by Krista Lakes
“Let me talk to them,” Mia asked, watching the two boys. “There has to be a good reason. They're good kids.”
“If you say so,” the man said with a shrug. He motioned her toward them, then crossed his big arms and waited.
She took a deep breath before kneeling once again on the floor in front of the kids. She could feel the man's eyes on her back as she reached out and took Grayson's hand in hers to give it a gentle squeeze. Grayson looked up with big, scared eyes. He was about ten seconds away from bursting into tears but was doing his best to stay brave.
“Tell me what happened,” Mia softly prompted. “I promise I won't be mad.”
Grayson looked helplessly at his older brother. Alexander tightened his embrace around Grayson's shoulders.
“You promise you won't be mad?” Alexander asked.
Mia nodded. “I can't promise you won't be in trouble, but I promise you that I won't be angry. I'll listen, and I'll do what I can to make this better. But you have to tell me what happened or I can't help.”
Alexander paused, glancing around the room. One of the security guards looked over and crossed his arms. Alexander swallowed hard.
“The kids at school were teasing Grayson.” Alexander looked directly into Mia's eyes, hoping she would understand.
“They said I was a chicken. That I was worthless and that nobody wanted me,” Grayson replied. His little voice broke slightly on the word 'worthless,' and it nearly broke Mia's heart.
“You're not worthless,” she instantly told him with another hand squeeze. “But what does that have to do with you stealing that trophy?”
“They said I could be in their group if I stole something from the guy that lives here. It had to have his name on it, and that trophy has a name on it,” Grayson explained. “They said I was too stupid to actually be able to do it. I guess they were right.”
His little face crumpled and a tear trickled down his cheek. It took everything Mia had not to scoop him up right there, take him home, and go beat up the kids at school herself.
“So you came here to steal the trophy so the kids at school would let you play with them?” Mia confirmed.
Grayson and Alexander nodded slowly.
“I thought if I helped him, he could show it to the kids at school tomorrow and they'd stop teasing him at least,” Alexander explained. “It was supposed to be easy.”
Mia sighed softly. She wondered what the security guards and the ranch owner thought of all this.
“Did you know about this, Lily?” Mia asked, looking over at their sister.
She shook her head vehemently. “No. I mean, I knew the other kids were giving him a hard time, but I didn't know just how much.”
“We didn't tell her because we didn't want her to get in trouble,” Alexander quickly explained. “We wanted her to be able to go to a good foster home if we got caught.”
“I'm not leaving you guys,” Lily told him. She put her arm around Grayson's shoulders over Alexander's arm. “No matter what. We stay together.”
Mia swallowed down the heartache growing in her chest. If the cops were called on this, then it wouldn't be Lily's choice. They were out of foster home options for three kids together who had a bad history.
“Okay,” Mia said with a sigh. She did her best to smile at the three children who were now depending entirely on her to save them. “Let me go talk with the manager, and we'll see what we can do. Thank you for telling me what was going on.”
Three sets of dark eyes watched as she slowly stood and went back to where the tall blond man was waiting for her.
“Mister... I'm afraid I didn't catch your name,” Mia apologized as she came to the doorway where he was leaning.
“Carter, ma'am. My name's Carter. And I heard what those boys said,” he told her. Something about him softened as he looked over at the kids. He was a good-looking man, with a strong jaw and broad shoulders. He looked a lot calmer and less like a caged tiger now that he had heard the boys' explanation for the broken window.
“Mr. Carter, I know the boys broke your window, but can you please not press charges?” Mia wondered if getting on her knees and begging would help, but decided against it. “They really are good kids. They just need a chance.”
Carter looked thoughtful. He glanced over at the window and then back to the boys. He evaluated Mia for a long minute before a slow, small smile spread across his face. Mia couldn't help but notice how the smile seemed to light up his features and turn him from good-looking to devastatingly handsome.
“I won't press charges if they pay for the window,” he told her, crossing his arms and looking rather pleased with himself.
Mia glanced at the window. It wasn't exceptionally large or ornate, but it certainly cost more than a couple of foster kids with no money to their names had to spend.
“Um, we would be happy to take you up on the offer, but they don't exactly have a lot of money right now,” she explained. In her head, she started mentally checking her own bank account balance to see if she could swing it herself.
“I'll take sweat payment,” Carter told her. “There's always things that need to be done around here. They can earn the window by doing jobs here.”
“You'd let them do that?” Mia asked, surprised at his generosity.
“I would,” he told her with that same slow smile. “They're just kids in a bad situation. You said to give them a chance. That's what I'm doing.”
Mia nearly hugged the man. “I'll go tell them,” she told him. “You won't regret this.”
“I'm sure I will regret it, but it's the right thing to do.” He let out a wry chuckle as she turned and went to kneel before the kids again.
“Okay, he's agreed not to call the police, but you have to pay back the window. You can earn the cost of the window back by working here,” she told Alexander and Grayson.
“We can do that,” Alexander promised her immediately.
