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“Yes, please,” he said. “We’ll be leaving around ten o’clock tomorrow morning.”
“I’ll have them fill it up tonight in case you decide to leave earlier. I made the reservation for your hotel. It’s a good thing you requested a room ahead of time. There’s a Broncos game in town as well as a big concert. The hotels were filling up fast.” She handed him a printout of the hotel room reservation.
Again, he smiled, charm oozing from his handsome face. “Thank you for taking care of the arrangements.”
Breely had been the recipient of that same smile at the tavern. The man had a way of making a woman feel like she was the only person in the room. Seeing that magic work on someone else had butterflies storming inside her belly, at the same time as it made her want to claw the other woman’s eyes out.
That thought made her blink and take a step backward. Where the hell had that come from? She’d never been jealous of another woman. Envious, yes. Jealous?
Moe wasn’t her man. She’d just met him that evening.
The only relationship experience Breely had with a man had been limited to a brief clandestine fling with one of the young cowboys on her father’s ranch.
She’d fancied herself in love with the man. But after a few awkward romps in the hay—which she wouldn’t recommend to anyone—she’d lost her virginity and hadn’t thought much of sex. On more than one occasion, she'd wondered if all the hype about making love was just that…hype. For her, it had been painful the first time and uncomfortable the others.
Though her cowboy had seemed to like it at the time, it hadn’t been enough to keep him there. He’d disappeared to go to work at a ranch in Texas, claiming Montana was far too cold. Looking back, Breely wondered if her father had had anything to do with the man’s decision to leave.
Had she really loved the cowboy and he loved her, Breely might have gone with him. However, he hadn’t declared his love at any point in their time together, and she’d promised herself that she wouldn’t declare herself until he had. After a few weeks, Breely had gotten over him and was lonelier than ever.
Surrounded by her family, the housekeeper, cook and ranch staff, she’d been alone and craving a chance to explore the world and people outside the Rocky Ridge Ranch.
“Ready?” Moe asked.
Breely had been so caught up in the rush of memories she hadn’t realized Moe was now facing her with humor tugging at the corners of his lips.
She nodded, heat rising up her neck into her cheeks. “I am.”
Moe led the way out of the building to a parking lot. He hit the unlock button on the key fob, and lights flashed from a black SUV. Moe opened the passenger door and handed Breely into the seat.
His hand on her arm sent electric shocks blasting through her body and heat simmering low in her belly.
She’d felt something similar, if not as intense when she’d been with the cowboy.
Moe settled in the driver’s seat, keyed the address into his cell phone’s map application and connected his phone to the vehicle. After buckling his seatbelt, he started the engine and left the airport.
A clear sky allowed the stars overhead to light the landscape. On the outskirts of the city, Denver’s airport was surrounded by flat, dry land. Breely would consider it a desert. City lights glowed to the west of the airport, and beyond them was the ghostly glow of snow-capped peaks.
They were as beautiful from the ground as they’d been from the sky, flying into the airport.
Breely sat forward in her seat, eager to take it all in. A different city in a state other than Montana… She sighed, a smile automatically curling her lips.
Moe chuckled. “I take it you’ve never been to Denver.”
“Never,” she admitted. “I’ve seen so many places on the television or the internet, but I’ve only visited a few. The only time I left the ranch was to go to annual doctors’ visits or a few family vacations.”
“Where did you go on those vacations?”
“We went to a ranch in Canada, an exclusive resort in Hawaii and an island resort in the Bahamas. Each time, we were isolated from the locals, and the only people we came into contact with were members of the staff. We had our own pool, chef and stretch of beach.” She stared at the city ahead. “When we were in the Bahamas, I remember hearing music from a nearby festival. I tried to sneak out and see what it was all about, but I set off the intruder alarm system on the grounds, and a dozen armed bodyguards converged on me.” She laughed. “My father was mad.” Breely shrugged. “I could deal with that, but my mother…she was shaking. The thought of her only child leaving the security of the resort made her physically ill. I didn’t try to escape after that. I hated seeing her so worried.”
“But you did escape to Bozeman,” Moe pointed out.
Breely nodded. “Eleven years later. My mother takes anti-anxiety medication now. And they know I’m okay because I’ve continued to manage my responsibilities relating to the Brantt philanthropies. I do video conferences with my staff and video interviews with the press. And I’ve emailed them every day since I left to let them know I’m doing well.”
“How did they respond to your disappearance?” he asked.
“They weren’t happy that I left. I think that because I didn’t ghost them, they didn’t send out a search party to find me.”
“As close as you say they guarded you, I’m surprised they didn’t launch an all-out missing persons alert.”
