Page 14 of A Reckless Memory

My shame reignited, followed by annoyance that was growing close to anger. She wanted to get even. While I could respect her fire, I didn’t like being kicked while I was down. “You’re a lot like your dad.”

Her inhale was sharp, but she maintained her rigid composure. “Maybe I should’ve stuck around and taken more notes from him.” Folding her arms across her impressive chest, she lifted her chin. “You can quit.”

She had me by the balls and she was twisting. Aggie was smart. She knew what the accusations of animal cruelty and death had done to my reputation.

I was sick of being hammered for doing the right thing, and when I thought it couldn’t get worse, here I was. So, I did what used to work best—took the focus off me. “How many exes exactly?”

“Excuse me?”

God, I’d missed her voice. Her face was as expressive as her tone, and she had a no-bullshit quality to her that I admired. Maybe I was so used to getting smiled at and flirted with that Aggie was refreshing, circumstances notwithstanding. “You said you and Sutton looked up all your exes. How many?”

Her eyes narrowed, and for the first time in so damn long, a thrill lit in my chest. I’d gotten under that icy exterior and it was...fun.

“None of your business.”

We stared at each other. She was a wall of mutinous attitude, and I was... I didn’t know. I wasn’t as worn as I had been. Adrenaline from learning I was deceived into coming here ran through my veins but also trepidation. How long was she going to string me along?

Was she really willing to keep me on and pay me? What if my old employer learned I was here and got a hold of her? Who would she believe? I certainly hadn’t given her a reason to trust me.

I really did need a job, or I’d be at Dad’s door, asking for a cot to camp out on. Rip the damn bandage off. If she was going to tell me she was just fucking with me for revenge, I had time to get a motel room and point my pickup south in the morning. I had enough money for the thousand-mile drive to Texas. “When and where do I start?”

Surprise lit her eyes and was extinguished by professionalism. “Now, and I’ll show you, but we need to pick up some chicken feed before the co-op closes.”

The task was so completely normal it sounded weird to my ears. I was picking up chicken feed. From a co-op. In North Dakota. To take my mind off of how different my life was now than when the year began, I asked, “AKA Horse Rescue? What’s it stand for?”

Her lips curled on one side. Definitely not a smile. But I couldn’t take my eyes off them. Memories from years ago tumbled back. Those lips planting kisses on my chest. Wrapped around my—

“Aggie Knight, asshole.”

* * *

Aggie

I thought I’d feel vindicated. I’d tricked him into moving to North Dakota—weeks before it got really cold, no less. But instead of righteousness, my pulse fluttered and heat wicked up my neck to my cheeks. It was all I could do not to pat my hair and ensure each strand was in place or to run my hands down my fuller hips.

What did he think of me? I was nothing like the pictures of the girls I’d seen him with—country cool with a good stylist. I had a good stylist, but if I dyed my hair blonde, I’d look like a week-old corpse with a wig. My skin tone didn’t play well with blonde. I had my mama’s genes and my daddy’s taste buds—give me steak and potatoes and my body would pack it away for this winter and next. Add in that I wasn’t running around a ranch doing chores twice a day, sitting for most of my eight-hour shift, and I wouldn’t fit in the wedding dress Ansen last saw me in.

Instead of being upset, a slow grin spread over the frustrating man’s face. “You did all this for me?”

This was the charming Ansen I had to be careful of. He was dangerous to a girl’s heart and he ruined other men for her. Other guys were like surviving on crackers for months after having steak fondue and tiramisu for years.

I could go for a good steak fondue after ten years of crackers.

No! Anger ignited in my chest. The blessing of my experience with him was that I saw right through him. He was trying to unbalance me. “No. I did it for me, slick. Daddy sold enough perfectly good horses to the kill pens, and now I have the means to do what I want. Getting back at you is just a bonus. You wasted a year of my life.”

His smile died, and goddammit, I hated to see it go.

He rolled his eyes up to the sky. “Fuck me, Ags. It was a long drive, and I didn’t plan to rehash the past when I got here.” He speared me with his intense sorrel stare. “But it doesn’t look like you suffered at all. Brand-new house. New shop.” His gaze raked down my body, and I was tempted to peek at myself and make sure his stare didn’t incinerate every last stitch. “New look.”

I wasn’t new. I was Aggie 2.0. Smarter than the original model and more polished. “And you are exactly the same.”

He clenched his jaw, and his eyes darkened, close to a wince. “If you’re not running me off after an eight-hour drive, where can I put my things?”

“Eight-hour drive? Where were you?”

“South Dakota.” He left it at that.

“What happened to Kansas?”

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