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I shake my head. “Nothing that the bank is willing to sign off on to get the rehabilitation off the ground. I’m sure I can get some revenue to run it from moving it to a charity…maybe grants. But we need a miracle a lot sooner than that.”
All of them nod their heads and their jaws firm. I can tell that they realize this is our only viable option right now.
I breathe easy knowing they have my back.
But I have a feeling getting Heather to forgive me for blowing up on her might take a little more work.
CHAPTER4
Heather
Anger builds in me the longer I think about how Cody didn’t even listen to me. All I wanted was to help him keep what he does love. His ranch. He might never love me the way I love him but I will always look out for him.
But right now…I just don’t know if that’s going to be possible. I can’t stop replaying how angry he got with me. It’s not like I was trying to pimp him out for heaven’s sake. Or the guys. It’s just to spend a day with a real-live cowboy. Seeing what they have to do in a day and how they care for the land and the horses.
Granted. Some women will probably do it just to get to be with a sexy man for the day and see where it goes. That’s not my business. I know very well a few of the guys are dogs and may do more than they’re asked.
But that’s not what they’re being asked for.
There’s a knock at the door of my little cottage but I ignore it. I’m not in the mood to talk to anyone right now. It’s been at least a couple of hours and I’m getting angrier as the time goes on. I’m literally shaking.
Cody’s never yelled at me. Not in the many years we’ve been friends. No matter what stupid things I’ve done. Not even when I tried to date a guy that I knew would never be the one. That I didn’t quite trust.
So when Cody had to come pick me up when I nailed the guy in the family jewels after he started wrestling with me at the end of the night, he didn’t even say I told you so. Just gathered me up for a hug that made the tears pour down my cheeks. After he beat the shit out of him. It wasn’t really a fair fight since I already half-crippled him with pain.
I still remember being in his arms. Shaking with reaction. Not just from fear. Although I was still shaking from leftover fear. No…this was something else. Pain. It literally felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest. It felt like home in his arms and I knew that this was all I’d ever get. He’ll never kiss me, hold me, claim me like I want.
“We’re just friends,” I whisper. That’s all we’ll ever be.
“Dammit, Heather! Open up!”
I jump when I realize I really am hearing his voice. For a minute I thought my hunger for him actually manifested as his voice in my home.
I hustle over to the door and swing it open.
“Oof!” I mutter under my breath, my ovaries practically exploding when I’m faced with the six foot six dreamboat that has popped me into the friend zone and left me hanging there.
He grins crookedly, leaning his hands on the doorjamb. “Hey, Cricket. I need to talk to you.”
I cross my arms over my chest and glare at him. “I think you said everything you needed to say.”
His grin fades and he sighs, standing up tall so that I have to tip my head back to see his eyes. He’s well over my five foot three height. I always feel so tiny next to him. And I’m not a tiny girl.
“I shouldn’t have blown up at you, sweetheart.” My heart jumps when he calls me that. He’s never called me anything like that. Just Cricket. And he never did answer me when I asked him why he calls me that.
I shuffle back and let him follow me through the door. He stalks after me and a little thrill of desire tingles along my veins. He looks like a big cat hunting his prey. It’s too damn sexy for words.
He steps right up to me and I tilt my head way back, surprised to see some strange emotion on his face unlike any I’ve ever seen. It makes my body tingle but it also confuses me. It’s gone so fast that I almost think I imagined it though.
I shove my misgivings aside and eye Cody warily. “What exactly did you want to say, Cody?”
His eyes heat up again and I narrow my own eyes at him. Something’s going on. There’s something new in the air. It feels like there’s a low hum of electricity all around us.
He leans against the breakfast bar at the edge of the kitchen. “I need to tell you how sorry I am, Cricket. I really shouldn’t have jumped down your throat like that. I’ve just been so on edge and then you came to me with that crazy idea and I just couldn’t see how it would work.”
“So what changed?”
“I did a little research. Turns out that it actually is a pretty sound idea. We could make enough to keep the ranch going and get the horse rescue going before we get anything from donations or the government. It could definitely work.”
