With a sigh of satisfaction Kara walked among the corrals filled with all kinds of livestock. The steers she had put up for sale had brought in a good price and she was walking around, looking for ideas to minimize her costs and hours of input. She had managed the timeline she had set for herself with the drive despite being shorthanded, but she was under no confusion that she could not keep up the pace indefinitely.
She had to find solutions to make her life easier.
She came upon a demonstration for cattle dogs and she watched with interest. The dog was so efficient that she wondered if he could help her with the drives, maybe even speed it up a little, not to mention the general work with cattle. After a while she put up her name for a demonstration on her own ranch and then walked on to see what else she could find, even while her mind wandered.
She had been on the ranch six weeks now and the work just seemed to keep adding up and she had the feeling of falling further behind. She just could not manage to get everything done that she deemed needed; she would have to think about hiring more men. But first she had to sit down and figure out her Grandad’s accounting system to see how much funds she had to her disposal.
She would have to automate some things or at the very least get more hands, but she had still not managed to figure out her grandfather’s filing and bookkeeping system. That was probably the next thing she had to set to work on; she could not keep going if she did not know what she had to work with.
But to this point she had kept his office door tightly closed against the sight of papers piled high on the desk and any other horizontal space, which included the floor. Obviously paperwork had not been high on her grandfather’s list of things that needed to be seen to, but she knew it was an important part of keeping this farm running effortlessly.
But it was a mountain that she was not sure she could face just yet.
She would have to figure out a way to let things run more smoothly. She would speak to Brad on Monday about the bookkeeping; she would never have enough time to get to that too – at least not at this point. She was sure it would take weeks, maybe months to organize everything and get to the bottom of the system.
Kara was so deep in thought that she did not see the large figure stepping in front of her and she walked into him so hard that she was toppled over backwards. She gave an involuntary gasp while her arms flailed to catch herself. The man managed to catch her before she hit the ground and she mumbled an apology before she glanced up and into the smiling face of Matthew Connor.
Instantly she felt the anger in her rise once more and she tried to pluck her hand from his the moment she had her footing. But he held on. “Nice to see you again, Miss Daniels. How is the ranch life treating you?” He asked with glee when he saw her face flush with anger.
Why did he have this effect on her? He had barely greeted her; quite civilly and she was already annoyed. Was it because she knew that he remembered her moment of impulsiveness with obvious clarity? Or was it her simple annoyance with knowing that he had seen her naked before they had met?
“Hello, Mr. Connor. Played peeping tom, lately?” She asked coolly. She knew she was being unfair, he had been friendly now, but she could not help herself. There was just something about him that rubbed her the wrong way.
He chuckled with amusement while he held her gaze and her hand. “Now, Miss Daniels, I did not choose to see what you showed me so freely that day at the river.” He teased and watched as the anger rose in her green eyes so it seemed that the golden shards would impale him. A crooked smile played on his features when he saw her face flush with her anger. It seemed as if he enjoyed her temper more than she enjoyed having him raise it by simply appearing.
“What were you doing on my land? If I remember correctly trespassing is still a crime.” She said, the anger lowering her voice. Kara tried her very best to keep her trembling voice under control. She hated the way the trembling always made her sound like she was about to cry.
He laughed as if she had just told him a joke. “Well, I’m sure it is, but I wasn’t trespassing. That river forms the border between our ranches and you were the one who was so reckless without checking to see if there were any spectators.”
“A gentleman would have warned me of his presence before I had stripped down completely.”
“A lady would not have stripped down completely when there was a chance of being seen and I never said I was a gentleman.”
Clearly she had nothing on him, at least not yet, so she had to settle for a request on his honor. “I would appreciate it if you could keep it between us, Mr. Connor.” Kara spoke through her clenched teeth while she kept tugging unsuccessfully at the hand he still held. How dare he? “I trust you have enough honor to do such a thing, even with the little you do possess.” She hated sounding like a fool, but she really could not think of a snide remark. He made her sound like a schoolgirl and she hated that feeling.
He chuckled again at her intended insult and fell into step beside her as she started to walk away when he finally released her hand. “What do you want?” She demanded while she smiled at the people who greeted her friendlily. She had met a few more people after the party, though she had not yet had a chance to be socially active and people seemed to understand that better than she had expected.
“I want to show you something. Come to my place this evening on your way home.”
“And what would that something be?” She asked, stopped and turned to face him with her hands on her hips, hoping that she had managed to control the emotions that always showed so easily on her face.
“Wait and you will see.” He grinned and he touched his forefinger to her nose as if he were talking to a child and then turned and left her standing there with impotent anger. How dare he? Again he had managed to make her feel and probably look like a child he was teasing. Well she refused to go. She would not give him the pleasure!
Raising her chin slightly, she stared after him with a look that would have killed. She had the impulse to stomp her foot before walking away, but she stopped it just in time. Taking a deep breath to cool her hot anger, she turned and walked in the opposite direction he had gone.
