by Tara Lain
He gazed down at the sleeping beauty with the gleaming charm lying on his chest. Bye, my unicorn. You know where to find me.
LAURIE HELD his flashlight to the keyhole and opened the door to Armisted Designs. He glanced over his shoulder. No point feeling guilty. He’d come to work this early plenty of times. Of course, this morning he’d been wakened from a sex-induced stupor by the sound of the front door of his apartment closing. Yes, he knew that Danny had to get back to Chico, so why had that door sounded like a piece of his heart hitting the ground? Fuck. Think about it later. He pulled the door after him.
Leaving the front drapes closed so the light wouldn’t be as obvious outside, he walked to his office in the near darkness and then turned on the light on his desk. Don’t look too much like a burglar. He flipped on the armoire lamp as well.
Starting his computer, he quickly copied all his client contact information and pertinent files onto a memory stick, then stuck it in his shoe in case someone came in. He wasn’t stealing. All the information was still there. Carlson had full access.
He walked out to the storage room where they kept deliveries and found an empty box he carried back to his office. Not too many things he could rightfully claim as his since Carlson had insisted he pay for all his office décor with the company credit card. At the time it seemed nice, but now? Not so much.
He loaded his personal photos of his folks into the box, plus a few collectibles he’d purchased with his own money on buying trips for clients. Resting the box on the meeting table, he glanced around. Oh right, the jacket on the back of the door. He grabbed it and tossed it in the box.
A noise came from the front of the office. He glanced at his watch. Five forty-five. Who?
He slammed his butt in the office chair as he shoved the box under the desk and was staring at his screen and pecking on his keyboard when Carlson shoved his head in the door. He frowned. “What the hell are you doing here at this hour?”
Laurie frowned back. “Working.” He waved a hand at the floor plan for one of Carlson’s clients that occupied his screen.
Casually, Carlson walked over and looked. The bastard. Of course, he had every right to be suspicious. “What possessed you to decide to work now?”
“Might ask you the same thing.” Laurie smiled. Right, like a shark.
“Actually, I was just going home from a party and saw a light on.”
Laurie wiped a hand across his neck and sighed. “Actually, I couldn’t sleep, so I decided what the hell, I might as well work.”
“Something wrong?”
“Yeah. My dad’s not doing well, and Grove and I split up.”
“No shit?” Carlson’s eyebrows flew up and his eyes narrowed. Conniving bastard. No doubt planning how he could get his hooks into all that money.
“Yes. I came home from vacation early and discovered he was cheating on me. Had been for some time, I guess.” Laurie sighed loudly again.
“Well, darling, rich catches like that seldom toe the line, don’t you find?”
“I suppose it was too much to ask.”
Carlson stood, and Laurie looked back at the screen. Just working away. Carlson waved a hand as if to get his attention. “I’m going home to change. Then we need to talk.”
“Have a nice shower.” He smiled, but his eyes kept staring.
Carlson tapped on the doorframe as he left. Laurie kept pecking away until he heard the front door close. He grabbed a coffee cup, walked out to the hall, and went to the coffeemaker in the break room. He poured a cup and listened. Ha. Asshole. The soft sound of Carlson’s steps slithered down the hall.
Ostentatiously, Laurie carried his coffee back to his office, sat, and resumed typing. A couple of minutes later, he heard a thunk. Finally gone—really this time. Of course, Carlson might be waiting in the parking lot. Probably was. Laurie waited another fifteen minutes, then tiptoed to the window and peeked out the front. No cars in the lot. He’d come by Uber.
Grasping the box, he sneaked to the rear entrance, left the light on as if he were coming right back, and slid out the door. With that, he started walking. In a couple of blocks, he found a cab and settled in the back seat, then glanced at the time. Another couple of hours before he could call Viola.
CHAPTER TWENTY
WHY DID morning have to be so early?
Danny dragged himself toward the kitchen to find coffee. A gallon sounded about right. But while he could barely lift his lids, walking added up to a pure pleasure. Oh yeah, those hips were loosey-goosey and his ass hurt perfectly. Just enjoy it and don’t think about how it might never happen again.
