Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 21040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 105(@200wpm)___ 84(@250wpm)___ 70(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 105(@200wpm)___ 84(@250wpm)___ 70(@300wpm)
She shakes her head and stands up, cocking her shapely hip out. “You’re right, I do, and I haven’t taken a vacation since I’ve been there, so I took a few weeks off. And to answer your question, yes I’m going to help you and help your ranch. Like you said, you have two weeks to mend fences before your herd arrives, and I know you don’t want to hear it, but squatting and putting weight on that ankle is going to hurt like the dickens.”
I almost spit the words out. “I’m not going to ask you to mend my fences.”
She looks at me with confusion on her face. “First of all, you didn’t ask me to do anything. I’m offering. Second of all, from where I’m standing, you can’t be too picky. And why do you think I can’t mend fences? I grew up on a ranch, Ace. I know what I’m doing.”
She’s telling the truth. Hell, she’s probably better at it than most of the cowboys I know, but there’s no way I’m going to just sit here and let her work while I nurse a sprained ankle. Hell no. “Well, princess, you don’t know me very well if you think I’m going to sit here while you do all the work.”
Chapter 8
Lila
He’s right. I was crazy to think that he’s just going to sit around in his living room while I worked on the ranch, but I don’t know if he really has much of a choice. Ace and I are in the middle of a stare-down when my dad walks in.
Ace throws his hand up and points at me. “Talk some sense into your daughter, Reilly. She won’t listen to me.”
Reilly just laughs. “What? And you think she’ll listen to me?”
My dad walks past me. His arms are full of bags that I had in my car, and I’m assuming he’s carrying it to Ace’s spare bedroom. I sit down on the chair and look at Ace. “Will you please let me do this? I know you won’t stay off of it, but I can at least lighten the load a little bit.”
“Princess, you’re using vacation time—time that you earned—to work on my ranch. It just doesn’t sit right with me.”
Heck, I know I shouldn’t, but I reach over and grab his hand that’s resting on his knee. “Come on, Ace. We’re friends. We’ve always been friends, and I truly want to do this for you. Plus, I’d be a hazard at work anyway because I wouldn’t be able to keep my thoughts on the job. I’d be too worried about you out here doing something stupid and hurting yourself worse.”
I blink my big eyes at him. He wants to say no to me, but he’s never told me no for anything.
He squeezes my hand. “You don’t owe me, Lila. I knew if you found out about the money, you would think you owed me something, and that’s the last thing I want.”
I pull my hand away from his and pat him on the knee. I just got here, and I can already feel myself getting too attached. I knew doing this I was going to be putting my heart on the line, but there’s no way I couldn’t do it. “I’m doing this because you’re my friend, and you mean a lot to me.”
His lips turn up. “I mean a lot to you?”
I roll my eyes at him. “You know you do.” And when he doesn’t say anything, I continue. “If the roles were reversed, would you do it for me?”
He doesn’t even hesitate. “Yes. You know I would.”
I shrug and jump up from the couch. Sitting this close to him is making me crazy. “Well, there you have it. It’s settled then. I’m staying. I’m going to go grab the rest of my stuff.”
I walk outside and grab the last of my things and come back in. My dad is sitting on the couch, and he calls out to me, “You need help, pumpkin?”
I shake my head and hold my arms up. “Nope, this is the last of it. I’m going to put a few things away. Make sure he keeps his foot up, Dad.”
“Will do,” he answers with a laugh.
When I get to the spare bedroom, I start to unpack, and I can hear Ace and my dad talking in hushed tones. I know I shouldn’t, but I eavesdrop anyway.
“Whiskey Valley is a small town, Reilly. What are people going to say about her living here?”
My dad laughs. “I don’t think she cares. She’s thirty, Ace. She’s not a kid anymore, and she makes her own decisions now. She does what she wants, and she wants to do this.”
I can hear Ace grunt, and I swear I can see him with frustration on his face and running his fingers through his hair. “Yeah, and I’m forty-two, a broken-down cowboy. People are going to talk.”