4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

"Ronni Turnberry."

"This is Jonathon Wells. I represent Matthew Collins, and I received a message that you wanted to speak with me. I hope this is about a domestic partnership agreement I've advised my client to put into place."

Jon always took the dominant role in conversation with opposing counsel. It was important to show Ronni Turnberry that he wasn't about to be taken in by a gold digger and his attorney. He was there to fight for Matt's rights and his ranch, and the sooner the woman learned he wasn't a pushover, the more leverage he'd have in the negotiations.

Ronni was speaking softly to someone, so he waited for her to respond. "I'm sorry, Mr. Wells, for the interruption. Uh, no, this isn't about any type of domestic partnership agreement, though I wish to hell it was. My client wants to add Mr. Collins to his trusts and deeds to the properties involved in the trusts. He also wants to set up a separate trust for Ryan Collins, whom I'm assuming you'll represent as well." Jon could hear her turning pages on the other end of the line, but he wasn't about to be distracted.

He was, however, confused by her comments. "Miss Turnberry, I'm pretty sure your client paid Roberta Collins fifty-thousand dollars to terminate her parental rights and disappear from their lives. I can't advise my client to reciprocate with titled property or joint ownership of the livestock and machinery involved at the Circle C. I'm sure your client's a nice person, but Matt's already been fleeced by his ex-wife. He's not looking for another gold digger."

When the line went dead, he was surprised. "Hello?"

Clearly, the connection had been dropped, so he let it go. He wasn't sure what Tim Moran was trying to pull, but he'd call Matt and have a discussion. It was time to check in with his client—or give him a reality check regarding the way the real world worked.

"I don't know, Audie. This isn't exactly my strong suit, you know." Jon wasn't in the mood to offer his opinion regarding his choice of engagement ring as they perused the Tiffany & Co. website. They were in Audrey's office eating sushi from a place down the street they both loved while Audrey researched engagement rings. Jon was there for moral support.

It had been a week since their dinner and his breakup, or the shedding of unnecessary baggage, as Jon thought of it. Audrey and he had been busy with clients, but when she asked him to stay and help her out with something after the workday ended, he agreed. Had he known it was shopping for engagement rings—the last thing he thought he'd ever do—he'd have invented a crisis of his own to get the fuck out of there.

"Come on, Jonny. If you were going to ask Mr. Right to marry you, what would you choose?" It wasn't a surprise that Audrey wasn't taking his silence for an actual answer.

He rolled his eyes as he bit into his salmon skin roll. After he swallowed, he looked at the offerings she'd chosen and laughed. "I sure as fuck wouldn't get a guy anything with the descriptor of princess cut, but I'd guess Lyla might like it. She's a bit high-may , right?"

His friend slapped him on the arm. "She's a dance teacher, Jonny. Of course, she's a bit of a prima donna. She's taught ballet for eight years, and she deserves something called a princess cut. Just because she doesn't worship the ground you walk on doesn't mean she's not right for me. I love her, and it's time for me to show her and all the world I want to spend the rest of my life as her wife. I'm ready for the commitment."

Those words, literally , shook him to his core as he sat next to her. He had no idea she was so ready to walk the aisle because she hadn't mentioned anything, leading him to believe things between them had turned serious. If Audrey told her parents she was getting engaged to a woman, he'd need to admit to his own parents a few things he simply wasn't ready to divulge.

When Jon delivered the news that he wouldn't be marrying Audrey Langley, the first expressions on his parents' faces would be disappointment at his announcement, then the inevitable, "Why?" He couldn't imagine answering that question for Ally and Ham.

Audrey had to be mistaken about being ready to get engaged to the evilest creature Jon had ever met in his life. He needed to get her thinking more in his lane. "Come on, Audrey. You're no more ready to settle down and adopt babies than me."

The night bell rang before she could respond to Jon's observation. Audrey picked up her phone and pressed the code to answer. "Langley & Wells, Audrey speaking."

Jon watched a slow smile form on her lips. "Please hold while I connect you." She put the call on hold and turned to him, holding out the receiver. "It's Matt Collins, and he's not happy."

Without waiting for his response, she hit the button to connect the call. Jon had no choice but to answer. "Hi, Matt. How are you? How's the family?"

" You busy this weekend? We need you to come out to the ranch for a meetin' with Tim's lawyer, who called him today and said you were an unreasonable jackass. We need the two of ya to work together to help us out with some financial arrangements we're going to make. Tim's lawyer told him that she would call ya, and you two could start the paperwork, but she called him this evenin' to say you ain't feelin' so cooperative. Timmy's upset, and when he's upset, I ain't happy myself, Jon. What'd ya say to her?"

