Page 41 of Westin

“You have a big head.”

“Most cowboys do.”

She laughed, a little surprised he was making jokes after everything that had happened last night. She pushed the hat back and studied him as he pretended to be paying more attention to his coffee than to her. “What happens now?”

“Clint wants me to take you to his cabin.”

“He has a cabin?”

He gestured with a thumb over his shoulder. “It’s a little house about a quarter-mile from here. The foreman’s cabin.”

“Oh.” She took off his hat and ran her hands over the top of her head, realizing her braid had come mostly undone during the night. She quickly unwound it and braided it back again, twisting a couple of pieces of hair around the end of the braid to keep it in place. It was a trick a stripper had taught her once that had come in handy more often than she could recall.

“You ready? We should head out.”

She nodded, not sure if she was disappointed or relieved that he didn’t want to talk about what had happened last night. She’d expected him to be angry, or at least frustrated with her. He’d been pretty upset last night when Clint had sent him out of the barn after she’d refused to identify Fang in front of him. But he seemed to be lacking curiosity now, and that made her wonder. What had Clint told him?

He had a truck waiting for them, the same truck he’d been driving the morning she’d met the boys of Golden Sphinx Ranch. He helped her into the passenger side before going around to climb behind the wheel. He turned the heat on full blast the moment he started the engine, allowing cold air to blow over them before it slowly heated, filling the cab of the truck with a comforting warmth.

“You’re to stay at the cabin for the next couple of days, until Clint can figure out what’s going on.”

Lea’s eyebrows rose. “What do you mean, figure out what’s going on?”

“He’s bothered by the fact that this guy who broke into your room knew where you were and where you were staying. No one but the five of us guys and you knew where you were.” Westin glanced at her. “And you didn’t tell anyone—right?”

“No.”

He nodded, focusing on the road that was more of a trail ahead of them. “Someone must have told this guy something. How else would he have known to look inside a building that was otherwise unoccupied? We have over thirty buildings on this property. Why was it the only one he focused on?”

Lea shook her head. She was still struggling with why Fang had come back in the first place, let alone how he’d known to look for her on Golden Sphinx Ranch. She’d never mentioned the town or the ranch when she’d spoken to Will. Not once.

“Someone will be outside the door the whole time you’re at the cabin.”

“What about you? Where will you be?”

He glanced at her again, his dark, stormy eyes unreadable. “I have work to do, sweetheart. I probably won’t have time to stop by today.”

She nodded, not sure what to think of that.

The trail took a sharp turn and crossed a cattle guard that led into a small oasis tucked into a rise in the land. A blanket of snow covered an expanse of yard that led up to a building that was very definitely a cabin, one of those made of real logs that looked as though it belonged in the 1860s rather than the modern world. It had a lovely porch across the front, big windows to get the most of the view, and a low roof that probably provided refreshing shade in the warm summer months. Westin stopped the truck just a few feet from the front door, coming around to gently help Lea down from the truck before leading her up the porch.

Inside, the cabin looked much like the bunkhouse, with a large, open floor plan. The furniture was mostly rustic, mixed with a few modern pieces like the overstuffed couch. The kitchen was a galley style with a bar dividing it from the living room, complete with three tall stools for guests to sit. There were relatively new stainless-steel appliances, all the conveniences of a home in the city. Through an open door on the far side of the kitchen Lea could see the bedrooms—the master all the way back, and another off to one side through the door of which she could see a small shelf covered in stuffed animals. Clint’s little girl’s room.

“Remington will be here in a few minutes with your things. You should be okay until then.”

“Westin?”

He stood with his hand on the knob. It seemed like he was always just about to escape when she wanted him to stay. But when his eyes came up and moved over her, for just an instant she thought she saw some of the heat they’d shared last night before everything went all to hell.

“I’m sorry that I’ve put you and your friends in a bad situation.”

He rolled his shoulders. “Things happen.”

“I never would have asked you to bring me back here if I’d had any idea he would follow me.”

Westin bit his bottom lip, stifling a grunt. “Then it was him? Fang?”

Lea crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t know how he knew to look for me here. No one should have known I was here.”

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