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“To what?”
“Believing in yourself like that. I’d love to have just an ounce of it.”
Drew studied Maisie a moment before answering, unable to glean the slightest reason a woman like her wouldn’t have all the confidence in the world. Despite her incomprehension, she did her best to give an honest answer. “I don’t know, but the universe is giving me pretty good signs right now, I guess.”
“You have a direct line to Universe Headquarters?” Maisie’s laugh made Drew’s toes curl oh-so-delightfully.
“Maybe not, but I know how to add up the facts. One: my hat blew off, which it never does, but it led me to you. Two: when I didn’t think I’d ever see you again, I did. Three: we kissed, and again I didn’t think I’d see you after that. Four: while playing poker, you found me. Five: we won big. Six: we had the best night ever.”
“There seems to be a through line to your good fortune.”
“Yes, there is.” Drew waited a second. “My hat.”
After swatting Drew’s shoulder, Maisie fell back onto the bed, laughing. “I was going to say me.”
“Last night you were talking about addictive qualities. Well, that’s a soundIcould get addicted to.”
Maisie’s expression shifted to confusion. “What sound?”
“Your laughter.”
“Really? My ex said I sounded like a braying coyote.” Maisie covered her mouth, her embarrassment evident.
“Your ex is an asshole,” Drew proclaimed. “Besides, she’s probably never heard a coyote if she’s a city girl like you.”
“How do you know for sure I’m a city girl?”
“Besides being from Milwaukee? Because if you were proper ranching folk, you wouldn’t stress theeat the end of coyote.”
“Noted. But now, I think I’d better get up and face the work day.”
Drew’s spirits clouded. “You sure you have to?”
“Sadly, yes. Considering the state my coworkers were in yesterday, I may be the only one fit to be running the place.”
Drew rolled on top of Maisie, each bump and curve of the woman’s body fitting perfectly with her own like matching puzzle pieces despite Maisie’s smaller size. Every bit of her was as soft as a cloud, so warm Drew felt like she could melt into her and never leave. “In that case, a kiss will have to carry me through to victory.”
“Just a kiss?” Maisie kissed Drew, softly at first, but the heat level kicked up to smoking hot.
“Maybe a few kisses,” Drew said when she had a moment to catch her breath. “And dinner tonight.”
“To celebrate your victory?”
“Exactly.”
As Drew came in for another kiss, she was pretty sure her life couldn’t get any better. There was a beautiful woman in her bed and a quarter of a million dollars in prize money within her reach. She was floating on top of the world.
* * *
I couldn’t have heardthat right.
Sitting straight and tall in the saddle and with a tight grip on the reins, Drew searched the scoreboard to confirm what the announcer had said. She read and reread the numbers, shaking her head.
One tenth of a point had sunk her.
One tenth!
It couldn’t be, could it? She’d been so certain this was her competition to win, but here she was, one-tenth of a point out of contention. Instead of going home with enough money to save the ranch, she was heading back dead broke.
