Page 35 of The Guy Who Stole My Ranch

“We both went without sleep for two semesters.” He let out a small chuckle, and for a moment, I felt as if I’d seen a part of William that he never shared.

My fingers continued to strangle the steering wheel in an attempt to keep the butterflies that stirred in my stomach asleep. I was about to spend a week with this guy as my shadow. I didn’t needfeelingsinterfering with my plan to work him into the ground. I was about to start a conversation about horses when William spoke.

“Did you tell Victoria I was coming?”

I blinked, swallowed, and took a breath. Of course I had. She’d also told me that he hadn’t said a word about it to her. May as well tell him the truth. “Yup.”

He nodded. “I thought as much.”

“Why do you say that?” I asked as I moved into the middle lane.

“We’ve been communicating, but she’s less open than usual. This explains it.” He glanced over at me. “I appreciate you telling me.”

“Sure.” I shrugged, trying to convince myself that it was no big deal that he’d just sincerely thanked me for something and that it had made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I cleared my throat. “Why didn’t you tell her?”

I was looking forward, so didn’t catch his expression as he said, “I know you two are close, much closer than Victoria and I are; I wanted to respect that boundary.”

How many guys talked about respecting boundaries? Why did William have to be one of them? I found myself gritting my teeth, so I relaxed my jaw and forced a smile. “That’s very nice of you.”

The drive to the ranch took almost an hour. William proved to be an easy conversationalist, and to my surprise, he asked me about our YouTube channel. He’d obviously watched at least a few episodes, which I chalked up to the fact that Victoria had invited him to. We also talked about animals. I told him about the first time I remembered seeing a puppy when I’d been five, and he told me about his first horse—a gift from his mom when he’d been six.

By the time I pulled onto the property, I’d almost forgotten that my plan was to work him until he was a broken, crying mess. But seeing where one of the horses had bulldozed the fence while trying to get to a tasty looking clump of grass by the road reminded me.

I made a face when I saw the damage. We were going to have to stretch some barbed wire.

“What is it?” William asked.

I pointed. “That’s our first task.”

He studied the spot as we passed. “I looked up how to mend barbed wire. It didn’t seem too complicated, if you have the right tools.”

Was he asking me if we carried the correct tools to make repairs? “It shouldn’t be, but it wasn’t on our list for the day. Unfortunately, a break like that needs to be fixed as soon as possible.”

We proceeded to my place, because it was closer, and I pulled into the driveway. “Come on,” I said as I threw the truck into park. “You need to change.”

“Into these?” William held up the sack.

“Either that or whatever you brought.”

We both climbed out, and I led him inside.

I’d never been self-conscious about my house before, but I’d never hosted a billionaire. William probably had a dozen people to maintain his mansion. I only had me and had spent the entire night before cleaning it.

Like my dad’s place, it was country style with tall ceilings, big beams, and cowboy everything. Yesterday, I’d dusted areas that hadn’t been wiped off since the house had been built three years before.

William looked around at my kitchen—we came in the back door—with interest, and he might have smiled at all the cow decorations.

Which, incidentally, had all been gifts.

A girl buys one set of bovine saltshakers, and suddenly she collects cows.

It was fine. My family always knew what to get me.

“You can change in there.” I pointed at the bathroom.

William nodded and retreated with his bag and the bag I’d given him.

As soon as he disappeared, I pulled my phone out and sent a text to Jessica.

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