“Four full-time and another two part-time. Don’t worry. I’m not kissing any of them.”
Her mother was the queen of flat looks, squinty eyes and other facial dressing-downs. “They report directly to Josh, and Josh reports to you.” Again, no waiting for a response. “Well, think how those other hands will feel about him if they believe he’s sleeping with the boss. They might question Josh’s authority, and that could hurt the whole operation. A smooth-running chain of command is critical to managing a business.”
Hope didn’t have a comeback for that, and it put a balled-up knot in her stomach to think it might be true. It didn’t help that living proof was standing right in front of her. Well, it was proof if she was to believe her mother’s marriage had indeed hurt her family business.
While Hope was mulling that over and silently cursing the boob-swiping, ear-tonguing doctor, her father returned. He didn’t have wine or beer but rather two shot glasses filled with strong booze that he probably figured Hope could use after the conversation she’d just had with her mother. He handed one of them to her.
“I was just telling Hope why she has to nip this thing with Josh in the bud,” Beverly explained to her husband. “That’s best for—”
“There’s Mark,” her father interrupted. He made a vague motion toward the living room that was jammed with guests. “Beverly, why don’t you bring him over here to meet Hope?”
That got her mom’s gaze firing all around the crowd. “Of course. I’ll be right back.”
“Did you really see Mark?” Hope asked the moment Beverly was out of earshot.
“No, but I thought you could use a break.” He sipped his drink. “Did your mom tell you all about her marrying down?”
Hope winced, hating how that must make her father feel. Of course, he’d likely heard it so many times he was probably numb to it. “I think she got the better deal in this marriage.”
He smiled and brushed a kiss on her forehead. “It’s not so bad. I enjoy reinventing myself every couple of years. Never did want to put down roots, and your mom’s completely on board with that.”
“Yes, I figured that out around the time I realized my roots were growing deep into the proverbial soil of the Applewood Ranch.”
Her father made a sound of agreement. “For whatever reason, though, your mother has decided that our lifestyle should be yours. And that you shouldn’t make your own mistakes, that you should have the perfect life.”
“I already have that,” Hope pointed out. Well, almost perfect. “The ranch is a success and will be an even bigger one when I close the deal with the horse broker I just chatted with.” A sleazy, pervy one, but she’d done business before with men like that and could handle it.
“And Josh?” her father asked.
It was the million-dollar question, maybe literally. Because if she messed things up with Josh, it could lead to not only a broken heart but a whole bunch of lost revenue, as well.
Hope finally caught sight of Karlee, but before she could wave down her friend and yell at her, her dad continued.
“Josh is a good man, on and off paper,” he said. “And yes, I vetted him. Don’t look at me like that. You’re my daughter, and when you told me he was going to be living in the cabin just steps from your back door, I had him checked out. You might be relieved to know that there were no red flags.”
Oh, yes, there was. Josh was hot, a good kisser and had an incredible butt. All red flags to her body.
“You’re lucky to have him,” her father added.
Hope could add another yes to that. The only reason he’d come to her for a job was because of the death of the owner of the ranch where Josh had worked for ten years, and the rancher’s kids had decided to sell—for a whopping ten million dollars. That high price tag had put it well out of Josh’s financial reach, so he’d started over. At her place.
Her father had another sip of his drink and looked at her from over the top of his glass. “So, are you going to take the risk and go after Josh? And before you repeat all the reasons your mom just gave you for why that wouldn’t be a good idea, let me add my two cents’ worth. Life’s short. Be with someone who’s the doodle to your snicker.”
Hope stared at him. “Wh-what?”
“There’d be no snicker without a doodle,” he added as if that explained everything, and she hoped that wasn’t some kind of sexual reference. No way did she want to talk sex with her dad. But someone came her way who might fill the sex-talk bill.
Josh.
But he definitely didn’t seem to be in a sex mood. Or even a good one. “I need to go,” he said, though she wasn’t sure how he could talk with his teeth clenched like that. “Stay as long as you want. I’ll wait for you in the truck unless you want to get another ride.”
Hope didn’t hesitate even a blink before she went after him, saying goodbye to her father as she got moving. “What happened?” she asked when she caught up with him on the porch.
“My mom. She called you a name.”
She frowned and had to keep catching up with him because Josh was walking so fast. This trek would have been a whole lot easier in her broken-in cowboy boots. “What name?”
“Blonde,” he spit out.
Despite the fact her breath was getting a little short from the jaunt across the pasture, Hope felt some relief. “Uh, I am blonde.”
Josh threw a glance at her, and even in the darkness she could see there was still some teeth clenching and face tightening going on. “She didn’t mean it as an observation or a compliment.”
“Oh.” That stung for a second or two, though not as much as her lungs were stinging by the time they reached his truck. “I don’t think Roger meant it as a compliment when he was eyeballing my breasts. What about the doctor?” she tacked onto that.
Josh frowned when he opened the door for her, and she got inside. “Did she eyeball your breasts, too?” he asked.
“No. She...” But Hope waved that off. There was nothing she could say that wouldn’t make her sound jealous. Which she had been. Her mouth had never been that close to Josh’s ear, and she’d known him a lot longer than Dr. Flirt-a-Lot had.
Josh stared at her a moment as if trying to suss out what she’d been about to spill, but he finally gave up and got in the truck. He started the engine but then turned to her.
“I don’t want to fake a relationship to get our folks off our backs,” he said. “Because it could cause problems elsewhere.”
Now she was the one trying to suss out what he meant. “You’re talking about the other hands losing respect for you.”
His forehead bunched up. Obviously, she’d sussed in the wrong direction, though she was certain that possibility had been on his radar. Her mom couldn’t have been the only one who’d come up with that pitfall in the making. But if Josh hadn’t meant that at this exact moment, then that left the other possible snag.