Page 10 of The Bad Boy Prince in Love

Hallie thought she must be in a dream.“You’re asking me to buy cattle?”

“Yeah, I don’t know why you’re acting so strange about it,” Vivian said casually.

“I thought I was too young and immature to make such an important decision as buying cattle.”

Her mother patted her arm.“With your boyfriend by your side, I’m sure you’ll have no problem making a good choice.”

Wanting to roll her eyes at how patronizing that sounded, Hallie resisted.It was too good an offer to pass up.Her mother had never given her such an important task before!

“It’s just you usually ask Terry or Bill to do it...”she began.

“Terry is quite busy, being a married woman,” her mother said with a sly smile.“And I’m sure you’re more than up to the challenge.”

“Thanks, mama!”

Hallie was overjoyed, not least because mama actually made a slight dig at Terry.

She smiled brightly and went outside to tell Luke.

Of course the wannabe cowboy was only too happy when he heard the news.

“Thank you,” Luke said as they drove away from the house.“I’m so glad you changed your mind.”

“Yeah, I know how much you love cowboy stuff,” Hallie said, “So I couldn’t deny you the opportunity.”

She took the familiar road that led from the ranch and merged with the main highway as Luke sat back, evidently enjoying the scenery.Sometimes she could feel his eyes on her too.

“Do you know much about cattle?”she asked.

“Of course,” he said, “What kind of cowboy would I be if I didn’t?”

Hallie had a feeling he was just blustering, or maybe he was joking.She glanced over to see a mysterious smile on his lips.

“My parents always told me to look for cows that come towards you when you enter the pasture.It means they’re not likely to run away and hurt themselves or break the fences.”

“Good advice,” said Luke, nodding, “But don’t you enjoy the thrill of the chase?”

“Okay, you’ve been watching too many cowboy movies,” Hallie said.“All that time spent chasing cows and fixing fences is not as fun as it looks.”Unless he was making some kind of double entendre joke.

“So, are we looking for a big, strong bull?”he asked.

Okay, he was definitely flirting.Hallie darted a glance at him again, trying to see if he was smiling.There it was, the subtlest smile.

If he was talking about himself, his build was more like a thoroughbred race horse than a bull, all lean and graceful muscle.But Hallie did not want to get drawn into playing that game.

“Unless you want to get yourself killed, we’re not getting a bull,” she said.

“That’s no fun,” he replied.

“Seriously, it’s dangerous to have a bull around.”

“What about bull riders?”he asked.

“They’re crazy adrenaline junkies, and it’s better to stay away from them.”

“Maybe they just know how to have fun.”

“Oh yeah, it’s plenty fun until a bull stomps on you and breaks every bone in your body.”