Page 27 of Cowboy Elite 2: Mike

She glanced sideways at him. "Why are you always saying the one thing I didn't know I needed to hear?"

He smiled. "Must be the biscuits."

Their eyes met and this time something passed between them. Soft. Warm. Weighty.

"I'm not ready to say everything, Mike," she admitted quietly. "But... you were right on that porch. I am hiding."

“From that drunk guy? Because I can go handle that right now.”

She put her hand on his arm when he started to stand. “No. Not from him. That was a fluke. He just scared me for a minute, and honest to God, Mike, I’m sick and tired of being scared.”

“We all get scared, Cookie. I can still go run that guy off if you want.”

She shook her head, gave a small smile. “But thank you. It means a lot that you’re willing to fight a battle you don’t have a stake in.”

“Oh, I’ve got a stake, Cookie. And one thing you’ll learn about our family. We're good at finding broken things worth keeping and protecting."

"I appreciate that. Even if I can't afford to fall apart right now."

"Good thing we don't charge by the mess."

Liv laughed, surprised that she could, and her shoulders relaxed. For a few seconds, despite the tremor still echoing in her chest, she felt tethered again.

He placed his hand over hers.

"In this family," he said, his voice low and firm, "we don't run. Not from each other."

Liv turned her hand to intertwine her fingers with his.

For now, it was enough.

Out in the arena, Charlotte bounced in her saddle as Noodle the sheep trotted into position. The announcer called her name, and the crowd whooped.

"She's fearless," Liv said softly.

"Gets it from Heather," Mike replied.

The gate opened. Noodle bolted. Charlotte clung to his wool, helmet askew, grinning like she'd just won the lottery. The sheep bucked. Charlotte held on. Three seconds. Four. Five.

Then she slid sideways and tumbled into the dirt.

The crowd gasped.

Charlotte popped up, arms in the air, dirt smeared across her face. "Did you see that? I stayed on forever!"

The crowd erupted in cheers.

Liv felt something crack open in her chest.

She wanted this. This lifestyle that was so foreign to her This man who promised her she could lay all of her troubles at his feet and he’d slay her dragons.

Her future was so iffy right now. She had a life in New York. A business that had thrived before she’d abandoned it to save her life.

Would there eventually be something to go back to?

Would she even want to?

Back at the ranch that evening, Mike found Joe in the main office, laptop open, face lit by the blue glow of the screen.