Page 20 of A Cowboy to Call Her Own

She removed the cover on a file box and asked, “Do you want this sorted by year?”

“We still haven’t sorted out the catering,” he said. “Until I know the state of the financials, I’m not sure how much I can pay you for your catering services.”

“We can work it out.” She took a manila folder from the box.

“Kelley,” he said and set his hand on the folder she held. “I can’t let you cater here without paying you.”

She chewed on her bottom lip and considered him then asked, “How about a trade?”

Too curious not to see this through, he countered, “What kind of trade?”

“I will cater if you let Frannie apprentice here,” she said then added, “Frannie wants to be a jockey. It’s all she’s ever wanted to do. She just needs someone to give her a chance and help her become better.”

There was something about Kelley that made Asher feel better. He didn’t want to disappoint her. Still, he asked, “Do you really want your little sister to work here, given all that’s going on?”

“I really want someone besides me and my parents to recognize her potential and believe in her like we do.” Kelley set her hand on his arm. Her words were earnest. “Frannie might not have the pedigree, but she will work harder than anyone here. I can promise you that.”

He couldn’t deny another set of hands was needed and it wasn’t like the stables had a line of applicants applying to work here. Kelley wasn’t concerned about the doping allegations. Still, he would do everything in his power to make sure Frannie’s experience was beneficial, not detrimental, to her future jockey career. “Done. Tell Frannie to meet me at the stables tomorrow morning at six. We can get a feel for what she knows and find a place for her.”

“Really? Just like that?” She searched his face. Hope swirled in her expressive eyes.

“Yes.” He wanted to grin when her smile stretched into her cheeks. He stepped away and said, “But that is not an even exchange. I will have two talented Munroe sisters helping the stables. What do you get out of all this?”

“Let’s call it a chance to try out new recipes,” she hedged.

“What else?” he pressed.

“You aren’t going to let this go, are you?” She set her hands on her hips and faced him.

He saw it then. Just a quick peek at her grit. One more thing he liked about her. Not that he was keeping count. He shook his head. “I told you I’m looking into my father potentially drugging his horse to win. Now tell me. What’s your agenda?”

She blew out a breath and brushed a strand of her hair off her face. “The diner is going up for sale. Depending on who buys it, I want to have a viable fallback plan. That’s catering.”

“Why don’t you buy the diner?” he asked. “That seems like the most logical plan since you aren’t going back to New York.”

“What?” she asked, her confusion genuine. “That’s not what I want to do.”

What do you want, cowgirl?Wait. That wasn’t his concern. Asher picked up the dessert box, reached inside and lifted a turnover out. He took a large bite and savored the blackberries inside. He had the pastry polished off in a matter of seconds. “That is phenomenal, by the way.”

“Thanks,” she chuckled and asked, “So, do we have a deal? I cater and Frannie apprentices.”

Asher helped himself to a second pastry, ate it just as quickly then wiped his palms on his jeans and said, “We have a deal. And I still intend to pay you.”

“I won’t say no to that.” She motioned to the boxes of paper. “You ready to get started on all this?” She held up her hand when he opened his mouth to argue. “I’m offering to help. It’ll go faster with two of us.”

Us. Asher closed his mouth.

A tease crossed into her words. Her expression turned playful. She said, “Not to mention, I have a vested interest now seeing as I’m something of a business vendor of yours.”

The worry was when Asher looked at her, he was starting to see something between them that was a bit more personal and a lot less professional. He pointed to the box near her cowboy boots and said, “You take that one and I’ll take this one.”

Several hours later, the boxes were mostly empty. However, now stacks of paperwork dotted the office floor, and the filing cabinet was still full. It was going to take a number of nights to organize and sort completely. And that suited Asher given he didn’t have work to occupy his evenings. Even better, they had a menu set for the weekend and into next week. Asher was already hungry thinking about it.

Outside in the driveway, he opened Kelley’s car door for her and said, “Please tell me you have more blackberries so I can put in an order for those turnovers. I can guarantee the ones back in the office won’t last the night.”

“About that.” Kelley laughed and turned toward him. “I have a confession.”

Asher had one, too. He liked the sound of her laughter. It was light and easy and genuine. It filled him with joy, too. And the Kentucky stars knew he needed more of that in his life. He tucked his hands into his back pockets to keep from reaching for her as if he wanted to hold on to the feeling a little while longer and kept his thoughts to himself. “What’s that?”