He had drops of rain gathered on his hat, and his hands were also wet.
The white shirt he had on became transparent in the spots that the rain hit him.
I tore my eyes away and looked out the window, trying to ignore the way the muscles in his arms bunched and lengthened as he turned the wheel.
“Thank you, Mr. Valentine,” I whispered.
He turned to me before hopping out of the truck and said one word that changed my life. “Ace.”
I followed him, thankful that the portion of the loading dock that we were now in had a covered area where we could unload the cows into the chutes without drenching ourselves.
Except once I’d signed the papers, I didn’t have to do a damn thing. Ace wouldn’t let me.
“Go stand over there, out of the way,” he ordered angrily.
My brows furrowed.
“Did I do something wrong?” I asked.
“You should’ve never put that bull that close to in heat cows,” Ace chastised me. “He could’ve really hurt himself or them.”
“I didn’t have much choice,” I said. “Granddad made me do it this way. He was worried if I had to make two trips, the truck wouldn’t make it.”
Ace’s eyes flared.
“Could’ve called me, I would’ve come and taken it. Stubborn bastard,” he growled.
I bared my teeth. “Don’t call my granddad names.”
His eyebrows lifted in surprise.
“What?” I asked.
“You’re pretty mouthy for such a small thing,” he said.
My mouth dropped open.
“You should really not talk. It’d help you stay sexy,” I muttered darkly.
His white teeth flashed. “Is that so?”
I nodded.
“You’re done, Valentine,” a man called from behind us, handing Ace a slew of papers, which Ace immediately turned over to me.
“These are yours. They have your numbers on them,” he informed me.
I nodded and took them, tucking them into my bag.
“Can you get the trailer from here?”
I nodded my head. I could.
I had no clue where to go, but I could do it.
He must’ve followed my thoughts, because he sighed and took my hand, once again leading me to the side of the truck and helping me into the passenger side.
He took us both around to the same spot I’d been in before, expertly parallel parking it into the exact same spot I’d been in previously.
I had to say, his skill at backing a trailer was extremely impressive.
Not that I would actually say that to him. He didn’t need to know.
“You know where to go now?” he asked.
I nodded.
He handed me my keys, then got out of the truck, leaving me without another word.
***
I raised my card, bidding on the brute.
Why, I didn’t know. Maybe because of the way Ace had looked at him earlier, as if he was a stone-cold killer and he was one of the finest specimens he’d ever seen.
Or, maybe it was just because I had this feeling. One that said, ‘Do it. Bid on him.’
He didn’t look like much, but I knew with one look he’d fucking kill.
I’d not seen anything like the animal since Shaggy was a small baby.
A baby I helped Granddad birth.
This one, though. I shook my head. This one, this one was breathtaking.
To the casual eye, he would appear to be on the small side. He was about six or seven months at most, and not yet to his full size.
He would be one day, though, and when that day came, he’d be a monster.
The men around me turned to see the dumbass that paid that much for a bull that, according to the announcer, was a ‘baby.’
He wasn’t. I could see that, and as I looked across the room at Ace who was nodding to himself as his eyes stayed locked on the bull, apparently Ace felt the same.
Somewhat mollified with spending that much for a bull, I sat back and held my breath, waiting to see if I’d win the bid.
And thirty seconds later as the announcer yelled, “Sold!” I fisted my hand as a wide smile overtook my face.
Which quickly disappeared twenty minutes later when I realized that what I was bidding on wasn’t for the entire bull, but by the pound.
“One more time?” I asked the man at the front desk.
“Fourteen thousand, five hundred, and eight dollars.”
“Oh, fuck.”
With shaking hands, I wrote the check and prayed that they wouldn’t go cashing it immediately so I had enough time to go transfer my life savings into my checking.
With the ticket that I’d paid in my hand, I practically ran out of the building, uncaring about the rain this time.
Which was why, instead of looking where I was going, I had my head tucked down and watching where I was stepping instead of watching in front of me.
Meaning when I bounced off of Ace’s big body, I was jolted so hard that I couldn’t stay upright.
Lucky for me, Ace was quick with his hands and caught me before I could fall to the muddy ground beneath my feet.