More Than Pride (9 page)

The few times he thought he’d found a keeper had turned out to be giant fiascos. One guy had tried to leave Robert’s house with Robert’s new laptop and another had tried to sweet talk him into financing a play.

He must have a broken ‘loser alert’ sensor.

Now, at thirty years old, he lived alone and didn’t have any romantic prospects in sight since two months ago, when the last gay man he’d liked had hooked up with a sexy cowboy.

Sadly, from what Robert had observed, they were ridiculously happy together.

“Hey Robert, did you like the new quiche recipe?” Tyler Remington approached Robert’s table, wiping his hands on his chef’s apron.

“It was amazing as usual.” He mustered up a smile for Tyler. It wasn’t Tyler’s fault the man had let a cowboy sweep him off his feet.

Tyler settled into the chair opposite him. “What’s wrong? You’ve been moping for days.”

Robert propped his chin on his hand. “I’m lonely,” he confessed.

Tyler gave him a startled look. “Why? You’re handsome, rich and when you’re not trying too hard to impress someone, you’re a nice guy.”

Although he knew he would sound like a pouting teenager, Robert couldn’t help himself. “I can’t believe you fell for Cody.”

Tyler laughed. “Robert, we would’ve never been compatible. I’m not butch enough for you. I’ve seen you watching the cowboys when you come out to the ranch. You can barely keep your drool from forming a puddle on the ground.”

“Being attracted to someone and finding someone to share your life with aren’t necessarily the same thing. And other than Cody, the rest of the guys at your ranch are straighter than a board.”

“Maybe not.” A crafty expression filled Tyler’s bright blue eyes. “We’re getting another hand next week. Jeffrey’s cousin, Glen, is coming to work for us. The ranch he worked on before was sold to some developer to build a bunch of condos or something. Jeff told me he prefers men.”

Robert shook his head. “If he’s just moved here, I doubt he wants to get involved with someone right away.” He held up his hand to stop Tyler’s protest. “And you know as well as I do it takes more than being gay to be compatible.”

“True, but don’t rule him out without meeting him.”

“Fine. I’ll meet him but I’m not making any promises.”

“I’m not asking you to have sex. I’m talking about coffee, maybe a muffin if you want to get wild.”

Robert laughed. “Okay, I can do that.”

“Good. Besides, if you don’t find someone soon, Joe is going to start getting some ideas.” Tyler tilted his head to the right and Robert’s gaze traced where Tyler indicated.

Joe Walker stood beside the divider that shielded the servers’ area from the diners. His arms were crossed and a scowl creased his forehead as he watched the two men talk.

Although Robert knew his waiter was gay, Joe didn’t make the eligible list.

“You know I don’t mess around with my employees. That’s why I didn’t ask you to be my chef until I was certain it wasn’t going to work out.”

“Does Joe know that?” Tyler’s blue eyes reflected concern.

“He should.” Robert bit his bottom lip as he considered the situation. Joe had flirted with him in the past. Robert had put it down as harmless and never flirted back. He didn’t want to show any sign of favouritism to his employees. “I’ll talk to him if it gets out of hand.”

“Good.” Tyler patted Robert’s hand. “I don’t want you to get put in a bad situation, especially if he tries to get you for sexual harassment. Make sure you talk to him with at least one witness around.”

Robert laughed. “I wasn’t born yesterday, Tyler. I can handle one young man.”

“Maybe.” Tyler didn’t look completely convinced and Robert had no idea why. After all, he wasn’t a shy eighteen-year-old anymore. He’d been making his own decisions for a long time now.

“It’ll be fine. Do we have enough chocolate tarts for the dinner crowd? We ran out yesterday and I thought there was going to be an uprising.”

Tyler shook his head. “We’ll be fine. I doubled the batch from yesterday so everyone who could possibly want one will be able to have one.”

“Good.” Robert stood and threw his napkin on the table. “Thanks for your help. I’ll see you in a couple of days. I’ve got to go out of town tonight to look over some property my investment manager is trying to get me to throw some money at.”

Tyler waved. “Try to stay out of trouble.”

Robert shook his head at the chef. “Why would I want to do that? Getting into trouble is one of the few forms of entertainment I have.”

Tyler laughed. “I see.”

