Zuri Day - Ready For The Rancher

“I can’t imagine you being a nuisance.” Adam held out his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

His voice reminded her of how a good brandy tasted—earthy, spicy, with a warmth that burned gently on its way down. She took his hand and noted its softness. He may own a ranch, but this definitely wasn’t a man who spent his days herding cattle or baling hay.

“Likewise,” she replied.

It was the merest caress, just a light squeeze of the hand she placed in his. But for Ryan it transmitted all sorts of messages. That he was thoughtful and gentle, yet strong and secure. He was probably a fabulous lover. Ryan had no idea why the thought crossed her mind. She couldn’t have cared less, but there was something about him...

Ryan wasn’t the only one smitten. Am I smitten? Surely not! At least half a dozen other females within her line of vision were, and definitely their cute server with perfectly coiffed twists, who bounced up to their table wearing a smile as bright as her starched white shirt.

“Hey, Adam!”

“Hello, Zoe, a ray of sunshine, as always. Zoe is our top server,” Adam said to Dennis and Ryan. “When she heads off to college next year, it’ll be our loss.”

“Mine, too,” she lamented. “I’m going to miss eating here almost every day and seeing...everybody.”

Ryan felt anyone looking at the lovestruck teen would assume that “everybody” was Adam.

Zoe turned to Ryan. “What can I get for you today?”

“Why don’t you start us out with drinks and an appetizer trio tray?” Adam interjected. “I’ll run down the menu so they can make informed choices.”

“Great idea.” Zoe pulled out a small electronic tablet and recorded their drink orders. “For the trio, how about beer balls, fried pickles and onion strings? Those are the most popular items on the starter list.”

“Beer balls?” Ryan asked.

“It does sound a bit weird,” Zoe replied with a laugh. “They’re meatballs, made with Breedlove beef and spicy pork, then coated with a beer batter and deep-fried.”

“Sounds delicious,” Dennis said.

“Ryan?” Adam looked at her.

A slight hesitation and then, “That’s fine.”

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Don’t mind her,” Dennis said. “She’s one of those funny eaters...a vegetarian.”

“Really?” Adam perched his Stetson on a wall hook, then reared back in his chair and observed her. “You don’t eat beef or pork?”

“Nothing with a face,” Ryan responded.

“Not chicken, either, or fish?”

The incredulity in his voice made Ryan laugh out loud. “None of the above.”

Adam shook his head. “I’m a meat-and-potatoes man to the bone. For me, living that way would be like dying a slow and painful death.” He picked up the restaurant menu, a simple two-sided sheet covered in plastic, and placed it back down with hardly a glance. “We have a couple salads on the menu,” he suggested. “They’re fairly straightforward but I’ve eaten them a time or two. Honestly, they don’t get ordered much. But we wanted a few healthier options along with all the fried stuff. We also have a turkey burger but that won’t help you, either.”

“No, but it’s okay. I’m not that hungry.”

“But if you were, your choices would be limited. Honestly, with all the time we spent on the menu we didn’t give vegetarians much consideration. This is a huge meat-eating town, everything with a face.”

Ryan laughed. This guy was delightful.

“How long has it been since you’ve eaten meat?” Adam asked.

“About five years.”

“Why’d you stop?”

“Because a screw came loose,” Dennis joked. “Anyone who’d turn down a good burger can’t be right in the head.”

Adam looked at Dennis but didn’t laugh. Ryan appreciated his nonresponse to her brother’s barb. For as much as she loved Dennis, he could be a bully and often made her uneasy. Hurtful, disparaging comments in the guise of teasing were something she’d endured from him for much of her life.

“Do you work with your brother?” Adam asked in her silence.

Ryan glanced at Dennis. His eyes conveyed a message that she couldn’t read. Her answer was noncommittal. “Not really.”

“She doesn’t butcher cows,” Dennis said. “But she does work for me from time to time, typing and other things that can be done online. She’s really good at stuff like that.”

What? Updating Dennis’s résumé and typing up a couple reports hardly qualified her as being Dennis’s employee, especially when she did those things for free. Again Ryan assumed this was part of why she’d been brought here. To contradict him outright wouldn’t look good. Dennis wouldn’t like it. Ryan’s mother had taught her a long time ago that Dennis was the golden child and image was everything. Even so, she barely concealed the question from being broadcast on her face.

“You live here?” Adam asked.

“Yes,” Ryan answered.

Dennis turned to Ryan. “Adam works with his family but he has his own company, too, Breedlove Ranch, where they raise cows for market.

“You guys hiring?” he asked Adam. “If you have any openings in the office, Ryan here would make a great employee.”

This time the message in Dennis’s glance was clearly conveyed. Play along.

Ryan gripped her fingers together beneath the table. Otherwise she could imagine them around her brother’s neck! To say that she worked with Dennis was ludicrous, and that she’d have anything to do with a company that bred animals for food was an outright lie.

But then Adam looked at her with those bedroom eyes and said, “I’m intrigued. Tell me more.”

And Ryan felt that appearing to go along with her pushy brother, at least through lunch, couldn’t hurt. She didn’t see herself seriously dating a sexy meat-and-potatoes stallion like Adam. But she could certainly ride him for a night or two.

Two

Adam was surprised at how Dennis teased his sister, and didn’t like it at all. He’d been on the receiving end of such treatment. That’s how he and Dennis had become friends. The guy he remembered from high school was one who defended people who were being treated badly. That he’d been rude to his sister bothered Adam, maybe more than it should. He sensed Ryan wasn’t comfortable with the situation, either. So he decided to let the matter go...for now.

Zoe returned with their drinks and to take their entrée order. Dennis and Adam opted for the house specialty and the most popular menu item—a half pound of Breedlove beef on a toasted bun topped with onion strings, dill pickle slices, and a homemade condiment blend of spicy mustard and creamy aioli.

Adam looked at Ryan. “Would you like a salad, possibly with smashed potatoes or fries?”

“What type of oil is used to cook them?” Ryan asked.

“Good question,” Adam said. “I have no idea.”

Ryan’s query led to a visit from the chef. Once schooled in the preparation of her limited choices, her order was taken.

Dennis took a large swig of beer and then set down the bottle. “So, Adam...how’d you go from casinos to cows?”

Adam shrugged. “Wasn’t planned, although if you’ll remember, I always had a little bit of cowboy in me.”

Dennis grinned. “That I do recall.”

“Me and Christian had accompanied my father on a trip to Tokyo, where we’d just opened a second hotel. For dinner our host served us Kobe beef. It was hands down the best bite of meat I’d ever put in my mouth. I asked the host about its origins and basically became obsessed with finding out everything I could about how it was processed. When a family meeting led to a large tract of unused land being up for grabs, I jumped at the chance to come as close as I could to producing that taste in America. It’s been five years in the making, but we’re confident that Breedlove Ranch is about to deliver that product. Not Kobe, of course—that type can only come from the region that bears its name—but the best Wagyu beef ever produced in this country.”