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“He sounds like a nut. Why the hell would he want that land? It’s flood-prone from the river.”
Tally nods to me, rolling her eyes. “I have no idea why. But he refused to even consider another property.”
“Well then, I guess that’s on him.” Maggie’s voice has a thread of steel in it that I don’t think I’ve ever heard in her sweet tone. Not that I’ve seen all sides of her. I haven’t known her that long. But it’s surprising.
“Make sure that the papers that are drawn up are very clear about what he’s getting and the discussions about flooding. Don’t want him to be able to come back and sue you.”
Tally frowns. “I’m sure he wouldn’t do that. He’s the one that’s so insistent on this property alone.”
“You’d be surprised what people will do.” The damaged, unsure look on Maggie’s face makes my breath hurt. What the heck happened to her?
I don’t know for sure but it must be bad. And if it’s a man that did it, I swear to god I will hunt the son of a bitch down and make him wish he’d never met her. Never hurt her. And I won’t fucking change my mind. He’s gonna pay.
And one thing I can tell you, Steel doesn’t bend.
CHAPTER6
Maggie
“Magnolia Fay, why haven’t you called me to tell me how your vacation has been going? How is that beautiful man? Is he as good-looking in person as he looks on the computer?”
I should have been expecting it. I’ve been dodging her phone calls for days now and one thing I know about my mother. She’s persistent as hell.
“He’s very nice, Mother.”
There’s a sharp huff through the phone and I can’t help but smile. “That’s not at all what I asked…did you sleep with him?”
“Mother!” I growl angrily. “I’ve told you and told you about boundaries. My sex life is definitely outside of the boundaries.”
“You never want to talk about anything.”
“That’s none of your business? You are correct.”
“Well, did you at least spend the day with him yet? Was it fun?”
I cringe when I look back on the last few days. I’ve been dodging the man all week. I’ve had a lot of trail rides. I’ve been investigating some parts of the ranch on my own since I passed whatever test they had to see if I was a decent rider. It’s a beautiful area. The land is gorgeous…like a picture postcard in panorama view that you get to lose yourself in everyday.
But the one thing I didn’t want to do was go somewhere private with the big, sexy, older cowboy. I’ve been dreaming about him ever since I met him. Not regular old dreams. Oh n0! Sexy dreams with him over top of me, holding me in those big, burly tanned arms and grinding his body into mine until I’m gasping for breath and begging for the release that I know only he can give me.
His body is made for pleasuring a woman and my usually sane body has decided that it wants this particular man. No other one will do.
But there’s so much zinging under my skin when we talked that I know if I have sex with him, it’s gonna be hard to leave him. And I have to leave him. I’m not moving to a ranch in the middle of nowhere with a cowboy who intends to move to another place in the middle of nowhere as soon as he’s got his ducks in a row. I don’t want to be one of those ducks. The obligatory little woman waiting at the house for her big, strong man to come home and notice her.
I can’t trust myself not to wander. I mean…I am my mother’s daughter. Surely it will be hard for me to stay with one man? I just can’t trust that my mother’s blood doesn’t run through me, keeping me unsatisfied in whatever relationship I’m in. Even if I’m wildly attracted and in love with the man.
Mom always seemed like she was too. And she’s working on leaving her current one for the next one. Never satisfied.
“I’ve got to go, Mother. I’m due to meet someone. We’re going into town to shop.” I made it up on the spur of the moment but since I said it, I feel the urge to run. To go find out what this little place is all about. Ruby seems like it’s just your normal old small town. I want to know what it’s really like.
I wander up to the main house and run into Tally coming out. “Hey! I wondered where you got to,” she says, her blue eyes sparkling.
“I was here.”
Her head cocks to the side, the fiery hair sliding across her pale shoulders. “Are you hiding from my brother? He said you haven’t taken your day yet.”
I shrug my shoulders. “I’m exploring on my own. I just haven’t wanted company yet.”
Her grin is so catching I almost smile back. Until she says, “I think you’re hiding from my brother. He scares you.”