Jon swallowed, remembering the stupid phone call from earlier. He should have known the female attorney would be a problem for many reasons he wasn't ready to articulate to his client over the phone. "Tell me when to be there. I'd like to meet Miss Turnberry in person. She has some explaining to do as well, Matt." He heard the cowboy laugh and he remembered how Matt and he had become acquainted in the first place.

Matt had called Jon after receiving a referral from Ed Marshall, a farrier Jon had assisted by drawing up a will. Matt had apprenticed under Ed when Jon was just starting out at Langley & Wells. Jon studied probate laws to assist Ed, having specialized in family law in law school.

Ed Marshall had tended to Jon's mother's horses over the years so when he asked her for a lawyer to help him with estate planning, she gave him Jon's name. From that connection, Matt became his very first solo client when the bull rider notified him his wife had taken their son and then later when Matt ultimately filed for divorce.

Next thing Jon heard, his client was being harassed by his former mother-in-law, and there was a new man in his life who was muddying up the waters. From what Matt told him in El Paso, Tim was a younger man, and he brought nothing to the table as far as Jon could ascertain.

It seemed to be a classic setup of Matt being taken to the cleaners for everything he had by a young Lothario, and Jon wouldn't let the bull rider lose anything more than he'd already lost to Roberta Collins. He'd defended Matt's best interests and won the custody case. He'd persevere in the palimony case as well.

" Saturday at the ranch. No need for anything formal because we're casual here. You can stay at the house. We just finished the remodel." That was troublesome news as well because Matt hadn't bothered to notify him regarding any improvement plans at the ranch.

"Remodel? You remodeled the ranch house?"

Matt hadn't asked him to review any contracts or estimates, not that real estate law was Jon's specialty, but he could muddle through it to protect his client. He prayed to heaven the man hadn't gotten taken to the cleaners by an unscrupulous contractor—perhaps the contractor was a friend of Tim Moran's?

It was all extremely disquieting and too convenient for Jon to believe it was aboveboard. He truly prayed the man hadn't taken a loan at the bank.

When Matt laughed, Jon was startled. "Come out and bring comfortable clothes. If ya wanna ride, we'll see you get a good, gentle horse. Take care, Jon." Matt hung up without waiting for a response.

Audrey laughed next to him. "That's the hot bull rider, right? That look tells me he's not following your rules." Her laugh pissed off Jon even more.

Of course, she listened to Jon better than he listened to himself and her superior retention skills had helped get him through law school, as well. It still pissed him off she knew him so well.

"He's a nice guy, but he doesn't… Well, he's too trusting. Anyway, are you sure you're ready to come out to your parents?" He turned the discussion back to the situation at hand. He didn't like the pressure she was gently exerting, but he'd have been a fool to think she was going to pretend to be his girlfriend for the rest of their lives.

Audrey smiled as she took his hand and held it between both of hers. "Not yet, okay? I'm just going to ask Lyla to marry me and once she gives me an answer, we'll move forward from there. Jonny, I'm not asking you to blow up your world. I'll give you some time before I tell Mom and Dad I'm engaged—that is, if Lyla says yes."

Jon nodded and pointed to a three-carat emerald cut diamond ring set in platinum with sapphire trillions on either side. "If I were a woman, I'd say yes to that ring." He leaned forward and kissed Audrey on the forehead before he cleared up the dinner mess and left her alone in her office.

He wished Audrey well in her pursuit of happiness, however futile he believed it to be. Maybe heterosexuals found a happy-ever-after, but all the men Jon had ever met had ulterior motives. Monogamy wasn't a word synonymous with gay culture, or so Jon believed. There would be no Mr. Jon Wells other than himself.

A navy Mercedes S-Class Coupe wasn't designed to traverse the country roads Jon encountered on his drive out to Holloway. Of course, when he got there, he prayed he wouldn't tear up the undercarriage on the gravel he believed he'd find on the driveway. He was pleasantly surprised to find he'd imagined it all wrong.

While the entire scene was like something out of a Norman Rockwell print, it wasn't as primitive as Jon had thought. The driveway was paved with elegant stones on either side, and the house was lovely and inviting, unlike his parents' ostentatious estate in the country.

The fields and outbuildings behind the house were impressive and well-kept, and he decided the Circle C was very picturesque as he looked around. He parked in front of an open garage door and hopped out of the Mercedes to survey the sights surrounding him.

For as long as Jon had represented the bull rider, he'd only seen a few snapshots of the ranch during the divorce settlement phase. Matt always came to him in Richmond, and to date, Matt had never invited the lawyer to the Circle C.

As Jon looked around, he knew those pictures he'd seen a few years prior had been dated. There were more buildings than he'd anticipated, and everything was immaculate and striking in the designs of the buildings and the strict color palette of creamy beige siding with forest-green roofs.

