Page 2 of His Wilde Little
My gaze met his.
Holy fuck.
He was hot.
This was not where I intended on placing my feelings right now, conflicted by an attractive man who would have me question my morals.
Dressed in a cream-white shirt, not a single crease, a pair of pale denim jeans, deep brown Lucchese’s, a bolo hanging snug under his collar. I couldn’t make out what it was exactly. And a cream Stetson, matching his shirt. All of it in contrast with his sun-kissed skin. He pulled his hat off in a gesture of respect and a nod, staring right into my soul with his thick-pink lipped smile dimpling his cheeks.
“Oh my god,” I whispered in sync with my sister.
“Maybe I’m not opposed to being set up,” she added.
“Listen, he’s here for work,” Mom said. “Now, let’s go meet him, and remember, please be nice. You can let him see your real personalities later.” She snickered. “I’m kidding, of course, you’re all lovely, my children.”
It had been drilled into us how much of a lucrative deal this was going to be from Dad, but they made it seem like we were in dire financial straits and needed this man to bail us out with his skills as a so-called horse whisperer.
“As long as he doesn’t say anything homophobic, I’ll be nice,” I said. I thought it was a pretty good deal, and I hoped he wouldn’t say anything because I couldn’t keep my shut about important issues, even if it meant ruining an opportunity.
Max was seemingly oblivious to our conversation. He was definitely not going to stick it out on the ranch once he was old enough to leave. He hated animals, except for the barn cats. I think it all stems from when he was a kid and all the chickens and goats would chase him around. He swears to this day he had scars from the chickens pecking at him. I mostly think it was his way of not being asked to collect eggs.
Dad walked toward us on the porch with the mystery cowboy in tow. He walked with swagger, exuding confidence in the way his chest was pushed out slightly and a smile I knew girls in his hometown didn’t play around about. Even Olivia was now under his spell it seemed, swaying around and preening in the sundress she’d been forced into.
“Family,” Dad said. “This is Lorenzo Morales; he’s going to be working with us for a little while. I want you to all make him feel welcome now. It’s going to be a big change for him; he’s come in from Texas where he was handing a herd of cows and a stable of horses.”
Lorenzo tipped his head and hat again, the sound of his boots on the wood were so strong it sent a shiver through me, but in the best possible way. “Afternoon,” he said. “You can call me, Lolo. I’m excited to work with y’all. I can’t remember the last time I was this far north, but I’m already loving all the greenery.” He turned back to my dad with a smile. “You’ve got a lovely family.”
“Pleasure to meet you,” Mom said. “This is Olivia, she’s mostly behind the scenes with her spreadsheets and whatnots. This is Jace, you’ll be working with him, although he mostly creates the products we sell now. And the youngest, Max, he’s still in school.”
Leaning against the house, Max nodded. “I’m a sophomore in high school.”
“A real family affair, I love to see it,” Lolo said. “I don’t have much experience with alpacas, which I heard you’ve got two of. In fact, I remember you bidding on one at the livestock show just gone.”
I rolled my eyes. “And we got outbid.” I didn’t want reminding. The alpacas were my idea. I’d been obsessed with them ever since watching a documentary on them as a kid, and the passion had followed me all the way through to being an adult—and sometimes back to being a little. I had alpaca stuffies and onesies. Although my favorite alpaca stuffy was a tie-dye yarn one I named Berty.
“That’s a damn shame,” he said. “I was also doing my research on you guys. You make your own goat cheese as well.”
“Of course,” Dad said from behind him. “We’ve got a pasteurization plant and manufacturing facilities on-site. It was a big investment. Huge.”
A loaded comment toward Olivia, but with a smile on his face, the daggers in his eyes didn’t seem to soften at all. It created a moment of silence, followed by Olivia storming off inside, shouting about how he still blamed her for it.
Before I could follow after her, my mom did, and Max slinked inside, leaving me with my dad and Lorenzo on the porch. He looked directly at my pride pin and smirked, but I couldn’t get a read on what type of smirk it was, surprised? Shocked? Disgusted?
“Let’s take you on the grand tour,” Dad said. “And then I can show you to where you’re staying. I trust you looked at the pictures I sent you.”
“I did, yes, and the aerial views of the land,” he said. “Also, is that—” his nose tipped slightly in the air. “Fresh bread.”
“I make it,” I said. “Always fresh bed here.”
“Well then, I look forward to trying some.”
I smiled and nodded, trying to figure out what he was thinking toward the pin. I needed to know what type of person he was so I could adjust my attitude accordingly.
“Come on then, Jace,” Dad said. “Let’s start with the coop.”
He wasn’t as bad as I’d thought, he engaged in conversation with me, asking what my favorite animals were and how long I’d been working full-time on the ranch. As we made it to the barn, I was receiving mixed signals from him as a person and from who I’d expected him to be.
“So, why the change?” I asked. “This is a bit far from Texas. You might be out of your depth.”
