“No,” West admits. “But that time of year is?—”
“Insane,” I finish for him. “Okay. Is anything else missing?”
West jerks his head. “Not yet.”
Fuck.Which means I’ve missed a shit ton and have a whole lotof catching up to do. I work my hand along the brim of my hat at the risk of feathering the edge. “Objection noted.”
West turns away, heading out of the barn.
I call him back. “Listen, Lanie is coming up to stay for a bit. Later in the week.” I pause, gauge the chances of him walking out on me. If he does, I won’t see him for months. That’s happened more than once in the last few years, usually when a situation is more than he can deal with. “Maybe tomorrow.”
Still no reaction.
“I’m not sure what will happen, but she’s my priority.”
“Got it.” West cuts his words short.
My foreman and best friend might not be happy with my choices, but she’s my girl, and it’s my damn ranch. “Be civil to her. She’s not what you think.”
West says nothing as he strides out of the barn, his objection to my life choices loud in his silence.
I stand in the quiet of the barn, count backward from ten, and follow him outside. Today is not the day to host a showdown with the man I’ve worked shoulder to shoulder with for thousands of hours, but I get the feeling it’s coming.
And it won’t be over a pretty girl or stolen stadium seating.
As I head back to Coyote Falls from a quick stop into Valiant Peak for a supply run—neither Billy nor Tripp being where they were supposed to be—Lanie’s announcement about Alaska lances through me like a physical wound. Sure, I can fund her research there, but selfishly, I don’t want to when it will take her away from me. The grant might do that anyway. So I opt for the next best choice: find her what she needs on my own land. My personal contingent of drones is already fitted out with infrared and thermal scanners to track my livestock, and it strikes me they should suit her needs as well as they have mine.
If I can use the tech to hunt for a pack Lanie can study over their territory somewhere at the back of Coyote Falls’ land withoutbeing invasive, that could solve this. If I have what she wants, maybe I can convince her to stay. Yes, it’s selfish. But if it achieves her ends as well as mine…
On a different front, both her concerns and West’s bother me. My foreman’s, because I can’t seem to convince him that Lanie’s intentions have nothing to do with dollar signs, and Lanie’s, because I need to be sure shewantsto stay with me. If that speaks to some deep-seated abandonment issues, then so be it.
That last one hurts more than anything else, though I’ve only known her for a short period. I’m determined to work the kinks out before the Invitational and spend the time afterward convincing her that Coyote Falls is the right place for her.
It’s not just because of the undeniable pull between us. The chemistry when we touch is ridiculous. I can barely keep my hands to myself around her. But when she’s near me, I feel something I haven’t had since before I left for college, when everything in my life that I thought would last forever fell apart.
Lanie Parker feels like home. And that scares the shit out of me.
The strange nomad of a scientist makes me want to give up the isolation I’ve worked so damn hard for these last years.
And I know that the whirlwind of whatever it is we’ve started isn’t one-sided. How she leans into me when we’re together…it’s an instant echo response of how I feel for her. I’m confident of that. She’s so different from the sort of one-night women I’ve sought out in the past. Most of my previous affairs have been short, exactly as I planned them, which is what Winnie scared the shit out of her with, telling tales of buckle-bunny exploits that I used as a strategy for personal protection.
A weekend here or there, fake-as-fuck girls with gold in their eyes. If they didn’t have it when they arrived, they certainly did by the time they left. When the rodeo ended, all that remained was the bitter tang of failure I covered with cleaning up in the wake of the event. Battling the constant calls after the fact grew exhausting, despite setting clear expectations early on.
But everything about my girl is different. The need to have her beside me is almost a compulsion. An obsession I don’t want to fight. A craving for the girl I need in my bed. Hell, anywhere on Coyote land will do.
Maybe West is right. Maybe that should be terrifying, even if he hasn’t said it outright.
Maybe she’s worth the risk.
My phone vibrates. I smile as I read over her message twice.
LANIE
Leaving now. Promise I’m not flaking on you.
CORD
Take your time, beautiful. Coyote Falls isn’t going anywhere.
