Page 83 of Bull Rush

“No. I’m not abandoning my home when everyone needs me. There’s too much that needs to be done. It’s all hands on deck.” I’m surprised he would even suggest it when he knows this is where my heart is.

“Fine. Then I’m staying. I’ll be your extra set of hands.”

“Stay where? Ramsey won’t let you back in the house—not until the ninety days is over.”

“The inn? Don’t you have extra rooms?”

“He won’t like that.” I shake my head, and the anxiety in my stomach doubles when I hear boots through the house approaching the back door. The footfalls are heavy enough thatthey could only belong to one six-foot-five man I haven’t seen yet this morning.

“I won’t like what?” Ramsey asks as he opens the screen door, and I can practically feel the animosity radiate off him when he sees Curtis. “Oh yeah. I won’t like that at all.”

“It’s not about you. It’s about Hazel,” Curtis counters.

“My wife, you mean. I’ve got everything under control, and you’re the last person we need here. Aren’t you supposed to be in Vegas?”

“Doesn’t seem like you have anything under control by the looks of it. I came when she texted me about the fire.”

I can see the slightest bristle in Ramsey’s countenance when he hears that. He won’t love that I texted Curtis about it, but it’s not like I could keep it a secret from him.

“Well, you can go back to wherever you came from. No one needs you here.”

“Ramsey, stop it,” I warn him.

“I’m just telling him the truth, sugar.”

“Should I just talk to Grace or Tabitha about getting a room?” Curtis ignores Ramsey and looks at me.

“You’re not staying at the inn. You’re not staying anywhere on this property.” Ramsey takes a step closer to him, and I fear we’re only a few minutes away from the two of them throwing punches.

“You don’t get a say in where I stay. Only Hazel decides.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea.” I look between them warily. “It’s just going to add to the tension here. We need to be focused on the horses and getting things in place for them.”

“Fine. Come and stay with me at a hotel downtown then. It’ll give you a break from all of this at night. Let you escape a little,” Curtis pleads with me.

“We made a deal.” Ramsey looks at me. Something about the finality in his tone irritates me. Like he’s not trying toconvince me I should choose him, but that he’s telling me I don’t have a choice at all. Given that we haven’t even resolved our argument from last night, it builds on every frustration I’ve already been feeling since then.

“I said you could stay here. I didn’t say that I would,” I argue.

I can see Curtis stand up a little straighter, a self-satisfied smile touching his lips. Ramsey doesn’t miss it either, and I can see the moment his temper hits. It flashes over his face before he reins it back in, and his own smirk appears. I feel like a rabbit trapped between a snake and a wolf.

“Before you take off with him, why don’t you ask Curtis where he’s been all this time?”

“I’ve been training. She knows that.”

“Training for what?” Ramsey asks calmly, staring Curtis down. “Because we both know it has nothing to do with the casino.”

My heart drops as the two of them stare each other down.

“What are you talking about?” I look to Ramsey first and then to Curtis. “What is he talking about?”

“I have no idea.” Curtis defends himself, but there’s something in the way he does it—the small half-step back he takes, the way his face falters, the shift of his shoulders that tells me there’s truth to what Ramsey’s saying.

“Someone explain,” I demand, my temper finally surfacing. All before I get my fucking coffee.

“Your boy toy here’s been lying to you. There’s no training in Vegas. Nothing to do with the casino. He took a leave of absence from his job.”

“That’s a lie!” Curtis shouts, taking a step toward Ramsey.

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