Several hours later, after I’d finished all of my work with the horses, taken a shower, picked up the saddles I’d won in the silent auction, and stuffed myself into a dress Caitlin loaned me, and completed my best attempt at applying the makeup I hadn’t worn in months, I stood in front of the small mirror in the bunkhouse bathroom.
“Are you ready yet?” Aiden yelled from the front room. “We need to get a move on if we’re going to pull this off.”
I slowly opened the door and stood there, waiting for him to react.
He let out a long, low whistle. “How do you expect us to make it out the door on time with you dressed like that?”
I liked this flirty, fun version of him far better than the cold grump he’d been for the past couple of weeks. “Do you want to change your mind about dinner?”
“Yes.” He covered the distance between us in a few long strides and pulled me into his arms. “But Shane would strangle me for screwing up the plan.”
“Then I guess you’ll have to wait.” I kissed the tip of my finger and pressed it to his lips.
“You’re worth it, Paisley.” His chin rested on the top of my head. We swayed together for a few long beats before he pulled back. “I’d be willing to wait a hell of a long time for you.”
“Feels like we already have. I’ve been waiting for you for twenty-six years.” I smiled up at him, my heart filling with warmth at the affection in his eyes. It was too soon to say the “L” word, though that’s exactly where we were headed.
We got in the truck and followed Shane and Caitlin as they led the way to the ski resort. Operation “Get the Bad Guys” was fully underway.
CHAPTER 10
AIDEN
I creptalong the back of the big house, using a pine branch to sweep my footprints away behind me. As far as anyone knew, I was having dinner with Shane, Caitlin, and Paisley at the Flathead Ski Resort. In reality, Priest had picked me up at the employee entrance of the building and the two of us had driven back toward the ranch.
He’d passed the place and parked his truck on a dead end trail. Then we’d climbed through the woods to reach the big house where we’d wait to see if anyone would show up. According to Shane, a few more guys would cover the other sides of the property. If anything was going to happen tonight, we’d be prepared.
“We can wait here,” Priest whispered.
He was one of the Mustang Mountain Riders and also managed a tattoo shop in town. He was also ex-military and knew what the fuck he was doing. I nodded in agreement and lowered myself into a squat just as the rumble of a snowmobile came from down by the bunkhouse. Dammit. We’d counted on them driving up, not coming in over the snow. The engine cut off and two figures climbed off the back.
Low voices mumbled, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. With their thick snowmobile suits and tinted goggles, it would be impossible to confirm whether I’d seen either one of them before. Priest and I stood by while they scrambled up the path toward the big house.
“I don’t know what it’s going to take for them to get the message,” the taller one said.
The other one had a stockier build and stood about five inches shorter. “You sure we can’t just burn the whole place down, Seth?”
“How could we frame him for that?” Seth pushed his buddy hard enough for him to stumble in the snow.
My stomach rolled. Now they were trying to pin something on Shane? Fuck that. I would have rounded the corner and ripped the goggles off both of them if Priest hadn’t grabbed onto my jacket and held me back. He shook his head and mouthed, “Not yet.”
He was right. We needed to see them actually commit a crime before we let them know they were under surveillance. So I sat back on my heels and quietly seethed.
“What do you think?” the short one asked. “Break a few windows and make it look like a burglary, or should we take out one of those stupid horses?”
My hands curled into fists. Not one of Paisley’s horses. She’d be devastated.
“You really think he’d kill one of his own horses?” Seth stopped less than ten feet away. Close enough to see the reflection of the house in his damn golden goggles. “We’re just supposed to plant something in his stuff. No breaking windows. No killing anything.”
If they’d just take off their goggles…
“I thought this job was supposed to be fun.” The short one continued on to the porch.
He had a fucked up vision of fun, that was for sure. So they wanted to frame Shane for something? First, they’d tried to turn me. Now, they were talking about planting something in his stuff. The realization of their wicked game dawned on me. If Shane got caught with stolen property, he’d be heading back to prison. They wanted to frame him and have him sent away.
“You getting all of this?” I whispered to Priest. He’d set up a few cameras around the property to try to capture anything that went down.
“Yeah. So far, they haven’t committed a crime. Let them break in, and we’ll confront them on the way out.” He pulled out his phone and typed something onto the screen.
