Page 4 of River Legacy (Powder River #5)

W hen Ryder walked into the lobby of the Northern Hotel, he wasn’t surprised to see Forester waiting for him.

He figured the man wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible.

Lucky for Wendell Forester, Ryder wanted the same thing.

He couldn’t believe he was finally going to get to tell the man face-to-face what he thought of him before he threatened him if he ever came near his ranch.

“Mr. Stafford,” Forester said in greeting, a smile on his face.

“Mr. Forester,” Ryder said and touched the brim of his Stetson.

He was ready for the brush-off, but he wasn’t leaving until he had his say, he thought, even as Forester said, “Please, call me Wen.” He motioned to one of his bodyguards standing a few yards away in the large lobby.

The man stepped forward quickly as if ready to throw Ryder out of the lobby.

But to Ryder’s surprise, the bodyguard handed Forester several packets of room keys.

“My treat,” he said as he handed Ryder one of the packets.

“This way, we’ll all be on the tenth floor overlooking the city and the rock cliffs that border it.

Locals called the rock formation the rims. It’s beautiful at night as I’m sure you already know.

No wonder they call Billings the Magic City. ”

Ryder wouldn’t have taken the free room key under normal circumstances. He would have informed the man that he was more than capable of purchasing his own room for the night. Nor did he have any desire to stay on the same floor as the tycoon, let alone his daughter.

But since he had no intention of staying long enough that he would need a hotel room, he didn’t cause a fuss. He’d be headed back to the ranch as soon as he accomplished what he came here for. “Wen—”

“Let’s have a drink,” the man said, not giving him a chance to say more.

Forester put a big paw on his shoulder as he motioned toward the bar with his other hand.

“It’s early enough we should have the place to ourselves so just the two of us can talk.

You have any luggage you need taken up to your room? ”

Ryder shook his head. “I was planning to go back to the ranch tonight.”

Forester raised an eyebrow. “And that was all right with my daughter?”

“About your daughter—”

The man held up a hand to stop him. “Victoria is best discussed with a drink in our hands,” Forester said with a chuckle and led the way to the bar. Ryder went along, determined to end this charade, once the man gave him a chance.

Just before entering the bar, Ryder saw Claude Duvall talking to one of the bodyguards that he heard him call JJ. His expression looked menacing as he mumbled something under his breath to the man before grabbing a key package and storming off toward the elevator.

Forester led Ryder to a table in a back corner. A waiter appeared at once, and the tycoon ordered bourbon neat. Ryder ordered a beer, determined to keep this as civil as possible—until it wasn’t.

“There are a few things I need to clear up,” Ryder said the moment the waiter left to fill their orders.

So far Forester had been calling the shots.

“My ranch is not for sale,” Ryder said as plainly as he could.

“I met your plane today to tell you that I don’t want to see another one of your.

.. associates on my property trying to strong-arm me into selling, making veiled threats or throwing money at me.

I haven’t shot one of your people yet, but I’ve come damned close.

I’ll be running the next one off with a double-barreled shotgun loaded with buckshot.

But I have plenty of real ammo if needed.

Trespassing in Montana is a shooting offense—at least in my part of the state. ”

Forester leaned back with exaggerated shock, then began to laugh heartily as he looked at Ryder as if just now seeing him.

“You find something funny about that?” Ryder demanded.

“You are nothing like I expected. My daughter normally has the worst taste in men. I say that with love, since she knows how I feel. But you... I actually think you might be the man to handle her.” He was still smiling and shaking his head as their drinks arrived.

He grabbed his and held it up as if about to make a toast.

“Let me stop you right there,” Ryder said. “Your daughter—”

“What about his daughter?” Victoria said as she put an arm around Ryder’s shoulder and gently, but determinedly, shoved him over to sit on his side of the circular booth. Leaning toward him, she whispered in his ear, “Name your price,” just before she kissed him on the check.

“Victoria, you’re interrupting an important discussion between myself and Mr. Stafford,” her father said.

“Daddy, don’t you think you should call my fiancé by his first name? It’s Ryder.” She turned to smile at him, but only for an instant before she turned back to her father. “I was so bored in my room I had to come down.” The waiter appeared, and she ordered a margarita.

