Page 8 of The Alpha King’s Rejected Mate

I shook my head. “I would have been crazy to miss it.”

“What do you mean?”

I chuckled. “I saw all of your groupies trying to get in. Why aren’t you letting them in, Tyler?”

He waved off my question like the last thing he wanted to talk about was his groupies. I found that hard to believe, considering that most men would be perfectly happy with that sort of thing. Why was Tyler different? I didn’t even have proof that he was, but it felt like it.

“Why don’t we get out of here and have a drink, talk about what we are going to do to each other?”

I didn’t know what to say. Was he being serious?

“Come on, Snow, it’s just one drink.”

There was a small part of me screaming not to trust anything the man had to say. He seemed too good to be true. I worried Tyler was going to end up being the same way as all the other men in my life I’d deemed too good to be true.

“Okay, Tyler, how do we get out of here without you being mobbed by your fans?”

That made him smile. “Let’s go out the back so that it’s just the two of us.”

It felt a little bit like an adventure, or like we were doing something naughty that we weren’t supposed to be doing. We couldn’t go to the bar because that’s where everybody was, so we ended up getting wine from the only gas station in town and drinking at the abandoned fairgrounds. I told him I couldn’t stay out too late and he promised to have me home before midnight.

* * *

Someone was waitingup for me when I got into the bunkhouse. I couldn’t see who was sitting there in the darkness, but the voice told me who it was immediately.

“You were out late tonight, Snow.”

I put my hand on my chest at the shock. “Dutch! You scared the hell out of me!”

He scoffed. “You scare too easy. What are you doing coming in so late at night?” He looked at me like I owed him an accounting of my comings and goings.

“I didn’t think that I had a curfew like a child. As long as I get up at six o’clock and tend to the horses and make sure the cattle are taken care of, what does it matter when I come in or what I am doing when I am away from here?” I asked pointedly, feeling confrontational, which I never was.

Dutch had never questioned me like this before. Even though he had always been there for me and helped me out more than I can say, it didn’t mean he had a right to tell me when and where I could go, and who I could go with. But then, he said something that made me feel bad for jumping on him like that.

“I was worried about you, Snow. You not coming back at a decent hour is unusual for you, so I started to worry that something had gone wrong. I’m glad that wasn’t the case.”

“Are you trying to make me feel bad?” It was a serious question.

He shook his head. “No, you just seem a little on edge. You should probably get some sleep, we have a long day tomorrow.”

“Okay.” I didn’t want to fight, especially when it didn’t seem like it was a fair fight to begin with.

My head was a little busy because of the wine and the company I’d had. Tyler was a blast to be around, and maybe I just didn’t want Dutch to see what was clearly written on my face. I felt really good, and it seemed like Dutch was trying to make me feel guilty about having a life of my own. And why did I sort of feel a little guilty about it all? What was there to feel guilty about? I was just having fun. I was single and it was nice to be around a guy I didn’t work with. One of my personal rules was to not get involved with anybody from work, so that didn’t leave me a lot of options.

Maybe Tyler was the guy I had been looking for. He was charming and there was something inexplicable that drew me to him. There was just something so incredibly different about Tyler. I was anxious to find out what those differences were.

6

STERLING

Icouldn’t find Snow anywhere at the ranch. I wanted to see her, spend time with her, but she was nowhere to be seen. I wasn’t trying to make a big deal out of it, but Dutch always knew what was going on, so I went to him.

“Who was are you looking for?” he asked

“I’m looking for Snow.”

“Oh? Is there something that I can help you with instead?” Dutch asked, being far more helpful than I wanted him to be. He wasn’t trying to help me, he wanted me away from Snow. I could by how Dutch acted that he was into Snow. I had known him so long, he couldn’t hide his feelings from me.

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