Page 3

CHAPTER 3

Billie

I didn’t know the truck parked in my driveway. And I hadn’t heard back from Keely yet. Of course my phone died at the hospital. My mind was so preoccupied I didn’t think to charge it on the way home to feed my animals. The sun was starting to sink low in the sky. I paid the Uber driver and looked around as he drove off.

Grabbing my shotgun from my truck, I slunk toward the barn. I could hear voices coming from out there. When I entered the barn, I heard a man talking in deep tones with Hank and Eris. He was absorbed in his work and he didn’t notice when my dog loped over to me doing a happy dance.

Her tail wagged as I racked my shotgun. The man froze. Then he turned toward me and it was like someone had punched me in the chest. He was gorgeous. Ridiculously handsome.

His dark hair had a loose curl to it and was too long, so it was hanging down into his eyes a bit. He needed a haircut. He had a dark beard and intense brown eyes that seemed to look deep into my soul.

What was wrong with me? I wasn’t a poetic kind of woman. I was too damn practical for that. I tried to mentally shake myself out of whatever feelings this man stirred within me.

His hands were slightly raised, and I could tell he was trying to play as though he was innocent. I wasn’t stupid. This man was dangerous. It was like a coat of armor surrounding him. He was in jeans, boots, and a black t-shirt and there were tattoos all down his arms and over the backs of his hands and fingers. He almost didn’t strike me as the ranching type, but the way he’d brushed my horse with ease spoke of knowledge with what he was doing.

“Who are you?” I asked, voice low and threatening.

“A friend,” he said. “I’m here to help.”

Keely had said she was sending help, but she hadn’t given me any names. And I wasn’t the naturally trusting kind. “Bullshit,” I snarled. He shifted and I aimed the shotgun lower. “Don’t move.” If he didn’t care that I would blow his head off, I knew he probably wouldn’t want his balls eviscerated.

He froze again, wincing. “I’m a friend of Keely’s.”

It was my turn to hesitate. How would he know her name unless he really was a friend? As far as I knew there was no connection that Fission Solutions knew of between me and Keely. I was just about to drop my shotgun when someone else spoke.

“If you don’t drop that gun, I’m going to fill you full of lead and feed you to the horses.”

Frowning, I stared at the beautiful man in front of me, not daring to look over my shoulder at the other guy. “Horses don’t eat people, genius,” I said, not being able to help myself. The second man clearly didn’t have much knowledge of animals. “That’s pigs.”

“Whatever. I’ll feed you to something around here.”

“Butcher,” the man in front of me said, his eyes still locked on mine. “Put the gun down. She’s the one we’re here to help.”

“You fucking kidding me? She’s got a shotgun pointed at your dick, Toxic.”

“Not the worst thing to ever be pointed at my dick. Just…put it down. She’s not going to pull the trigger. I just told her that Keely sent us to help her out.”

“How do you even know this is the chick we’re supposed to be helping?”

Toxic’s eyes flashed over to his friend. “The dog.”

“What?” Butcher asked, sounding puzzled.

“Just put it down.” His voice was calm, deep, rich. Despite having a gun to his balls he was in total control. I wanted to sink into the sound and curl up against his chest while he lulled me to sleep talking about anything he wanted.

Wow. Seriously, what was the matter with me?

I didn’t react to men this way. Especially men who looked like him. Men who were that gorgeous were too flirty. Too smooth. They were trouble with a capital T and I always stayed away from them. Ever since Will anyway. I learned my lesson the hard way.

“Fine,” the man named Butcher grumbled. He stepped to my side so I could see that he’d put his gun away. His hands were empty.

“Your turn, Gorgeous,” Toxic said, voice soothing, like he was talking to a wild horse that he didn’t want to spook.

His earlier words about Keely were what made me drop the barrel of the shotgun. “Who are you?” I asked again, but with less menace this time.

“I’m Toxic,” he said with a grin that could melt the panties off a woman at twenty paces. “That’s Butcher. Keely called our president and asked if we could give you a hand for a few days.”

“President?” I asked, head spinning as I tried to figure out what was going on.

“Guess she hasn’t had a chance to explain yet,” Toxic said with a chuckle. “Butcher, can you go keep watch?”

“Sure.”

“And actually keep watch this time?” Toxic said in a sarcastic tone.

“I was checking out the damn property when I heard a vehicle pull up. Your girl there is quick.” He walked out of the barn, grumbling to himself.

“We’re in a local motorcycle club,” Toxic explained.

My brows shot up. I knew what motorcycle clubs were, though I hadn’t ever known anyone in one. I mostly kept to myself out here on the ranch and only worked with my crew. Gramps still did most of the shopping since that was a job he could do. It meant I didn’t exactly mingle with people very often anymore.

“Danica is with a biker?” I asked. How had Keely kept that from me? We were going to have to have a long talk soon.

Toxic chuckled. “Yeah, Smokehouse.”

“Interesting names,” I said, returning his smile. It was hard to resist, but I wiped it off my face almost as soon as it formed. I didn’t need this man knowing how much he affected me.

“Road names,” he explained. He looked around. “Lockout, my president, didn’t have a lot of information about what’s happening out here. Care to explain?”

I eyeballed him, wondering if I could trust him. Everything inside of me was screaming yes, which just made me that much more suspicious. I looked at Eris, who was still doing her ‘oh boy, you’re home’ happy dance. The fact that she didn’t have her teeth sunk into Toxic’s leg was further proof I could trust him. “Okay, but let’s go inside,” I told him. The sun was going down and I didn’t want to have this conversation in the low light in the barn in case these guys ended up not being who they said they were. I wanted to plug my phone in and call Keely before I told them anything.