Ryder figured this was good, they could end the duplicity together. But before he could speak, she said, “Now, tell me what you two been talking about.”

“You, of course,” Forester said as he looked from her to Ryder. “We were just about to talk about your future.”

V ictoria had gotten downstairs as quickly as possible. Knowing her father, she’d figured she could find him in the nearest bar. As she walked in, she wouldn’t have been surprised to see her cowboy long gone and Claude sitting next to his boss, leering at her.

The fact that her father and Ryder were still talking at all came as a shock. Maybe more unlikely, her father was smiling. Had Ryder already told him that he wasn’t her fiancé? What else could have put her father in such a jovial mood?

“My future?” She shot a suspicious look at Ryder.

Maybe he had already told her father the truth.

In that case, Wen must be relieved. She tried to see Ryder through her father’s eyes.

Another handsome man after her money? Or, after seeing the Stafford Ranch online, had her father now looked past Ryder’s collar-length curly blond hair that her fingers itched to run through. .. straight to the ranch?

Ryder was a man who either didn’t have time to worry about a haircut or he didn’t care.

Both things her father would normally have found lacking.

This cowboy was nothing like Claude Duvall, thank heavens, but that probably wouldn’t be a plus according to Wendell Forester.

Ryder didn’t sit behind a desk. Anyone could see that, from his tanned rugged looks to the way his shirt fit those shoulders and his jeans hugged his behind perfectly before running down the length of his long legs to a pair of worn but clean boots.

She suspected Ryder also wasn’t the kind to say yes to her father.

Ryder started to speak as her father’s cell phone chirped.

After a quick look at the screen, her father was on his feet, saying, “Sorry, I’m going to leave you lovebirds to enjoy your drinks without me.

” He drained his bourbon and put down his glass.

“I have some calls to make.” He looked at Ryder, smiled and with a tip of his head said, “I’ll see you both at dinner. Six sharp.” With that he was gone.

Victoria turned to make sure her father had left the bar before she looked at Ryder and demanded, “What was that about? Did you tell him about us?”

R yder swore under his breath. The man hadn’t given him a chance before Victoria had interrupted them. “There is no us ,” he reminded her as he picked up his untouched beer and took a single gulp before putting it down. He had a long drive ahead of him.

“Then, what was that I just witnessed between the two of you?”

He sighed. “The reason I was at the airport today was because I had business with your father. That business is completed.” He pulled the packet of keys that Forester had given him from his shirt pocket and dropped them on the table.

“Please give those to your father and tell him thanks, but no thanks . Now, if you will kindly move and let me out of this booth, I’m going back to the ranch. ”

“Can we discuss this first?” From her determined expression, he decided not to make her move.

Instead, he slid around the booth until he was across from her and about to stand up and leave when she reached across and grabbed his arm.

“Wait, you can’t just leave. Please, stay the weekend as my fiancé.

That’s all I ask. You’ll be saving my life.

You met Claude Duvall. You can’t leave me here with him and my father to gang up on me.

I mean it,” she said and lowered her voice to a whisper as she leaned toward him. “I’ll pay anything.”

Ryder jerked his arm free with a shake of his head and leaned across the table toward her, keeping his voice down. “That’s the problem with you Foresters. You think you can buy anything you want. Sorry, but neither of you can buy me.”

In a matter of seconds, he would have been gone, headed home after he’d said what he had to say to the wealthy developer—and his daughter.

But as he started to rise, he saw Claude snatch Victoria’s drink off the server’s tray and make a beeline for them. Something about the cocky way the man approached warned Ryder things were about to get ugly fast.

“Leaving so soon?” he said to Ryder with a sneer.

He turned to Victoria. “I figured you’d need this after your father broke your so-called engagement to this cowboy,” Claude said as he set down the margarita in front of her.

“Another boyfriend sent down the road. So embarrassing. Aren’t you getting tired of dragging losers home for your father to reject? ”

“You have no idea,” Victoria said and took a sip of her drink as she shot Ryder a look he could easily decipher. Please help me .