Waving on his way out the door, Robert left his restaurant with a lighter step. He didn’t know if this new hand would be the romantic apple of his eye but he always liked meeting people. If nothing else, maybe Robert could make a friend.

* * * *

Glen King pulled his dusty truck up to the ranch gates. A wave of relief shot through him at the fat cows and the healthy looking wheat fields he’d passed on the way to the main house. His cousin hadn’t exaggerated the ranch’s excellent condition. He hoped the job Jeffrey had promised was there too, since everything he owned was piled in the back of his pickup. Despite three years of promising Glen first shot at purchasing his ranch, Ted Hill had sold the place right out from under him. Bitterness left a sour taste in Glen’s mouth and churned his stomach as he reflected on what a fool he’d been to trust Hill’s word. When he’d confronted Hill, his ex-boss had had the nerve to tell Glen he should’ve got the promise in writing. Glen had barely resisted going to jail for murder.

“Bastard,” Glen muttered, reflecting on the conversation. How he’d longed to throttle the old rancher. It must have shown in his eyes because Hill had definitely looked a little nervous at the end. Glen had gathered everything he’d owned, called his cousin and asked about spots on the ranch where Jeffrey worked. Luckily it sounded like they were expanding and needed experienced hands. Meanwhile, the dream of owning his own piece of land had slipped through Glen’s fingertips.

It took him several minutes of driving on the ranch road before he spotted the main buildings. A low white ranch house, a couple of barns and a structure that was probably the bunkhouse, dotted the landscape in front of him. Deciding he’d best find his new boss before hunting his cousin, Glen pulled up in front of the main building.

Glen sat in his truck for a long while examining the white picket fence, bright flowers and red door of the home. Jeff had told him two men owned the ranch, and one of them had recently hooked up with the other partner’s brother. It was one of the main reasons he’d asked to come. A ranch owned by at least one gay guy couldn’t have any homophobic assholes on staff, or at least if there were, they’d more than likely keep it to themselves.

Pushing open the driver’s side door, Glen slid off the bench seat. His boots hit the ground with a jarring thud. After a daylong road trip, the leg he’d once broken, and never had properly set, ached like a motherfucker. He made sure his feet were steady before slamming the door shut. He didn’t want to show up looking like he’d been dragged along ten miles of bad road. His new employer didn’t need to know how hard up he was—body and soul. There wasn’t a cowboy alive who hadn’t broken, sprained or damaged at least one body part…and if there was, they weren’t working hard enough.

Glen’s muscles stretched and loosened as he walked towards the building. By the time he reached the freshly painted front porch he was walking almost normally—a bit bowlegged, but normal for him.

Before he knocked on the door, it was whipped open and a gorgeous young man peered at him through the screen door. “Hello!”

“Um, hello there.” Glen replied. “I’m looking for Baron Remington. Is he here?”

“Nope.” The blond’s brilliant smile took the sting out of his response. “I’m about to announce lunch so you might as well come in and grab something to eat. You must be Jeffrey’s cousin.”

The screen door opened and the slim young man motioned him inside.

“Yeah, I’m Glen King.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Tyler. Baron’s my brother.”

They shook hands. Glen kept his touch gentle. He didn’t want to hurt the smaller man.

Not to mention if he was brother and lover to the owners, it was best to stay on his good side.

Tyler pulled a smartphone from his pocket and pushed a series of buttons before returning it to his pocket. “The men will be here in a minute. I suggest you come stand over here by me so you don’t get trampled.”

The words had barely left Tyler’s lips when the sound of footsteps reached Glen’s ears.

Loud voices echoed in the entry and a line began to form into a room on the left. Looking to the right, he realised it wasn’t the dining area.

He turned a curious look towards Tyler.

“Oh, they’re washing up. Margaret, the old cook, has them trained. She’s gone to live with her relatives now, but luckily she broke them in while she was here.”

The grin he received warmed him on the inside, a sensation that ended quickly when a big man with dark eyes and dark hair looked at Glen as if he were measuring the size of Glen’s coffin and fixing to put him in it.

“Hey babe,” Tyler’s smile could’ve powered the county.

The big cowboy’s expression went from maniacal to tender in the space of a second.

