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How the hell had I gone from being attracted to this woman just days ago to feeling nothing but irritation—and a healthy dose of disgust?
Fiona swallowed hard. “I’m sorry. I just—” She sighed. “I lost my temper.”
I studied her for a long moment, then said, “This is your last chance.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that I need you to learn to work with the people at the ranch, people who know more about this land than you and I do. I need you to build bridges, not burn them. I need you to stop behaving like a fucking cliché who treats people who work for her like dirt.”
Fiona looked confused. “This is how I’ve alwaysbeen. I’m not the one who has suddenly changed since coming to Wildflower Canyon, Duke; that’syou.”
I made a mental note to talk to the people who worked with Fiona at Ironwood Development Group—my company—to see what they thought of her. This wasn’t a one-off. Fiona reported to me, and my relationship with her had been a good one, but then we started dating, and now the person I saw wasn’t someone I could even date casually. Was that the Wildflower Canyon air inside me talking?
“Maybe so, but it doesn’t change what I need from you.”
“And us?” she asked.
I shrugged. “This is business, Fi. You know how I work.”
She did, but like she’d said, I’d changed; this fucking ranch had changed me the minute I stepped onto it.
Fiona put a hand on my chest. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“Like I said, this is business; it’s not personal,” I prevaricated.
Fiona didn’t look relieved. Because she knew as I did thatwewere already over.
CHAPTER 17
elena
Ihad built a good fire.
Not too big, not too small—just enough to keep me warm, just enough to keep the dark at bay. The flames flickered low, their light casting long shadows across the open stretch of land. Above me, the sky stretched out in endless black, scattered with stars that felt close enough to touch.
I pulled my knees up, wrapped my arms around them, and watched the sparks.
I had left my phone at the bunkhouse. I didn’t want to be bothered. There was a time when I could just wander off without anyone knowing where I went, but five years ago, I told Nash we had no choice but to set up a small cell tower on the south ridge, high enough to catch a decent signal without ruining the view. It took me a whole year to convince him, and when he finally did, he did it grudgingly. Most modern ranches had to adapt—signal boosters in themain buildings, satellite internet for emergencies, and radios for the areas where cell service still dropped off. Even out here, you couldn’t run a business without staying connected.
But if there was an emergency, Ben knew that I’d either be by the river orhere.
This place mattered, as did the riverside. The milestones of my life were all around this ranch. When Duke sold it, and there was a motel here on Dream Ridge—would it erase the past?
I called this placeDream Ridgebecause this was where Duke and I had dreamed of our future together. He’d run the ranch, and I’d help him with the horses.
Now, he was selling the ranch, and I was helping him sell my precious horses. Not having money sucked because if I did, I’d buy them all. I knew Maverick was going to buy a few, especially Whiskey because he knew I loved him. He’d do that for me. For all his flirtatious behavior, Maverick was a good man and friend. Oh, don’t get me wrong, if I spread my legs for him, he’d be there with a latex condom on, but that wasn’t why he was gonna buy my horse—he was going to do it because we were friends. He saw some of himself in me. He came from nothing and built a juggernaut.
“You didn’t have my chances…and being a woman sucks in this business.” He told me when I protested that I was nothing like him because if I were, I would be running my own horse program instead of working for shit pay for Nash.
The sound of footsteps made me glance up.
“Ben, what’s on fire?” I asked when he stepped into the firelight, hands in his pockets.
“I….” He shrugged. “He’s the bossman.”
I nodded. Duke had made him tell him where I was, and Ben had walked him here, not knowing that he could’ve just said,‘Hey it’s the ridge where y’all used to fuck when you were kids.”
Duke’s silhouette behind Ben cut sharp against the night.