I nodded that I understood, but I wasn’t entertaining this idea. “You ready to see the girls?” I said, and I headed toward the stalls without waiting for him to follow.
Reese wasn’t looking for a job. If she was, she’d have told me. Wouldn’t she?
Reese
I fluffed the pillows on the sofa one more time before I continued pacing the living room. All day, I’d cleaned and thought about how I was going to tell Mase that I wanted a job. I also wanted to get my GED and take online college courses, but in order to do all that, I needed a steady income.
Staying here all day was not going to be enough. Even with Mase’s two-hour lunch break, I needed something to do with the rest of my day. Telling Mase I wanted to have my own money and pay my own way wasn’t going to go well. I could just feel it. He would go all caveman and insist he could take care of me. I needed to go another route. I needed to emphasize that I wanted a purpose. I wanted to get out into the world and do something.
He was a reasonable man. He would see what I was saying and understand.
Before I could get more nervous, the door opened, and in walked Mase, looking dirty, sweaty, and very sexy. He was my own personal cowboy, and I loved that. Seeing the smile on his face was all I needed, wasn’t it? That smile made everything else seem less important. Did I want to upset him? Did I want to argue tonight? Or just curl up in his arms and talk about other things? Things that made him happy.
Yes . . . no . . . ugh! I had to talk to him. I had to face this. It was my life. Our life. I had to find my direction in it.
“I want to get a job,” I blurted out, for fear that I wouldn’t say it if I waited. “I want to get a job and a GED and take college courses online.”
There. I had said it.
Mase stopped and studied me. He didn’t say anything for a moment, and I worried that I’d sounded ungrateful or unhappy. I wasn’t unhappy. I loved him. I loved being with him. I just needed more than being here all the time.
“You want a job?” he asked. “Who have you mentioned that to?”
I shook my head. “Just you,” I replied. I didn’t think I’d said it to anyone else, but maybe I had told Blaire, or was it Harlow? I couldn’t remember.
“Why do you want a job?”
“I want to make money. I don’t want you paying for my school and”—I held my hands out—“everything. I want to contribute. Staying here all day is . . . it’s not doing anything, really. I need to work. I need to get my GED.”
Mase let out a sigh and put his hands on his hips as he studied his boots a moment. He was upset. I had upset him. This was what I didn’t want to do. I had opened my mouth to apologize when he looked back up at me. “OK. I understand. How do you feel about answering phone calls and e-mails and cleaning horse stalls?”
What? Was he trying to give me a job? That wasn’t what I meant. He didn’t need me. He was making up a job for me. I had to feel more independent than this. I needed that security. “No, Mase. You can’t make up a job for me. You don’t need help. I have to get a job out in the world and bring money home.”
A small grin tugged on his lips. “It wouldn’t be for me.”
“Huh?”
He reached down and pulled off his muddy boots and set them near the door, then walked toward me. “Arthur Stout’s wife, Piper, gives horse-riding lessons at their stables. She needs an assistant. Arthur offered you the job today.”
He reached for my hand and held it in his like he was examining a priceless treasure in his palm. “You’d have to answer phones and take notes. Write them down. You’d have to read e-mails and reply to them. I didn’t tell Arthur about your dyslexia. That’s something for you to tell Piper if you want this job. I believe you can do it. I believe you can be the best damn assistant in the world. But I need to know if you believe it.”
A job that didn’t involve cleaning toilets. An assistant job. In an office. Wow. That was more than I thought I could do. “I’d tell her,” I assured him. “Yes, I want it. That would be a great job to have on my résumé.”
He nodded. “I agree. And I think you can do it. I hate to think of you gone all day, but I also want you to be happy. I want you to have everything you want in life.”
I wanted him. He was the most important thing. But I did want other things, too. This was the first step toward being my own person. Reaching up, I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him close. “Thank you. Thank you so much for this.”
Mase kissed my head. “Don’t thank me for wanting to make you happy. I intend to keep you here. Whatever I need to do to make sure that happens, I’ll do.”
Smiling, I laid my head on his chest.
“I’m filthy,” he said, running a hand down my hair.
“I don’t care. I like you this way. You’re my sexy cowboy.”
Mase chuckled. “Sexy cowboy, huh?” I nodded, and he held me tightly against him. “Why don’t I fix us some sandwiches, and then you can take a shower with me to make sure this cowboy gets all clean.”
I pulled back and smiled up at him. “What kind of girlfriend would I be if I stayed here all day and didn’t fix you any dinner?”