“But now you can thrive,” I say with a smile. “And I know how that is. I had a rough time in my teenage years, and then I found my way into a marriage that wasn’t healthy or happy. We can thrive in our thirties, girl.”
“Hell yes, we can.” She holds her coffee up to cheers with mine. “If you hear of a ranch around here needing an intern, let me know. I’d rather not work for my brother. I love him, but no.”
“Did I just hear the magic word ofranch?” Ava asks, drifting our way.
“Yes, I’m going to need a job in the spring,” Darby says. “I’ll be finishing up my large animal vet degree. Do you have a ranch?”
“My family does,” Ava replies, tapping her lips with her finger. “I’ll ask Tucker if he could use some help next year. He’s my oldest brother and runs the Hendrix Ranch now that my dad has retired.”
“Good for him,” I say with a nod. “He hashi, I’m a hot-as-hell cowboywritten all over him.”
“Ew.” Ava wrinkles her nose. “No, he doesn’t.”
I turn to Darby. “He’s hot. Around our age, tall, dark, and handsome.”
“He could look like a toad for all I care. I need a job.”
“I mean, it can’t hurt to look at a sexy cowboy while you work,” I reply, shrugging one shoulder.
“Who the fuck are you talking about, Wildfire?”
I jump, my stomach climbs into my throat, and Ava breaks out in laughter.
“You startled me.”
I turn to find Brooks’s sizzling gaze on me, his eyes narrowed, his jaw tight. “Who. Are you. Talking about?”
“Tucker,” Ava says helpfully. “We were talking about your friend Tucker. Who your girlfriend thinks is hot.”
Ava is a shit stirrer.
“Look, I can observe that a person is attractive without it meaning anything or threatening you?—”
Brooks cuts me off by wrapping his hand around the back of my neck and covering my mouth with his. I can hear everyone around us whoop and clap their hands, and my face heats.
How can he turn me on so much with just a single kiss?
“You were saying?” he growls against my lips.
“I have no idea.”
His lips twitch into a smile. “Good. Hello, ladies.”
“I’m just so happy,” Bee says, wiping tears from her cheeks. “I want you two together so bad. Don’t mind me, it’s just the hormones.”
Brooks chuckles and reaches out to brush his hand down Billie’s hair. “Don’t cry, Bee.”
“I can’t help it.”
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and when I pull it out, my face falls.
Unknown Number: Send me ten grand. Today.
Brooks is looking over my shoulder, and I’m not trying to keep the words out of his line of vision.
“Dammit,” I mutter.
“Let’s go, Wildfire. You can take care of that at home.”
