“Hey, guys?” Liam called quietly. “You need to see this.”
Holly tossed her dark hair and flounced over with me following behind.
“What is it?” I asked, peering over Liam’s shoulder as he pressed play on the camera.
“More importantly, who won?” Holly asked.
“That’s the thing. Mateo and I watched twice, and we both counted the same.” Liam cleared his throat. “Watch Lennon.”
I watched. Pandemonium ensued, but Lennon paid us no mind. She stood perpendicular to the wicket closest to the home pole, one foot on either side. With a gentle tap, she sent her ball cleanly through the wicket. It stopped against the side of her foot. Then she tapped it back through again. Over and over and over. Five points each time.
Every time we made each other bleed, it cost us time. The fifty points we earned didn’t stand a chance against her incessant five.
“No,” Holly whispered, horrified. “No.”
When she was up by ten points, Lennon sent her ball flying into the home pole. Almost as though she had been aware of our scores the whole fucking time. “Home!” she hollered.
“Nooooo!” Holly wailed.
I straightened. My eyes met Lennon’s six yards away. She bowed with a flourish of her mallet, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.
Well, fuck me sideways. Lennon had won.
12
LENNON
I had beenat Mercy River Ranch for over a week now and not once had I visited the spa. This was in part because, despite what the website had led me to believe, it wasn’treallya spa, but more importantly, Tamilee Jones was one of the two massage therapists, and I wasn’t sure I’d come out of it alive. But rising before dawn to cook for a few dozen cowboys and half a dozen more guests made me ache in muscles I hadn’t known existed, so that afternoon I headed over.
The blonde woman behind the desk tossed aside her book the moment she saw me. “Lennon Graves! You’re here!”
I froze in place. No one had recognized me since I’d left New York, but I’d hoped to keep it that way, at leastuntil Benny’s trial was over. The last time I’d heard from Hector was two days ago, when he’d told me the feds were deposing Benny’s associates, and for me to stay out of sight.
“You know who I am?” I whispered. That wasn’t good. People recognizing me meant I’d have to leave, and I didn’t have anywhere to go.
Her laugh was big, coming from such a small person. “Of course I do. There are only five women who work at the ranch, and I’m one of them. You’re not Holly and you’re not Tamilee or Cecily, so unless you’re the housekeeper they hired six months ago that I still haven’t met, you must be the guest everyone’s been talking about.”
My shoulders had relaxed slightly as I realized she didn’t recognize me from social media or the news, but at those words, they shot right back up to my ears. “People are talking about me?”
“Girl, yes.” She laughed again. “Mercy River is a small town, and the ranch is an even smaller town. Entertainment is hard to come by. A pretty city girl like you getting our stoic cowboy all tied up in knots? Of course everyone is talking.”
“I didn’t do anything to Jeremiah,” I protested.
Her lips curved slyly. “I didn’t say it was Jeremiah.”
Oh. Right. My mouth opened and closed like a hooked fish. A stupid, stupid fish.
She burst out laughing. I had a feeling laughter wassomething she did a lot of. “I’m Emma Cole. What can I do for you, Lennon?”
“Um.” I cleared my throat. “A massage, please. If you have anything open. I don’t have an appointment.”
“Hm.” She consulted the computer. “Sure, I can fit you in.”
“Great. Thank you.” I hesitated. “It’s not…Who with?”
“Me.” She smirked. “Don’t worry. I’m stronger than I look.”
I eyed her doubtfully. She couldn’t be more than five-three and her figure was delicate. But I preferred a lighter touch when it came to massage, anyway. Emma was exactly what I needed.
