Page 18 of Her Wild Cowboy Billionaire

“I’ll get them.” He hobbled into the bathroom and returned with the box of supplies.

She took the box, put on a latex glove, and started to work. When she’d finished, she stepped back. “There you go. That should feel better.”

He stood. “It does. Now, if you could do something about these ribs. They are killing me. Every time I move, I wake up.”

“It’s past time for your pain meds. I’ll give you a shot of Demerol this time, and that should help immensely.”

“Thanks.”

“Drop your sweats so I can give you the shot.”

“What?”

“You heard me. Turn around and drop your sweats. I want to give this to you in your buttocks.”

He took a deep breath, turned around and lowered his sweatpants a couple of inches.

Willow chuckled, then took a hold of his pants, and lowered them a little more, then gave him the shot. “There, that should do it. I’ll let you get back to sleep.”

“I don’t think sleep will come anytime soon. Would you like some company for your warm milk?”

“Sure. Do you like warm milk?”

He shook his head. “I hate it, but I’ll have cocoa instead. Do you like warm milk?”

She laughed and walked into the hall. “Hate it, but it usually makes me sleepy. Maybe just so I can get rid of the taste. I’d much prefer cocoa.”

He grabbed his robe from the foot of the bed. “Two hot cocoas coming up.”

Once in the kitchen, Travis pointed at the stools in front of the island. “Have a seat. I’ll fix the drinks.”

When he set the cup in front of her, she circled it with her hands, loving the warmth.

He sat next to her.

They were both quiet.

“I was riding a horse called Satan.” Travis broke the silence, looking into his cup as though he could see the picture of what his words described. “The name was rightfully deserved. He was surely the devil incarnate. I rode for the required eight seconds and then bailed. I tucked and rolled and was getting up when his hooves came down on my back. I lay there, unable to move, when he started doing some crazy dance, and that’s when he got my wrist and my ankle. I’m just thankful they finally got him away and headed to the gate.

“I still couldn’t move, and the clowns rushed over with a stretcher. They carried me off to the medical tent. A doctor there examined me, stabilized my wrist and my ankle, then sent me to the hospital. I know I was lucky, but I wanted to finish the circuit. I had two more rodeos to go.”

“There’s always next year.” I wonder if I should let Mindy ride. What if she fell off and that happened to her? Stop it, Willow. Mindy will be fine. She’s already had some lessons and nothing happened. She won’t be riding a bucking bronc. Just a horse. A normal horse.

He slowly shook his head. “I don’t want to get on a bronc right now, though I’ll never admit that to anyone else. I’ve been hurt before, but this time was different. I felt the ribs crack and puncture my lung, and the bones in my ankle snap like twigs. I can’t go through that again.”

Fear. He was feeling an incredible fear of being hurt. “What you’re feeling is normal. It’s called self-preservation. Once you’re healed, you’ll feel different.”

Shaking his head, he looked down again into his cup of cocoa. “I don’t know. I don’t think so. Besides, there is only so much time I can let my company go without me at the helm. And to be honest, I don’t even want to get on a horse.”

“You need to work on that, and we can do it together. I’m here as long as you need me.”

He looked up from his cup. “Where will you go to stay away from the stalker?”

She shrugged and turned her gaze to the window above the sink and into the night as dark as pure, black India ink. “I don’t know.”

He reached over and covered her left hand with his right. “Willow, I know we don’t know each other well, but I think you should stay here until they catch the man.”

“He won’t be caught until I’m dead. The police can’t do anything until they find him. It doesn’t matter if he harms me or Mindy, if they can’t find him.”