He seemed to realize I was struggling to trust him. The little lines at the edges of his eyes crinkled as he smiled at me. That was the only indication that he might be a bit older. Otherwise I’d place him in his thirties. “Why don’t you go call Keely? I’ll finish feeding the rest of the animals and we’ll meet you inside in about a half hour?”

I didn’t want them wandering my ranch on their own, but the animals did need feeding and I did need to call my friend. Not to mention I was so tired I was swaying on my feet. Chores should have been finished hours ago and I would normally be finishing up dinner and getting ready for bed. When you woke up at four in the morning every day, staying up late didn’t happen. It was only now approaching seven p.m., but the worry and exhaustion of the day was catching up to me.

I was only twenty-nine years old, but I spent most my days the way an old person would, getting up early, eating early, going to bed early. Late was one of those bad four letter words in my world.

“Okay, but I’m keeping an eye on you,” I warned. “Eris.” I motioned to Toxic and her easy demeanor shifted immediately.

She sized up the man standing in the stall with Hank, her tail raising until it was straight up in the air. She was a sweet dog, to me anyway, but when I was leery of someone, so was she. Hell, there’d been times when she’d taken a chunk out of someone I hadn’t intended her to. Heelers could be a bit…insane. That was why I loved them, loved her so much. The fact that she’d trusted Toxic from the start was a good sign for him. I trusted her instincts.

Toxic eyed the dog as he scooted past us and walked out of the barn. He had a loose, easy gait, and despite the aura of danger surrounding him, I could now see that swagger that a lot of cowboys had. It was the leather vest and tattoos that were throwing me off.

With Eris following him around, watching him like a hawk, I was comfortable enough to run into the house. I plugged my phone into the charger and raked my hands through my hair as I waited for it to get enough battery to make a call.

My eyes ached from exhaustion, and I’d long since taken my hair out of my usual ponytail to ward off the headache that was pressing in on me. I didn’t have time for a headache. Not with someone out to get me and my family and random gorgeous men on my ranch.

Butcher was a good looking man too, but he hadn’t affected me the same way that Toxic had. Why was my heart fluttering in my chest like a trapped bird at just the thought of him?

My phone blinked on, distracting me from the sexy man outside. I grabbed it up and hit Keely’s number. “Pick up, pick up, pick- Oh thank God,” I sighed when I heard her voice. “Please tell me you sent these two guys out to my place? Toxic and Butcher?”

She laughed. “If you picked up your phone I would have told you that before you surprised each other out there. I’m guessing that’s what happened since you sound so frantic?”

“Yeah, I pointed a shotgun at his head, Keels. Then at his balls.”

“Oh…my…God, which one?” she said, breathless.

“Toxic.”

“Whew, at least it wasn’t Butcher. He’s a little…scary.”

“No, Butcher pointed a gun at my head when he found us.”

She gasped. “I’m so sorry! I left you messages!”

“My phone died.”

“What happened?” she breathed, sounding like she was on the edge of her seat.

“Toxic took care of it.”

There was a long pause. “Billie?”

“What?”

“The way you just said that…”

I bit the insides of my lips. Keely knew me too damn well. “Said what?” I asked, cursing myself at the little squeak in my voice.

“You like him!”

“No, I don’t. He’s a little too hardcore for me,” I replied.

“Not Butcher. You like Toxic ,” she accused.

I sighed. “Keely, no I don’t. I’m exhausted. And scared. And worried. I don’t have time for men.”

“Honey, that’s when the right men always seem to show up. And trust me, these men? They show up in a big way.”

“I don’t even know what that means, Keels.”

“You’ll find out,” she said with a little laugh that made me want to reach through the phone and strangle her.

“Thank you,” I said, softening, “for getting me some help. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Honey, you’re like a sister to me. And to Dani. I can call Mom and Dad if you want?”

“They don’t even live here anymore, Keely.”

“You know they’d be on the first flight.”

“I know,” I sighed. “Not yet. I need to figure out what’s happening.”

“I can send a cease and desist letter. Get me the address and I’ll draft it up tonight.”

“You’re seriously the best. I’ll send that over.”

“Billie?”

“Yeah?”

“Please be careful. I love you too much to lose you.”

“I love you, too. I will.”

“You can trust these guys. Okay? They’ll help you.”

“Thank you,” I said, the relief of hearing that made my shoulders sag.

“Send me that address.”

“I will. Bye.”

We hung up and I grabbed one of the letters off the pile, took a photo and texted it over to her.

“Everything okay?”

I jumped, spinning around as Toxic’s voice cut through the quiet. “Oh!”

“Sorry,” he said, raising his hands up in a gesture of peace. “You’re a bit jumpy,” he added, eyes narrowing as he studied me.

“I know,” I replied. “I’ve been having…problems.”

“What kind of…problems?” he echoed.

Keely said I could trust them, I reminded myself. I pointed to the table. “Have a seat.”

“Gonna take that long, huh?”

I gave him a wry smile as he sat. “Where’s your friend?”

“I’m here.”

I couldn’t help the squeak of surprise because it was like he formed out of the shadows as he stalked forward. My eyes flashed to Toxic. The smile he sent my way didn’t make me feel any better. My gut kept screaming at me that these men were dangerous predators. But at least they were on my side. I hoped.