Page 54 of A Taste of Whiskey
Maya looked between them, arching a brow at Sasha. “Good question.”
As she headed back to her desk, Ezra whispered, “It should be against the law for you to look as gorgeous as you do after working all day. Think anyone will notice if I drag you into my office and have my way with you?”
“As much as I’d like to say no and let you do just that, has my dad said anything to you since he saw you at the barn?”
His brows knitted. “No, but your mother asked to speak with me when I was done with my client. That’s where I was heading.”
“Shit.I’m supposed to meet with them, too.”
Worry tightened his jaw.
Her mother’s office door opened, and her mother walked out. “Oh good, you’re both here.” She turned to Maya. “Maya, honey, can you please hold our calls for twenty minutes?”
“Sure can.”
Sasha and Ezra exchanged a worried glance as they followed her mother into her office. Her father was leaning against the windowsill, arms crossed. “Tiny,” Ezra said with a nod.
Her father nodded.
“Why don’t you make yourselves comfortable.” Wynnie waved to the couch and armchairs.
Sasha was sure everyone could hear her heart thundering as she and Ezra sat on the couch. Ezra cast anoh shitglance in her direction. She had the urge to reach for his hand, which made no sense because it would only make things worse. He pressed his hands flat against his thighs, as if he were fighting the urge to reach for her, too.
“Thanks for making time to come in,” her mother said as she sat in an armchair.
“Of course,” Ezra said.
Sasha was too nervous to respond.
Her father pushed from the windowsill and walked over. “We wanted to talk with you about the networking dinner.”
“You do?” It came out so enthusiastically, Sasha might as well have said,Yay! That’s great!“I mean, I’m glad you’re bringing it up. I’ve been so busy, it wasn’t at the forefront of my mind.” She turned to Ezra, seeing the relief in his eyes. “Did you know about it?”
“Yes. Wynnie mentioned it to me. I was going to talk to you about driving over together, but I was a little sidetracked this weekend. I meant to mention it last night, but it slipped my mind.” His eyes glimmered knowingly.
After Gus went to bed, they’d been busy exchanging flirty texts. Sasha tried to tamp down her grin.
“Sasha,” her mother said imploringly. “This dinner is important. We’re counting on you to do a good job representing the ranch. Please don’t forget to prepare your talk.”
“I won’t. Don’t worry. I have it on my calendar. I’m going to start working on the talk next week. I was just busy with other things the last couple of days.”
“So we’ve heard,” her father said.
Sasha’s heart nearly stopped. “Youhave?”
“I spy with my little eye…” Her father arched a brow.
Sasha’s chest constricted. She didn’t dare look at Ezra, but she could feel tension billowing off him. She scrambled for something to say, but before she came up with anything, her mother spoke.
“There are no secrets on this ranch with a little one running around,” her mother said.
Sasha held her breath.
“While you kids were gabbing with the others yesterday morning about the paintball party, Gus told us all about the fun day you had at the water park and the cookout that followed,” her father explained.
A relieved laugh tumbled out. “He did?”
“Yes indeed,” her father said. “I gotta tell you, Ezra. I was a little worried about you raising that boy here at first, since there are no other children around. But he seems to be thriving. I think he’s been good for all of us.” He nodded to Sasha. “Especially this one, who’s been working so hard, she’s been missing meals.”
