Page 39 of Live for Me

I swallowed, blinking back the tears starting to form. “M-Mason,” I stammered, my voice faint. There was a connection between Mason and me, a dark, violent secret that tethered us together in the most unexpected way. Unable to hold his gaze any longer, I re-focused my attention somewhere else.

Denver moved then, stepping forward as he dropped his arms. “Right, well, she can sit up at the house with Val,” he began, talking as if I wasn’t here and not giving me the choice, “or you can lock her in the bunkhouse. Hurry up and decide. We have work to do.”

Val?

Who the hell was Val?

“Yup,” Beau said, turning and walking to the bunkhouse.

I looked back to the Hallow Ranch owner, silently pleading for mercy, but judging by the look on his face, he wasn’t going to give me any.

Seconds later, when the cowboys were out of view, I heard Beau opening the door to the bunkhouse. Once he stepped inside, I was slammed with hundreds of countless memories, the sounds of the past filling my ears as the smell of whiskey, leather, and everything cowboy filled my nose. Beau kicked the door shut behind him as I watched the floor. He carried me past the kitchen area, which housed a massive cedar table fit for a king, and then into the small living room space in the center of the giant room. It had a mounted TV on a dark wooden pillar, and two couches, a small wooden table between them. The couches were the same, but the table was new.

Before I could assess the rest of the bunkhouse to see how much it had changed in the last six years, Beau set me down on my feet. I glared at him, my mouth tight as emotions boiled inside me, the main one being anger. I couldn’t tell if it was anger towards the cowboy who kidnapped me or towards myself. I blinked, looking away from him and into the kitchen area as I tangled my fingers together, the realization hitting me like a bullet.

“Abbie,” he murmured, his rough voice settling over me like a spring rain.

“I would like to go home, please,” I rasped, my voice cracking at the end as the memory of us dancing in front of that sink came to the forefront of my mind. That was the day I’d gotten my acceptance letter to school. Beau came back from working out in pasture four, and when I told him, he picked me up, kissed me, and then, we danced.God, we would've danced all night if we could've.

I blinked, clearing my throat and shifting my weight.

Being here was too much—too painful.

“Going home isn’t an option,” he said softly—too softly.

He was trying to make this easier for me, like being around him, being in this place, wasn’t ripping me apart at the seams. When my eyes met his, I could see the conflict within them raining down in those damn blues. “I’m not wanted here,” I told him. “I’m pretty damn sure I’m not even welcome here.”

He shook his head, moving around me. “That’s not true, Abbie.”

“Really?” I quipped, turning around and watching as he opened the trunk at the end of his bunk. “Because your boss looked like he was five seconds away from killing me, and we both know how he can get when someone he doesn’t want here is on his ranch.”

Beau muttered something under his breath as he pulled out a small brown leather bag, unzipping it and pulling out a set of keys. He didn’t speak until the trunk was closed again. “Denver would never hurt you, Abbie.” His eyes shot to mine. “He knows who you are to me. Every single one of those cowboys do.” He jerked his chin. “Lift your hands.”

I shook my head and did as he asked, looking out the window over his bunk, keeping my eyes on the blue sky, trying to ignore the heat of his touch as he undid the cuffs one at a time. When my wrists were free, he took them in his hands, his fingers massaging them. “You okay? Sore anywhere?”

A harsh laugh left me then. “Usually, the kidnapper doesn’t ask those kinds of questions because they actually don’t give a single shit about the person they kidnapped.”

“Well, I’m not that kind of kidnapper,” he replied almost instantly, his eyes on my wrists.

A knock sounded at the door, followed by a booming voice.

“Let’s get a move on, Beau!”

He ignored Denver and dropped my hands, walking over the living room area, opening the single drawer in the small table between the couches. He pulled out a note card and flicked it out to me. “Right, here’s the WiFi password and all the channels we get out here. The signal should be strong enough for you to work while I’m gone,” he explained.

I took the card without looking at it. “The bunkhouse has WiFi?”

A short, deep chuckle filled my ears then. “Yeah, the twins bought it and set it up. Lawson developed a tracking system for the herd. He’s big into technology.”

“Then why is he here?” I found myself asking before I could stop myself.

Dang it, Abbie.

I was surprised to find Beau shrugging. “Hell if I know. Both of those guys could run the damn country if they wanted to, but I guess somewhere along the way, they wanted to experience a bit of peace.”

My throat worked, and I looked down the note card.

“Cute,” I deadpanned.

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