Page 12 of Taming the Billionaire Cowboy
She laughs and shakes her head. “Did you think I was gonna leave you hanging?”
I give her a quick hug. “Thanks,” I say. “I won’t be gone long.”
She raises an eyebrow. “We’ll see about that.”
“I feel so bad leaving Bradley,” I tell her. “Especially at night like this.”
“He won’t even know you’re gone,” she says. “Seriously, Carly. Don’t worry. I’ll be quiet as a church mouse. Scout’s honor.”
“Okay,” I say. “I just need to make sure Oliver didn’t leave the animals with empty bowls or something.”
“Sure it’s not an excuse to go see him again?”
“Wh- what?” I trip over my words. “Why would you say that?”
“I looked him up. He’s really hot.”
“I’m not interested in him. That’s not… This isn’t…” God, I can’t even form a coherent sentence. “I’m worried about the animals.”
“I know. I’m just giving you a hard time.”
I look away, ashamed by how undone her little joke made me. “Thanks again.”
“Better get going,” she says. “I’ll hold down the fort here.”
I nod, already reaching for the doorknob. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
I’m out of the house and into my car before I can change my mind again. The engine turns over with a familiar rumble, and I back out of the driveway with the same feeling I have every morning. A mom’s gotta do what a mom’s gotta do. Not just for her human babies, but the animal ones as well.
CHAPTER 7
OLIVER
Alight hits my face, and I roll over, trying to get away from it. I shouldn’t have left the bathroom light on…
Wait. There is no bathroom connected to this bedroom. Because I’m not back home at my house in Houston. I’m in Miralena, spending my first night as a ranch owner.
Sitting up, I rub my face. Is that one of the lights from the barnyard? Wasn’t it off when I went to bed?
Yeah, it definitely was. Which means that some movement triggered it.
Tossing the covers off, I pad to the window and look outside. Nothing.
Lingering in the window, I bite the inside of my cheek. It was probably a wild animal. A coyote or a raccoon.
But what if it wasn’t? What if it was a person?
My stomach twists. Could a thief be down there?
No. I’m being paranoid. What are the odds that on my first night?—
There’s a crash from somewhere outside, a clattering like a bucket or something. I wait, frozen, trying to hear something else, but there’s nothing for another minute or so.
I can’t ignore it, though. My mother didn’t raise a fool, though maybe she raised a sucker, because I’m throwing on my clothes and getting ready to investigate.
I try to tell myself it’s nothing, just a possum or something. But I’m already imagining how smug Carly will look in the morning when I wake up to find half my livestock gone, the stable’s front doors wide open. She’d probably tell the whole town that Oliver Greer got robbed on his first night here. And I can’t let that happen.
Slipping into my shoes, I step out the door, afraid I’m too late and my horses are already halfway to Mexico. I take it easy going down the steps, not wanting to make the wood creak and alert anyone to my approach.
