That’s a very clear business plan you’ve nailed down in a very short time. Well done.”
His compliment made her glow. She leaned in and grinned. “You’d have been so proud if you’d seen me, Tucker. I used at least ten pages and a big thick Sharpie to write out everything I needed to consider. AndthenI used up most of a roll of tape sticking them to the walls so I could order and reorder my goals until I figured it out.”
“Hmmm.” He waggled his brows. “Dirty girl, seducing me all over again with your talk about spreadsheets and checklists.”
“I know. Filthy, isn’t it? I even threw in a bunch of ‘I am…’ statements. Oh, and the Sharpies were all colour-coded.”
He groaned at that, deep and husky.
They grinned at each other.
It was good chatting with him like this, but also slightly annoying. “I miss you,” she said abruptly. “It kind of sucks that we’re less than a ten-minute walk away from each other, and we’re Facetiming.”
He crooked a finger. “Come on over.”
It was tempting. Oh so very tempting, and yet it hadn’t even been a week, dammit. Add in he’d just admitted the balancing act of making changes and earning the ranch hands’ respect had begun?
She had to be strong and stick to the plan for his sake.
Which meant a little distraction right now would be a good idea. “I was just complaining a little. But that doesn’t mean I’m not interested in a good time.”
Tucker chuckled. “I’m fairly well endowed, but this kind of distance is beyond me.”
Ginny hooted. “Nothing wrong with your ego.”
He flashed a brief smile and her heart flipped. Then she focused on blowing his mind. “Good thing we have the wonders of technology to bring us together.”
She slowly undid the buttons on her shirt then peeled the front apart to reveal a whole lot of cleavage.
On one level,watching Ginny Stone get naked did not suck.
The fact that he washereand she wastherethough? Sucked was beyond an understatement.
As she peeled back the sides of her blue flannel shirt, he could all but feel the soft texture under his fingertips.
“What are you doing?” he demanded.
