Page 65 of Untamed Heart
Silence.
‘Does he have tats? Big dick? Emotionally unavailable?’
I laughed, shaking my head at the phone. I considered the tats question for a moment, wracking my brain to remember, for a few seconds only able to recall Cole, the memory of his body etched on my mind permanently.
‘Yeah, he does have tats – two that I’ve seen, anyway,’ I said, remembering when I’d filmed Jesse at Elk Creek. ‘Both on his back. I haven’t seen his dick and I don’t plan to . . . and as far as I can see, he’s pretty well adjusted. Although, he’s an ex-bull rider. I’m not sure you can do that without having a few screws loose. Plus, you won’t be able to intimidate him.’
‘Interesting,’ she hummed, the sounds of city life in the background. ‘I’ll consider that ticket. But when are you coming home?’
As I left my room, heading for my boots by the door, I realized I genuinely didn’t know. Home was beginning to take on an entirely different meaning.
‘Honestly . . . I don’t know. It’s rebooked for the end of next week but there’s stuff I need to do here first.’
‘Like your cowboy?’ she asked.
‘Amongst other things,’ I replied. ‘Listen, I need to take your idea to Lil. I’ll fill you in, I promise.’
We hung up and I headed over to the cabins, knowing Lil would be cleaning up after the most recent guests’ stay. The idea Hestia had given me battled with the image of her meeting Jesse. She’d either eat him alive or he’d charm the fuck out of her.
Regardless, it’d be quite something to watch.
‘Lil? You there?’ I called, eventually meeting her in the biggest cabin.
‘You’re back.’ She smiled, noticeable dark circles under her eyes detracting from the cheeriness of her greeting. ‘You finally returned my ranch manager? I was worried I might never see the two of you again.’
I grinned, not bothering to hide it, giving a mock shrug. ‘He was just keeping the bears away, that’s all.’
‘Uh-huh,’ she began, going back to wiping over the bedside tables. ‘And . . .’
‘And – I’ve had an idea,’ I deflected. ‘About how to deal with Elk Creek.’
She stopped, frowning.
‘I don’t think—’ she began, but I waved it off.
‘Hear me out, okay? It’s a bit out there, but I think it might work. It’s not exactly conventional, but then . . . this is Wyoming, right?’
She stopped, putting down the cloth.
‘Am I going to need a drink?’ she asked, and I smiled.
‘Several.’
CHAPTER17
‘So, even if we can fix the Elk Creek problem, what about our image problem online?’ Lil frowned as we drove up Elk Creek’s long, winding drive the next morning. We’d only just escaped Jesse and Cole’s insistence that they come along, ‘for backup’. But this conversation was just between us women. ‘Can’t you just make a video and tell everyone their video was faked?’
I shook my head, wincing as I recalled the comments, the way followers had dropped away. The emails and booking enquiries had all but dried up.
‘No one will take my word for it,’ I said as we climbed, the huge ranch house coming into view, a smaller, older building just up the road from it. ‘If I had a whole bunch of followers who knew me, knew I wouldn’t lie, it might be different, but . . .’
I shrugged. Lil was pensive for a moment.
‘Would it take time to build followers up? We seem to have built a whole bunch real quick for the ranch?’
I smiled back at her. ‘They’re mainly following for videos of Jesse, Cole and Bailey. They’re the real reason people want to come and stay. I mean, people love the sunsets and seeing the horses at work too, and Jackson will always be super popular, but people connect with people, you know?’
We pulled up outside the big house and as Lil turned the engine off, looking around to see if any trouble might be approaching, the solution smacked me right between the eyes.
