Chapter 25

Things get so much better from there. Besides the sneaky looks I get from Wiley from afar, I can’t help but enjoy myself on the ranch. The work is hard some days, but the feeling of accomplishment after a long day of working makes up for it. The longer I’m here, the more it starts to feel like home, like these people are my family.

Levi is still his asshole self, and we haven’t really progressed in our relationship. I’ve started looking at him the same way I look at Kill Dozer. Both are often out in the pasture alone. Both are grumpy. I want to befriend both. I learned my lesson about going in either pasture they’re in, but that doesn’t stop me from standing at the fence and talking. Kill Dozer only watches me with interest but doesn’t come closer. Nanni always comes over to see what kind of treats I’ve got. I’ve started offering her apples and then sticking one on her horns. When Dozer eats the apples without complaint from her horns, I consider it progress. Nanni, bless her, seems to understand my attempts and always takes the apple back to the bull. Levi, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to like the apples I leave around for him. He ignores me mostly, never responding when I start talking to him like I do the horses except for a quirk of his lips. I can’t tell if he’s amused or not. He doesn’t seem to know where the apples keep coming from, but never brings it up. Sometimes he scowls at me though. Either way, I’m amused with the situation and continue to leave apples everywhere.

My relationship with Wiley has progressed in a more positive direction, which isn’t surprising considering the man is a literal golden retriever. It’s not often I see him without some animal around him. William thinks the world of him, happy for scratches when he sneaks into my cabin. I never find him in a sour mood. He’s always smiling, always flirting. He wiggles his eyebrows at me every chance he gets, coping a feel when we pass each other. We work much slower when we’re paired up, but we still make sure we get our work done. Wiley has a lot of horses to take care of after all, and I wouldn’t want to interfere with his business.

Dakota is a different beast entirely. Our interactions are cordial and there’s no drama, however, something always feels tense when I’m around him, especially after that moment we’d shared in town. He varies between looking me directly in the eye and refusing to meet my gaze. Sometimes, I’ll catch him looking at me from afar, but he usually makes an excuse to get away or tells me something else I need to do as if he’d been waiting for an opportunity to tell me. It always seems like there’s something on the tip of his tongue that he can’t quite get out, but the more I push, the more he withdraws. But nothing effects things as much as Wiley coming from my cabin early the next morning. I step out after him, pressing a kiss to his lips and grin at his retreating back as he goes to get ready for the day. It’s Saturday, so there’s only a half day’s work today, but things still need to be done. I don’t blame him for leaving so early.

As I turn to go back inside, I find Dakota sitting on the porch across the way in a rocking chair, a mug clutched in his hand. Ole Red sits at his feet, melted into the wood there as if he’d been too hot on a summer day. When I look over, he thumps his tail twice but doesn’t bother any more than that. Dakota is frowning at Wiley’s retreating back though and when he realizes I’m watching, he frowns at me, too. He lifts his coffee mug up to me in greeting and I nod to him, wishing I was wearing a little more than the sleep shirt I currently have on.

“Morning,” I call, flushing at being caught. I’d never asked if it was against some sort of rule to sleep with Wiley. Things had just sort of happened. Fuck. Have I just ruined everything?

“Mornin’,” he answers, his hand going down to rub Ole Red’s ear. The coon dog grumbles in happiness and leans closer.

When there are no other words, I grimace and retreat back into my cabin, not wanting his gaze to linger any longer. I’m as red as a tomato when I look in the mirror and a part of me is sad that he saw. I enjoy our little banter back and forth. Have I. . . have I been leading him on while sleeping with his friend? Am I being a dick?

“William, what am I doing?” I groan before splashing water on my face to cool it down.

William meows in answer.

“You’re right. We’re all adults. It’s fine,” I muse.

Except I feel like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Ugh!

* * *

The work isn’t hard today. My only task is to run through the barn and check all the horses, make sure they have hay and water and everything they need. Within a few hours, I’ve rounded up all my tasks and completed them and so I find myself free by eleven. Summer is here, and now that I’ve been on Steele Mountain Ranch for a few months now, I know I can just dismiss myself now that my work is done. No one will come yelling at me. I don’t have to stand around in case someone else needs help. I’m off. It took a while to understand that I really get most of the day off, but it finally sunk in.

