Page 40 of Operation Wolf: Hunter
CHAPTER 19
Kia
“MISS NASH!” MRS. JONEScalled from the front porch. “Phone call for you!”
I looked up from the hoof I was currently cleaning out and then stood up so I could peer over the rump of the palomino I was grooming. Sure enough, Mrs. Jones was standing there, waving at me.
“I’ll be right there,” I called. Then I bent my head to the task. I finished with the hoof I was working on and patted the palomino’s shoulder, leaving her tied to the corral post. I’d make this quick and then get back to the chore, so I could get all the horses groomed before Hunter came back from training.
“Do you know who it is?” I asked Mrs. Jones as I jogged up the steps.
“He said his name was Drew Stevens, your personal assistant.”
Drew was my right-hand man, and while I was in Texas, he was handling my business and personal financial affairs. We’d also agreed that while I was away, he’d contact me only in an emergency. Anxiety fluttered in the pit of my belly, but I refused to let it show, simply thanking Mrs. Jones and heading to the phone in the living room. I sat down in the recliner and picked up the phone, wondering what Drew could possibly be calling me about and why he didn’t ring my cell.
Damn. My cell is probably dead.The last time I used my phone, the battery was low. I couldn’t remember if I charged it or not.
“Hello?”
“Kia!” Drew sounded relieved. “I’m so glad I finally got you on the phone. Your cell kept going straight to voice mail. Listen, I tried to make one of your condo loan payments today, and your bank said there weren’t enough funds in the account.”
“Shit!” I pinched the bridge of my nose, already feeling the pressure building up in my sinuses. I’d had Drew pay all my bills for me out of my savings account, and I guessed there was less money than I’d thought. “Is the payment past due yet?”
“No, you’ve still got a day,” Drew said. “Do you want me to get on the phone and ask for an extension?”
“No.” I’d already been late once or twice before, and I didn’t want to get in bad standing with any of my creditors. “Um . . . use my credit card. There should be enough on there to cover it.” I told him where to find it and then hung up the phone and put my head in my hands.
Two more weeks. Only two more weeks, and then I can get back home and start making some money. But do I really want to leave?
I was actually starting to enjoy the simplicity of ranch life. While I did miss my photography, there were no high-maintenance models for me to deal with. No high-stress gigs or tight deadlines while I was out here. There was only wide-open space, farm animals, good Texas food, and Hunter.
Hunter.
I was going to miss him like hell when I left. I’d never had such a thorough and attentive lover in my life, nor slept as well as I did after a bout of lovemaking with him, which was saying something, considering I was spending most of my nights on a stable floor. When I wasn’t working, I was with him, and when I was working, I often found myself daydreaming about him.
Is this what love is?
I walked back out to the corral in a daze. I’d never been in love before, never allowed myself to get close enough to a man for such a thing to happen, and the idea both terrified and thrilled me.
But, mostly, it just made me sad because I knew a relationship between Hunter and me would never work. He was a cowboy, and I was a New York City girl. I knew he was never going to give up his ranches to move to the city with me. And, even if he were willing, I wouldn’t want him to. It was clear as day to me that he belonged here, and I wasn’t going to keep him from what he loved.
