Page 1 of Big Burly Foreman

Chapter One

Ashley

I’ve always hated summer.

Nothing is worse than the feeling of sweat dripping down your back or the hot, suffocating air that robs you of your breath and will to live. There’s just something about the high humidity that leaves you feeling like you are swimming through the air.

Summer means dehydration, heat exhaustion, and my personal favorite, sunburn.

So, why am I braving the oppressive summer sun to sit on my balcony? It’s definitely not to watch the shirtless man seated atop a black stallion wrangling cattle, his tanned skin dripping with sweat and his thick muscles shimmering under the sun.

No, it’s definitely not that.

“What are you looking at?”

I jump back and quickly turn around, my eyes colliding with Magda’s. She’s been my family’s housekeeper for the last seven years, and she and I have grown close despite the two-decade age gap between us.

“Nothing,” I mutter, wiping my sweaty hands over my yellow sundress before fanning my heated cheeks. My heart picks up pace when her eyes narrow on my flushed face before looking past me and to the field where the men work. The air is heavy with humidity, and a majority of the working men have taken their shirts off, but I barely notice them. I haven’t spared a glance for the other men. It’s the one on the black horse that has kept my attention for the last hour.

“Nothing, you say?” Magda hums, turning to face me, and there is no missing the humored glint in her eyes.

“Yeah, I heard that we added a few . . . uhm, cattle, and I wanted to check them out.”

“Since when are you interested in cattle?”

“I’ve always been interested in cattle,” I hurry to say. “You know, I like their, uhm . . . horns.”

“Horns? You are interested in their horns?”

“What’s wrong with horns? They’re majestic, and I wanted to see them.”

“Sure, I bet it’s the cattle and their ‘majestic horns’ that have you blushing like that!” She snorts.

“It is,” I declare, trying to figure out how to wrangle myself out of this conversation. “What are you doing out here anyway?”

“Right,” she says with a nod. “Your parents are hosting the Berkleys for dinner tonight.”

“And they sent you to tell me to find something else to do for the evening, huh?” I ask, figuring they’re hosting their new friends for something business related. Although, I am expected to be social and put up a front of enjoying it, I am rarely needed at casual business dinners.

“On the contrary, they would like you to attend this one.”

My brows draw in confusion. “But why?”

“Ash, you are the heiress to the family’s wealth. Soon, you’ll be running all the family businesses, and it’s about time you see how things work and embrace it.”

“I’ve been attending business meetings since I was a little girl, Magda. I already know how things are run, but Dad agreed he would let me finish college first before he pushed me back into that world. We made a deal.”

“I know,” she says compassionately, rubbing her hand on my back. “But they want you to attend this one. They said it’s important for the family. I think your father is anxious to impress the Berkleys.”

I nod at her words even as my gaze strays back to the shirtless cowboy flexing his muscles as he swings a lasso to catch a steer with his horse in a full gallop.

Logan Smith.

He looks unreal, long dark hair swaying with the wind, one hand firmly clutching the reins as he wrangles a rope with the other, and I find myself imagining those hands on me.

Hell, I’ve imagined them on my body for two years now.

I remember the first time I saw him, or more like ran into him. I hadn’t been looking where I was going, too busy texting my best friend, Luna, when I’d suddenly run smack into a wall of solid muscles. There is no forgetting the strong arms that grabbed me before I could fall or the rock-solid chest I’d been pressed against.

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