The Rancher's Fake Fiancée

“You sent me thirty-two emails between the hours of nine at night and six in the morning. I hate to say it, but you’ve got to slow down.”

This was how Tyler worked. People appreciated hard work. If he wanted to get noticed in this competitive world of marketing, he had to rise above the rest. “All of this will be worth it. We’re going to be the number one advertising agency in Portland this year.”

“Tyler.” Kellen rested his elbows on his knees. “Maybe after the Lodi Organics presentation, you should take some time off. Relax. Get away for a couple weeks.”

Tyler’s brow furrowed. He must not have heard Kellen correctly. “Are you suggesting I take a vacation?”

“I’m not suggesting. More like telling you. You need a break. We all need a break.” Kellen sat back and seemed to struggle with the right words. “Let me be straight with you. There’s been some grumbling. People are feeling...stressed.”

“Like who?” Tyler looked out at the office cubicles. The eight-person staff all scurried around, refusing to make eye contact.

“Like everyone.”

They had planned this. They had gone to Kellen behind his back. He felt his blood pressure rise, which made it difficult to control his volume. “Stressed about what? Having a job?”

* * *

THE GLASS WALLS of Tyler’s office were far from soundproof. It wasn’t surprising that he was taking Kellen’s feedback poorly. Hadley had warned Kellen that Tyler was on a mission. A mission to work himself into an early grave. The main problem with that was he was taking the rest of the office with him.

“On a scale of one to ten, how mad is he going to be with us?” Veronica was the web designer and one of the biggest complainers over the last couple of weeks. She fidgeted with her oversize gold hoop earrings.

“Fifty-seven,” Lee, one of the project managers, guessed as he made his way over to Hadley’s desk. He stroked his goatee. “Look how red his face is.”

“Fifty-seven?” Hadley shook her head at the random number choice. “I don’t know if it’s that bad.”

She glanced over at the two of them having it out, secretly hoping Tyler was stubborn enough to dig his heels in. Maybe the two of them would realize that Tyler had too much on his plate for a reason. Perhaps they’d admit the real problem was that they had given the brand strategist position to someone so woefully unqualified instead of her.

Hadley could manage a hundred more accounts than Eric. She had deserved that job and hated Tyler for not going to bat for her. She blamed him even more than his partner. Had Tyler called Kellen out on his nepotism and fought for her, Kellen would have backed down and given the job to Hadley.

“Look at how tight his jaw is. That is not a good sign,” Lee said.

“Don’t worry,” Eric assured them. “My uncle will get Ty to chill. I made it clear we could not work under these conditions any longer, right?”

Hadley bit her tongue and tried not to roll her eyes. Eric couldn’t work under any conditions. He was so far over his head, it was ridiculous. He probably asked her close to fifty questions a day, trying to get her to do his job as well as hers.

Tyler’s glare zeroed in on her. The open layout of the converted warehouse left nowhere for people to hide. He pushed open his door and folded his arms across his chest. Even though Hadley may have had her issues him, she couldn’t deny that Tyler Blackwell was attractive. Broad chest, dark hair, denim-blue eyes and a jawline that could make Hollywood’s A-list leading men jealous.

“Anyone here want to tell me they’re unhappy to my face? Are some of you unhappy with...I don’t know...having a job? Because last time I checked, without clients there’s no work and with no work there’s no jobs. Anyone out here who doesn’t want a job?”

“Tyler, come on,” Kellen said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, everybody. No one is losing their job!”

Tyler shrugged him off. “I hope you enjoy the amount of work you’re all going to have while I’m on vacation.” He pointed at Hadley. “I need you.”

This was her chance. If she could convince Tyler he could trust that the work he’d started would be finished to his standards while he was on his forced getaway, maybe she could make him see she should be the brand strategist instead of Eric.

He dropped into his chair and shuffled through some papers on his desk. His frustration came off him like smoke from a fire. “Did you talk to him about being overworked?”

“Me? No,” she asserted. “I think all this business is great. I wish I could do more to help.” She had to be cautious about how she proceeded. She needed Tyler’s help if she was going to convince Kellen to get rid of his nephew. Kellen always preached about the importance of family, but giving a job to someone who didn’t know what he was doing was bad business.

“Well, I need help figuring out how I can pretend to be on vacation while still getting things done.”

The main line rang, lighting up the buttons on Tyler’s phone. Hadley reached over and picked it up. “2K Marketing, this is Hadley. How may I direct your call?”

“Hi, Hadley. It’s Ben, Ben Blackwell. I know you told Ethan that Tyler was on another call, but I am done with this. Tell him he doesn’t need to call any of us back.”

Hadley couldn’t believe Tyler had been right. Rejoice! They had finally given up.

Ben continued, “He needs to get on a plane and get his butt out here or else he will be served a subpoena and forced to appear in court instead.”

“Wait, what? Hang on a second.” Hadley pushed the hold button. “Your brother is going to take you to court if you don’t take this.” She held the phone out.

Tyler folded his arms across his chest and rolled his eyes like a petulant child. “He’s bluffing. He can’t take me to court because I won’t answer the phone.”

“Please just talk to him. I will help you with anything you need if you answer this call.”

He narrowed his eyes and let out a gruff breath. Refusing to take the phone from her, he pressed the button to put the call on speaker. “What part of I am extremely busy are you three not understanding?”

“You need to come home, Ty. I know you don’t want to. I know you are so busy out there in Portland and your company will probably fold if you aren’t there for one second, but you need to come home.”

“Why? What do you need me to do that I can’t do from here?”

“We want to sell the ranch, but we need your help. We need you here to make it happen.”

Hadley scribbled a note: Perfect vacation! You should go. Tyler could go help his family, Hadley could prove she was worthy of the brand strategist job, and when he returned, he would have to convince Kellen to give it to her.

* * *

TYLER PICKED THE receiver up. He didn’t need Hadley hearing anything else. He definitely didn’t need anyone else trying to encourage him to go to Montana.

“Sell it,” he said. “Send me whatever you need me to sign. I’ll be happy when all my ties to the ranch are cut.”

“Can’t sell it unless it’s a profitable place.”

“I thought Ethan got the guest ranch booked through the summer.”

“Yeah, with Sarah Ashley’s friends. Not real, honest-to-goodness customers. We need your help with marketing. Ethan tried to revamp the website and it’s a disaster.”

“I wouldn’t call it a disaster,” Ethan could be heard saying in the background.

“The sooner you get out here, Ty, the sooner we can get this place for a fair price.”

“Or maybe you’ll realize that this place is worth keeping in the family!” Ethan shouted.

Tyler could picture the glare Ben was most likely giving his twin. “Stop dragging your feet, Ty. Ethan is in over his head. Don’t say anything,” he obviously said in warning to Ethan. “You know it’s true.”

Ethan knew everything there was to know about animals, but marketing and brand management had very little to do with animal biology. If Ethan’s only plan for getting customers in the door was to beg friends for a favor, the ranch was done for.

“You gave up your job in New York, Ben. Use your free time to help Ethan make things work.”