Page 7 of Second Chances with my Billionaire Bosses

Shep pushed a loaded biscuit into my hands and nodded at it.

“Eat that.”

“Your brothers did put up some money. They wanted to guarantee they had first rights to the land if we decided to sell in a few years. This way, they own a portion of the ranch and we can’t just sell it to a massive corporation if we get bored. Not that we’d ever do that. They didn’t need to put any money up for us to promise them that, but they felt better about doing it legally.” Arlo chewed a bite of his biscuit and groaned. “Jesus, Maxine. Your cooking alone is enough for a man to send a man to his knees.”

I’d just taken a bite of my own biscuit and nearly choked. My cheeks warmed and I cursed my fair complexion. I was trying to come up with something to say when Rhett cursed and jumped up from where he’d been sitting.

I snorted out a laugh when I realized what’d happened. Bob had snuck over and stolen Rhett’s biscuit. Bob looked as pleased with himself as ever as he eyed the biscuit still in Shep’s hand. Covering my mouth, I tried to hide that I’d laughed at them.

“Bob! No stealing.”

He curled his lip at me and let out a dramatic sigh before turning his back on us. I thought he was going to let it go until he let out a giant fart and then walked away.

Arlo groaned and put the rest of his biscuit down.

“That horse has an attitude problem.”

Rhett looked back at me.

“How did the sweetest woman in the world end up with an asshole for a horse?”

“He’s not a butthole. He’s just…sensitive.” I fanned away the stench and stood up. “I’m going to get started on the kitchen.”

I looked under the cabinets for cleaning supplies and found nothing. The kitchen would have to wait. I turned to go back out to the porch and saw the three of them had followed me. They were standing in the doorway, watching me.

“There are no cleaning supplies. I’ll bring some from the ranch tomorrow morning.” I wrapped my arms around myself and cleared my throat. “I guess that means I’ll start outside today.”

“Why don’t we take a ride into town and buy some supplies to keep on hand here?” Rhett never took his eyes off of me. “If you need to take Bob home, we can meet you there.”

I wanted to say no and run the other way. Being alone in their truck with them seemed like a bad plan for my mental health. I wasn’t arguing or fighting with them, though, so I just nodded.

“Okay.”

CHAPTER 6

Arlo

I drove to the Hellstone Ranch with a scowl on my face. Something wasn’t right about Maxie. She was being agreeable but there was a flatness in her voice and expression I didn’t understand. I wanted to shake her. It wasn’t a good sign that I’d been around her for less than an hour in total since arriving back in town and I already felt out of control over her. I didn’t remember her being so cold when she was eighteen. She’d always done whatever anyone else wanted or needed but she’d done it with a smile on her face. The new Maxie seemed to fight every single emotion that might cross her face.

Shep tapped his fingers against his thigh over and over again, until Rhett growled and reached back to slap them. Glaring at Rhett, he crossed his arms and groaned.

“It’s weird, right? Her whole attitude? I don’t like it. She was on fire yesterday, wanting to scratch our eyes out, and today she’s like a fucking robot.”

I was glad we were on the same page.

“Let’s just see how she acts around other people so we can at least know if it’s us that’s got her acting so strangely.”

“Maybe we’re reading too much into it. We just got back and we left things bad with her when we went. Maybe she’s just unhappy to be around us.” Rhett sighed. “I need to get that vacant stare off her face. I hate it.”

I agreed. I had a vision in my head of Maxie the night we’d kissed her and she’d been so full of fire. Even when she was angry at us the night before, her face had been animated and full of life. Whatever was happening with her that morning, though, I didn’t like.

Maxie was waiting on us when I pulled to a stop in front of the main house on her family’s ranch. She climbed into the backseat and greeted us with a nod.

I shifted in my seat, physically uncomfortable and annoyed at the way she was acting. I wanted a reaction. Before I could say or do anything, Rhett subtly patted my arm and shook his head. Swallowing down the need to prod at Maxie, I focused on driving into town instead.

The silence in the truck stretched on until I wanted to tug at my hair. I knew I wasn’t imagining the change in Maxie. We’d visited the Hellstone Ranch enough times to get to know the sweet younger sister of our buddies. She’d been kind, always had a bright smile on her face, and went out of her way to make sure we had everything we could ever have needed. Her parents had still been around then and it’d been clear she was obedient to them in ways the rest of her siblings weren’t. Even when she was cleaning up after a house full of her brothers’ messy friends, she’d always had a smile for us.

I understood her being angry at us and maybe even hating us for the way we’d treated her the morning after we’d kissed the shit out of her. She wasn’t just angry, though. She was a wall. I hadn’t seen her smile even once. Sitting next to her on the porch, I’d seen just how red and raw her bottom lip was from her chewing on it. She wasn’t just angry. She was unhappy.

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