The Rancher's Fall

Chapter 4

It was late afternoon by the time Blake had reached his ranch, what was supposed to be a short trip to town, had ended with him wanting to crawl under a rock and hide away, until things settled down.

His sister had dropped him off, but had enlightened his staff about his predicament, having his housekeeper constantly fussing around him and the rest of the guys ribbing and making jokes. It was a never-ending humiliation that he wasn't going to live down in a second.

Either than his housekeeper being the only one who was concerned for his state of health, the rest of them found it funny and couldn't hide their smirks whenever he walked past them.

So, he was rather in a foul mood, by the time the next day rolled over, having not slept well. Glaring at anyone, who attempted to joke around him, especially if he was the butt of their jokes.

"You've gotta let them be..." Gladys, his housekeeper spoke up, the moment he stepped into the kitchen, "It's not every day that your boss appears to be human, when most of the time he seems untouchable..."

"Well...I don't like it." He stated, throwing his hat onto the table, sitting down, crossing his arms across his chest, glaring at his dog, who lay in his favorite spot near the oven, with not a care in the world.

Gladys tsked, "Why don't you take something positive out of this..." She asked, stopping what she was doing, looking at the young man before her, "Why don't you call that young lady...perhaps she will put you in a better mood, from what I understand you took a liking to her."

Flushing slightly at that reminder, Emma was one of the reasons he couldn't sleep, he had quite explicit dreams about her, causing him to shift uncomfortably in his seat. That damn woman was causing him grief, without being in his line of sight. Making a determined decision, knowing he had to flush her out of his system and soon, he stood up, "You are correct...I will call her."

Emma was sitting in the recovery room, with her mother and brothers in attendance. Her father's operation had run smoothly and they were only waiting till he was transferred back to his room. While she was sitting there, her mind wandered back to the previous day's events, smiling slightly at the thought of Blake, he sure ruffled her feathers and some of them not in a bad way. He had affected her, she could not stop thinking about him and wondering if he would ever call again. It had been a long time, since a man caught her attention...

Feeling her phone buzz in her bag, she quickly extracted it, glancing at the number, smiling when she recognized it. Standing up, she left the room, not wanting the others to overhear her conversation with Blake, "Hello..." She answered huskily.

Blake froze in his spot, he had been pacing his office, waiting for his call to Emma too connect, only to freeze when he heard her voice, his anatomy twitching slightly, "Ummm...Emma, this is Blake. How are you?"

'I'm doing okay...was wondering if you still had some brain cells actually." She replied back sassily.

Blake grinned, Emma was never going to be predictable, keeping him on his toes, "I'm calling on Rex's behalf, he is not doing well, moping around as predicted, thought I would experiment and see if it perhaps has anything with missing you..." Crossing his fingers at the lie he was saying, hoping his Nana won't hear about it, she sure hated liars, "Perhaps we can meet up and test this theory..." He rushed out, before he chickened out, waiting for her response...

Emma rolled her eyes, smiling. Blake was really laying it on, he was too stubborn to admit he was interested, she needed time to come up with a plan to get a reaction out of him, smirking slightly when a idea popped up, "I guess I could make a plan to meet up with Rex..." She drawled out huskily, "Though today won't be possible, how about tomorrow morning."

"Ummm...sure. Where and when can we meet you." Blake replied, slightly deflated that he wouldn't see her that day.

Emma laughed internally, she had him hook, line and sinker, "How about at the main beach, around nine. I usually take my morning walks there. We could meet up at the lockers."

"Sure..." He muttered.

"Great! Can't wait to see Rex, I really missed him. Bye for now."

Blake blinked, looking at the now silent phone, did she just switch off, shaking his head in frustration. It was going to be a long wait, his day not looking any better ahead.

He better get out there, find some hard labor to keep him busy, tire him out and hopefully he'll be in a better mood once he slept. Because for some reason, instinct told him, that Emma was up to something and he better be wide awake and alert.

Smiling as he went about his day, lookingforward to what lay ahead, especially if it involved a certain spicy red head...