“Throw me a bone, son.I came all this way.Least you could do is invite me up.Give me a beer.Introduce me to the pretty lady.”
“No.”
If he invited him up, he’d be harder to get rid of, and he wasn’t going to contaminate Cam’s space—his space, such as it was—with a womanizing drifter thinking he’d hit pay dirt.
“Looked pretty hot and heavy to me, but judging by your suit, your digs, your business profile, pretty easy for you to pick up some tail whenever you want.We got that in common.Probably a lot more.”
He wasn’t aware he’d made a fist until Ayana clasped her hand over his.
“Name’s Ayana.I am not tail.And if you and Telford are blood, that’s all you have in common—and blood’s not much use unless you intend to spill it.”
The man’s face cracked into a smile that was a punch in the gut because Telford didn’t smile often—Cam was always on him to lighten up—but it was like looking in a mirror twenty-five years into the future.
“Got yourself a fighter, son,” the cowboy who hatefully absolutely should not be his father said, clearly enjoying the scene he was creating, and Telford hated giving that power away.“I like that.”
He tipped his hat to Ayana.“Pleased to meet you, ma’am.Think you’re going to wrangle this cold fish up to scratch?”He grinned at Cam.“Doubt it, but he runs hotter than he looks judging by his fists.I think he wanted to deck me three times now.We got that in common, too, though I’m not so easy to take down.I believe, although I could be wrong, that he’s my firstborn.There’s something magic to that.”
Telford gritted his teeth.
Ayana took the card from his fingers and tapped it against her palm.“What do you want?”she asked coolly.
“I’m here to talk to my son.Judging by the looks of you and this building and the articles I’ve read, you’ve done well for yourself, son.”
Here it was—the ask.Telford’s lip curled.
“You’re gonna want to talk to me,” the man said, taking a step in and lowering his voice.“It will be to both our benefits.”
“Nothing about you interests me,” Telford said, coldly, but he heard the hint of Texas in his voice and shut up.Forced calm.
“Not so sure about that, are you.”The cowboy had a hint of a smile again, but it had a mean edge.“I said you’re the oldest boy.You got a younger brother.”
Another hit, but Telford kept that off his face and body.But the wordboywas yet another slap.
“Least one.Younger.Bull rider.Better than I ever was.Better than my know-it-all golden boy Irish twin brother ever was.Fool’s getting married in a couple weeks in a little nothing of a town—Marietta, Montana.He has something of mine I just might want back.”
He stepped back.His eyes glinted with purpose, and his mouth curved up.
“Just might see you there, son.Family reunion.I’ll be in touch.”He tipped his hat and sauntered across the glimmering granite floor toward the shafts of sunlight streaming through the walls of windows.He hummed a tune that sounded hauntingly familiar.
Chapter Six
Whoa.That wasintense family drama.By the time the doors of the elevator whooshed closed, she’d already googledchampion American bull riders—who knew they existed—and hit on a list with a YouTube link.
“At the risk of sounding like a character in a teenage Instagram stalker skit onSaturday Night Live, think I found him,” she sang out like the Chloe Fineman character had on the SNL comedy show where Gen Z girls found suspects in cold cases through social media in seconds, while Millennial cops had remained stumped.
“That man is not my father.”Telford’s voice was scathing enough to peel paint from walls, and it surprised her, as he’d seemed far more aloof in his emotional tenor this afternoon.“And I don’t have a brother.”
He didn’t sound as certain as he did petulant, but a parent popping up out of the blue would throw anyone off their game.Her stomach skittered sickly just thinking about how she would react if someone from the Family ever ambushed her.
“How’d he find me?Why?Money.”He answered his own question.“Damn Cam getting me into this.”
They rode up thirty-seven floors in seething silence, while Ayana silently mocked herself for feeling so invested.She still had those protective instincts that had been so useless.
Ayana to the rescue.
Right.Everything she owned was in a Portland Gear backpack and Weekender Bag stacked on top of a matching small suitcase in a hotel suite she had for three nights.No job.No apartment.No plan.All she had now for income was her Etsy store for her crochet and knit designs until she secured a new job.
Telford looked still and pale as the elevator stopped, and the doors slid open.He waited while she walked off first.She handed him the elevator swipe card back, and he keyed them into the office suite, and she walked in, suddenly wondering if she should offer to leave.The vibe from the kiss was burned to ashes, and she doubted dinner was on the table.
