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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

OLIVIA

I gazed open-mouthed at Roz from my vantage point on the couch. She stood in front of Fred and me, her eyes sparkling under the gold dome pendant light that hung from the study ceiling, her voice confident and passionate. I’d heard the phrase “competence is sexy” before, but I’d never understood it… until now. Damn . Surely Fred would be throwing his money at Roz after this performance. With Roz’s attention focused on Fred, I let my gaze drop down her body. She was wearing another ridiculous suit, a sleek black one with a starched gray shirt underneath that made her blue eyes pop even more than usual. I bit my lip. Ridiculous . Or ridiculously hot, suggested a small voice in the back of my head. I clenched my jaw. Not helpful.

I looked up to find Roz and Fred staring at me expectantly. Heat spread across my cheeks. “Sorry, what was that?”

“I just asked whether the solar panels on the roof would generate extra electricity that could be used elsewhere in the farm, not just for the event space?” Fred said.

“Oh, sorry.” I cleared my throat. “Yes, we’ll definitely be able to use the electricity for other purposes as well, like powering the irrigation systems and lighting the barns.”

“Excellent.” Fred slapped his hands on his thighs. “Well, I don’t have any further questions. That was very impressive. Thank you both.” He smiled and rose to his feet. “Before I head off, would you mind showing me where you’re planning to put the new buildings? They’re going to be a lot larger than I thought, so I’d like to visualize how it might change the farm’s aesthetics.”

“Of course. We can go now,” Roz said, taking off her jacket and then ushering Fred out of the study. I followed them out of the house and over to the field where Thelma and Louise usually roamed. I twisted my head, looking for their familiar brown bodies. My chest constricted. She hasn’t gotten rid of them, has she? I exhaled as I spotted them in the far corner of the field. I squinted. Someone—possibly Dana—was bending over the fence. Thelma and Louise appeared to be keeping them company.

Roz gestured at the ground. “It’s a little muddy here, so watch your step.” Her shiny black leather shoes were already splattered with dirt. Did the woman not own any sensible footwear? Even Fred had dressed down for today’s meeting, wearing hiking boots, jeans and a checkered shirt.

“If you need to run to change Roz, that’s fine,” Fred said, his eyes dropping to her feet. “Or you can just show us from here.”

“No. No. I’m fi— argh !” Roz’s feet slipped, shooting off the ground.

Heart pounding, I yanked my hands out to steady her as she tipped back. I wasn’t fast enough.

My heart ricocheted into my throat as she tumbled, landing flat on her back with a thud.

“Shit! Are you okay?” I crouched down next to Roz.

She struggled into a sitting position, wiping hair off her brow and streaking mud across her forehead in the process. “I’m fine.” She clambered to her feet.

Brown mud plastered the back of her shirt. I dropped my eyes farther and— oh god! Her black pants had split down the seam, revealing a glimpse of shapely ass and black underwear, both a little smeared with mud. I bit my lip and then blinked. Now is not the time to leer at Roz’s butt.

Springing into action, I wrapped my arm around Roz and repositioned her so she was facing Fred, her exposed ass out of Fred’s sight.

“Why don’t we just show Fred from here, babe?” I said, trying to keep my voice light.

Her eyebrows furrowed. “Let’s go a little farther into the field so Fred can really envision it.”

“No!” I yelped.

Fred tilted his head and looked at me.

Shit. If Roz turned and kept walking in front of Fred, her butt would be on complete display. And as annoying as Roz could be on occasion, she didn’t deserve to be humiliated in front of her hopefully future business partner.

Fred was too close for me to whisper a warning to her.There was only one way I could think of to let her know…

Holding my breath, my hand slipped down Roz’s back and over the curve of her butt until it reached the split seam. Damn. She has a nice, firm body. I tapped her bare bottom with a finger.

Roz’s eyes widened. Mission accomplished, I yanked my hand away before I was tempted to let it linger.

“Actually, here is fine,” she said, before launching into a description of how the new building would be positioned.

I watched her, fascinated. How did she manage to remain so cool while covered in mud and with her butt exposed to the breeze? Perhaps twenty years in the cutthroat world of management consulting prepared you for every eventuality, including unfortunate wardrobe malfunctions. I tugged at the collar of my dress. Whatever the reason, Roz’s butt was not helping me shake off the annoying attraction I’d developed toward her one iota.

“That was great,” Fred said as we walked back to his car, Roz keeping a step behind him.

Roz smiled. “I’m so glad to hear that.”

