Hope stared into the large room with a king-sized bed in the middle between two windows with matching nightstands. A hint of jealousy crossed her face before she looked up at Gage.
“Where will I sleep?”
“Over here.” He directed her to the room next to his, twisted the doorknob, and led her inside. “This is your room until you’re ready to be mine. Then you’ll never spend a night without me wrapped around you.” Gage realized he was pushing way too fast, but he couldn’t help himself. It just kept pouring out of his mouth every chance he had.
Gage moved away from the door to give her the space to walk in. “Are you hungry?”
“A little.”
“I’ll get dinner started.”
“I can help with dinner.”
“Just get settled. Then we can talk. I need a moment, okay—and don’t go outside without me again. Understood?”
Chapter Seven
Hearing a truck ride over the gravel, Gage looked out of his living room window. Seeing his foreman’s truck, he darted up the stairs to warn Hope. He barged through her door, forgetting to knock, only to find her coming out of the shower with just a large towel wrapped around her.
“Shit. I’m sorry,” he said, but he didn’t look away like he should. In fact, his eyes lingered over the spot on the towel where she tucked into her cleavage.
“Is there something you needed to tell me?” she asked, staring at the huge bulge forming in his jeans.
“Shit. Yes. I need you to stay upstairs. My foreman is coming up to the house. I’ll call you down when he’s gone.”
“Okay,” she replied.
He turned around and walked toward the door. “Fuck. Too damn sexy,” he growled, closing her bedroom door just as Bill knocked on the front door.
Rushing down the stairs, Gage opened the door and greeted his foreman while panting. “Hey, Bill. Come on into my office.”
“You all right?”
“Yes. Sorry. I was getting ready to jump in the shower.” The faint sound of the shower running could be heard by the stairwell, so he led him down to his office.
“I won’t keep you. We’re good for the night. The fences around the property look great. And tomorrow we’ll be moving the cattle to the pastures on the right of the house.”
“That’s great. The supply delivery will be here tomorrow. What time will you all be coming back in?”
“I’m about to take them back into town, and we’ll be here at six to get started.”
“What do you think? Can we keep them on permanently?” Gage sat down and pulled out his checkbook and ran over the numbers to double check that they matched what he sent to his accountant. It would be easier for him to do the checks here, but he didn’t have the time or the knowledge to do payroll checks. That position needed to be filled quickly.
“Yeah, I’d say they are good to stay.” He passed the stack of checks to Bill to distribute.
“Good. A lot of the bunkhouse already is set up. You can have them clean it after their workday, and then we can get them in there if they want that.”
“They better. I don’t want to drive out every morning to pick these bastards up.”
“Now, go enjoy your shower and whoever she is.” Bill winked and walked to the door with a chuckle.
Before he grabbed the handle, Gage stammered out, “What makes you think there’s some woman here?”
“Because you would have turned the shower off, and that bag in the front room is a woman’s bag. It’s not my business who you bring into your home.”
Gage became defensive because for the first time in his life, he let a woman into his family home, and he wanted to keep her there. Hope wasn’t just some random hookup, and Gage didn’t want people to believe that either. “She’s gonna be my future wife, but we have some complications. I need to keep this under wraps.”
He lifted his hand, halting Gage’s explanation. “Enough said. I don’t need to know anything if you’re not ready, and I sure as fuck will mind my own business.”