Resting his forearms on my shoulders he leaned in for a quick kiss. “I’m going up there to help get the stragglers later. Ray is taking charge.”
Ray, along with a guy called Davey, was the foreman. They ran things when Wilder or Nash weren’t around. Wilder had told me that if he and the guys weren’t so good at what they did, the family would be working seven days a week. After their dad almost worked them into the ground when he ran the place, the brothers decided things had to change and so they employed Davey to work alongside Ray to take up some of the slack.
“You think there’ll be many still up there?” I looked over toward the mountains and noticed Glenn hovering by the training paddock. He was tightening the straps on his saddle, but his attention was on me and Wilder.
“You okay?” Wilder asked, peering at me.
“Yeah, yeah. Fine. Just thinking about my schedule for the day.” I didn’t think it was worth telling him about Glenn. It could only cause problems. Wilder was protective and a little jealous and Glenn wasn’t doing anything except looking at us.
“You sure?” He brushed my hair from my eyes. “Or are you thinkingabout not seeing me for two days?”
“Because that’s what takes up my whole brain, every hour of every day.” He wasn’t wrong. I was kind of dreading being apart from him over Thanksgiving.
We’d fallen into a pattern of bliss over the last week and the idea of it being broken for even just a couple of days made my stomach churn with disquiet.
“I know it does, Brownie, which is why I have a surprise for you.” He reached for his phone and tapped on the screen and then handed it to me.
“What is it?” I took the phone and looked at it. “Wow, fancy.” I was looking at a five star hotel in Omaha.
“That’s where we’re staying for three days before we pick up the bull, which Bertie has already insisted be called Pete Perkins, or Petey for short.” He shook his head. “I cannot wait until we run out of characters from Seven Brides.”
Giggling, I took a closer look at the phone. “It’s real swanky. Thank you.” I kissed him softly. “How much do I owe you? I can transfer it later.”
Two little lines appeared between his eyes. “Nothing.” His voice was low and questioning. “Why would you think that?”
“Because it looks expensive, Wilder. I can’t expect you to pay.”
“Nah. No way. I am taking you away for a couple of nights. There is not a chance on this earth that you are giving me a dime.”
“But—”
“Not listening, babe. This is my treat for you, Brownie. You deserve it.” He silenced me with a long, lingering kiss. One that took my breath away. One that made every nerve ending in my body light up like the night sky on the Fourth of July. I could taste the coffee on his lips, feel the warmth of his breath and smell that familiar scent of leather, soap and morning air that was purely him.
“Hey, Wilder.”
Damn Glenn. Interrupting us when things were getting good.
“Glenn.” Wilder ground out his name as we pulled apart. “What can I do for you?”
“Ray radioed, said he could do with some help over by the creek. Ifigured you’d want to know.”
“Did he say what it was about?”
As Glenn replied, my phone pinged with a message. Taking it from the pocket of my jeans, I tuned out what Glenn was saying and looked at my phone.
Unknown Number
Don’t think I won’t get what I want!
Fucking Declan. My hands shook slightly as I read the message. As I wondered when he’d get the hint that I was not going back to him, and I was not giving up Dreamy.
“I’ll radio Ray and ask him myself if you don’t know,” Wilder said, taking off his hat and running a hand through his hair. “You go to him, and I’ll catch you up.”
“I think you should come now,” Glenn insisted. “I think?—”
“Glenn, just please do as I’m asking and go and find Ray. Give him the help he needs.”
The ranch hand just about stopped himself from rolling his eyes. Clearly he knew that it was something that would not go down well with his boss. “Fine. I’ll see you there.”
