Page 48 of Ridin' True

Oh. Great.

He was really starting things off with a softball.

I’d never met the man, but I knew lawyers. His employee agreement was probably ironclad.

“Sure, okay. I’ll have a look at it and see what I can find.” I stood to my feet and added, “I’m guessing you don’t need me to share my contact info.”

Bull smirked and jerked his head toward the desk. “Nope. Got your resume.”

I couldn’t help but to smile at that. “Right.”

“I need a drink. Winnie’s at the bar. Y’all comin’?”

“In a minute,” answered Jed as Bull made his way toward the door.

I watched him leave, pausing only but a second to glance at us from over his shoulder. He had another smirk on his face, and it was almost like he was giving me a peek at the man beneath the title.

If I was less intelligent, I might have thought he wasn’t so scary after all.

But I was pretty smart; therefore, I knew better than to underestimate him.

A lot was said in the last fifteen minutes. I considered it an interview, and in a way it was, but not like any interview I’d ever had before. While I had a better idea about what it meant to be the Stallions’ general counsel, there was still a bit of mystery associated with the role. I almost couldn’t believe I saidyes—but the offer came with all the pressure of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

A drink sounded like a good idea to me, too.

As the door slammed shut behind Bull, I looked to Jed, who hadn’t moved from his perch on the couch, his arms still folded across his chest. Technically, we were alone. Except, as I stared into his pretty eyes, I felt a tension between us, as if we’d acquired a third wheel.

“We good?” he asked me.

His question struck me in a way I didn’t expect. Overwhelmed by all that was said in that room, I realized the depth of my doubt towardhim.

For one moment—before I understood they siphoned their information from Cora—suspicion swept through me, leaving a residue.

I didn’t like it, but the thought of him using me somehow wouldn’t have surprised me. Not in my experience. It didn’t usually happen to me with men I dated, but Alejo had done it enough times for me to recognize the feeling.

“You tell me,” I murmured in response.

He sat staring at me for a moment before he got up from the couch. He moved toward me so quickly, I almost took a startled step back. Not that I would have gotten very far. The second he could reach, he had my chin tucked in the space between his thumb and forefinger, tilting my head until I had nowhere to look but straight into his blue-green eyes.

“Passed along your name, nothin’ more. Your brother’s shit got you tangled, so we all know his name, too. Bull’s deal with Cora Brown was brokered without my involvement. Knew about it. Wasn’t my place to talk about it. Didn’t need to know what info she passed along because it didn’t matter to me. My mind was already made up. What you heard in this room was the first I’d heard myself.

“So, I’ll ask you again—we good?”

And there it was. The truth. All of it.

Just like that, the residue was gone.

“Yeah,” I whispered.

“Good,” he clipped.

Then he kissed me, wet and deep.

By the time he was finished, I was sure my smudge-proof lipstick hadn’t survived unscathed—but I didn’t care.

“Come on. Not sure if we’ve ever made a cosmo at Mustang’s, but I’ll see what they can do.”

“Okay,” I laughed.