Malika didn’t complain about having to walk.She chattered about every little thing that caught her attention.The way the light caught the leaves.The way the wind that passed above them made the trees sigh.The way mouthy squirrels reminded her of dryads, of all things.Where she found the lung capacity for speech so soon after getting pepper sprayed, he had no idea.
But her optimism—her ability to turn a negative experience into a positive one—was a trait he admired.Otherwise, she continued to confuse the heck out of him.
Part of him continued to believe he was part of a plan to get back at her brother.That her being ruined by a cowboy would send him a giant middle finger.
The rest of Jayce said he was crazy.Malika enjoyed life and everything about it.She had more freedom right now than she was used to, or likely would have ever again once she was married, and she was taking full advantage of it.
He was okay with that, because the role of honorable cowboy had begun to wear thin, and he’d spotted a loophole—what happened outside of Burning Scrub wasn’t part of her adventure, and a few days’ respite at the Ride No More Ranch would offer plenty of opportunities for them to entertain more dishonorable thoughts.He had to find a way to get her out from under his skin, and less than two months to do so.
It had to be handled in such a way as to keep twenty-five million dollars from being at risk, or to ruin her upcoming wedding.If the groom expected his second wife to be a virgin, then they’d work around that expectation.There were options.He’d explored plenty in tenth grade with a pretty girl named Jeanette, a minister’s daughter, who’d been willing to do lots of things behind the gym not involving full penetration.He’d been sad when her family moved to Wyoming.
“I’m not sure beautiful is the word I’d use to describe it, but I will admit it was impressive,” he said, regarding the bear.
He didn’t have the heart to explain that the bear had been young, and not nearly full grown, and its chuffing, plus the bold charge, had been a warning for the humans to shove off because it was coming through.The creek on the far side of the camp was teeming with trout and the odd Kokanee salmon.
“What brought you to the US?”he asked.The question seemed safer than revisiting matters by the creek.He owed her an apology, but he couldn’t figure out where to begin, or what for exactly, and it might be safer to pretend nothing happened.
“School,” Malika said.“I finished boarding school for young women at home, spent a few years at a private college in the UK that my brother handpicked, then I asked to study North American history in California—mostly because I knew it was an interest of his.”
She wanted her brother’s attention as much as she wanted to annoy him.Good to keep that in mind.
“No offense, but you don’t seem to know a whole lot about the American West for someone who studied our history.”
“Oh, I never attended classes,” Malika said cheerfully.“Why bother when there are lots of people who are willing to write papers and sit for exams and are better at it than me?I read a few books, but I didn’t have time for school.Los Angeles is such a beautiful city to explore, with so many wonders.My roommates adore it as much as I do.”
“These roommates.”And here was yet another question that begged for an answer.“Were they Djitanian too?”
“Of course.Adeel hired them.Adeel is my brother’s real name,” she added.“Adeel Jiorji.Sheik Ali is such a ridiculous alias.So common.”
Her roommates were bodyguards, no doubt.If he thought matters through to conclusion, then there was a strong possibility that Adeel Jiorji, like the fabricated brother in her adventure, would have him killed for touching his sister.
The same unspoiled—he suspected—sister who paid people to write her exams, who paraded around naked, and who wanted to teach grown men to flirt.
What did that even mean?What wonders had she explored in LA?
Maybe virginity wasn’t an obstacle.
He was so confused.
Thankfully, his mother came to his rescue.She rode into view, leading a second horse.The second horse wore a saddle.
“Thank goodness,” Vanessa said when they met.
Worry deepened the tiny lines surrounding her eyes.
She scanned her son.“I was so afraid when Side-eye showed up without you.Did he throw you?Are you hurt?”
“No, he didn’t throw me,” Jayce said, insulted she’d ask such a thing.“And no, I’m not hurt.”
“A tree branch knocked him out of the saddle,” Malika said to his mother, because discretion was another word she didn’t seem to understand.“But that was after the bear scared his horse.”
His mother’s face took on an expression that didn’t bode well for him, even though he was no longer a teenager, and he knew what to do when faced with a bear.It was a mom thing.When she got worried, she became overprotective.
“Why don’t you let me tell her the story?”he said to Malika.
He explained what had happened.
His mother’s eyes sharpened, but thankfully, she let it go.