Mat had a grin on his face as he walked away; he knew she had hated the way he had said goodbye before walking away and he could not explain why he took so much more pleasure out of teasing her than he usually did.Perhaps it was because she seemed to anger so easily and he did like the way her eyes flashed when she was angry, though the blush was quite comely when it graced her face. But the golden shards in her green eyes seemed to flash like lightning if she was annoyed and he could not resist seeing the sparks whenever he met her.After he had met her at the party and had realized who she was, he was more than intrigued as he had realized that his interest was closer to home
She turned around and looked at Matthew to see him smile with a mixture of pride and enjoyment. She did not know how to react. In shock and unable to think of what to do or say, she turned back to the painting.There on the easel was a painting of her in all her naked glory, as she had stood in the river when they had first met. He had perfectly painted her in the surroundings and it seemed so real that she had an insight on what he had seen. He had painted her form perfectly. Her face was very recognizable, as her wet hair had been pushed back to reveal her features; a stubborn strand hung over her shoulder and framed her one breast as if to draw attention to it. Her skin glistened with the moisture still clinging to her. Her hands were at her side, fingertips gently touching the surf
And so Friday afternoon at two, Kara was packed and ready to go, though not eager in the least. A knock sounded on the door and she opened to see a well-dressed Matthew Connor standing in the doorway. He wore dark blue jeans and a casual, button-up short-sleeved shirt. The light blue of the shirt made his blue eyes that much more intense. His casual elegance froze her for a moment. He smiled a greeting before he took her luggage and loaded it in the back of his 4x4.Well, at least he had some manners, she thought as she locked her front door and came down the steps, trying to calm her nerves. He held the car door open for her before he went around to the driver’s side. Kara angrily shoved the thought aside; he had never been anything other than courteous, except for the threat with the painting. And the threat trumped any manners he might have.There was a long silence when they left the road leading to her ra
It seemed the entire family was waiting for them on the sidewalk when the car pulled up to a large, but unassuming farmhouse style house with a wrap-around porch. Kara was slightly worried at the many people embracing Matthew and then turning expectantly to meet her, only to greet her the same way his older brother had. Her nerves were shod by the time the greetings were over with and she wondered at how his family seemed to enjoy touch so much. She had noticed that even in conversation they would touch an arm or a shoulder as if they found the contact to be important.Her family only touched when it was expected or needed, but then her parents had usually dropped her off at her grandfather whenever they had better plans in mind. But despite her grandfather’s gruff love, she had a tendency to avoid contact herself as well. Touching and being touched seemed like it was an intimate gesture and she was not used to it.There were t
Kara awoke pleasantly to the warmth of her bed and the smell of bacon, fresh coffee and toast. Still half asleep she turned towards the warmth that lay behind her and snuggled closer with a sigh of contentment. This was entirely comfortable and she was in no rush to wake up just yet.She lay with her eyes closed while she allowed herself to wake gradually. As the memories of the previous day returned she suddenly froze when a heavy arm went around her and pulled her closer. A deep contented groan escaped close to her face and she slowly opened her eyes fearing the worst.With a shock she looked into the still sleeping face of Matthew while he held her to him. How dare he sneak into her room when she was sleeping and get into bed with her uninvited? Instantly, Kara felt her blood boil and she leaned back and pushed her legs between them, casually kicking him out of the bed so he hit the floor with a heavy thud.She smiled sweet
Kara caught a reflection of herself in the mirror inside the wardrobe door and wished she had brought the long dressing gown instead of this one that barely came to her knees. She remembered the hanger she still held and curiously opened it only to catch her breath. He wanted her to wear this?Slowly she took it out of the protective cover and stared at it in shock. The dress he had bought her would stop well above her knee and it had a tie over the right shoulder leaving the other bare. It was black and tastefully sexy and she wondered if she should really wear this outfit. But then, he had left her no choice in the matter.With a sigh, she hung the dress against the wardrobe door and started putting on make-up and doing her hair. With her hair tied up in a style that kept it out of her face, but allowed delicate curls to hang around her face and to her back she finally turned to the dress with a sigh. Staring at it for a few
Kara was sure she had calmed down and sorted through the strange emotions that ran through her by the time they headed to the venue for the party after the beautifully emotional ceremony. She was sure it was the champagne that had got to her. And she promised herself that she would not drink champagne again tonight. It was a romantic setting with paper lanterns and flowers everywhere, all of it enhanced with fairy lights.It turned out that it was very close to the home of the Connors. There was even a pool with a water feature that was reminiscent of the little waterfall where they had met the first time. And the tables were small and intimate. It was a quiet wedding, not many people were invited, since they wanted to keep it romantic.Kara glanced around her and realized that they had indeed succeeded in their plan. Another glass of champagne was pushed into her hand before they made the toasts and she had to drin
Kara awoke somewhat, but even before she was fully awake, she became aware of a pounding headache. She groaned as she pushed her face against the warmth in front of her. For some reason the scent that came to her nostrils calmed her slightly, but the headache still lingered. With a shock she realized that she was snuggling against someone. She bolted upright in bed and regretted it almost instantly when a wave of nausea came over her. Jumping from the bed she ran to the bathroom across the hall and threw up in the toilet. With a groan she glanced down at what she was wearing and gasped. What did she do last night? She didn’t…? The moment her stomach stopped its antics, she slowly got up and washed out her mouth and rinsed her face. Gingerly she made her way back to the room, grateful that no one else seemed to be awake to see her. Her head was pounding and she wished she could remember what she had done th