Page 36 of River Legacy
Claude cocked a brow and said, “I see ranch life agrees with you.”
Then again, she realized she didn’t give a damn what he thought. “What are you doing here?” she and Ryder asked in unison.
“Seeing if you’re all right,” Claude said, still only talking to her and pointedly not looking at Ryder. “Your father was worried.”
“I doubt that,” she said. “So what are you really doing here?”
“Well, it sure as hell isn’t to win you back,” Claude snapped. “It’s pretty clear what you’ve been doing.”
“That’s enough. You’re not welcome here,” Ryder said, as if tired of being ignored by the man. “Get off my property, or I’ll have you arrested for trespassing.”
Claude finally acknowledged him with a frown. “Seriously? Do you really not have a clue what’s going on here, cowboy?” he said and shook his head. “You actually think Victoria just happened to ask for your help to save her from me? Ryder, it was a setup from the get-go. Wen wants your ranch, and he will literally do anything to get it—including enlisting his daughter to go after you.” He glanced from Ryder to Victoria and back. “Apparently, it’s working.”
Chapter Twelve
Ryder balled his hands into fists. He heard his brother deeper in the barn say behind him, “Easy, bro.” He knew the kind of man Claude Duvall was, and so did his brother. If Ryder did what he’d wanted to do since the moment he’d met Claude, he would have already hit him and be facing assault charges and attorney fees.
Still, he ached to punch this jackass, even though he knew his brother was right. Claude was the kind of man who would call the sheriff, press charges and then hit him with a hefty lawsuit.
Knowing that made him want more than anything to punch this SOB’s lights out. “If you drove all the way here to the ranch to warn me about Wendell and his daughter, you wasted your time. You should have just called.”
Claude chuckled. “You don’t believe me. Okay, so she hasn’t been asking lots of questions about your ranch, showing an interest, reeling you in with those eyes and that body of hers? She hasn’t told you how much she’s enjoyed being here, loves it all, right?” He lifted a brow again as he smirked at Ryder. “She hasn’t crawled into your bed on some excuse?”
He must have seen that the last hit its mark because Claude’s sneer turned into a full-on smile.
“Cowboy, you’ve been had by the best. Wen and Victoria are an unbeatable team. You think this is the first time he’s used her to get what he wants? Think again. He used her to reel me in. Why not you?”
Ryder looked down at his boots for a moment before glancing over at Victoria. He almost flinched when he saw the truth in her expression even as she quickly tried to deny it.
“Don’t listen to anything he says,” she said, but it wasn’t her usual fiery defense. He knew at least some of it was true. Wendell Forester had used her to get what he wanted in the past. Probably had made a game out of it. Victoria was up for a good romp pretty much anytime, he figured.
“You have to believe me, that isn’t what is happening here,” she said. “None of this was planned. You know it started as a prank when I saw you in the airport. But then one thing led to another and...” She sounded close to tears. “Claude’s lying.”
Ryder thought about all of it from the moment he’d laid eyes on her at the airport to how she’d lured him in. If Forester had had a hand in it, then he’d played him perfectly. Maybe even that scene in the bar in Billings had been part of it, forcing Ryder to play the protector, get her away from her father and Claude and take her to his ranch.
If so, Ryder had played right into the gambit. He’d swallowed it all, hook, line and sinker. He’d taken the bait.
Yet even as he thought it, he didn’t want to believe she’d been playing him. Not on their horseback ride. Not when he’d taught her to drive the truck. Or when he’d held her in his arms when they were dancing. But especially last night when she’d showed up at his bedroom door soaking wet and shivering.
If it had all been a ruse, then he’d been taken for a ride like a hick fool. He’d made love to her, gotten swept up in the emotion and done the one thing he swore he wasn’t going to do. Had she known that once they made love, she would have had him right where she wanted him?
Ryder realized that he wouldn’t put anything past Wendell Forester and maybe his daughter too. “He’s lying,” Victoria said again, but it lacked conviction. He could feel her gaze on him, his hands balled in fists at his side as he looked at Claude. “Does your boss know you’re here?”
“Wendellsentme here to act as a catalyst—his word—to push her into your arms as I attempted to grovel and try to win her black heart,” Claude said. “You think I don’t know what she’s like?” He chuckled again. “I’ve been where you are, so to speak. Wen used her to reel me into the worst contract of my life.”
“Claude, don’t—”
“What?” he said, turning to her. “Didn’t you get around to telling the cowboy about you and me, Victoria?”
Ryder didn’t dare look at her. He could feel the way her heart dropped, because his own had donethe same thing. She and Claude had a past. No wonder the man had thought he had a chance with her.
“It isn’t what you think,” she said. “He’s making more of it than it was.”
“Claude, if you’ve come to take Wendell’s daughter back to him, be my guest,” Ryder said, his voice sounding stronger than he felt. “Victoria only came here for the weekend. As far as I’m concerned, the weekend is over.”
With that, he turned on his bootheel and headed back into the barn.
Victoria watched him go, wanting to run after him. But some of what Claude had said was true, and Ryder knew it. She’d known that her father wanted Claude to go to work for him. It wasn’t like they’d discussed it. She’d just known to be on her best behavior that night at dinner. But she’d known she was luring Claude in, and she’d felt guilty for doing it, given the way it had turned out for the man.