He stepped into the open door. Felicia looked up and smiled. “How much of yourself did you leave back in the city, chico?”
Whoa. That squeezed his chest a little. Shake it off. “I left pieces on every mile of road between San Francisco and home. I think they were driving road wreckers in front of me most of the way just to be sure the highway would be full of bumps and holes. I need intravenous coffee. Stat.”
“How’s our Laurie?” She handed him a steaming cup, and he inhaled it deeply.
“Uh, good. Glad to get his suitcases back. Uh, but he broke up with Grove right before I got there, I guess, so I had to find him at his office. Then his mom called, and it sounded like his dad was really sick. It turned out to be a false alarm, but I went with Laurie since he was really upset.” He blew on the coffee. Hell, he’d rather burn his mouth than live without caffeine for one more minute. He sipped. Ow. Sure enough. That’d be sore for a day.
Rand and Kai walked in, holding hands. It always made him smile. Two tough men of few words—discounting Kai was damned pretty—who touched like grade-school sweethearts. Rand gave Danny a once-over and probably saw way too much. “So I heard you say Laurie split with Grove.”
Kai smirked. “No surprise.”
Danny raised an eyebrow and swallowed coffee. “Really? The rich guy and the glamour queen? Seemed like a storybook tale.”
Kai made a face. “Nah. Grove treated him too much like a queen. Laurie might be pretty, but he’s no wuss. The dude’s got balls.”
You have no idea.
Rand took his own coffee and blew on it. “So is his father okay?”
Danny shrugged. “I guess. He didn’t have a heart attack, which is what Laurie thought. His mom’s kind of a piece of work. Lots of drama. Talk about somebody who treats Laurie like a queen, and not in a good way.” He stared at the creamy liquid, then up at Rand and Kai. “Sorry it took me so long to get back. What’s up for today?”
“Last day for all the guests, so let’s give them a big sendoff. Kai and I have two students, and we’ve got a new colt we need to see over in Durham.”
“When do the next batch of guests arrive?”
“We’ve got a few more in tomorrow.”
“So I’ll see folks off and then spruce up the tack and the barns for the next riders.”
Rand nodded.
“You coming in for breakfast?”
“In a bit.”
The day began.
Danny stepped through the kitchen door to the dining room where Nora, Elena, Andy, and his dad, plus Manolo, Lani, and Aliki all buttered their cinnamon rolls. “Smells like heaven in here.” He tugged his hat brim, then took it off and stood it on the side table.
Aliki grinned. “Uncle Danny, glad you’re home. How was San Francisco?”
“Hilly.”
Aliki snorted.
Nora said, with mischief in her syrupy voice, “How was our Laurie?”
“Good.” He glanced around at the expectant faces. Oh hell, these people would likely never see Laurie again and they did love a bit of gossip. “Actually, he and Grove split up.”
Nora glanced at Elena with an I told you so look. “Oh, what a shame.”
Aliki shrugged. “Jeez. I guess that means he doesn’t get to ride in the Spyder anymore.”
Danny bit his tongue to keep from laughing. “Of course, they might get back toge
ther. Couples do that—I’m told.”
“What happened?” Nora shoved cinnamony goodness into her mouth but still looked avid for information.
Danny glanced at Aliki meaningfully, and Nora’s eyes widened. Danny grabbed a cinnamon roll. “I think they had a disagreement.”
Aliki grabbed more butter. “Personally, I think Mr. Chilcott didn’t understand Laurie very well.”
Danny’s turn to snort. “Oh, really?” Elena and Nora about swallowed their rolls whole, they were trying so hard not to bust a gut.
“Yeah. He always acted like Laurie didn’t know how to do stuff, but I thought he did stuff better than Mr. Chilcott. Heck, he did stuff better than most people.”
Out of the mouths of babes, as they say. “You might be right, Aliki. Anyway, I think Laurie’s going to prove you right, because he’s fixin’ to start his own business.”
Nora clapped a hand on the table. “He’s going to do it. Wonderful.”
