Chapter 8 ~ Tae

At first, when had Rhett walked into the house with his mother there, Taylor had felt bad. As the day went on, and he'd tormented her a little more with each given moment, her sympathy diminished.

Now, sitting in the shotgun seat of his pickup, she didn't feel bad for him at all. She was still mad about his comment from earlier.

She knew that she had been stripped from her wet clothes the day that he had found her sick, but she didn't process, or realize, what that actually meant.

She couldn't get it out of her mind now, though. And Rhett, he was as proud of himself as ever. He sat on the other side of the cab, behind the wheel, whistling off tune to the classic country songs on the radio.

"Would you stop acting so arrogant?" she snipped.

Rhett snickered.

"Oh, Tae, so sassy," he said.

Tae had rolled the window down and had her hand sticking out, enjoying the rare sunshine for this season. She knew she needed to ask Rhett about how to get clothes, but she was still embarrassed.

Rhett had gotten quiet, and it was a bit unnerving. She was afraid to break it.

Rhett finally broke the silence, turning down the radio.

"You know the real reason your shirt got ripped?" he asked her.

And my shirt! I forgot about that! her inner self yelled.

"How?" she asked, mad about the fact that, yes, he had ripped her shirt.

"Well, I'm not very good at undressing women with my eyes closed, Tae," he said softly.

She turned to him so quickly that her head spun. She was still having dizzy spells every once in a while.

"What?" she screeched.

He had just said, not even an hour ago, that he'd seen her nude. Now he was saying his eyes were closed? The man was so confusing.

"I only said that earlier to get you worked up. I was still trying to get back at you for lying to my mother," he said chuckling.

"Say what now?" she said again.

She couldn't believe it. So, she did still have a tiny piece of her dignity then.

"You heard me, Taylor. So yes, I am sorry for your shirt. It was an accident. Speaking of, that's why I wanted to take a drive to town," he said.

She wanted to stop listening now. She knew what was coming, he was going to offer to buy her clothes. She didn't want to hear it. She was not going to take a handout from him.

Looking over at him, she was about to tell him this, when he held his hand up.

"Oh no, you don't. I can see the smoke coming out of your ears from over here. Don't even start it with me, Taylor Houston," he said giving her a stern look.

She went to start again, but he beat her to it.

"Just listen to me for a minute before you go on one of your sassy Tae rants," he said smiling at her.

She seemed to always get distracted when he brought out that smile. His dimple peeked out at her, and she forgot what she was arguing with him about.

Yeah, that would be Taylor's weakness. Rhett's charmer smile. He knew what he was doing with it too, but she was fine with it. As long as he continued to smile at her like that, she wouldn't complain.

"Okay, so I know you're not going to let me pay for your clothes, so here's our deal. You get everything you need today to stay at my house for a couple of weeks, and then, this first week that you work as cook, there will be no pay? How does that sound?" he asked her.

She was speechless. He knew her well enough already to know what she would be thinking, and how she felt about this.

"Wow. Wait a minute. I don't want to be paid to work for the ranch. I'm living here expense-free, and that's enough for me," she said looking at him again.

"Well, this isn't a handout. Trust me. You'll deserve to be paid because you will be working hard. Not only that, but you'll also be dealing with cranky, hungry, and tired cowboys. We're known to get a little hangry every once in a while," he joked.

She snickered at that because she'd had the pleasure of seeing him when he was tired and hungry when he came home. He was a great example of hangry at these times.

Thinking over his offer, she decided it sounded better than she could have ever imagined.

"Okay, that sounds fair, but let's make one thing clear. I have to start finding ways to get back on my own two feet and out of your house soon, okay?" she asked, waiting for an answer.

"About that. There is a house near the bunkhouse that the cook can stay in. The last cook didn't, because she lived near here, but you can stay there afterward," he said to her.

She thought over what he had said, confused.

"After what?" she asked, shaking her head.

"After our break-up, sweetheart. It turns out, we were just too good together as friends. You're more like my best friend than my wife, sorry. So this way, you can still stay on at the ranch, if you like the cook position, and there will be no hard feelings. We can stay friends and not have to pretend to hate each other," he explained to her.

She raised an eyebrow at him in question. She had no clue he was taking this so seriously. He had really thought this all out. She laughed at the thought. Here his mama thought he'd be upset and nervous, and instead, he was calm as could be, and with a good plan too.

When Caroline had propositioned her earlier in the day, she had nearly died laughing at her idea. She didn't think that this was going to work. After Caroline explained the rest of the plan, they had run to the farmhouse to grab groceries out of the pantry.