Jon observed the cattle grazing lazily in the pastures, and he noticed several hunky men moving among them. One of which he recognized as Tim Moran, Matt Collins' little plaything. Jon had met him at the hearing regarding Ryan's custody. " The gold-digging boy toy," he reminded himself.

Tim was riding a light-brown horse with a dark mane and tail. They appeared to be doing some sort of dressage-related exercises in the field because the horse was prancing right and left. Another cowboy on a gray horse twirled a rope high in the air before flinging it to land around a cow's neck. Tim jumped from his horse and tossed the cow on its side, tying its feet with a shorter rope. The entire production appeared to be skillful, but Jon had never dealt with cattle, so he wasn't judging their actions, only observing their performances.

The tall cowboy with the straw hat on his head hopped off his horse and walked over to where Tim had the cow on the ground, leaning over to give it an injection. From what Jon could see, the guy was over six feet and he had reddish-brown hair, which was peeking out from under a rather battered-looking cowboy hat. He had a slim, muscular build, and as he shouted something to Tim which Jon was unable to hear, he saw the smaller blond laugh and shake his head. After the cow was injected with yet another something, it was released and took off in the opposite direction of the men in the field.

The slender cowboy walked over to Tim, the two speaking as the cowboy petted the horse Tim was riding. The two of them laughed before the man walked back to the tall, gray horse he was riding, hopping up on the back as he recoiled his lariat. In Jon's mind, he was like a cowboy from a movie—a really sexy movie. It was something to behold in person.

Jon walked to the back of his car to retrieve his weekend bag as a BMW Z4 Roadster convertible in bright copper with an open black ragtop came zooming up the driveway. He stopped what he was doing to observe a petite platinum blonde in a Philadelphia Phillies hat hop out before tossing the cap into the car as she took down her hair and smoothed it with her fingers. She was a beautiful woman about Jon's age, so he was guessing it was Ronni Turnberry.

"Ms. Turnberry? Jon Wells." He extended his hand in greeting. He was unprepared for her to give him the up-and-down, and if she wasn't a potential adversary, he might consider giving her some attention. He might even be able to get it up for the beautiful woman—stranger things had happened in his life.

She extended her hand and gripped his strongly. "How do you do? I believe our clients are going to test your patience this weekend. By the way, I don't believe your client has kept you up to date regarding changes to their situation. You need to get him alone and have a conversation before we begin."

To say Jon was stunned by her comment was an understatement. "I'm not sure what you mean, Miss Turnberry."

"You pissed me off, Mr. Wells. Your attitude toward my client was condescending to say the least. I can only imagine how the Moran-Collins' reacted when they discussed it." Ronni went to the back of her little convertible, pulling out a Louis Vuitton duffel bag that matched the crossbody bag she wore. She slammed the trunk and turned to Jon with a look of displeasure on her face.

"I hope you have a kinder disposition and don't make the mistake of talking down to Tim and Matthew the way you did to me when we spoke the other day. I'm not sure where the hostility was coming from, because Tim wants to share his assets with Matt and set up a trust for Ryan, but you made it known you didn't approve of anything Tim wanted to do for the Collins men.

"I'd suggest you gather your thoughts and come to the table with a very good reason why you believe Tim's desire to share his good fortune with that family is so distasteful to you." Ronni walked up the three steps to the porch of the ranch house and rang the bell.

The door opened, and Jon saw Matt's mother greeting the petite woman at the front door. The smile on Jeri Collins' face was as bright as Jon remembered from the day the judge ruled in favor of Matt at the custody hearing. He saw Jeri look in his direction and smile, waving at him.

Jon decided to take his chances with the men at the barn, so he waved and pointed to the barn, leaving his case on the hood of his car. He'd purchased a new pair of low-rise, square-toed boots off the internet, but he was discovering they likely wouldn't fare well in a barn lot full of horse and cow manure.

As he was approaching the lot, he saw Matt's father, Marty, heading from the back of the house. "Mr. Collins, sir, how are you?" Jon caught up with him and the two walked toward the gate leading to the front of the barn lot.

Marty stopped to shake Jon's hand. "I'm good, Jon. How 'bout you? Nice of ya to come out for the weekend. Oughta be a doozy." Jon had come to know Martin Collins as a jovial man with a kind disposition, but a temper that flared quickly if he felt his family was being threatened.

"I, uh, understand I've stepped in it with Matt, based on a conversation we had the other evening. You feel up to giving me any clues about what's got him so pissed?" Jon was certain the patriarch of the Collins family could enlighten him about just how deep Jon had dug his own hole. He hoped the man was willing to give him a heads-up.

