The Rancher's Untamed Heart by Nicole Jordan

turn the radio on.
     
    "That isn't exactly what I had in mind. I will let you be, though," I said.
     
    "For six months," he replied.
     
    "For six months minus one day," I retorted, "I'm not waiting a minute longer than I have to."
     
    That weekend was sweet and long, and went by in an instant. Clint showed me around the ranch in a different way than I'd seen it. Instead of counting bales of moldy hay and measuring the thickness of support beams in outside sheds, he showed me parts of the ranch he'd changed in the past few years, parts where his father's way, he said, would never be beat, and parts where he wasn't sure what to do.
     
    We went out on ATV's so he could show me a beautiful hidden spring that made this property very valuable when Clint's great-grandfather had claimed it, and he told me stories about how his family had kept the land for generations.
     
    "You want to stay here forever, don't you?" I asked at one point.
     
    "Why would I want to go anywhere else?" he asked, "All I want is this ranch, and a family to pass it along to."
     
    We spent hours talking and laughing, and I followed him while he did some of the chores, before we went into town.
     
    Brandon and Will were heading in to watch a movie, so Clint rode with me in my work vehicle and we all four went on a double date, Clint heading home in Brandon's truck with them, me returning to my solitary apartment.
     
    The other men were funny and kind, and I enjoyed being around all of them. Clint was relaxed with them, throwing his head back and laughing at their jokes. I envied the easy way that they had together, and I wished that I were part of it.
     
    Mostly, though, I wished for more of Clint. I wanted to feel him, hold him, touch him. Unfortunately, I wanted his respect more. I didn’t even joke about breaking our six month pact.

 
     
     

     
     
    Work on Monday was rough, but nothing that I didn't expect. I loved my job, but for once, I would rather blow it off and go explore Clint's ranch than keep my spreadsheets up to date.
     
    "Someone had a good weekend," Sarah said, when she walked into my office at lunchtime.
     
    "Pretty nice," I admitted.
     
    "What's his name?" she asked, ducking inside and shutting the door behind her.
     
    I laughed, getting out my bottle of water and easing away from my computer, ready to have lunch
    with her.
     
    "Who said that there's a man?" I asked.
     
    "Well, did you finally turn lesbian so we could run off and adopt a lot of adorable children together?" she asked.
     
    I almost snorted my drink through my nose.
     
    "Wait, when did you turn lesbian?" I asked. "You love men. You love Neil."
     
    "I would make an exception to adopt adorable babies with you, obviously," she said.
     
    "Obviously," I replied, rolling my eyes. "The fact that you're already pregnant with an adorable
    baby is a total non-issue, right?"
     
    Sarah waved her hand impatiently. "Total. Besides, it could be ugly. We don’t know that yet."
     
    "Seriously, I'm not going to tell you who, but yes, I have met someone," I said.
     
    She rolled her eyes right back.
     
    "You and your discretion, you are no fun," she said.
     
    "Yes, me and my professional workplace behavior," I said, "The government hates that."
     
    "Want to go out?" she asked.
     
    "I already have my purse," I said, shutting my monitor off and standing up.
     
    Sarah held the door open for me. "Let me tell you about what the government likes."
     
    We walked to a local coffee shop, her telling me about how the woman working at the D.M.V. had sworn at her the weekend before.
     
    "I'm telling you," she said, as we walked through the door, "I missed my calling. I want to be able to cuss at clients and not do my job. Maybe someday, if I'm very, very good, I'll die and come back to life as a D.M.V. employee."
     
    I was still laughing as I ordered my coffee and soup.
     
    "Drinking your lunch, I see," she said, as we claimed a table. "Good call, day drinking is the one