“Oh,” I say, flustered. This time I know it’s me turning red. “Right. I guess I don’t really remember.”
“Right,” he nods, looking at the ground, obviously disappointed. I want to tell him the reason I don’t remember anyone else is because I only remember him. His laugh, his smile, the way he made me feel. But, I can’t do that without making things incredibly awkward, so I leave it alone.
“Do you think he remembers me?” I whisper, suddenly in a panic. I really hope Parker doesn’t remember me as the girl his friend had a one night stand with. I’d be mortified.
“No, I’m sure he doesn’t,” Miles says. I nod, but I’m not convinced.
We’re interrupted by the sound of a horse galloping towards us. Miles steps away abruptly, startling me.
He reaches up to adjust his hat and my eyes immediately go straight to the small sliver of skin showing when his shirt lifts up. There on his side are faded black lines, hardly visible against his tan skin. He’s still looking in the other direction, so I narrow my eyes looking closer.
It’s a tattoo of something. I can make out legs, the body of some sort of animal, and… antlers. Yep, that’s what that is. It’s a deer.
A buck. With three antler points on one side and two on the other. It looks so familiar to me, but I just can’t place where I’ve seen it before. It’s a great tattoo. Whoever did it drew the deer very realistically. It’s like I can see it in the field in front of us.
Holy shit. That’s what I know it from.
The deer I saw on the first day I came to the cabin looksexactlylike Miles’s tattoo. Scarily similar. It’s like someone took a photo of that deer and drew it right onto his skin.
I snap my eyes up as soon as Parker stops a few feet in front of us.
“Howdy Katie,” Parker drawls, a bit exaggerated. He tips his hat towards me and I nod back with a smile. Parker turns his gaze over to Miles, smile dropping slightly. “Miles, we need you up at the corral to sign off on the last group for branding. The guys are already hootin’ and hollerin’, ready to be done, so I’d hurry if I were you before it turns into an early celebration.”
Miles chuckles a bit, taking off his leather gloves. I try not to notice his forearms flexing as he does. “Finished early, did ya?” he says. “We’ll have to see about that.”
I like this new side of Miles. It’s closer to, well… the old side. Parker seems to notice as well, shooting me a wink from atop his horse. I look away quickly, not wanting to be caught by Miles, conspiring behind his back.
“Speaking of celebrations, will we see you at Branding Night?” Parker says with a knowing smile.
“Whatever is Branding Night?” I ask, seeing right where he is going with this.
Parker gasps sarcastically and brings a hand to his chest. “Did Miles not invite you? Well I’m glad you asked darlin’. You see, Branding Day is a day of, well, branding cows. But Branding Night is a night-long celebration that branding is over for the year,” he explains. Miles is already shifting uncomfortably where he stands, pretending to kick down some dirt with his boots. “There’s a bonfire, music, booze, and of course, I’ll be there.” Another wink.
Without a side glance at Miles, I smile up at Parker. “Sounds like a great time, I’ll be there.”
“Yeehaw,” Parker yells, kicking his horse up and turning back towards the ranch. He’s gone as quick as he came. The only difference is, when he got here, Miles was a whole lot happier than he is right now.
“You really don’t have to go to Branding Night,” Miles grumbles, not looking me in the eye. “It’s just a bunch of drunk cowboys and a few of their girlfriends. I only go because I have to.”
“I wasn’t lying, it sounds like fun. I want to go,” I say. “Is there some reason you don’t want me to go?” I bat my eyes innocently at him when he looks up at me. If Miles has a vendetta against me, I’m not letting him get away with pretending he doesn’t.
“No,” he says slowly. “I suppose there’s not.”
“Great,” I say louder than I mean to, clapping my hands together. “I’ll see you then.”
Turning on my heel, I head back towards the cabin again. Only this time, Miles doesn’t stop me. I close the back door behind me and slink onto the ground, letting out a big sigh. I have a lot of work to do. And my to-do list isn’t getting any shorter.
But what’s one night off to spend time up at the ranch? I’ll just come in earlier tomorrow.
Plus, I can’t say no to another opportunity to annoy the heck out of Miles Autry. It’s just too much fun.
I take a deep breath as I stare at the familiar name on my phone, buzzing away on my countertop the minute I lock myself away in the guest cabin for the foreseeable future.
Florence.
Not Mom. Never Mom.
Florence is Florence. My boss, the one who signs my paychecks, the queen of MacPherson Enterprises. The woman who sent her own child to live with her sister-in-law instead of raising her.