They bonded while they talked, and it had made Taylor miss her own mother. Thinking about her mama now brought tears to her eyes. She hoped her parents were proud of her. Even though life was giving her lots of bumps on her road, she was keeping her wheels rolling.

"Okay, sounds like a plan. I hope I'm a good fit as the cook," she said worrying aloud.

Rhett was watching her like he always did, and it brought a blush to Taylor's cheeks. She felt like he saw straight through her. He could always tell what she was thinking or feeling, and he knew how to deal with her emotional mood swings. She was thankful to have found him.

This instance was no different. He could tell exactly what she was really thinking.

"It's going to work out great, Tae. You're an excellent cook, and you know how to hold your own against people. I have complete faith in you. You're going to work a few weeks, put some more money back, and then a few months, you'll laugh at this all because you'll be well off," he reassured her.

"What if Caroline doesn't want me to be the cook?" she asked, worrying that his mama wouldn't want help.

"I called her while you were changing. She thought that it was a fantastic idea," he answered.

His soft tone helped her believe that everything would be all right. She sat back in her seat and enjoyed the rest of the ride into town.

.........

After a long day of shopping, they were back in Rhett's truck and headed home.

Home, Taylor thought to herself.

She hadn't even been here for a week yet, and she was already calling it home.

She could have been done shopping hours ago, but she felt like repaying Rhett for his earlier torturing.

Looking over at Rhett, she watched him tapping the steering wheel to the beat of the radio. She giggled as he sang under his breath with Merle Haggard.

He caught her looking and gave her a smile that could make any woman melt.

"And what are you laughing at?" he asked with his crooked grin.

She quickly averted her eyes and looked at the dash. It was already five-thirty.

"What time are we supposed to be there for dinner?" she asked him.

She put her feet up on the dash as she waited for his reply. Making herself comfortable, she rolled her window back down and slid her arm out into the sunshine.

"Dinner at the bunkhouse is at six-thirty. We'll have about twenty minutes at the house to unload your crap," he gestured to the back seat full of her stuff, "and then we'll head over to the Bunkhouse."

She laughed at his discomfort of shopping. He had complained a hundred times through the few hours that they were out. He'd tried to be helpful though. He'd asked her if she needed this, he'd hold some random thing that she definitely didn't need, and she'd giggle and say, thank you, but no, I'm good.

After about ten tries, he gave up and just took the things she was carrying from her and stood by her side to hold everything.

He gave her a look, interrupting her laughing session.

"What is so funny over there, Pretty Girl?" he asked her, quirking an eyebrow.

He had his own language with his eyebrows. He expressed his emotions through moving them, not words. She thought that this was funny too, and her laughter doubled.

"Have you never had to go shopping with a woman before?" she asked him, finally able to breathe.

He looked confused, then looked out the windshield clearly thinking about it.

"Actually, now that you mention it, I haven't since I was really little. I had three little brothers for my mom to take, so I never had to go once I was a bit older," he said shrugging his shoulders.

She laughed at his expense.

"Well, you were a great help. I may have to take you shopping with me from now on," she baited him.

He looked over with wide eyes. He was clearly thinking of the best way to get out of it.

"You thought that was fun?" he asked her seriously.

She burst out laughing.

"No, the shopping was not fun, but spending time torturing you was," she said smiling proudly.

She watched as realization lit his features. He looked at her with his mouth hanging open in shock.

"You drug that out to torture me, didn't you?" he asked her. "It's not normally like that then?"

She giggled and shook her head.

"No, it isn't normally like that. I hate shopping, so normally, that trip would have only taken me forty-five minutes at the most," she admitted.

He was still looking at her with a shocked expression.

"But, I was having so much fun with you, that I decided to drag it out," she said winking at him.

He shook his head at her.

"You're evil," he said in a low tone.

She laughed, "Rhett: two. Taylor: two. We're even now."

He looked at her and gave her a smile that sent a shiver down her spine.

Cheekily he said, "We'll just have to see about that won't we?"

She inwardly groaned. She probably shouldn't have egged him on, but it had been too easy not to.

They pulled into the driveway of the ranch, and Taylor hopped out to open the gate for Rhett.

She climbed back into the truck, and Rhett looked at her in surprise.

"What?" she asked.

"You open gates without being asked around here, and you get stuck as the gate opener, forever," he said, sending her an evil smile.

