Chapter 10 ~ Tae

Taylor woke to the sound of Rhett cursing. She sat up in bed to see Rhett bent over holding his foot.

"Rhett? Are you all right?" she asked.

Her voice sounded rough from sleep. She cleared her throat and watched as Rhett hopped on one foot, still cursing.

"That damn, door. I hit my pinky toe on the doorjamb," he groaned.

She laughed as his face contorted with pain. He was still hopping on one foot in his sweatpants.

She threw a pillow at his bare chest.

"You woke me up for that?" she asked laughing.

He finally stopped hopping and looked over at her spread out on the bed.

"Oh, you think this is funny, huh?" he said stalking towards her. "I'm sorry I woke you up from your warm, cozy cocoon, princess."

She slid down deeper into the covers at the same time as he pulled them off of her.

"Aah," she squealed as the cool air hit her skin.

She glared at Rhett. She had been feeling great in her own little world before he ruined it. He flopped down on top of her. She groaned as his weight hit her.

His weight wasn't crushing her though, so she pulled her arms under him to use him as a blanket. Curling into his warm chest she sighed.

He was clearly comfortable, and she giggled.

"Man, I miss this bed," he said contentedly.

He pulled Taylor up so that he could slip his arms under her. Using her as a pillow, he got comfortable again.

"Oh, I forget that you're sleeping on the couch. Why don't we take turns? We can switch off every other night," she told the top of his head.

"Mm, that wouldn't be very gentleman-y of me," he said.

She rolled her eyes even though she knew he couldn't see it.

"Well, if you would have put a bed in the spare room, this wouldn't have happened would it?" she asked.

Rhett seemed to ignore her.

He shifted and laid his head on her stomach. '

"You make a great pillow, Tae," he said groggily.

She smacked his head and said, "What time is it, Rhett?"

He seemed to remember that he had come in to get dressed and looked up at her.

"It was four-forty-five when I looked at the clock a minute ago. We've got to get to the bunkhouse by five-forty-five," he said not moving from his place.

"Okay, so what you're saying is, you need to get up and get in the shower, right?" she asked him.

He shook his head on her middle, not giving her a vocal answer.

"Okay, then I'm taking a shower first," she said.

Instead of answering, he rolled over and pulled her with him.

"Rhetttt," I've got to get ready. It'll take me longer than you," she groaned.

He just pulled her on top of him.

"Nope. You're turning this room into an igloo. I don't have a shirt on, and it's freezing. You're warm. I'm using you as a blanket," he said nuzzling into her hair.

She laughed thinking about how she'd just done the same to thing to him.

"You have real blankets. Now, I'm getting in the shower. You

better be up when I get out," she said crawling off of him.

He growled as she walked to the bathroom. Rolling her eyes, she got the shower ready.

When Taylor got out of the shower, she wrapped up in a towel. Poking her head out of the bathroom, she saw that Rhett was still sprawled out on the bed and assumed he was still asleep.

Chuckling, she walked over to where her clothes they'd gotten the day before were sitting on the floor.

Grabbing an outfit she thought would be sensible for the kitchen, she turned to the closet. She shut the door and got dressed, hearing rustling in the bedroom. She must have woken him up when she closed the closet door.

Thinking Rhett was in the shower, she opened the door to see him standing right on the other side. She nearly jumped out of her skin in surprise, but he didn't look startled.

Rhett stared down at her with his eyebrows furrowed. He was clearly thinking about something, but Taylor couldn't decipher what he was contemplating.

She reached up to smooth out the crease that was beginning to form between his eyes from frowning like this.

"Hi," she said to him slowly and still confused.

He stepped into the closet and wrapped her in a hug. She stood stunned for a minute, before hugging him back. She blinked at the wall across from her trying to understand what was going on. He slowly tipped her head up to look into his eyes, and her confusion vanished. She zoned in on the look on his face and she knew exactly what he was thinking. She stared back into his blue eyes and began to hope that he would kiss her.

She knew that if he kissed her here, in the privacy of his home, that their relationship would change; there would be no going back.

Her eyes slid from where they were meeting his, to look longingly at his lips. She stilled as he slowly bent, placed his lips on hers, and kissed her. It started out gentle, but when Tae wrapped her arms around his neck, he quickly took control of the kiss. Picking her up, he kissed the breath right out of her.

She gasped when he finally pulled back, and they both sucked in air to catch their breath. Somehow, Taylor's legs had ended up wrapped around his middle without her realizing she had done it. She burrowed into the crook of his neck, not ready to leave the moment.

Eventually, she realized he might be tired of holding her and tried to unwrap herself from around him.

His arms tightened around her and he growled.

Giggling, Tae said, "Rhett, you've got to put me down. We still have to get ready. You need to get in the shower, too."

