Page 47 of Curvy Nanny for the Cowboy

He let out a bitter laugh and grabbed my arm again; this time, his expression was dark and worrisome. “Well, now I know why you weren’t interested in my friends. You’ve been fucking that old dude, slutting it up for him when you’re mine.”

“I’m not yours, Travis, and if you were honest with yourself for one second, you could admit that you don’t want me.” He was probably upset that I’d been the one to break up with him instead of the other way around. “What is this all about?”

“I never thought you were a chick with daddy issues,” he growled, pulling me forward.

“Daddy issues? Hardly. Maybe it’s just that he sees me as I am, not how he wants me to be, and certainly not through the lens of his own insecurities.” I thought of the way Colton found it amusing when Wyatt flirted with me, putting on his most charming grin. He wasn’t bothered by it at all because he knew Wyatt flirted with every female from nine months to ninety-nine years.

That’s what an evolved, secure man looked like.

“You’ll forget about the old dude as soon as you’re mine.” The look in his eyes put me on edge, but when I tried to free myself from his hold, Travis’ grip tightened.

“If you’re fine with taking what isn’t given freely, you do what you have to do, Travis. Just don’t expect this to change anything between us.” A chill pulsed through my body at his words as well as my own, and suddenly I was no longer simply annoyed by my current circumstances.

I was terrified.

After a few minutes of silence, a car appeared in the distance, a small green pickup truck that had seen better days. “I won’t have to take anything, sweetheart. You’ll remember how you feel about me, and you’ll come to me willingly.”

“I do remember how I feel about you, Travis. I barely even liked you as a person by the end of our relationship. You did everything you could to make me feel bad about myself, to make me feel bad for not wanting to go to bed with you. That makes you the bad guy in our relationship, not me. So there’s no need for me to remember anything. I remember it all, vividly.”

His reply was to shove me into the passenger seat before he tied my hands with rope. “Yeah, well, I guess we’ll see about that. Won’t we?”

I said nothing as the car started to move, off the ranch property and onto the dusty service road that split miles upon miles of ranch and farmland, keeping my gaze focused out of the window at the scenery as it passed by.

“You’re just going to ignore me?”

I didn’t engage with Travis at all. Instead, I looked for a way out of this mess. I could just unlock the door and jump out; risking a few broken bones might be better than what Travis has planned for me. Broken bones healed; that kind of trauma did not.

“Molly.” His hand landed on my thigh, and he gripped it tight.

“Don’t. Touch. Me.” I flung his hand away with as much force as I could.

“You’re mine, and I’ll touch you however I damn well please!” He gripped the back of my neck and yanked down hard in an effort to bring his mouth to mine. I went slack at first, but as his mouth closed in on mine, the car swerved all over the road, and I saw my moment.

“Never!” I bit down on his lip and yanked the steering wheel as hard as I could to the right, slamming the truck—and us along with it—into a tree that was at least one hundred years old. My head smacked against the radio, and my vision blurred, but I knew this was my chance to make a run for it. I slid over, grunting in pain the entire way, and felt for the door until I found the handle.

“Molly,” he called after me, so angry his voice trembled.

I moved a little faster, shoving the door open and falling out right onto my hands and knees. “Ouch.” I scrambled to my feet and started to run while trying to loosen the rope with my teeth. It set an awkward pace, but I didn’t bother to look back; I just kept going forward.

Until a big, Travis-sized body slammed into the back of me and sent me falling to the hard dirt ground. “Mine,” he growled and pressed a kiss to my cheek.

“Help!” I shouted and tried to wriggle free, but Travis was heavier than I remembered. “Get off of me!”

A second later, the heavy weight was gone, but before I could celebrate, a hand wrapped around my hair and yanked hard, forcing me to stand or end up scalped. “The car is shit now.” He looked over his shoulder, and I followed his gaze to the truck with smoke coming out of the hood.

“Too bad,” I said with as much sarcasm as I could infuse into those two words.

“Come on,” he yanked. “There are tons of empty buildings where we can lay low until I can come up with a better plan.”

Another sarcastic comment was on the tip of my tongue, but then I thought better of it. Travis was more twisted than I realized, and his plans for me were ones I shuddered to think about. “I know a place.”

“Is this a trick?”

Absolutely. “Of course not. Do you know how cold it gets out here at night? I don’t want to freeze to death.” That was true, but not entirely.

“There’s a building just off of McCall Ranch property. Hunter and I found it when we were out exploring.” I looked around to get my bearings. “It shouldn’t be too far from here, a couple of miles.”

“If you try anything,” he began, but I stopped and glared at him.

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