Page 19 of Stay for Me

“Denver, please, just—”

Kings raised his finger at his lawyer, his bearded jaw tighter than I’d ever seen it. I’d been on this ranch for years now, and never once had I seen the man this wound up. Smoke was practically pouring from his ears. “I don’t need anything else from you today, Diana. You did your job. Now go the fuck home,” he bit off.

My shoulders tensed as my back snapped straight. Denver was my boss and I owed him everything, but I sure as fuck didn’t like the way he was speaking to her.

“Cool it, Kings,” I warned without a second thought.

His eyes shot to me, and I stared back, unafraid.

A second later, he blinked, his anger slightly diminishing. He sighed, adjusting his hat and looking to his boots for a moment as he collected himself.

Smart.

I wasn’t in the mood to break my boss’ nose today.

I didn’t have to look back at Diana to know her eyes were on me, burning into my back. Everything about her made me feel like I was on fire. Everything about her presence had my entire body running on hyper-drive.

I was in hell, and every time she came to Hallow Ranch, it was just confirmation.

Even though I’d only been around her a handful of times, I couldn’t get a lock on it. This feeling in my chest, the way my heart sped up, the way something stirred in the dark depths of my scarred soul.

To make matters worse, every single time I saw her, she’d changed in some way—her style, the color of her hair, and, most importantly, her weight. Now, thankfully, she had some of it back. Her hips were fuller than they had been months ago, and there was more color in her cheeks, more life. Last winter, she’d shown up at the bunkhouse with papers for Kings to sign, and I’d hardly recognized her, she’d lost so much weight. For weeks, I lost sleep thinking about all the reasons why she would be losing weight like that. It was none of my fucking business, of course, but still, it worried me.

Her hair, usually a golden blonde, had been a light brown when I saw her last. I was too gutless to turn around and see if it had changed again, keeping my eyes on my boss. Darker hair looked good on her, just like every other shade, but blonde was my favorite. It brought out the green in her hazel eyes.

It was intoxicating.

She was a damn drug, and I was more than ready to become addicted to her, to live and breathe only her, to survive on nothing else. Hell, I didn’t need much anyways. She’d be more than enough. I knew it. My heart knew it. My broken soul knew it.

But I hated it, how much I craved her.

Denver lifted his head with a regret-filled sigh and gave Diana a soft look, one usually reserved for his son. “I’m sorry. I just…”

He trailed off, and I heard her heels clicking against the wood of the porch. When one of them hit the first brick step, I bit down, grinding my teeth until it hurt. Still, I remained where I was, the right side of my body humming from her closeness.

“Denver, let me do my job,” she begged, her voice cracking. “Please.”

Fucking hell.

I took a second to thank whoever the fuck was upstairs running this shit show, knowing full well if she’d ever said please to me like that, I wouldn’t sleep until I was able to place the world at her feet.

“You can draft up the C&D,” Kings said after moment. “But I’m still going to have a fucking discussion with her.”

“But—”

“No, Diana. This is my fucking life—my son’s life—she is disrupting. If she wants to be a mother, great. I’m not going to stop her, but this shit? This shit is unacceptable. My boy deserves better.”

Her perfume filled my nostrils as a breeze hit us, a flash of lightning following.

“I know he does, Den,” she rasped, ignoring the brewing storm around. “Caleb deserves the world.”

My boss nodded. “Then let me do what I can to make sure I can give him the world,” he said firmly.

Out of the corner of my eye, she took a step forward, wanting to say more, but he gave us his back and got in his truck. Her hair was still dark but no less beautiful. She would always be beautiful, and it pissed me off.

As the Hallow Ranch owner drove off in his old Chevy, dust flying behind him, I heard her mumble something about cowboys and stubbornness under her breath. If I wasn’t as fucked up as I was, I might’ve had the decency to laugh, maybe even engage in polite conversation with her. Hell, by now, I knew damn well I would’ve already taken her on a date or two, and if I was lucky, had her warming my bed every single night.

But I wasn’t lucky.

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