Page 3 of Cruz

He wanted to keep listening to her speak. She had a beautiful voice, soft, and so sure, and of course, she smelled amazing. Like vanilla mixed with just a touch of cinnamon.

By the time he was finished, he had six different cloths, and she cut them to what he would need.

“Do you have a sewing machine?” she asked.

“A what?”

“A sewing machine? It will help to clean up the edges, perhaps put some binding over them, and that way, they will work a treat.”

He looked down at his cloths. “They won’t work by just throwing them over?”

“Yeah, yeah, that would totally work. If you want to make it neat, though, if you don’t have a sewing machine, I could bring them to you in a few days, if you like?” Kate asked. “No extra charge, and that way, they will last you years, unless you stain a few.”

“Would you like me to come back to you in a couple of days?” he asked.

“I can bring them by the ranch if you’d like?”

“That would be perfect.”

Kate smiled. “I know how busy you get, and it will be no trouble.”

Cruz wanted to fist pump the air, because he’d been trying to figure out a way to get Kate to come to the ranch. He had no choice but to fire her mother because the woman had caused him to finally have all of his ranch rewired. Now, he knew Jaxson had been threatening it for years, but that was beside the point.

There had been nothing wrong while he’d been taking care of things. But, he had to admit, he couldn’t cook. Beans and sausage, and tough steak with lumpy mashed potatoes didn’t exactly feed himself, or his workforce. His men wanted to be fed properly, and he knew he shouldn’t have included feeding as part of his work, but it seemed right, and he knew other ranchers felt the same way.

The only problem was, Felicity might have been worse than him. Then, there were days her food was absolutely amazing. He happened to stumble upon Kate bringing cooked food, as well as groceries, and then he realized her food was the best.

Kate rang up the prices for the cloth, and he paid for it. He didn’t like to spend money, although his ranch was hugely successful, and he didn’t have to worry about money. His name and reputation had helped him build up a ranch, which came with a large price tag. There was no room for sloppiness.

“I’ll have everything together by Monday,” she said.

He didn’t want to leave, but there was no choice. Cruz knew he’d already taken as much time as he could. “This weather we’re having is just fucking awful,” he said.

Kate nodded. “At least Jaxson and Tillie are somewhere warm, enjoying their honeymoon.”

“Have you heard from them?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Nah.” She held her pen up. “Actually, I got a text from Tillie to let me know she arrived safely.” She smiled. “I was relieved.”

“That’s good.” Although he spent a great deal of time cursing Jaxson for being right. His rewiring job had proven to be the right course of action. His home no longer randomly had power outages, which was a relief. “I better go and brace myself for the outside.”

Just then, a little Jack Russell Terrier suddenly came out from behind the counter.

Kate laughed. “That’s Belle. She’s Tillie’s dog, and she didn’t want to put her in a kennel. Belle and I are good friends, aren’t we, girl?”

Cruz couldn’t deny that the dog was absolutely adorable as it came wandering up to him, and he crouched down to give her a stroke. “Well, aren’t you a curious little thing?”

Her curled tail started to wag, and it just stole his heart.

Kate chuckled. “Be careful, she has a way of stealing hearts, this one. I think she is quite deadly.”

“You’re not deadly, are you, girl? You’re just absolutely adorable.” He picked her up, stroked her, and Belle settled into his arms.

He looked over to Kate and there was something in her eyes as she looked at him, but he didn’t quite know what it was.

“She is something, isn’t she?” Cruz asked.

“Yeah, I always wanted dogs, but ... I just couldn’t have one. Mom was allergic.” Kate reached out and stroked Belle.