“C’mon. Surely a little playing pretend will be more fun than having to put up with your shitty ex? Wouldn’t it feel good to make his life mighty uncomfortable since he’s out here acting like a prize jackass already getting down on one knee for someone else? Don’t you want to piss in his Wheaties a little?”
Her eyes flare when they meet mine. I’ve obviously managed to strike gold at last.Jackpot.
“If…and that’s still anIfI agree to this...” She raises one eyebrow my way. “I suppose at the very least the owners of the ranch will be able to tell me all your secrets, huh?”
I clear my throat.Hopefully not.
“Every last one.” I dip my chin. “They’ll throw me under the bus at the very first opportunity. No doubt about it.”
“This is next-level bat shit insanity. The fact I’m even considering this...” She huffs, and her breath streams out in a plume of white on the frozen air. “My life is…”
“Deserving of something a little fun? Worthy of sticking it to your dickhead ex? In need of living a little? Take your pick, sugar.”
Mia gives me an unreadable look. Seconds tick by, and I’m counting every one fervently, hoping she’ll agree to this.
To me.
Maybe even to us.
“We’ll need to get our story straight.” Her lips twist ever so slightly. “Is it even possible to run a background police check at this time of the year?”
The elation swooping through my stomach is just as powerful as winning any event in the arena.
A warm sensation glows inside my chest. “Well, if you’re okay with it, wanna follow me to my place… you know, to give us a chance to come up with a game plan and all.” I’m hasty to add that part. Nerves are creeping in, that I’ll fuck this up and lose my chance to properly get to know her before I’ve even busted out the chute. It’ll also give me an opportunity to get out of these goddamn work clothes I’ve been in since feeding out the cattle at dawn.
“Am I about to end up as the subject of a true crime podcast?”
That makes a laugh burst out of me. “With Stella as my witness, I promise I’m just a cowboy who thinks this will make for a very memorable holiday adventure. Much more so than if I’ve only got hungry livestock to hang out with all day and needy horses demanding my attention.”
“Well, from where I’m standing, that sounds like a pretty good life.” She smiles, and goddamn, is that the most gorgeous thing.
“Let me show you the address on your phone.” I reluctantly let go of her hand that I’ve been clinging to this entire time. “You take one look at the place and if it doesn’t feel right, all you gotta do is carry on a few hundred feet, then you’ll hit the entrance to the ranch.”
She eyes me for a long second, then pulls out her phone. “This is nuts.” Her whisper drifts past those plush lips.
I quickly pull up the map and drop a pin so she can see. “Right there.”
“Wow.” Mia pinches the screen to zoom in. “You weren’t kidding. Literally… right next door?”
“You betcha. A stone’s throw.” Heat climbs up the back of my neck. Is she going to ask questions about why or how it is that I happen to live so close? Or will she just roll with it?
As we’re standing there and she gnaws on her bottom lip, a text arrives on her phone. I don’t see who it’s from, or what it’s about, but something in Mia’s energy shifts as she reads it.
With a wry chuckle and steely determination filling her green eyes, she tilts her chin up to look at me. “Alright. Let’s do it. Lead the way, cowboy.”
Those four little words make me feel like I’m floating on air.
Making sure she gets safely into her own vehicle, I then rush back to my own. Climbing into my truck, taking a quick glance at the worn, faded leather of the bench seat at my side makes me wish she was right there. But for now, I gotta take things one step at a time.
I suppose it’s a Christmas miracle she’s agreeing to this at all.
And there’s still one particular wildcard who might turn everything upside down.
Scrubbing one hand over my jaw, I turn the ignition, then pull out my phone while my truck warms up.
Me:
Got held up with something. I’m just on my way home.
