Chapter 101 First Impressions at the Moretti Ranch
POV Maya:
I look at the seat beside me, and Louis’s chocolate-colored eyes study me cautiously. My baby knows that on this ranch live his possible daddies—if my son is nervous, imagine me. I’ll have to use every ounce of my natural charm and allure to win these men over, hoping they’ll consider me as a potential bride. How does the selection even work? David didn’t explain that part. In fact, that bastard didn’t explain anything. He just told me:
“You go there, open a flower shop, and start buying from them the fertilizers and nutrients you’ll need.”
Fuck, he didn’t explain a damn thing. And why the hell did I dive headfirst into this madness? Why didn’t Tay stop me? How did that airhead let her friend get into this? My conflicting, accusatory thoughts are derailed the moment my eyes catch sight, in the distance, of three big, muscular, sweaty, shirtless men talking and laughing. Are those the Morettis? Shit. I’m fucked. I glance at the rearview mirror, fix my bangs, retouch the gloss on my lips, and once I feel perfect, I take my baby in my arms and head toward those men.
As soon as I step out of the car, I plant my foot in a puddle of mud, instantly dirtying my pink suede boots—luxury edition. Perfect. I’m starting out in the mud. Which means that anything that comes after this is profit, I think hopefully. With cautious steps, I walk toward the trio, thinking about what I’m going to say. I can’t let my nerves take over; I need these men to look at me and think: Damn, she’s marriage material—let’s make her our bride.
“Where do you think you’re going?” I turn toward the voice that, for a second, nearly scared my soul out of my body, and I gape, shocked by the size of the man. “You can’t walk around my ranch like you own the place.”
What a crude, ill-mannered man.
“Sorry, I came to order fertilizers and nutrients.” I flash a smile, and the man keeps a stony face. “I just moved to El Soledad, and I’m—”
“Look, miss, I don’t care,” he interrupts, and I shoot him an angry glare. Louis squirms in my arms, probably wanting to bite this caveman’s shin. “We only take orders on Saturdays, so get in your car and come back in a few days.”
Breathe, Maya. Breathe and keep it classy. There’s no reason to get angry, much less stressed with a man who apparently woke up on the wrong side of the bed. You’re better than—
“I’m talking to you. Are you deaf?”
Okay, there goes my charm.
“The deaf one is you, you caveman. Didn’t you hear when your mommy told you that’s not how you talk to a woman?”
Louis gets agitated in my arms, and I put him down.
“You called me what?” he roars, nearly making me actually deaf in the process.
“See?” I point at his head. “Yet another undeniable piece of evidence of which one of us is really deaf.”
A dark smile spreads across his lips, and I’m forced to swallow hard. This caveman wouldn’t dare do anything to me, right? He takes a step toward me, and everything happens too fast. Louis leaps at the man, catching him off guard and making him stumble. The big man loses his balance and falls. Louis climbs onto his chest and snarls in his face while I burst out laughing.
“Very good, Louis. You made Mommy proud,” I say through my laughter.
“Dominic! Dominic! Dominic!” The shouts behind me catch my attention, and that’s when time stops and everything goes into slow motion.
The three men run over. The sun glistens on their tanned bodies, the wind blows, making their hair sway, creating an erotic, hypnotizing image. I feel drool slip from the corner of my mouth and don’t even bother to wipe it away. When the three monuments stop beside the fallen caveman, I take a better look at the six-pack abs each of them sports.
I have never been unhappy.
“Dominic, are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Get this mutt off me.”
“My baby is not a mutt,” I say, pissed off, even though I know about my baby’s rough life on the streets. “And if you touch a single hair on my son’s silky fur, I’ll kick each of your asses.” Three pairs of eyes stare at me with raised brows, and I puff out my chest to show I’m on equal footing with them.
“Okay, looks like the little pepper is irritated,” the green-eyed man says, looking me up and down. “Are you lost, sweetheart?”
Sweetheart? Seriously? I roll my eyes and bend down to pick up Louis.
“I’m not lost. I’m exactly where I should be,” I say, shamelessly eyeing each of their abs. “I need to place an order—”
“I already told you to come back on Saturday,” Dominic starts yelling at me again, and the little class I had evaporates.
“If I’m already here, why come back on Saturday?” I fix my gaze on the three men. “I’m new in town, and I didn’t know there was a specific day and time to place my orders. I’m sorry. I’ll come back on Saturday.” I take a step away from them, then stop and play my card. “Or I could try my luck at the neighboring ranch. I heard there’s a really nice guy there. Maybe he could—”
“What do you need?”
I’m surprised to be interrupted by Dominic—the same caveman who was yelling at me just minutes ago. When David told me I could use him against the Moretti brothers, I never imagined it would work. But seeing Dominic’s posture—and his brothers’—change, I know David was right.
“Fertilizers and nutrients,” I bite back a smile, knowing that in the first clash, I’m the one who came out on top.
Maya 1 × Moretti Brothers 0.