Page 9 of The Lies We Told Ourselves

“Okay, I can do that.”

Probably.

“I’ll give you a list of what needs doing every day, and I can be around for the first couple of days to show you the ropes. We have a new horse arriving tomorrow, so it’s good timing.”

Hopefully, I looked like I was confident I could do this.

“Grab your stuff,” Booker called out as he walked out into the sunshine. “We’re going into town.”

I found myself jogging to catch up with him again and fighting the urge to swear with every step I took. Val ran alongside me, looking up at me with concern.

“What stuff?”

Booker was already at the door to his truck, squinting at me from under the brim of his hat. I was literally five steps behind him. He couldn’t be annoyed with me already.

“Your girl shit,” he said, and then when I didn’t move from sheer confusion, he huffed, “You know, like your bag or whatever you carry around with you.”

“Ooooo-kay.”

Rather than argue, I did what he said. It seemed like the easiest option in this fever dream of reality I’d found myself in.

It took me less than a minute to find my bag and get back to the car, but Booker was still standing at the door, watching me impatiently. It was pretty easy to see that this was his default setting when it came to other people. Rather than taking it personally, I pasted a huge smile on my face and climbed into the truck when he opened the door for me.

I was going with the tactic my mother had always told me. I’d wear this big bear of a man down with kindness, and then, to repay him for everything he’d done for me, I’d show him that having people around you wasn’t so bad after all.

Maybe I’d be able to find myself along the way. The version of me that had slowly faded away over the past couple of years and the version I was so desperate to have back.

As Booker threw the truck into drive and set off down the gravel driveway, I wrapped an arm around Val, who’d squeezed between us, and threaded my fingers through her soft fur as she snuggled against me.

I could do this.

I could rebuild a life that I wanted. A life worth living, and it would all be possible because the man sitting beside me had the kindness to stop when he saw a stranger stranded on the side of the road.

CHAPTER FOUR

BOOKER

My hands tightened on the steering wheel to the point where the leather creaked beneath them. I couldn’t stop sneaking glances at Reece out of the corner of my eye as I drove us into town. She was staring out the window, her fingers lazily threading through Val’s fur, and for the first time in my life I was jealous of a damn dog.

And that didn’t make me feel good.

Not because I wished I was a dog, but because I wanted to feel her fingers lazily drifting across my skin, and that made me a huge goddamn creep.

I wasn’t that guy.

But there was something about her.

I could see the pain, the broken parts of her she was desperately trying to hide. But I could also see her sheer determination to get through it, no matter what. And that was the part of Reece that drew me in. She was strong, even if she didn’t feel like it right now. She was fighting in her own way, with that bright smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes and would usually have annoyed the hell out of me.

“The ranch hands make $2000 a month with accommodation,” I said, desperate to find something to take my mind off my dick. “The days can be long, but the new horses will be coming in slowly so you can work up to a full day.”

I didn’t really want her to work at all. I was needed out on the trails this week to make sure they were all still passable, but I wasn’t about to let Reece do any heavy lifting when she was clearly in pain. Despite what she said, I wasn’t convinced that she didn’t have a couple of broken ribs. Whoever had done it to her and been thorough, and that thought alone made my blood boil.

“That’s…Wow, are you sure?”

“Yes, that’s definitely what I pay them.”

“That’s not what I meant!” She stopped when she saw the corner of my mouth tick up in amusement. “Oh, fine. Be obtuse about it.”

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