“I'm good with horses,” Grayson informed her. “I'll ride them and get them to do stuff like they do at the circus.”
“I doubt he'll have you working too much with them,” Mia replied with a gentle smile. The idea of the scrawny seven-year-old training a thousand pound animal to do tricks wasn't quite the work she imagined they'd be doing.
“I'll help too,” Lily announced.
“You didn't break the window, Lily,” Mia reminded her.
“No, but I was supposed to be watching them,” she replied. “Besides, if I help, they'll earn it back faster.”
“Okay.” Mia looked at the three, suddenly hopeful children in front of her. “So you'll work here to pay for the window? It's a deal?”
All three nodded enthusiastically.
“Excellent,” Carter said, coming up behind Mia.
She stood up quickly, nearly colliding with him in the process. He reached out a hand to steady her as she stepped back. His touch was strong yet gentle at the same time.
“Thank you,” she said, feeling her cheeks heat slightly, but she wasn't about to let it get to her. “They've agreed to work for you, Mr. Carter.”
“Carter is my first name,” he told her. “And I'm happy to have them. And you, Ms. Amesworth.”
“Me?” Mia frowned slightly. “What do you mean?”
Carter motioned to the children. “They're going to need some supervision. You're part of this bargain, too.”
Mia opened her mouth and then shut it. She didn't want to wreck this deal for her kids. She would come up with a way to make it work. Maybe she could get the foster mom to come help, or even bring her laptop and get work done while she was here.
“I'll make it work, I guess,” Mia replied. She held out her hand. “Do we have a deal?”
Carter's big hand wrapped around hers. It was warm and strong. “We have a deal.”
Chapter 2
Carter
Carter watched as the small car with the woman and three children drove off his ranch. He shook his head, wondering how in the world t
hat woman was planning on managing those kids. They'd all signed non-disclosure agreements and were supposed to come back the following Monday to start work. He hoped it would go well.
They seemed nice enough, as far as kids went. Carter didn't have much experience with anyone under eighteen, but they seemed well behaved once they were in custody. He could certainly understand and even relate to their actions, but they were still kids. Troubles and liabilities all rolled into one cute package.
“And that's why I'm never having any,” he mumbled under his breath to no one in particular. One of the security guards raised an eyebrow at him but didn't say anything.
“So, what's the damage?” Carter asked, walking over to his head of security.
To say that Brian was a big man would be an understatement. Brian Cards was a giant of a man who could shoot the legs off a fly at one hundred yards. The man was deadly and incredibly good at keeping people alive. That's why he was in charge of Carter's security.
“It looks as if it really was just two kids sneaking in,” Brian replied. He motioned to the window. “If anything, this was an effective drill. It just shows us that we need to up our response time. I think we can shave another thirty seconds off.”
Carter nodded. His heart was finally starting to come back to a regular rhythm after hearing the alarms go off all over the ranch. He had been sure it was the person who had been sending death threats to his office. He'd moved to his secret ranch to get away from them only a few days ago. This ranch was now his home. It was where he was supposed to be safe.
“We'll get this window cleaned up and replaced,” Brian told him. “But, just to be on the safe side, I'd like to have an extra man on patrol for the next couple of days.”
Carter nodded. “That's fine with me.”
“Why do you think those kids tried to steal this?” Brian asked, picking up the trophy and handing it to Carter.
It was a nice little trophy. It had a good weight to it, and the sculpture of the car cast in some sort of fake golden metal was certainly pleasing, but it wasn't worth much. It was also fifteen years old, so any worth it did had was long evaporated. The title of “Best Car Design, Carter Williamson” decorated the bottom. It wasn't the dollar value of the trophy, but that it was the first step he'd taken to starting his business that was valuable. Carter owned socks worth more than the cost of the actual trophy.
“To show it off,” Carter said, carefully polishing the car with his shirt cuff before putting it back up on his mantel. It needed dusting. “To say that they were bad-ass enough to sneak into a billionaire's home and steal something.”
“I guess that could make a kid cool,” Brian agreed. He shook his head and looked out at the now empty road. “And it seems like those two kids could use some cool in their life.”
“What makes you say that?” Carter asked.
“Did you see their clothes? Second hand. Their shoes? Worn thin,” Brian explained. “The woman that came and picked them up? She was a social worker, not their mom or aunt or anything. Those kids are in the system. No wonder the younger one was getting picked on.”
“So you don't think there was any reason not to believe them?” Carter asked. He hated feeling this nervous, but this was the first break-in at the property. This was supposed to be his safe place, and after what had happened at his office, he was afraid to take any chances.
“I believe them, all of it,” Brian assured him. “They were too scared to have anyone telling them what to do. The break-in was all them. You're safe here, sir.”
“Good.” Carter swallowed his nerves. To anyone watching, he was calm and collected, but deep in his chest the threads of anxiety were still strung tightly. The close calls had him rattled.
“Don't worry, sir,” Brian said. “We'll make sure that whoever is sending you death threats isn't going to succeed.”
