Page 4 of Cowboy's Way

“Fine. But you’re staying here, traitor,” I tell him, softening my words with a scratch behind Bruno’s ears.

Heading to my bike, I start it up and hit the remote for the gate. I can tell the moment she realizes I’m following her, but she continues on, turning down the road to the property that has sat empty for the past couple of years.

From the looks of the front yard, she must have had workers out here continuously over the last few weeks. The windows are brand new but haven’t had the surrounding trim installed yet and from the supplies lying around, I’d say the roofers will be around to finish the job today or tomorrow.

“You’ve been busy,” I tell her, hoping to defuse her temper. “Why don’t you show me the damage you mentioned?”

We barely round the side of her house when I know exactly what the cause of her problem is. “Dammit.”

“What is it?” she asks, and I study her face, wondering how she slept through the noise.

“Wild hogs. They don’t usually venture out this way, so I’ll have to keep a closer eye on my chickens. Fuck.” My mind races with a to-do list, the first of which is getting the guys together to hunt the beasts. “Christ, didn’t you hear them when they were running through here?”

A shadow flashes across her eyes, and I start to wonder how this woman ended up here, and why.

Chapter 2

Faith

Last night I slept.

There wasn’t a single time a nightmare startled me awake.

With the new windows in place, the house stayed a consistent, perfect temperature and I’m pretty sure I woke up in the same position that I fell asleep in. I can’t remember ever willingly getting out of bed at dawn before, but today seemed different, almost full of promise.

I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and wandered outside to survey the previous day’s progress and try to find some peace in the land around me.

I figured I was due some, but not two steps out my back door showed me otherwise. There was a clear path of destruction from the woods on the far-side straight through the fence that had been placed around the vegetable plots that had continued to flourish even after the previous owners had left.

While the constant stream of construction workers tore through the house, making it livable again, I worked in the garden. Pulling out what I hoped were the weeds, I used an app to take stock of what was left, then I had one of the crew members build the fencing around the border of the garden.

Still not completely sure what half of the sprouting plants would become, I figured it would be like its own kind of Secret Santa as they continued to grow.

Waking to find my hard work destroyed pissed me off to no end and since I don’t know anyone here, I couldn’t figure out what to do other than call 911.

A man immediately answered, very patiently listening to my complaint before putting me on hold. When a woman picked up my call a moment later, she asked me to repeat everything, and I tried to keep the annoyance from my tone.

When she put me on hold, I shook my phone in frustration. Eventually, someone came on and told me that my neighbor’s animals had probably gotten loose, and there was no mistaking the amusement in that person’s voice.

When I drove down the road to the closest neighbor, I will fully admit that I went in hot, but then I saw their dog. Growing up in a building, I was never allowed to have a dog—my mom’s rule, not the building’s. One neighbor, who only stayed for a few months, had a Bouvier and they’re the kind of sweet, wonderful beasts that leave an impression.

It took a lot of effort not to snicker when Logan referred to Bruno as his guard dog—not that I didn’t know he was annoyed from the moment he laid eyes on me.

When Logan followed me home, I was relieved. At least until the second he mentioned ‘wild hogs’.

“Come again?” Feeling like I’ve done nothing but ask him questions since we met.

“Wild hogs. They’re like the big zombie version of cute little piggies.”

“I need coffee.” Turning on my heel, I want to scream bloody murder, but I have no one to blame but myself. Suddenly, the number that I wrote on the check yesterday flashes before my eyes and my resolve hardens.

This is my home now. Wild zombie pigs be damned.

For me, a fresh start meant throwing a dart at a map and landing here. Once upon a time, it was insane to think I could even afford moving, but fate intervened, and I aim to make the most of it.

“Well, what are we going to do about them?” I ask him. He hasn't pulled open the screen door, so I know he's still standing on the top of the makeshift stairs. His blue eyes are undoubtedly boring into my back as he continues to eye-fuck me.

Men have been doing that since way before I was legal, and while he's lucky he got off with just me biting his tongue, that kiss he laid on me gave me something to think about. After the initial shock, my first instinct was to melt into his body.

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