Page 77 of A Rancher's Love

Doing what was right for herself? Those moments seem few and far between. She knew how to go after what she wanted—seducing him, for example. Heading off on the apprenticeship program.

But her insistence they keep their relationship quiet had been to makehislife easier. Well, screw that.

He didn’t want easy. He wanted her.

He wanted her to know she was potentially the most important thing in his life. Kind of hard to do that when they were living in two different places and barely able to speak to each other except over the phone. Fuck it.

“You’re glowering,” Ginny teased.

Shit. He settled back on his pillow and put up his feet, deliberately set up so he could look her in the face. “I hope you know I don’t plan to stay this busy.”

“Some times of the years take more energy than others,” she returned. “And you want to do a good job, so diving in at five hundred percent is a given, knowing you.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that Luke gave me hell today. Rightly so,” he added quickly as her expression turned indignant. “It was good to spend some time with him. And I need this time with you.”

She put her feet up beside her and curled her arms around her knees, smiling sweetly. “I miss talking with you in person. The phone and texts are fine for so long, and then I want a real body in the room with me.”

He spread his hands. “Real body, right here.”

Ginny made a terrible face. “Okay, before we start, I need to tell you something. It’s just a heads up, but I don’t want this to get away and be forgotten.”

She gave him a quick summary on her run-in with Jim.

He stifled his first impulse which was to immediately track down the bastard and teach him some manners. “I’ll talk to Ashton. We’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

She nodded quickly. “Thank you, and thanks for not making a big fuss over it. I want to focus on us. So tell me, what’s on your report?”

Tucker stared at her for a moment. “Not dropping that topic yet, darling. I won’t make a fuss, but we will do what needs to be done, understand?”

Ginny wrinkled her nose. “I know. I just—I don’t think I did anything wrong, but I don’t want to get Jim in more trouble than he deserves.” She narrowed her gaze. “Don’t you dare go beat him up in some he-man ritual, got it?”

“He-man ritual?”

“Fists. Cursing. Blood and bruises.” Her expression got harder. “You and Luke used to do that all the time, and I hate it.”

“It’s sometimes inevitable.”

“I don’t have to like it. And inevitable means stuck in the past, where nothing changes until something changes.” Ginny inhaled sharply. “Don’t expect me to approve.”

“Want to make an herbal weapon for me?” he asked, trying to lighten the situation.

Ginny tilted her head and gave him a very well-executed dirty look. “You’re not funny.”

“I’m hilarious,” he insisted even as he took a deep breath and rebooted, although the incident with Jim was pushed aside, not forgotten. “I want to start with a success,” he said, aiming them back into safer territory. “I’ll have you know Ashton now thinks I am a minor god when it comes to mechanical repair.”

She leaned forward eagerly. “What? Did you fix something he couldn’t?”

“Of course, although it was a close call,” Tucker said dryly. “I googled the problem when he went to the head, so when he came back, I instantly fixed the wires that had gotten crossed.”

She hooted, the sound echoing through the loft as she pressed a hand over her mouth. “Oops. Sorry, our headquarters has very open acoustics.”

Amusement rumbled up. “How about you? Something you’ve been successful with?”

She looked thoughtful for a moment. “It’s still too early to plant anything, although I did put in the order for all the herbs and jars that I’ll need. Beyond that, I’ve been pretty laid-back. Poking a little bit into that strange mystery present my mom and dad left me. No success on that quarter, sad to report.”

“Bring it to one of our meetings, and we can check it out together,” he promised.

“That would be nice.” Ginny shrugged. “I’ve been hanging out with my nieces and visiting with my girls. Spending time getting to know Tamara better. Nothing important, really.”