“Is that so?” She heard her father say.
“I live alone, as you must have heard and I have an entire ranch to work with. I just moved there a few weeks ago. I need a woman to do the cooking and cleaning and laundry.” He continued. Ivy was still wringing her hands together tightly. She felt like she was going to burst, that she might faint if she didn’t say something now, if he didn’t turn to look at her now.
“I can do that, I’ll spread the word.” Her father replied to the man with a smile.
“I would prefer a strong, healthy woman who won’t mind getting her hands dirty. Maybe help me with the ranch too if needed. I am willing to provide lodgings, three meals a day and five hundred dollars a month.” The man continued and flipped his hat on his head again. This was a sign that he was going to leave, and Ivy couldn’t control herself any more.
“I can do it.” She blurted out before she could stop herself.
Her father jerked his head to look at her, and then she saw the man slowly turning towards her too.
“Ah, that’s my daughter, Ivy. She is only playing, don’t worry Mr. Cooper, I will find an able woman for you.” Her father was speaking in the background, but his voice was slowly fading away. All Ivy could think about, all she could see was this man who stood in front of her, facing her now. She could finally see his face, and he was looking at her too.
“This is your daughter?” He asked, interrupting her father’s babbling words.
Ivy stood silently, watching him watching her. His face was chiseled, like it was cut out of stone. His eyebrows were dark, like his eyes, and sharp. His hair was a dirty sandy blonde, and fell shaggily over his forehead. His skin was tanned to a golden honey color that Ivy had a sudden incredible urge to lick.
“Yes, she is and she is only a wee girl, as you can see.” Her father replied hurriedly.
Leon Cooper’s eyes were on her. She could see that he was studying her breasts, the strength in her hands, her small height, her wide hips, the curve of her waist…he was trying to decide if she would be able to work for him.
“She will do.” He said, ignoring her father’s attempts at dissuading him, and a smile creeped up on Ivy’s face.
“Oh no, Mr. Cooper, I believe you are mistaken. My daughter has no experience in house work, she has been in college for the past two years, she will not be able to help around the house.” Her father had grown desperate now. The last thing he wanted was for his daughter to go work for someone else’s home. He didn’t even allow her to work in his own!
“That’s good. It means I can use her to work on my accounts.” Leon said, pulling his gaze away from Ivy’s body to finally look at her father again.
“I studied agricultural science. I can help you with your ranch.” Ivy spoke up, directing his gaze back at her again.
She wanted him to keep looking at her. She wanted him to look at her breasts, at her slender pale neck, she wanted to see if he wanted her as much as she wanted him. Leon licked his thin rugged lips and nodded his head.
“Good. That is settled then.” He turned to her father. Ivy realized that she hadn’t seen him smiling yet.
Her father was dumbstruck, still standing behind the bar, looking from his daughter to Leon Cooper and then back at his daughter again.
“Be at my ranch, tomorrow at eight.” He said to her, fixing his hat on his head and then walking straight for the door.
Ivy remained standing where she was, following him with her eyes. She couldn’t take her gaze off him. She couldn’t stop wondering what that rock-solid body would look like under those clothes. What he smelt of, how the stubble on his chin would feel against her own face.
“Ivy!” Her father’s harsh voice snapped her out of her daydream. Leon Cooper had gone out of the pub, leaving her alone with her father again.
“What is the matter daddy?” She asked, finally walking towards him. She had been frozen to the spot earlier, unable to move any of her limbs.
“You cannot go and work for that man. You cannot go and wor
k at somebody’s home!” Her father’s eyes were widened, he was thundering, his face was turning red with anger.
“Oh daddy, please don’t be like that. I won’t just be working at his house, I’ll be helping him with his actual work, with his books, with the animals. It’s the kind of work I like to do.” Ivy said, walking around the counter and standing in front of her father with her arms crossed.
Her father slapped the dish cloth in his hand on the counter out of rage.
“What would your mother say, Ivy? You went to college; you were brought up differently. You don’t know the first thing about house work!” He was still screaming and Ivy only rolled her eyes and looked away from him.
“It isn’t that difficult. And I’ve been bored these two weeks, and now I have something to do and earn some extra cash.” She replied to him, only infuriating him further.
“This better be a temporary thing, Ivy! I will not allow my daughter to do that kind of work, not in today’s world.” Her father was still grumbling and Ivy smiled.
“Oh daddy, please don’t be so mad. I just want to do something with my time, till I figure out what I really want to do in life. You understand?” She said, rushing towards him and throwing her arms around her father’s neck.