Part 9 (1/2)
”And you're sure without Zane, Derringer and Jason's spread that you'll still have enough land for your sheep to graze?” Dillon Westmoreland leaned back in the chair behind his desk to ask his cousin.
Ramsey didn't respond but looked as if he was lost in other thoughts. ”Are you okay, Ram?”
Dillon's concerned question snapped Ramsey's attention back and he couldn't help but smile. ”Yes, I'm okay.”
After breakfast Ramsey decided to leave the house for a while, not to avoid Chloe, but to give her the time she needed to prepare for the noon hour. Had he remained he would have done everything he could have to get her back upstairs or better yet, he would have played his hand at enticing her into partic.i.p.ating in a number of quickies. So trying to behave he had driven over to Shady Tree Ranch to spend time with Dillon and Pamela.
He could feel Dillon staring at him and looked up and met his gaze. ”I understand things have turned somewhat serious between you and your cook, Ram.”
Ramsey didn't have to wonder where Dillon had gotten that information. And today, Ramsey had no problem acknowledging that was true. Even when he had dated he'd never been into s.e.x just for the sake of s.e.x, which is why a casual relations.h.i.+p with a woman never appealed to him. And because he hadn't been in the market for a serious relations.h.i.+p either, he'd been satisfied to remain a loner. It was only when things with him got so bad and s.e.xual needs got the best of him, that he would seek out female companions.h.i.+p for a night. But those times had been few and far between. Now he couldn't imagine not making love to Chloe on a regular basis, not waking up during the night with her beside him, their legs locked together, her delectable bottom curled up against him. His...
”Ram?”
He glanced up, realizing Dillon had caught him daydreaming again. ”Yes?”
”You sure you're okay?”
Ram leaned back in his chair, deciding to be completely honest. ”No, I don't know if I'm okay,” he finally said. He studied Dillon thoughtfully. ”I can recall the first time you mentioned to me about meeting Pamela. I could hear something in your voice.”
Dillon chuckled. ”Yes, and it was probably the same thing I could hear in yours that day you came over here and mentioned Chloe Burton was your temporary cook.”
Ramsey was taken aback by Dillon's claim. ”No way. I had just met the woman that day.”
Dillon nodded. ”And remember, I had just met Pam that day when I spoke to you on the phone as well.”
Ramsey frowned, not sure he liked what Dillon was hinting at. He quickly stood up. ”Trust me, Dillon, it's not that kind of party.”
A smile curved the corners of Dillon's lips when he said, ”I didn't think it was that kind of party for me either, so I can understand you wanting to be in denial. When you figure out it is is that kind of party, make sure I'm one of the first to get an invitation.” that kind of party, make sure I'm one of the first to get an invitation.”
Chloe slipped off her shoes before easing onto the sofa. Breakfast had been crazy and she needed to grab a private and quiet moment before preparing lunch. At times she wondered if she was growing men. There seemed to be more of them showing up for meals every day.
She smiled and inwardly admitted that she was becoming attached to each of them. They were good men, hardworking men, family men who often would talk about their wives and children and their love for them. Working for Ramsey was more than a way to keep food on the table. From the bits of conversations she'd been able to pick up, she knew they considered Ramsey a good employer, the best. He was fair and provided them with a means to provide for their families. She looked forward to seeing them every morning and didn't mind taking the time to prepare all the foods they liked.
To her surprise, and she was sure to his men as well, Ramsey had spent time with his men this morning. Of course they had teased him mercilessly before settling down to the huge meal she had prepared. And on the invitation and insistence from Ramsey, after everyone had been served, she had sat down with him at the table and had a cup of coffee when he conversed with his men. During that time she felt like a member of Ramsey's working-crew family. She felt as if she truly belonged. And she was learning more and more about Ramsey from those who knew him the best. It was great information she could use in the article she wanted to write on him.
The article she would not be writing now.
She breathed in deeply. She had come here with only one goal in mind and that was to convince Ramsey to pose on the cover of her magazine and to also obtain information to share with her readers. Considering everything, there was no way she could go through with doing that now. She had crossed over the line of what was professional, of what was right.
She did not want him to think she had gone to the extreme and shared his bed only as a means to an end. Therefore, she needed to tell him the truth and would do so tonight when she had his complete attention, and somehow she would convince him not to send her away, but to let her work through the end of the week because his regular cook would return on Monday.
She didn't want to think about how he would possibly feel once he learned the truth. It hadn't been her intent for things to work out this way, but they had and now their time together was about to come to an end and she could feel her heart breaking. Things were beginning to get complicated. She was not only deceiving Ramsey, but she was deceiving his family as well, at least those she'd met. She needed to get out of dodge before drowning in her sea of lies.
She heard a quick tap and then the front door opened. She stood when three women walked in and she found herself under the intense gaze of three pairs of eyes the exact color of Ramsey's. She knew immediately these were his sisters.
Ramsey cursed under his breath when he pulled into his yard, recognizing the three vehicles haphazardly parked there. For his sisters to come calling at this time of the day and all at the same time meant curiosity had gotten the best of them and they were here to check things out for themselves.
He glanced in his rearview mirror, surprised Callum wasn't pulling up behind him. The man seemed to have some kind of built-in radar where Gemma was concerned. Whenever she showed up at his place, Callum homed in on her and would find just about any excuse to show up.