A group of teens passed us, heading toward the petting zoo. Roz twisted her back slightly away from them and wrapped her arm around my waist, pressing her body close to mine. Roz’s cedar scent, the earthy tones stronger than usual, danced in my nostrils. My pulse increased. She’s just doing it to protect her modesty, remember?

I watched Fred as he pulled his keys from his pocket and pressed a button. Surely he now had enough information to give an enthusiastic yes.

“Do you have any other questions?” Roz asked.

“Not at the moment.” Fred reached for his car door. “But this is such a great area, I’ve decided to look for a vacation home around here.” He grinned. “I’ll be staying here for the next week and working remotely. So if I think of anything else I’ll be in easy reach. I’ll probably pop in once or twice to have lunch at the café—those fritters I had last time were delicious.”

“Oh, excellent.” A muscle twitched under Roz’s eye. “Talk soon.”

“How do you think it went?” I asked as Fred reversed his car out of the parking spot.

Still smiling, Roz muttered through her teeth, “Terrific. My butt’s hanging out of my pants and I’m covered in mud.”

I laughed. “Thankfully, Fred didn’t seem to notice the butt situation.”

“Yes, well let’s head back inside before anyone else does.” Roz scanned the parking lot. “Thank god the farm is quiet this morning.”

We walked across the lot. As we stepped onto the path to the house, my eyes dipped to Roz’s butt. Heat shot up my cheeks as I yanked my gaze away and focused on Roz’s face instead. “So butts aside, do you think he’s interested?”

“He loved your sustainability sections and he seemed impressed with all the information we included about supply and demand.” Roz pressed her lips together. “But I think he’s worried I don’t have enough practical farming experience.”

“Really? He seems so enthusiastic. Well, he clearly hasn’t seen you milk a cow,” I said, grinning. “If he did, he’d realize exactly how good at farming you are.”

Roz narrowed her eyes. “Ha ha.”

“And the fact he’s considering buying a house around here has to be a good sign right?”

Roz shrugged. “I hope so.”

“I did have one big takeaway from today’s meeting,” I said, picking up my speed to keep up with Roz’s fast stride so I wasn’t tempted to peek at her butt again.

“Hmm, what’s that?” Roz gave a muddy patch of dirt a wide berth.

“You need some new clothes.” I watched Roz closely. Would she be offended by my suggestion?

Roz’s forehead wrinkled. “These pants are a write-off, but I’ve got plenty more at home.”

“I don’t mean more of those pants. I mean a whole new wardrobe. While your clothes are very, um… business-like, they’re not exactly designed for farm life. They seem better suited for impressing rich CEOs of Fortune 500 companies than convincing people you’re a farmer.”

Roz paused for a moment and then gave an abrupt nod. “You’re probably right. I have been thinking that I need some new clothes.” She sighed. “I’ve been putting it off because I can’t stand shopping.”

“Well, if you want, I could take you.” My mouth slammed shut. What the hell was I doing? I was trying to avoid spending unnecessary time with Roz, and here I was volunteering to be her personal shopper? But I’d seen the way Fred had stared at her shoes. Making Roz look more like a farmer might help convince him that she knew what she was doing. And I had no confidence that Roz would select the appropriate clothes if she was left to her own devices.

Roz shot me a sharp look. “Are you sure?”

I stopped at the front steps of the farmhouse. “Why don’t we go now? Maddie is covering for me at Sapphire Blooms. And I need to buy a new hat anyway.”

“Okay.” Roz sprang up the steps and pushed open the front door. “I’ll just run upstairs and get changed.Feel free to make yourself at home. Oh, and before we head off, we should have lunch. Shopping is bad enough at the best of times. Shopping on an empty stomach is even worse.”

An image of Roz, always so proper, having a toddler-like hangry meltdown on the floor of Tractor Supply Co. flashed into my mind. I chuckled.“Sounds great.”

“My treat.” Roz paused in the doorway. “As a thank-you for attending the meeting today.”

While waiting for Roz, I examined the books lining the walls of her study. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln; Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works; Real-Time Leadership: Finding Your Winning Moves When the Stakes Are High . Yikes, they sounded dry. Roz’s steps echoed down the hall and she appeared in the door frame, dressed in yet another pair of black tailored pants and a crisp white shirt. My heart skipped a beat. As impractical as her clothes were, Roz could really rock a suit.

We headed over to the farmhouse café. Roz nodded at the young man behind the counter, who rushed out with menus and a jug of water, beads of sweat on his forehead as he handed his boss a menu with shaking hands. Poor guy.

