Page 95 of Square Deal

Luca shook his head. “Nah, it’s a loaner from the ranch. Thereare roads to and from the restaurant, but getting to the guest cabins requires a little more off-roading than a rental sedan can take.”

“Cabins?” I raised an eyebrow. No one said a damn thing about sleeping in log shacks without central heating and air.

Hell no.I wasn’t the “roughing it”type.

He smirked. “Don’t get your dry-cleaned boxers in a twist. The cabins are nice. The ranch is sorta swanky. All kinds of amenities. People book vacations there all the time.”

Vacations on a cattle ranch? No thanks. I pushed the thought out of my mind and dug my phone out.

Isaac

Still waiting on that photo, Princess.

Hannah Jane

Some of us have to work for a living, Lawson.

Isaac

I work hard, thank you very much.

Hannah Jane

I saw you working hard on the cover of a tabloid in the checkout line at the grocery store.

Isaac

Old photos. Spenser puts them out when I’m too busy doing lame things to go out clubbing. Lame things like pulling seventeen hour days in the office.

“What have you been up to, man?” Luca asked as he floored it and weaved around two slower-moving cars. “You’ve been flying under the radar.”

I shrugged and pocketed my phone. “You know me—making moves secretly and then blowing minds.”

He let out a barking laugh. “Fuck no. You make a show out of your victories and rub it in everyone’s faces.”

“We can’t all be as humble as you.” I smirked.

“Maddie has this idea in her head that you’re seeing someone.”

I glanced across the cab of the truck and gave him a skeptical look. “Shehasmet me, right?” Acid bubbled in my gut.

Luca chuckled. “That’s what I said.”

“You married a handful,” I mused.

He mindlessly fiddled with the wedding band on his left hand. Married life looked good on my boy. He was a family man. Came from a stable home and had parents and siblings that loved loud and hard. Some people were blessed like that. The rest of us just had to make do.

I did so comfortably. I may have grown up with a revolving door of nannies and stepmothers, but I patched my wounds with lavish vacations and living high on the hog.

They say money can’t buy happiness, but being able to afford top-shelf liquor sure helps numb the sadness. I couldn’t complain.

Luca navigated the spaghetti bowl of Texas highways like a pro. After a while, he pulled onto a service road that cut through endless fields dotted with herds of cattle.

“Being married isn’t so hard,” he said with a shrug. “I mean, you just have to convince her not to cut her hair and get bangs every three weeks, and tell her she looks hot before she even asks if you like the outfit she put on.”

I cut my eyes at him. “You say it’s not hard because you’ve only been married for five minutes.”

The Griffith Brothers Ranch came into view. A massive lodge towered in front of us as we rumbled up the drive. Pastures stretched out as far as the eye could see.

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