As he got out of his truck, the rich scent of something delectable cooking filled the air. This was Chloe's last week and he wondered how his men were going to readjust when Nellie returned. He had called and left a message on her cell phone letting her know they needed to talk before Monday. Chloe had raised the bar of expectations and although he knew Nellie was a darn good cook, she hadn't displayed a lot of that skill lately. And her att.i.tude toward his men definitely needed improving.
But still, just the thought that this Friday would be Chloe's last day did something to him. He refused to believe what Dillon had hinted at earlier that he was developing feelings for her. Yes, he had enjoyed sleeping with her last night and intended to do so again, but he had no intention of progressing to anything remotely serious between them. He was a loner. He preferred things that way.
He heard the sound of feminine voices the moment he walked into his house. He paused and noted the chatter, the laughter, the downright friendliness in the conversations being shared. It seemed the four women were getting along, and for some reason that pleased him. Why it would, he wasn't sure.
Following the sound of the voices as well as the scent of food cooking, he headed toward the kitchen and then leaned in the doorway at the sight that greeted him. His sisters were sitting down at the table, sampling whatever was smelling so d.a.m.n good, while Chloe stirred something in a big pot. If he didn't know better, by the way they were carrying on, he would have thought they had known each other for years.
”Forgive me if I'm interrupting anything,” he said when it became obvious no one had noticed him.
Four pairs of eyes turned his way, but it was only one pair that he sought out. And the moment Chloe's gaze met his, he felt it, a deep stirring within the pit of his stomach, and it had more depth than just a sensual ache. He was tempted to do what he'd done this morning in front of Zane, Derringer, Jason and Callum, which was to cross the room and take Chloe into his arms and kiss her, ignoring their audience. But there was no way in h.e.l.l he could ignore the three sitting at the table who had huge smiles on their faces like he'd cut muster about something. And he couldn't help but notice they were watching him closely.
”You're not interrupting anything,” Bailey said sweetly, smiling with too much saccharin on her lips to suit him. ”We were just sitting here chatting with Chloe, trying to get to know her better.”
He lifted a brow and almost asked why they saw fit to do something like that when Chloe would be leaving this Friday, but he refrained from doing so. ”Suit yourself. If you will excuse me I have work to do.”
He moved to walk toward his office wondering why he was doing the very thing he said he would no longer do where Chloe was concerned. But then he knew that putting any ideas into his sisters' heads would be dangerous. They wouldn't take it and run, they would take it and rush off in a mad dash. Besides, by retreating he was saving Chloe from being interrogated later, not that his nosy sisters hadn't probably tried pumping her for information already.
When he reached his office he eased down in the chair behind his desk wondering how long his visitors intended to stay. His men would be showing up in a few hours for lunch and he hadn't had any private time with Chloe since they'd last made love this morning. He at least wanted to kiss her the way he had wanted to do without an audience.
He picked up the folder on his desk. He would try to get some work done and hoped like h.e.l.l his sisters would leave in a timely manner. Otherwise, he would be tempted to ask them to leave.
He smiled thinking doing something like that wouldn't go over well. He'd escorted them to the door before, but always in a teasing manner; however, today he would be dead serious. And he intended to do something about the locks on his back door where anyone thought they could just walk in whenever they wanted. That had never bothered him before but now it did.
He threw down the folder he'd been holding in his hands, not believing the way his thoughts were going. The only reason he was considering changing the d.a.m.n lock was because on two different occasions he had been caught kissing Chloe. Because she would be leaving after Friday, did it really matter now?
He slumped back in his chair, finally admitting to himself that yes, it did matter. He didn't want things between them to end yet. He could ask Chloe to go out with him on occasion, he would take her to dinner and pursue some sort of a relations.h.i.+p with her. Nothing real serious, mind you. Was that what he really wanted? With lambing starting next week as well as some of his men returning to sheepherding, would he have the time? He knew at that moment he would do something he hadn't done in well over ten years and that is to make time for a woman.
He glanced up when he heard a knock on his door. His pulse leaped. Had his sisters left and Chloe had come looking for him? He stood and a frown settled on his face when Callum walked in. He dropped back down in the chair disappointed.
Ramsey didn't have to ask his friend why he was there. He knew. And the way Ramsey was feeling about his sisters at that moment, he was tempted to pay Callum a hefty fee to take Gemma off his hands. There was no hope for Megan and Bailey. Megan wasn't dating anyone seriously since she had finally dumped that a.s.shole of a doctor she'd gotten involved with last year. And lucky for him Bailey was more into her books than the opposite s.e.x. She was determined to finish college in three years instead of four and then obtain a law degree. Although she could get on his last nerve at times, he was proud of her and her dedication to her studies.
”What are you doing here, Cal?” Ramsey couldn't resist the opportunity to tease his friend. Callum had given him enough grief over Chloe during the last couple of days to last a lifetime, so to Ramsey's way of thinking the ribbing was justified.
”What do you think?”
Ramsey rolled his eyes. Callum had been hanging around Zane too much lately. He was beginning to sound just like him. ”You do know that one day you're going to have to take matters into your own hands, and I don't mean something as extreme as kidnapping,” Ramsey said.
Callum didn't say anything, he just smiled. At any other point in time that smile would have made Ramsey uneasy, had him somewhat worried, but not today. He had his own problems to deal with and for once Callum and Gemma were the least of his concern.
His only concern was whether Chloe would be interested in continuing their relations.h.i.+p after Friday. And he intended to do whatever it took to make sure she wanted that as much as he did.