LITMIR.BIZ

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who worked here? None of the people who currently worked or lived on the ranch were guilty of any wrongdoing.

      Well, at least any wrongdoing when it came to the ranch. She couldn’t think about her past, not when it came to this. She bit the inside of her cheek as she mindlessly petted the dog that was safely tucked into her shirt.

      “Do you think we should call the police?” she asked, tilting her chin in the direction of the dangerous object.

      Colter sighed. “We probably should, but I’m not sure that having any more police out to the ranch is a great idea right now. Maybe this is nothing. Maybe it was just something someone had in the back of their pickup and it just bounced out as they drove over the cattle guard. Maybe it’s just spare gas or something, you know.”

      His feeble attempt to make her feel better didn’t work. She could hear the lie in his voice. They both knew all too well this wasn’t just some innocuous thing. This was someone’s failed effort to cause damage.

      Yet to a certain degree she agreed with him. The last thing the place needed was more negative press. Even though his brother Wyatt was a deputy for the local sheriff’s office, it didn’t mean they would be able to keep this thing under wraps. If they called 911, everyone in the county would hear about the latest development in the melodrama that the ranch was becoming. But if they didn’t inform the police, there wouldn’t be a record of it, and if something else happened...

      She swallowed back the bile that rose in her throat.

      Nothing else would happen. They had gotten the person responsible for the murders. They might have had a bad track record, and a bit of a target on their backs, but that didn’t mean the entire world wanted to take them down. Maybe it was just someone’s spare gas.

      “Is there oil in it?” she asked, motioning to the green Heineken bottle.

      He glanced down at the bottle and swirled it around, the green glass looking darker, almost as if the liquid inside had a slight red hue. “Yeah, I think so. Why?”

      She smiled and some of her fears dissipated. “You know... Maybe someone was just passing through. Maybe you were right. I mean, if it’s a mixed gas—”

      “It could be for a chain saw. Maybe they were going out onto the federal lands behind the ranch looking for a Christmas tree or something,” Colter said, finishing her sentence. “You are freaking amazing, you know that?”

      She smiled and tried not to notice the way her heart sped up when he looked at her like that. She tried to reaffirm that her self-esteem wasn’t dependent on his approval, but no matter how hard she tried to convince herself, she couldn’t fully accept it as truth. He was so darn cute, and when he smiled, it made some of the sharp edges of her dislike soften. He wasn’t as bad as she had assumed. If anything, he had a way of making people relax; and that was just the kind of person she needed in her life. Though he couldn’t know that. Nothing could happen between them. Not now, not ever. She needed to stay independent, indifferent.

      “I’m not amazing.” Even to her, she sounded coy. The last thing she wanted him to think was that she was playing some kind of demure game to get him to fall in love. She wasn’t and would never be that kind of woman—a woman who belonged more on the debutante circuit, the kind who could turn on the Southern charm with the simple wave of a hand.

      He slipped his hand into hers and she stared at it in shock for a moment before letting go of him and turning away. He couldn’t like her. She couldn’t like him. If he knew the truth, he would want nothing to do with her.

      “Wait. I’m sorry, Whit,” he called after her, but she didn’t slow down as she made her way back to the office.

      She couldn’t let herself turn around. She couldn’t let him see the look in her eyes that she was sure was there—a look which begged for him to touch her; more, to love her with every part of his soul. She desperately wanted a love like that, but just because she wanted something, that didn’t mean that she should have it. Not when she might or might not have been done running.

      The dog scrambled out of her shirt and jumped to the floor as soon as she closed the door to her office. The poor thing was covered in dirt and muck, and a piece of what looked like chewed gum was stuck to its ribs. The little thing rushed over to Milo’s bed and snuggled into the pile of blankets. She was never going to be able to explain what had happened to the owners if they found out.

      If they found out.

      She couldn’t tell them. No. She chuckled as she thought about all the Nos that were suddenly entering her life. Everywhere she turned, every choice she had to make came to that stark end. No.

      Things really hadn’t changed that much from Kentucky.

      When she was home in Louisville, it had been the same. She had told her parents she was leaving, that she was never coming back, that she was following her gut—and every word had been met with the same “No.” But they hadn’t understood. They had thought it was only out of some selfish need to spread her wings after everything that had happened with Frank. They hadn’t known the whole truth, a truth that haunted her every move and threatened to rear its ugly head and reenter her life as long as she stayed there.

      And maybe part of it had been the fact that she wanted so much more. She wanted to be around horses again—not close enough to touch, but close. Once you had a love for the animals, there was no turning your back to it, no matter what kind of pain had come from them in the past.

      She pressed her back against the office door and closed her eyes. No. She couldn’t dig up the past. No.

      There was a knock on the door, and it sent vibrations down her spine. She turned around to see Colter standing there, looking at her through the glass.

      Why couldn’t he get the message that she just wanted him to leave her alone?

      Instead of opening the door, she pulled down the shade so he couldn’t see her. She couldn’t deal with him right now. And seeing him look at her like that, like there was something more than friendship budding between them, it tore at her heart. If something happened...she’d have to run. She’d have to leave this place. She couldn’t reveal her past to him or to anyone. She couldn’t allow her feelings to make her vulnerable.

      “I get it—I have chapped hands,” he said with a laugh, and what she assumed was his best attempt at relieving the tension between them, but he was wrong if he thought it would be that easy.

      “Or maybe it’s not my hands, but you just don’t want to talk to me,” he continued. “That’s fine. I just wanted you to know that everything is back in place and the cattle guard is down. If you need anything just let me know. I’m going to stick around and help my dad.” He stood still, almost as if he was waiting for her to answer, but she said nothing.

      After a few long seconds, she heard the sounds of his heavy footfalls as he made his way off the porch. She was tempted to peek out from behind the curtain to see where he was going, if he’d finally gotten the message that she wasn’t interested, but she stopped herself. She had to be strong.

      The phone rang, and she had never been more grateful for the obnoxious sound.

      “Dunrovin Ranch Guest Services. This is—”

      “We need more towels,” a woman said in a shrill voice, cutting her off.

      She glanced down at the room number that lit up the phone’s screen. Of course it was Ms. Fancy Pants. She bit the side of her cheek as she thought of all the comebacks she would have liked to say.

      “Absolutely, ma’am. I’ll have one of our staff bring them to you. Is there anything else you will be needing?”

      There was the rumble of a truck and the squeak of brakes from the parking area.

      “Where is the nearest club? We wanted to go dancing. You know...honky-tonking, or whatever you rednecks call it.”

      She swallowed back her anger, only letting a sardonic chuckle slip past. “Ma’am,

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