Page 35 of My Cowboy Valentine

He laughs, low and guttural, sending warning shivers down my spine. “I don’t need you to get Jameson & Cash. And as for Red? Ha! It’s not worth saving anyway. Nevertheless, I’ll have the paperwork drawn up announcing your formal resignation.”

Something about his last statement confirms a suspicion I’ve had for a while now. Narrowing my eyes, I ask, “What do you mean you don’t need me to get what you want from Jameson & Cash?”

“The first rule in business is always to have a backup plan. As it so happens,youare that backup plan. Fortunately, the original strategy panned out.”

I smile tensely, arching an eyebrow. “Shelley, right?”

He nods.

“The first fit testing, her inept observations and the approvals she signed off on, her unprofessional bearing with Rowdy. She’s been feeding you information about the new line all along while undermining it.” I shake my head, laughing despite myself. “That’s brilliant for a monster.”

“Last time I checked, you wanted to be a monster, too. What happened? Did you grow a conscience?” He asks the last question with disgust.

I straighten, looking him dead in his cold, black eyes. “No, I ended up on the receiving end of a monster’s actions and learned how it feels to have everything I’ve worked so hard for torn from you. But you know what the difference is between you and me? And why I’ll never be like you?”

Pharrell smiles thinly. “Oh, do tell, Ms. Cash. This is going to be good.”

I put my hands on my hips, my stare aggressive. “I’m a creator, and I can start over. I will always have new ideas. But you? You’re pathetic. Nothing more than a high-class thief who’s never brought anything of beauty into this world. All you do is destroy, destroy, destroy. Don’t be surprised if someday you find yourself surrounded by wreckage with nothing but pain to show for your life. Goodbye, asshole. You can refer all future communications to my legal team.Theywill also draw up my resignation.”

After leaving Pharrell’s office, I shake so hard I have to sit in my car for more than a half hour collecting myself. What’s done is done. And even though this has been my worst nightmare for the past year, ever since Raphael Pharrell gained majority ownership in Red, I find a surprising peace in the knowledge that he no longer controls me. I can start over.

The question is, can I start over with Rowdy?

My finger hovers over the cowboy’s phone number on my favorites. Instead, I choose the number below, Island in the City Stables. I need a ride to clear my head and regulate my emotions before I call my fiancé and beg for him to take me back. If I call now, I’ll sob uncontrollably on the phone. I have to get centered and be able to do more than ugly cry when I talk to him again.

An hour later, I sit on the back of one of my favorite mounts, Darcy, a spirited brown Appaloosa gelding with a chestnut blanket that matches my fire. I progress him through a jog and canter into a full gallop, letting him stride out beneath the leafless canopy of trees on the stable grounds, a little oasis in the middle of the metropolis.

The wind whips through my red locks, and freedom pounds in my chest. Tears pour down my cheeks as it finally sinks in that I’ve escaped Pharrell’s clutches and the weight and guilt of what he wanted me to do to Jameson & Cash. Having to let go of Red, I realize I can say goodbye to Jameson & Cash, too. If that’s what Rowdy wants.

Just don’t say goodbye to me, cowboy…

Chapter Seventeen

RED

The thunder of fast-approaching hooves catch my ears and annoyance wells inside me. Dammit. I don’t feel like dealing with other riders right now.

I squeeze Darcy’s sides, calling, “Whoa,” and applying light pressure to the reigns. My mount slows before halting, and I reach down to pat his steaming mahogany-colored neck, crooning sweet words to him. I don’t look up because I don’t feel like making small talk with a stranger.

Besides, I’m pissed about having to stop Darcy mid-gallop and don’t need to get into another verbal altercation. The incident earlier with Pharrell still has me shaking inside.

“Looks like you’re trying to ride away from something. What is it?” A gruff voice observes beside me, and my heart jumps into my throat. I squeeze my eyes tightly together for a moment, taking a deep breath.Is this a dream?

Raising my eyes, my body still bent over Darcy’s neck, I thirstily drink in the handsome cowboy I haven’t seen for three whole days—the longest three days of my life. “I’m not riding away from anything. I’m riding towards something.”

“And what’s that?” Ronald asks solemnly, his jaw tightening.

“My future…free and clear of the past and how I used to be. I’m turning over a new leaf, becoming the kind of woman who deserves a man like you. Whatever it takes.”

His face relaxes, and a pleased smile captures his lips. “You had me worried, you know. When you left this.” He reaches into his pocket, fishing out his mama’s ring and holding it toward me. The tiny diamond sparkles in the afternoon sun.

“I didn’t deserve to wear it when I left your place. But I’m working on deserving to wear it…someday.”

“I didn’t give it to you because you deserve it. I gave it to you because I want the world to know you’re mine. Warts and all, nasty temper, mean vindictiveness, hateful words, ridiculously long grudges…all of it.”

I straighten up, biting my lower lip hard. Still, I can’t stop the barrage of hot tears that cover my cheeks, instantly cooling in the chilly afternoon air of February in New York City. “You don’t make me sound especially lovable.” I half laugh, half sob.

He nudges his horse closer to mine, his face torn and his eyes red with emotion. “You know I love you with every stitch of my being. Don’t give me that, Lesley. But I need you to understand I love the real you for who you are, not because you’ve done something to deserve it. So, stop putting up walls with me because I will never intentionally hurt you.” He motions for my left hand, and I stretch my arm towards him, fighting back tears as he slips his mother’s ring where it belongs.

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