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His eyes darted back to meet hers. Grant chuckled nervously. “I was thinking about getting Nick a… bracelet?”
There was no coming back from this without making a bigger fool of himself. What was the worst that could happen? He’d admit he couldn’t get her out of his head, and she’d tell him she wasn’t interested.
Her next words brought him back to the present. “Is that a question?”
He could hear it in her voice. She was enjoying catching him off guard. Dang it, if he were back on his own turf, he knew what he would have done. Bella was strong and independent, albeit a little judgmental. But her eyes were the sort that wars were started over. It had been nice to have dinner with her, and right now all he could think about was doing it again.
“Look, Mr. Shaw?—”
“Call me Grant.”
“Grant,” she said slowly, “I’ve got a few places to go today, but it’s good that we bumped into each other.” She pulled out her notepad and tossed a few pages over the spiral binding before she wrote something on it. “I’m going to give you my number.”
His throat closed up. He must have been more obvious than he’d thought.
She chuckled. “Don’t get too excited. Eli is insisting that we don’t install cameras on the premises, and he also doesn’t want any of our guys patrolling the area. There’s no way for me to catch whoever is doing this if I don’t have eyes at the ranch.”
Understanding flooded his entire being. “You want me to keep an eye on things.”
Bella nodded, ripping out the paper and handing it to him.
“But what if I’m the one who’s causing all of those problems?” He reached for the paper, keeping his tone light—almost teasing her.
She didn’t let go of the paper right away and her eyes narrowed.
That was the wrong choice.
Bella’s voice was low and even with a hint of threat behind it. “I’m only going to say this once. You haven’t done anything to destroy my trust so far, I’d suggest you keep it that way. If I find out that you’ve lied to me…”
“Say no more.” Grant pulled the paper free and folded it carefully. “And for the record, I haven’t lied to you. Everything I’ve said is the truth.”
The radio on her shoulder crackled and she grabbed it. “Please call me if anything catches your attention.”
“You got it.”
Bella walked toward her car, speaking into the device in her hand and leaving Grant more excited than he had any right to be—because she’d given him her number.
* * *
Grant hurried toward the barn. He was a little late getting back due to traffic and he didn’t need anyone breathing down his neck about his work ethic when his morals were being put into question.
The second he rounded the barn entrance, Eli tossed a duffle bag at him. It clanged heavily against his chest and he scrambled to catch it.
Eli pointed to the bag. “You’re late. I needed you out at the fence line fifteen minutes ago.” He didn’t sound angry or upset. In fact, his voice held that matter-of-fact tone that he was known for. “We’re short a couple guys who had to take a trip to the city today. You’re going to be on your own. With all the issues we’ve been having lately, I need you to check the gates, the fence lines, and the locks. We don’t have any cattle in that paddock right now, but we’ll be moving them there tomorrow. Do you think you can manage?”
The remaining cowboys who hadn’t gone off to do their jobs eyed Grant. He could feel their gazes drilling into him as if to suggest they didn’t trust him to do the job right.
Grant rolled his shoulders and nodded. “I’ll grab a lunch from Charlotte and head out.”
On his way back to the barn, Bo stepped into his path. Grant stared at him expectantly. Like his father, he didn’t seem upset. His eyes were hard, but his body language suggested he was willing to give Grant the benefit of the doubt.
“Just because you had an alibi when the sheriff was here asking questions doesn’t mean I trust you.”
Maybe Grant was wrong.
“That being said…” Bo heaved a sigh. “I want you to let me know if anything looks off.” His gaze flitted right to left and back to Grant. “We never had these issues before we had to hire extra people. While I want to believe that you’re not the one responsible, I’m not going to rule you out, either.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to,” Grant said. His thoughts shifted to what Bella had said about trusting her and needing someone to have eyes and ears open around here. Bo could be the one trying to frame him—and not only him, but anyone else. “I’ll let you know."