Rolling her eyes, she looked out the window at the scenery passing by.

"Well, whenever I ride with you, I'll always open the gates for you, deal?" she asked.

He smiled, and excitedly and cheered back, "Deal!"

Pulling up to the house, Rhett turned around and backed in. Taylor held out her hand for the house keys and went to open the door. Walking up the porch steps she realized she hadn't even asked for the keys. They seemed to just be on the same brain link.

Opening the door, she heard Rhett growl, "Woman, get out of the way."

She turned to see him coming up the steps with his arms beyond full.

Jumping out of the way she shook her head at him.

"Did you get it all, cowboy?"

He glared at her over his shoulder.

"Very funny," he called back to her. She laughed and went to grab an armful from the truck.

After unloading everything, they plopped onto the couch. Rhett had taken up almost all of the couch, so Taylor was laying on his legs.

"Thanks for your help today," she said smiling at him.

He looked over at her and shrugged.

"It's not like I did anything. I just carried it all," he mumbled.

"Yes, but I wouldn't have been able to carry it all without you, so you saved the day," she said sliding closer to him.

She gave him a hug and said, "Really, thank you for everything you've done. I don't know where I'd be without you. Literally. I'd probably be in the shelter," she said tearing up.

"Hey, no, Tae, you wouldn't have. You would have found a way to make it. That's what you do. You're a survivor," he said hugging her back.

She laid her forehead on his chest as she caught her breath through her tears.

Standing up from the couch, she said, "Okay, we've got a date at the bunkhouse."

Date? Why did you say date, Taylor? she cursed herself.

"Aww yes, time to go put on a performance. Hmm, I wonder who will be winning by the end of the night?" he said smirking at her.

"Rhett, you'll be on best behavior," she said with a finger in his chest.

She was too nervous to worry about him pranking her tonight. Rhett's expression turned serious as he took her in.

"Hey, you'll be fine, Tae. Everyone will love you. It's pretty hard not to love you, Pretty Girl," he said wiping her tears away.

She smiled, glad that he was such a charmer. His charming self knew exactly how to calm her nerves.

"Okay, let's go," she said grabbing his hand and heading toward the door.

..........

Tae fidgeted the entire trip to the bunkhouse. Rhett could tell she was nervous. After watching her work her hands in knots, he finally reached over and grabbed one of them. Pulling it onto the console, he held it.

"Calm down, Tae, you're worrying over nothing," he said reassuringly.

She looked over at him and smiled. She seemed to relax as he massaged her hand in little circles.

"I'm just nervous about meeting all the new people," she said to him.

She was looking out the window at the sunset. In the golden glow shining down, she looked beautiful.

Watching as she visibly settled into her seat, he told her about some of the crew. She listened intently to what he had to say.

"Will your dad be there?" she asked him.

They hadn't talked about his relationship with his father yet, and he stiffened. Tae obviously felt him stiffen and turned to look at him.

"Rhett, are you okay?" she asked him worriedly.

He tried to find a way to explain his rocky relationship with Jack.

He simply said, "Yes, I am fine, and to answer your question, yes, Jack will be there."

He let go of her hand. He was the one who was nervous now. He knew his father would think that it was foolish to let Taylor stay with him.

He'd probably say so too. Realizing he should warn Tae of that, he turned to look at her. She was looking at him with wide, sad eyes.

He pulled in, in front of the bunkhouse, and prepared himself. Putting the truck in park, and turning it off, he turned to Taylor.

"I'm just going to warn you, I do not have the best relationship with my father. He may say something rude about you, to hurt me. I apologize ahead of time if he does."

She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes and held his gaze. He stared into her eyes as she crawled over the console. She wrapped her arms around him and put her head in the crook of his neck.

"I can tell you it hurts you a lot to admit that," she said quietly.

"Yeah," he said quietly.

He was unable to say anything else about Jack. She seemed to understand that.

He drew comfort from her embrace. She didn't have to say anything, he knew what she was trying to say. She felt bad for him and was trying to comfort him.

"I'll stand by you no matter what he says about me," she said into his neck.

He smiled at her brave statement.

"He'll only have the chance to say one thing, Tae. I wouldn't let him say another thing about you. You don't deserve that," he said into her hair.

Kissing the top of her head, he looked down at her.

She stared up at him, and he thought about kissing her. He followed her eyes as they dipped from his eyes to his lips. He could read her like a book, and right now she was thinking the same thing he was.

