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“Wouldn’t mind him chatting to me,” he chuckles, passing me the machine so I can get it sorted for him.
“He’s thirty-five,” I inform him, avoiding his eyes in favor of fixing this shit.
“So?”
“So, you’re nineteen.”
I glance up, finding him smirking. “Exactly.”
“Don’t let Montana hear you talking like that,” I warn, watching as heat crawls up his cheeks. God, he’s so obvious. They both are.
Those two need to stop snapping at each other and just get it on already. Nobody gives a fuck that their parents are married. Well, maybe their parents do, but fuck ‘em. Montana is a solid guy, still older than Tyler but much closer in age than Elias would be.
“You can have Montana,” he spits, but there’s a hint of insecurity in his eye.
Sighing, I run a hand down my face, stubble prickling at my palm. “It ain’t like that.”
Relief has his shoulders relax ever so slightly, but there’s still disbelief. “Yeah, right.”
“Don’t you think that if we were gonna be together we’d be married already?” I challenge, eyebrow ticking up. “We experimented together years ago.” We fucked more than a few times, but I’m sure Tyler is aware of that, so there’s no reason to rub it in his face. “We’re never going to be more than friends, so if you want him, you should probably get over the past and just fucking go for it.”
“Yeesh,” he mutters, eyes wide. “I don’t think I’ve heard you say so many words all strung together like that in… shit, months? What’s gotten into you?”
Scowling, I pass him back the fixed machine. “You need anything else?”
Knowing when to stop pushing, he shakes his head. “Nah, I’m good.”
Right as I’m about to walk away and find a lemonade to chug, he adds, “So the hot guy, you got dibs?”
I stiffen, pausing. “Fuck off, Tyler.”
His responding laughter doesn’t fade until I’m far enough away from him to stop hearing it. Calling dibs on Elias would be pointless because once whatever high he was on when he called me hot wears off, he won’t look at me twice.
Only a few days later, I’m starting to wonder if Elias is experiencing some sort of crisis. True to his word, he’s been flirting with me nonstop. It shocks me every time but he just keeps doing it.
It would be annoying if it wasn’t so damn flattering. I blushed more in the past week than I have in my entire twenty-five years. If it weren’t for the sizzling Texas sun, I wouldn’t have a cover for it. Thankfully, I’ve been able to play it off as mild sunburn because the guys have noticed more than once.
I’ve never had a man pursue me the way that Elias is. He’s relentlessly flirtatious, playful, and smiley. He isn’t creeping on me like some asshole in a bar who can’t take no for an answer—and I haven’t even told him to stop.
Being treated like I’m something to be desired isn’t something I can push away. If I’m honest with myself, I fucking love it. I can’t help but smile to myself after every little interaction, knowing someone like him is interested in someone like me.
He’s got everything. Excessive wealth, power, friends, family, happiness. I don’t fit in with that. So while he’s not asking me out to a fancy dinner or something, just his open desire to “break the rules” with me is flattering beyond belief.
There ain’t any actual rules written down that say employees can’t date guests or even hook up with them, but that’s because they don’t need to be written. I know what my parents expect and sleeping with the billionaire who pays them thousands of dollars annually to get some privacy isn’t something they’d be too happy about.
Speaking of…
“I hear them boys out there talking about Mr. Masondo taking an interest in you,” my mama drawls, turning up her nose while she kneads a ball of dough.
I hadn’t intended on staying at the house for more than a glass of lemonade, but she insisted I sit to chat with her for a while as she worked on dinner. Ever since I started picking up longer hours on the ranch, she’s been complaining that I don’t spend time with her anymore.
Sighing, I shake my head. “You know how they are, mama. They’re just talkin’.”
She gives me that look she does when she’s trying to tell if I’m lying or not, and I hold her stare. Satisfied with what she finds, she nods, continuing to work her dough ball.
“That’s good,” she hums, her tone already lighter. “I don’t need my baby getting caught up by some big city man who’ll steal him away.”
Mama always grumbles about the prospect of me leaving the ranch, but I’ve been thinking about exploring the world since I learned Texas isn’t the only place that exists. First time I saw a world map I knew I wanted to see more. But here I am, still twenty-five with hardly enough money to go on a road trip for a few months, let alone hop on a plane to somewhere far far away.
