Page 10 of For the Love of the Lawyer

"Remodel? You remodeled the ranch house?"

Matt hadn't asked him to review any contracts or estimates, not that real estate law was Jon’s specialty, but he couldmuddle through it to protect his client. He prayed to heaven the man hadn't gotten taken to the cleaners by an unscrupulous contractor—perhaps the contractor was a friend of Tim Moran’s?

It was all extremely disquieting and too convenient for Jon to believe it was aboveboard. He truly prayed the man hadn't taken a loan at the bank.

When Matt laughed, Jon was startled. "Come out and bring comfortable clothes. If ya wanna ride, we'll see you get a good, gentle horse. Take care, Jon.” Matt hung up without waiting for a response.

Audrey laughed next to him. "That's the hot bull rider, right? That look tells me he's not following your rules.” Her laugh pissed off Jon even more.

Of course, she listened to Jon better than he listened to himself and her superior retention skills had helped get him through law school, as well. It still pissed him off she knew him so well.

"He's a nice guy, but he doesn't… Well, he's too trusting. Anyway, are you sure you're ready to come out to your parents?" He turned the discussion back to the situation at hand. He didn’t like the pressure she was gently exerting, but he’d have been a fool to think she was going to pretend to be his girlfriend for the rest of their lives.

Audrey smiled as she took his hand and held it between both of hers. "Not yet, okay? I'm just going to ask Lyla to marry me and once she gives me an answer, we’ll move forward from there. Jonny, I'm not asking you to blow up your world. I'll give you some time before I tell Mom and Dad I'm engaged—that is, if Lyla says yes."

Jon nodded and pointed to a three-carat emerald cut diamond ring set in platinum with sapphire trillions on either side. "If I were a woman, I'd say yes to that ring." He leaned forward andkissed Audrey on the forehead before he cleared up the dinner mess and left her alone in her office.

He wished Audrey well in her pursuit of happiness, however futile he believed it to be. Maybe heterosexuals found a happy-ever-after, but all the men Jon had ever met had ulterior motives. Monogamy wasn't a word synonymous with gay culture, or so Jon believed. There would be noMr. Jon Wellsother than himself.

A navy Mercedes S-Class Coupe wasn’t designed to traverse the country roads Jon encountered on his drive out to Holloway. Of course, when he got there, he prayed he wouldn't tear up the undercarriage on the gravel he believed he'd find on the driveway. He was pleasantly surprised to find he’d imagined it all wrong.

While the entire scene was like something out of a Norman Rockwell print, it wasn't as primitive as Jon had thought. The driveway was paved with elegant stones on either side, and the house was lovely and inviting, unlike his parents' ostentatious estate in the country.

The fields and outbuildings behind the house were impressive and well-kept, and he decided the Circle C was very picturesque as he looked around. He parked in front of an open garage door and hopped out of the Mercedes to survey the sights surrounding him.

For as long as Jon had represented the bull rider, he'd only seen a few snapshots of the ranch during the divorce settlement phase. Matt always came to him in Richmond, and to date, Matt had never invited the lawyer to the Circle C.

As Jon looked around, he knew those pictures he’d seen a few years prior had been dated. There were more buildings than he'd anticipated, and everything was immaculate and striking in the designs of the buildings and the strict color palette of creamy beige siding with forest-green roofs.

Jon observed the cattle grazing lazily in the pastures, and he noticed several hunky men moving among them. One of which he recognized as Tim Moran, Matt Collins’ little plaything. Jon had met him at the hearing regarding Ryan's custody."The gold-digging boy toy," he reminded himself.

Tim was riding a light-brown horse with a dark mane and tail. They appeared to be doing some sort of dressage-related exercises in the field because the horse was prancing right and left. Another cowboy on a gray horse twirled a rope high in the air before flinging it to land around a cow's neck. Tim jumped from his horse and tossed the cow on its side, tying its feet with a shorter rope. The entire production appeared to be skillful, but Jon had never dealt with cattle, so he wasn't judging their actions, only observing their performances.

The tall cowboy with the straw hat on his head hopped off his horse and walked over to where Tim had the cow on the ground, leaning over to give it an injection. From what Jon could see, the guy was over six feet and he had reddish-brown hair, which was peeking out from under a rather battered-looking cowboy hat. He had a slim, muscular build, and as he shouted something to Tim which Jon was unable to hear, he saw the smaller blond laugh and shake his head. After the cow was injected with yet another something, it was released and took off in the opposite direction of the men in the field.

The slender cowboy walked over to Tim, the two speaking as the cowboy petted the horse Tim was riding. The two of them laughed before the man walked back to the tall, gray horse he was riding, hopping up on the back as he recoiled his lariat. InJon's mind, he was like a cowboy from a movie—a really sexy movie. It was something to behold in person.

Jon walked to the back of his car to retrieve his weekend bag as a BMW Z4 Roadster convertible in bright copper with an open black ragtop came zooming up the driveway. He stopped what he was doing to observe a petite platinum blonde in a Philadelphia Phillies hat hop out before tossing the cap into the car as she took down her hair and smoothed it with her fingers. She was a beautiful woman about Jon's age, so he was guessing it was Ronni Turnberry.

"Ms. Turnberry? Jon Wells.” He extended his hand in greeting. He was unprepared for her to give him the up-and-down, and if she wasn't a potential adversary, he might consider giving her some attention. He might even be able to get it up for the beautiful woman—stranger things had happened in his life.

She extended her hand and gripped his strongly. "How do you do? I believe our clients are going to test your patience this weekend. By the way, I don't believe your client has kept you up to date regarding changes to their situation. You need to get him alone and have a conversation before we begin.”

To say Jon was stunned by her comment was an understatement. “I’m not sure what you mean, Miss Turnberry.”

"You pissed me off, Mr. Wells. Your attitude toward my client was condescending to say the least. I can only imagine how the Moran-Collins' reacted when they discussed it.” Ronni went to the back of her little convertible, pulling out a Louis Vuitton duffel bag that matched the crossbody bag she wore. She slammed the trunk and turned to Jon with a look of displeasure on her face.

"I hope you have a kinder disposition and don’t make the mistake of talking down to Tim and Matthew the way you did to me when we spoke the other day. I'm not sure where the hostility was coming from, because Tim wants to share his assets withMatt and set up a trust for Ryan, but you made it known you didn't approve of anything Tim wanted to do for the Collins men.

“I'd suggest you gather your thoughts and come to the table with a very good reason why you believe Tim’s desire to share his good fortune with that family is so distasteful to you.” Ronni walked up the three steps to the porch of the ranch house and rang the bell.

The door opened, and Jon saw Matt's mother greeting the petite woman at the front door. The smile on Jeri Collins' face was as bright as Jon remembered from the day the judge ruled in favor of Matt at the custody hearing. He saw Jeri look in his direction and smile, waving at him.

Jon decided to take his chances with the men at the barn, so he waved and pointed to the barn, leaving his case on the hood of his car. He'd purchased a new pair of low-rise, square-toed boots off the internet, but he was discovering they likely wouldn't fare well in a barn lot full of horse and cow manure.

As he was approaching the lot, he saw Matt's father, Marty, heading from the back of the house. "Mr. Collins, sir, how are you?" Jon caught up with him and the two walked toward the gate leading to the front of the barn lot.

Marty stopped to shake Jon's hand. "I'm good, Jon. How 'bout you? Nice of ya to come out for the weekend. Oughta be a doozy.” Jon had come to know Martin Collins as a jovial man with a kind disposition, but a temper that flared quickly if he felt his family was being threatened.

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