Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 140604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 703(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 703(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
“Josh can help.”
“He does, and so does Grim, and I am certain I’ll be training Nicole soon. But the big business portion is on me. I’m the one who can travel at the drop of the hat. I’m the one who can work crazy hours. I suspect they won’t wait too long to have babies. They need to concentrate on their family.”
“So everyone gets grace but you.”
“I don’t think of it like that. My parents are wonderful. So are my brothers and my whole family.”
She misunderstood him. “I wasn’t saying they didn’t give you grace. I’m saying you don’t give it to yourself. You put yourself last, and they would never demand it of you. But patterns form and what is essentially sacrifice turns into routine. You should talk to them if you want to slow down.”
Her eyes narrowed like she’d never thought of it before. “I have no reason to slow down.”
“Yeah, you do. There’s more to life than work. And your life is meaningful whether you have a partner or kids or not.”
“I know that.”
“Do you?” Garrett asked. “When was the last time you took a vacation?”
“I went to Mexico six months ago.”
“With who?”
Her face flushed. “My family.”
“And before that?”
She sighed. “I spent some time in Massachusetts because Bobby needed me. Fine. You might be right about that, but when was the last time you took a vacation?”
“Not the same thing, but Keane and I went down to Mustang Island a couple of months ago. We rented an Airbnb and sat on the beach for a week. There was some deep-sea fishing involved. Keane acted like I was punishing him. His work is his life, but he had a good time.” It had been right around then they started talking about how it might be nice to find a woman who wanted the kind of relationship they could provide. “I’ll be honest. There weren’t a lot of vacations before that. We’re not in the same position, and there’s no judgment in that. You should understand if I were in your position, I would see the world. I would enjoy life. I like my work, but I don’t want it to be the end-all, be-all of my existence. Whether I have a family or not. We only get one life. It’s important we live it.”
“I don’t think telling your boss you don’t want work to be everything is a good choice.” But she was smiling.
“Then it’s a good thing you’re not my boss,” he replied and felt the mood shift. The chemistry was still there. The connection was lighter but still between them.
The flight attendant came out. “We’re going to land in fifteen minutes.”
The door to the bathroom came open and Keane walked out, his face pale.
“I think our temporary foreman could use some time on terra firma,” Olivia said. “Next time I’ll make sure you have something for the motion sickness.”
“It’s not the motion,” Keane said, and then the plane bounced a little. His hand went to his stomach, and he ran back to the bathroom.
“It’s totally the motion,” Garrett called out.
Olivia looked concerned. “Is he going to be okay?”
“Probably.” He sat back. When they got to the ground, they would game plan. After Keane cleaned up.
Chapter Five
Olivia looked down at her phone as the plane began to roll to the private hangar. The flight was short. Almost an hour, but it seemed to go quickly. Too quickly since now she had to make a few things clear, and she didn’t want to upset the nice place she was in with Garrett. But she was going to.
It was fifteen minutes from the private airport to the ranch, and then she could chuck those two men in the bunkhouse and hide in her own place until she needed to work with Garrett. Keane would be out in the field or in the barn or the foreman’s office. Which was across from hers.
Maybe they shouldn’t go into the office. Maybe she should view this as remote work. She could fake a cough or bubonic plague. Anything that would put doors between her and those two men.
Because she was already wondering why they shouldn’t spend a couple of weeks together. Maybe while her parents were in Dallas. No one had to know. They could get all the tension out of their systems. When her parents got back they would be perfectly professional.
No. She was not giving in to her stupid yearning. All it would get her was another heartbreak and everyone worrying that Olivia would never find someone. Her sister and mom would go into overdrive and…
Shit. She remembered something her mother said and pulled out her phone. She found the long-running text chain between herself and Lexi and quickly typed.
Mom said you wanted to set me up with a couple of guys who work for you. Was it Garrett and Keane?