He sighed and set her back on her feet. Her knees were stiff from being wrapped around him, and they gave at the weight of her.

He caught her and smirked.

"Already falling back into my arms, huh?" he asked waggling his eyebrows.

She laughed playfully and pointed at the bathroom.

"Would you go get in the shower, so I can put my makeup on please," she motioned again to the bathroom.

He huffed and started towards the bathroom. Once she heard the shower kick on, she went in after him. Turning on the vents, she used the mirrors for her makeup.

When she was almost done, she saw Rhett poke his head out of the shower.

"Get out Tae. I'm done," he said.

She laughed and rolled her eyes. "Dang, you're bossy," she said as she left the bathroom.

She went to the kitchen and started the coffee pot. Looking at the clock, she saw that it was already five-ten. They would need to leave in twenty-five minutes.

Walking back to the bedroom, she carried Rhett a cup of coffee along with hers. She walked into the bathroom, and this time Rhett had his wranglers on.

She handed him his cup of coffee as she picked up her hairbrush. Thanking her, Rhett gulped down his coffee. Rolling her eyes, she braided her hair. How he drank the burning liquid in three swallows she couldn't understand.

Rhett headed into the closet to finish getting ready while Taylor started to finish her makeup. As she finished her makeup, she thought about what they were doing. She didn't honestly believe that they were 'just pretending' now.

As she applied her mascara, Rhett came back into the bathroom. He stood against the doorframe and watched. He cleared his throat, and Taylor met his eyes in the mirror.

He had finished getting ready, having his boots and hat on now. He fit the image of the cowboy that girls all over the world dreamed about. When he caught her checking him out and raised an eyebrow, she went back to applying her mascara.

"It doesn't feel like we're faking this anymore, Tae," he said softly.

She processed what he had said before she responded.

"I don't think we are," she replied honestly.

He stepped towards her and wrapped his arms around her middle. She continued to put on her mascara, and after a minute, she elbowed him.

"Now get off, or we'll be late. I'll make sure to tell Caroline it was all your fault, too," she said smiling sweetly at him.

He chuckled and walked out of the bathroom.

"I'm going to start the truck. A cold front came in and it's freezing out there," he hollered to her. "Oh, and I'm going to go feed the horses real quick," he added.

Finished with her makeup, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her cheeks were pink, and her eyes were full of life. She looked happy. She hadn't seen her reflection look like this since she was younger. Shutting the memories out of her head, she quickly changed the path her thoughts were going down and grabbed her phone.

Walking out of the bathroom, she made sure to turn off the lights before leaving. Old money saving habits died hard. She made the bed and headed towards the kitchen to find a thermos and fill it with coffee for Rhett.

When he came back in fifteen minutes later, face red from the cold, he graciously accepted the thermos.

"You'll need a heavier coat than the jacket we picked up," he said rubbing his hands together.

He headed to his closet while Taylor grabbed her purse. He came back out with a coat. Taylor admired it as he handed it to her. It was one of the cool denim ones that had fluffy wool on the inside. She had always thought the guys that wore them in high school had been hot.

"It'll be big on you, but it was all I could find. The rest of them are meant to be worn over hoodies, so they're all a size larger," he explained as he gestured to her small frame. "And so, they would swamp your pint-size self."

She put her hands on her hips before jerking the coat out of his hands. She put it on, grabbed her purse, and headed for the door. Rhett chuckled as he followed her out.

Taylor thought about her size. She wasn't pint-sized. She may be small, but she still worked harder than anybody double her size.

When Rhett tried to help her into the truck, she smacked his hands away.

"I am perfectly capable of getting in a truck by myself," she said.

He shook his head and kept his hand held out to help her in. She stood waiting for him to move so that she could do it herself. He looked down at her with an irritated look in his eyes, and she stared back, not backing down. Finally, he bended, grabbed her by the waist, and threw her in the seat.

"Woman, if I want to help you into the truck, then I'm going to help you into the truck," he growled.

Taylor stubbornly crossed her arms over her chest. Rhett realized he wasn't going to get a comment from her, then shook his head and walked around the hood of the truck.

He climbed inside and looked over at her as he put the truck into gear.

"Now who's pouting, Pretty Girl?" he said smirking.

She looked over at him, confused about what he meant. Realizing what Rhett had done, she let out a huff.

"Really Rhett? All that just to get me riled up?" she asked smiling slightly, though she tried to hide it from him.

He nodded his head, smiling proudly of himself.

"Yep," he said popping the p.

She rolled her eyes and looked out the window. Soon enough, they pulled up in front of the bunkhouse. Rhett pointed across the road to a large barn.

"All right, we have a forty-five-minute meeting in there while you guys get food ready in the mornings," he explained. "We all come straight to breakfast afterward. Most of the time, it doesn't actually take forty-five minutes, and we all just lounge around in there while y'all cook," he added.

