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Fuck.
I shut the door before she woke up Mollie and headed downstairs.
Jackie followed. “I knew it!I knew it! I knew it!Youdolike her!”
I sighed. “Yeah, yeah.”
“How did it happen? I can’t believe she even went for you.”
“Hey, I’m not that mean.”
“You very much are.”
I rolled my eyes. “Notallthe time. Whatever. It’s nothing official anyway.”
She groaned. “But this is the kind of woman youshouldbe official with. Tell me she’s not one of your one-night stands.”
“I don’t know.”
“You need a partner, and she could be it!”
“Jackie, it onlyjusthappened. We haven’t talked about anything else. I have no idea where this is going. And there’s the whole issue of her owning the farm.”
“But would you be willing to make it official if you could work all of that out?”
Normally I’d say no. But not this time.
“We’ll see.”
Jackie gasped. “Yes!”
I scrubbed my face, knowing that Jackie would follow up, and I needed to figure out where Mollie and I stood. I had no idea about her opinions on relationships or anything about her life in the city. Usually, none of that mattered. I was a one-and-done kind of guy.
But this time, it did.
“Okay, I’ll leave you alone to get your work done,” Jackie said with a smile. “But I can’t wait to see where this ends up.”
The uncomfortable feeling in my stomach grew. “I might end up disappointing you.”
“You could never,” she said, giving me a hug before leaving.
When she was gone, I got a few minutes of silence while I grabbed a flannel and shoes before there was a knock at the door.
My mood fell even further. The last time I heard that sound, it hadn’t ended well for me.
I opened the door to see a man with blond hair pushed back on his head. He had piercing blue eyes, and was dressed in an expensive suit.
“Who are you and what do you want?”
“Wow, no manners.” The man rolled his eyes. “I guess that’s what I should expect from a place like this. I bet you don’t get too many visitors.”
“You’d be surprised,” I replied.
“I need to speak with the owner of the house.”
“She’s asleep.”
The man’s lips pursed. “Of course she is. And I assume you’re the farm manager?”