“Ohhh,” I said, perusing the menu. “I see there have been some changes since I came here last. After Fred’s rave review, I think I’ll get the fritters.”

Roz’s brow furrowed. “Let me check something. Tom, can you come over here, please?” She waved at the poor server, who hurried back over to our table. “Do the fritters have pineapple in the salsa?”

“No, no, they don’t. It’s mango, ma’am, not pineapple.”

“You don’t need to call me ma’am, Tom.”

“Sorry, m—I mean Roz.” His Adam’s apple bobbed. “Um, are you ready to order?”

We gave Tom our orders, and he scurried away again.

I took a sip of water. “Thanks for checking about the pineapple.”

“Well, I don’t want you to collapse in my café. Not only is it a liability issue, but I need you to help me buy these clothes.” Roz straightened her knife and fork.

I chuckled. “Of course. I’ll wait till I’m out of your café and you’ve gotten a new wardrobe before I mess up your day.”

“You know that’s not what I meant.” Roz’s eyes locked on mine for a moment and a zing of electricity jolted down my spine.

I stiffened. Not again . This was a convenient business arrangement—nothing more. If she wanted something more, she wouldn’t have just disappeared without a trace that night at Pryde. The memory of sitting at the bar, nursing my drink and waiting for her to reappear shot through my mind. Why had she disappeared that night?

I was tempted to ask her. But was it worth risking the tenuous equilibrium we appeared to have reached to uncover the answer, especially when I was almost certainly not going to like the answer? She’d likely decided she just wasn’t that into me, or she was swept off her feet by another, more experienced woman while I was sitting on the toilet hyping myself up. No, I’d leave asking her about that—and demanding my t-shirt back—until it would be easier to avoid her. We were, after all, going to be stuck fake dating each other for at least another week.

My pineapple-free fritters and Roz’s burger arrived.

I cut off a piece of fritter and popped it in my mouth, savoring the fresh herbs and juicy corn kernels. “Oh, this is delicious.”

“Good, I’ll let the chef know that you approve.” Roz bit into her burger, chewed and swallowed. “So, where should we go shopping?”

“There’s a Farmer’s Own twenty minutes away. It should have some decent farming clothes.”

“The name sounds appropriate. I’m in.” Roz sunk her white teeth slowly into her burger again and I averted my eyes. How did she even make eating a burger attractive? This shopping trip was definitely a bad idea.

I spent the entire drive staring at the road, relieved I had something to focus on that wasn’t Roz and her distracting face. I pulled into a parking spot and turned off the ignition.

“We’re not going in there, are we?” Roz asked, her eyes wide.

I checked the large sign on the storefront to make sure I’d driven us to the correct place. Yep, it was Farmer’s Own. “Yes. Do you have a problem with that?”

“It says ‘ Guns, Ammo.’ ” Roz pointed to the writing under the sign.

“Oh.” I grimaced. I’d forgotten it sold firearms. It did look a little intimidating. I waved my hand through the air. “It’ll be fine.”

“Perhaps we could go to an Anthropologie instead?” Roz sunk farther down into her seat.

“Roz, real farmers don’t shop at Anthropologie. If you want to convince Fred you’re up for the job, you need to get some heavy-duty farming clothes.” I leaned over and released her seatbelt.

Roz slipped out of the car, moving at a snail’s pace. “I knew we should have taken my truck. There’s no way these gun dealers are going to take us seriously with this ridiculous car.” She glared at the spray-painted flowers.

“Stop being so dramatic,” I said, hooking my arms through hers and pulling her along. “You’re making it sound like we’re going to do an illegal arms deal or something. We’re just getting some clothes. We’ll stay well away from the guns.”

Inside, we scanned the large store for the clothing section. There were only a few customers, and they all seemed to be middle-aged white men. We certainly did stand out—I doubted they got many androgynous women in immaculately tailored business suits or women in floral dresses.

I spotted a sign saying Women’s Clothes in the far corner of the store, thankfully well away from the firearms. “Ah, here we go.” I strode over to the clothes. “Now, these would be perfect.” I held up some navy-blue bib overalls, fairly confident I’d guessed Roz’s size correctly. “They’ll stand up nicely to mud and manure management.”

“Manure management?” Roz wrinkled her nose. She held up a hand before I could elaborate. “Actually, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.” She eyed the overalls, her lips pursed. “I haven’t worn overalls since I was a kid. I’m not going to start now.”

“They’re very practical. They’ll keep you manure-free.” I grinned.

