Page 61 of The Last Promise You Made

Mila stilled. Then, she whispered, “Does she have bad men looking for her…like that man…the one who tried to take me and shot Aunt Sadie?”

Addy’s eyes turned wide, the fear darting back into them, and I’d never wanted to rewind time faster than I did at that moment. I wanted her relaxed face from moments ago. I wanted the smile and the joy she’d been sharing.

“She’s safe here,” I said instead of answering my niece directly. I took Addy’s hand and tugged her a little closer. “You’re safe here.”

She didn’t respond at all.

Behind the two girls, in the view from the round window, a red Porsche Cayman appeared through the trees on the drive. It stood out amongst the SUVs and trucks that normally littered our yard in the off-season. It would stand out in Willow Creek period, where trucks were the common denominator, the more beat up the better.

“Stay here,” I said, and when Addy looked frightened, I nudged her chin with a knuckle. “It’s okay. Nothing to worry about.”

Then, I hustled down the ladder, jumping down the last few feet and hurrying toward the open barn doors. Sadie and Gia had already turned to watch a tall, dark-haired man unfold himself from the driver’s seat of the sports car.

I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or not when it was Jaime Laredo’s face that turned to meet mine. I was glad it was someone I knew showing up and not someone from Ravyn’s shadowy past. But I also knew he’d use his powers of persuasion to get me on board with his plans for the Eastern Dude Ranchers’ Association.

I turned to Sadie. “Can you make sure Addy doesn’t freak out?”

My sister nodded and turned back into the barn.

“Is that Jaime Laredo?” Gia asked.

I shouldn’t have been surprised that she knew him with the research she’d done on dude ranches. I just gave her a curt nod as the man headed toward us. His hair was thick and black, his eyes dark and narrow under finely shaped brows that were almost too thin for the rest of his features. His face was lean and rectangular, his jaw always cleanly shaven. He was tall with a thin build that belied the muscles I knew he had as I’d seen him slinging hay in a T-shirt when I’d gone to his ranch over a decade ago.

The man had been open and generous in sharing his knowledge of dude ranching and luxury resort management when I’d met him. Even though he hadn’t gone to college, he was one of the savviest businessmen I knew. Our lack of higher education had been a commonality we’d shared and discussed over whiskey and a good meal. It had become a badge of honor for both of us when we’d turned our family land into wildly successful resorts. His was just five levels up from ours.

“Well, hell, if it isn’t Jaime Laredo in the flesh,” I said, stepping toward him.

He raised a brow, one side of his mouth easing upward. “You’ve been ignoring me, old friend.”

I reached out and shook his hand. “Not ignoring as much as holding you off.”

Jaime looked from me to Gia with a slow smirk. “I can see you’ve been busy.”

“Jaime Laredo, Gia Kent.”

When she offered her hand to shake, he brought it to his lips, and the feral objection that flew through me at that simple motion caught me by surprise. I barely held back a snarl and had to tuck my hands into my pockets so I wouldn’t rip the two of them apart. And when Gia’s voice turned light and flirtatious, every inch of my body objected.

Never in my life had I felt jealousy the way I did then.

Not even Ravyn had left my inner animal howling with such rabid possessiveness.

Chapter Nineteen

Gia

RED WINE + WHITE COUCH

Performed by Danielle Bradbery

“Of all the ranches in all the towns in all the world, you walk into this one,” I said to Jaime Laredo, making sure the flirt and twist of the old Casablanca line was obvious.

The man’s dark eyes flashed with interest. Desire was in his gaze as it strolled down me inch by inch, as if I was wearing a sexy cocktail dress baring my legs and arms instead of layers of flannel and jeans. It might have felt sleazy coming from another man, but this one, confident and sure, made it look sensual. An offer he didn’t have to physically state but hung in the air anyway.

“Have we met, Ms. Kent? Unfortunately, I’ve never been to Paris or Morocco,” he teased back.

Ryder had been relaxed and friendly when Laredo had approached, but the more the two of us talked, the stiffer I felt him grow, until tension all but radiated from him.

“I’ve been trying to interview you for my article in Agricultural Sciences Today on how dude ranching has saved the American frontier.”

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