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“How is Hayden?” he asked, looking at the menu. I had yet to pick mine up, keeping my hands folded tightly in my lap.
“It’s a relatively small town, nestled in a valley. The population is min—”
“Ms. Cross,” he chuckled. “If I wanted general facts, I would have Googled it.”
“Right, sorry, sir.” I looked down at the table.
“Nervous?” His voice was gentle andthatcaused me to look up. He was smiling at me like we were old friends catching up. I didn’t know why but I didn’t trust it. I wouldn’t allow myself to trust it, but I could play along.
“Yes,” I breathed, faking it.
“There is no need to be nervous, Ms. Cross. Honestly, I was surprised you asked for an extension. You aren’t the first to be turned down by Denver Langston.”
“But I will be the last,” I declared.
A slow, slick smile spread across Tim Moonie’s face. “That’s exactly right.”
I ignored the red alert signal going off in my head. I was doing this for my mom. No one else.
My mom was the only one who mattered to me.
Over the next hour, he told me that Moonie Pipelines wasn’t the first to approach Hallow Ranch. Companies had been eyeing that land for more than forty years, but the owners have held strong, turning down every offer that thrown way. Mr. Moonie explained that the land is vital because of its location at the end of the valley, something about the dirt. I don’t know, I kind of tuned it all out after Mr. Moonie said that Denver’s father had two sons. He told me that it was public record Mason Langston signed over his rights to Hallow Ranch ten years ago, making Denver Langston the sole owner.
Was that why he was so grumpy?
His brother walked away from the ranch?
I was an only child. I never had a sibling to bond with, but I’d dreamed of it. How wonderful it must have been to grow up with sibling, having a playmate, someone you could share all your secrets with, get into trouble with…
“So, when you go back to Hallow Ranch, here’s the offer,” Mr. Moonie said, snapping me out of my thoughts.
I nodded, focusing on him. At this point, the meal was done, and he was on his second whiskey.
“Ten million for the ranch and staff payout. Jobs and benefits will be provided to those who want them within the company. They will be offered to work on the pipeline crew, competitive salary and benefits,” he explained. “Janet, my assistant you spoke with last night, will forward all of this to you via email, along with the contract for Mr. Langston to sign. Once he does, I will fly out to Hayden personally to deliver the check, take a few press shots. I assume their local paper will want to do a piece, and that’s fine. Your name will be in it, of course, since you will be the one closing the deal. Is that alright with you, Ms. Cross?”
I blinked; my mouth open as I gaped at him. “I’m sorry, sir…You said ten millio—”
“Million dollars, yes. Yes, I did.” He stared at me for a moment, tilting his head. To men like him, ten million dollars was pocket change. Of course, he didn’t find it shocking.
“You must understand that the Hallow Ranch would be the company’s biggest account and the profit it would make from the pipeline is staggering. So, yes, Ms. Cross. Ten million dollars.”
I nodded. “Ten million dollars.”
He smiled. “Once you close this deal, I may bring you down to Houston. You are a valuable asset and this company thanks you.”
Ten million fucking dollars.
Thenextday,Ishowed up at Hallow Ranch at eight in the morning. I rounded the hood on my rental car and planted my butt on it. I was wearing something similar to the outfit from my first visit, a black pencil skirt and gray blouse. I had my tablet propped on my arm and began reading over the contract while I waited for the grumpy cowboy to show his face.
Yesterday afternoon, after lunch, I flew back to Hayden.
Then I locked myself in my hotel room and studied everything that Janet, sent me. I gave myself a pep talk in the mirror. I went down into town and ordered some fried rice from Ching’s, a local Asian restaurant. It was the best fried rice I’d ever put in my mouth. I came back to the hotel and called my mom. I took a hot bath and then went to bed.
Fast forward to this morning—here I was, leaning against the hood of my rental on one of the prettiest pieces of land I have ever been on, waiting on that asshole to come out of the barn.
A few minutes later, he did just that.
I tried to ignore the way my heart skipped a beat when he stepped out in a flannel, jeans that hugged his massive thighs, and that damn black cowboy hat. I tried to ignore my heart again when his smoke gray eyes drunk me in and then again when his hand balled into a fist by his thigh.
