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Chapter 16
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Cattenach Ranch Chapter 17
While Hank examined Amy early the next morning for a follow-up, Olivia figured it was a good time as any to grab her friend some things from her house. Nakos and Nate had teamed up on her, though, and now she had a rigid Nate next to her in the passenger seat along for the ride. Heaven forbid she go anywhere alone."I find breathing is a necessity most days." She glanced at him and back to the two-lane highway. "You should try it." Poor guy was tense enough to give concrete a run for its money."I'm breathing.""In and out? In succession?" He turned his head with a baleful narrowing of his eyes. "I'd breathe a lot easier if you hadn't tried to sneak off this morning to the house of the very man who put that bruise on your forehead."Hooray. Another Nakos. On steroids."I'm fine, Nate. Chris is locked up and I didn't sneak."Returning his attention ahead, he offered nothing more.They had other things to discuss, anyway. "Wanna talk about last night?""No."Too bad. "Why not?
Cattenach Ranch Chapter 18
Panic clutched her airway, giving her the answer. She no more wanted him to leave than he seemed to want to. "Go where?"He shook his head, jaw ticking. "It won't matter.""Of course, it matters." He had no one. She'd suspected it before, but the notion gelled the more she got to know him."I don't" He closed his eyes and sighed. "You don't what? Don't matter?" Lord, her stomach rioted. The longer he stood not answering, the hotter her eyes burned. Her heart cracked for the troubled, scared kid he used to be and the broken, misguided man he'd become.Justin must've known. The realization slapped her in the face like the brisk wind off the mountains. Maybe her brother hadn't had the whole story, but enough to know sending Nate to her was the last gift Justin could give his fellow soldier before dying. Tears clung to her lashes and she closed her eyes."I'll do whatever you want, baby. Just tell me.""Stay." Lunging, she wrapped her arms around his waist and gripped his shirt. "I
Cattenach Ranch Chapter 19
Nate petted Bones from a living room chair, wasting time until Olivia and Amy proved to him they'd call it a night. Every evening for a week, they'd taken a walk after dinner, and he'd learned to stick around or they'd go without him. Maybe he was paranoid, but he didn't give a damn. Until his heart stopped pounding when he didn't have a direct visual on Olivia, he'd keep being paranoid.The girls came in from the kitchen and took a seat on the sofa. Amy's bruises were fading to an ugly shade of yellow and green, and every day she moved a little better. The sight of her no longer sent him into a homicidal fit, so there was that. And Chris was probably going to end up serving fifteen to twenty at a prison in Casper. Nate would take it.Mae passed Olivia a mug of tea and glanced at Nate. "Want anything?""I'm good. Thanks." She always asked like it was her job to wait on him. He didn't care for it, but it seemed habit for her. "Are you guys staying in?""Yeah. I'm too tired to move.
Cattenach Ranch Chapter 20
"Olivia, what are we doing?" Despite better judgment, he did what she asked and nearly swallowed his tongue when she straddled his thighs. A hand on his shoulder, she pushed, encouraging him to lay back. She was maybe a hundred and twenty pounds, leaving him to wonder how she became the dominant one between them. Then again, if she requested he bark at the moon, he probably would.Settling his bent arm behind his head, he hissed at the cool planks against his back. She leaned over him, her wet strands a curtain, and he stopped breathing altogether. The rain had stopped, but droplets fell from the canopy of leaves. Between that and the darkness, she looked like a sexy version of a sprite."You taught me something about memory replacement when we were in the barn. I'm going to return the favor." She kissed his jaw and he closed his eyes, confused and fascinated. "Why did you work for people who sold cocaine?"His eyes flew open. "Olivia. We're not" "Answer me and I'll reward you."
Cattenach Ranch Chapter 21
Olivia leaned against the stall door in the barn Nakos had just closed and heaved a sigh. "I'm so over today it's ridiculous." She rubbed her sore left shoulder and dreamed of a hot shower. And ten pounds of chocolate. Add a glass of wine, and the day might end on a good note.Gary, their vet, had been out to the ranch for a six-month visit on the horses. She adored the man, but hated check-ups. Some of the horses spooked easily when it came to exams and it was a never-ending parade of in-out, in-out. When things had begun running late this afternoon, she'd barely had time to jog up to the houseon Nakos's insistenceto grab a sandwich for an early dinner because she'd skipped lunch."You okay?" Nakos dropped his hands on his hips and frowned, gaze assessing."Yeah. Just a stunner, I think. Firestorm jerked when Gary gave him his shots. Tugged my arm a little." For a thoroughbred, Firestorm was a big baby. Then again, he was a male.Nakos nodded. "Let's get you home, then. You can ta
Cattenach Ranch Chapter 22
"Right. He's caught me on the cusp of a bad dream several times and I've been able to go right back to sleep."Lord, that was music to her ears. "Repeat after me. You were right, Olivia. I shall listen to you about everything from now on."Gently, he cupped her jaw and tilted her head back until she stared at him upside down. With his face inches from hers, his somber, dark eyes swept over her face like a caress as his thumbs stroked her cheeks. After a careful assessment, he sighed. "You are downright adorable sometimes. It's maddening."She grinned.He grunted and kissed her between the eyes, then brushed his nose against hers. "You were right, baby. I shall listen to youwithin reasonfrom now on. Better?""Define reason."A grin split his face so fast she doubted he even realized he'd done it. Holy damn. It changed his whole appearance, infused the golden flecks in his eyes, and gave her a full-body tingle. From the inside out. His hardened edges disappeared, transforming sul
Cattenach Ranch Chapter 23
The temperature had barely hit the upper forties today and, with dusk an hour off, it promised to drop. A chill laced the breeze and the scent of snow clung to it. Nate had grown up in the Midwest where all he had to do was blink and the weather shifted, but Wyoming was a whole different level of bipolar.With all three barns stripped of shingles and one roof completely redone, he descended the ladder to call it quits. By tomorrow, he should have most of the job finished. He could punch out another thirty minutes, but his arms were jelly and Olivia didn't like him working alone late in the day. Besides, he didn't care for the look of the feud brewing between Olivia and Nakos in the gated pasture.Feet on the ground, he wiped sweat from his brow and headed over as Olivia climbed on a horse. "What's up?""I'm riding over to Dead Man's Pass to bring Kyle and George a coil of barbed wire."Nakos's jaw clenched. "You know I can't go with you and it'll be dark in under an hour. It'll tak
Cattenach Ranch Chapter 24
Nakos drew up short by a scattering of trees and quickly dismounted, taking off somewhere to their right. Nate cut the engine and followed, having no idea what had lit a fire under the foreman. Snow tinged the air. The trickle of running water blended into the background noise of wind and leaves crackling, and he realized it was probably the creek. But he didn't see or hear...His gaze landed on a horse grazing on grass by an oak. The horse she had been riding, in fact. But there was no Olivia.Nakos fumbled with the sack on the horse's flank and pulled out her radio, then her phone. "Crap." His head whipped around, gaze narrowed to slits as he scanned their whereabouts. "She tied Firestorm here, so she's got to be close. Olivia!"Nothing but nature answered and Nate's heart stopped. A strip of barbed wire fencing lined a row of trees and, just beyond that, starlight glimmered off the creek. It didn't look any wider than a hundred feet, nor very deep, but the embankment was rocky.
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