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The desire for them didn’t feel bad or wrong, but she shouldn’t want what wasn’t hers. It was important to keep everyone at arm’s length. She couldn’t let anyone very far into her life. Especially not those two cowboys.
But her desire for them…
Yeah, it seemed far from bad. It felt exactly right. Alive. Tingly. But even if they were single, Dev wouldn’t pursue her feelings. There was too much danger in that.
For them.
Even telling Briar was dangerous.
God, this was stupid. She should leave and forget the whole fanciful idea of sharing her identity, of starting a horse training facility.
She reached for her jacket just as Briar returned, thwarting her escape.
“Here we go,” Briar said, and when Dev glanced over her shoulder, she saw her friend wasn’t looking her way yet as she placed a tray with the two cups, as well as cream and sugar, on the coffee table.
“You look nervous. There’s no need to be,” Briar continued. “It’s just me.”
It was too late to back away now, not without being obvious. Dev heaved a breath. Reaching up, she mussed her hair, then she slid off the black rimmed glasses. This way, when her locks were wild, she looked far less like a hipster guy. In fact, she actually looked a whole lot like Ruby Rose from The Meg.
“Really, there is a specific reason.” She turned, and Briar’s mouth dropped open. Dressed in a clingy T-shirt and with her hair wild around her face, it was clear Devon wasn’t what she’d led everyone to believe.
“Holy Clark Kent, Superman. Um…Supergirl…I guess. Wow. Um… I… Do Brian and John know you’re a woman?” Briar stammered, asking about their bosses at the bar where they worked. Mouth still opening and shutting as she searched for more words, she sank onto the couch. Devon moved to sit beside her.
“No.” Dev shook her head slowly. “And I don’t want them to know. I’ve gone to a lot of trouble to conceal who I am. It’s been difficult, especially while living in town. I want to get farther into the country—not be in ‘downtown’ Daly all the time. I’d like someplace where I can just be me sometimes. So… I’m hoping to find an area to build a house then raise and train a few horses.”
“The land you were asking about?”
Devon nodded. “I have money—cash—so I can pay you outright.”
Briar raised an eyebrow as her shock wore off. “Which begs the question… Why are you hiding out in Daly if you’re affluent enough to have that sort of cash?”
“It’s a long and convoluted story that starts with my stepfather basically selling me to his clients as part of a high-level business deal. I know…” Dev shook her head and held up a hand. “That’s movie-of-the-week stuff. People think that sort of thing doesn’t happen, but at the right price, it does. I should be flattered to know I’m worth twenty million, right? Parts of me anyway…”
“Uh, no,” Briar replied, but Dev barely heard her.
“White slavery, it’s alive and well,” she muttered. “The guy who bought me didn’t even want me for himself. He made it clear he intended to pimp me out to the highest bidders. A chance with the debutante whore.” Dev grimaced as Briar blanched, flinching at her words. “That was my stepfather’s mistake—he was so full of himself and the power he thought he had that he told me his plans before the exchange. Advised me to say goodbye to my old virginal life. I did. I ran.”
She shrugged as if she weren’t still traumatized, as if she didn’t still wake up from nightmares in a cold sweat.
“Jesus, Dev,” Briar breathed. She shook her head, grabbing Dev’s hand. “You can come here to my ranch and hide. You don’t have to buy the parcel from me—”
“I want to,” Dev argued, warmth filling her at the simple physical contact that had been lacking in her life. “I need a place to call mine. I want a home again. My own home. I don’t really know how to handle the transaction, though. Nailing down things, you know? I’m sure my stepfather’s associates are looking for me to crop up. They probably have a program running that’ll trigger an alarm if my name appears.”
“The Daly court system is hardly high-tech. Or we could create a shell company for you to hide behind,” a male voice interrupted from behind us. Tensing, Dev glanced back to see one of Briar’s men, Jax, leaning against the doorjamb, where he’d clearly listened in on their conversation.
“Jax,” Briar admonished. She placed a hand on Devon’s thigh to reassure her. “It’s okay. He’s safe.”
He shrugged. “I, um, saw Devon get here and thought I’d come in to…” He indicated vaguely around them, and Dev knew he’d just come to make sure the male coworker from the bar wasn’t making moves on Briar.
Briar narrowed her eyes at him. “We’ll talk about that later. For now, come in here. Dev needs our help.”
“Sounds like it. If it wouldn’t land me in jail, I’d hunt down those snakes,” Jax growled.
“Jax works for me—” Briar explained as if Dev didn’t know who he was. Technically, she’d known him longer than Briar had—though, clearly not as intimately as her friend did.
“He’s one of your men. I know,” she interrupted.
Briar nodded. “Yes, he is that, too. He’s also a lawyer. At very least, he can help us wade through the paperwork for the sale without your name getting filed online anywhere.”
