“Knox,” Her sunshiny voice has my molars grinding. “I was meaning to call you. How’s Ralph?”
My finger taps against the table, my eyes staring right at those mountains.
“Doing better,” He replies.
“I’ll swing by this afternoon.” Her hand touches his shoulder, the gesture disguised as being friendly, but the way she practically strokes the man suggests otherwise. I’d like to break every single one of her fingers. “Get those bandages off.”
“Sure,” Knox agrees.
“Hi Elena.” Her voice sing songs toward me before she shifts back tomycowboy. “See you later.”
When she’s gone, I remain still and unmoving, glaring at nothing at all.
“Don’t start, Elena,” Knox grumbles.
I flick my gaze to him, quirking a brow. “We’ll see.”
CHAPTER 28
Everly’s car pulls up to the paddock holding Ralph, the bull standing in front of me seemingly content with our proximity. He stopped his tantrum the moment I came over and has been quietly eating his feed out of the basket attached to the side of the fence.
Knox is at the stables with Chase, the sound of his deep voice carrying over though I can’t hear what is being said.
The door of her truck slams, and her shoes crunch over the gravel as she makes her way over. “Wow,” She whistles, “He’s so calm with you.”
I flick my eyes to her but keep my thoughts to myself. I have to behave. Which is bullshit if you ask me, it’s not like I’m going to kill her. I mean, Iwould,but I don’t want to bring attention to myself here. Maybe when I have my city back, I’ll revisit the thought.
“He’ll be upset when you leave,” She continues. “Bulls bond.”
“Who said I was leaving?” I bite.
“Well,” She laughs, “Your type don’t last round here.”
This fucking bitch.
“Mytype?” I chuckle, “And what’s that exactly?”
“One of them city whores looking for a ride on a real man,” She bats her lashes, “You know? He’ll get bored because you’re just not for him. He needs someone who knows what they’re doing on a ranch.”
I reach behind me out of instinct, searching for the gun I don’t have. In fact, I don’t even know where it is. I haven’t seen it since Knox was waving it around a few days after I arrived.
Motherfucker probably hid it.
I’ve not had much experience with a shotgun, but I’m sure I can figure it out; I just need to go retrieve it from the house.
“I’ll give you two seconds to apologize,” I warn her, “Otherwise this fence will get a paint job.”
She chuckles, opening her mouth to speak but quickly snaps it shut, lifting her eyes behind me.
“Everly,” Knox’s deep tone sends a shiver down my spine, the air turning heavy as he comes to a stop at my back. Close enough, I feel his warmth but not so close we’re touching.
“Hi Knox,” She smiles sweetly, stepping around me to kiss his cheek.
I’m not fucking doing this.
Stepping away from Knox, I climb the fence and hop into the paddock with Ralph, running my hand down his muscly side, his muscles twitching under my fingers. If I put the bull between us, maybe it’ll stop me ripping her fucking head off.
“Elena,” Knox snaps, “What are you doing?”
