Page 24 of The Undercover Cowboy

“I’m not an idiot,” she said icily.

“I know that,” he said.

He closed the compartment and moved the hay bales back to approximately where they were. Nash reached out to removea piece of straw from her hair. “I just want you to be careful. Blevins is dangerous and so are the people he’s dealing with. I might not know exactly what they’re up to, but I’m sure they’ll go to extremes to protect their interests.”

“Why do I feel like this is all coming to a head?” she asked. Shivers made goose bumps up and down her arms.

“Because you’ve got good instincts.”

She swallowed hard as they drifted closer. The feeling to dive back into his arms was a powerful one. The quiet of the night was peaceful and she wanted him more than she had any right to.

“Can I trust you, Nash?”

“Depends.”

That wasn’t the answer she was looking for, but she admired his honesty. She couldn’t trust him with her secrets. Not yet anyway.

“N-next unit,” she stuttered and shuffled by him out the door before he could read the desire in her eyes.

Together they slipped back into the shadows, moving on toward the next building. A lot could fit in that compartment, if the Rocky Ridge Ranch was smuggling stuff across the border. Pills, powder, drugs of all sorts. But it could also just be extra storage.

“I’ll text Shane and ask him if he’s got that same compartment in his barn,” she said.

“No, don’t,” Nash said.

“He’d know if that was a standard space to have in the floor.” She started to text.

“I said, no.” Nash put his hand over her phone.

“What?” She stared up at him and then realized he still thought the Viking Ranch might be a part of this. Dolly scowled at him. “Shane can help us. We can trust him. He’s family.”

“Not yet he’s not.”

“Reba trusts him and Shelby trusts Reba. You’re wasting your time suspecting him.”

“The Viking Ranch unit is right there.” Nash pointed. “No sense bothering him. We can look ourselves. No sense tipping him off either.”

“Shane isn’t involved with Blevins,” she said through her teeth.

“Then he won’t mind if we have a little look around.”

This was why she couldn’t get involved with Nash. He was a suspicious bastard, and he was too stubborn to realize that he was wrong about Shane. She angrily helped him toss hay bales around, but there wasn’t a floor compartment in either the Viking Ranch’s or the Rocky Ridge Ranch’s storage area. She wasn’t annoyed anymore, but her back ached something fierce.

Once they were done with the sheds, they had to pass by the pens where the bulls were bedded down for the night. They were restless silhouettes against the weathered wood of their enclosures, their breaths sending up plumes of mist that caught the moonlight. One bull, larger than the others, paced back and forth, its massive head swinging as if to challenge the darkness itself.

“Those beasts are nothing but muscle and mean,” Nash observed, peering through the slats at the agitated creatures. Their eyes glinted, reflecting a primal anger that no night could soothe.

“Yeah, and you want to ride one,” Dolly murmured, her gaze following the movement of the bull.

“Want is a strong word.”

“LeAnn can’t wait to try her luck on one of the Mexican fighting bulls. The meaner the better.”

“She got a death wish?”

“I don’t know what she’s got. Ambition with a healthy dose of insanity. Do you see the appeal of it?” Dolly looked up at him.

He thought about it for a moment. “Do you like roller coasters?”

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