Page 38 of The Lover
“Well, I know how he’s self-medicating. He reeked of booze.”
“I’m aware. But he hasn’t missed a day of work. And he doesn’t drink while he’s working. I’m not saying I’m thrilled about the situation, but I can’t tell a man what to do on his down time.”
“You’re the boss.”
That stopped me. “No, Ellie. You are. I’m an employee. So is Rich. If you want him gone, all you have to do is say the word and it will be done. He probably won’t be the last person you have to hire or fire.”
She nodded. “I understand. It’s a man’s life we’re talking about and not a decision that should be made lightly.”
“You said you wanted to be a rancher. It’s all yours now, Ellie.”
* * *
Ellie
All mine. Only I didn’t want it to be all mine. I wanted it to be all ours. I didn’t say that, though. That was a lot of pressure on date two. Instead we made our way to the barn and I got to shower all my love on Petunia.
“Petunia! Did you miss me? I missed you. Did Jake talk to you?” She huffed and I thought I could hear a distinctnot reallyin that answer.
“If you’re done with the reunion, can you put a saddle on her?”
I did that after I fed her a few apple slices I had in my pocket.
We headed north along the access road and it felt great. “See, this where I belong. On Petunia and on my land.”
“You can move back whenever you want to, Ellie. I can stay at the cabin and still manage to buy you flowers.”
“You forget about the boinking,” I reminded him.
“Can we stop calling it boinking? It sounds ridiculous.”
“You prefer banging?”
“I prefer not discussing it out loud.”
“Because you’re a prude.”
“I am NOT a prude,” he said, clearly offended.
“I think you’re going to have to prove that. You know I once read this historical western romance where the couple did it while riding horseback.”
“What! I would no sooner… On Wyatt?! That’s just disrespectful. Apologize to my horse.”
I threw my head back and laughed. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to offend you, Wyatt. But you know Jake, we are heading in the direction of the cabin…”
“I know what direction we’re heading.”
“We could maybe stop there for a… break,” I suggested.
“Ellie, what did I tell you?” He was growling, so I knew he was at least thinking about it.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You respect the hell out of me. But Jake, it’s been WEEKS! Can’t you go back to respecting me on our next date?”
“Ellie…”
“If you’re worried about condoms, there are some at the cabin. Remember I stocked up for my prom date.”
“Okay, first of all I’m not using a two-year-old condom. Second of all, I’m not using a condom you intended for someone else to use. That’s also flat out wrong.”
