Page 21 of The Guy Who Stole My Ranch

Great, I was going to fall on my butt in front of my family.

And William.

Thanks for that reminder, brain.

I braced for impact, knowing it would be loud, messy, and would likely leave a bruise, but instead, strong fingers wrapped around my upper arm. My trajectory slowed from certain humiliation to a tenuous balance point before I was righted.

William had grabbed me and pulled me to him. For a split second, my chest brushed his.

It was light. Barely any contact to speak of, but it was enough to send the first wave of butterflies I’d felt in years through my stomach and up into my throat.

William immediately stepped back and let me go. “Are you alright?”

Was I alright?

No, I was not alright!

A hot billionaire, who was now my enemy, had just saved me from falling on my butt. Not only that, but his mere touch had elicited a physical response that I wanted to both feel again and to forget.

But William didn’t need any of that information. I graced him with a category-four smile and said, “I’m good.” I caught the side-eye from my dad, which meant I hadn’t been polite enough for his liking, and added, “Thank you.”

“William.” The driver spoke and motioned William to him.

“Excuse me for a moment,” William said with enough formality to have come from a Jane Austen movie. Not only that, but he reached out and brushed my arm ever so slightly before he turned and walked away, taking Frank with him.

I ignored the increased butterfly activity, grabbed my dad by the elbow, and dragged him up the stairs. “Can I talk to you for a minute, Daddy?” I moved to his side and looped my hand around his arm.

The wrinkles in his cheeks and on his forehead had deepened over the past few years, and I could see the lifetime of hard work etched there. But right now the predominant emotion on his face was pure joy. “Isn’t this exciting?

That wasn’t the way I’d put it. “Dad, I—”

He cut me off and gestured toward where William stood talking with his driver. “This is what I meant by you not having to worry about finances on the ranch anymore.”

Now I understood, but this isn’t how I wanted things to go. “Dad, why didn’t you ask me about selling?”

He blinked. “I thought you’d be happy. You’ve been trapped here, taking care of me, since you came back from college. Now you can move away and spread your wings.”

“I’m not prepared to leave.”

“You and I have three months before we need to be off the property.” His eyes danced. “You’ll get enough money from the sale to be able to support yourself for years. I thought you might want to move closer to some of your online girlfriends.”

I had briefly thought about living with Jessica in New York for a while, but I’d never settled on the idea of leaving Texas for good. And now I only had ninety days to find a new home and start a new life? I glanced at William and found him turning away from his driver. I only had seconds. “I like working here. I love the ranch.”

“I know you do.” He patted my hand before extracting his arm and tugging the screen door open. “But now you’re not obligated to.” A sad expression flickered over his face. My words of protest died in my throat as I stared at him.

He thought I’d stayed here because I’d felt obligated to?

Where had he gotten that idea?

Then he grinned. “And now that you won’t be tied here, maybe you’ll find a nice fellow to marry.” He wiggled his eyebrows and jerked his head in William’s direction.

No, no, no.

This was not happening.

“I need more grandchildren to spoil.” He waved me inside.

I needed to stall.

---