Page 82 of Burn the Wild

“Have you tried?” Davis asks.

I give my brothers another frosty glare. “We’re friends.”

A snort from Davis.

Charlie’s eyebrows shoot to the sky. “Friends? When was the last time you’ve been friends with a woman?”

Never. I’ve never been friends with a single woman. It’s downright torturous staying away from Reese.

“Girl’s got secrets,” Charlie says. “I’m not sayin’ it’s a bad thing, but it’s her thing. And maybe you ought to know, Ford.”

I blow out a breath, hating the reminder that she’s hiding something. Hating the fact that I want to know. “Since when did you get so smart?”

“Since you shut the fuck up,” he retorts, lifting his coffee cup to his bearded lips.

“Yeah, well, we’re gonna figure that out soon.” I drum a hand on the desk and look at Davis. “Your contact came through. He’s going to get the information to us soon.”

I got the email this morning after I showered, jerking off so vigorously to Reese that I saw stars.

Davis looks unimpressed. “Hope it helps.”

Me too.

“Got something I want to talk to y’all about.” Charlie rotates his chair to face both me and Davis. “Floyd Gunderson’s farm is up for sale.”

Currently, Floyd lets us use the land known as Old Mill’s Farm to graze our cattle. The farm is a thirty-acre spread right next door to Runaway Ranch.

Charlie arches a dark brow. “Could be good for us. Let us expand.”

“I have enough expansion.” Chuckling, Davis swivels his head to me. “What about you?”

With Reese here, I haven’t given Jim Donovan’s offer much thought.

The two-way radio crackles, and Sam’s voice floats through the speaker. “Can we get a medic on-site?”

“Shit,” Charlie swears, head jerking up.

“Pasture two. Jane took a spill.”

Panic twists in my throat like a blade, and the rational part of my brain shuts off.

Without waiting for a word from my brothers, I drop everything and run.

It feels like an eternity before I spot Reese. She’s sitting on the grass near the training pen, her basket of eggs overturned and her sunglasses lying beside her hand. Sam and a few ranch hands and guests circle her.

“What happened?” I shove my way through them before dropping to my knees beside Reese.

“I was leaving the pen, and the gate dropped too soon.” Her face is pale.

I look up at Sam, ready to strangle him. “Those gates were supposed to be fixed weeks ago.”

Reese hisses as I extend her right arm. Above her wrist, on her forearm, is a bloody slash.

“You’re okay,” I murmur, mostly to reassure myself.

She nods. Squeezes her eyes shut. “I hate the sight of blood.”

I lift my baseball cap so I can see her better. “We need to get you bandaged up, Birdie.”

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