Page 21 of Their Little Christmas Bounty
“Look.”She holds up her phone.“He told me it’s mine.”
Sure enough, there’s a message from the guy I’m assuming is her father.The name on the screen isAsshat Dad.
“So did he cancel the bounty?”Lyle asks.
“I…” She pauses and starts typing on her phone.“Hang on.”
I exchange a look with Lyle.Bounty or not, I don’t want to turn this girl in.I want to keep her.She’s twisting me all up inside.I want to take care of her, make her ours.
He nods.He gets it.We’ve never both settled on the same woman at the same time, yet here we are with Ariel and it feels right.
A minute stretches into two, while we wait for something, I don’t know what.Then Lyle’s and my phones chime at the same time with a notification.I pick mine up.There’s a text from Jaxon at Ironwood.Bounty for AC canceled.Enjoy a week off, and a bonus for working over the holidays.
“So that’s it.”I hold up my phone and grin at Ariel.“It’s over.”
Instead of looking happy, she looks sad.“Yeah.It’s over.I’ll grab my things.”
“Wait, he didn’t meanoverlike that.”Lyle hurries toward her.
“Regardless of how he meant it, I need to get going.”She pulls on her bra and panties.Then that wicked little dress.
“If you need to go now, I understand.”I step toward her after Lyle.“But at least let us take you out to dinner tonight, or dancing at Vice.We want to get to know you?—”
“Bad idea.”She shakes her head.“It’s not going to work.I gotta go.Thanks…for last night.It was amazing.I’ll see myself out.”
I stand, struck dumb in Lyle’s room.He follows her out.I hear them arguing quietly.He asks her to stay, she says she can’t.Why, though?There’s no reason for the abrupt departure, the refusal to go on a date.Unless the fun was all about the chase for her.
I don’t see that, though.It was more than the chase.I don’t understand why she’d leave.I probably never will.
* * *
Ariel
My throat feels tight, like I might cry.Stupid.The ride from Lyle’s house is too quiet, giving me time to think while I watch the city go by.I need to get a grip on my emotions.After I asked him to close the bounty with Ironwood, Dad told me he’s already home from Colorado.He decided to leave early after we talked yesterday, and he invited me to lunch today.The least I can do is say yes.
I couldn’t say yes to Austin and Lyle, though.The last time I was in a relationship, it was with Leon.He had too much control.Now here I am, tempted to give everything to these two guys I only met in person last night.
I go home to my apartment, shower, and put on a comfy pair of jeans and a sweater.Dad suggested we get take-out from the Italian deli, so I head over to his place around eleven.We settle into chairs in the living room with TV trays, just like we did on movie nights when I was a kid.
It turns out, lunch with Dad isn’t the reprieve I’d hoped for.And he can immediately sense something is wrong.It doesn’t take long before I cave and give him a brief rundown of what happened.Without too many details, of course.
“So you’re telling me, you wound up falling for the bounty hunters?”He raises his eyebrows.“Both of them?”
“Yes, and please don’t make a big deal out of it?—”
He sets down his deli sandwich.“Your mom and me, we knew right away.”
My mouth falls open.I expected a lecture about being reckless, or foolish.Something like,Are you just trying to set yourself up for another situation like with Leon?I didn’t at all expect him to reminisce about his relationship with Mom.
Dad continues, “Sometimes you just know.”
“I thought I knew with Leon,” I say quietly.
“Did you, though?Or did you just want to be settled so badly, you ignored the red flags he flashed?”
“Oh, you’re one to talk—you didn’t even believe me when I tried to break up with him?—”
“You’re right.He messed with our heads, both of us.But are you going to let him ruin your future chances at happiness, just because he was a dick?”
