next met her gaze. And then she realized she’d be his boss, and all of these hot and achy feelings of desire that she’d just begun to acknowledge would have to be ignored. How would it look to her family if she proved herself so unprofessional as to chase after an employee? Doug was all business about the ranch. Distractions got cattle killed. Every head lost was money out of their pockets. She’d grown up with these words constantly ringing in her ears. And yes, things were better financially since Nate had begun expanding their investments, but that didn’t mean the day-to-day job was any easier.
“Sir, I appreciate the offer,” Adam began at last, “but I can’t mislead you. I’ve never worked on a ranch.”
“But you ride a horse,” Doug said. “You visited when your father hired on occasionally with us. Brooke and Josh can teach you what you need to know.”
“Or,” Mrs. Palmer began, “I could always use an assistant in my tarot business.”
Brooke pressed her lips together to keep from laughing at her obvious ploy. She wondered what else was a ploy.
“Business?” Adam echoed dubiously.
“I didn’t tell you about my plans, my dear boy? But of course, if you’re workin’ for Doug here, I’d understand.”
“I don’t think you have much of a choice, Adam,” Josh said dryly. He glanced at Brooke. “Training a greenhorn. Think we can handle it?”
“We’ll work him hard,” Brooke said, finally looking at Adam and offering a polite smile. “But then, I’m sure he’s used to hard work after being in the Marines. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Grandma baked a cake that needs to be served.”
As she rose, Doug slapped the table, his smile satisfied. “Then it’s settled.”
Though Brooke retreated to the kitchen, she could still hear his voice.
“We do work hard on the ranch, son,” he said. “Ranchers don’t take vacations, after all. But there was one time Sandy and I wanted to go down to Denver to see a show for the weekend—”
“And a Broncos game,” Sandy interrupted dryly.
Brooke heard the chuckles as she picked up the chocolate-cake pan.
Doug continued, “So, Adam, we hired your dad to be here over the weekend to work alongside Nate, who was still in high school.”
Brooke arrived back in the dining room in time to see Adam nod, but there was a tension in his shoulders that hadn’t been there before. She knew his mom had been an alcoholic, but all she knew of his dad was that he seldom held down a job for long. Obviously taking care of his family wasn’t that important to the man.
“So who’d like cake?” she asked from the buffet, where she began to cut slices and put them on small plates.
“Wait a sec, Cookie,” her dad said.
With her back to the room, she closed her eyes and winced. She loved that nickname, but hearing it right after she found out she was to be Adam’s boss in what many would consider to be a man’s world . . .
“So, Adam, your dad and Nate had a trailer-load of cattle and got a flat tire. While your dad was fixin’ it”—Doug started to laugh, along with Nate—“the steers seemed to line up and”—he could barely get the words out now—“take turns pissin’ on his head!”
It was a famous story in their house, and Mr. Desantis wasn’t the only one it had ever happened to. But she was watching Adam’s face, and although he forced a smile, it was obvious he had no good feelings for his dad.
Brooke set a plate of cake in front of Doug. “Okay, guys, shut up and eat.”
Her dad was actually wiping away tears. But Sandy was watching her curiously, and Brooke went back to serving the cake.
“Okay, okay, I’m done,” Doug said, his voice almost hoarse. “Adam, we’ll feed you lunch every day, so no worries about that. You’ll even have as much steak as you want for cookin’ on your own. Get here at dawn tomorrow and work hard, that’s all I ask. Come over to the business office first thing, and we’ll fill out the papers.”
“Yes, sir,” Adam answered. “Thank you, sir.” He started to eat his cake.
Brooke had to stop looking at him, had to stop caring about his feelings. He might be in a world of hurt the next few days as he adjusted to life on the ranch, and it wasn’t her job to sympathize. Her job was to get a good day’s work out of him.
And stop thinking