A knock on the window interrupted them. There stood his brother Max. Max was the second youngest of the group. He was at college studying vet science. Between him being gone, and Jake being in Afghanistan, it meant that it had only been Axel and Rhett around lately.

Max hadn't been home in months. Rhett had been so distracted by Taylor that he forgot Max came in today.

Opening the door, he looked at his brother. He looked the same as he had last time he was home, but his hair needed a trim, and his beard was looking a little wild.

"Damn, I stay away from home for six months, and I come home to my oldest brother making out with a girl in his truck."

Rhett shook his head and looked at Tae. She was still on his lap blushing like crazy. Climbing off, she went back to her side to get her stuff. She grabbed her purse and slid out of the truck.

"Great timing, dingus," he said to his brother.

"That's my specialty," he said cockily.

Rhett climbed out of his truck as Taylor came around to his side.

"Why, hello there," Max said clearly checking out Taylor.

Rhett felt the need to growl at his brother.

"Tae, this is the smart Montgomery of the group," he said gesturing to Max.

Tae smiled at him sweetly.

"Max, this is Taylor Houston, my... girlfriend," he stumbled over the word.

Taylor wrapped her arms around him to support his statement.

"Hi, Max, I'm taking it you are one of the brothers?" she gave him a small smile.

"I'm the favorite child, yes, if that's what you meant?" he said flashing a proud smile at Tae.

Tae giggled, and the sound punched Rhett in the gut.

That was his giggle. His jealousy surprised him.

"Why'd it take you so long to make it home, Max?" he asked changing the subject.

Explaining, so that Tae wouldn't be confused, he told her where he was.

"Max is at Texas Tech studying to be a vet."

"Oh that's cool," she said to Max.

"Thank you," he said to Taylor.

And to Rhett, he said, "Oh, you know, I've just been busy."

He shrugged his shoulders and left it at that.

Shaking his head, he steered Taylor toward the door. Stepping inside, he heard the sound of conversation and laughter of over fifty people who sat in the room.

"Damn, did this turn into a welcome home party?" he asked his brother. He looked around to see all of the family's friends gathered in the giant room.

"Missed the memo, did you?" Max snickered.

He looked from Rhett down at Taylor, who was taking everything in.

Pulling Taylor towards him, he said, "I've been a little distracted."

He laid a kiss to the top of her head, then pointed his mother out to her.

"Oh, she looks like she could use some help. I'll go help," she said.

She patted his chest and turned away from them to help his mother.

His eyes followed her as she walked across the room. Her mother turned around and wrapped her up in a bear hug. Mama was smiling ear to ear. Tae grabbed the tray from her hands and followed her into the kitchen.

He continued to stare at the door that she had walked into for a minute until his brother broke him out of his trance.

"So, a girlfriend, huh?"

Instantly he was snapped out of his Tae-induced state, and back into reality.

"Yep," he said simply.

They made their way over to the table that Axel was sitting at with a couple of their cousins.

He sat down, and they all looked at him. With five eyes on him, he raised his eyebrows to them.

"What?" he asked.

"I haven't seen you with a girl in ages," Nate said.

"Who's the babe?" his cousin Nick asked.

Rhett and Nick were the same age, and he was the only person besides his parents who knew his whole story.

Before he could answer his question, Axel answered for him.

"That would be his 'friend'," he said using air quotes. "Rhett, what happened to hiding her at your house?" he asked him.

Rhett shook his head at Axel, then made the move that had always been their secret code to shut up. Scratching his nose, he tapped his ear.

Axel looked at him curiously, but he didn't say anymore.

"That would be Taylor. She's my girlfriend," he said to the guys at the table.

"You, with a girlfriend? Are you sick?" his cousin Isaac asked.

"Oh shut it, Isaac. At least I'm not seen with a different one each night," he said giving him the stink eye.

Isaac had the decency to blush, and then leave him alone.

The rest, on the other hand, had no problem ribbing him for his lack of girl-that-is-a-friend people in his life.

After listening to them all talk for a while about how they were all surprised that he had a girlfriend, he became distracted.

Taylor had stepped out of the kitchen and was setting dishes of food out on the buffet tables. His eyes followed her as she made three trips. She finally came back out with Mama shooing her out of the kitchen.

Rhett chuckled as he watched them argue. Finally, Taylor turned and started scanning the tables. Knowing she was looking for him, he went to get up.

"Excuse me, gentlemen," he said to the guys.

They continued talking, but Rhett wasn't listening.

Walking up to Tae, he wrapped his arms around her middle. She leaned against his chest and sighed.

