Page 41 of Midnight Ride

Travis dropped into the feed store to pick up a couple of boxesof ammo for the station and for home. Savanna’s store had a big hardware section and next to that, a wide array of sporting goods, including guns and ammo.

Travis had everything he wanted and was about to walk away from the cash when Savanna spotted him.

“Hey, Travis. Can I talk to you for a minute before you leave?”

“Yeah, okay.” Carrying the heavy bag of bullets and shotgun shells, he followed Savanna down the hallway to her private office at the back of the huge store.

She pointed to the chair in front of her desk, and he shook his head. “What do you want to see me about?”

“Just a small point, but it bothers me,” she said. “I don’t want us to be on bad terms every time we see each other in the store or anywhere else in town.”

“Okay.”

“I don’t like the air you have around you lately, Travis. It isn’t healthy.”

“Any idea how thatbad airgot there, Savanna? You think it just got there by itself—kind of drifted in and settled like a dirty fuckin fog? What’s with you, girl?”

“You can’t put your attitude all on me, Travis.”

“You’re the one who freaked out over nothing at the roadhouse, and then you accuse me of having bad air around me? Give your head a shake.”

Travis turned and slammed out of her office.

Coyote Creek Inn.

Mad as hell at Savanna, Travis drove north out of town and as he passed the Inn, he cranked the wheel on impulse. He pulled into the guests’ parking area, locked up the truck and went inside.

Charging in the front doors, he glanced around and didn’t see Olivia, so he strode through to her private quarters at the back of the building and didn’t knock.

She was in the kitchen area of her apartment making coffee and Travis startled her. Big smile when she saw it was him. “Hi, Travis.”

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her with the burning passion he held bottled up for Olivia Best. Travis scooped her up and carried her to her bedroom at the end of the hall.

Without having to say a word to each other, they had wild and untamed sex for the next forty-five sweltering minutes.

Travis lay exhausted on the bed naked, and Olivia shed a tear over the almost-healed bullet wound in his side. She reached out and touched him with a gentle finger.

“I’m okay,” he whispered.

As soon as he was able, he got up and put his clothes on and held Olivia in his arms for a while until he caught his breath. “I needed you so bad, Livvy.”

She smiled. “I love you, Travis.”

Travis put his hat on his head and exited through the front door of the Inn. He met Miller Ravary, the manager of the credit union and Olivia’s current boyfriend, on his way in.

With a quick nod, Travis passed Ravary and kept going.

Now that he saw me here, that prick will make trouble for Olivia, and I’ll have to kill the fucker.

Dry Run Roadhouse.

Only a short mile up the road, the next stop for Travis was the Dry Run. He hunkered down in a booth alone and drank pitcher after pitcher trying to forget about all the mistakes he’d made with the women in his life. Olivia was one of the best people he knew, and he still loved her.

I guess Savanna knows that too.

When it came down to it, there was only one woman who had ever mattered, and that relationship was beyond repair. Far beyond.

Wild Stallion Ranch.

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