Elena said in her quiet way, “I thought he didn’t have the financing to do it yet.”
Danny glanced toward the kitchen door. Where’s Felicia? “Uh, I think he got investors.”
“Good for him.”
Felicia hauled in the first tray of plates, and Danny sprang up to get the rest from the kitchen. Would it seem strange to these folks if they knew he gave Laurie his life savings? Hell, it seemed strange to him; why not to them? But weirdly it still felt right, maybe just because it gave him a connection to Laurie. Somehow that seemed important.
He distributed the rest of the plates. Rand and Kai came in with champagne, and it was mimosas all around.
Nora stood and raised her glass. “I know we’re just two of lots of guests who come your way, but you sure made us feel like family, and we’ll never forget you. In fact, we’re even talking about when we can come back and how many of our friends we can send here for vacation. You’re a special group, and we’re mighty grateful. To the McIntyre Ranch.” She sipped her champagne, and Elena raised a glass beside her.
Arthur stood next. “I’m grateful to all of you for giving me this great time with my son and letting me prove I’m not a total dork.”
“Oh, Dad.” Andy nudged his father but smiled.
Arthur said, “We’ll be coming back too. Every chance we get, in fact.” He cast a quick glance toward Lani.
After breakfast, Danny escorted Nora and Elena to the van. Pauly would drive them into Chico, where they’d take the North Valley Shuttle to the Sacramento Airport. Nora gave him a huge hug and Elena a handshake, but he accepted both with the affection he knew they intended. Nora stepped back. “I’m really going to miss you, Danny love. I’ll never forget you on the back of that bull or how scared Laurie was for you. I thought that man would crawl out of his skin. Don’t let circumstances convince you that you’re not meant to, uh, see each other.”
Danny swallowed hard. “We both have a lot going on, Nora. He’s so different.”
Elena took her arm. “Quit meddling, honey.”
“Okay, well, that’s all I have to say about that. We’ll miss you, but we’ll come back real soon.”
“I’ll miss you too.” He meant it. “I think of you both as friends.”
Nora crinkled the lines beside her eyes. “Sometimes you forge the closest friendships during heightened emotional circumstances.” Laughing, she crawled into the van.
Elena stuck out her hand. “Sorry. Take good care, okay?”
“Thanks, Elena. I will.”
He actually got a little misty-eyed as the van drove off, but that was nothing compared to the tears on Lani’s cheeks and the ones Andy was swallowing by the bucketful as they stood and held hands by Arthur’s car. Manolo helped Arthur load in their luggage, but Lani and Andy would obviously be just as happy if the bags exploded and they could stay where they were.
Arthur shook Danny’s hand. “I’ll call next week and arrange a time to come back, at least for a weekend. Otherwise, I think I’ll be confronting serious mutiny.”
Rand’s voice came from behind him. “Hey, Danny, when you’re free, come on in the house. Bye, Arthur, Andy. See you soon.”
Arthur waved.
Danny nodded. “We’d be happy to have you back.”
They drove away and Danny slapped his hat against his jeans, gave Lani a one-armed hug, then walked to the ranch house and tapped on the half-open door.
“Come on in, Danny.”
It took a second for his eyes to adjust to the dimmer light, and then Danny realized there was another person sitting in the living room and no Rand or Kai. The man looked familiar. “Uh, hi. I’m Danny.”
“Marsh Banks.” The man stood and shook hands. He was older—probably in his sixties—strong and wiry.
“You have the spread next door, right?”
“Sure do.”
Kai walked in from the kitchen with Danny’s favorite hot chocolate loaded with marshmallows. Didn’t matter if the temperature was going into the eighties that day. Hot chocolate ruled.
Rand followed with lemon cake straight from Felicia and the napkins, forks, and spoons they all needed. Quite a party. Wonder what’s up?
Danny sat in the comfortable chair covered in a western blanket. Kai handed him some hot chocolate, and Danny started blowing. The sooner he could take a taste, the better. Of course, this had already been a pretty self-indulgent day with the cinnamon rolls and champagne.