Sighing, I make my way out of the barn and into the sunshine, basking in the warmth of it. My face tips up, enjoying the feel of it on my face. The last couple of days, it rained, so the sunshine is appreciated now. When my phone beeps with a message from my pocket, I don’t immediately look at it. Very few people have my number and most of the time, it’s either spam or Georgia. Georgia doesn’t need immediate attention since she’s usually sending cat videos, and spam doesn’t need any, so I simply enjoy the sunshine for long moments before I reach into my back pocket and pull out the phone with a sigh.

The screen lights up and notifies me of a text from an unknown number. I frown. Probably spam, but I flick open the screen anyway and open the message.

Tsk tsk tsk, Kate. Running gets you nowhere. See you soon. The crow always flies north.

I gasp and stare at the message and then at the phone number I don’t recognize. I’m safe out here. I have to be. They wouldn’t continue to chase me out of the state, right? I’m nobody. This isn’t really what I think it is. It can’t be.

But panic fills me. They’re going to find me. They’ve already somehow found my new number and now I’m in danger. Before thinking too deeply on it and my panic getting the better of me, I drop my phone on the ground with a gasp. Without waiting for it to beep again, I raise my leg and I stomp on it with my boot over and over again, afraid they’ll find me if they can track it. I smash it until the pieces separate, until I’m panting with panic and desperation. They can’t find me! I’m safe here! I have to be!

It’s only as I stop and push my hair from my face that I realize I’m not alone.

Dakota is standing in front of me, a frown twisting his features as he stares at the phone I’d just stomped into the ground. There’s not much left of it, the tiny plastic pieces scattered in the dirt.

“What are you doing?” he asks before adjusting his hat and looking back up at me.

“Nothing,” I lie too quickly, knowing it makes me look guilty, but my heartrate is still too high to think clearly. “I. . . It’s nothing,” I add, thinking that’ll help. “Just realized I hated that phone.”

He studies me, his head tilting to the side. His small beard is in need of a trim today, but he doesn’t look unkempt. If anything, he looks more appealing because of it. When he speaks again, his words are measured and carefully selected.

“You in trouble with the law back where you’re from?” he asks, watching me closely. I realize he’s trying to get a read on me.

I shake my head. “No, but you could easily Google any crimes I’ve committed.”

“I have,” he muses. “Background check, remember? I know where you’re from and that you have a parking ticket from three years ago.”

Watching him carefully, I stoop to pick up the pieces that survived my stomping. “And yet you’ve never told the others about where I’m from or anything?”

Wiley still doesn’t know. I’m certain of that because he asks me all the time. If he knew, he’s the type to hint that he does. And Levi, well, we rarely talk. I doubt he’d care to know anything at all.

“Not my business,” Dakota answers, coming over to help me pick up the pieces. “My business was checking for felonies. Anything else doesn’t matter.”

I hum under my breath. “Rest assured I’ve never murdered anyone.”

However, my murder may be coming soon if that message is anything to go by. After all, I’m not going to let them take me without a fight. Who would take care of William if they took me? The only option is to make sure they can’t ever find me.

When I’ve got all the pieces, I stand back up and look over at Dakota. He’s smiling for once, a rare sight that makes my stomach flip. He’s really a beautiful man when he smiles.

“Glad to hear you’re not a murderer,” he muses. He turns as if to walk away but turns back when he changes his mind. “We’re going into town tonight.”

My brows raise. “Oh?”

He nods. “Everyone is invited. I was coming out to tell you before. . .” He gestures to the phone and I grimace at the reminder. I’ll have to get another phone soon. Georgia will be upset if she can’t send me the best cat videos she finds.

“Where are we going?” I ask, because of course I’m going. If everyone is invited, I wanna be a part of it.

“The Boot Scoot.” At my look of confusion, he adds, “it’s a bar. They have a live band on Saturday nights so there’s line dancin’ and everything. Figured it would be good for morale.”

“Line dancing?” I grin, suddenly excited to see exactly that. “You dance?”

“If the mood strikes,” he answers honestly, his smile still on his face.

“Well then, save a dance for me,” I tease. What sort of man is Dakota Steele? He’s so stoic, I can’t imagine him dancing.

He blinks in surprise. “I’ll think about it,” he answers, and I know he probably won’t dance with me, but the thought is there. When I ask him later, I expect him to war with himself over it. Almost as an afterthought, he says, “You can ride with us.”

“Embarrassed of my car?” I ask with a grin.

He glances at my purple BMW. “Can’t all fit in that thing. Besides, trucks are better,” he says with a wink, finally turning to leave.

As he goes, I realize I’m breathless and it’s no longer because of the mysterious text message.

It’s because of Dakota Steele and that goddamned smile.