“Okay, fine,” Roz said, snatching the clothing out of my hands. She peered at the label. “They should fit.”

“These work pants would be a good idea too.” I pulled them off the rack and handed them to Roz. “Oooh, and flannel. You definitely need some flannel.” I grabbed some red and blue flannel shirts and piled them into Roz’s arms.

“You’re enjoying this far too much,” Roz murmured as we made our way to the changing room.

I laughed as Roz swished the changing room curtain closed. I hovered outside the changing room like a shop assistant working on commission.I couldn’t wait to see what Roz looked like in my hand-picked outfits.

“Is everything all right in there?” I asked after a minute or two of hearing Roz mutter under her breath.

“Yes, fine.”

A few moments later, the curtain flew open, and Roz emerged, dragging her feet. The navy overalls and a red flannel shirt perfectly fit her slim frame. The colors suited her too, complementing her blue eyes and blond hair in a way her usual monochrome wardrobe did not.

I blinked. “Wow.”

“What?” Roz snapped.

I swallowed. “You look… good.”

Roz stared at me, unconvinced.

“No, seriously. If I was meeting you for the first time, I would hardly believe that you hadn’t spent your whole life on a farm.”

The overalls really brought out the blue in her eyes, sharp glare aside. I jerked my gaze away, rubbing my neck.

I needed a distraction. “We should get you some proper boots as well. I’ll grab some while you try on the rest. What size are you?”

“Nine,” Roz replied, arms crossed. Good lord, it was as if she was handing over a state secret under duress.

“I’ll be right back.” I selected a few pairs of sturdy boots in the footwear section. On my way back, I passed a row of fleece jackets and grabbed one for her too, along with a selection of hats.

I pushed the jackets and shoes under the changing room curtain.

A few minutes later, Roz reappeared, this time wearing a blue flannel shirt, tan work pants and a pair of dark-brown work boots. Damn . I’d never thought of farming clothes as particularly sexy before, but this fashion parade was showing them in a whole new light. I pictured Roz in a barn, tossing hay onto a wagon. Her eyes locked with mine and she dropped the pitchfork on the ground and pushed me onto a hay bale, ripping off my dress. Oh god.

“Nice.” I cleared my throat. “You look like you’re ready to get your hands dirty.”

Roz raised an eyebrow.

“In a good way, of course.” I tugged at the collar of my dress.

Roz wriggled around. “They are surprisingly comfortable. I can see why farmers wear them. And they aren’t as ridiculous as overalls.”

I stared at her like we were on an episode of Queer Eye and I was Tan France. “Hmm, something’s missing.” I grabbed a brown wide-brimmed leather hat from the pile of headwear I’d collected and carefully placed it on her head. Her soft breath tickled my face. I dropped my gaze to her shirt. One side of her collar was tucked in. I flipped it out, my fingers tingling at the contact with the soft skin of her collar bone. My breath hitched.

I pulled back, my heart racing, and clapped my hands. “There! I’d trust you with my cows any day of the week, Farmer Roz. And if I was Fred, I’d trust you with my money.”

Roz chuckled. “Let’s hope Fred feels the same way.” She slipped back into the changing room. When she came out again, her face was barely visible over a pile of clothing.

“Do you want me to return anything while you pay?” I asked.

“No, I think I’ll grab it all. And I’ll pick up a few more pairs of pants and flannel on the way to the counter.”

My eyes widened. “Even the overalls?”

“Yes, even the overalls. Just in case, god forbid, I need to help with manure management.” Roz’s mouth twisted to one side. “Hang on.” She stopped. “Didn’t you say you needed a hat as well?”

I nodded. I’d been so engrossed in Roz’s wardrobe makeover, I’d forgotten.

“What about this one? I think this would suit you.”

Roz placed a wide-brimmed straw hat on my head and gently tugged it down, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. A shiver ran down my spine.

She stepped back and stared at me. “Perfect,” she whispered.

My stomach flipped. What was wrong with me? She gives me one compliment and I turn to jelly?

I looked in the mirror, focusing on my reflection. “That’s actually quite nice. Maybe I should take you shopping more often.”

“Hard pass. Now I know my sizes, all future clothes will be ordered online.” She paused, holding my gaze. “But thank you for accompanying me. I wouldn’t have stepped foot in here by myself.”

We stared at each other for a moment, the air suddenly heavy between us. It’s all in my head. It’s all in my head.

I cleared my throat. “No problem. Anyway, I guess we’d better pay and head back.”