Page 25 of The Billionaire Who Saved My Cat From The Mafia

“And what’s with the other horse?”I ask.“Is that for me?First a trailer full of supplies and now you’re giving me a pony?”

“It’s to help you while we get this sorted out.It’s too far to walk for help.”

“No one can hear me scream and all that, right?But I don’t need your help, MacLaine, and I didn’t ask for it.And I sure as hell didn’t ask for a horse!”

“It’s for your safety.”

“You’re not listening to me.”

“Her name’s Bella.She’s surefooted and slow, and she’ll keep an eye out for you if you ride her down the mountain.You’ll need to walk her to the creek for water and take her to the mountain meadow just east of here to graze.Have you been around horses at all?Can you do that?”

“I absolutely could do all that, but I won’t, because I’m not keeping the damn horse.”

He looks away and stares at his scuffed cowboy boots.

“This is painful for you, isn’t it, MacLaine?Talking, I mean.You don’t like to use a lot of words.”

He shrugs and glances at me again.“Words are just sounds people make to fill empty space.I don’t put a lot of stock in them.Can’t get a word in around my family, anyway.”

This surprises me.I would have thought his family would be like him—painfully reserved.“Are there a lot of MacLaines?”

“More every fucking day, seems like.”

I don’t know what he means by that, but I suspect there’s a story there.

He might not like to talk, but for some reason, I feel chatty.Maybe because he’s the only human being I’ve spoken to in four days.Pussy’s always good company, no doubt about it, but unless it’s dinner time or she detects something snuffling around in the dark, she’s pretty quiet.

“So, you’re a rancher,” I say.

I detect the beginnings of a smile on his face.But he puts an end to it.“Among other things.There’s a family business, too.”He scratches the back of his neck.“And I served in the military.”

“Oh, really?”I’m not at all surprised.The dude’s built like a tank.“My dad served, too.First Gulf War.Marines.”

“Hoorah,” he mumbles.Then, he studies me the way he did yesterday, his eyes scanning my hair, shoulders, and my face.His attention stays on my lips a little too long for my comfort again, too.But when his striking eyes lock on mine, his gaze is way too intense.

I stand, putting some room between us.“You were a Marine too?”

“Navy.A SEAL.”

“No shit?”I sit back down, snuggling Pussy in my lap, really curious now.

I’ve never met a Navy SEAL, not that I know of, anyway.I’ve met my share of military men at Lynx.It was a rite of passage for soldiers and sailors to drop in at the strip club when they came through Vegas.

“A real SEAL?The real deal?”

He doesn’t answer.Doesn’t say a word.

But his eyes are talking a mile a minute.I squirm on the tree stump.I’ve been ogled by hundreds of men during my time at Lynx.Maybe thousands.

This isn’t ogling.It’s something else.His gaze slices through my rock-solid boundaries and goes where it wants to.It’s like he’s looking right through me.

And whatever that force is he’s projecting out my way, I’m sending it right back at him.Whatever this energy bouncing between us is, it’s fiery.Electric.

I can barely breathe, even though I’m surrounded by nothing but fresh air.

CHAPTER 13

Special K