Banks seemed very enthused about the cake, and for a few minutes everyone just sipped and munched. Finally Rand said, “Danny, Marsh has a proposition we wanted you to hear.”
“Me?”
Marsh wiped his lips with a napkin, then leaned forward. “I’ve got ten acres that are right next to the McIntyre Ranch that I want to sell. I’m keeping my house and a couple acres just for a garden and a few animals, but the rest is open pasture, and I’m gettin’ older. Got no use for it and no kids to inherit. So I offered it to Rand.”
Rand put his cake aside. “I explained that all our extra money is currently going into breeding stock and improving and enlarging the stables, but we suggested you might be interested.”
“Me.” The word fell out of his mouth like a pearl—that got crushed under a horse’s hoof. “But, uh, I’ve got no resources to buy a big chunk of land like that.”
Banks folded his hands. “Well, I was originally thinking I’d want to get forty percent down, since that’s often customary for raw land, but when Rand and Kai said you might not have that available, I was thinking maybe a quarter down would do me. I’d carry paper, and if you didn’t pay up, I’d sure know where to find you.” He laughed. “That’d be about twenty thousand, give or take.”
Danny’s mouth opened. Then closed. Twenty. Only three thousand more than he’d had the previous morning—the morning he’d gotten his brains fucked out and invested in something so insane, he couldn’t admit it to Rand and Kai. “Uh, I don’t have that money anymore.”
Rand frowned. “What?”
“Uh, I tied it up in a long-term investment, thinking I wouldn’t need it for a while.” But damnation, his heart beat so fast his chest hurt. Ten acres right next to Rand and Kai. He could work with them, like family almost. “When would I have to have the money, Mr. Banks?”
“Well, I got no huge rush, but I do want it sold before the holidays so I can start planning my new life. Thinking of doing some traveling. Always wanted to see Australia. Maybe New Zealand too.”
Three months. He looked up at Rand. “I might be able to get it, but I’d have to take some time off. Ride the circuit.”
Rand and Kai exchanged a glance. Rand said, “Damn, Danny, that’s dangerous and no guarantee you’ll win.”
“It’s the only way I’ve got.”
Banks leaned back. “When you say circuit, you talkin’ rodeo?”
Danny nodded.
Kai almost glowered. “He’s a bull rider.”
Banks shook his head. “Damn, that’s what we call not messin’ around. But I hear
boys can make big bucks on those bulls these days. You good?”
“Yep.”
Rand snorted. “Even the best get stomped and hurt bad. Maybe you should wait on this. There’ll be other opportunities.”
Danny met Rand’s eyes. “Not as good as this. It’d be like an extension of McIntyre Ranch. I could keep working for you and still build me a house in my extra time. Assuming you’d want me.”
“Hell, of course. That’s why we thought of it.”
“Mr. Banks, if you’ll give me a month and a bit, I’ll have an idea if I’m going to be able to get the money together. I won’t string you along. Promise.”
“I trust you, Danny.” Banks picked up his cake again. “I’d like for you to have it. You’d make a good neighbor.”
“Thank you, sir.” He kind of wanted to blurt out that he was gay, since most older ranchers weren’t exactly waving rainbow flags, but Banks seemed pretty easy about Rand and Kai, so Danny shut up and ate the rest of his cake. “Days like this could make me fat.”
Kai gave him a look with those beautiful black eyes. “You’d have to get all the way to filled-out first.”
Danny chuckled and kept eating, but his palms were sweating. Ride the circuit. Shit, that’d put him out there with a lot scarier things than bulls.
LAURIE BREATHED deeply and pressed the cell phone to his ear.
“Laurie, is that you?”
“Yes, hi.” He loved Viola, but had he ever been this scared?
“What’s wrong?”
“Uh, nothing.” He swallowed. “I’m going to do it. Hell, I’ve done it. I left Armisted, and I’m starting my own business.”
“Yahoooooooo!” She giggled like a girl. “It’s about damned time you got away from that hack.”
“The fact is, I’m doing it on a shoestring since I had to walk out earlier than I’d planned. I’m going to convert my apartment to an office and, God, I hate to ask, but—”