I liked my job. I wouldn’t get a better one. Having this on my résumé was going to introduce me to more opportunities.

At some point, I was able to get my mind off of Captain long enough to focus on my calls and e-mails. I brushed down two horses for Piper and made another pot of coffee and brought her a cup. Just before I was ready to take my lunch and after Piper had left to eat with her husband, my office door opened. I knew without looking up who it would be.

Same messy hair in a ponytail, same smart-ass grin. I only gave him a glance before I looked back down at my computer screen and finished reading an e-mail. Or at least tried to.

“Are you mad about this arrangement?” he asked, walking over to set a bag on my desk.

I couldn’t ignore him; Piper had asked me to help him out. I forced myself to look at him. “What do you have for me?” I asked, inwardly cringing.

He smirked. “First, I have some of the best Mexican food in Dallas for you. Once we eat, we can get to the other stuff.”

He had brought me food again. This wasn’t just friendly—I knew that. He was trying to flirt with me. But I was Mase’s, and this wasn’t going to work. “I’ve already eaten,” I lied.

Captain shook his head as if he was disappointed in me. “I’m not a fan of liars.”

Ugh. This man pissed me off. “Let’s just get to business. What do you need me to file?” I wasn’t going to play this cat-and-mouse game or whatever it was he was trying to do with me.

He opened the bag and pulled out the most delicious-smelling taco in the world. He unwrapped it before taking a bite and sitting down in one of the chairs across from me. What was he doing, trying to torture me? “It’s my lunch break. Thought I’d share with you, but since you want to pretend like you’ve already eaten, I’m sure you won’t mind if I eat in front of you. I’m starving.”

Fantastic. I tried to breathe through my mouth so I couldn’t smell the delicious taco, but I could already taste it. And I wanted some. Swinging my gaze back to my computer screen, I reread the same sentence three times, and each time it said something different. He was making me feel flustered, and I didn’t like it.

“Could you toss me another taco?” he asked, and I jerked my gaze up to see him wadding up the empty wrapper.

“I wasn’t aware my new role included feeding you. Get it yourself,” I snapped.

This only made him laugh. I could see him out of the corner of my eye stand up and get another taco out of the bag. He stood there and unwrapped it, then placed it right in front of me before reaching in to get another and taking his seat across from me again. “Damn good tacos,” he said.

I tried not to look down at the taco. Why was he so determined to feed me? And why did he always bring good things to eat? Why couldn’t he bring something I didn’t like? Things would be much easier that way.

“Just eat it, Reese. It’s not a marriage proposal; it’s a motherfucking taco, for crying out loud.”

I shot him an angry glare, then gave in and picked up the taco to take a bite. I didn’t look at him, and he didn’t gloat in triumph. We sat there silently, and I finished off the taco, although I felt a tug of guilt with each bite.

“One more?” Captain asked.

I figured I’d already had one so I might as well have two. We didn’t talk. We didn’t argue. It was peaceful, and I was hoping the business side of our relationship would go just as smoothly.

He cleaned away our taco feast and then pulled out a large envelope and placed it in front of me. “This first batch is a mess, and there are a lot of receipts. I’ll try to get them to you every couple of days so this doesn’t happen again. Also, do you have a cell phone? I need to be able to text you when I have calls I need you to make for me.”

I did have a cell phone, but I wasn’t sure that having him text me was a good idea. I just stared up at him silently.

He sighed and raised his eyebrows while giving me that exasperated look. “Would you rather I text you or visit you every time I need you to make phone calls?”

I quickly gave him my number, which made him chuckle.

“I’ll be here on Monday to go over some other things I need filed and categorized separately.”

I nodded. Could he leave now?

Captain gave me a smirk, then turned to go. “Enjoyed lunch with you,” he said, just before he walked out of the office. He always got the last word. It was annoying.

Mase

“Friday night. Come on, man. Reese will enjoy a good honky-tonk. You haven’t been with me in ages. Let’s drink up, play some pool, and dance. It’ll be fun.” Major badgered me as he sat on the fence post while I worked on one of my new quarter horses, Bingo.

I was more than positive that Reese would not enjoy a honky-tonk. I ignored Major’s suggestion for the fifth time in a row. “Don’t you have a job to do?” I asked, annoyed that he’d decided to come bug me.

“I go in after two. Hey, let’s go bowling. I can whup both your asses.”

I shot him a glare. I wasn’t going fucking bowling. “Are you lonely? Is that what this is? You done with Cordelia already?”

He frowned like he wasn’t sure what I was talking about. “Cordelia? Hell, man, I haven’t seen her in a month or more. It wasn’t like I wanted to put a ring on it. She was just a good fuck.”

Rolling my eyes, I went back to work. He was impossible to talk to sometimes.

“You’re gonna miss me when I’m in Florida. You know you will. Might as well get all the Major you can while I’m here.”

“I get enough of you as it is. You’re always in my momma’s kitchen stuffing your face.”

“Awww, are you jealous because she loves me more?”

“No . . . but are you sleeping with your dad’s new girlfriend yet?” I retorted, thinking that would piss him off. He’d contributed to the end of his dad’s last marriage by sleeping with his stepmother.

He just laughed. “Not yet.” If I didn’t know him so well, I would think he was joking. Sadly, he was probably very serious. “How’s Reese liking the job?” he asked, jumping down from the fence. Maybe that meant he was about to leave me in peace.

“She loves it. Piper’s been good to her.”

“Good to know I won’t have to kick anyone’s ass, then,” he said with a smirk.

I didn’t even acknowledge him. He loved to try to make me mad. “Go to work,” I told him.

“Not time yet,” he replied.

“Go in early.”

I was going to buy a ring tomorrow, or at least look for one that I wanted to see on Reese’s hand. I couldn’t picture what that would be, exactly, but it had to be perfect. It had to be Reese.

While I worked all day, I thought of different ways to propose. I wanted to make it something special that she’d never forget and that she could share over and over again. She deserved the best. I was going to give that to her. For the rest of my life.

Those thoughts got me through the day and kept me from missing her too much. I looked forward to picking her up every day. I checked the clock as it got closer to five, growing more anxious with every minute.

When I opened her office door, her bottom was up in the air as she bent down over a low drawer of a file cabinet. The jeans she wore fit like a second skin.

“Don’t move,” I said, walking up behind her and sliding my hands over her plump bottom.

She tilted her head to the side and looked up at me with a giggle. “Well, hello to you, too.”

“My girl has a fine ass,” I replied, caressing it while she remained bent over for me.

“Thank you, but if I stay in this position, I’m going to get a cramp.”

I took my hands off her bottom and stepped back reluctantly. When she stood up, I reached for her hips and pulled her backside up against my front. “Mmmm,” I murmured in her ear. “Missed you.”