She tapped the horn before rolling down the window, giving me a clear view of who was in the driver’s seat. Oh, shit!Larsen from Willows… I should have known.
“Hey! You’re going to need to move—” Her eyes went wide with recognition at the same time my heart started to pound. “You!” Her gaze narrowed on me. “What the fuck are you doing here?” She enunciated every word as if each word were a dagger.
I crossed my arms over my chest. It had barely been two days since she’d slapped me across the face, and I could still feel the sting of her palm. I savored that burn as long as it lasted, wishing I could have that last hit again if it meant having her hands on me. Making me feel something. Anything. My pulse quickened.
Truthfully, I was surprised she hadn’t kneed me in the balls. I certainly deserved it for how I treated her.
Maybe it was fate that I ended up here, looking for work. It felt like a chance for redemption—to prove that I wasn’t such a fucking terrible human.
“I work here,” I called over the rumble of the engine.
“The fuck you do! I’m going to have my dadun-hire you.”
I shifted on my feet as my pants tightened. My lips tipped in amusement. Lina Larsen had a fucking mouth on her. I was reminded how she just came up to me at the bar in Joseph and told me to give her a tattoo. She was so alluring, undeniably confident. She was bold, beautiful, and determined. Everything I wanted.
From the moment I watched her ride—the way her horse inhaled those barrels—I was mesmerized. There was something about her that made my breath catch. My stomach twisted in a knot when she lost against Paige Gibson. I tried to convince myself the hookup meant nothing other than my own selfish need for revenge against Elise, but I immediately regretted it all. The primal need that zipped through my veins when I pressed my mouth to her skin was like taking a hit—an addiction I’d never experienced until now. It was a gut punch to see her face fall when she exited the gate. She knew she’d lost before she even looked at her time, and I was the asshole who did it to her.
“Now move!” she yelled, leaning farther out the window.
“I’m not going anywhere, Lina.” Not now.
I needed this job. I needed it to be able to provide for Penn so I could get her out of her mother’s house. I needed to be able to be close to her. And now, knowing that Lina was here, I could feel myself slowly coming alive again, like my whole body was thawing after a long, brutal winter. I was tired of just aimlessly wandering through lifeand making it by. I wanted tofeelsomething.Lina was the first one to make me feel more than I had in years. I was determined to have Lina’s strong, tightlegs wrapped around me again. I’d lost enough. I wasn’t losing anymore. Not this job. Not this girl.
“That’s my fucking spot! It has been for years.”
I putthe truck into park as Chuck came out of the stables to greet me, just like he'd done that first day.
“I want to see the horsies!” Penn hollered from her booster seat behind me.
“Hold on, princess.”
I hopped out of the truck, slamming the door.
“How’s our littlest cowgirl today?” Chuck asked, heading toward me.
I pressed my lips together and sucked in a breath through my nose.
“That bad, huh?” Chuck’s warm eyes held mine.
He knew about everything—maybe not to a certain extent, but he knew what I was dealing with and just how bad things were with Penn’s mom.
Hewasn’t thrilled about the fiancé, either.
“It’s not getting any better.” I clenched my jaw.
Chuck grasped my shoulder, giving it a good, sympathetic squeeze. “I’ll talk with Jude about getting you and Penn set up in the double-wide.”
“I appreciate that.”
He gave me a final pat on the back before opening the back door. “Is there a cowgirl back here?” he asked in a sing-songy tone.
Penelope’s eyes immediately brightened at seeing Chuck. “Is Mushu here?” she asked hopefully, as if she didn’t believe her ol’ man was telling her the truth.
“No, darlin’, not right now. But there are plenty of other horses waiting for you.” He scooped her up out of her car seat and turned to me. “We’ll figure it out, Reed.”
I nodded. I’d do anything for my daughter, and Thornbrush Ranch was right where we needed to be.
2