Marty stopped and placed his hand on Jon's shoulder. "Well, I'm not too sure about this particular issue, but I do know the boys have a lot of plans in the mix, and Tim was upset about the discussion you had with Ronni, that pretty little blonde gal. She said you were an egotistical jackass on the phone, or so I heard. Well, I guess you'll get to hear all about it over the weekend." Jon looked up to see Tim and the tall cowboy riding back toward the barn.

"What were they doing?" Jon continued to follow Marty, having changed the subject to anything other than the figurative spanking he expected from his client.

"Oh, they were vaccinatin' calves. Mickey just moved here a few days ago, and he's a hell of a hand on a horse, plus, he's the only one beside Timmy and Nando who'll take care of the horses. The rest of these hands are cow hands, and they don't like carin' for the four horses that live here now. Of course, Josie's at our barn right now because she's in season and Matt's not ready to breed her yet. Nando comes up to the house to take care of her at our barn twice a day," Marty explained.

As Jon listened, he was grateful he understood half of what Mr. Collins was saying. His parents had their farm in Dillwyn, where his mother had several thoroughbreds she used for breeding, and even Jon had a gelding at the farm he enjoyed riding when he got out to the country on weekends. When it came to caring for the cattle, Jon nodded and smiled, feigning an understanding for what the man was saying. Cattle really weren't his thing, but Jon couldn't afford to have Matt Collins learn that information.

When Jon walked into the barn with Marty, he took a better look at the tall cowboy he'd observed in the field earlier. Up close, the guy was off a runway—well, a runway where all the models were cowboys and REALLY. FUCKING. HOT. The man's eyes were positively hypnotic.

"You boys finish with the calves already?" Marty asked. Jon saw the tall cowboy smile and nod.

"I saw y'all vaccinatin' one of the bull calves Matt wants to put down there by the river after he ships Smokey Joe. He started buildin' that covered pen down there yet?"

Jon still had no idea what they were discussing but watching the burnished brunet with the bright green eyes was fascinating. "Joe's shippin' out next week," Green Eyes replied.

Marty nodded. "I heard he's a mean bastard. You watched him at all?"

"I actually went down there and fucked with him a little the other day when Matt let me ride Charlie. He's been too busy to exercise him, so I volunteered. Josh let us bring Caesar over to help with the cattle. ‘Course, that don't make any of the other boys happy. Well, fuck'em. I'm Michael Warren." The cowboy introduced himself to Jon, who was too busy watching the guy's sexy lips moving and imagining those soft lips doing indecent things to his body to say anything out loud. He failed to realize it was his turn to speak until the cowboy smirked at him.

Jon moved his eyes up from the man's mouth to see bright, shamrock greens staring back at him with a bit of mischief in the sparkle Jon was sure he was imagining. "Jonathon Wells. Pleasure to meet a real cowboy."

His cock chubbed in his jeans, so Jon pulled his jacket closed. He was pretty sure the guy wouldn't appreciate the thoughts going through his head as the two of them shook hands. It was definitely not G-rated.

"We already met, actually. I came with Matt and Tim to the custody hearing. I guess you were too busy doin' your job to notice the rest of us." Mickey gave him a sexy grin as Jon felt the warmth from the calloused hand scurry up his arm.

Jon decided to take advantage of the man's forgiveness, smiling at him with the boxer-dropping grin he'd honed over the years. "I must have been distracted or out of my mind. Michael? Is that what you go by?"

The man's bright, white smile as he pushed back the hat on his head was a bit of a surprise. "My given name is Michael, but my friends call me Mickey for short—though that's the only thing short about me." He stood to his full height, which was a few inches taller than Jon.

"Call me Jon. I apologize if I wasn't courteous the last time we met. I tend to get shortsighted when I'm busy with a case." Jon hoped he was making up for a past, completely unintentional, slight.

The handsomest cowboy he'd ever met nodded with a bright grin. "Not a problem. I get busy myself, sometimes. Well, I gotta get up to the house to make up the beds. Is that hot chick up there?" Jon's heart sank at the question.

"I, uh, I think she went in with Mrs. Collins." Mickey nodded and handed the reins of the horse to Tim before he left the pasture.

Jon turned to watch a very attractive ass walking away in a pair of sinfully tight, blue jeans, and he had to quell the desire to bite his knuckle. The guy was definitely hot, but he was most assuredly younger than Jon.

Since the lawyer had recently sworn off younger tail, he had to be stronger than his libido. He could resist temptation—not that he thought there really was temptation to resist. The guy seemed to be interested in Turnberry, so Jon would just lust in private. That and get the hell out of there as quickly as possible on Sunday.

Tim walked up to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulder as the two of them watched the man walk away. "God, he's got an ass to worship. Matt does as well, but his is off-limits to you, Lawyer Wells. Now, Mickey? That's an interesting prospect."

An interesting prospect? Don't tease me, Gold Digger.