Page 10 of His Last Nerve

But I loved my mom more.

I rounded the car, gravel crunching underneath my sandaled wedges. It was a miracle I hadn’t faceplanted yet. That was another thing that came with this job—the dress code. I had to dress to impress, despite the terrain. Over the years, I’d gotten quite good at it.

Even though I was from Texas, I was a city girl. I never knew anything about country life before this. Did I hate the outdoors? No, absolutely not. In fact, I loved being outside. I guess that was one perk. My office was outside. Back in Dallas, I dreaded going into the actual office. Stall, dull colors, lifeless smiles, and fluorescent lighting…it was soul sucking.

I made my way to the open, barn doors and peeked inside. Not a sound.

“Hello?” I called.

Nothing, not even a neigh from a horse.

I stepped further into the space and noticed that all the stalls were empty. Spinning on my heel, I decided to round the barn. Maybe there was someone on the other side. I moved my tablet to my right hand and pressed my left to the red siding, dragging it behind me as my eyes scanned for another human.

This was weird.

Usually, there was always at least one cowboy hanging out by the barn, cleaning stalls and doing random tasks during the day. That’s how all the other ranches I’d been to have been.

“Hello?” I called again to no one in particular as I came around the back of the barn. I looked up and stopped short. There was a giant, black “H” painted on the back side. Jesus. That was huge. Who in the hell painted that?

Who in the hell got that high up with a bucket of paint and a brush?

After taking a second to admire its beauty, I rounded the last corner of the barn, coming up on the other side, an open door in the middle of the siding. Butterflies swarmed my stomach as I prepared to face the human who may or may not be inside. I had my fake smile locked and loaded, ready to plaster on a second’s notice. The gravel crunched underneath my heels and in the distance, I heard the faint mooing of cows.

“Hello?” I called again as I got closer to the door.

Denver

Who in the fuck—

I stepped out of the bunkhouse, hand on my gun as my eyes scanned the property. First, I noticed a bright red sedan in front of the barn. Next, I noticed the driver of the said vehicle.

The third thing I noticed—which pissed me off the most—was that my cock twitched at the sight of her. She was gorgeous. Tall and curvy. A fucking vision.

Christ.

She was walking along the side of the barn, in heels, dragging her hand over the siding. She was too fucking pretty to be in a place like this, that was for sure. Grabbing the bandana from my back pocket, I dusted my hands off, as I watched her. Her steps slowed as neared the side door of the barn and I moved, seeing red.

The last woman who set foot on this property, the only one who had in the last ten years, shattered the bond between my brother and me. I lost the only family I had left because of some average pussy.

This woman had her back to me, her dark hair flowing down her back in waves that stopped at her waist, the overcast sky making it look even more striking. She was a city girl, that much was clear, dressed in a tight pencil skirt that covered every fucking inch of her perfect, round ass and a dark green silk blouse.

A woman like that had no business being out here.

A woman like that didn’t come to ranches for shits and giggles.

A woman like that was a threat to Hallow Ranch.

I closed the distance between us, grabbing her elbow, spinning her around and shoving her against the side of the barn, with my forearm against her neck.

Her eyes were wide with shock and fear as she looked up at me.

Christ.

Those fucking eyes.

Green.

Forest green.

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