She smiled and thought about it. "Okay, I'll see you in a little bit," she said as she moved to grab her purse from the floorboard.

Rhett grabbed her wrist first, though.

"If I do recall, we never got to finish what we started here last night," he said smiling at her.

Taylor looked around and realized they were parked in the same exact place as last night. She tried to figure out what he was saying, and when he dragged her over to him, she realized he meant when his brother had interrupted them.

Smiling, she gave a gentle kiss. She went to climb off of him, and he brought her back for another kiss. Giggling, she let him kiss her before finally crawling out of the truck.

"I'll see you later," she said laughing.

She shook her head as he climbed out too. Meeting her at the front of the truck, he grabbed her for one last kiss.

"Tell Mama I said good morning," he said against her lips.

She nodded as he set his Stetson back on his head and headed towards the barn.

She entered the building and headed to the kitchen. Caroline was standing by the window watching Rhett walk into the barn.

"Good morning, Mama Care," she said putting on an apron.

She gave her a hug, then added, "Rhett says good morning as well."

The woman smiled at her coyly, "Yes, it seems he is having a good morning. He's walking with a little skip in step. Makes a mother wonder if it's because of the weather change that he just loves so much," she said sarcastically, "or something else."

She gave Taylor a look as she said the last part. Taylor blushed and turned around to open the refrigerator to avoid her gaze.

"What are we fixing this morning?" she asked changing the subject.

Caroline laughed, clearly seeing that Taylor was dodging her comment.

"I was thinking of biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, and lots of bacon," Caroline said as she moved towards the oven.

The two women worked side-by-side seamlessly as they fixed breakfast. Soon, they heard the chatter of cowboys filtering through the walls.

Rhett sauntered into the room, giving his mother a hug.

"Hey Mama," he said as he embraced her.

She hugged him back, then moved around him to continue scrambling the eggs. Rhett chuckled as he moved over to Taylor. He wrapped his arms around her and laid a kiss on the top of her head.

"Hey sweetheart, how's it going on the first morning?" he asked.

She looked up to smile at him. She kissed him on the cheek and then handed him a sheet of biscuits.

"Great, now you can carry this outside and set it on the table," she said smiling sweetly.

Rhett chuckled, but did as she asked. Taylor followed him with a giant bowl of gravy, and Caroline carried her pan of scrambled eggs she had just finished.

Grabbing the plate of toast, it took almost two loaves just to feed the herd of men, she set it on the table. Caroline sat down the butter and jelly, then told everyone to fix a plate.

They stood and watched as the men elbowed their way to the line. At one part two men started arguing over who was there first, and Taylor pointed them out.

"There will be no arguing, both of you to the back of the line," she said with her hands on her hips.

The two men both murmured a, 'yes ma'am', and walked to the end of the line. The other guys chuckled at her expense, and one let out a whistle. This one got the death glare from Rhett. She chuckled as she watched Rhett get protective, and Caroline happened to catch it too.

"Those guys better be careful, or they're going to have a very territorial cowboy on their tails," she laughed.

Taylor giggled and joined Caroline at the now empty table. Filling a plate, they sat down. Rhett went to get up to move by her, and she sent him and look and pointed her finger at him. There was no need for him to change his routine for her.

He smiled and shook his head, but sat back down. She chatted with his mom as they ate, and as they were done, they watched the guys one-by-one finish their plates and head out.

After Rhett put his plate and fork in the dish bucket, he headed toward her. He hugged his mama again who slipped away from them shortly after.

Taylor sat her fork down and looked up at him. He was a sight to behold standing there staring down at her.

"All done?" she asked him.

He nodded at her. "Yep, all done. It was delicious, Tae," he said giving her a smile.

"What did you expect?" she replied holding up her hands.

He chuckled as he shook his head.

"Oh so sassy," he joked. "All right, I'm heading out. I've got to give the horses their vaccinations today," he said.

"All righty. Be safe, cowboy," she said smiling up at him.

He smiled back at her before leaning down.

Kissing her on the forehead, he said, "Always."

She smiled wryly at him.

"I don't know, though. Without you around, I wouldn't have to fight over the bed with anyone," she sassed.

He chuckled and leaned down to kiss her for real this time. He kissed her hard, and Taylor was stunned when he pulled back.

"All right, I'll see you later," he said as he turned to go.

He put his hat back on his head and began to walk out.

"Don't work too hard!" she hollered after him.

He turned to smirk over his shoulder.

"Wouldn't plan on it," he called back.

She smiled, and Caroline stepped back beside her.

"He is full of crap. He works double compared to every other man on this ranch," she said shaking her head.

Somehow, Taylor could believe that. Rhett wasn't the type who half-did anything.