Page 8 of His First Baby Rodeo

“I wasn’t going to push you into starting right away,” Mac said. “It’s all right if you want to take a few days to ease in. I know it’s been a while since you’ve worked on a ranch.”

El raised her eyebrows. Was he questioning her abilities? “It hasn’t been that long.”

“I thought you were living in Seattle,” he said. “I know you moved up there for college.”

She was torn between feeling impressed that he had known something about her and offended that he thought a few years off made her incapable of getting back into the swing of things. “I’ve been back for a while,” she said. “I’ve been living with Jeff on my parents’ ranch for over a year.”

“Yeah, but y’all have hired hands there, right? I mean, you weren’t doing the ranch work yourself.”

He was right, but he was also bothering her. “You hired me for a reason, presumably,” she said. “You must think I have some idea of what I’m doing on a ranch. Are you that reluctant to let me start working?”

“Don’t get all sensitive about it,” he said, grinning. “I just thought you might need a few days to settle in. If you don’t feel like you need that, you can get started tomorrow. I’ll give you the tour.”

“That sounds good,” she said, squaring her shoulders. “You bought this place after you graduated, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.” He glanced back at her. “I guess Jeff told you that?”

Actually, she’d remembered it. Jeff hadn’t told her directly, but she had overheard the two of them discussing it one night over beers. She had been in high school at the time, and as such, she’d been practically nothing to her brother’s friends. She doubted she was even in Mac’s memory of that weekend he had spent at their family’s ranch, telling Jeff about his plans to open a ranch of his own alongside his budding rodeo career. But it was the kind of thing that lodged in El’s mind.

It was hard to spend several days living alongside a guy as hot as Mac Palmer and not be affected by it. He had been at the table every morning when she had come down to breakfast, usually wearing nothing but a thin white T-shirt over flannel pants. El had learned, that weekend, how to look as if she was making no effort at all. She’d gotten up half an hour early to change out of the pajamas she’d slept in and into matching sweats and a spaghetti strap top. She’d spent time each morning combing her hair into casual disarray, trying to look like she didn’t try.

I guess Jeff told you that. He didn’t even think about her. He hadn’t even noticed her.

It wasn’t that she wanted him to notice her, of course. But the frustration lay in the inequality of it. All the effort she had put in, back in those days — and for nothing.

He led her out the front door and into the yard. “There’s the stable,” he said, pointing it out with his good hand. “I’ve got three horses at the moment, so that shouldn’t be too much work for you, right?”

“I can handle three horses.”

“I want them all to get plenty of exercise.”

“Naturally.”

“I would have more,” Mac said. “I meant to buy a few more after the season started, but — well, things got thrown off course for me. I’m not going to be in the market for a new horse until I’m in shape to take it for a ride and see how it handles.”

“You can still ride, can’t you?” she asked, genuinely curious. “I mean, mounting might be tricky, but your arm doesn’t stop you from riding.”

“I’m not talking about a leisurely canter around the property,” he said. “I’m a rodeo rider, Eleanor.”

“Just El,” she corrected him.

He glanced at her. “Just El?”

“It’s always been just El,” she said. “Or since middle school, anyway. How did you not know what my nickname was?”

“I don’t know,” he said blankly. “You and I have never spent that much time around each other. I mostly hear about you when Jeff brings you up.”

“Jeff calls me by my nickname. The whole family does.”

He shrugged. “I guess I do remember him saying that,” he said. “I never really thought about it. Sorry. Okay, El it is.”

She shook her head. “It’s not that big a deal,” she said. “I’m just not used to hearingEleanor.”

“Nah, I get it,” he said. “I’m not used to Malcolm.”

She blinked. “Your name is Malcolm?”

“So I guess I’m not the only one who didn’t know everything.” He was grinning.

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