Page 27 of Steers and Stowaways
“I’ll pass.” He folded his arms, eyeing her stubbornly. “Negotiating a partnership is more my style.”
“Come again?” Her lips parted in astonishment.
“A partnership, Brat.” His hard mouth twitched with humor. “As in you and me doing business together.”
“You mean ranching?” She wasn’t sure she was following him.
He gave her an incredulous look. “Is there any other business you’d like to go into?”
“Um…no.”
“Then ranching it is.” His dark eyes twinkled at her. “In case you’re wondering what I’ll bring to the table, I happen to own a hundred acres of prime grazing land.”
No! It can’t be!Her heart pounded with disbelief. “That’s an oddly specific number, Mr. Maybe Partner. Exactly where is this prime grazing land located?” Maybe it was just a coincidence he owned the same amount of acreage she’d been forced to sell.
He lowered his head a fraction to gaze more fully into her eyes. “Where do you think?”
She bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling. “So, you’re the anonymous nut job who’s been pestering meabout selling the rest of my land?”That figures!He had a corner on the market for annoyingness.
“I thinkfuture partnersounds better thannut job.”
“Tucker!” She scanned his face. Was he serious about going into business together, or was it simply his latest attempt at strong-arming her into selling?
“Why?” she demanded.
Why me?
Why us?
Why now?
He curled his upper lip at her. “As much as it pains me to admit it, we make a good team.”
Chapter 6: Crosshairs
To Tucker’s intense disappointment, Mallory hopped to her feet. “I need to go check on my cattle.” Her voice held a hint of a tremor, and she seemed to be looking everywhere except at him.
“I’ll help.” He’d grown rustier than he’d realized in the charming department. It didn’t help that the woman he was trying to romance was as jumpy as a wild mustang.
“They need me,” she mumbled, reaching for the door handle. “Especially Skip.”
He swung his right arm around her to splay his hand against the door, keeping it closed. “I told you he didn’t make it.” If she was spiraling into breakdown mode, it was better to do it here, away from everyone else.
“Are you sure?” She swiveled to face him, scanning his features in the hopes of a different answer.
Though it probably wasn’t the outcome she was gunning for, the movement brought them nose-to-nose.
“Unfortunately.” A better man would’ve dropped his arm and stepped back to give her more space. “I’m sorry, Mal.”
She turned white. “Sorry?” Her fists came up between them, pummeling his midsection. “You’re the one who unlatched the gate that started the stampede.”
Yeah. I did.There was a good chance Skip wouldn’t have survived anyway, but now they would never know. He couldn’t fix that for her.
“We were outnumbered.” He caught her fists and held them against his chest. “It was the only way I could protect you.” No way was he going to lie there on the floor and do nothing while the cartel members picked her and everyone else off one by one.
“Me?” She glared at him. “This was never about me!”
“For me, it was.” He didn’t know what it was going to take to convince her.
