And by the rest of the heads turning, I can guess who just walked in the door—the woman who’s been the bar owner’s main topic of conversation for the past god knows how many minutes.
I don’t turn around. Instead, I let the silence eat up the space until all that’s left is the sounds from the televisions around us.
“Well played, Jack.” Tatum’s voice rings through the bar.
“Can’t fault me for seeing if you actually pay attention to criticism.” I chuckle more to irritate her than anything and am quite surprised that she did.
“Tell me one reason why I should hire you.”
I run my tongue along the inside of my cheek and take my time responding. “Because I’m exactly what you need. I’m your sure thing.” I turn around on my barstool slowly.
And there she is.
I ignore the punch in my gut that seeing her again delivers. Her hands are on her hips, and there’s that fire I admire in the jut of her chin. There’s clear determination in her stance as a bar full of townspeople watch her and listen to her every word.
“That didn’t answer my question.” Those storm-cloud-colored eyes of hers lock onto mine with the lift of one of her eyebrows. “Sure things rarely pan out.”
“Then you shouldn’t hire me,” I say with an indifferent shrug. There are only seconds for me to decide how to play this before I fall into the same trap Tatum did when she moved here—the one that leaves me hated in town because of misperception. “Besides, I’ve been warned about the ranch . . . about you. No skin off my nose to walk away.”
“I didn’t figure you for a quitter,” she murmurs with disdain.
“You want me. You don’t want me.” My chuckle hums through the uncomfortable silence in the bar. “Indecision seems to be a real problem of yours. That, and your temper. No wonder you can’t seem to keep a single person on staff. I’m not your husband. I won’t kowtow to a woman like he did. You need to learn some manners, Ms. Knox.”
“Manners get you nowhere.”
“Neither do demands.”
Yet, there is something about the pride in the set of her chin, the humiliation edging the gray of her eyes, and the harsh bob of her throat as if she’s wondering if she should stand her ground or turn and run that gives me pause. Her even being here despite the crazy rumors about her almost has me admiring her strength. She has to know what they all think of her, and yet, here she is, full of false bravado, insecurity, and determination.
It’s those things that should tell me to run the other way like the goddamn wind, but they are the same reasons I didn’t keep driving after I convinced myself that I’d somewhat fulfilled my promise to my father.
“Well?” she asks, one eyebrow arching as her chin quivers. Vulnerability laced with obstinance. “You still think you’re the right person to get the ranch up and running to speed? You still think we can run a better breeding program than Hickman Ranch like you claimed we could?”
Ah, she came to play. Throwing in Hickman while everyone listens puts me on the spot. The embellishment of my words and pitting me against the other successful ranch on the opposite side of town is nothing more than a challenge. Her throwing it down in a bar full of people gives me no other option than to say yes.
If I turn it down, then I’ll be labeled as a man who doesn’t hold to his word, which might be even worse than how they’d labeled her.
Does she even realize that she just put an even bigger target on the ranch’s back?
“I’m a glutton for punishment,” I mutter as I throw a ten on the bar top for Ginger and rise from my stool. “Outside.” It’s all I say to Tatum, and she bristles from my command as I stride past her and head out the front door.
As I walk into the bright sunshine of the parking lot, I debate how long it’ll take her to follow me.
Not if.
I know she will.
She needs me too much. Not just on the ranch but also as an ally in this fucked-up town full of quaint charm and rampant rumors.
Right on cue, the door shuts and the sound of her feet on the pavement echoes off the concrete buildings around us before stopping behind me.
I give her a minute to stew and to figure out everything in the world she’s fucking angry at so she can direct it at me. She needs to have one more reason to push me away, and I need to give myself one last chance to walk the hell away while I can.
“Well played, Knox. Well played,” I murmur her own words back to her.
“You’re not the only one who needed to make a point.”
I finally turn to face her, and she has her arms across her chest, her jaw is clenched, and her eyes are narrowed. The woman looks both impatient and irritated.
And goddamn it . . . she’s beautiful.
Like that fucking matters.
“You asked me out here. Was there something you wanted to say?”
“I wanted to show you exactly how this relationship is going to go. I give orders, and you follow.”
“You’re an ass.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.” I shrug and take a step toward her. “Let’s get one thing straight. You need me. You—”
“I don’t need—”
“If you didn’t,” I say, cutting her off and infuriating her further, “you wouldn’t have sought me out in Ginger’s and made a show out of trying to prove you wear the pants in this relationship.”
She opens her mouth and then proceeds to shut it when I lift a lone brow in challenge.
“But you know this town better than you think you do. You know they’re judgmental assholes who think only men can ranch and breed and that maybe . . . just maybe, hiring a man like me, who they’ve already taken a liking to, might be in your best interest,” I say, full well knowing her little comment inside might have just damaged that likability factor some. “So, like me. Don’t like me. I don’t give a fuck. You need me to help run your ranch and to help change the tide of opinion, and you know it.”
“Charming,” she mutters through gritted teeth, but I know I have her. They may think she’s a haughty bitch, but I see the scared lady who’s running on instinct and grit and scraps of hope.
“I know. Charm is a rarity for me, so enjoy it while it lasts.”
Ginger’s patrons are trying not to make it obvious that they are craning their necks to see what’s going on outside the windows, and I turn away from them.
“And what’s in it for you?” she counters.
“For me?” I laugh and bite back the first thing that comes to my mind as I take a long look at her because she definitely is not hard on the eyes. “I’ll, uh, get to hone my skills.”
She angles her head as she tries to figure out what I mean.
“I thought you were at the top of your game. Now you tell me your skills need honing. Which is it, Sutton?”
“You’d be a fool not to hire me.”
“Why’s that?”
Because I’m a Sutton.
The words almost slip. My birthright almost exposed in a place where no one needs to know my business or who my family is. One more crumb possibly dropped as to why I’m here.
“Because you just would be. Sending me away is not a mistake you want to make.” A muscle in her jaw feathers as she bites back the retort I can see glaring in her eyes. “Good. Now that we have that settled, let’s set some rules.”