Right in front of everyone, the man walked over, cupped Tyler’s face and plastered the hottest kiss Glen had ever seen outside of a porn video smack on Tyler’s lips.

He discreetly adjusted himself as he watched the two men embrace.

When the cowboy released Tyler, the smaller man’s eyes weren’t focused and his lips had a tempting sheen. He blinked repeatedly at Glen.

“Cody, this is Glen. He’s Jeffrey’s cousin,” Tyler said, pointing towards Glen.

“Glen!”

He turned to see Jeff walking towards him. Jeff wrapped his thickly muscled arms around Glen and thumped him on the back. When Glen finally freed himself, he turned to shake Cody’s hand.

“Nice to meet you.” He gave Cody a firm grip, though not fighting for dominance. Even if his kiss with Tyler hadn’t confirmed his identity, Glen could almost feel the air of leadership pouring off the other man.

“Same here,” Cody said. He tucked Tyler in the crook of his arm and scooped his lover along as they walked to the dining room. “Jeff says you’ve been on a ranch since you were young.”

“Yeah, I grew up on one. My daddy’s health didn’t let him keep it so we moved to the city when I was in my teens. As soon as I could, I went back to it.” Glen couldn’t live without his horses and cattle. He hadn’t thrived in the city. He had hated the concrete, the noise and the incessant flow of people. Wide-open spaces and the smell of animals were his loves.

Cody gave him an understanding look. “We are short-handed right now and Jeffrey gave you a good recommendation. We’ll try you out for a few weeks and see how you fit in here. For now you can sit down and enjoy the best food in the country.”

Mutters of agreement rang around the table and an adorable blush crossed Tyler’s cheeks. A warning glance from Cody had him quickly shifting his gaze.

Got it. Don’t look at Tyler
. “I’ll go wash up.”

He headed to the bathroom and quickly cleaned his dusty and sweaty hands. Returning to the dining room, he found an empty seat next to his cousin. Jeff gave him a wide smile and a friendly slap on the back. His cousin looked happy and healthy. Good. Of all his relatives, Jeff had always been one of Glen’s favourites.

A platter of chicken was handed over followed by mashed potatoes and buttery corn.

The first bite had him closing his eyes to better absorb the flavour. Spices exploded across his tongue as juice from the chicken filled his mouth.

Damn, that was good.

Swallowing, Glen opened his eyes to see the ranch hands watching him with amusement. “This is amazing.”

Jeff laughed. “Tyler’s the best damn cook I’ve ever met.”

“You made this?” He couldn’t stop the surprise in his voice. That would teach him to judge someone by appearance. Tyler had looked too pretty to be of much use, however anyone who cooked like this was worth his weight in gold…and considering Tyler wasn’t very big,
more
than his weight in gold.

Tyler blushed. “Yeah, it’s my thing.”

The chef kissed his lover on the cheek and headed to a door Glen guessed led to the kitchen.

He saw the ranch hands were all staring at him. “You’re lucky. At my last ranch we had an old cook who thought if the meat was more tender than shoe leather he was spoiling us.”

The men around the table laughed. “Tyler spoils us something rotten, and he also plans the menus for a fancy place in town,” Jeff told him.

Glen took a bite of the potatoes and barely held back a moan. Hell, he’d work for room and board if it included this type of cooking. Who really needed money anyway?

Jeff chuckled. “Three meals a day. Tyler doesn’t always make breakfast, depending on his schedule, but there’ll be something to eat.”

Nodding, Glen finished up his meal as he listened to the talk swirl around him. He didn’t even pretend to pay attention once he bit into a biscuit. It took Jeff mentioning his name twice before he focused on his cousin’s words.

“What?”

“Did you want to come with me to check out the ranch after lunch? I’ve got to fix a fence hole in the back field and I can show you around on the way.”

Glen nodded. “Sounds good.”

Cody broke in. “Baron will be back home in a few hours. When he returns he can tell you what we’ll expect you to do. I’m going into town to pick up some supplies.”

“Yes, boss.” Glen settled in to finish his meal. Anything he needed to do could wait until he finished his chicken. Jeff must have agreed because he helped himself to another wing.

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Amber is one of those quiet people they always tell you to watch out for. She lives in Dallas with her husband, two sons, two cats and one extremely stupid dog.

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