Carter nodded. “Thank you, Brian.”
Brian nodded and motioned to his men. They cleared out of Carter's living room and headed out the front door. Carter listened to them set up their posts outside, the sounds of their walkie-talkies never quite fading away.
Carter looked at the trophy on the mantel and wondered what the boys would have done with it after they showed it to their friends. The first thing that popped in his mind was that they would have returned it. Or, rather, the woman- their social worker, would have made them return it.
Mia. The name was short and sweet, like her. He usually liked his women leggy and blonde, which Mia was neither. But there was definitely something about her that attracted her to him. She was full of fire and passion. He could practically still smell the smoke from the flames coming out of her eyes as she protected those boys.
He rather hoped he'd be seeing more of her. He had a sneaking suspicion that she wouldn't let those boys out of her sight for a moment and the idea of her on his ranch made him smile. He was a little surprised at how the idea of having her around lightened his heart. There was just something about Mia that intrigued him.
He looked out the broken window at the mountains and his ranch. He hoped that working here would give the boys confidence to stand up for themselves. As a kid, he'd been scrawny and nerdy, so all the local bullies had pushed him around too. It had been someone taking a moment to teach him how to work with horses that had turned him into the man he was today, so it was time to pass that gift on.
Carter looked over at his trophy one last time before deciding to go to the barn. He wanted to do something with his hands, something that would keep his fingers busy and his mind off the threats hanging around him and his car company. He had the option of working on one of his cars or working with the horses of his ranch. He decided horses would be the better company.
With a shake of his head to clear his thoughts, he turned and headed to the barn. He let his mind drift to what he would have the boys and their sister do to earn back the cost of the window. He already had plans for them and their fiery guardian.
Chapter 3
Mia
“Maybe we'll get to ride the horses like cowboys,” Grayson shouted, bouncing around in the backseat. His seat belt was barely holding him down in his booster seat, and Mia had already asked him three times to remember to stay seated. He was just too excited to contain himself.
Mia pulled up to the big ranch house, this time invited rather than coming to rescue her boys. All three kids were in the car, and all three of them were jabbering ideas of what they thought they were going to do.
“I have a feeling it will be more like mucking stalls, or cleaning or something,” Mia said gently as she put the car in park. The kids all opened their doors and rushed out into the country air.
It smelled like clean air, grass, and... horses. Definitely, like horses. It wasn't a bad scent, but it wasn't something that Mia wanted to wear as perfume either.
Definitely doing something with cleaning the stalls.... she thought as she caught the main scent coming from the big barn to her left.
“Glad you all made it,” Carter called out, coming out of the barn to greet them. He was wearing perfectly worn jeans, a navy T-shirt, and a baseball cap. He looked good. Really good. Mia had to force her eyes away to stop looking him over, so she checked her watch once again, just to make sure they were on time. They had arrived five minutes early just in case. There was no way Mia was going to risk anything with these kids.
All three of the children ran over to stand in front of him. Alexander's foot tapped nervously, but otherwise, they all had big hopeful grins plastered across their faces. Carter appraised them for a moment.
“This is Laura,” Carter told them as a young woman came out to stand next to him. She was probably only a couple of years younger than Mia. Her dark red hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and her green eyes sparkled as she smiled at the kids.
“Hi,” she greeted them. She stepped forward and made sure to shake each of their hands as if they were adults. It made Mia like her instantly since she treated her kids with re
spect.
“Laura will be your boss,” Carter informed them. “If she says jump, you just jump. Don't even ask how high. That's how in charge she is.”
“Yes, sir,” all three children replied like miniature soldiers. Grayson even did a pretend salute. Mia could only imagine he'd seen it done like that in a movie.
Laura chuckled and knelt down in front of Grayson.
“I have a little brother and sister about your age,” Laura told him. Her green eyes met his, and her face went serious. “If you're going to help me, I need to see your muscles.”
Grayson frowned, not understanding. He looked over at Mia, but Mia just shrugged.
“Like this,” Alexander explained, flexing his arm and showing his bicep. Grayson copied the movement and made a growling noise as he made his muscles bigger.
Laura reached over and felt the muscle. “Whoa! You might be too strong,” she said, looking impressed.
Grayson grinned at her and puffed his chest out with pride.
“Okay, then.” Laura stood up and put her hand on Grayson's shoulder to guide him toward the large barn. “Let's head into the stables and get started. We have a lot to do today.”
All three children willingly followed Laura through the large double doors. Mia hung back for a moment.
“Mr. Carter?” Mia approached him, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Now that they were alone, she was suddenly nervous. She wasn't good with very attractive men and never knew how to behave around them.
“It's just Carter,” he told her with an easy smile.
“I just wanted to thank you again,” Mia said quickly. She smiled nervously. “Thank you for giving my boys another chance.”
“You're welcome.” He smiled again, easy and confident as he leaned toward her slightly. “Want to see what they're up to?”
“I'd love to.” She grinned and nodded as they started walking together toward the open barn doors.