"How was Mama?" he asked her.

She turned around in his arms to look up at him.

"She is great. She's excited to celebrate Max, and tell everyone about her son's girlfriend," she said giggling.

He shook his head.

Chuckling, he told her, "The whole town will be talking about us by tomorrow; you know that right? News travels fast around here."

Laughing, she shook her head.

"Yeah, I could see that. That kitchen is full of women gossiping right now," she told him pointing at the door.

She burst out laughing at something, and he looked around to try to find the cause.

"What's so funny?" he asked her.

"Oh nothing, I was just thinking about something the ladies were saying about you," she said in a singsong voice.

Looking around, he saw his mom come out of the kitchen and tell people to start fixing a plate.

"Oh really? And what were they saying about me?" he asked her.

She shook her head and pretended to zip her lips.

Growling, he tightened his arms around her.

"Taee..." he warned.

"Uh uh. It will just make you mad," she said.

He started moving his hands on her sides and she squirmed.

Tickling lightly, he asked again, "You sure you don't want to tell me?"

She shook her head, and he tickled her full force. Tae started giggling and shoved her face into his chest to muffle the sounds. People were looking at them now, but Rhett didn't care.

"Fine," Taylor mumbled to his chest. "Some of the ladies just believed that since you never brought a girl around that, you know, that you may not like girls. They thought you might be-," she broke off.

Rhett looked down at her, completely shocked.

"Gay. They thought I was gay?"

She burst out into giggles and nodded.

"Oh, you think it is funny that they think I'm gay, huh?"

She continued giggling and people turned to look at them again.

Looking down at her lips, he said, "Well, we'll just have to show them that I'm not then, won't we?" he said to her mischievously.

She was still giggling, and Rhett bent down to lay his lips on hers. Kissing her gently, her giggling stopped. She was still at first, but slowly, she kissed him back. It was gentle and sweet, and Rhett nearly laughed when he heard multiple gasps around them.

Feeling a tap on his shoulder, he pulled back from Tae. His mother was standing with her hands on her hips, smiling.

"I need to steal Taylor away from you, dear," she said smiling.

He looked at Taylor who was blushing like the devil.

He chuckled and gestured to Tae.

"By all means," he said to his mother.

He watched as they walked away from him hand-in-hand.

Shaking his head, he turned to see his brother standing with his arms crossed.

"What the hell is going on, Rhett?" he asked.

Rhett knew this talk was coming, so he might as well get it over with. He gestured to the door and followed Axel out the front.

"It's fake," he said simply to him once they stepped outside.

"What's fake?" Axel asked as he sat down on a barrel out front.

Rhett rolled his eyes, What else would I be talking about?

"The relationship, dummy. Taylor and I," he said trying not to say, duh.

"It doesn't look fake," Axel replied skeptically, throwing his hands up.

He was looking at Rhett as if he was lying. Rhett rolled his eyes at his brother in response.

"Well, it is, okay. Mom caught her at the house unaware, and immediately thought she was my girlfriend. She got really excited, and Tae didn't have the heart to tell her we aren't dating," Rhett explained.

Axel looked as if he still didn't buy it, but then, shaking his head he chuckled.

"Damn, you found yourself in a situation didn't you, big brother? You want the girl that doesn't want you, so now you have to pretend it's real for Mom, and fake for Taylor."

"Shut up. Tae is just a friend in a tough spot. There are no feelings involved. Besides, we're just trying to make Mama happy," he said. "We'll stage a break-up in a few weeks. But until then, not a word to Mom, okay?" he asked.

"All right, I got it," he said to Rhett, nodding to show he understood.

He continued to look skeptically at Rhett, then his eyes lit up.

"So, since you're not really a couple, mind if I step in?" he said waggling his eyebrows.

Rhett growled and stepped towards him.

"If you touch Tae, I'll rip off each one you layed on her off," he gritted out.

Smirking, Axel shook his head.

"Oh yeah this is really fake," he said to his brother.

Rhett gawked at him in confusion as Axel opened his mouth to speak again.

"You may say it's fake, but you really want it to be real," Axel said shrugging.

"I do not," I'm just trying to make Mama happy." Axel raised an eyebrow to show that he didn't believe him. "Now, let's get back in there before she notices we're gone," he added.

Axel made his way back inside and Rhett stopped by the door to think.

It's just to get Mom to stop worrying, and get Tae back on her feet, he told himself.

And yet, he wasn't sure he believed himself anymore.